My top 10 nail varnish choices

I've shared my top 10 lipsticks, so I thought I'd also share my top 10 nail varnishes - I'm rarely without colour on my nails, and there's so many that I love it was hard to choose! Without further ado, then...

Rimmel 60 Seconds in 620 How Do You Lilac It? // I love the formula of these nail varnishes - dunno about 60 secs but they do dry pretty quick, and lilac is my fave colour if you couldn't tell by the title of my blog. This is a pinky-toned lilac and looks so pretty.

O.P.I in Are We There Yet? // I'd not tried any O.P.I til last year when I picked some up pretty cheap online - and boy am I glad I did, because they're a dream. This one's a reddy-coral and I loooove it.

Essie Vested Interest // This looks kind of like a sludgey colour in the bottle and I'm not sure what drew me to it, but it looks well sophisticated on the nails. Definitely a summer-autumn transitional shade. Fancy words.

Azature Black Diamond Nail Polish in Pink // This is such a luxury - mine was a gift, there's no way I'd be paying around £20 for a nail varnish, but honestly it possibly is worth it. It's the sparkliest thing I've EVER seen. Bugger to get off, though.

Ted Baker nail varnish in Coral // This one doesn't actually have a shade name so I'm just making it up if I'm honest, but I proper love this shade and it's a damn good polish too. There's even a matching lip gloss, which I own. And love.

AVON nailwear pro+ in Mint // Again, no shade name - but it's a mint green so u know. It's more on the bluey side, but that suits me better than green so I'm not complaining. Another great formula and I know they do soooooooo many shades.

Maybelline super stay in 265 Divine Wine // These are some of the best nail varnishes I've tried, and maroon shades are my favourite for Autumn. Enough said, really.

Barry M nail paint in Mediterranean // This is part of the Aquarium collection, and it really is the most perfect mermaid shade - who doesn't want mermaid nails? Chips like a bitch, of course, but kinda most definitely worth it.

Essie The Lace is On // If you know me, you'll know I have an obsession with Essie nail varnishes and it was hard not to just put 10 of them in this post - but alas, I had to share the love. This really is a gem from my collection though. Shimmery darky pink. Perfect.

Nail HQ Gel Top Coat* // These were in our goody bags for the North West Blogger Meet Up, and although I'm often too lazy to use a top coat when I do - this is THE ONE.

Please tell me your fave nail varnishes - I already own way too many but I'm still always on the look out for more!

Want to see my top 5 nail varnishes from way way back? 'course you do

DAILY DECEMBER #11 // My favourite Christmas nails

Christmas is one of those times that I think you can go all out with nail varnishes - the more glitter the better in my opinion! Today I'm talking through ten of my favourites...

Maybelline Colour Show in 180 Shock Wave // Blue is a staple nail colour for me in the Winter months, and especially navy as dark colours actually suit me! I love the formula and lasting power of the Colour Show polishes too.

Rimmel 60 Seconds by Rita Ora in 703 White Hot Love // White nail varnish is one of my favourite looks ever (as a kid I used to paint my nails with Tipp-ex...) and I think it's a shade that can work year round. Rimmel are such a good brand when it comes to nails too!

Barry M Nail Paint in 417 Mediterranean // I've thrown this one in there as it will go perfectly with the dress I've bought for New Year's Eve - the pink and rose gold shades look stunning together. Barry M aren't the best in terms of lasting power, but with a good top coat I'm hoping this will be okay.

Rimmel 60 Seconds in 310 Red Carpet // Everyone needs a pillar box red for Christmas - what more can I say?!

Orly Lacquer in Hair Band // I've blogged about this before which I hope proves how much I love it! For me it's the perfect gold glitter top coat, and I've never found one that works for me as well as this one does.

Nails Inc in Basil Street // Nude shades like this are perfect for the run up to Christmas or for a chilled out Boxing Day. I find that this needs a few coats, but it does look lovely!

Rimmel 'Precious Stones' in 002 Ruby Crush // This is described as a "high coverage glitter nail polish" and bloody hell, it is! It's soooo thick and it's a killer to get off, but if you want something striking on your fingers then this is the one for you.

Revlon matte suede collection in 933 Emerald City // Green is another perfect Christmassy colour, and I love the way these nail polishes look when they dry. The coverage is really good too!

Rimmel 60 Seconds in 830 Camouflage // Another green - slightly different to the last one but you can never have too many nail varnishes can you?

Barry M Nail Paint in 343 'Limited Edition' // This is a top coat which looks gorgeous over pale colours and even a good old French manicure - the strands are pink, green and blue but they honestly look like tinsel. Super Christmassy!

So that's what's gonna be on my nails throughout the month of December - if I had to pick a favourite of these I think it would be the Mediterranean shade by Barry M, it's to die for.

Want to know my fave Wintery make up? 'course you do

My High Street/Drugstore Favourites

I love reading these sorts of posts - being a cheapskate student, I tend not to splash out on make-up too much. This means that my stash isn't the biggest, but I do have a collection of loved and trusty products that I thought I'd talk about in today's post.

BASE // 

Primer - My fave high-street primer out of the ones I've tried is the MUA Pro-Base Primer, which is around £4 in Superdrug. It feels quite 'wet', rather than having the silicone-like texture of other primers - but it sinks into the skin really well and creates a lovely base for your make up.
Concealer - This will obviously come as no surprise, and as much as I try not jump on bandwagons I do love the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer. The consistency is perfect to cover my blemishes, and I find it blends really easily with a finger or brush. It also doesn't go dry or patchy which is a bonus, along with the £4.19 pricetag!
Foundation - For the past few months I've been using No7 Beautifully Matte Foundation in the lightest shade (Calico). I got matched at one of the No7 counters in Boots after my mum decided that the foundation I was using at the time was far too dark, which it was but I wasn't going to admit that to my mum... Anyway, this foundation is definitely one of the best I've tried, as it actually lasts on my awful skin and is thick enough to cover everything without suffocating my skin. It blends really nicely even has a nice smell. I think this retails for around £13.

FACE // 

Blusher - I've not tried a massive amount of high-street blushers, as they're often way too dark for my face. However, out of the ones I've tried, my favourite is the MUA Mosaic Blush in English Rose. I love the different tones, and they look beautiful when they're swirled together - plus it's a lovely light shimmery tone. At £2.50 you just can't go wrong!
Powder - My go to powder is the Rimmel Stay Matte, which again is a coveted blogger product! It just does the trick and keeps me from going shiny, and for under £4 you can't complain!

EYES //

Eyeshadow - As far as single eyeshadows go, out of the ones I currently own, my favourite is the Maybelline Colour Tattoo; I have the shade Permanent Taupe, which isn't the nicest, but the formula is just spot on as far as I'm concerned. It lasts literally all day and night, but it isn't hard to remover when it comes to taking your make up off. At a fiver they're more than I might usually spend on a single eyeshadow, but they last for ages and the pot looks lovely in my make up collection so I don't mind.
Eyeshadow Palette - I only own two "drugstore" palettes and both are from MUA; my favourite being UNDRESSED, which is a complete dupe of the Naked Palette from Urban Decay which I now own as well. I would be more inclined to take my MUA palette if I was travelling or staying at a friend's house, as it's pretty much identical and I'm not particularly scared about losing or breaking it! For £4 you really just cannot go wrong.
Mascara - Of all the cheaper mascaras I've tried, my favourite has to be the Rimmel Glam Eyes Day2Night, both the waterproof and normal versions. I love the idea of the two step process, and this is the only mascara that seems to do anything to my lashes which is why I love it! This retails for £7.99 but you can often find it on websites such as Fragrance Direct for a lot cheaper.

So that concludes my high street/drugstore make-up favourites! There are products I didn't mention such as bronzer and eyebrow products - this is simply because I don't actually own any high street products of this type; told you my stash was small.

If you have any recommendations that you think I might like, head over to my Twitter and let me know! You can find me at @katygilroyblog :)

Want to see a beauty haul? 'course you do