NYE NOTD: Nails Inc Chelsea Embankment

What do you do when you can't sleep? Read? Watch TV?  Just a touch before 5am this morning, I took this picture of my NYE manicure. Madness!

I usually don't like glittery nails,  but Chelsea Embankment from the recent Nail the Day TSV (classic gold glitter - no, really?) just spoke to me.  I'm coming down with something and I'm severely sleep deprived, so I think I can be excused a frivolous nail polish choice to end the year with.  

I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much.  Often a good solid block of colour/glitter requires at least three to four coats to reach the desired look.  However, if I had been a little more precise with the application I could have easily managed with one.  Super dense and chock full of glitter particles: this maybe the best glitter polish I've ever owned.  

Thankfully it doesn't feel particularly gritty on the nails -  as that's a massive deal breaker for me!  It looks so eye catching and sparkly. I can't stop staring at it. I know I won't look forward to removing it though. Glitter polish is  notoriously difficult and time consuming to remove.  Still, I'm happy with it for this evening.

What will your NYE manicure be? Are you going to be "blinging" in the New Year like me,  or will you keep it classic?

NOTD: Nails Inc Montagu Place

What's nicer than a really bright colour for Spring/Summer?  Nails Inc Montagu Place is a vibrant pinky coral shade, that could almost be mistaken for fluorescent in some lights.  To me, this shade just screams 'sunny day'!

This was my polish of choice for the Take That concert.  Unfortunately, after a gorgeous day it decided to rain just as the Pet Shop Boy's were finishing whipping the 55,500 people into a frenzy before the main event.  At least the crap weather didn't last very long!

I knew something was going to go wrong.  I was just feeling happy with my nails. They were almost all the same length.  I'd loved and nurtured to them to an optimal level.  However, disaster struck as I was leaving work on Friday night. I was trying to get (naughty) Dora out of my drawer at work.  In case you are wondering, Dora is my Radley handbag.  No, I'm not mad. I haven't given my handbag a pet name.  I'm mad but I'm not that mad!  It's the name of the bag! Seriously, it is. 

 Anyway,  as I pulled Dora out of the drawer, my nail went backwards and if you follow me on Twitter (@LeanneOCD) then you have seen the TwitPic of the calamity that was my badly broken nail.  It was SO BLOODY SORE let me tell you!!

Now, I know me.  As a former nail biter, I knew I couldn't leave all the other nails.  I'd have picked/bitten them to death.  So I got home from work and chopped them all down to sort of the same length.  That was pretty hard to do. But I needed to do it properly, before I wrecked them and began the cycle of self loathing. So don't be surprised if my next NOTD début's stumpy little nails - Booo freakin hooooooooo!

NOTD: Nails Inc Denim

It really annoys me that I paint my nails and then forget to take a picture straight away.  I'm usually at work or maybe even sat in the bath and it occurs to me that I've missed the golden opportunity to photograph my nails when they look perfect - well, as perfect as I can ever get them!!!  Meet Nails Inc Denim from the Nails Inc/Diet Coke collaboration. 

As you will be able to tell, these pictures have been taken after two, maybe three day's of wear.  And I think they are still looking pretty good.  This is a lovely opaque blue creme that translates a lot lighter on camera.  In some lights it looked almost teal to me, but these pictures show a bright, vibrant blue.  I loved wearing this colour. So pretty.  I think I'll have to go and choose a nice bright colour for work this week.  Who knows what I'll pick!

(Actually, I'm doing a bit of nail varnish shopping on eBay as I type. Never fear, I will report back on my purchases)

NOTD: Nails Inc Augustus Street

Nic kindly gave me Augustus Street in a recent clear out. I loved it in the bottle, then I put it on my nails.  And I hated it!  It was a matte/suede finish and I'm not so much of a fan of those.  I just think matte nail varnish looks like you have tipex'd you nails and then coloured them in. Not nice, well for me anyway.   Good news is that you can throw a bit of topcoat over it and it's back to normal.  So clearly, I love it again. 

In some lights it's grey, some it's a taupe/brown and in other's its the perfect greige colour.

Augustus Street with flash

Augustus Street in natural light

What do you think?

NOTD: Sally Hansen HD Nail Colour - Laser

What a total nightmare this is to photograph but boy do I love it!  This was a little NYC purchase last June and it still captures my imagination almost 12 months on.  

It's a blue polish that has a distinctly purple sheen to it, but it is virtually impossible to catch on camera.  You can see the myriad of colours bouncing off the flash,  although this polish is almost certainly better in real life. 

Laser translates onto the nail like a blue liquid metal, not dissimilar to a Minx manicure.  It does take about 4 coats to make it almost opaque.  Even then in some lights, it was still possible to see the nail tip.  The top picture will give you some indication of the amount of polish used, baring in mind that I have worn this a mere 3 times.  

I adore this polish and only wish we had Sally Hansen nail varnish in the UK, not just the treatments/topcoats!

NOTD: China Glaze - Coconut Kiss

I've had this on for at least 5 days, before I've remembered to take any pics of this gorgeous colour.  Whoops!  Actually, I still have it on right now, but it is looking a little the worse for wear.  Still, it should last through the day tomorrow - fingers crossed!

  China Glaze Coconut Kiss ( from the Fiji Fling collection) is a really vibrant, glossy metallic violet/purple.  In fact, it reminds me of Cadbury's chocolate wrappers for those of you in the UK.  And for that reason alone,  it is a pain in the arse to photograph.  In some photo's it looked navy blue, some a flat purple. Nothing I could do, would capture this amazing colour in it's true form.  I guess the most accurate colour representation is the one above (taken with flash).  It really needs 2-3+ coats to ensure opacity, but if you can push past that, then you can enjoy this beautiful colour. 

Coconut Kiss with flash

Coconut Kiss without flash

Ladies, I'm looking for ideas for my next manicure. All suggestions welcome!