NOTD Nails Inc - Basil Street

Nails of the Day

Today I've painted my nails with Nails Inc Basil Street, a lovely beige colour. This was free with Glamour magazine. I don't usually buy Glamour unless on holiday (great size mag for my handbag) or if the free gift is any good (they do some great gifts).

I saw it in WHSmiths and I had all the other colours already (or similar ones) but really fancied a beige colour.

This is such a nice colour if you don't want a full on colour or want something to go with anything you wear. It reminds me of LK Bennett shoes as its a very similar colour and this colour is very in at the moment due to Dutchess Kate's love for her LK Bennett shoes.

I have Nails Inc Soho Silk as a base with Nails Inc Kensington Caviar top coat.

I love this colour so much...tempted to put this on my possible list of polished for my wedding next year....

Really want to get a similar OPI version of this (I only wear one brand at a time and like my Nail Envy) although I have asked for OPI Warm and Fozzy for Christmas which is a glittery beige (it looks like).

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Molton Brown Warming Eucalyptus

I love Molton Brown products and brought this after smelling it in a Molton Brown store. This has become my winter survival product! The warming eucalyptus scent helps me to clear my head and nose when suffering with colds and is really comforting. It's not harsh on the skin either and a little goes a long way when use on a shower puff, although I just lather it up straight onto my skin when suffering with a cold to get the most out of the scent.

This along with Molton Brown Cracked Black Pepper are my favourite Molton Brown products (yes I am female and use cracked black pepper rather than the pink pepperpod)

OPI Shatter Polish - Black

I brought this when it first came out along with the Katy Perry polishes. (photo above with alternate nails painted with OPI Last Friday Night and OPI Teenage Dream with the Shatter polish on top, sorry for bad photo, this is an old one from when I first used the polishes)

It is a great effect and works when painted onto dried nail varnish (it won't crack on bare nails).

I like to put a glitter polish as my main colour such as Teenage Dream by Katy Perry as the glitter then shines through the gaps in the black shatter. You then put the shatter onto the dry polish (it has to be dry or it won't shatter properly.) You have to apply this quite quickly as it starts to dry straight away. The thicker you put it on the bigger the gaps made in the polish, ie you get less islands of black but they are bigger and more like animal print, if you put it on thin it goes more stripy and smaller streaks, more like the effect shown on the bottle. The shatter then gets to work and once dry will be matt. I then finish my nails with an OPI topcoat to keep it shiney and also to reduce chipping.

I think of all the colours the black is my favourite and this effect works well on both short and long nails.

The only thing with this polish is that it does go a bit lumpy as obviously its fast drying so make sure you put the lid back on straight away. You may also find it beneficial to wipe the brush off on some kitchen paper to get the lumps of shatter polish off.

OPI RapiDry Top Coat

I wear a lot of OPI products and brought this as it drys quickly. It helps keep my polish perfect for a few days however the only downside to this product is after a few months it goes very thick and gooey. This means that it goes on too thicky and not smoothly.

It's a good product but is only worth buying if you are going to use it a lot in a short period, ie not great if you wear other top coats or if you only paint your nails every now and then. I much prefer using Nail Envy as a top coat or the OPI Start to Finish Base and Top Coat.

OPI Nail Polish Start to Finish Base & Top Coat

I use to use OPI Fast Dry Top Coat but after a few months the top coat gets a bit sticky and gooey and I found this product while looking to purchase a new Fast Dry Top Coat.

I have a huge make up bag/box full of OPI and Nail Inc polishes and anything to help cut down on the number of product I have makes me (and my fiance) very happy! (ie less products left laying around the living room while I do my nails)

I usually use my OPI Nail Envy as a base coat but this product also has a strengthener in which is nice. My nail varnishes never last long on my nails as they chip within 24 hours usually (I am very hands on person so my nails always get bashed etc) but this top coat is great as it does give me a longer wear and doesn't take massively long to dry either.

This is usually the product I use if I want to sit down with my fiance to do my nails but don't want to turn the coffee table into a nail salon. This plus a nail colour is all I need.

It's also great as it works out much cheaper that buying a treatment, top coat and base coat and I would really recommend this to someone who wants to try OPI but doesn't have a huge OPI collection or for someone who wants to take OPI polished on holiday but doesn't want to fill their makeup bag with too many products.

OPI - Original Nail Envy Review

I've used this product on and off for a number of years and it's the best nail care product I've ever used and I'm a HUGE OPI fan!

I usually use this product when my nails are a bit weak and flaky although I always use it as a basecoat whenever wearing OPI polishes.

The way to use this product is to put 2 coats onto bare nails, then apply a colour polish if you wish, then either use a top coat or you can use nail envy as a top coat (which I recently have started doing and find it's very hard wearing.) Every 2 days you should then put a coat of nail envy over your nails again (over polish or just on top of the nail envy you already have on if you have bare nails)

I've only ever used the Original Nail Envy but I am looking to try the Matt version.

I did see a pink maintenance version of Nail Envy a while ago which I fancied but it seems to be out of stock everywhere so I think they may have stopped doing it but I'm going to carry on my search so that I can wear Nail Envy with a hint of colour as I prefer to wear a coloured polish on my nails.

Some people think that Nail Envy is expensive (its usually around £18) but keep and eye out on QVC as they usually do deals on Nail Envy sets for much cheaper. Word of warning though, I've heard that there are OPI fake products out there, ie products made to look like OPI but they're just imitations so I would try where possible to buy from official stockists.