Beauty & Fashion 

Advertisement

Beauty box: The best nail varnishes

It's the season for open-toed shoes – not to mention swimsuits – which means your toenails and fingernails are on show more than ever. Although there are a myriad of nail varnishes on the market claiming to transform your hands and feet, the ultimate quest remains: find a versatile, super shiny, quick-drying bottle. Here’s what iVillage staff discovered when they tested 10 of the most popular brands and colours.

1. Estée Lauder Pure Color Crystal Nail Lacquer Crystal Opaline - £9.50 / 9ml. A brilliant sheer, pale pink colour that looked like a French manicure after just one coat. This polish was quick-drying and is the perfect neutral shade for summer.

2. MAC Swinger - £7 / 14ml. This pink colour was bright, garish and funky – lots of fun. One coat was sufficient, and so far it’s lasted five days. It was simple to apply and would be great for going out – it screams ‘notice me’.

3. Clinique Glosswear Nail Enamel Pink Shimmer #33 - £9 / 15ml. I loved this product, and the colour – a stunning transparent pink – was amazing. The colour in the bottle looked quite opaque and mumsy, but seemed completely different on my nails. Just one coat lasted five days and it was easy to apply. Plus, it didn’t chip or peel. This varnish was so low-maintenance that after one coat I was sold on it for the rest of the summer.

4. Superdrug Kolor One Coat Nail Polish Lido - £2.09 or £2.49 / 8ml or 14 ml. Hmm…this one looks better in the bottle, I have to say. I only wanted to paint one coat, but it streaked so badly that I had to apply another. Then it chipped within three hours. However, it would be good fun for a one-night application if it went well with an outfit. Otherwise, it doesn’t have much functional use - even though it chips easily, for some reason it refuses to come off with remover.

5. Lancôme Lacquiresist Perle, Colour 22 - £5 / 15ml. I loved this subtle pink colour that gave my nails a very natural look, but I must confess, I've always liked Lancôme polishes because the varnish goes on smoothly and evenly. I would highly recommend this to anyone, even though it’s a bit more than I usually prefer to spend.

Delicious     Digg     reddit     Facebook     StumbleUpon

  Get the latest iVillage news on your desktop    Sign up for more iVillage RSS feeds

© iVillage Limited 2000-2008. All rights reserved. | © iVillage inc. 1995-2008. All rights reserved.
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB