NOTD: Rimmel 60sec "Coralicious"

I was tidying my desk so decided to look through my stash. So many untrieds! :O I then read some of my nail magazines and thought about all the cool nail art stuff I could do. Then I decided that what I actually wanted was a juicy and super-shiny creme polish. So here it is - a vivid coral creme - you just can't go wrong :)

This has a jelly quality to it so you will have VNL, but it doesn't matter, it kind of adds to the appeal and look of this polish. This is 2 coats, but the polish is starting to misbehave in it's old age and goes on a bit goopy and uneven. Easily smoothed with a top coat however. I finished with my beloved Megashine top coat for extra juiciness. So summery! :)

EMPTIES: L'Oreal Elvive Smooth & Polish shampoo and conditioner
I bought this when it came out and I've actually repurchased once already, this is the second set of bottles I'm finishing off! I love the result - silky soft, no frizzy ends and doesn't weigh hair down, smells nice (not to strong) and best bit is of course, very affordable! I used to swear by L'Oreal EverPure but the bottles are so awful. Smooth & Polish has given me better result than EverPure but of course it is not sulphates free. But I think I will be sticking to it for a while yet!

NOTD: Isadora Sugar Crush "Pool Crush"

I couldn't wait to try the second of the Isadora Sugar Crush polishes my Mum sent me! "Ocean Crush" was actually really easy to remove with acetone - I expected something as horrible to remove as a glitter but it's not!

The brush on "Pool Crush" was a bit wonky so the polish didn't go on as great as "Ocean Crush" and a bit messy. But it dried quickly and 2 coats was enough to cover VNL. I love the matte, coarse colour of this. It's a bit darker and less shiny than in this photo - these polishes seem to photograph awkwardly. I wouldn't mind having the pink and the red of these polishes too!!! :)

800th Post Celebration NOTD: Isadora Sugar Crush "Ocean Crush"

My dear Mum got me two of the gorgeous Sugar Crush polishes from Isadora and I got them today! :) I was wondering what to do for my 800th post but when this arrived, it was clear it had to be this polish for my 800th post NOTD! I love this brand and wish that they would sell in the UK but so far all my prayers go unanswered...

I *love* this polish!!! It's amazingly sparkly and the duochrome is a lot stronger than shown in this photo. The greeny-gold of the bottle translates well to the nail but the camera just can't pick it up. I took about 50 photos and this is the best one... This is two coats over base coat, no top coat. It dries really quick so I can see this being a quick-fix, pick-me-up nail polish for those off days :)

HAPPY 800 POSTS, PRETTY PERFECT BEAUTY!!

NOTD: Barry M Confetti "Sour Apple"

I finally got hold of this - it seems that it was the most popular of the Confetti polishes :) I spent all day painting the windows on one side of the house today, I'm glad I had that thick Ruffian manicure on as sanding wood is not lenient on the hands and nails. It was very sunny and hot all day; I've now got such a deep tan that The Man says I forgot to wash off the dirt :P

I decided to put this over another polish but in hindsight I shouldn't have chosen such a light shade - this is 2 coats of Sinful Color "Cinderella". I think I will chose a minty polish next time, maybe Sinful Color "Mint Apple"?

As I said it's 2 coats of "Cinderella" and then a thick coat and some glitter placing of "Sour Apple". I finished off with a slick of MegaShine. I am not sure that the polish is at it's best paired like this - I will need to revisit this polish soon over something else... Minty polish? Or maybe a white shimmer?...

NOTD: Grey and Orange Ruffian Manicure

I got my new issue of Nail it! magazine today and I felt inspired to do something new. I decided to do a so called Ruffian manicure and painstakingly picked two polishes I thought would go well together. I love the result even though it was rather time consuming, as the base polish needed 3 coats... Top tip for a Ruffian is obviously to go for a more opaque finish polish!!

This is 3 coats of Rimmel Play Fast "Out of Control" (orange) and then 2 coats of OPI "Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous!" (grey). I finished off with a coat of MegaShine top coat. Love it, I will definitely be trying this again! :)

NOTD: China Glaze "Outta Bounds"

I had my first and rather exciting snowboarding lesson today so I decided I wanted to paint my nails in a 'totally rad' shade - China Glaze "Outta Bounds". It's kinda snowboard, no?.. it's from the Ski Collection from China Glaze, so should be, kind of :P

This is 2 coats with MegaShine top coat. It applies nicely, but can get streaky if you're not careful. I struggled to photograph this again, and I still think my original swatch is better even though this one is more like the actual colour?..

Away down the bunny slope I go!! :) Although I think the kid on the skis to the left was better at going downhill than me and he was like 5 years old...

NOTD: Rimmel LycraPRO "Peppermint" with Ciate "Shooting Star" Caviar

As I said earlier, I picked up this month's Marie Claire and there was a set of polish and caviar beads with it :) I first tried on "Cookies and Cream", the nude polish that comes in the set. What a disaster. This is after three coats - it's just streaking and leaving bald patches...

So I got one of my LycraPRO out of the Helmer! This is 2 coats with "Peppermint" and on my ring finger there is 2 coats of "Cookies and Cream" with a sprinkling of the caviar beads "Shooting Star". It looks great with the beads over it, just not great on it's own...

I love the look of the caviar manicures, but last time I wore it I got some beads falling off into my keyboard at work and some keys stopped working :O

FREEBIES: Ciate Mini Caviar Manicure

Trot off now to your local WHSmith to get your copy of this month's Marie Claire mag - you get this kit for free for only £2.50 :)

NOTD: Sephora "Manizer"

This is one of my scores from my honeymoon :) I love a hot pink! After sweltering in the office (30C) I went to Yo!Sushi with some friends in the warm (21C) evening air, and I decided that tomorrow come rain or shine I will wear my pink and leopard print scarf and pink top, so I needed matching hot pink nails :)

I was miffed to discovered the brush on this is crap and missing half it's hairs (I should have checked...) but it didn't matter. It still applied fine and this is just 1 coat!!! I loved it so much I decided 1 coat was enough so I'd have plenty left in the mini 5ml bottle!!

And thanks to a colleagues manic shopping habits I was tipped off to some new stuff in Marks & Spencer so I scored with my gift card from Xmas - a skin care series called 'Pure'. It advertises itself as "Minimum 95% natural ingredients, 100% essential oil fragrances, Free from parabens, silicones, mineral oils" and British made. It smells lovely and I can't wait to try the hot cloth cleanser and moisturiser tomorrow. I will review when I have used it for a while :)