#NOTW - Week 2

Now that autumn has well and truly made itself known, with the shift in season comes a shift in colours, and not just where clothing and eye makeup are concerned. I've been really bad recently after I grew my nails to a decent length, I gave them a good nibble and they're back down to a fairly short length, boo. So, it's back to square one and painting my nails to stop me biting them more, it's the perfect excuse to wear a mix of autumnal colours. 

I like to wear a nude colour on my nails when they're quite short as I think it distracts from their actual length. But I also like to mix it up a little bit and add a couple of accent nails: I love painting the ring finger, but I tend to throw the same colour onto my thumbnails too, I think it gives a more uniform look, if that makes sense! I think No7 banged the nail on the head when it came to this Deep Wine shade from the Gel Look Shine range. It's a perfect deep, rich wine colour, with notes of burgundy and plum, although the camera certainly picks up more of the burgundy than the plum. This makes for a perfect pairing with the Practically Perfect shade from the Stay Perfect range, the perfect nude for my pale skin.

This is three coats with the Practically Perfect shade to get it to be opaque; even with my short nails, two coats still shows the white tips. I personally don't mind using three coats to get the desired look as the coats are fast drying with this formula, and I've never actually got through a full bottle of nail varnish before, so this could be the first! The Deep Wine shade is with just one coat as this colour is so heavily pigmented, but for wear I have added another coat to ensure it will last, and keep its high shine finish.

A change from my usual bright colours I love to wear on my nails, but this is certainly weather appropriate right now in Britain, and I love the simplicity of the combination in the colours. The No7 vouchers are back in Boots again, so when you spend £4 in store you'll receive a set of vouchers which will get you £5 off the No7 skincare range and £3 off the No7 cosmetics range, and I would certainly recommend you pick up the Deep Wine shade, it's the perfect addition to anyone's range, especially for just £4 with a voucher.

What's on your nails right now? What colours are you loving?

#NOTW - Week 1

In a bid to stop me biting my nails so much (I tend to go through phases: grow them until they're lovely and long..but when they get too long, I bite them all off. :|) I'm keeping my nails painted in lovely bright colours, which is getting my nails to be the perfect length! 

For work, really, I do have to wear colours by No7 so we can promote the brand, if asked what I'm wearing. To be fair, and this opinion goes back to before I worked for No7, they are my favourite nail varnishes in terms of colour, wear, brush and texture!

This week is only a short week for me at work, I'm only in three days because of the bank holiday (yay!), so I'll probably wear another colour this weekend, but at the moment I'm loving Purple Bouquet from the Gel Look Shine range by No7. It's perfect for this time of year, where we're still clinging onto the slight hope of summer here in Britain, yet the weather is letting us down; the colour is bright, but not too in-your-face, enough to brighten your day, and because it's that kind of purple, I find it tends to go with a lot of things rather than clash with them. I also think it's going to be a great colour going into autumn, clashing perfectly against a thick, mustard jumper..let's just hope I can find one when I go shopping in Manchester on Sunday, it's been a while!

This is two coats of the colour after three days of wear, and silly me forgot to put a top coat on! (A habit of painting my nails in bed, just before I go to sleep.) Hence, the slight wear at the edges of the nails..oops. Saying that, I've been doing a lot of things with my hands, and there's no big chips and still a high shine finish.

If you've never tried the nail varnishes from No7 before, I certainly recommend you do so when you next get one of the £3 off vouchers you always get when you shop in Boots, and you never quite know what to do with them. The Gel Look Shine range hosts 14 different shades, ranging from nude to bold and includes a top coat. What's different about this range, compared to your traditional nail varnishes is that the colours are highly pigmented and the formula is slightly thicker (note: however, not gloopy), which I tend to find gives a longer wear and helps to smooth out any ridges/dents on the nail. 

Okay, so I can't say I've tried "gel look" nail varnishes from any other brands (yet), but I'd say that these are a great starting point in terms of colour, ease of application and long wear. I find the brush, which is the same in No7's standard Stay Perfect range, is the perfect size for my diddy nails; it only takes a couple of sweeps to coat my nails, and there's no faffing around with trying to get an even coat, as this is instantly achieved. 

At £7 (or £4 with a No7 voucher), I say: why not? Some of my favourite colours are from this range, so I wouldn't be surprised if you see more of them in my future #NOTW..

What nail varnish colours are you loving at the moment?