Sunday 19 May 2013

Fabulous Nails - Underdog Nail Polish Brands

After I posted my Spring Pastels post (HERE) where I shared some of my favourite nail looks for Spring, I started thinking of other posts I could do along the same lines. Today's post is about some of my favourite nail polish brands that are not as prominent in the blogosphere and less hyped, in the hopes of introducing you to some polishes you might have overlooked in the past.


Here they all are! What a pretty picture. The brands featured in this post are Miss Sporty, Collection and Kiko Cosmetics. First up, Miss Sporty!


Miss Sporty is a brand which I think most people my age associate with being a young teenager and new to the world of fashion and make up. They are a budget drugstore brand and even I don't think I would try out any of their make up items in favour of mid range, tried and tested brands like Barry M or Soap & Glory. However their nail polishes are absolutely brilliant. They cost £1.99 each (but are usually on offer) and the colour range and quality is superb.

The colours above are L>R:

060 - a stunning pearlescent turquoise blue, 346 - a pretty green toned turquoise that reminds me of Barry M Green Berry, 324 - a bold blue toned teal

 320 - a bright electric blue, 304 - a summery coral red and 312 - a true gold.


The packaging of Miss Sporty polishes isn't great, but I think this is predominantly because they stick those godawful stickers on the lids! If the lids were left plain and white I think the bottles would look much nicer (but the stickers are the only way of differentiating shades which is why I haven't ripped them off). Overall I am a big fan of these polishes, they are really pigmented, require only two coats, last well with a decent topcoat and priced at only £1.99 its easy to bulk up your collection without harming your bank balance. Available online HERE or in store at your local drugstore.


Next up are these Collection Hot Looks polishes. Collection is a brand that can be hit and miss, for example the majority of bloggers rave about their Lasting Perfection concealer, but some of their other products haven't gone down so well. Their Hot Looks polishes are a real hit in my book, priced at only £1.99 each again they are a bargain! Some of my most used polishes are Hot Looks.

The colours above are L>R:

Scandal - a gorgeous deep shimmer red, All That Jazz - a shimmer gunmetal, Minx - a bold shimmer purple

Angel Wings - a beautiful pale grey, Jitterbug - a gorgeous metallic blue/silver, Vogue - a dark blue and Fruit Loop - a pastel orange that's one of my favourites!


As you can see by the condition of the bottles, I've owned some of these a long, long time! I think Minx and Vogue were some of the first polishes I ever bought! Hot Looks are amazing quality for the price, they apply perfectly as the brush is just the right shape, they last for 4+ days with a good topcoat and you usually only need two coats. The look of the bottles isn't great and I think there's room for massive improvement. Another negative is the size of the bottles as you don't get loads for your money, but still for £1.99 they're a bargain buy I'd recommend! Available online HERE or in store at your local drugstore


Finally here are five of my favourites by Kiko Cosmetics. Kiko is a brand I first picked up when travelling in Venice, but only a few months afterwards the brand launched in the UK with their first store in Westfield London. These polishes are consistently very high quality and last longer than most brands I've tried. They apply incredibly well and the brush is very easy to use. The colours I've tried are some of the best in my collection and require only two coats. Usually priced at £4.90 but often on sale for around £2.50, they're brilliant value and compete well with much more expensive brands.

The polishes above are L>R:

230 - a pretty white glitter with small particles, 273 - a subtle shimmer top coat, 271 - a top coat with large silver glitter pieces

339 - the first polish I bought from the brand & one of my all time favourites, this is a milky blue creme and 334 - a bold and bright turquoise creme.


 These shimmer top coats are fantastic and transform any polish you pair them with. A great and inexpensive way to glam up your nail varnish collection!


I really can't encourage you enough to try Kiko, they are the most consistently good nail varnish brand I have ever tried - EVER! I very rarely read about this brand on other beauty blogs and I find it so disappointing because their range of colours and top coats matches if not betters the other popular brands like Models Own. If you can't get down to their London store, you can buy Kiko online HERE.

Phew! So there you have it, my top three underdog nail polish brands. What do you think? Have you tried any of them before, and are you tempted to now?
xx

ps. if you're after some new nail polishes, be sure to check out my BLOG SALE for bargains!


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