Top 4 Best Nail Polishes for Work

When you walk into a shop to buy nail polish you are faced with a billion choices. The bright colours are always eye-catching but not always work appropriate. 

For work, nudes and pale pinks are a safe option. I don't know if it is only me but I find it very hard to find a pale pink nail polish with a good formula - for me they are notoriously bad. If you do want a pale pink I would recommend 'Bare' from Sinful Colours. 'Bare' is a pale pink nude with micro-shimmer. For a full review on this polish click here.

The Maybelline Superstay Gel Nail Colour polish in 'Rose Poudre' could possibly be my favourite nail polish ever (I cannot believe I said that, pretty serious for somebody with 200+ polishes!). 'Rose Poudre' is a dusty pale pink. With two thin coats the polish dries quickly and looks stunning. Perfect for anybody and anywhere.

'All eyes on nudes' from Essie is a matte nail polish however I always put a glossy top coat over it. This is a great basic nude polish, there is no hint of pink here, it is a creamy beige. The formula isn't the best but the colour is great. If you have a little bit of patience when applying it and put a glossy top coat on it, it is a fabulous every day work polish.

'All tied up' from Essie is a stronger pink polish with shimmer. Out of all the polishes I've talked about here this one is definitely the least neutral. It's a darker dusty rosy pink with gold shimmer. Super pretty! For a full review of this polish, click here.

+Bonus Polish -Face of Australia Screen Siren Limited Edition 'Monroe' -  Okay so I didn't want to include this in the top 4 because it is no longer sold. But having said that, if anybody knows of a dupe please let me know! It's definitely one of my favourite ever polishes!!! The perfect nude with a slight pink undertone.

4 Spring-like Beauty Products

Spring is here, the sun is starting to shine and you can now brave the outdoors without wearing a zillion layers. Well at least some of the time... To celebrate I wanted to write a blog post about some products that are perfect for this time of year. It's still too cold to break out the summer dresses but we can get into the spring mood with our make-up at least! Step one, think pink. Step two, step outside and soak up the sunshine.

Revlon Ultra HD Lipstick in 'Magnolia'

This is a peachy pink that I think is perfect for any occasion. It's a good alternative for a nude or 'my lips but better shade'. I have been reaching for the lipstick a lot lately: it's a fun colour,  isn't as boring as a nude and looks great all the time. The pigmentation is pretty good, the formula is lightweight and super creamy and the lasting power is the typical 1-2 hours. It is really comfortable and feels moisturising. It also smells really nice and sweet.

Maybelline 'Pink Me Up' Lipstick

'Pink Me Up' is a deep warm-toned pink that sits on the line between a 'bold lip' and a 'not so bold' lip - which I love because I don't like wearing bold lips. They look great on other people...just not me! This a gorgeous pink shade that I fell in love with the first time I wore it. It would be great for an evening out or with a natural smokey eye. Maybelline's lipstick formula is becoming one of my favourites and is definitely worth checking out.


Revlon Ultra HD Lip Lacquer in 'Petalite'

A new addition to Revlon's product line are these 'Ultra HD Lip Lacquers'. Expect a full review on my blog soon but meanwhile I will focus on this pretty shade called 'Petalite'. 'Petalite' is a pretty pale pink with gold shimmer. It's a pretty standard gloss - doesn't stick around for ages and isn't super pigmented BUT it is one of those glosses that you can just whack on and you're ready to go. A good shade to reach for when you want a natural looking pink lip.

OPI Nailpolish in 'Hands Off My Kielbasa'

I know this whole post has been brainwashing you to "think pink" but this nail polish leans more towards the orange-y coral side of things. But because it screams "spring" to me it had to be included. This is a super pretty peachy polish with shimmer. I feel like the polish is glowing from within - does that make sense? Gorgeous!!! It's currently on my nails and it's soooooooo pretty and really shimmery! Did I use the word 'pretty' too much whilst describing this polish?

Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Review - Greyfitti

A couple of months ago I raved on and on about the 'Dig Fig' shade from Sally Hansen's Miracle Gel collection of nail polishes. Today I am going to tell you all about another polish from the collection, the shade 'Greyfitti'. 'Greyfitti' is a beautiful pale grey. Whilst it has slight undertones of blue you definitely don't look at the polish and think it is blue...it is grey.

My proper camera is out of action so I apologise for this substandard photo. The polish looks way more amazing in real life...trust me!

The formula of this nail polish is a little thin and streaky on the first coat but all is resolved once you do your second coat. The formula itself was very easy to work with and apply. After applying those two coats I waited a couple of minutes and then applied the special top coat.......and then after that I put on my usual Insta-Dri Sally Hansen top coat. The extra top coat is not necessary though. These miracle gel polishes last really well and endure a lot! I can get easily a week out of these nail polishes before any noticeable wear starts appearing. Typically I only get 2-3 days out of a manicure.

I completely adore this nail polish and highly recommend it. It is a very versatile colour, has a great formula and lasts well. 

Essie All Tied Up Nail Polish Review

Today I have a nail polish swatch and review for you, and that nail polish is 'All Tied Up' from Essie. 'All Tied Up' is a rosy pink with brown undertones and very subtle gold shimmer. The shimmer looks pretty in the bottle however it isn't very noticeable on the nail. You definitely need a topcoat with this nail polish to make the subtle shimmer pop a little.

The formula of this nail polish is superb - you can easily get away with one coat. Combined with a new wider brush, the formula is non-streaky and dries quickly.

Overall I absolutely adore this nail polish. Without a topcoat the polish looks a bit flat but ignoring that, I can easily imagine this polish becoming one of my all-time favourite nail polishes (a big thing for a nail polish addict to say!!!). The formula is great and the colour is great - a very versatile pinky nude that is chic and elegant. Appropriate for work and the weekend. 

Covergirl XL Gel Nail Polish Review - Overblown Orange

Pursuing the aisles of Priceline the other day I spotted a new range of nail polishes on the Covergirl stand. The XL Gel nail polishes are suppose to give your nails a shiny gel-like look without the hassle of a UV light and last for 7 days.

'Overblown Orange' is a very vivid orange nail polish that is beautiful for these hot summer days. it is a gorgeous colour and I am absolutely in love with it. The polish colour is pretty much how it looks in the bottle, just in case you're wondering!

The formula of this polish is outstanding, with one thin coat you have opaque colour. It is a very pigmented formula with absolutely no streaks. It is also unbelievably shiny!!! I did one thin coat followed by a thicker coat. In hindsight the second coat should have also been thin because I found the polish struggled to dry quickly. I ended up using a quick drying top coat because after 15 minutes of waiting around my impatience got the better of me. The brush was quite wide and flat and was perfectly fine to apply the polish with. Overall I am super impressed by this nail polish. The only thing that isn't perfect about the polish is it's drying time but I'm sure that can be resolved by applying thin coats and/or by using a quick dry top coat.

I absolutely love this polish - it is very shiny, very opaque (even in only one thin coat), is easy to apply and a great colour.

Sally Hansen Miracle Gel Colour and top coat review - Dig Fig

Earlier this year Sally Hansen released their "gel nail polish that doesn't require a light" collection of polishes. A lot of different brands have jumped onto this bandwagon this year. However what attracted me to Sally Hansen is that they sell these sets that contain both a coloured polish and the special top coat. Normally each of these costs $16.95 but the set costs $19.95, which makes it a very good deal!  I chose the colour 'Dig Fig' which is a oxblood burgundy colour, perfect for the festive season! 

Before we get into the actual review lets quickly talk about what Sally Hansen claims about this nail polish.

The brush is the same brush from Sally Hansen's 'Salon Manicure' collection of polishes which is a good thing because it's a great brush. It is a wide, flat brush that is slightly tapered at the ends. I find it very easy to paint my nails with the brush without having excess polish ending up on my skin. 

The formula initially appears to be the same as usual. It applies easily (again, just like the 'Salon Manicure' collection) and is not streaky. With a thin coat it also seems to dry quickly BUT it isn't actually dry...after two coats that were relatively thick everything was quite wet and very easy to smudge. Luckily for me, if you smudge a nail you can paint over it with another coat and it seems to work out okay. 

Once you have your two coats of colour, step two is to grab the special, clear, top coat and apply that over the still kind of wet coloured polish. The top coat worked well and didn't streak. However the brush did get a bit stained from the red polish so I am not sure what is going to happen if I go out and buy some more colours? Whilst the top coat did provide some additional shine it isn't super duper shiny. 

Drying time was good, very comparable to normal nail polish. Durability also seems to be better than other polishes. My nails feel stronger than usual when wearing this polish. Now, what I'm sure you really want to know is how well it wears? They claim 14 days...on day 2 it was still perfect and the shiny top coat had not diminished. I didn't notice any tip wear or chips until the 4th day of wear and on that 4th day the tip wear was extremely minimal and you could only notice it if you held your nails up in front of your eyes and examined your nails closely. It was only on day 6-7 that the tip wear became more obvious. It still wasn't extreme though and there were no chips. I decided to take it off on day 7 because I wanted to change the colour.

To begin with I was skeptical but this nail polish definitely wears a lot longer than your typical nail polish. I usually have to change my nail polish after 2 or 3 days but I made a week with this easily. I am pretty rough on my hands so I suspect some people could get a couple of more days out of it... I'm not sure about the 14 days though? Overall I am super impressed by this miracle gel polish from Sally Hansen and will definitely be buying more polishes from the collection. Love it! 

Rimmel London Rita Ora - Do Not Disturb Nail Polish Review

A couple of weeks ago the Rita Ora collection from Rimmel London was launched in Australia. The collection is comprised of 12 nail polishes and 5 lip crayons. Today I am reviewing one of the nail polishes from the collection, 'Do Not Disturb'. 'Do Not Disturb' is a gorgeous vibrant teal with a cream finish.

The formula of this polish was really good. I did two coats to get complete opaqueness but you could nearly get away with one coat. It wasn't streaky, was easy to apply and dried quickly. It also lasted really well without chipping. To be honest it was a week or two ago that I had this on my nails so I cannot remember precisely how long it lasted...but I remember it lasted longer than most nail polishes. BUT and there is sadly a "but" here...this polish stained my nails really badly. I always wear base coat and have never had a polish stain my nails before. But when I was taking this polish off I discovered that it had stained my nails. Plus, as I was wiping it off it smeared onto my skin and I couldn't get it off. 

So I loved the colour of this polish but without figuring out to stop it from staining my nails I wouldn't want to wear it too often. 

Thanks for reading, cheers :)

Sally Hansen 'Bittersweet' Nail Polish Review + Nail Art

A couple of days ago I painted my nails with Sally Hansen's 'Bittersweet'. I wrote up a review of it but thanks to work, uni, winter rain and lack of light, photos didn't happen. Then today when the sun came out I realised my nails were too chipped to swatch. So I decided to do a bit of lazy nail-art.

'Bittersweet' is a dark brown polish that looks a lot darker on the nails compared to what it looks like in the bottle.

Drying time was pretty good with this polish considering my coats were quite thick...oops! The formula was non-streaky and quite thick which is something I normally like but I found that despite this colour being very dark I needed two coats. My first coat was pretty opaque but I felt like it looked patchy.....hence the second coat. I don't know if that makes any sense because how can it be opaque and patchy at the same time???

To hide a couple of chips I stuck on some french manicure tip guides from Essence and painted over the chips using Revlon's 'Fall Mood' nail polish. I thought this actually turned out pretty well and it was super quick. With a coat of Sally Hansen's Insta-Dri top coat this took no time to dry. Yipee :)

Natural Instinct Hand & Nail Cream Review

We are well and truly in the midst of winter at the moment so I have been slathering on the moisturiser, lip balm and hand cream. I was sent the Natural Instinct Hand & Nail Cream* a couple of months ago and since then it has became part of my evening routine. The Natural Hand & Nail Cream* comes in a 125ml squeeze tube with a hinged lid and has an earthy aromatherapy scent, which I find very relaxing in the evening. Like all Natural Instinct products it's a vegan product, not tested on animals, pH balanced, made in Australia and free from 400 potentially nasty chemicals (parabens, sulphates, petrochemicals...etc).

The consistency of the cream is quite thick and absorbs into the skin quickly leaving your hands feeling super soft and smooth. When applied to the super dry, chapped, skin between my fingers and especially around my thumb, it gets rids of the awful sore red skin and injects much needed moisture into the skin. I sometimes find that I am left with a slightly oily residue on my hands after applying this which is why I prefer to use it before going to bed. If you don't put too much on you shouldn't be left with that oily feeling though. I always seem to put way too much hand cream on. Unlike some other hand creams I feel like this one does actually moisturise my hands for a long period of time and has good lasting power. It has also improved the condition of my cuticles and the skin around my nails, something I don't notice with most other hand creams. When I wake up in the morning my hands still feel moisturised but not oily. Nothing beats a lovely luxurious and thick hand cream before going to bed, especially when it smells this good!

*I received this product for review purposes. This review is 100% honest and completely my own opinion.