THE HUNT FOR A PEEL-OFF BASE COAT

feat. Maybelline Color Show Latte - one of my fave "barely there" shades

Once you've experienced the convenience and satisfaction of peeling off your nail varnish you'll never want to go back to a bottle of remover and a pile of cotton wool. I have been using the nailgirls 3-in-1 Base/Top Coat for a good year and although it is not marketed as a peel-off base coat, it does exactly that. It dries down quickly, lasts for a good few days, and then simply peels off when you want to get rid. Although it wasn't without flaw - it can a little gloopy, it sometimes flakes rather than peels, and it probably isn't the best for weak nails, I was content. I first received a bottle in a beauty box, then I trolled ebay for a second but have now not been able to get my hands on another. So, the search for a replacement has begun...

After a few half-hearted attempts to look up potential peel-off base coats on google, I finally gave in and just decided to pick up something from my local drugstore to try. With no particular plan in mind for what I wanted to purchase, an offering from Maybelline caught my eye.

I thought that at £2.99, this was worth a try. I've tried it a couple of times now and first off, this stuff is thick. It also requires a bit of drying time. The first time I used it, I tried to go straight on with a coat of colour and it did not go well. The thick and quite gloopy formula mixed in with my first coat of colour and became a bit of a stringy mess. I would recommend wiping off about 90% of the product which comes out on the brush and attempt the thinnest layer you can on each nail and then stick on a bit of Netflix while you wait for it to dry.

If you manage a thin enough layer you can probably go in with your next coat after a couple of minutes. I have to say I'm a three coat kind of girl so I layer up my polish and then top it off, of course, with some Seche Vite.

The second time I tried this, things actually seemed to turn out pretty well on the surface. I was off to sleep (I always paint my nails before bed) and they still looked good in the morning. Unfortunately, halfway through my day I looked down at my nails and one was completely bare with no polish to be seen. It does what it says on the bottle - it peels off... a bit too easily. It peeled off when I wasn't even looking - hence the bare thumb nail in the picture above.

I think I'd suggest you give this one a miss. I might give it one more try but if my polish can't even last 24 hours then the peel off perk might not be worth it in this case!

Please leave any base coat recommendations in the comments... it looks like the search will continue.

ESSENCE LOVE ME, CUPCAKE!

I've been sort of discovering the wonders of Essence over the last few months after finding their products in my local Wilkinson's. Their prices are so affordable and so far, I've found a lot of loves. I picked up this polish over a month ago but I've only just tried it out, and I'm impressed. Love Me, Cupcake! is a gorgeous lilac-grey shade with an adorable shade name. It's like nothing else in my (humble) nail polish collection and as I am a fan of purples and neutrals when it comes to nail polish, this is perfect for me!

Usually, I am strictly a three coat polish kind of gal, but this only took two coats and I didn't really see need for a third. The brush is wide so application was easy. I've only had it on a day but so far it's looking perfect still. I've heard raves about the Essence polishes from others so I'm hoping for a couple more days of wear from this! Definitely worth a look at only £1.60 and they have a huge range.

You can browse their collection online here, or check your local Wilkinson's. Also, you can see what other Essence products I've blogged about on this tag.

Tina xx

ESSIE BALLET SLIPPERS

After about a month of wearing mainly pinks on my nails, I thought it was time to try something different. Ballet Slippers was the first Essie polish I ever purchased, and I think I only used it once straight after buying it. I'm almost certain this was a Youtuber-inspired purchase (don't ask me which Youtuber though).

There's a reason Essie polishes are so popular and I think that's partially down to the awesome brush. It's the perfect width to cover the nails effortlessly. Ballet Slippers is a greyish off-white colour, and takes about three coats to build up full opaque coverage. It's not my favourite colour of polish but it's a nice change.

My nail polish collection is actually very small in comparison to my make-up. Do you have a favourite polish, Essie or another brand? I'd love some recommendations!

Tina xx

GAME CHANGER: A LIGHT-SPEED MANICURE BY BOURJOIS

When you try a lot of different beauty products many go unused and forgotten, but there are some which immediately become indispensable in your routine. I call these game changers. I have been religiously using two Bourjois nail products for the last few months which attained this status right from the first use. They both provided something I didn't know I was missing until I had it.

Let me introduce the first one in a story. For my graduation ball, I spent far too long working on my eye make-up that I left next to no time to do my nails #firstworldproblems, eh? Pictures were being snapped, and I umm-ed and ahh-ed over even possibly leaving my nails bare, but I remembered that I had picked up the highly recommended Bourjois Instant Dry Nail Drops earlier so thought I would put them to the ultimate test. I messily applied a couple coats of my thankfully nude nail polish completely skipping the top coat step, quickly squeezed a couple drops (possibly excessive in hindsight) and ran out the door.

The polish set almost immediately. I wouldn't recommend leaving it so last minute, as I was left with a few small marks and smudges but only when looked at closely. The polish held up, and dried so super quickly that every nail painting session is now consistently concluded with a small drop squeezed from the easy-to-use (and kind of fun) Bourjois pippet. From further use, I've realised that one drop per nail should suffice.

After the grad ball success, I've been using this every time I paint my nails after my top coat. The formula dries the polish so quickly, that the days of blowing my nails for half an hour and running them under cold water (I'm still not sure that actually helps) are gone. This really is a life-changing product. I'm sure there are others like this out there which I haven't tried, but this one is simple to use, and so effective that I'm sold. Oh, and it's only £5.99.

This is a must-have product for any nail painter; enthusiast or part-timer.

The second product comes in for under a fiver and is one that I used, most recently, just last night. The Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover is probably the reason I have been so much more consistent in painting my nails over the last 4 or 5 months. I have become so accustomed to its use that while watching TV last night, I absent-mindedly removed my nail polish to prep for a fresh coat. The pot of practically nail gold removes the polish in seconds. You dip your finger into the sponge, give it a little wiggle and it dissolves all polish on the nail. There's no messy bottle of remover you might tip over (at least if you knock this over you have a bit of extra time before it starts spilling) and no dreaded cotton wool. Unfortunately, the nail polish remover smell is not lost, but once the lid is shut your nails are left with a sweet red fruit and vanilla scent. It also has benefits for your nails - bonus.

There's a new addition to the line which includes an extra handy pull-out sponge for your feet which I've yet to try but it's next on the list. You can get it on ASOS for £5.99.

This dynamic duo from Bourjois is exactly what this post said at the start - a game changer. Both are so affordable and long-lasting (neither of mine have run out yet!). There's really no reason that you don't own them already. Get down to your local drugstore... now! I promise you won't regret it.

Bourjois Instant Dry Nail Drops here, £5.99

Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover here, £4.99

Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover - Hands & Feet here, £5.99

A BUDGET ESSIE FIND

I've been coveting Essie Splash of Grenadine for a while now, but parting with £8 for a single nail polish isn't something I like to do often. So, when I came across a set of 4 Essie minis with a similar looking shade included, for £6.99 in TK Maxx, I jumped at the chance. The shade which drew me in was My Better Half, which resembled Splash of Grenadine as far as I could remember from my frequent staring contests with the £8 bottle in Boots. After looking up swatches, they do seem to resemble each other so I've grabbed a bargain and still have three other shades to try out!

The set was Essie's 2013 Wedding Collection and you can purchase the shades separately on the Nordstrom website if you're in the US. I've yet to try the other colours, but I think I'll get use of them all and the minis are the perfect size to give me a small chance of actually finishing a bottle.

Here's to the Essie nail polish formula at a budget price. See if you can find this set at your local TK Maxx or other nail bargains!

Essie Wedding Collection 2013 here, $8,50 each