My Nail Polish Collection

Since moving back from university I have been very slowly de-cluttering and re-organising different parts of my room. To my parent's joy, I am still not done. However, I have gone through all my nail polishes and cleared out all the shades that I did not like anymore, had dried up or smelt funny. I cut my collection down by a reasonable amount so I thought I would show you what colours I chose to keep in my collection. I have not included any base coats or top coats as I go through those more quickly and let's be honest- they are clear nail polishes and everyone as their ones they prefer to use.


Reds
Red is a classic nail polish shade that everyone should have in their collection. It is a great colour to wear all year, works for many different occasions and looks very sophisticated. My two favourite red nail polishes in my collection are O.P.I I'm Not Really A Waitress and Essie Fifth Avenue. I'm Not Really A Waitress is what I would categorise as a perfect Christmas red. It is not too bright and has a  nice shimmer running through it. Fifth Avenue is more of a 'traditional' red without shimmer and I often wear it on my feet during the summer.

The other two red nail polishes that I have kept I want to try an wear more. The first is L'Oreal Paris Color Riche Nail Polish in Exquisite Scarlet. It is very similar to Fifth Avenue  but Fifth Avenue is slightly more orange-toned. It would make a great dupe for Fifth Avenue but I could not find this online so it might have been limited edition or they do not make the shade anymore. The final red shade is the darkest of them all and is also the most recent I received it in an issue of ELLE Magazine (UK Edition) and it is by Leighton Denny in Gemstone Buzz. I also could not find this online so it many have been exclusive to the magazine, I haven't worn this shade too much yet but I will try and wear it before the winter ends.

Pinks and Corals
Out of all the colours that I own, pink is the only shade that I only really wear on my feet. I have never been massively into pink other than in lipsticks and I find that all the pinks in my collection are either red-toned pinks or corals. I love wearing coral shades on my feet during the summer and very occasionally on my fingers as well. My favourite shade in this instance is O.P.I Bright Lights - Big Color as not only is it a beautiful colour shade but it has gold shimmer running through it which looks gorgeous in the sunshine! I also really like Essie Cute As A Button which is pretty much the same shade without the shimmer.

Despite not being too much into pink, one of the oldest nail polishes I still have in my collection is pink and is the collaboration Rimmel did to celebrate 50 years of Superdrug and is called Fifty Shades of Pink and was part of their 60 Seconds range. This is the one that I have worn the most of my fingernails and is a very nice dark reddish-pink shade, The final shade came from s nail art set by Seventeen called Ruby Gem and is almost burgundy but has a pink undertone.

Yellows and Golds
Although I do not own a true yellow nail polish anymore, I am still loving the Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Nail Paint in Stop The Clock which is a beautiful pale 'Spring' yellow. It stands out against my skin-tone but in a positive way. The only gold shade I own is Essie Summit of Style which is a glitter and is very popular within the beauty blogging and vlogging world. It looks beautiful on top of lighter and darker shades and lasts for weeks! It is however a monster to take off but that is the sacrifice you have to make to have beautiful sparkly nails!

Greens
Over the years the green shades of nail polishes that have been part of my nail polish collection mainly fit under mint greens or turquoise blue-greens. I have gone through many different brands to find a great mint nail polish and my current favourite is Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Nail Paint in Pole Position. Similarly to Stop The Clock, I wore this and it stood out so much on my nails and I have even worn this on my feet which I wouldn't normally do and it looked amazing! One nail polish that fits into both green categories is Essie Turquoise and Caicos but it is more of a green-based turquoise which might suggest why it could fit into both categories. I have two shades from the brand Technic in Peppermint Tea and the darker shade is South Pacific. I received these in different gift sets so I am not sure if they can be bought individually. I haven't really worn these colours since I have had them but I will try to wear them more often as the colours are really nice.

I think everyone needs a beautiful mermaid nail polish and for me, it is Nicole by O.P.I Poised in Turquoise. This shade is absolutely gorgeous and has been stolen by my sister in the past and who can blame her! It is a gorgeous shade to wear in the summer as it reflects the sun so beautifully an brings out all the blue and green shimmery hues within it. The only dark green nail polish that I have is O.P.I Cuckoo For This Color and I wore this a few times last year during the autumn and winter months in 2016 and I really like it and must wear it more. I like that it looks so dark but you can still see the green coming through.

Blues
Out of all colours, blue nail polish is my most owned nail polish colour. My two current favourite shades are Orly Nail Lacquer in In The Navy which is a gorgeous midnight blue navy shade and Essie Bikini So Teeny which is a beautiful powder blue shade. I wore In The Navy as a base colour underneath Summit of Style over Christmas and my nails looked like a beautiful night sky. I love Bikini So Teeny because I am a sucker for anything powder blue - note my obsession for the powder blue Fiat 500, despite the fact that I have not learnt to drive yet. I adore this shade of blue but I do find that when I put a top coat over it, it tends to go a little darker and have a purple tint to it? Please let me know if this happens to anyone else?

I own two nail polishes in the royal blue shade and they are Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Batbano Blue and Max Factor Gel Shine Lacquer in Glazed Cobalt. Batbano Blue is shimmery and more of a true royal blue whereas Glazed Cobalt has no shimmer and is slightly darker. I also have two more shades from Technic; a dark blue called Blue Ink and a gorgeous glitter called Kingfisher Blue. Kingfisher Blue is almost identical in colour to Poised in Turquoise and I think it will look gorgeous over other colours. The final blue that I own is another glitter and it is by Seventeen in Navy Glint. I think this shade will work beautifully over In The Navy or Cuckoo For This Color.

Purples
Purple is my favourite colour but I find I don't actually wear a lot of purple - is that weird? Now although I might not wear this as often as I wear other colours I do love all these colours. I have two lighter purples which are Rimmel 60 Seconds Super Shine By Rita Ora in Go Wild-er-ness and Nicole by O.P.I Oh That's Just Grape. I am currently obsessed with the Rimmel shade, it was one of those purchases when as soon as I saw it, I had to buy it! Oh That's Just Grape is more purple whereas the Rimmel one is more lilac or lavender. The only 'proper' purple nail polish I own is Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy in Up The Ante and it is probably my least worn purple shade as I find that it can look a bit strange against my skin-tone in certain lights so I might not keep it for much longer.

The shade that I have probably worn the most since having it is O.P.I Russian Navy. Although it has blue in the shade name, it could fit into many colour categories as it has blue, red and purple shimmer running through it but on myself, the purple strokes through the most so I keep it in the purple category. The final shade is also by Technic and is a purplish-red called Purple Thistle. I do want to wear this more as well as I do really like this shade of colour.

Browns and Nudes
This is the only shade category which is not really a category and only one actually fits into it. That shade is Revlon Colorstay Gel Envy in Perfect Pair. I tend to only wear this when I am going to a formal place or event when I do not want to be wearing bright and colourful nail polish. I wore this on my university graduation as my graduation robes and sash were already clashing (navy and coral that was definitely more peach.) The other two shades are O.P.I Brisbane Bronze which is a gorgeous true bronze shade and O.P.I OPI Scores A Goal! which is a reddish burgundy brown. I worn this shade quite a lot since owning it and it is a great shade for those who don't like nail polishes that are too dark. It is also make a gorgeous red-toned nude on darker skin-tones.

Grey and 'Greiges'
Grey and 'greige' has been a very popular shade of colour within the world of beauty, fashion and hair and I think it looks best in nail polish. The grey shade is a Nails Inc for InStyle Magazine in When Doves Cry and it is a gorgeous cool-toned grey and it is such a shame that it was a one-off for the magazine because I would definitely repurchase it when it is all finished if I could! In the greige category, I only have one. Well technically two but they are both the exact same nail polish. They are the Barry M Speedy Quick Dry Nail Paint in Pit Stop. Tip - make sure when you are about to buy a beautiful nail polish that you do not already have it at home before buying it. Yep, I made that mistake. I would pass one on to a friend but I cannot remember which one I bought first and I probably end up using both bottles, However, the mistake does show that is a gorgeous shade! Also, I probably took about a million photos of these nail polishes and I could not get it any brighter - I did try to increase the brightness in editing but it did not look right so I apologise for the darkness.

Mixed
One nail polish which doesn't really fit into any specific colour category is Lottie London Nail Polish in Voltage. What attracted me to this nail polish is the colour which in my opinion looks a lot like petrol (in a positive way!) It looks like different colours under different lights and when you move your hand around. It is a really cool colour to own and I am definitely going to wear this more in the future!

So they are the all the nail polishes that I have chosen to keep after my clear-out! I would love to know what your favourite nail polishes are and what colours you like and wear the most! Also let me know if you would be interested in hearing a collection update later in the year to see if I have worn any of colours that I have said I would try to wear more!

Ellyn xx


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