Get it for free
I own a
lot of nail varnishes, but I am not one to spend more than a few pounds at a time on a bottle. So Nails Inc varnishes, retailing at around the £11 mark, are completely out of bounds for me! So the only time I get to try out a Nails Inc product is when they come free with a magazine!
And this varnish was no exception, as with the June edition of InStyle magazine you get a choice of three free Nails Inc varnishes in the colours Bluebell, Peach Sorbet or Power Pink. These are full size bottles, and the magazine retails for £3.80, so it's definitely a great way to get your hands on a pricey nail varnish for a much lower than usual price. Oh - and you get a magazine as well of course (although I wouldn't usually buy InStyle mag .... but as I'm on maternity leave and now waiting on an overdue baby I have a bit of time on my hands so anything that will kill a few minutes is more than welcome right now!).
A bit about the brand...
Nails Inc is a UK-based company that, as well as producing a massive range of nail colours, also has a load of nail bars around the country. You really can get any colour nail varnish under the rainbow - and more! - as well as a range of "special effect" varnishes such as holographic top coats, magnetic and glittery varnishes and hand and nail treatments. The company has a really good website so go to www.nailsinc.com to find out loads more and have fun looking at all the pretty varnishes available!
Bluebells for springtime
As I have so many varnishes I opted for the Bluebell shade with InStyle mag, as I felt this was at least a bit different to other varnishes I own. In the bottle this is a pale powdery blue, which I thought would be nice, and would fit in well with this spring's trend for pastel colours. It also didn't seem like it would be too blue or over-the-top as it is quite pale.
The packaging of Nails Inc varnishes is quite cool and suits this colour with it's cylindrical bottle and silver lid.
More purple than blue....
As I started applying this, you can see straight away that this is quite a thick varnish and, as you apply it to nails it has an almost paint-like consistency. Now, and as you can see from my pictures, I am not the best applier of nail varnish so when my first coat went on I was a bit concerned, as it looked very streaky and uneven. However it did look better once it had dried - but this varnish definitely needs a second coat (which to be fair is suggested on the bottle).
And luckily as soon as I began applying coat number two, this varnish started to look really good. The colour is actually more intense than the shade in the bottle would suggest - this in itself is quite unusual I think as often the colour in the bottle is more pigmented than it ends up looking on your nails! So I guess this suggests that this is a good quality varnish!
I also think the colour is slightly more lilac than it appears in the bottle, and glancing at my nails I would actually say this is more of a pale purple shade than blue. This isn't a problem for me as I really like the colour this gives my nails, but potential buyers should just be warned that this may disappoint you slightly if you were after the powdery blue shade that it appears to be in the bottle.
Drying time
As this is quite a thick varnish, with an almost paint-like consistency I do find it takes a good few minutes to be touch-dry, and I would be careful for a good 10-15 minutes after application as the thickness of the varnish means that it does take longer to dry than others. And the slightest knock will really show up with this intense shade so beware!
Striking nails
This is actually quite a striking colour and it is definitely very noticeable! I like the fact that it is so eye-catching but it may be too intense a shade for everyone and if you prefer something more subtle then I would recommend opting for the peach sorbet shade that's also free with InStyle at the moment.
Do you want chips with that?
I have only been wearing this nail varnish for a short amount of time - around 24 hours - so I can't state accurately how many days wear I'll get out of it, although it is perfect still as I type. However, I do have another bottle of Nails Inc polish (which I also got as a freebie of course) and I can say quite confidently that this is a good quality varnish that will last you a good few days! But as soon as this starts to chip it will be really noticeable as it's such a strong shade, so this isn't one that you can really get away with wearing for an extra day or so once the little chips start to come away!
A good varnish but too pricey!
Overall this is a great varnish and I really like the shade of this. It's a bit different and it's very eye-catching. It's also a good quality product and I'm currently enjoying wearing it! However I do think the range is massively overpriced and I don't think I could ever justify spending £11 on a bottle of nail varnish! So a star off for the silly price tag - but if you can get it as a mag freebie then I would definitely recommend giving one (or more!) of these a try.
