Models Own - Polish for Tans - Beach Bag

I'm wearing beach bag, the orange neon from the Polish for Tans collection today.  These pictures are 3 coats and a top coat for shine, without top coat the polish dries semi-matte.

 

 

I'd call this more of a bright peach rather than a neon orange, I'd love to see these in proper bright sunlight to see if they seem more neon that way, regardless it's pastel sort of finish definitely makes it more peach than orange to me, it's a pretty summer colour either way.

 

The application of this polish wasn't great, it goes on quite streaky and doesn't leave an opaque finish hence the third coat, it's worth sticking with though as the finished effect and colour are nice.

Models Own - Polish for Tans - Sun Hat

Another Polish for Tans shade today, this time the bright Barbie pink of Sun Hat on shorter nails.

 

 

These pictures are two coats which gives a nice bright opaque coverage.  The finish of the Polish for Tans is slightly rubbery and matte without a top coat but I like to add a layer of quick dry top coat to give them the super shiny look.

 

I wouldn't really class this polish as a neon, I suppose at a push you could call it a pastel neon but to me it really just looks like a bright, sugar sweet Barbie pink sort of shade.  It is lovely for summer though so although it's not a typical neon I do think it's a good pick for this time of year and will probably look great with a tan.

Models Own - Polish for Tans - Flip Flop

Flip Flop is the green from the Polish for Tans collection, it's a very yellowy green not quite as bright as some neon greens I've seen but still a bold choice for summer.

 

 

The polish can be slightly streaky to apply, these pictures are 2 coats with top coat and in some places I think a third coat might have been beneficial to fully smooth out all of the imperfections.

 

The polish dries very fast which can also make application slightly tricky, the finish is a sort of semi-matte, rubberised effect.  Although it's an interesting finish I refer to top mine with some top coat for a super shiny look.

Models Own - Polish for Tans - Shades

Shades is a gorgeous neon coral pink, really bright and zingy and perfect for summer.  Although the polishes in this range are meant to look best with a tan I think they also go rather well with my very pale skin tone and still pop beautifully.

 

These pictures are two coats with top coat, the polish dries to a sort of rubbery, semi-matte finish but I prefer how it looks with an added coat of top coat to make it super shiny.

 

The polish can be a little streaky to apply but it dries super fast and can generally be smoothed out over two or three layers and top coat.

Kiko Cupcake - 651 - Strawberry

 

Another Cupcake polish today, this time the pink from the collection 651, Strawberry.

 

651 reminds me of a strawberry milkshake, it's exactly the right creamy pink colour speckled through with red and blue textured pieces - hopefully you don't get them in your next milkshake!

Kiko Cupcake - 654

Another of the Cupcake polishes today, this time 654, Anise.

 

 

Similar finish and application to the others I have posted about recently but this time a pale blue base with darker blue sprinkles through it.

 

I really love the colour; it's a very bright, icy blue shade. 

 

 



Kiko Cupcake 647

 

647, or Jasmine as it's called on the UK Kiko site, is a white base with orange and blue speckles and strands through it's textured base.

 

These pictures are two coats and as you can see it's nicely opaque at that.  The polish dries reasonably fast but not quite as fast as the Sugar Mats, possibly due to the different textures and make up of the additional colour particles.

 

What really impressed me about this polish is how well it lasted, even without a top coat, it managed 4 days with minimal tip wear and no chips which is pretty good going for a textured polish.

Kiko Cupcake Nail Lacquer

 

I have polishes from a new collection from by Kiko to show you today, Cupcake Nail Lacquer, the release of them coincided nicely with a friend from work visiting Spain so she offered to bring me a few back, here are the four I chose;

 

648 Pineapple, 652 Lilac, 653 Wisteria and 655 Mint.

 

 

It pains me slightly not to buy the whole collection but I figured it was best to try a few out before getting carried away, as I wasn't sure I would love these quite as much as Kiko's other textured polishes the Sugar Mat Collection.

 

The Cupcake collection are similar to the Sugar Mats, but not the same; the formula is a bit chunkier as the Cupcakes have more multi-coloured pieces in them rather than just fine shimmer.  Despite this they apply in a similar fashion and dry nice and fast (although not quite as fast as the Sugar Mat).  They definitely have a slightly more chunky, textured look to them too.

 

 

The colours are lovely, soft pastels, perfect for spring.

 

The pale base colours are shot through with slightly darker colours in complimenting shades.

 

They reminded me of mini eggs when I first saw them on my nails, perfect for Easter, but actually they look less like mini eggs when you see them right beside mini eggs as my foray into using chocolates as props shows...

 

I still think they're pretty sweet though. :)

 

While I don't love them quite as much as the Sugar Mats on first try I do really like these so I think I might be adding a few more to my collection at some point.

 

 

 

 



Models Own - Beetlejuice - Tropical Sun

An older polish today, which might be discontinued as I can't see it for sale on the Models Own web page anymore, Tropical Sun from the Beetlejuice Collection.

 

 

Beetlejuice polishes are supposed to be colour shifting duochromes but this polish isn't really, it's a peach with a golden shimmer but not a true duochrome, in my opinion.

 

It's a great shade for spring or summer, these pictures are three coats as it can be a little sheer.

Kiko 288

Another Kiko cream today, this time in a perfect Barbie pink shade.

 

 

I love 288, it's bright and girly and gorgeous without being too over the top, a really wearable pink shade.

 

The photo below, with flash, shows just how bright and Barbie like it looks in certain lights.

Kiko 324

Although this polish looks almost black it's actually a very dark chocolate brown shade.

 

 

As with almost all the Kiko creams it applies beautifully and is opaque in just two coats.

W7 - Fluorescent Pink 2

I love my neon shades and I had to pick this one up when I saw it while I was away for the weekend recently, I'm pretty sure I don't have anything similar, this shade is not quite pink and not quite orange, it's a sort of neon coral colour, very pretty.

 

 

Try and ignore the shameful state of my cuticles and all the dry skin, winter is not being kind to me this year.  Application wise this polish is lovely to put on, it's smooth and slick and very easy to smooth out over the nail.  It's definitely a jelly like consistency though, these pictures are three coats and you can still see a hint of the staining on my nails, in fact, in real life it's actual a bit more obvious so this polish would probably benefit from a white base coat.

 

It was relatively fast drying and the finish is a nice squidgy, shiny look which you would expect from a jelly polish.  For a cheapy pick up from a market stall it's a pretty good buy this one!

 

Kiko 236

Kiko 341

An InLinkz Link-up

No 7 - Golden Palms

This is a Limited Edition polish from a little while back now, last summer maybe, or even the summer before, so unfortunately I don't think it's still available.

 

 

Golden Palms is a bronze based polish but in certain lights it has a sort of golden purple colour shift which make it really pretty and a bit more exciting than a flat bronze.

 

The formula isn't great, these pictures are 3 thick-ish coats and there are still patches where it looks quite thin, I forgive No7 for the thin formula though as this is a beautiful, glowy polish.

 

It changes to a much darker orange bronze when it's out of bright or direct light.