My Favourite Nail Polishes

nedelja, april 24, 2016


In all my years of blogging, I've never done a proper post dedicated to my favourite nail polishes, but I've had it planned for quite a while. I can't say I boast with a massive collection, they all fit into one not yet full drawer and every nail polish purchase is carefully considered, so I don't tend to buy them the first time I see them. I often say that pretty much all nail polishes last forever on my nails and the reason for that is because I have very strong, hard, healthy nails, though Seche Vite also contributes to lasting power, a fact I noticed since I stopped using base and top coats (no particular reason apart from laziness and saving on products), but this means that I don't really care what brands I buy. I have quite a lot of Essies (whole collection here), which I could call my favourites, but I only buy them when they are 50 % off and to be fair, I only care about colours and not the formulas in general. So this is more a post about my favourite nail polish shades and those who might be searching for information on how long they last on the nails won't find this too helpful. These are the types of shades I gravitate towards and I rarely go out of my comfort zone, for example, I really don't like yellow on the nails, not even light pastels.


By the way, this nails wheel from Tedi is supper strange and it made nail polish swatches all crinkly, so ignore that. The ones I got before in the pink packaging where fine, but these with a black cardboard label are just bad.


I talk about this one a lot and it's one of the best nude nail polishes ever, certainly as far as the formula is concerned. It's such a pretty nude shade with a cool undertone that makes my hands looks so polished. Against my fair complexion it's more like a modern, slightly darker nude, but on light-medium skin it's the perfect nude. It's one of those new gel effect formula ones, so it's super smooth, fully opaque, easy to apply, non-streaky and has a great glossy finish. It's also the most borrowed nail polish in my collection.

The perfect modern taupe shade which has a considerable amount of lilac tones in it. It's another gel formula one, but thicker than most such textures.

Let's ignore the whole colour changing effect here because I can't get it to work, instead let's focus on the colour. It's a medium, slightly taupe grey that just works so well with my skin tone. I call it a pretty, "weird neutral", not a classic nail polish colour, but one that somehow just works and looks great on the nails. It's a sheer, classic formula, so it needs at least three coats.


This used to be my favourite nail polish of all-time and I still love it, but I there are other shades I like more. It's a brightened coral-pink and on the very rare coral shades that doesn't look orange on my nails. The formula is amazing because it's super smooth and even.

My only proper classic red. It's blue toned, so it looks very sophisticated and professional, it also has a bit of that retro feel. A true classic that everyone should own, by that I mean the colour, though the formula of this shade is lovely too (to be fair a great majority of reds perform well).

A warm medium pink that just has that something extra special. The formula is like at Cute as a Button, so super pigmented, basically a one coater and you can easily get it right with one swipe of the brush due to a smooth formula. 


My favourite nail polish for colder months. It's a perfect mix of warm purple and deep red, which I find so pretty. People say it's not that unique, but I tend to gravitate towards such colours and I haven't found a proper dupe.

The absolute perfect proper vampy nail polish. It's a stunning plum-burgundy shade that looks almost black in certain lights, but you can mostly easily see the reddish-purple hue of it because it has a jelly finish. 


I have pretty decent collection of mint green nail polishes including the famous Mint Candy Apple, but a great majority have a very difficult formula to work with. This Kiko one has by far the best formula out of all such shades I've tried. It's a bit more green than Mint Candy Apple and not as bright, so it's like a muted version of the shade, which I find prettier. The formula is smooth and requires two coats for a nice, even application. 

Bahama Mama is my favourite autumn/winter shade and this is my favourite spring/summer shade. It's a white base with a touch of sky blue in it and it has that tiny bit of greyness to it, which makes it so special. The formula is quite sheer and light for a pastel nail polish, so I need two-three coats for an even opaque finish. I think it's being discontinued at the moment because L'Oreal changed their nail polishes, so you can find it for 30 % off.

I used to have this nail polish by Essence called Deep Blue Sea, which was my favourite for a long time, but it was discontinued. Well, this is its dupe. Night Club is a navy blue with light blue frost and it's like an off-black, since the base itself is very dark, but the blue reflection makes it more interesting. 


As far as glitter nail polishes go, I'm very picky and their removal process is not exactly what I'd describe my favourite chore, but this shade is so stunningly gorgeous. It's like crushed diamonds on the nails and it's super glamorous looking. It's not a unique shade and there are quite a few dupes (Illamasqua Trilliant and P2 Sand Style polish 070 Pretty to name a few). It last forever on the nails, which is not that surprising for glitter.

This was love at first sight. I've been searching for something like this for a long time and it's kind of my dream glitter nail polish because I love bronze. It contains bronze particles that come in two sizes, small glitter and large hexagons. It's more of a top coat with medium dense shimmer, which you can build up. Of course, it is the type of nail polish that is excruciatingly hard to remove, but it's worth it.

A silver-grey shade with a metallic-frosty effect that looks so great on the nails. It's very pigmented and though Models Own suggests applying 2-3 layers, I find one works best, but that also means it doesn't last as long, though applying more, can make it streaky because it's frosty. 


This was the best effect topper ever. I say was because as far I know it was discontinued, but I don't know if Essence maybe made the same one under a different name. It doesn't look like much in the bottle, but over a black base, this creates a fantastic space/galaxy effect.

Another space nail polish. It's a limited edition shade, but it's not that old, so it's very possible it's still sold. It's a navy with holographic glitter that imitates a starry sky. It applies quite sheer for the first coat, but two-three give you full coverage. 

Be Berry Now is like Bahama Mama's rosier and lighter cousin. It's one of those warm purple-pink shades that I love and definitely less purple on the nails than how it appears in the bottle, which I actually really like. It been discontinued a while back, but one of the new shades called 10 True Love is a supposed dupe.

My favourite proper nude nail polish. It's just perfect for my skin tone and the formula is amazing for such a shade. Unfortunately it was a limited edition, but you can still find it on Fragrance Direct for a very affordable price.


By the way, I have a swatch gallery where I have a collection of my reviewed nail polishes. It's at the end of the page. 


Have a great day!

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23 comments

  1. Joj tale L'Orealček mi je pa toooolk všeč. Misliš, da se ga še dobi v dm? Naslednjič ko grem definitivno preverim :)

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    1. Še so, zihr :) Sem jih videla v Ljubljani in pri nas :)

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  2. Kaaakoo so lepi, vsi!:D Tistih ki še nimam, so zaj na WL,še posebej Deborah Pink Pulse, ki ga kupujem že od kar si pisala o njem :P Zdaj pa res grem po njega. Pa oba poletna Essie-ja, če bo spet kakšen popust :D Glede na to, da imaš rada vijolično-roza odtenke, pa ti bo morda všeč še Essie Flowerista :)

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    1. Deborah imaš zdaj 1+1 gratis v DM, če še velja :) Flowerista mi je pa že preveč vijola :P

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  3. Tale L'Oreal je res krasen, če mi ga uspe najti še kje pri nas, ga ziher kupim. :)
    Drugače pa se splača te nail wheele naročevati iz Kitajske (eBay, Born Pretty), ker imajo dosti lepšo površino kot tile iz Tedija in ne spremenijo toliko finiša laka. :)

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    1. V parih DM-ih sem jih videla še kar nekaj :) Sem si vzela še zelenega Pistachio Dragée.

      Hvala za tole. Prejšnji, ki sem jih kupila v Tediju so bili vsi kul, ampak tile so pa grozni. Pa še dva sem vzela :/

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  4. Just bought my first Model's Own nail polishes and I'm super exited to try them, they're in some beautiful metallic shades :D

    Katie | katieemmabeauty.com

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    1. I like their HyperGel line, but these Chrome metallic ones are cool too :)

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  5. WAW, sami čudoviti odtenki. Še posebej pa so mi všeč bleščični Essie *___* xx

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    1. Summit of Style je čudovit, še lepši v živo kot na slikah :) Res škoda, da ga ni tudi na stojalih v DM-u.

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  6. wau tisti prvi trije odtenki. drugače pa so nasploh odtenki meni zelo blizu. super post :)

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    1. Ti "umazani nude" nevtralni odtenki so mi čudoviti in tako moderno ženstveni :) Hvala <3

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  7. Meni je tale Be Berry Now bil res super, sploh odličen odtenek in tekstura in vse, ampak mi ga je že zmanjkalo :( Moram priznat, da mi niso preveč všeč laki iz The Gel serije.

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    1. Be Berry Now je bil res najboljši Essence odtenek ever :) Ja, se spomnim, da si rekla, da ti niso všeč. Sem opazila, da je zelo odvisno od odtenka kakšna je kvaliteta. Postali so zelo hit-or-miss.

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    2. Ja se strinjam :) Saj odtenki so lepi, pa večinoma precej prekrivni, samo se mi zdijo tisti, katere imam, bolj gosti in se ne nanašajo tako lepo. Sta mi pa všeč odtenka Forgive me in Play with my mint :)

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  8. So much variety! I usually go for the same shades :-)

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    1. It's quite varied, yes, but there are still some shades I never buy :)

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  9. Zanimiv izbor lakov! Od vseh omenjenih lakov imam samo Essie Bahama mama, ki se mi zdi res klasika in bi ga morala imeti vsaka ženska :)

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    1. Bahama Mama je res čudovit lak in se popolnoma strinjam s tabo, da bi ga morala imeti vsaka :)

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  10. Kiko Jade Green in L'Oreal sta mi res lepa. :) Se popolnoma strinjam glede Icy Fairy to je zagotovo en najboljših effect nadlakov. Tako malo dela za tako dober učinek. Nisem vedela, da ga več ne prodajajo, kakšna škoda :/. Essence ima meni na sploh zanimive te efffect nadlake in večkrat me kakšen premami :).

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    1. Res, Icy Fairy je popolnost. Že kakšno leto nazaj so dali iz prodaje, to je bila res specialno trapasta poteza. Mene ti novejši nekako ne pritegnejo, razen tisti ice effect :)

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  11. Pri količini lakov, ki jih imam, sem kar presenečena, da nimam Bloody Marry to go :D Ga morem obvezno kupiti kmalu, ker je res čisto klasičen odtenek :)

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    1. Saj jaz sem ga tudi šele lani kupila, pa še to zato, ker sem ugotovila, da za tisto objavo o treh rdečih nimam klasičnega rdečega laka. Zdaj ga pa stalno nosim :)

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