The Month In Manicures - July/August 2014

Hello beauty seekers! First off, apologies that the quality of the photos for this post may be slightly under par. I'm hurrying to try and schedule a couple of posts for while I'm away next week and this was a last minute addition with photos snapped on my phone. I haven't done a Month in Manicures post in AGES because my nails have been going through a bit of a difficult phase, but they've started to improve now so over the latter part of July and beginning of this month I've been painting them with pride once again. So this is a kind of mid-month edition. As always, these polishes are featured in chronological order with oldest first...

1) Nails Inc 'Sheraton Street'

You've all seen this one before on this blog and you know how much I adore it. It's my dream pale blue polish so, of course, it was my first choice when the time came to start painting my nails again after a little break. I got this as part of their In The Nude colour collection at the beginning of this year and I've been getting use out of all the shades, but this one is my secret favourite. 

2) Barry M Limited Edition Nail Paint (no shade name)

I have such a love/hate relationship with this polish. I picked it up as a freebie last summer as part of a Superdrug promotion and was instantly sold on the acidic, neon green. As beautiful as the shade is, it's a BUGGER to apply and stains quite badly, even with basecoat. For some reason though, I still can't resist it when the weather is as glorious as it has been recently. Neons are mandatory at this time of year!

3) Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine 'Dragonfruit'

I hardly ever go for pink on my nails. Not sure why, but it's just not my favourite shade to paint them any more. I think I spent so much time as a teenager painting my nails nothing but pink that I just went off it. However, I felt like something different last week and plumped for Dragonfruit, finished off with Barry M's new matte topcoat. 

4) Mavala 'Bamako'*

Another summer favourite from last year brings us bang up to date. Also a continuation of the summery green theme, but entirely different from the Barry M polish above. This shade is a deeper take on the aqua green polish trend (Barry M Greenberry and suchlike) and is almost earthy whilst retaining just the right amount of bright for summer. I've fallen in love with it all over again!

*****

It feels brilliant to be out of my nail-painting slump! My nails are such that they stay long and strong and gorgeous for so long, then after a period they all seem to break at the same time and go through a sad phase. I think I'm over the worst now and praying they will be back in all their former glory in time for Autumn so that I can bust out all of my berry and neutral shades once more. 

What colours are you wearing on your nails lately??

Mavala Chilli & Spice Collection for SS13

Not a Monday Manicure post as such this week but I AM talking about nail polish, which is a step back in the right direction. Last week I went along to see the lovely ladies from Pure PR who were holding a 'Summer Getaway' event to showcase their best summer picks from their best Beauty and Healthcare brands. One of these brands is Mavala, who just happen to have a new collection out for SS13. It's called the Chilli and Spice Collection* and I'm lucky enough to have all of the polishes for your swatching pleasure!

Mavala are a brand with whom I have had limited experience, to be honest. Until now I've only owned a single nail polish and a single lipstick of theirs (not that they were no good, I love them both, I just haven't come across many since). Based out of Geneva, Switzerland and named after it's creator, the brand has an extensive range of nail colours and treatments, as well as having branched out into lipsticks. The Chilli & Spice Collection is a selection of 6 Summer brights named after a taste of the exotic. 

On first impressions I'm most drawn to Samarkand, Bamako and Bali out of the selection but, honestly, all the shades are stunning. The only one I've had on my own nails so far is Samarkand and I was extremely impressed at the opacity of it after just one coat. After swatching all of the polishes it does appear that some of the shades take more building up than others. However, I'm confident that, after a couple of coats, you'd get a decent payoff from all of them. I've only swatched one coat for this post. All of the colours are flat (by flat I mean there's no shimmer or glittery bits hiding in there) and dry to a lovely gloss.

Hopefully you'll be seeing each of these polishes in all their glory on this blog over the warmer months. I'm not one for painting my nails over and over again for the sake of one blog post as I don't believe in wiping off a lovely paint job and I don't like to waste a great polish. It really is a lovely shade range though. The polishes come in Mavala's signature 5ml bottles.

The Mavala Chilli & Spice Collection is available NOW from selected Boots stores.

Do you rate Mavala polishes?? What are your favourite shades??

Much Love for Mavala!

Evening ladies!

I'm doing well this week and keeping up with everything i'm desperate to share with you all. Most of this week's posts will have been typed up in advance and scheduled, or posted as and when, Tonight's offering is dedicated to heavyweight nail brand

 Mavala.

I think most of us are familiar with the name Mavala, but it is a Swiss brand named after its creator (Madeleine Van  Landeghem) which has actually been around for over 50yrs! The brand is most famous for it's best selling Scientifique Nail Hardener, but has an extensive range of nail colours and has also branched out into makeup and skincare. I, for one, didn't even know they did lipsticks!! 

I learned more about the brand and drooled over all the gorgeous colours last week at an event and tonight i'm going to show you two new products that i have been playing with. 

Mavalia Lipstick in Shade 558 (Neon Pink)

The name of this lipstick scared me before i opened it. I thought it would be garish and Big Fat Gypsy Wedding-worthy. I was, in fact, WRONG! I actually had trouble getting it to look pink at all for these photos. It's actually a very pretty, coral-ish pink, summery shade. It has a slight shimmer to it, but not enough to put me off. 

(testament to my humble little Nikon that you can see both my reflection AND my fingerprints in this photo - who needs a DSLR)

These lipsticks contain both Botanical Extracts and Shea Butter to condition the lips as well as add a fabulous pop of colour. Upon further investigation i am guessing that the shade i have is one of the Sheer shades as, i am glad to report, it isn't as Va Va VOOM as it's name suggests once it is applied. In fact, i had to build up the swatch a little for the photos. 

So my neon pink lippy isn't nearly as scary as i'd built it up to be, and will be a great addition to my summer lip palette! I can imagine it will be gorgeous with a tan! 

Mavala Nail Color Cream in 182 (Fresh Melon)

I love that this is the colour polish i got in my bag of goodies! It's a tropical, peach/orange shade which is bang on trend for the approaching summer season and will also look good with a tan! I've actually been searching for a pair of jeans this colour. Mavala polishes only come in a 5ml size which is because, as was explained to us on the night, it keeps them affordable and who uses up a whole nail polish bottle anyway? This way you can buy TWO colours! 

Yes, i know, my mani is KNACKERED in this photo. I had actually only JUST applied it but my ferrets seem to have a radar for wet nail polish and, as usual, as soon as i started painting they were all over me. So that's why it's wonky and patchy. I give up haha. At least you can see the colour effect. 

It has a slight hint of a sheen to it, and two coats gives a decent opacity. Considering the bottles are small size, the brush didn't appear to be affected. In the OPI mini sizes, i find the smaller brush really makes application tricky and streaky but i didn't find this with Mavala which is a bonus. 

Overall i'm very pleased with these products. They are the first Mavala products in my collection and i doubt they will be the last. For more information on all Mavala's different products, and to find stockists, you can go to mavala.co.uk

What colours SCREAM summer to you?? Are you a Mavala junkie?? What are your favourite shades/products??