Top 6 Nail Polishes For Summer

When it turns to summer nail polish seems to go from being a thing you occasionally do to a necessity! You see your chipped toenails peaking through your sandals and wonder where you went wrong in life and suddenly that bubblegum pink lipstick just can't be worn with your favourite dress because you haven't got the nail varnish to match.

Ok so it's not really all that big of a deal but I do feel like nail polish comes into it's own in the summer because there are suddenly no rules; its not about those rich, dark autumn winter colours or the pretty pastels of spring its about being as loud and bold or as demure and neutral as you like. It may not surprise you to discover that I am in the loud and bold category when it comes to summer
polish but I thought I'd show you what my favourite polish pics for summer are!

Clockwise from top left; Gold Mine, Passion Fruit, Papaya, Teal the Cows
Come Home, Mint Candy Apple, Pearly Blue Peacock

- M&S Limited Collection Metallic Polish in Gold Mine: this colour is a perfect silvery, goldy, shimmery neutral. I think it is perfect for those days when you want to wear something really simple and feel like a natural summer beauty with just that little something extra. It doesn't have great staying power though so I would recommend using with a good top coat.

- Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paints in Passion Fruit and Papaya: these polishes are extremely shiny (in case you hadn't guessed from the name) but are also really thick which is something you have to bear in mind when applying them so that you don't have to wait forever for your nails to be dry. However they last for ages and the colours are gorgeous! Passion fruit is the perfect orangey toned red that's really bold but just screams summer while Papaya is a much more understated yet equally summery peachy colour which looks great with just about anything.

- O.P.I Nail Lacquer in Teal the Cows Come Home: This was my very first O.P.I nail polish and I think it is perfect for summer! The colour is the same blue as the sea in tropical countries and I just think it looks like a beach holiday, its just gorgeous, plus I really like the formula.

- Essie Nail Lacquer in Mint Candy Apple: a cult classic, this polish is just so cute and I love the mint colour so much. I'm a fan of the mint dress so I have a couple I love to crack out in summer and this polish just matches perfectly.

- Kiko Nail Lacquer in Pearly Blue Peacock: similar to Teal the Cows Come Home I love this polish because it reminds me of the sea and the sand and holidays when I look at it. Being a sparkly blue polish with golden undertones this is more jazzy than the O.P.I one and if I just want to dazzle this is the polish I would reach for this summer.

So there you go my favourite polishes for this summer! What are your favourites??

How Much Is Too Much?

So as I said in my last post I've been home for the easter holidays this week and its been pretty hectic to say the least. But now all the running from place to place has died down a little and the "Oh my God I haven't seen you in ages! What have you been up to?"s are becoming fewer and fewer I can finally sit down and give my little blog a bit of much needed TLC.

In my very first post I told you how much I love lipstick and how it is one of my favourite makeup items. I also said how I tend to choose which lipstick to wear based upon how I'm feeling. This made packing my makeup for coming home quite difficult since I don't happen to have psychic powers (despite my childhood idolisation of 'That's So Raven') and so I don't know how I'll be feeling and therefore what lipsticks I shall be reaching for at the end of my month at home (yes I know 'bloody uni students do no work').

Therefore when I was packing lipsticks I took the same tact as I did with my clothes; if you think you might want it, take it (which is why I needed to bring two suitcases home...no packing light is not one of my strengths). However today when I was finally sorting out all of my bags out I realised I'd brought quite a lot of lipstick and when I counted I had 10! 10!

That seemed like quite a lot but then when I went through them I figured I'd probably covered all of my bases with what I had and all of them would get used. It was at this point I began to wonder how many is too many?? At what point do I stop being a girl with a lot of lipsticks and become a lipstick addict?? Will I need to go to LAA??? (Lipstick Addicts Anonymous, not as exciting as going to LA unfortunately).

It didn't help that today I went with my mum to Boots to help her choose a new lipstick and lipgloss and found out that she only ever needs the combination of the two to get by. Just two! For every occasion!

However now thinking about it more rationally I have begun to reach the conclusion that maybe everyone has their right amount of lipsticks. It's a bit like if you were to climb a mountain my mum would be there with a small rucksack and a thick coat while I would be there with all the materials to build a house and live quite comfortably for many years to come. Carrying on with this metaphor my mum may occasionally have to borrow a pick axe or a glove when some unforeseen circumstance comes along (no I don't know anything about climbing mountains how did you guess??) but generally she'll be fine.

Hopefully you stuck with me through that rather random and slightly too elaborate metaphor! Now for the good bit; the break down of what I brought with me...

- Maybelline Colour Sensational in Shocking Coral (and Neon Red), Revlon Lip Butter in Candy Apple and Rimmel Apocalips Lip Laquer in Big Bang my three favourite summery lipsticks at the minute (I mentioned them in my first post in more detail) 

- Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Honey and the Revlon Colourburst Matte Balm in Standout both of these feel very smooth and lovely on the lips, Honey is for when I want just a little bit of colour and Standout is for when I want a red that is not going to budge no matter how much I eat/drink

- M&S Limited Lipstick in Plum Shine I'm not sure if this was just out for Christmas or not but if it isn't you should definitely try it! Just applied it doesn't have great staying power but blotted down it becomes a lovely purpley pink with slightly blue tinged glitter which catches the light and makes a statement (sounds awful but I promise is really nice and I'm always getting complimented on it!)

- Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Hibiscus great for righting chapped lips and provides just a little colour...nuff said really

- Sleek Matte True Colour Lipstick in Mystic not the most hydrating of lipsticks but the colour is so gorgeous it makes up for it (you can see me wearing it in this post)

- Topshop Lipstick in Beguiled a dark red this is my go to night out lipstick since it goes with pretty much anything and always makes a statement!