Nicole by OPI Carrie Underwood Collection

OPI is my all time favourite nail polish brand but I haven't delved too far into its sister line, Nicole by OPI. 

In the UK Superdrug sell the Nicole by OPI line and when I spotted the Carrie Underwood collection I thought the colours were beautiful, so I bought a few to try out. 

Goodbye Shoes

This is a really unique dusky teal. Great formula, completely opaque in 2 coats, exactly what I would expect from an OPI polish. 

Southern Charm

This is my favourite of the three and not just for the name! Its what I would consider a grown up nude and is very flattering. This was pretty opaque in 2 coats but the nail was ever so slightly visible underneath, so next time I would do a third coat.

Lips are Dripping Honey

This is a chunky gold and silver holographic glitter. The kind of glitter you don't mind spending half an hour trying to remove! I painted just one coat of this over Southern Charm.

Overall I am very impressed and will definitely be exploring the Nicole by OPI line further.

Illamasqua Rare

Illamasqua, Rare. It can brighten up anything.

Chanel Rouge Noir vs Barry M Red Black

Now we are officially in Winter, its time to rock the vampy nail colours. Although to be honest I would wear these any time of year! 

I thought I would compare these two colours as in the bottle they both appear quite similar.

Chanel Rouge Noir is a cult classic. Famous for appearing on Uma Thurman's nails in Pulp Fiction. Like all Chanel nail varnishes this will set you back a fair bit at £17.50 a bottle.

Compared to Chanel, Barry M's Red Black is an absolute bargain at £2.99

For comparison I have applied two coats of each polish, with a top layer of Seche Vite.

First up, Chanel Rouge Noir:

I love this colour. Its rich, vampy and gorgeously glossy. I think this looks very luxorious and for such a dark polish its applies very well. Two coats is all you need......did I mention I love this colour?

Next up, Barry M Red Black:

I was surprised at how different these two were on the nails. Barry M is much more red, where as Chanel is more of a rich burgundy. Unlike Chanel, Barry M was surprisingly an absolute bitch to apply, as you can probably tell! This again is two coats but you would definetley need a third coat as after two its stil uneven and streaky. This was a real dissapointment for me as Barry M nail paints are normally always amazing quality and for I find after 2 coats they are completly opaque.

Chanel Rouge Noir

For me Chanel Rouge Noir is a clear winner. There is a real difference in quality between the two which you would hope to see when you paying so much for Chanel.

Of course though there is a huge difference in price and with one more coat I think there would be a huge improvement with Barry M's Red Black. When you think you could buy almost six bottles of Barry M for the price of one Chanel polish you may not be bothered on the difference in quality.

But I am clearly extremely shallow and would pick Rouge Noir over Red Black any day. This is one of those cult beauty shades that I feel everyone should own and it really does add a touch of luxury to your nails. That said I am a big Barry M fan but its just a shame that Red Black doesn't match the high quality of other shades in the Barry M range.

Barry M Red Black

A Nail Tribute to Britney Spears

When I got got Deborah Lippmann's Today was a Fairytale I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to re-create Britney circa 2000 MTV Movie Awards. That's right my nail inspiration has come directly from that sparkly flesh coloured leotard thing and I bloody love it!

Deborah Lippmann Today was a Fairytale is available from House of Fraser online and the other polish I used was a freebie with Cosmopolitan magazine. Its by Misguided and is in the colour Miscellaneous.

What camp nail trend shall I create next!

Models Own Beetle Juice Collection Swatches

On Tuesday Models Own released their much anticipated new Beetle Juice collection. After seeing the promo pictures online way back I was really excited to try these. Models Own are currently running an offer on their website where you can buy all 5 polishes for £18

The colours look really beautiful in the bottles and in sunlight. I received these on Thursday but had to wait till the weekend to take pictures as its now pitch black by the time I get home from work in the week :(

From left to right around the fingers: Aqua Violet, Golden Green, Purple Blue, Pinky Brown and Emerald Black.

Like I said these look beautiful in the bottles but I have to admit I am a bit disappointed. On the nails they look a bit flat (unless your holding your hand up in front of direct sunlight!) and I feel like there's nothing particularly exciting or new about these colours. I feel like I have seen them all before. Golden Green reminds me of Chanel Peridot which I also own and don't like either! Purple Blue I feel like I have seen a 100 times (MAC Formidabble, Orly Galaxy Girl to name a few) Pinky Brown is a nice colour and if you missed MAC's Bad Fairy then I would recommend this as a good dupe.

If like me you picked up the Nail Polishes in the MAC Venomous Villains collection I would recommend skipping this collection. 2 of the colours from Beetle Juice are dupes as I mentioned above and the MAC ones have more sparkle and duochrome.

Looking at these pictures and then looking at my nails makes me sad. I wonder if I could pay someone to hold a torch under my nails whenever I wear them! If you don't own any other duochrome polishes then I think you would like these but for those of us with a duchrome love I think you will find yourself itching for some colour combos you haven't seen before.

OPI Get in the Espresso Lane (Touring America Collection)

O.P.I Get in the Espresso Lane is a gorgeous rich chocolate brown. This is such a lovely Autumn/Winter colour. 

This polish is so easy to apply and was opaque in 2 coats. As always I used my Zoya Anchor Base Coat and Seche Vite Top Coat!

OPI Jade Is The New Black & Fresh Frog of Bel Air (OPI Muppets Collection)

O.P.I Jade is the New Black is definitely in my top 5 nail polishes of all time. I adore this colour and never get bored of it. Its so unique and I always get compliments when I wear it.

Fresh Frog of Bel Air is from the new O.P.I Muppet's collection. I ordered this from eBay (where I tend to buy most of my nail polish as its easy to find the colours you want and its cheaper). I LOVE this glitter its so bright and unlike anything else I own. This is 2 coats of FFOBA under one coat of JITNB.

I'm definitely going to pick up some more glitters from the Muppet's collection. I have my eyes on Gone Gonzo, Divine Swine and of course Rainbow Connection!

Deborah Lippmann Glitter in the Air

I finally got my hands on my first Deborah Lippmann nail varnish! If you have not heard of Deborah Lippmann before she is an American celebrity manicurist. Her nail varnishes were impossible to find in the UK until House of Fraser recently started stocking them in their Apothecary. You can find them on the House of Fraser website and in store.

I originally heard about Deborah Lippmann after Lady Gaga appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair. She is wearing a Deborah Lippmann colour called "Waking Up in Vegas".

I lusted after this colour for ages but it was impossible to get in the UK, even on eBay. Then by the time House of Fraser started stocking the brand my original lust had worn off! Does anyone else get that or just me? So i picked Glitter in the Air.

Have to admit half of what attracted me to this nail varnish is the name! It reminded me of the P!nk song of the same name and apparently Deborah created this colour with P!nks performance of that song in mind.

Its a milky blue colour with hexagon shaped blue and pink glitter pieces with small silver flecks.

I used 3 coats with a top coat of seche vite. I love this colour its completely unique, I have seen a colour like this and its a more grown up way to wear a glitter varnish.

The downside is the price. Deborah Lippmann colours range from £14 - £16 available from House of Fraser. I actually purchased mine from eBay, it came from America so it only cost me just under £10 including delivery. Obviously you have to wait longer, but if you are on a budget I would recommend checking eBay first.

Katy Perry O.P.I Collection Not Like The Movies & Teenage Dream

I love Katy Perry, I love a bit of tackiness and I love O.P.I so I knew I had to buy something from this collection! There are 4 shades in the collection and one black "Shatter Polish".

I picked up 2 colours from the collection. Not Like The Movies and Teenage Dream. You will have to excuse the state of my nails at the moment!

Not Like The Movies is the first colour I bought and the only one I planned on getting, but then I heard everyone and his mother raving about Teenage Dream.

I wanted NLTM as its a duochrome and since the release of the nail varnishes in the MAC Venomous Villains collection, I can't get enough duochrome in my life! I would describe it as a lighter version of Mean and Green from Venomous Villains. Depending on the light you get grey, silver, pink, purple and green flashes with tiny bits of shimmer in this beautiful nail varnish. I really love it as I don't have any other colours like this, it really is quite unique.

Teenage Dream, a baby pink glitter seems to have been the most popular colour from the collection. It really is a pretty colour, the glitter comes out very opaque on the nails so unlike other glitter nail polishes, you really can get away with 2-3 coats. I also like that there are some bigger chunks of glitter mixed in, it makes the polish that bit different and it also comes up really sparkly on the nails.

This collection is limited edition and all 4 shades are available on ASOS.com now for £10.50

Nail Rock Designer Nail Wraps

I have been wanting to try these nail wraps by Nail Rocks for ages, so I was chuffed to get these pink velvet leopard skin ones for my birthday. Sadly the love affair is over.

First of all these are a right pain in the arse to apply! If you have no patience and get bored simply waiting for your nails to dry, then run away in horror now!

There are step by step instructions on the back of the pack, which I would recommend strictly following if you are to stand any hope!

First you have to file and shape your nails. You will also need to push any excess cuticle back.

Then you have to buff the nail to remove any shine, in order for the wraps to stick.

Remove the wraps and place on your nail, heat the wrap with a hairdryer and push firmly down on one side, apply heat again and press firmly down on the other side, apply heat again and press firmly down on the whole nail. This needs to be repeated for each nail.....that's right x10!

For the excess wrap at the end of your nail, the instructions tell you to simply file this away in a downward motion. THIS DOES NOT WORK ARGH! The nail wrap is too thick and impossible to file. I ended up just cutting the ends off with scissors. I then tried to file again just to shape, but this just created ugly tear marks.

Mmmm pretty! Also as you can see in this picture, there are areas where the wrap has not stuck. There is only so much heat your fingers can withstand!

I could tell straight away that these, were not going to last long. The edges were peeling and were so rough it was uncomfortable. After a few hours I couldn't bear it anymore and peeled them all off.

I am so disappointed by these, for the time and effort you put in the result is utterly crap! Its such a shame as well. From a distance they actually look really nice and they have a lovely shine to them, but as soon as you get up close you see all is not well!

Now you might be thinking maybe its just me, but my best friend bought these nail wraps before me and had exactly the same problem and hers only lasted a day. I have also read some reviews and these have not fared well. My recommendation would be to try the cheaper version nail wraps as they are thinner so will adhere to the nail easier and be easier to file down.

But as far as Nail Rock goes....don't waste your money!

Availability: Topshop, ASOS and various other online stores

Price: Varies roughly £6.50

Repurchase? NO

Orly It's Not Rocket Science

I am a big fan of Orly, I discovered it whilst I was at college studying Beauty Therapy. I have never seen Orly products in the shops but if you search online there's loads of places to buy.

It's Not Rocket Science is from the Cosmic FX collection. If you missed out on the MAC Venomous Villains collection. There are 2 polishes in the Orly Cosmic FX collection which are exact dupes for Mean and Green and Formidable! I heard that this collection was hard to find but I purchased It's not Rocket Science from eBay and they had all the other colours available.

This colour is very green, from other swatches online I thought it would be more goldy but no its very green. As I have been loving Mean & Green from MAC's Venomous Villains I thought this would be along similar lines but no, this is swamp monster green!

I was a bit on the fence about this polish but since removing it today my mind has been made up. After only being on my nails for 2 days this has stained them like a mother! Overall very disappointed.