Nails Inc Belgrave Place and Nfu Oh 44 layered manicure

I think the pics of this one speak for themselves...

Belgrave Place by Nails Inc is one of my favourite polishes. It is a perfect indigo creme, managing to be dark and vibrant at the same time. Nfu Oh is a brand that I have recently found, and this is my first manicure using their products. I think they are a perfect marriage.

Nfu Oh are famous for their flakies- opalescent flakes of glitter that are simply stunning over a dark polish. I love the look of a layered manicure as it is an easy and gives a sophisticated look. Nails Inc polishes work perfectly in this manicure as they give such good coverage with one coat. I think this is essential as too many layers will chip easily. The Nfu Oh polish has plenty of flakes, one coat would suffice, but I was greedy! The manicure was achieved with a coat of base coat, then one of Belgrave Place, two of Nfu Oh 44, then a top coat.

The pics are of a three-day old manicure.

It was very difficult to capture the beauty of the polish indoors. This photo is best enlarged:

Outdoor pictures show the poliush at its best. Again, enlarged, this picture show that the flakies are orange and green, depending on the light.

Nfu Oh New Arrivals!

I am happy to announce that my 94th and 95th polishes have arrived...

Nfu Oh 44 and Nfu Oh 49! Yippee!

I have already put them on my toes, over OPI Sicillian Vermillion. As the Sicillian Vermillion is a bright orange colour, the flakies, being orange (#44) and bronze (#49) have a very subtle look. I have read on other blogs that people find the corset bottle a bit twee, but I think they're quite cute. Also, the bumps in the bottle highlight the duochrome aspects of the flakies; you can normally only spot duochrome effects on the base edge of plain bottles. Another advantage on these bottles is that they are big! 17ml is quite a generous size.

I will not scar the reader's retinas by posting a picture of my feet! Also, Nfu Oh would probably sue me for besmirching their products. I will allow the beauty of these polishes to speak for themselves!

Nfu Oh 44

Nfu Oh 49

Both polishes are far more beautiful in the flesh. In the future I will use these on my fingernails over a dark colour and I won't be too ashamed to post a picture!

Nails Inc George Yard

Yup, another Nails Inc. I was nude the last time we spoke, so I decided to go a bit bling. Nails Inc's George Yard fits the bill- it's a foil finish pale pink/gold polish. I've got a lot of boring housework to do, and find this polish to be almost indestructible. However, I have two slight grumbles with this polish: firstly, it is a pain in the neck to remove. The pink/gold pigment is very easy to remove, leaving the silver foil behind! Aagh! The price of beauty, eh? I find this a pretty standard complaint of glitter and foil polishes. My other peeve with these polishes is that they highlight any lump, bump or ridge on your nail. You can't scrimp on the preparation. Furthermore, if you smudge a coat, it cannot be remedied by slathering on a thick layer of top coat. Your nail may be smooth, but you will still see the smudge in the polish. On the flip side, besides the long wear, there is also the bonus of excellent coverage. The polishes are quite thick so one coat will easily suffice.

Oh, they're also impossible to capture well on camera. That's my excuse.

With flash

Outdoors, without flash. Dazzling, right?

Foils, you cruel mistress.

The nail polish inventory!

I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to make a great big list of all my polishes. Why? Well, I sometimes forget which polishes I own. If someone were to ask me if I own an obscure OPI polish from years ago, would I know? Probably not. It will also document evidence of my raging nail varnish addiction! If anyone would like me to swatch or compare any of the colours listed below, then they are quite welcome to leave a comment with their requests. I'll list all the necessities- top coats, removers, etc. before going on to the colours. This list is a work in progress...

(*** denotes this product is reviewed on this blog)

OPI Acetone-Free Polish Remover (the pink one)
OPI Lint Free Wipes
OPI Bond Aid (discontinued but now replaced with Chip Skip)
OPI Natural Nail Strengthener
OPI RapiDry Top Coat
OPI Top Coat
OPI Chip Skip
OPI Nail Envy
Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Top Coat
Nails Inc Kensington Caviar Base Coat
Nails Inc glitter top coat
Leighton Denny Intense Manicure Oil
Leighton Denny Crystal Nail File
Leighton Denny Slick Tips Touch & Go Cuticle Oil
Leighton Denny Under Cover
Leighton Denny Crystal Finish
Leighton Denny Essential Remover
Leighton Denny Illuminating Hand Cream
CND Cuticle Eraser
Broadway Jet Dry Nail Glue

Avon Nailwear Pro Midnight Plum (purple creme)
*** Avon Nailwear Pro Inky Blue (blue-black with blue shimmer)
*** Avon Nailwear Pro Decadence (purple shimmer)
Avon Nailwear Pro Golden Vision (champagne metallic shimmer)
Avon Nailwear Pro Romance (dusky pink-lilac pearl)
*** Avon Nailwear Pro Lucky Penny (copper metallic)
*** Avon Speed Dry+ Lime Splatter (lime pastel creme)
Barry M Fabulous (red creme)
Claire's Cosmetics (purple glitter)
Claire's Cosmetics (purple creme)
Estee Lauder White Petal (nude creme)
Estee Lauder White Beige (beige creme)
Estee Lauder Black Wine (red creme)
Leighton Denny High Performance Nail Colour Keep it Light (baby pink with blue shimmer)
Leighton Denny High Performance Nail Colour Spring Fling (lilac shimmer)
Leighton Denny High Performance Nail Colour I Love Juicy (coral creme)
L'Oreal LaquiResist 194 (bronze frost)
Marks and Spencer Sparkle and Shine Collection (white pearl)
Marks and Spencer Sparkle and Shine Collection (pink creme)
Marks and Spencer Sparkle and Shine Collection (beige creme)
Marks and Spencer Sparkle and Shine Collection (peach duochrome)
Marks and Spencer Sparkle and Shine Collection (pink pearl with silver microglitter)
Max Factor Nail Mosaics Powerful Pink (magenta shatter)
Max Factor Nail Mosaics Paving Red (brick red shatter)
Nails Supreme Design Pens x6 (white, pink, silver, black, yellow, blue)
*** Nailene Hard & Healthy French Manicure (white)
*** Nailene Hard & Healthy French Manicure (pale pink)
*** Nails Inc Balmoral (beige creme)
Nails Inc Elizabeth St (nude shimmer)
*** Nails Inc George Yard (pale gold foil)
*** Nails Inc Belgrave Place (deep indigo creme) and here
*** Nails Inc Queen Victoria Street (green creme)
Nails Inc St Johns Wood (indigo creme)
Nails Inc Windsor (purple shimmer)
*** Nails Inc Haymarket (aqua creme)
*** Nails Inc Warwick Avenue (pink creme)
Nails Inc Westminster Abbey (gold foil)
Nails Inc Sandringham (red metallic)
Nails Inc Victoria (deep red creme)
Nails Inc London (beige creme)
Nails Inc Chesham Street (navy multichrome)
Nails Inc Knightsbridge (coral creme)
Nails Inc Swan Walk (pink creme with blue microglitter)
Nails Inc Thayer Street (mink creme)
Nails Inc Beaumont Street (magenta creme)
Nails Inc Portman Place (purple creme)
Nails Inc Emperors Gate (gun metal- blue frost)
Nails Inc Percy Street (liliac creme)
Nails Inc Aspen Glitter (red metallic with silver glitter)
Nails Inc Victoria Street (silver frost)
Nails Inc Leicester Square (metallic purple)
Nails Inc Portland Place (teal creme)
Nails Inc Montagu Place (coral creme)
Nails Inc South Molton Street Glitter (pink creme with silver glitter)
Nails Inc Rosebery Avenue (rose creme)
Nails Inc Jermyn Street Glitter (mink creme with silver microglitter)
Nails Inc Romilly Street (berry creme)
Nails Inc Berkeley Street (aqua creme)
Nails Inc Lancaster Gate (pink with blue shimmer)
Nails Inc Baker Street (coral creme)
Nails Inc England's Lane (lilac creme)
Nails Inc Paddington Street (deep red creme)
Nails Inc Camden Lock (metallic blue with blue microglitter)
Nails Inc Magnetic Polish Houses of Parliament (brown/purple)
*** Nails Inc Magnetic Polish Trafalgar Square (gunmetal grey)
Nails Inc Magnetic Polish Big Ben (antique gold)
*** Nfu Oh #44 (orange flakie)
*** Nfu Oh #49 (bronze/green flakie)
*** OPI Sicilian Vermillion (orange creme)
*** OPI Nice Hand... Great Nails (orange shimmer)
*** OPI La Paz-itively Hot (pink shimmer)
OPI Argenteeny Pinkini (pink shimmer)
*** OPI Sugarplum Yum (lilac duochrome)
OPI Affair in Times Square (mink creme)
OPI OPI Red (red creme)
OPI Mat-adore Red (red creme)
OPI Boot Hill-a Vanilla (white shimmer)
*** OPI Black Tie Optional (black duochrome)
*** OPI OPI & Apple Pie (brown creme)
OPI Back In The Saddle (bronze with gold shimmer)
OPI Burnt Sugarloaf (brown creme)
OPI Pistol Packin' Pink (pink shimmer)
OPI Howdy Honey (champagne shimmer)
OPI Cajun Shrimp (coral creme)
OPI Nantucket Mist (rose creme)
OPI Peru-B-Ruby (red with gold shimmer)
OPI You're a Pisa Work (cerise creme)
OPI Apricotcha Cheating (apricot creme)
*** OPI Maui Mango (rose creme)
OPI NYPD Beet (purple shimmer)
OPI Kyoto Pearl (white pearl)
OPI Chapel of Love (pink with gold shimmer)
OPI Mother Road Rose (rose shimmer)
OPI Balin' Hay in Santa Fe (cream frost)
*** OPI Lincoln Park After Dark (black purple)
*** OPI Gold Shatter
Revlon Street Wear Hologram (top coat with strips of holo glitter)
Revlon Street Wear Psychedelic (top coat with strips of holo glitter and bronze glitter)
Revlon Nail Enamel 74 (nude shimmer)
Revlon Nail Enamel 83 (nude creme)
Revlon Nail Enamel 09 (nude frosted)
Revlon Speed Shine Comet (black with silver glitter)
Revlon Speed Shine Strobe (pink shimmer)
Revlon Speed Shine Tidal Wave (teal shimmer)
Revlon Speed Shine Racy (plum creme)
Revlon Crushed Rubies (rose with gold shimmer)
Revlon Wrap Yourself In Rubies (red with gold shimmer)
Rimmel Fashion Finish Brilliant Pink (pink creme)
Rimmel Sun Shimmer 434 Sorbet (cream shimmer)
Special Fx Fickles (pink to peach)
Special Fx Chameleon (bronze/pink/gold shimmer)
Toma American Woman Mood Changing (pearl white to turquoise)
Toma American Woman Mood Changing (pink to light pink)
Toma American Woman Mood Changing (lilac to silver)

Oops.

Nails Inc Balmoral

Nails Inc released a limited edition collection for the royal wedding. Now I'm no monarchist. Nor am I especially excited about the gold lids. But the colours in this collection are gorgeous! A metallic red, a gold foil, a regal purple shimmer and a creme beige. A saw them on Ebay at a good price, and I had to buy.

Balmoral is the nude beige creme. It may not look too good in the pics. This is because a) I am rubbish at taking pictures, but I am trying to get better and b) this manicure was done 5 days ago!

This is part of the reason I love Nails Inc. I have heard others say that they don't do any 'wow' colours, and to some extent I agree. The shatters, the suede and matte finishes are a distraction: they are gloss creme specialists. I can easily get a week's wear out of a Nails Inc polish, with a layer of top coat to freshen the manicure midweek. After that, I'm either bored with the colour or regrowth is an issue.

So here are the pictures:

This picture was taken in daylight with no flash.

Indoors with flash.

So what have we learned from the pictures, apart from the fact that I have manky cuticles? It's a beautiful, cool nude, beige. It's one coat of base coat, two coats of colour and one coat of Nails Inc Caviar Top Coat. Not bad after 5 days is it? The application was smooth and self levelling- there was no problem with streaking.

I'm pale and interesting, and this suits me. Why oh why does it have to be a limited edition?

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my new blog!

This is essentially a personal blog where I can post my pictures and musings on the important topic of nail varnish! I have squillions of bottles, and feel that a blog would be an excellent way to compare varnishes and organise some pictures. I'm essentially a Nails Inc and OPI gal, but I've got lots of others.
Enjoy!