Manicure Monday: Runway Ribbon

One of the best things about Christmas has to be advent calendars.

This year - as I can't have chocolate - I've embraced the trend of the beauty calendar instead, and now I've experienced it I don't think I'll ever be fully content to go back to a measly piece of chocolate each day ever again. 

That's where the sparkling red glitter of Runway Ribbon comes in. It's a bit different for me - I know - but I came to the conclusion after a lot of deliberation that if I'm ever going to experiment with nail polish then Christmas is the perfect time to do it.

Manicure Monday: Sole Mate

Once again my Essie obsession has got the better of me this week - not that I'm remotely bothered - with the deep plum of Sole Mate.

Manicure Monday: Bordeaux

Confession time: I'm a repeat offender and I don't care who knows it.

I'm fully aware that I wore and reviewed Essie's Bordeaux really recently, but I've fallen so in love with the shade that I couldn't bring myself to wear anything else to kick off December.

Manicure Monday: Bordeaux

I had another look at my nail polish collection last week and finally decided that I needed to bite the bullet and actually buy a couple of winter appropriate shades. After approximately a decade crouching beside an Essie display in Boots I settled on three deep red colours, all of which upon reflection look pretty much identical in natural light. Oops.

As Christmas music is now on a repetitive loop in shops and festive films are infiltrating nearly every channel on the television it's getting harder to ignore the impending holiday season, so I've gone for Bordeaux on my nails: a beautiful dark red the colour of mulled wine.

Manicure Monday: Urban Jungle

When I had a massive tidy up of my nail polish collection a few months ago it turns out I threw away most of my autumn/winter shades. Booo. The only non-pastel shades I have are various shades of red (all of which are practically the same…) and a couple of greys, which is extremely annoying! Despite my best efforts to save money at the moment, I'm going to have to invest in some deeper reds and purples over the next few months - any recommendations are greatly appreciated!

In the meantime, however, I've taken inspiration from the chill in the air and the growing Christmas excitement and used one of my favourite Essie polishes this week: Urban Jungle. The icy white reminds me of snow and practically screams 'winter', so I felt it was a November-appropriate shade, despite being in Essie's summer collection.

Manicure Monday: Naked Nails

I'm having a break from painting my nails this week.

For some reason, the nail polishes I've used over the last fortnight (Graphic Berry from Dior and The ELLE Grey from Mavala) have left my nails a little stained despite using a base coat, so I'm taking this week off to try and restore them back to tip-top condition.

As such, although I'm not reviewing a polish this week I thought I'd share the products I use to help keep my hands and nails nourished and healthy.

Manicure Monday: Lilacism

I know I've been harping on about autumn - it is, after all my favourite season - but when it came down to it I couldn't resist one last week with a pastel shade adorning my fingers, particularly as the weather this week seems very reminiscent of summer.

Manicure Monday: Fifth Avenue

This week's polish was a bit of a no-brainer.

Manicure Monday: Peach Daiquiri

My addiction to Essie is getting a little silly, but given how amazing the polishes are I'm really not bothered!

Manicure Monday: Urban Jungle

The last time I used Urban Jungle, a shot of my nails miraculously racked up over 500 likes on Instagram in less than 12 hours: so clearly I'm not the only one totally in love with Essie's stunning summer shade!

Manicure Monday: Fiji

It's safe to say, I have a bit of an Essie obsession.

Manicure Monday: Cocktail Bling

For my birthday a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to receive a selection of Essie nail polishes, and I have to say I'm completely hooked!

Manicure Monday: Mint Candy Apple

I always seem to forget how much I like having my nails painted.

For me there's nothing more satisfying than having perfectly shaped, gleaming nails and a manicure is the one thing that makes me feel in control and fully put together. As silly as it may sound, my world could be falling apart but as long as my manicure's intact then I feel like I can tackle anything head on.