Here's the thing: when it comes to nails, I'm such a colour wuss. This is to the point where some of my friends will outright lament my aversion to anything other than nudes and pillarbox red. After my exams ended and the intense writing marathons drew to a close, I decided it would be time to treat my nails to a dose of colour - and, boy, did they get colour.
It all started with a trip to Space NK, where I spotted the Rococo nail polish range. The lady was just showing off their new Summer 2013 collection, which comprises a series of bold brights. Piqued by the colours and feeling a little daring, I asked if she could paint each nail on my right hand a different colour, to see which colours would match my skin tone best. Talk about throwing me in the deep end! On went the orange, yellow, fuschia, pastel green and baby blue, and it felt as though I was seven years old again, getting my nails painted in all sorts of funky colours and patterns at the school fair. I marvelled at a) the fact that I'd done it! I'd gotten over my phobia of colour on the nails! and b) it didn't look too bad! So I went home, toying with the idea of spending my Boots points on a variety of adventurous shades of nail polish. It took another few days before I stepped into the drugstore and carefully selected a few colours that I felt brave enough to try.
Among them was the Maybelline Forever Strong in Hot Salsa. This shade is a loud blend of orange, pink and red, and works particularly well in this summer season. The same varnish in the shade Mint For Life was next on the list, and this blue-toned mint green colour made me feel very on-trend, with everyone raving about its high-end sister, Essie's Mint Candy Apple. Either way, this range of Maybelline nail polishes is rather impressive. It does not last seven days, but that's probably just me as I wash and write and type and rummage around my bag all day long. Nevertheless, this formula lasts much longer than any other one I've tried before, and the brush makes application a breeze, given my serious lack of aptitude in painting my right hand nails with my left hand.
Let's move on to the beauty event of June, Charlotte Tilbury's Make-up House of Rock N' Kohl, which took place at Selfridges in London. My first ever proper manicure took place right here, where the most stunning nail design was bestowed upon my hands by the lovely Gemma from Lorraine Griffin. She applied two coats of a gorgeous deep maroon-red MAC polish (I don't know the exact shade, but I think it might have been Vintage Vamp), topped that with a matte coat, and then used a normal shiny top coat to draw dots on the matte background. The result was an interesting yet subtle design, and I could not stop staring at my nails for the four days that the artwork lasted. After it wore off, I decided that I loved the dark red shade from the manicure, and purchased the Max Factor Glossfinity in Ruby Fruit (which I deemed to be similar to the MAC polish).
But of course, my love affair with neutrals will never die. So imagine my joy when I found out that the freebie with the July issue of Marie Claire magazine came with a duo of mini Ciaté nail... things! I say "things" because one was a polish, and the other was a pot of teensy gold-coloured beads to pour on top of a tacky coat of the polish. I'm still dabbling in colours rather than in intricate nail art, so I gave the beads to my sister and kept the polish for myself. The shade in question is Cookies & Cream, a grey-ish pastel taupe, and it was just what I needed for some downtime from colour. Joining the neutrals brigade is the Bourjois So Laque Glossy in Coton Sur Ton, which I find to be the perfect my-nails-but-better shade. It gives a clean, sophisticated look that will never go amiss should you want to have something on the nails in a more conservative setting.
After this whirlwind fiesta of lacquer, my nails became brittle and were splitting, even though I had applied a base coat each time I changed nail colour. I needed a nail strengthener ASAP, and settled for the Sally Hansen Advanced Hard As Nails Nylon + Retinol Strengthener. I haven't been using this for long, but I can report that the splitting has ceased, and that I am optimistic for future prospects of healthy nail growth.
What are your summer nail polish heroes? I would love to add your recommendations to my growing (in colour) polish collection.
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