Rimmel Super Gel Polish Review

When it comes to wearing gel nail polish, once you've struck up the motivation to do them at home, you're bored halfway through. It takes about an hour to complete and it only lasts a week. Rimmel London have just released their take on gel polishes, without the light. What would you do if I told you that in five minutes you could have a full gel manicure? Well it's true, and I am a complete convert. This is the Rimmel Super Gel Beach Ready Collection with polishes in bright colours that will last up to 14 days.

The shades I received were Purple Splash, Coral Queen, Sun Fun Daze, Dive Right and Flamenco Beach, but I actually picked up two extra shades from Superdrug: Boho-Licious and Punk Rock. To be honest I can see myself picking more up, as once you've applied the Top Coat, the varnish looks super glossy and it looks like you've just stepped out of a nail salon. They've also got some more subtle shades like Perfect Posy and Bare Yourself if you're not into bright shades, but the bold ones are so good for the summer months.

I did have to play around with these, making sure each coat of Super Gel polish was thin, letting them dry and then applying the self-curing Top Coat to finish it off. Sometimes I had bubbles once the curing top was dry but you just have to play around to make sure you get it right. One important tip: keep the polishes out of the sun. I was applying the Top Coat after it had been sat on my desk in broad daylight and the texture wasn't as good as it normally is. The brush inside all of the polishes is thick so it doesn't take ages to apply, and I've noticed minimal amounts of streaking which is good for me. It doesn't last 14 days, but no polish lasts on my nails for more than 4 days as I have naturally oily nails which I've only just discovered. My nails are fragile and bend easy which encourages chipping, and I do end up with chips after 2 days. I really don't mind that, as I've only ever had one gel manicure that lasted longer than a week before but I didn't like the colour. I'd rather take this off and change colour and know that I'll have a few days out of it while it still looks great.

It doesn't sound like my review is glowing, but honestly I'm impressed! For me to go for the first full day of wear chip-free is amazing for me and that's enough to satisfy me. To have a further few days with minimal chips is a bonus. If you like the look of them, make sure to check out them out over on ASOS or have a look at the Kate Collection, French Manicure and Dark Colours for more shades.

Post contains press samples 

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Homedics Pampering Weekend

Everyone loves a good pamper, so when Homedics sent me some items to use, I knew I could use them on a weekend to make the most out of them. I love getting my nails done, so they sent me the Rokit Salon Gel Nails Kit (£69.99)* and the Foldaway Luxury Foot Spa (£49.99)* to try out.

The Rokit Gel Nails Kit includes a professional LED curing lamp with timer, 50ml Ready polish preparation, nail file, buffer, cuticle stick and 5ml Bordeaux Red gel nail polish. I love the shade of the polish as I wouldn't normally reach for this colour, but it's a beautiful red wine colour that lasted on my nails longer than other cured nail polish. My nails are, bluntly, pretty rubbish at holding onto colour so for this to last longer than the other curing kits I have is a small miracle in itself. The lamp is really easy to use and it's great that it's not boxy so you can slide your nails under the lamp, preventing you from smudging the polish before it's finished. You can remove the gel polish with normal nail varnish remover which is a plus too.

I'm currently so limited on space at the moment as I'm currently saving for my first house which is exhausting and means that I'm living in a more cramped area. Having a foot spa that can fold away is so useful for me. It pops out and folds away easily, but I did have to get some help for this as I'm not the strongest gal out there. It will fit just about everyone, as the foot spa fits up to a size 12 so even my boyfriend can try it out and means I have plenty of space too. When you switch it on it vibrates which work with the acu-nodes to stimulate acupressure points on the soles of your feet. I've enjoyed using it and will definitely bring it with me when I move into my house!

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Semilac UV Hybrid Polishes

I have a love-hate relationship with my nails. Naturally they're quite brittle, and no matter how much I take care of them or how much money I spent on expensive polishes they chip after a matter of minutes let alone hours. Over the past year or two I've been focusing on polishes that are cured under a lamp that aim to stay on the nails for about a week or two, so when Semilac got in touched I jumped at the chance to review the UV Hybrid Gel Polishes*. They retail at £7.99 each and they are an innovative combination of gel, UV and nail polish properties in a wide range of colours. They aim to offer a high gloss finish alongside superior, long-lasting performance and will revolutionise the way you manicure your nails.

I have the shades 083 Burgandy Wine, 141 Lady In Grey and 004 Classic Nude which are all shades I'd happily wear on a daily basis. Semilac boasts that you'll see benefits of up to three weeks of wear that are chip and smudge free, an easy application, high gloss finish and superior performance. Now because I knew that my nails are the problem when it comes down to polish performance, I wore my favourite false nails (Elegant Touch Bare Nails in Stiletto) to test this out as they normally last two weeks on my nails and I tend to fiddle with things more with nails on so it would be a good test for chipping. For me, they lasted the full two weeks and only one nail chipped slightly which to be honest is my fault as it happened whilst I was reorganising my makeup storage.

They were super glossy and looked so professional and it's great that they require any lamp to cure the polish so I used my LED lamp which worked exactly the same. I actually applied the colours on different fingers with one nail having an ombre look from all three polishes and then one nail with glitter on and they looked like I'd had them done in a nail salon. Having asthma that is mostly reactive when I come into contact with chemical products means that I can't go into nail boutiques so I'm over the moon with how glossy the polishes are.
The application is really easy and has less steps than my normal gel nails kit does which is obviously pleasing as you don't want to be sitting around for an hour when at home it should take less time. Semilac also do regular nail polish which you can also buy from their website here. Next time I'm stocking up on more polish colours I'm definitely going to pick up some blue and pink shades as they also look beautiful. Overall I'm really impressed, and for £7.99 for multiple uses I really don't think you can go wrong, compared with a rough price of £20 for a single treatment in a nail salon.

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Collection Cosmetics New Nail Varnish Collection

Summer is here but the weather doesn't quite know what to do with itself. It can go from pouring down with rain from the sun shining so brightly you're eager to whip out the factor 50. I used to wear black nail varnish all the time until I decided that blue was much more my colour but I love being able to change my nail varnish to match an outfit. Collection Cosmetics new nail varnish collection* has a huge range of colours to suit every outfit. The nail varnish is aimed to last 7 days (hence the name). Here are a few of my favourites:

The 7 Day Wear collection and the 2 in 1 Top & Base Coat cost £1.99 which is an absolute bargain for nail varnish these days. The Long Lasting Nail Effects cost £2.99 which again is nothing compared to some of the overpriced nail varnishes on the market. I don't think I've ever spent more than £5 on nail varnish since I change it so often so the polishes in this collection are of both good quality and don't break the bank.
I adore the pastel shades in this collection the most and have already tested them out on my nan! I have her subtle pale pink nails with a bit of sparkle and I think she secretly loved feeling pampered for 10 minutes! Thank you to Collection Cosmetics for letting me try out the new range! The Collection is available to buy from Boots and Superdrug now. You can view my other Collection Cosmetics posts here.

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Fuse Gelnamel Starter Kit by Sensationail Review

Hey Guys,

This post excites me so much! If you've noticed in the past, I am a huge fan of nail products. I love wearing false nails and painting them. Although regular polish doesn't wear off as much on false nails, I love having long lasting colours on my nails, especially gel nails. I had the opportunity to review Sensationail's latest product, a Fuse Starter Kit*.

Fuse is the first Genamel kit to hit the high street and has been the most requested product in 2014. Why? Because the kit lets you have an at home manicure, for a fraction of the price. It doesn't take as long, and looking for me being asthmatic, doesn't have harmful chemicals in the air.

I had the colour 'Elec-tric or Treat' which is an orange toned red. These photos are with one coat, but you can add others on. The technology in the polish dries evenly and you cure the polish using the mini LED lamp for 30 seconds. Luckily, since the lamp is so small it has a usb cable which can plug into a mains adaptor or any usb port. I plugged mine into my laptop since it was the closest thing to me.

After curing the polish, you take the gel cleanser and wipe over your nails to take away any excess and you're done. You would think that since you paid and cure each nail individually that it would take longer than going to a salon, but surprisingly it wasn't. I tested this on my toes too, but nobody wants to see feet on the internet, do they?

There are 12 colours online at Boots currently, including solid colours and glitters. The original Sensationail kit is equally amazing, but the Fuse kit is more affordable and quicker! You can buy the Starter Kits for £35.00, individual Gelnamel colours from £15.00 and the Cleanser and Wipe Refill Kit from £9.50 all at Boots.

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INM Northern Lights Holographic Nail Polish Review

I had a reason to get my nails all pretty to review the INM Northern Lights Hologram Top Coat Polishes* in silver glitter and gold glitter. I used Barry M's 'Berry' underneath so you could see the effects of the glitter.

left hand: gold glitter

right hand: silver glitter

Comparing the two, the gold stands out more than the silver. They are both gorgeous top coats, leave no chips and seal in nail varnishes together. I applied two coats of each to test them on each hand. These photos really don't do the varnish justice and I think I'll layer a coat of each on next time I use them.

I love how they are top coat polishes and not a normal varnish with tons of glitter in them. I like to be able to see the base colour along with a bit of glitter (I am very impartial to glittery nails if you haven't already noticed).

You have to shake the bottles up before using them as the glitter settles at the bottom, which is what I normally do anyway every time I paint my nails. On first impressions before use, I would have gone straight for the silver as it looks so sparkly, and silver matches my outfits more. However, upon use the gold is not as 'yellow' looking as in the bottle, shining through like little stars, hence the name 'Northern Lights'. 

You can buy the gold polish and the silver from Jica for £9.35 each.

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