Swatches of Summer - The Freebies Edition

Hi Everyone,

After the rigmarole of my PC being naughty, and the relief of not losing everything on it, I found myself having a good old nosey through my 'nail files'. I managed to find a couple of pictures of polishes I had swatched during the Summer, but not actually given them their own post. So I guess we could call this an honourable mentions page haha!!

First up, the rather wonderful Plush Pink from Leighton Denny.

A Leighton Denny polish, for free? Awesome. I so should have got them all, but at the time I was rather un-moneyed. So I got just one, but I'm glad I chose this one!

It's bright, glossy and ever so PINK! And it has a fantastic formula. This is roughly two coats, but I think I could have managed this in one slightly thicker coat. I have come to the conclusion that I would have paid full price for this. Every time I see a Leighton Denny stand, I am drawn to it like a moth to a flame, and each time I pick it up I call myself a silly, as I already have it!

If you want it too, it's £11. And worth it.


Next are a pair of Ciaté polishes! I do LOVE magazine freebies - I'm sure you can see that haha! And I am quite fond of Ciaté polishes - I love the extra detail of the bow on the bottle. It shows that the extra thought went into the design, and I appreciate that!

This one is a real beauty and is called Purple Sherbet! A name as fun as the polish itself! And one that makes me really want a Sherbet Dib Dab!

It is a gorgeous mid-toned lilac - not too washy and not too dark. Perfect to slot into my collection, as I didn't have anything quite like it. Now I do! Yay!! This has a nice formula, but is pretty sheer and needed three coats for decent coverage. And I apologise for the unattractive nick in my ring finger, but I was attacked by a monster!

Look at the claws on the vicious beast! So wild! And a bit gorgeous, even if I do say so myself! Anyway, back to the reason we're all here!!


Next is Bon-Bon, a rather sweet offering! And a rather lady-like colour, if you ask me! Oooh, nails like a grown up!

So... the colour.... you tell me?! I would have said it's a dusky pinkish colour. But it's also griege-ish. And in some lights, it's a grilac. It's not a duochrome or anything, just a basic creme polish, but I find it so hard to define it to one colour. The formula was nice the first time I used it and took two coats, but the second time, it was a little bit streaky and needed three. Still, I can't complain as it's a lovely nude-ish shade, and a great way to stay on the nude trend without having mannequin hands!

So there we have it, my favourite freebies from the last couple of months, all deserving of an honourable mention!

Did you manage to get hold of any of these?

Let me know!

Love Charlotte x

Nails Inc Polishes - Free with In Style Magazine

Hi Everyone,

Today I am going to share my swatches of the Nails Inc polishes I got free with this Month's In Style Magazine.

I have to say, I like the fact that Nails Inc give away full sized product like this, and I wish more nail companies did it - that way we can try their products and decide whether we are going to become addicted to their products, without making costly mistakes.
I have managed to pick up a fair few Nails Inc freebies over the past year, which is always nice. However, sadly none of them have inspired me to pay the full £11 price tag for one of their polishes. I don't know what it is, but given the choice I would rather take a sum like that to the OPI counter instead. I wait until I see them reduced, or on offer instead. TK Maxx often seem to have to Nails Inc packages for rather good prices!

Saying that, these two have made me re-think some of my previous negative thoughts about Nails Inc polishes. The formula on these seems much improved - a thicker, more pleasant formula. There was still a tiny bit of drag, but overall, a noted improvement. I just hate the feeling that I am gambling if I buy one of their polishes. I know that there are many people who adore Nails Inc polishes - I'm afraid I just haven't tried a polish from them that made me squeal with happiness. And yes, I do squeal with happiness when I find an awesome polish. For £11 - I want squeal-worthy polish!!

Anyway, enough of my chatter! The first swatch is of Bluebell, which is a gorgeous periwinkle blue colour:

I have to admit, I am somewhat fond of this colour. My biggest issue is that I don't think there is anything particularly unique about it. Truth be told, I wouldn't have paid full price for this, but I'm glad I have it. I'm a tough girl to please, I know! And full of contradictions too, if you don't mind.I used a top coat with this, and used it as a base for some stamping I did, and had almost two days wear with only minor tip wear. I only took it off through boredom and the desire to do some more stamping!

Next is Power Pink. I hate the name. It makes me think of flower power, and big garish pictures of multi-colour vomit inducing cartoonish flowers. The colour is rather nice, just a shame about the name. Power Pink? Seriously??

I do love a good pink, and this is a good pink! It's a blue-toned pink which I think is rather flattering. It is very girly, has great coverage with two coats and definitely worthy of a better name. It dries to a very glossy finish, but has a sort of plastic-y feel to it. It also chipped like mad, and looked as though it would have peeled off if I had been in the mood to try. As it dried relatively quickly, I didn't use my usual fast-dry top coat, but next time I will, to extend the wear time.

Another slight gripe is that the polishes didn't have the names printed on them. I had to peel the stickers off the tatty boxes they came in, and stick them to the bottom of the bottle. They were the perfect size for the bottle, so why bother with putting it on the box? Gah!

Both of these polishes would have been opaque in one thick coat, but I feel they both needed a second coat to cover the patchy bits left by the drag. Whilst wet, the polish looked like it had streak marks, but thankfully both dried to a smooth and glossy finish.

All in all, who doesn't love a free polish? And these are definitely worth the £3.80 for the cost of the magazine. Personally, considering the full retail price, I don't think these stand up to competition like OPI and Leighton Denny, or even China Glaze which are a bit cheaper! That being said, I'm still glad I have them!

Love Charlotte x