Nail Varnish Favourites

regretsafter

My personal favourites are Nails Inc and Barry M, both I fend extremely long lasting and less likely to chip

lin.c

Not trying to encourage any money spending here (:A) but went to TK Maxx yesterday and they had a few Leighton Denny sets, a couple I recognised from QVC, which included the Silver Screen collection for £29.99, and the Little Gems collection for £14.99.

It might be worth a trip for the LD fans out there

Star123

lin.c wrote: »

Not trying to encourage any money spending here (:A) but went to TK Maxx yesterday and they had a few Leighton Denny sets, a couple I recognised from QVC, which included the Silver Screen collection for £29.99, and the Little Gems collection for £14.99.

It might be worth a trip for the LD fans out there

Thanks, i've been wanting to try leighton denny, might pop to my local tomorrow and see if they have any.

Star123

My OPI black shatter and Teenage dream came today, teenage dream looks really nice and the black shatter is amazing I've just tried it over princesses rule and it looks great

terra_ferma

I'm resurrecting this fantastic thread to post some money-saving tips.
As I needed to replace most of my old kit that I hadn’t used for ages, I’ve been doing some research on nail products, and here’s the stuff I personally found most useful:
(some of the tips were mentioned before on this thread, but still valid)


CHEAPER STUFF

Superdrugs: currently having a fantastic 3x2 sale on make up, including Andrea Fulerton, Gosh, Revlon.
MUA: £1 (yes, that’s 3 for £2), but not sure about quality
Barry M polish £2.99 (and £3.99 for crackle effects)

ELF: cuticle pen £1.50 (cheapest I’ve been able to find)
Matte effect: £1.50 (as recommended on this thread)
Cuticle pushers: 2 for £1.50.
Delivery is £2.95


BRANDED

Varnish:
Opi: from £5.95 on Amazon
Orly: £6.74 on ebay
China Glaze: £ 4.10 from Venus (+ £4.95 shipping), but not latest shades
Misa and also Color Club: £3.00 (not widely known brands, but used by pros and highly recommended)
Essie: £5.58 at Beauty Express


Top/Bottom Coats: Lumos top+bottom system is top of the range, highly recommended, found on ebay but expensive. CND and Opi also highly recommended, but here’s branded, good quality but cheaper alternatives:
Orly top 2 bottom all in one: £6.70 on Amazon
Essie 3-Way Glaze £5.94 Beauty Express

Nail Files: Sand Turtle (extremely durable, good quality, I’ve cut the block in half to have two normal-sized files, love it!) £1.85 on Ebay.

Crystal Nail File: Revlon £4.99 Superdrugs (included in 3 for 2 offer)

Shiner/Buffer File: Andrea Fulerton Mirror Shine Glosser £4.99 for 2
(included in 3 for 2 offer)
Or The Edge super Shiner File £1.95 on ebay

Cuticle Remover: The Edge £3.95 on ebay

Polish Remover: Cutex Nail Polish £1.55 (not included in 3 for 2 offer)



USEFUL WEBSITES
Venus: very low prices on nail varnish, but postage £4.95
http://www.venusnailsupplies.co.uk/

if you want to buy in bulk, or team up with friends/family these are good sites:

Beauty Express (free shipping, £50 excl VAT minimum order, need to add vat to prices shown. Supposedly trade only, but didn’t state any criteria for purchasing so I think it’s open to anyone)
http://www.beautyexpress.co.uk/


Trans Design from the USA has great prices, but you have to wait a bit longer and may have to pay VAT and duty.
e.g China Glaze $2.99.
Flat rate shipping for small items is $20, which was fine for up to 9 nail polishes, then increases to $50
(if you want to see shipping costs without entering your card details click on paypal payment even if you don’t actually want to use it)
If you have a problem you’d have to pay return costs to the states though, even if you took advantage of paypal buyer’s protection.
http://transdesign.com/index2.asp
(personally I don’t think I’ll use them, but I’m including them for information)

glowgirl_2

I'm not an nail person but like them to look decent, I bought Glamour magazine the other day and it had a free Nails Inc varnish in Basil Street, its the most beautiful neutral colour, I'm so pleased I would pay full price for it, there are 3 other colours available with Glamour in Decembers magazine too:)