♡ America - Nail Haul ♡

I know I said this blog would be mainly about nails but, let's be honest, it really hasn't been has it? Haha! I just have so much else I want to write about aswell and I never realised how much there was swimming around in my head!

But finally! A nail post!

When in America, I didn't buy nearly half as many polishes as I had imagined. To be honest, I barely bought any! But I thought I would share the ones I have bought with you. I bought some as gifts for friends back home so I won't be swatching them but I will swatch all the ones I bought for myself!

Essie
Essie Watermelon is a colour that I have been constantly picking up and putting back down whenever I pop into Boots. I have quite a few pinks in my collection but none quite like this one. It's a really pretty purpley toned dark pink but is also quite a hot pink at the same time. If you like pinks on your nails, this is such a perfect colour to have as a staple in your collection! And when Essie is $8 in the US compared to £8 here, it's obvious that I would take advantage of such a great deal!

Essie - Watermelon

I also bought Essie Avenue Maintain, which is a very mid-blue, as I realised that the only blue nail polishes I really own are dark or navy. This is a nice little compromise for a spring/summer colour, and looks really nice on!

Essie - Avenue Maintain

They had a section in the store of polishes on offer, so I picked up an Essie Lux Effects in Shine of the Times for less that $2 which is amazing. It's a clear top coat with flakes of orangey-green shimmer and would look amazing on top of any orange based colour - on it's own, though, it can make your nails look a little yellow. I haven't yet swatched it but I will do soon!

OPI
I bought three colours from OPI, and I think they were around $8 each if I remember correctly, but one was for my good friend, Marina. I bought her one of the Liquid Sand range, in the colour Can't Let Go (from the Mariah Carey collection). It's a really fun, bright, glittery purple that, when dried, has an amazing texture to it. Marina is a very fun girl and I thought it suited her personality perfectly! Even with a top coat, it looks amazing (although it drinks the stuff).

OPI - Can't Let Go (with no top coat)

OPI - Can't Let Go (with top coat)

The second one I bought was another from the Liquid Sand range, but from the Bond collection, called Vesper. This one was for me, because I love dark nails. In natural light it is a very dark plum purple, but in darker lights it looks almost black. Again, it dries with a rough texture, but this one I wouldn't recommend a top coat as it just makes it look very boring. It's a pain to get off so I swatched this last and kept it on my nails for a few days and had a lot of compliments and people wanting to feel it!

OPI - Vesper (with no top coat)

The last OPI was a bit of a lemming for me. It's one I've been eyeing up for ages but hadn't actually got round to buying it - Red Lights Ahead... Where? It's such a pretty coral - and we all know I love a bitta coral - and I'm so happy I've bought it as it's one of those colours that just suits my skin tone really nicely!

OPI - Red Lights Ahead... Where?

Nails Inc
Moving on to Nails Inc, I bought Porchester Square. This polish is one that I've wanted for ages, if I'm honest! I'm so happy I bought it, and with the difference in price I actually saved about £5 per bottle which is amazing. Looking back, I should've bought a few! The first time I ever saw this polish was in February of this year when my sister and I went to have a spa day together (as a late Christmas present from our parents) at The Savoy hotel in London. As part of the package, we got a massage and a manicure. In The Savoy spa, they only use Nails Inc products. Since I didn't own any Nails Inc polishes by the point, it meant all of the colours were quite new to me and had their own twist to ones I had similar to. I chose Porchester Square because it had a beautiful neutral essence to it and, when painted on the nails, it dried to be a gorgeous grey-beige and I was in love. I think you can tell you love a polish colour when you remember the time you first saw it and the history behind why you want it! The reason it took me a while to get round to buying was because of the price tag. I felt that the £11 wasn't quite justifiable for a colour I wasn't sure I'd wear all the time, but when I saw how cheap it was in America ($9) it was a sign, and I'm so happy to finally call it mine!

Nails Inc - Porchester Square

The second, and final, polish is Black Taxi which was also for my lovely friend Marina as she had asked me to pick up a black polish for her. I'm not normally one for wearing black on my nails but when I swatched this, I really liked it! It's a shame I couldn't keep it really! It's made me think I need to wear my China Glaze more often and slowly get back into wearing darker colours, especially for the colder months!

Nails Inc - Black Taxi

Which is your favourite from my picks?

Until next time!

xxx