My Autumn/Winter Nail Polish Picks

One of my guilty pleasures is nail polish. I have a stupid amount for someone who doesn't do it as a job but I just feel like my hands and feet are naked without it. As the autumn will be soon upon us I thought I'd put together my favourite autumn and winter shades from my collection. 

On the catwalk for A/W 14 there was a noticeable trend of sci-fi and fantasy so I picked out two polishes that fit along perfectly with this trend which are Soho Silver by Nails Inc a beautiful silver and Pacific by BarryM a very mystical ocean blue.
For the classic deep green I picked out Watermelon by BarryM which is a high shine polish so it looks very glossy. 
I love the burgundy plum shades that feature in these seasons and No.7 Temptress and Kiko 243 Plum Red are perfect, they're both very similar shades but Temptress has more purple undertones and Kiko has more red. 
Now time for the nudes shades! Chinchilly by Essie is a lovely pale grey with a hint of brown and I love the name as it very much is the colour of a chinchilla. For a more purple shade, Pillow Fight by Ciaté is great, it's kind of like a lavender grey and then Vanilla by BarryM is the perfect matte nude shade, this has been one of my favourites recently, it's such a beautifully soft shade. 
Then for the final shade I picked out Matt White by BarryM as monochrome has been a major trend and continues to be during the cooler months. I think if it's worn right, white polish can look very elegant.
Do you wear any of these shades or will any of them be joining your collection this autumn/winter?

My Favourite Mascaras

I’ve tried and tested so many different mascaras from low to high-end over the past few years with some being absolute disasters, not worth the price tag or have actually been great. 
After all those many mascaras I can finally tell you all about my top 3, they vary in prices but all do have a similar style. As I have quite long lashes I look for volume and definition in my mascaras instead of lengthening qualities. 

Currently my favourite of all is the Bobbi Brown Smoky Eyes Mascara, normally I’m not too fussed about high-end mascaras as often I can find a much cheaper alternative but this one is amazing. It has this lovely soft matte black kohl finish and gives my lashes a really nice amount of volume without getting clumpy or spidery. I already have quite long lashes so I don’t look for that in mascaras, this one just adds a touch of length without drying up and crumbling off the ends. The bristles on the wand are so soft so it doesn’t tug or pull, the application feels almost luxurious. The packaging is hardly exciting but I guess you could say it’s quite classy? They must spend most the money on the contents of the product over the packaging.

My next best is the Benefit Bad Gal Lash Mascara. I had heard so much praise about this product from friends and fellow bloggers that I felt like I had to try it for myself. Once I had tried it I saw why everyone was raving about it, my lashes were super volumised with no clumps. The bristles are similar to the Bobbi Brown mascara, they are nice and soft, however it is quite a chunky wand so it can be a little difficult getting into the nooks and crannies. The packaging is classy and the big bright pink ‘Lash’ in a pretty font across the tube adds a pop of colour. I’ve written a separate blog post all about this mascara here if you want to see some before and afters as well as more detail.

I rarely wear waterproof mascara as I find the other two stay put so well anyway, but if I am going to be getting particularly sweaty or wet then the Maybelline The Colossal Volum’ Express Waterproof Mascara is my must have. It gives great volume, doesn’t get clumpy and will stay put through thick and thin! The bristles are more plastic than the other two but as the formula is more of a liquid it doesn’t tug. The packaging is pretty standard, I do love the shiny blue accents though, that’s partly because I just love that shade of blue in anything!

What's your favourite mascara or are one of these 3 your favourite?