in search of the perfect nail varnish

[eggybrokenoff]

like you get in nail bars - the sort of neutral/pinky shade that makes your nails just look healthy, that resists chipping and doesnt need top coat. a boring topic i know but i cant afford a proper manicure or pedicure and my nails look manky

Marvala- £4 ish and lots of pale shades. Rose Dust is nice but there are loads.

My main gripe with Seche Vite was that it went gloopy before too long and I had to throw it away when it was still half full. Also not too keen on the thick gel like look, I prefer Sally Hansen Insta-Dry.

I've got an Original Factory Shop at the end of the road, will be popping in!

Watching with interest

My seche vite is new so I'm yet to experience the gloop! Nails inc caviar top coats nice and the base coat looks great on its own.

Bella65 mentioned Mavala, they Are a great buy because the pots are dinky size and if you don't wear the polish more than a few times it doesn't feel like such a waste! The nude colour that suits me best from Mavala is called Liberty. It's lovely.

www.google.co.uk/search?q=mavala+liberty&client=safari&hl=en&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=4YCMUc3DGaez0QXfzYGgAw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1024&bih=672

I'm wearing Eternal Optimist by Essie - it's a kind of dusky nude / pink. Suits my skin tone (Irish but not pale - freckled and dark hair but tan easily) and makes my wide nails look slimmer and more elegant somehow. Seche Vite over the top (although I sometimes top it with a Revlon glitter in almost exactly the same colour - makes it more 'evening').

\link{http://www.nailsinc.com/nailpolish/jermyn-street-polish/448/nails inc jermyn st} essie chips like mad on me

I want to try Nail Glow by Dior. That's a transparent pink which is supposed to be an easy manicure effect. It's £18 so still battling with myself over it.

ifancyashandy my Eternal Optimist is so streaky! Had to apply 3!!! Coats to get a good even coverage. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

This explains my love-hate relationship with Essie didn't stop me buying 10 of their polishes. Some of the formulas and lasting powers are really bad but the colours are fabulous!

Sat here with maybelline super stay gel nail colour in french manicure drying. My paws look pretty polished actually, thanks for the tips ladies.

Bargain time ...

Sally Hansen's Complete Salon Manicure is £1 at Poundword. I bought a deep purple but my branch also had neutral shades and a jade green.
It has basecoat, colour, topcoat, growth treatment and strengthener in one bottle, apparently.

Essie mademoiselle is lovely

I have a ridiculously large collection of nail polish. I have tons of pinks/ neutrals but my favourite is Maybelline Rose Poudre

It's a much softer pink than that pic is showing on my PC. It's nice, it's cheap, it goes on well and last for ages.

Essie Ballet Slipper is a lovely pale pink but it's a bugger to apply. You need at least three coats and patience otherwise it goes streaky.

Binks Nail Glow by Dior is on offer at Debenhams online for £16.20 with free delivery...

I am on a self-imposed nail polish ban apart from the £30 I spent on OPI stuff online last night until I get better storage. All of my boxes are full. And DH has started to raise his eyebrows rather a lot.

WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes Seche Vite can be de-glooped by something called Seche Restore... or, as I discovered when I was too skint to fork out for SR, with a couple of drops of Cutex conditioning nail polish remover.

Adding remover to nail polish itself is only ever a short term solution to thin it out. Seche restore works much, much better.

But for some reason the Cutex really works with Seche Vite. I can use up a whole bottle.

Apologies for over-posting on this thread. As you can see, I am obsessed.

I did try some isopropyl alcohol (it was on the list of ingredients and DH had some for cleaning his vinyl records) but it didn't work. Didn't think of using nail varnish remover and didn't want to spend any more money on the special solvent (I'm a chemist and can pinch bits of solvent from work so I resent paying ridiculous prices for something which I could probably get from work if only I knew what it was). So I chucked it away, but I had a bottle of Insta-dry, so I've been using that instead. I will remember the Cutex if it ever happens again

Lula I've got some cutex woo top tip thanks.

Thank you! I'm going to pick it up tomorrow from town. That's when the sale starts in store.

That Maybelline gel polish in Rose Poudre is amazing! I have base coats, good polishes, top coats, blah blah blah. No matter what I do, everything chips within a day. Am on Day 4 with the Maybelline and its still pristine. I didn't use base coat and only added the Maybelline clear gel polish on top to add more shine.

Might bin the Seche Vite, Essie, Revlon and OPI (inc nail envy) now as none came close to the Maybelline gel in terms of not chipping.

Off to check out more maybelline....

Is it Maybelline Forever Strong or is it called Gel Polish ? planning my shopping trip tomorrow

Just checked - the bottle says "FOrever Strong Super Stay" gel technology and "7 days" is on the bottle. Annoyingly, I can't find it online.

Sorry its "gel nail colour" that's definitely on there. So its different from the normal Forever Strong polish they do.

Thank you :)

I've got Maybelline Forever Strong Pro in Nude Rose and Really Rosy, both are lovely, Really Rosy is a deeper shade.