Morgan Taylor 'Little Misfit' Swatches & Review + Nail Art

* Product provided for review

Hello again! Today I'm reviewing the second polish I received from Morgan Taylor's Glam Rock collection, 'Little Misfit'*. If you missed 'Polished Up Punk', you can see it here, along with some information about the collection and the brand.

Before I start, I want to forewarn you that some of these photos are rather...unflattering. This polish was a rascal to photograph and I ended up contorting my hand into weird positions to try to capture it as best I could. 'Little Misfit' is described by Morgan Taylor as a 'Lavender and Aqua Duo-chrome' and it looks like this...

Morgan Taylor 'Polished Up Punk' Swatches & Review + Nail Art

* Product provided for review

Hello! I know I sound like a record stuck on repeat, but apologies yet again for being so absent. I've been away from home so much over the past month it feels like I've hardly been here...but things have settled down now, so here I am!

I was delighted to be contacted by Morgan Taylor recently and asked to review a couple of polishes from their 'Glam Rock' collection (which I believe was for Winter 2014). The Glam Rock collection is described as 'A mixture of funky metallic shades and glitters to bring out the rebel in you!' and consists of six polishes:

Left to right, they are:

Better in Leather – Black silver glitter

Little Misfit – Lavender and aqua duo chrome
Polished Up Punk - Navy crème
Pretty Wild – Lavender greige crème 
Rebel With A Cause – Deep burgundy pearl
Studs and Stilettos – Gunmetal glitter

If you're not familiar with the Morgan Taylor brand, here's a little blurb from the company:

'Morgan Taylor has been created by Gelish founders Danny Haile and David Daniel. The specialist formula is made from raw ingredients enhances finish, coverage and wear ensuring that not only your nails will look gorgeous but they will stay that way too!RRP £10.99 each from Sallyexpress.com'

The polish I'm showing you today is the navy crème, 'Polished Up Punk'*.  I also received 'Little Misfit', the duochrome, so expect to see that one at some point in the near future!

'Polished Up Punk', two coats plus top coat

'Polished Up Punk' is a dark navy which appears blackened in some lights, but remains just on the right side of black - by which I mean that it is almost always discernibly blue and not black. I think its depth is more apparent in the nail art photos below. It's a very winter-appropriate colour and I always think these kinds of shades look especially foxy on short nails. I found the formula very nice: it was neither too runny nor too thick, spread smoothly and had great opacity - I used two coats plus top coat here, but you could conceivably get away with one if you were careful. I also really liked the shape of the brush, which is flat but not too wide (I know a lot of people can't stand super-wide brushes) and a sensible length. Please excuse the slight scuff marks in the above photos - my goopy top coat was responsible, not the polish itself! I didn't wear this manicure long enough to comment authoritatively on wear time, but I wouldn't expect any problems if worn with a good top coat.

Aaand I wouldn't feel like I was blogging properly if I didn't throw in some nail art, so...

Seventeen Cameo Crush Textured Polish | Swatch & Review

Hiiii! I know, I 'don't do' swatch posts...but today I do! 

I had no idea that Boots' own brand Seventeen (or 17, whichever you prefer) was even making textured polishes. I had been planning on picking up one or two of the GOSH ones until I happened to spot these while waiting on a prescription.  Boy, am I glad I did!

Seventeen Rock Hard Couture Nail Effects in Cameo Crush (mouthful!) is a turquoise-based matte textured polish with an insane quantity of golden sparkle and also (I think) some holographic or at least iridescent sparkle, too. It was impossible to capture the true beauty of Cameo Crush on camera but please trust me when I tell you it's a mega GLITTERBOMB and utterly gorgeous. I'm not entirely au fait with the plethora of textured polishes available, but this one seems unique to me! I can sum up how this polish made me feel in two words: mermaid princess. Seriously.

Formula & Application: Dreamy! It may seem a little thick if you are used to applying very thin coats, presumably due to all the particles in it, but I found it incredibly easy to control. These pictures show two coats and next to no clean-up, even on my 'other' hand - massive bonus! In terms of opacity, you could probably get away with one thick coat, but two definitely looks better - the sparkle is intensified and you get an even distribution of texture. The brush is flat, quite small and nicely pliable - no complaints! 

I waited a good ten or fifteen minutes between my coats. I don't know if that was strictly necessary but it seemed to work well. My second coat tended to be thicker so it could glide over the already-textured nail and seemed to take a little longer to dry. If you haven't used textured polishes before (I hadn't), watching them dry is a fascinating thing. At first stroke, this seems like a fairly ordinary glittery polish, shiny and not textured at all. When it's half-way dry it develops some texture and also a metallic sort of 'sheen' - I was glad it didn't stop there! As it dries down completely, it becomes matte and the texture and sparkle come into their own. The shade also appears a little lighter when dry.

Removal: More difficult than a crème polish, but nothing like an all-out glitter. Really it just requires a little patience. I might consider using foil in the future, at least in part to try to avoid getting glitter particles all over my hands, haha. I had half expected some staining given the colour, but if there was any at all it was minimal and easily removed by a little scrubbing with a nail brush.

Blurry sparkles!

These Rock Hard Couture polishes are priced at £3.99 each and are currently buy one get one half price. The other shades are a gold called 'Charm Bracelet' (which I'm wearing right now) and an iridescent white ('Celestial Pearl' - next on my list) and a pink with gold sparkle ('Bijoux Baby').

Overall, I'm absolutely blown away by this polish. I was a texture-sceptic, but I have been converted! I'm delighted that the British high street has come up with such a high quality alternative to brands which are more difficult and expensive to get hold of in the UK; and in particular that they've produced some original shades. I really hope these polishes get the attention they deserve and that Seventeen makes more colours! I know I'm going to be hassling them to...

So, how was my first swatch post? Did I cover everything you might want to know? Do you love this polish like I do? Please also let me know if you'd be happy to see more swatch posts - it's not something I envision doing a great deal of, but occasionally I come across something I love enough to want to share!