nails inc

There's a Nails Inc sale going on over at SecretSales.com at the moment; only one thing is currently sold out, but I imagine that that'll be changing rather soon.

The large Lucky Dip Box on the left is reduced to £20 from £50. Bit of a bargain. Other items such as smaller sets and single polishes are available, but this isn't the biggest sale I've ever seen, with only 7 items currently available.

Head to SecretSales.com and sign up if you want to take advantage; the sale ends at midnight Thursday.

As Sarah posted about a while back, Glamour are giving away Nails Inc polish with their December issue. After reading Sarah's post, I went out and bought a copy - ending up with this gorgeous shade, Shoreditch, and a magazine to read while it dried, for just £2. Bargain.

It's a bright, slightly orangey-pink colour with a cream finish, which to me just says "cheerful". Not a particularly wintery colour, but I know I could do with an injection of summer with all this rain we're having.

Nails Inc polishes are usually £10.50 at NailsInc.com, or from salons and concessions nationwide.

Here's nails inc's "Victoria" polish as worn on my short nails. It's a very very deep red, though it just about manages not to look brown when worn. A true red-black. This is three coats.

Glamour magazine are giving away Victoria with their December issue along with 3 other shades - Tate (bright red), South Molton Street (neutral pink) and Piccadilly Circus (hot pink). You can see the shades at the nails inc website.

Glamour costs £2, so even if you don't read the magazine this is an £8.50 saving on the RRP of these shades. Worth buying a couple! All shades are boxed, so you could also give them as gifts if you're not a particular fan of the colours.

Disclosure - PR sample
As you already know, unless you live in a cave or have selective nail-polish-blindness, there is currently a Nails Inc/Diet Coke promotion on at Boots. When you buy two 500ml bottles of Diet Coke, you get one of the four special edition polishes above for free. The shades are (L - R); London, Paris, New York, Milan.

We received Paris and Milan to check out, and I've been wearing them (one on each hand, high-school style) for the past few days. Like all Nails Inc polishes I've tried, the wear is outstanding, application is easy and satisfying and the colours are rich and deep. The same is true of London, which I picked up for myself in Boots. I don't even like Diet Coke, but I saw Get Lippie wearing it when I last saw her and it's too good a colour to pass up for less than £2.

Which brings me to my one misgiving. I think Nails Inc make great products, but I worry slightly about their current penchant for giveaways. First on the front of magazines (most recently 3 exclusive colours for InStyle's June edition) and now with soft drinks. These polishes are supposed to be worth £10.50 a bottle - but how seriously can you take that price bracket when they're literally giving away full size products en masse, on a regular basis?

It's basic psychology - if you put two things together, and do it enough times, you get an association. Your brand becomes synonymous with free things. "£10.50?" says your consumer, "for something that comes free with a soft drink? I don't think so."

I Just hope Nails Inc haven't walked so far down the giveaway path that they can't find their way back again.

It's lovely when magazines give away full size beauty products.  Having given away four shades via Glamour last year, Nails Inc have teamed up with InStyle to create three exclusive colours:  InStyle Beach, a hot coral; Instyle Candy, a candy pink; and InStyle Mink, an on-trend greige.

Worth £10.50 a pop, the shades are available with the June issue, which is available on newsstands now for £3.60, and also includes a 20% discount of both Nails Inc online purchases and manicure and pedicure services.

Here are some rather self-indulgent shots of my nails bejewelled with GOSH's Rainbow polish (£5 in the UK from Superdrug). It's a top-coat/layering polish containing a phenomenon known to the blogging community as "flakies". Despite the unaappealingly dandruff-tastic name, these are a fine alternative to the more old-school glitter polish - the are little shreds or "flakes" of reflective material that lie flat on the nail and provide an eyecatching multi-faceted appearance with a smooth finish.

Rainbow is shown here over the top of lovely lovely Burlington Arcade from Nails Inc. Mesmerising, even if I do say so myself. Click the pictures for a giant-size image to pore over (and try not to judge my cuticles too harshly).

This time last year I was working at an advertising agency in Central London. Every morning I got off the tube at Green Park and walked up Burlington Arcade. It is a covered walkway, panelled in wood and lined with very traditional, upmarket, specialist shops. They sell cashmere and walking sticks and antique pens, riding crops, polo mallets, delicious chocolates, perfumes in large glass vials. Halfway down the Arcade sits a man in uniform, top hat and tails, with a wooden seat and brushes and boot polish all set out, ready to shine your shoes.

I think that the old-England, upper-class burnish of Burlington Arcade itself is what Nails Inc were trying to capture with this opulent burgundy-magenta polish. It is a blue-toned metallic red, very nearly pink or plum. There are red and blue reflections in it, not quite sparkle, more of a high shimmer. It's the kind of colour that might adorn the curtains in the study of an Oxford don, or deck the walls in a back-in-time Victorian style gentlemens' club.

On nails, it's a warm and evocative colour, bright enough to cheer up a grey day. The wear is good (this is day 3, pictured above) and application satisfyingly smooth. It took two coats to achieve an opaque finish.

Burlington Arcade is sadly not currently available on Nails Inc's website, but you can find it as part of the Nails Inc Party Collection (£20) at makeupbits.co.uk

Nails Inc's Fulham Road polish will always have a special place in my heart because I wore it on my wedding day. A pretty pale silvery pinky-lilac, it complemented my purple wedding dress a treat whilst still being feminine and subtle.

The photo on the left shows three coats layered up; this is a fairly sheer polish, and you still get a bit of visible nail line. It looks especially pretty as a more modern french manicure shade; two coats on top of a classic white tip looks pretty but not passe.

Wear is pretty good, as with all Nails Inc shades - a good four or five days without chips, and any tipwear is pretty discreet due to the pale colour. Application is smooth as well, and it dries relatively quickly. If you'd like to try it for yourself, you can get it at BeautyBay for £10.50.