Mani(c) Monday : The boys are back in town...

I spied me 6 new double sided bottled of Nail polish Loveliness in my chemist the other day. And I did a little happy dance in the store (much to the amusement of the staff). It landed so quietly I don't think anyone has spotted them in my local stand, as it was soooo full of them I struggled to get my choice out of the stand!!!

The new Nail Colour³ collection from Budget Brand Essence is on stands now and costs €3.49 for a double ended brush with two bottles containing 4mls of Polish each. One being a base coat and the other is an effect-topcoat (you can see the whole range on the essence website, under the nail art link ).

I went for 05 BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN.

 The base coat, called "boys are back in town" is a gorgeous eggplant/aubergine colour. I don't own anything like this gorgeous colour in my collection so it was coming home with me. One coat is 98% opaque, and it you are ok to work with one thick coat you will get full opacity with one coat. I like two thinner coats as it dries much quicker.

This is a very shiny formulation, which I like, as shades like these seem to be very dull and matte looking, even when they aren't a matte formulation. Its gorgeous and I love it.

The top coat, called "it's just a little crush" is a white frost based gel, loaded, loaded with pink, blue, purple and white micro shimmer. It is very similar to a LE top coat Essence released as part of its Black & White collection in 2011, but it is slightly different.

When used over the aubergine base coat it turns the purple a bit more pink and adds tons of shimmery sparkle.

Not Glitter. Sparkle. Like Edward.

The top coast works well as a stand alone polish as well. A Single coat adds a bit of subtle sparkle to your nails (just like Edward), and two coats make it a bit less subtle.

I experimented a bit with it and did a french tip look with my ring finger painted completely. Its not that noticeable on dull days, but when the sun comes out, I really like how it looks.

Then I did a non-statement statement nail. I used the base colour and top coat on all my other nails and just used the Top coat on my ring finger. LAHVELY. My tips showed signs of wear on the 2nd day, so I would use a good quality top coat to prevent this and any chipping if you want this to last.

Because this is not a glitter its extremely easy to remove. No scrubbing and rubbing.  While single colours run at €1.29, this costs a bit more than buying two single colours. But its totally worth it and I will be procuring two of the other offerings as soon as I can.

I love BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN. Its not the typical spring summer pastel shade, but I have been wearing it all week and I am not bored of it. I may just buck the pastel trend and wear my Autumn tones a bit longer :)