Beauty, Health, Product review

The nicest nude nail varnishes

13 February 2016

6 Comments

A little post about my favourite nail varnishes

I am slowly emerging from my personal hell, or so it feels. Do I dare to hope I have seen the back of my awful migraines? Since Tuesday, I have suffered from skull-splitting headaches and sickness every single day, and only since yesterday I have managed to avoid having any more lapses. Once the worst pain and sickness recedes, all I can do is sleep, I have no strength to do anything else… Almost two days since my last attack, I am still having trouble looking at the computer screen or reading, my eyes are hurting and weird light patterns are dancing around in front of my eyes like fireworks in the night sky. Under different circumstances I would probably find this amusing but I would much rather not have these fireworks at all. My GP recommended lots of rest and so far I am fed up with resting… I want to go back to normal life.

As a means of gentle way back into being able to do normal things (including looking at the computer screen and blogging), I thought I would write about my favourite nail varnishes, I really love these shades as they are very pretty and universal.

I am usually terrible when it comes to my hands: I tend to pick the skin around my nails, especially when I am nervous or am watching a particularly nerve wracking film, or if the skin on the cuticles gets too dry and catches on clothes I end up tearing it off till it bleeds (ouch, I must really stop doing it!). I have also been known to chew my nails too (I know, such a bad habit!). The only time I feel that I actually stop with the chewing or picking is when I have a good manicure. Being a low maintenance girl (or lazy, which is probably a more accurate reason for my ways of doing things), I do not go to nail salons but rather apply nice nail varnish myself, it then protects my nails from any external damage and makes my hands look nice(er). So, it is as clear as a day to me that applying nice nail varnish is the way to go if I want to keep my hands pretty 🙂

My current favourite nail varnishes are Essie in East Hampton Cottage and Mademoiselle shades, Christian Dior in 108-Muguet and Guerlain in 00-Lingerie.

Essie nail varnishes in Mademoiselle and East Hampton cottage

You will have noticed that these shades are very similar, although I think Essie Mademoiselle is a little cooler than the other shades, Essie East Hampton cottage has some very subtle shimmer in it, while Dior Muguet has a tiny bit of coral shade in it. I acquired all these varnishes at different times and it is quite fun to see that my tastes do not really change.

My gorgeous nude colour nail varnish selection

Essie varnishes are fantastic, they do not seem to stink too much (an important factor for me), and I love the consistency of the fluid itself, it seems to cover my nail with just a couple of strokes without me needing to go back to that same area again and again. And trust me, I am awful when it comes to applying nail varnish, and application on the right hand is the right stuff from the nightmares for me. But having good brushes and good nail varnish certainly helps.

My all time favourites – Dior in 108-Muguet and Guerlain in 00-Lingerie

Dior and Guerlain are very special to me, they seem to be thicker in consistency compared to Essie varnishes, but the biggest-whopper-bonus for both of these is the brush. It is wide and flat, it holds just the right amount of product on it, which allows me to effortlessly apply the layers in just one or two quick strokes. Both these beauties dry very quickly too. Even though they cost “just a bit” more than Essie varnishes, they last a very long time (just look at the size of Guerlain bottle, it is a little hippo in comparison to Dior!). As I alternate between my nail varnishes, I make them last a very long time. I have repurchased Dior several times over the years (I think this shade used to have a few different names), whilst Guerlain is the first bottle for me, but I intend to repurchase it too when the time comes.

When it comes to healing my nails, many years ago I have discovered Nail Tek Intensive Therapy treatment that worked brilliantly on my nails, where Sally Hansen and other big brands have failed. I used to have terrible, weak nails, but Nail Tek was an absolute saviour for me! I do not often resort to using Nail Tek these days as my nails are just fine, but I have a bottle in my draw that is still going strong and has not dried out after quite a few years! Nail Tek is much more widely available in the UK nowadays, I have just found tons of Nail Tek products on Amazon.co.uk. I remember the good old days when I had to order it from the US, this bottle may have even come from there!