This month’s nail varnish colours. Just in case you were wondering, when I paint my nails, I start with the Mavala Nail Hardener, base coat is the Sally Hansen Miracle Cure, then for a topcoat I use either Sally Hansen Insta-Dri or Seche Vite or Essie Good to Go. I prefer the first two but am using up the Essie! Once a week I use cuticle remover (this one) and I try to remember to oil my cuticles regularly but tend to do it more in the week, when I’m at my desk than the weekend! All of that sounds really high maintenance but is more time consuming to write than to actually do!
30 September
M&S – City Grey. This doesn’t have fantastic staying power but I love the colour.
02 October
MUA – Shade 9. MUA is a bit hit and miss. I have a couple of £1 eyeshadows that are great! However, this was a nightmare. Was difficult to put on, the brush was useless and it took 3 coats to look anything like opaque and the coverage still wasn’t perfect. To add insult to injury it chipped when I was in the shower and I suddenly remembered why it had been sitting in the drawer forever, so this is the last time I’ll wear it as I threw it away.
Barry M Gelly – Blackberry, I love this colour but am actually finding it a bit too shiny. Also my nails, for the first time in an age, actually needed filing back. Over the summer they just broke once they got to a certain, not very long, length.
5 October
The varnish chipped badly chipped while I was defrosting the fridge on Saturday night, so I took it off, put the base coat on and what with one thing and another they stayed like that for a couple of days!
10 October
Essie – Mesmerize. Essie strikes again with the great colour but a stupid name! and yes blue is my favourite colour and for my nails, my default colour!)
14 October
Essie – Angora Cardi and I managed to scrape the top of one of them on the wall so a white mark!
17 October
Barry M – Blueberry Ice Cream
23 October
Marks and Spencer Autograph in Mink – Painted in a hurry and chipping by the time that I took the photo on the afternoon of the 24th.
30 October
Essie – Angora Cardi. After 4 days of bare nails back to this one.
1 November
Barry M – Cyan Blue, trying much harder to paint my nails properly!
2 November
Essie – Bobbing for Baubles (they really do have ridiculous names!). This is supposed to be a blue-gray but on my nails looks almost navy.
Nic Dempsey 
I LOVE painting my nails, but for some reason they ALWAYS chip right away. I’ve tried doing the vinegar thing on my nails to dry them out beforehand, I’ve tried sticky base coats, doing the cold water ice bath thing, but they always chip within 24 hours and I even keep my nails REALLY short. Not even the gel manicures will stay put on my nails. It’s so weird.
I know the feeling, I’ve resigned myself to touching them up each day and changing the colour twice a week! When I see people saying their varnish doesn’t chip for a week, I always wonder how? The only thing I know is that the stronger my nails are, the less they chip, but they still chip..