Latest additions (swatches soon!)

Models Own 'Pink Punch';
Nails Inc 'Henley Regatta' + 'Chelsea Flower Show';
Barry M 'Pink Flamingo', 'Strawberry Ice Cream' + 'Fuchsia';
OPI 'Just Spotted the Lizard'

My nail polish collection

In the past months, I've become a nail polish magpie. I kid you not if I tell you I have around 45 (give or take) nail polishes in my stash, and I have ordered 7 more that have to arrive soon.

Yes, I have a terrible addiction, and it's a problem.
My idea is that, (if I'm able to), I will give the polishes I don't use to my girl friends. But it's quite probable also that I won't be able to part with any of them. You know, "just in case" I might use them later.

So, if you have a problem with nail polish like I do, then maybe you'll like this post, where I will show you swatches and comparisons of every nail polish I own and group them together with those in the same colour family.

Hope you like <3

Teals, bright blues and green blues

L to R: MAC Mischievous Mint, KIKO 389, Essie Turquoise and Caicos, KIKO 352, KIKO 342, Butter London 'Slapper'

(LEFT) Pinky: Mischievous Mint; Ring: KIKO 389; Middle: Turquoise + Caicos; Index: KIKO 352; Thumb: KIKO 342

(LEFT) Pinky: Mischievous Mint; Ring: KIKO 389; Middle: Turquoise + Caicos; Index: KIKO 352; Thumb: KIKO 342

(RIGHT) Thumb: Butter London 'Slapper'

Yellows and Greens

L to R: KIKO 279, Illamasqua "Rare", H&M "I'm not a kiwi", KIKO 396

Index: KIKO 279; Middle: Illamasqua Rare; Ring: H&M I'm not a kiwi; Pinky: KIKO 396

Neutrals and Nudes

L to R: Sephora nº49; Astor 610 Satin Angel; Rimmel "018 Rose Orchid"; H&M duo "Lavender Frost"

Pinky: Sephora nº49; Ring: Astor 610 Satin Angel; Middle: Rimmel "018 Rose Orchid"; Index: H&M duo "Lavender Frost"

Pinky: Sephora nº49; Ring: Astor 610 Satin Angel; Middle: Rimmel "018 Rose Orchid"; Index: H&M duo "Lavender Frost"

Metallics

L to R: OPI "Rainbow Connection", KIKO 354; KIKO 274; KIKO 395; H&M duo "Golden Nails"

Pinky: OPI "Rainbow Connection"; Ring: KIKO 354; Middle: KIKO 274; Index: KIKO 395; Thumb: H&M duo "Golden Nails"

Pinky: OPI "Rainbow Connection"; Ring: KIKO 354; Middle: KIKO 274; Index: KIKO 395; Thumb: H&M duo "Golden Nails"

Pinky: OPI "Rainbow Connection"; Ring: KIKO 354; Middle: KIKO 274; Index: KIKO 395; Thumb: H&M duo "Golden Nails"

Oranges and Red-orange colours

L to R: Models Own "Tangerine Queen"; KIKO 280; Models Own "Fluro Orange"; KIKO 236; Models Own "Hedonist"

Thumb: Models Own "Tangerine Queen"; Index: KIKO 280; Middle: Models Own "Fluro Orange"; Ring: KIKO 236; Pinky: Models Own "Hedonist"

Thumb: Models Own "Tangerine Queen"; Index: KIKO 280; Middle: Models Own "Fluro Orange"; Ring: KIKO 236; Pinky: Models Own "Hedonist"

Pinks and Corals

L to R: KIKO 281; H&M "Check Me Out"; OPI "Kiss Me On My Tulips"; ASTOR 235 Insolence; Butter London "Disco Biscuit"; Models Own "Bubble gum" 

(LEFT) Pinky: KIKO 281; Ring: H&M "Check Me Out"; Middle: OPI "Kiss Me On My Tulips"; Index: ASTOR 235 Insolence; Thumb: Butter London "Disco Biscuit"

Pinky: KIKO 281; Ring: H&M "Check Me Out"; Middle: OPI "Kiss Me On My Tulips"; Index: ASTOR 235 Insolence; Thumb: Butter London "Disco Biscuit"

(RIGHT) Thumb: Models Own "Bubble gum"

Pure blues

L to R: KIKO 338, KIKO 299, KIKO 265, Nails Inc "Baker Street"

Index: KIKO 338, Middle: KIKO 299, Ring: KIKO 265, Pinky: Nails Inc "Baker Street"

Index: KIKO 338, Middle: KIKO 299, Ring: KIKO 265, Pinky: Nails Inc "Baker Street"

Index: KIKO 338, Middle: KIKO 299, Ring: KIKO 265, Pinky: Nails Inc "Baker Street"

Dark hues: purples, reds + black

L to R: H&M "Soaked in Purple", H&M duo "Lavender Frost"; NARS "Purple Rain"; H&M duo "Golden Nails"; KIKO 227; Maybelline 501 Cherry Sin; Astor 550 Red Lace; KIKO 275

(LEFT) Pinky: H&M "Soaked in Purple", Ring: H&M duo "Lavender Frost"; Middle: NARS "Purple Rain"; Index: H&M duo "Golden Nails"; Thumb: KIKO 227

Pinky: H&M "Soaked in Purple", Ring: H&M duo "Lavender Frost"; Middle: NARS "Purple Rain"; Index: H&M duo "Golden Nails"; Thumb: KIKO 227

(RIGHT) Thumb: Maybelline 501 Cherry Sin; Index: Astor 550 Red Lace; Middle: KIKO 275

(RIGHT) Thumb: Maybelline 501 Cherry Sin; Index: Astor 550 Red Lace; Middle: KIKO 275

Have you got a huge nail polish collection you're ashamed of but love at the same time too? 

Love,

Maria.

RIGHT NOW

Wearing (on my nails):
Models Own "Fluro Orange"

I've never worn too many orange things, but I find bright orange nail polish VERY flattering.

Listening to:
You Make My Dreams - Hall & Oates
(500 days of Summer; amazing film and soundtrack!)

Watching: 
LLYMLRS' July Favourites on Youtube
(LINK)

Reading (on my Kindle):
The Night Circus (by Erin Morgenstein) 

Nothing like Harry Potter, but I definitely recommend this book, it's full of magic and enchantment. You'll want to live in this monochrome circus.

Latest app used:
Camera Bag

You can create really amazing effects, and then upload them to Instagram (that's what I do).

Last order placed:
Nails Inc Juicy Sheer in "Henley Regatta" & "Chelsea Flower"

Two beautiful sheer nail polishes in pink (HR) and orange (CF), from BeautyBay.
I think these look much better with short nails than with longer nails.

What are YOU doing right now? :)

Love,
Maria.

Models Own Utopia

At the moment, I'm preparing a huge post on my nail polish collection (45+ nail polishes in total, guys!), but a new nail polish order arrived a couple of days ago. I'll show you the rest in following posts, but my favourite is Models Own Utopia, and I couldn't wait to show it to you!

Models Own 'Utopia' is the perfect neutral nail polish. It looks very neat and nice on the nails, like you have them done, but not overly-done. It looks like a concrete whitish grey on the bottle, but once on your nails, you can definitely appreciate a lilac-pink tinge. At night, though, it looks mostly whitish. 

I think this nail polish is creamy, but is not streaky at all. It hasn't chipped in a couple of days, but I admit I'm not the most patient of people, that's why my swatches sometimes have some scratches, etc. (See thumb in the following picture) 

Would I recommend this nail polish? 

Definitely YES. Of the whole pack, I thought it would be the one I'd like the least, because I normally tend to love bright colours rather than neutrals, but this is such a surprising colour that it has made me fall in love. 

Even if you're not a fan of neutrals, I strongly recommend that you give this nail polish a chance, because it makes you look tanned, it goes with everything you wear, it looks polished and BTW, many men have complimented my nails when I wear this colour! 

Love,

Maria.

Models Own: Hedonist, Bubblegum, Fluro Orange and Tangerine Queen

Hello, my dear readers :)

The Internet is always tempting me. Firstly, I've been constantly looking at amazing pictures of Lily Melrose, also known as Llymlrs, and she always wears this beautiful nail polish called 'Hedonist', by Models Own.

As I went into ASOS' website, I saw 'Hedonist' was on sale! I got TOO excited. And then, last but not least, I noticed there was a neon trio by Models Own on sale too! The price of the trio was too tempting, 16€ (approx.) for 3 neon nail polishes, full-size! I had to have it! 

So I ordered all four nail polishes. And they just arrived, so... 

here you go, lovelies.

Thumb: Hedonist, Index and Pinky: Fluro Orange, Middle Finger: Bubblegum,

Ring finger: Tangerine Queen

  Hedonist, Tangerine Queen, Bubblegum, Fluro Orange

 Hedonist, Tangerine Queen, Bubblegum, Fluro Orange

 Hedonist: I really love this colour's brightness! Even though, from pictures I had seen online, I expected this one to have a pink tinge, and maybe it's the lighting right now, but I definitely see an orangey-red, and that's it. So after all the searching, I definitely can say I like it, and it applies well, even though I find Models Own brushes to be too thin for a nice application. However, I achieved this brightness with just ONE COAT. (They're all one coaters, except for Tangerine Queen!) -Dries to a matte finish!

Fluro Orange: I didn't expect to like this one, but it got me, with all its brightness with just one coat! Will be definitely worn as a pedi, but you never know. I love this one! -Dries to a satiny-matte finish.

Bubblegum: for me, this nail polish was the best of them all! One coat and full opacity on my nails, although I always put two just in case, to ensure the best effect. It is amazingly bright, you won't need any base color or anything (none of them will), and it dries to a kind of matte finish, but as I'm not a big fan, I just put my shiny KIKO topcoat over, and I'm good to go!
[BTW: I bought this one as a substitute for Illamasqua's 'Collide'. I don't really know if they're dupes or not, but in swatches they do look similar!]

Tangerine Queen: oh, I wanted to like you, TQ! On pictures, it looked a little like Models Own Beach Party, but it's more orange, like this kind of orangey yellow, and I don't think I can really pull it off. But that said, I think it can be a great tan colour. Even though, I have to point out that this one applies so STREAKY, you just can't imagine. So 2-4 coats, depending on how thin coats are, to even it out. However, as the brush doesn't help too much either, I think this polish can't make it to my top list, and will probably be forgotten in my nail polish drawer :(.

You can see the matte finish on the pictures below, specially on Tangerine Queen:

Have you tried any Models Own nail polish you'd like to recommend? Any of you have any neon polish that you really really love? 


Love,
Maria.