Nicole By OPI | Carrie Underwood Collection

Nicole By O.P.I Carrie Underwood Collection* | LINK | £2.99 each

Hello everyone! Long time no speak - super sorry about not blogging in a few weeks! I thought I would return to the blogging scene with some gorgeous nail polishes that I've been trying out recently. I was contacted by an online store called Xtras that sells a range of beauty products at discounted prices and asked whether I'd like to try some of the Nicole by OPI polishes from the Carrie Underwood range. This is by no means a new release from OPI, but it's also a collection I hadn't heard much about so I was super excited to try a few polishes from it!

L|R - Some Hearts, Lips Are Dripping Honey, Party Bus & Sing You Like A Bee

Out of the collection I was able to try 4 gorgeous shades that are perfect for this time of year. Some Hearts is a beautiful bright pink/ coral. Lips Are Dripping Honey is a chunky gold glitter top coat that I've found looks amazing applied over Some Hearts! Party Bus is a silver glitter top coat that also has little flower shaped pieces in that add a cute girly touch to your polish. Finally I also received Sing You Like A Bee which is a white dense glitter polish that has a slight golden tint to it.

I've found that the quality of these nail polishes is really amazing and they are just as good as other OPI polishes I've tried, despite the much cheaper price! Some Hearts gives a beautiful creamy and opaque finish in just one coat which I was pleasantly surprised with. I also found that this shade applied evenly and streak free which is great for when you're painting your nails in a rush! With Sing Like A Bee, you can wear this on its own but I would say it needs a good 2 or 3 coats to ensure an opaque and even finish. I wasn't as keen on this polish as the other 3, I think it was the golden tint that I wasn't sure on. I think this polish would be much more suited for the Christmas time when you want more of a sparkly effect!

As for the 2 top coats I think they are both a great way to introduce an added bit of glam to your manicure! Like I've mentioned Lips Are Dripping Honey looks amazing over Some Hearts (photographed below) and is easily built up in around 2 coats. As for party Bus, as it has the flower details in you need to be a bit more precise with application to create the same effect on each nail. To use this top coat I think it works best using a thin orange wood stick so you can stick each flower to your nails. This does take a little longer but the result is super pretty!

The main thing about these nail polishes that impressed me was their staying power! Obviously glitter polishes are known for their resistance, but the 3 I've tried from this range lasted really well for up to a week! This makes them amazing value for money as you know your manicure will last a long time. For Some Hearts again I was impressed that it lasted for 5 to 7 days with minimal chipping. I do a lot of tapping on screens at work so I do find that the tops of my nails wear quicker than the rest, but this polish still stayed strong and barely looked chipped after a week!

After trying the Nicole by OPI line and seeing how well they've lasted on my nails I'm definitely tempted to try out some more shades - they are some of the nicest quality polishes I've tried from the high street! As well as being long lasting, these polishes do also apply really well and with their tapered brushes you can achieve a beautiful even finish.

I've definitely been really impressed with these lovely shades from the Carrie Underwood collection and I'm looking forward to trying some more polishes from the Nicole by OPI line! I would definitely recommend trying out some of the shades and for just £2.99 on the Xtras website, it's a bargain not to miss out on! Let me know if you've tried any of these polishes before and whether you have any shade recommendations!

Have you tried the O.P.I Carrie Underwood collection?

What's your favourite O.P.I nail polish?

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OPI Mini Nail Treatments

 I'm someone who loves to have well manicured nails, but there never seems to be enough time in the day to do so! As soon as I go to paint my nails something else more important will always crop up or (the classic) as soon as I've finished painting them I instantly have to do something that will inevitably ruin my perfect mani! So I usually find I have to result to some handy nail treatments that speed up the process of painting my nails.

Last year I managed to find a set of 4 OPI Mini Treats nail treatments in my local TK Maxx (read the haul here) and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try out some well known favourites in the beauty world. The set I bought includes: Chip Skip, RapiDry, Nail Envy and Top Coat which are 4 vital products to keep in your manicure box! Since picking this set up I've used most of these products pretty much every time I've painted my nails, so I thought I would share my thoughts on them with you!

O.P.I Chip Skip | LINK

Chip Skip is essentially a nail primer that you apply just before painting your nails and helps remove excess oils so that your nail polish will last longer with minimal chipping. I do find this product works well, but only with certain nail polishes for some odd reason. For example, I find this works really well with my Maybelline nail polishes but doesn't seem to get along with Nails Inc ones and I find they chip within a day! I personally think you would get the same (if not better) effect just by using straight up acetone on your nails just before applying your nail polish as it does the exact same job! I wouldn't buy the full size version of this product but I will continue to use this in the future.

O.P.I RapiDry Top Coat | LINK

This little top coat is an absolute life saver and is probably one of the best fast dry top coats I've used to date! As I'm always in a rush to paint my nails I tend to use the RapiDry Top Coat as it leaves a lovely glossy finish to my nails plus makes them touch dry within a couple minutes. It's also great at minimising chipping and my nails usually stay looking great for around 3 days before chipping with this top coat. For me this is great as I like to change up my nail polish quite frequently anyway. I'm currently half way through my little bottle of this but I will definitely consider investing into a full size version of this top coat!

O.P.I Nail Envy Original | LINK

Ahh the infamous Nail Envy! This is probably my favourite nail treatment from this little set (followed closely by the RapiDry Top Coat!). Since using this on a regular basis I've definitely found my nails have grown quicker and (most importantly) have become stronger! I've always suffered with very weak nails, especially in the Winter months, so having found a nail treatment that really works excites me! What I also love about Nail Envy is that it's super fast drying and leaves a lovely shine on the nails, so is the perfect product to throw on to achieve clean, shiny nails before you head out the door! I would definitely purchase this in the full size version as it's really helped the condition of my nails.

O.P.I Top Coat | LINK

The final mini from this set is the standard OPI Top Coat which aims to give you a glossy finish and help minimise chipping. I'll be honest and say this is the treatment I've used the least purely because I love the speediness of the RapiDry Top Coat. However this does work really well and is great to use if you want to spend time on your manicure. Plus having a mini clear nail polish is super handy as you can pop it in your makeup bag for when you're travelling! I probably won't buy the full size of this mainly because I love the quick dry version, plus there's so many amazing high street versions of normal top coats that I would much rather use.

So these are my views on some of OPI's best selling nail treatments! I think their mini sizes are a great way to try out their products without committing your self to a full size product. Plus considering these nail polishes are only 3.75ml each they have lasted me almost a year which is amazing! If you're looking into trying any of these products definitely have a look around your local TK Maxx for the Mini Treats set.

Have you tried any of OPI's nail treatments?

What are your favourite nail products for the perfect manicure?

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Nails Of The Day | You're Such A Budapest

O.P.I Nail Lacquer in You're Such A Budapest* | £11.50

Hello everyone! Today I wanted to write a post about my first ever OPI nail polish! OPI is a high end nail polish brand which until now, I haven't got round to trying. I was recently able to choose any shade I liked from the Half Price Perfumes website and the one that stood out the most to me was You're Such A Budapest. I've heard some lovely things about this shade and I thought it looked perfect for the summer time. I've wanted to try OPI nail polishes for such a long time so I was very excited to be able to try this gorgeous shade.

You're Such A Budapest is a pastel lilac shade that has tiny pieces of shimmer in. It sort of reminds me of Essie's Bikini So Teeny, just more on the lilac side rather than blue. I love these sorts of shades for the summer and I think they compliment my skin tone really well. This polish hasn't got the thickest or creamiest formula I've tried, but is still easy and smooth to apply. It takes around 2-3 coats to make it completely opaque and it dries quickly with a glossy finish. I do wish that the shimmer was more noticeable once on the nails but I think it still looks very pretty. What amazed me about this OPI nail polish was how long it lasted on my nails! It took a good few days to start chipping and even then it was only slightly on a couple of nails, and that was without wearing a top coat! I'm really impressed with the OPI nail polish formula and I can see why it's such a popular nail care brand. As for the packaging, the brush is quite wide so makes applying the polish easy and quick. I also love the OPI nail polish bottles and think they look gorgeous when you see them lined up together in beauty salons! You also get 15ml of product which is quite a bit more than standard nail polishes (usually being around 10ml) so you are getting amazing value for your money!

I absolutely adore this nail polish and I know I'm going to get so much wear out of it during the rest of summer. OPI nail lacquers retail for £11.50 but on the Half Price Perfumes website you can pick one up for just £6.99 - bargain!

What are your thoughts on OPI's You're Such A Budapest?

What's your favourite OPI polish?

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