Gem and Jo's Polish Picks - Special Edition

Hello, Hóla, Bonjour and welcome to our Special Edition Polish Picks! Not only do we have our usual nail varnish picks of the week, but this time we both got some special top coats that we tried out! Hence the 'Special Edition' title.
Check it out!
Jo's Picks:

I  know what you're thinking, deja vu right? You've seen this Barry M nail varnish in our polish picks before. Don't worry you're not losing it (not just yet anyway), this week I decided to go back to this beautiful shade and pair it with this crazy ombré polish from Catrice cosmetics. One of my little secret obsessions at the moment is ombré, from ombré hair (check) to ombré clothes (check) so I thought the only ombré thing I missing was ombré nails. Then this baby hit the shelves and it was like my little mission was complete. 

So all you do to achieve this ombré look is apply one coat of the polish on top of your nail colour to your middle nail, two coats to your ring finger and three coats to your pinky finger. That's all there is to it! The consistency of the polish is very thin so it can be a bit tricky to apply (as you can probably see by my botched attempt above. It was late, I was tired, I have all the excuses!). You also have to make sure that each coat has dried fully before applying the next coat or the polish can bubble a bit (and nobody got time for that). Apart from that, the nail polish is a bit of fun and can be put over pretty much any light or pastel colour. Red tones and pinks do tend to work a bit better though as the polish itself has a red tint. 

The Polish is great for jazzing up a nice pastel colour and you can find this nail polish anywhere that sells Catrice  for around €3.00 (not too shabby eh?). 

Check it out  on Catrice's website here. 

Gem's Picks:

   

So back to the blues. Again. I think I have a million shade of blue polish and you guys will get to see them all because I don't have anything else. Kidding! I also have a pink one. 

This week I used Primark's P.S. Love range yet again, this one a deep royal blue colour that actually matches everything in my wardrobe. I also added a Matte top coat that I picked up from H&M a little while ago. If you know me, then you know my obsession with matte everything. 

Matte + royal blue = my life. 

I was hoping that the top coat would provide the polish with a little staying power, but alas I believe this polish cannot be saved. Yet I still wear it. I'm strange. 

The top coat however is absolutley amazing! All you do is paint your nails as you normally would, then once it's dry, add the top coat like any other. Except it dries matte! Magic! 

Any polish made matte. It really is a wonderful invention. 

   

If your like me and painting your nails to any degree of success means you've completed your life's mission, then you would have been super proud. I think I shoved my hand in everyone's face shouting "LOOK AT THEM!!" I was just so happy with the colour, the texture and how I had managed to keep my hand so steady. It was a true Christmas miracle. Except not at all Christmassy. But a miracle none the less. 

Pick this top coat from H&M stories for €3.50

Check out H&M's Nail polish range Here

What nail trend have you been loving lately?
Thanks for reading!Until next time,

Gem and Jo's polish picks

So here's what we've been wearing on our nails recently!

Jo's Pick:

I recently bought a few nail polishes for Topshop, and this lovely was amongst them. This is Topshop's Nail Varnish in the colour Moondance. This is a gorgeous blue(y) silver holographic colour.

This nail polish dries super quickly, but the best thing about it is definitely the colour. The polish gives off rainbow hues in the light and it looks like the reflective strip on a high visibility jacket. It seriously looks super cool. Unfortunately this nail polish chips quite easily without a top coat, but slap a good quality top coat on and that problem is solved.

I found this polish on sale in Topshop for €4. I don't believe that you can get it online but if you see this in store I highly suggest picking it up. This would be perfect if you wanted to take part in the holographic trend (without dressing head to toe in it and looking like a space man). This would also cool over a blue nail polish to give it an extra sparkle.
Check out Topshop's other nail colours here .

Gem's Pick:

So after trying Primark's matte pink colour in our last polish picks post I've become a little be hooked on matte nail polishes. So I decided to give Sinful Colors nail polish in the colour Savage a go. This is a beautiful matte teal colour.

This nail polish dries really fast and a truly opaque colour can be achieve from only one coat! The polish gives the nails an almost rubber texture which looks really great. I would however recommend wearing a base coat underneath the polish as it can leave blueish stains on the nails once taken off. However as long as a base coat is used this won't happen. 

I purchased my bottle from my local boots store for €2.49, But if you live in the US you can find Sinful Colors in a lot of different drugstores and supermarkets such as target (it's a little bit harder to find in Ireland and the UK). For €2.49, this polish is great quality and I would definitely recommend it to any matte polish lovers out there. 

Check out their website here

Thanks for reading. Let us know if you like these nail polishes in the comments below (we love to hear your opinions!).
Until next time,

Gem and Jo's Polish Picks

It's that time again! (What time you may ask). The time when we let you know what we've been wearing on our nails! Here's our nail polish picks of the week:

Jo's pick:

So this week I decided to go for something a bit more classic (but still with a fun summer twist) and try out No7's Gel-Look Shine Nail Colour in the shade Hotting Up. This is a beautiful blue toned pinky-red nail polish. 

The great thing about this nail polish is the shine it gives off (even with out a topcoat!). It really is amazing and to be perfectly honest I think this is one of the best gel-look polishes I've tried in terms of shine. The consistency is quite thick (but not gloopy) and adds a nice layer to the nail, which gives the effect of gel nails. The staying power is great too and doesn't chip easily at all.

This nail polish is more towards the higher end of nail polish prices at €9.99, however due to the quality of the nail polish I think it's well worth it. Plus this classic summer red is sure to be used time and time again.
View all other shades and buy it here

Gem's Pick:
This weeks polish is brand new to my collection and it was an absolute bargain! It came in a set of 4 polishes for just €2.50 from Primark, (Penney's for the Irish folk). It's part of the P.S. Love collection and they have a ton of seriously gorgeous shades, all of which I may or may not have bought...

This shade is called Magenta and is fabulous in and out of the bottle! Most shockingly for me, it is the only bottle in the box which is matte. (Which isn't stated on the box) I didn't even know until I applied it last night! The great thing about matte varnishes is they dry super fast, and because they dry matte you can tell when they're ready for the next coat! 

As pretty and unusual as this polish is, I've only had it on my nails since last night and it has already chipped. It seems to just come off in flakes which makes me really sad. However this could either be due to the fact that it was really inexpensive or that it is a matte varnish, I'm not too sure... Either way I love the colour and the finish is fabulous. Maybe an investment in some matte top coat would prolong this polish!!

P.s. this colour makes even Ginger Gem look tan! This polish can be bought from most Primark stores across Ireland, take a look at their website Here

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed this post.
Until next time,
XO Gem and Jo