NOTW - Essie's Tart Deco

Hi! I thought I'd do a little rave and review post about my latest Essie polish, Tart Deco, which you might have already seen me post a picture of if you follow me on Instagram. I was in love with the colour when I bought it but when I got home I wasn't sure whether to return it as it has very negative reviews on Makeupalley. I gave it a try anyway and overall I really like it!

I've had a few minor issues with the formula - same as Mint Candy Apple it is quite runny so you need to be careful not to let it go over the sides of your nails. If I do get any polish at the side where it shouldn't be then I find I can easily chip it off which is actually quite satisfying! However the formula and brush both leave you with a shiny and pretty look at the end. I think this one is also more opaque with one coat than Mint Candy Apple but I still preferred two coats.

I've also found that this polish chips a bit more easily than Mint Candy Apple - not that it completely chips off a whole nail, but more that it repeatedly chips at the tips of my nails, including the day after I'd topped it up and sorted out the chips, which was a bit annoying, but in fairness I had been busy doing stuff that day with my hands.

Overall I can get over any minor annoyances that I have with the formula because I absolutely adore the colours of Mint Candy Apple and Tart Deco. Tart Deco in particular is a polish that I think would be lovely on toes as well as nails.

There's actually since been a very similar coral colour released in their Summer Collection this year called Peach Side Babe so I definitely don't need that one as well but it also looks very pretty. If you're not sure which one to get, Essie Envy did a really helpful post here comparing the two and other shades in the collection. Right now I am really lusting after Chillato, a yellowy lime green shade which is nothing like anything I have in my collection. I wish I could buy and review the whole collection but I can't!

Also if you're a new reader and haven't seen it, I wrote a post about my 10 nail polish picks for Spring/Summer a while ago here. :)

What nail polishes are you loving at the moment? Will you be picking anything up from the Essie Summer Collection?

Sabrina xx

My Top 10 Nail Polishes for Spring/Summer

Hi everyone! I thought I'd share 10 of my favourite nail polishes for Spring and Summer in no particular order. I'm actually sort of 'shopping my stash' with this post as I don't need any more nail polishes and will probably be applying all of these colours in the coming months! I tend to mostly go for bright pinks and oranges as you can see in the picture below, but I also love pastel shades.

From left to right:

1. MAC Morange - this is the only MAC nail polish I own and the most expensive of the bunch at £10. I got this a few years ago when MAC released nail polish and lipglass versions of their most popular lipsticks, including Morange - it is permanent however. As much as I love bright lipsticks, I think this sort of bright orange is probably better off on my nails than my lips! It's been a while since I used this but I don't recall having any problems with the formula.

2. Rimmel Cocktail Colour in Shirley Temple - I am a sucker for glitter polish, despite how annoying it is to get off, and I love this vibrant shade. It doesn't seem to be available on Boots.com at the moment but I have seen it in stores. It's great on it's own or layered over a similar colour, like Barry M's Mango.

3. Maybelline Forever Strong in Tornado Rose - this is a very pretty and girly pink which is right up my street. (Excuse the white label mark - mine somehow got stuck to another nail polish!)

4. L'oreal Colour Riche in Sex on the Peach - firstly, great name! This is a peachy pink and definitely one of my favourites. The only thing with this is I think it's a bit expensive for a drugstore polish in terms of how much product you get for your money - it's £4.99 for just 5ml, so basically a pound per ml, which is the same as MAC as that is £10 for 10ml. I wonder if this will be the first nail polish I use up as I'm already about half way through!

5. Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint in Mango - a bright, shiny and very cheerful orange. It's gorgeous! However I do remember this one chipping quite quickly.

6. 17 Fast Finish Nail Polish in Peacock - this is a stunning turquoise with an almost duochrome effect going on - depending on the lighting, it can look quite blue or green.

7. Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Nail Paint in Stop the Clock - this is my most recent purchase of the bunch and what I've had on my nails for the past week. I love this colour! The other day I had to repaint both my index finger nails after they chipped when I was scooping up some coconut oil, but other that I haven't had any problems with chipping.

I wouldn't say it dried that quickly which is slightly disappointing, and it also can be a bit streaky so it needs at least two coats - but other than that, this is a great polish and very summery.

8. Essie Mint Candy Apple - this a beautiful mint green, a very popular shade from Essie and one of my all-time favourites, even though again the formula can be a bit streaky and runny making it sometimes a bit frustrating to apply - you have to be careful not to let it run on either side of your nail. I can deal with this though as the colour alone makes it worth it!

9. NYC In a New York Minute Quick Dry Nail Polish in Raindrop - This is a lovely 'sky blue' shade which I wore to match my May Ball dress in 2013. I would say this is the most bargainous out of all my picks, as for your £1.79 (or £1.49 on offer) you get a very nice quality polish - although again I wouldn't say it dries particularly quickly.

10. Barry M Nail Paint Boots Limited Edition - Sorry to choose a limited edition shade that I'm pretty sure is no longer available! I've included it anyway because I think this shade is quite dupeable - I had a quick look online and one example I've found is Revlon's Grape Icy, which by what I can see is a bit darker and more purple - see here. Essie's Splash of Grenadine also looks similar, but a bit lighter. But I'm sure there are loads more dupes out there for this!

There you have it, those are my 10 favourite Spring/Summer polishes that I'll be sporting this year. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this post!

I'd love to know, what are your favourite Spring/Summer nail polishes?

Sabrina xx