Review: Nails Inc Bakers Row (Sprinkles Collection)

I am an avid polish swapper, and managed to pick up this beautiful emerald black, sprinkled glitter polish from a friend last week. It's Nails Inc Bakers Row and was in the recent TSV on QVC, and isn't available from Nail Inc's website yet. So, here's what I make of it!

This polish is an emerald black base colour (not clear, like most glitter polishes), with large, round bright green glitter particles (hence the name 'Sprinkles'). I found it took two coats to get opaque coverage, but the polish went on easily. The only real issue I had was a loose particle sticking out over the top of the odd nails, but they were easily removed with my finger when wet. Otherwise, the polish was easy to put on, has good coverage and dried quickly between coats.

I was concerned at first at how rough the polish felt, but one coat of Nails Inc Kensington Caviar topcoat, and they're are smooth as can be expected for a textured polish (in no way feeling grainy or gravelly, but obviously not feeling completely flat). It certainly beats the feeling of most glitter-containg polishes I have!

So, while you'll have to excuse the handiwork (I wanted my nails sparkly before Strictly began, so was in a rush as I wanted them finish to stare at the telly with a glass of vino), the colour of this polish is beautiful - the large, bright green particles really catch the light, and contrast the midnight green base beautifully.

My only gripe? Longevity. After 4 days it was badly enough chipped on 4 fingers to look messy, with the first chip needing a repair less than 24hrs after application. I love Nails Inc and find most of their polishes last a long time, but just occasionally this seems to be sacrificed for colour in order to get the right mix - this seemed to be one of those.

I removed polish the old fashioned way to see what it was liked: it is as tough to take off as any other glitter, so would benefit from the foil method (you know, cutting your cotton pads into quarters, soaking in polish, and strapping to your nails with kitchen foil caps for 5mins to loosen it up).

Overall, this is a gorgeous glitter and has all the pros and cons that a glitter of any brand brings. I'm a bit disappointed with the wear, but have totally forgiven Nails Inc that as I adore the colour, and this is an 'occasion' polish to me.

Nail Art: Vintage Roses

So my nail wheel and nail art brushes finally arrived, so I finally got to do a design I'd been planning for ages - a vintage rose look, inspired by a love of Cath Kidston and a good floral print!

This look was achieved using my old faithful, Models Own Jade Stone (two coats), dotted roughly with Models Own Peach Puff, highlighted with No 7 Pillar Box and using Nails Inc Regents Park Road for the leaves (probably my single favourite nail varnish - the one I'd take to a desert island, but that'll be another blog entry later).

The tools for the job:

I didn't take photos during the process, but can recommend this video as a 'how to'. You don't need a dotting tool to apply the pink/peach dots though: they only need to be rough, so the brush that comes with the bottle is fine.

These have attracted lots of comment already, including from the security guard in my local supermarket - that's how eye-catching they are! I love this design, and once again Models Own Jade Stone proves itself to be a versatile base colour for doing nail art with. I really can't recommend it highly enough! (I do not recommend Boots topcoat however - it pulls polishes even when designs are dry, and can leave brush strokes despite being clear. I'll be switching to Nails Inc Kensington Caviar ASAP).

ETA: I didn't realise it at the time, but I've ended up matching my PJs. I don't think I've ever been so well accessorised in my life. Shame no one gets to see it! lol. (Excuse the photo quality, but it was taken on my phone).