*This post contains gifted items.
Since being unemployed, beauty treatments are a thing of the past, and so I have been taking much more care with my nails and painting them myself. In today's post, I will be sharing with you some of my favourite nail colour and nail care products...
Let's start with Essie Nail Polish, a cult favourite of mine - anyone remember Mint Candy Apple? The Essie Nail Lacquers retail for £7.99 for 13.5ml and come in a wide range of colours and finishes. With Essie, you can expect intense rich colour with high coverage, a wide brush for quick, easy and smooth application, high shine with a glossy finish and a professional long-lasting, chip-resistant formula. Three colours I am loving at the moment are Check Your Baggage, a warm yellow, You Do Blue, a cornflower blue with an iridescent finish and Check In To Check Out, a fun peach orange.
For pesky cuticles, I would highly recommend the Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover (£4.40 for 29.5ml). This revolutionary gel formula features Chamomile and Aloe and is gentle on the cuticles. To use, simply squeeze a thin strip of the formula around the cuticles and under nail tips. After 15 seconds, gently push back the cuticles with a manicure stick wrapped in cotton. Wash off the excess product immediately and thoroughly, to reveal cuticle-free nail beds! I have used this product for years and it is definitely the most effective cuticle remover I have come across so far.
The Diego Dalla Palma Nail Polish* is a vegan formula that comes in many stunning shades. They retail at £10.50 each for 14ml and here I have the classic shades Cappuccino, a wonderful warm nude, and Mystic Red, a vampy blood red. The professional-grade, chip-resistant formula delivers a top-notch manicure with a high shine, glossy finish. The maxi brush hugs the nail's contours to deposit smooth and even coverage, leaving your nails looking groomed, polished and cared for.
To condition the nails, a great product is the Famous Names Dadi'Oil Nail Treatment*, retailing at £11.95 for 14.3ml. This blend of 95% certified organic oils, fortified with Natural Vitamin E, penetrates for the ultimate in nail flexibility and shine. It contains a whole host of skin-loving ingredients such as Avocado Oil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Jojoba Oil and as well as using it on the nails, you can use it to moisturise the skin as well! Simply apply to the top and underside of the nail and massage into the nail plate and surrounding skin to condition and moisturise.
I have featured Nail Kind Nail Polish* on my blog many times before as I love their natural, vegan formula. There are so many pretty shades available and they retail at just £8.95. The formula is gentle on the nails and they dry down to a fabulous, glossy finish. Here are some of my favourite colour picks for Summer - Own It!, a hot magenta pink, Santorini Bikini, a bright, lagoon blue and Lime Time, a funky lime green. I think these are such great value for the quality of ingredients and the colour payoff you get - one coat is normally enough with most shades.
One of my favourite base coats is the CND Stickey Anchoring Base Coat (£5.40 for 9.8ml) and it is a soft, sticky base coat that anchors colour to the nails, keeping it securely in place and resistant to everyday wear and tear. The 3-Free formula does not contain Formaldehyde, Toluene or DBP, so you can feel comfortable using it regularly. This helps to prevent surface staining of the natural nails, plus improves the wearability of your nail colour due to the innovative adhesive formula.
Nail HQ is a specialist nail brand and they have a wide range of both nail treatments and nail colours. The Nail HQ Nail Polishes' highly pigmented formulas provide a silky smooth application and a deep glossy high-shine finish. They retail for just £6.99 for 10ml, and so the price point is excellent for such high quality nail polishes, and with such a wide choice of colours to choose from there is something for everyone. I think you can't go wrong with a classic red, like this Rose shade or a ballerina pink like Blossom.
A cuticle oil which I have been using quite a lot lately is the Essie Apricot Cuticle Oil (£9.99 for 13.5ml). This cuticle oil conditions the nails and hydrates cuticles, so you are less likely to get wicks on the skin around your nails. I find this super quick to absorb and the formula is 97% natural and features Apricot Kernel Oil and Jojoba Oil to intensely condition, leaving your cuticles much softer, and therefore giving you a perfect frame for your manicure. A little goes a long way too, so this bottle will last you ages!
The Morgan Taylor Full Bloom* (£9.00 each) collection was released in March for Spring and the colours are so pretty, with a range of pinks, blues and greens. My favourites are Plant One On Me, a soft yummy pink, Bloom Service, a teal green and Best Buds, a pale blue. Morgan Taylor creates such beautiful shades and the polishes are created from speciality raw ingredients to enhance the finish, coverage and wear. The colour payoff is smooth, even, long-lasting colour with a gorgeous professional finish. I love to wear either one shade on its own or mix up a few different colours on my nails to create something different.
Due to ill health, I have quite ridged nails at the moment and one base coat which I love to even things out is the Essie Smooth-E Base Coat (£8.99 for 13.5ml). The Ceramide-infused formula applies effortlessly to fill in ridges and bumps, whilst smoothing the appearance of imperfections on the nail surface. It also helps to prevent nail staining and creates a smooth base for a longer-lasting manicure. Essie is one of my all-time favourite nail brands as I always find them so reliable.
If you like to match your nails to your lipstick, then I would highly recommend checking out the Emolyne Metamorphosis Gel Lacquer* (£13.00 for 13ml). Both the lipsticks and nail polishes are available in 30 shades of reds, pinks and nudes to suit all skin tones. Here I have the shade Tanzania, a pinky brown. The nail polish is quick-drying and gives a gel effect to create a gorgeous manicure. The formula dries down ultra-glossy and is highly pigmented and much cheaper than going for a gel manicure at the salon. I absolutely love the idea that you can match your nails to your lipstick, it is such a fun thing to do!
As well as conditioning the nails, it is also important to look after your hands too. The Palmer's Coconut Hydrate Hand Cream* (£2.49 for 60g) and Palmer's Cocoa Butter Hand Cream* (£2.09 for 60g) are perfect for keeping the hands and nails moisturised. Both hand creams intensively moisturise the skin, using Cocoa Butter, or Coconut Oil and Vitamin E. They provide up to 48 hours moisture and the formula sinks into the skin instantly, so you can go about your day. The tubes are plentiful, but still a handy size to keep in your handbag or on your desk. A little goes a long way too, so these are amazing value!
The Benecos Happy Nails Nail Polishes* are plant based and so do not contain any harsh ingredients and are not tested on animals. There are lots of beautiful colours to choose from and at just £4.95 for 5ml, they are purse-friendly too! The formula contains nourishing Avocado Oil and Biotin to help strengthen the nails and care for them. The brush is fairly wide, so application is super easy and I find the formula lasts a good amount of time on my nails before wearing off. The shade I have here is called Hot Summer, a vibrant pink with underlying orange tones and is the perfect colour for the warmer months!
All the Loves,
Kathryn xxx
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