Autumn/Winter Nail Polishes: Copper & Bronze

This is part two of my autumn/winter nail polish recommendations, if you missed my first post on the best berry toned polishes check out the full post HERE!

Nails are a great way to express your fall fashion loves - they subtlety add life to an outfit, can draw a whole outfit of different colours together in one go and can add a pop of colour to the darker winter days. Bronzes and browns are a particular favourite because you can get so many different shades that can create entirely different looks - a particular trend is the metallic nail so I've included some metallics, some glittered and some more subtle toned too. Here are my top four favourite bronze toned nail polishes for Autumn 2012 (Note: To gauge the look, pictures of all of the varnishes on my nails can be found in the polish reviews)!

From left:

Essie Nail Polish in Penny Talk 

A reflective pinky copper polish  - a metallic colour with an interesting final look but at the high end of the nail polish market. Check out my full review of the polish HERE.

Accessorize Metallized Nail Polish in Copper

A bronze tone that definately lives up to its 'metalised' claim - the edges of the polish, although clean, seemed to dirty like the metal was rusting, creating a fascinating look. Check out my full review of the polish HERE.

Collection 2000 Lasting Colour Nail Polish in Fudge Brownie

A light, subtle, pinky brown tone - at only £3.99 and available across the high street, its well worth the price with great staying power. Check out my full review of the polish HERE.

Max Factor Max Effect Nail Polish in Red Bronze

A sparkly bronze with a deep red highlight. Needs a lot of coats to give a great look but its well worth the time! Check out my full review of the polish HERE.

What are your favourite bronze, copper and brown toned nail polishes for fall - let me know in the comments as I'd love to try them out!

Today's Nails: Max Factor Max Effect Nail Polish in Red Bronze

Today I'm wearing the Max Factor Max Effect Nail Polish in Red Bronze. 

I love it when the names of the polishes match the colour themselves and in this case the colour perfectly matches the name - I would definately describe it as a reddy-bronze. Its got all the glitter and sparkle of a bronze with a red tinge in different lights. The colour has a nice depth to it with metallic elements but it takes a lot of coats to get this kind of depth. Some times when applying you seem to get a liquidy glitter and not much colour and other times you'll get loads of colour - its a bit hit and miss and I haven't really experienced that with one of the Max Factor Nail Polishes before.

I've been wearing this polish solidly for 6 days now and I'm pretty impressed with how it lasted (3/4 days no chips) although I did use two layers of topcoat so really it should be in tact. For the price you pay, I completely think this polish is a worthwhile purchase - 8/10.

Today's Nails: Max Factor Max Effect Nail Polish in Fantasy Fire

I have heard and read SO much about this nail varnish that I thought it was about time I tried some out for myself. I just happened to be in Boots and looking at the nail varnishes and there was one bottle of this shade left - it was a sign and so I made sure to buy it pretty quickly! Apologies for my picture - this nail varnish is so hard to photograph - although it doesn't look great on here, in person its a great look!

I already knew that to wear the colour by itself would be difficult as its so hard to get it to be fully opaque (some bloggers have reported 4 coats and still not opaque), so I made sure to use a basecoat. Therefore... today I'm wearing Max Factor Max Effect Nail Polish in Fantasy Fire with Essie's Bobbing For Baubles beneath.  I used one layer of Essie and one layer of Max Factor on top and it gave a really nice look. I'm sure I'll play around with adding other colours to be the base coat but I'm really happy with how this turned out - the blue sets off the holographic colour and the glitter gives it an extra dimension too.

As always with these polishes, the brush gives you a lot of polish with one quick dip in the bottle so be careful you don't load to much on and not be able to get rid of it. The holographic element gives you hints of gold, blue, purple, pink and more, its very exotic and looks great in different lights. Overall I'd give it a 7/10 - a great colour I just wish it was opaque in fewer coats - without a base coat this colour would be perfect but unfortunately, for me it seems like a necessity.

Mini Spring Haul

I've never done a haul post before but I brought a few bits and bobs in the pouring rain in town this morning so thought I'd share them. I visited Boots, Superdrug, H&M, New Look, Topshop and more but not too many clothes caught my eye (at least none that were within my price range). I did pick up 6 pieces though and was excited to see that there is now an Essie stand in my local Boots - YAY -  I love Essie Nail Polishes! 

Anyway... here's what I brought! Let me know what products you've picked up recently in the comments below!

H&M Smokey Eye Eyeshadow Brush (Top Brush in Above Pic)

The brush itself is very soft and the handle is quite nice too with the thinner end for the crease brush and the thicker end for the blending brush. At only £1.99 I thought it was a steal!

H&M Eyeshadow Brush (Bottom Brush in Above Pic)

Its quite a big brush for your eyeshadow - but again, its very soft and I hope will give a nice smooth finish when applying eyeshadow! Again, it was £1.99 so pretty cheap if you ask me.

H&M Sunglasses

I can't find these sunglasses online but I love the shape of this style of sunnies and haven't got this tortoise style colour so thought I'd give them a go. These were £5.99 which was reasonable too - I try to make my sunglasses last for a season and then I'll just buy another pair next year!

Max Factor Max Effect Mini Nail Polish in Fantasy Fire (Left)

I've heard and read a lot about this nail varnish and when I saw they had one bottle left at Superdrug, I knew it was a sign! Swatched it briefly on a nail when I got home and the consistency is very thin - took four coats to get to opaque but I will do a full review soon!

Accessorize Metalized Nail Polish in Copper (Middle)

I can't find this colour online anywhere but I like the metallic look and have had good past experiences with Accessorize cosmetic products, so thought I'd give their nail polishes a try!

Max Factor Max Effect Mini Nail Polish in Silver (Right)

It was three for two on cosmetics in Superdrug and I'd already found two nail varnishes I really liked and this bottle looked really nice! Did a quick swatch on a nail when I got home and this is a very glitter heavy nail polish with not that much colour so I think this'll end up being a glittery topcoat to a base colour.

Today's Nails: Max Factor Max Effect Nail Polish in Sunny Pink

Today I'm wearing Max Factor's Max Effect Nail Polish in Sunny Pink.

This is my second experience with these Max Factor Nail Polishes but this one really attracted me because its a holographic colour. I've been searching for a fun holographic nail polish that goes well with my skintone for a little while and when I saw this one I thought I'd give it a try. I don't tend to wear pink but this has really impressed me and perhaps converted me to a pink polish lover?

As with previous experience, the product itself is fantastic. The holographic shade changes between pink, purple and gold depending upon the light and is shiny and metallic all the time! I would recommend a good few layers though to get a real depth of colour on your nails! Overall, I loved it - 9/10.

Today's Nails: Max Factor "Max Effect" Mini Nail Polish in Elegant Mauve

Today I'm wearing Max Factor's "Max Effect" Mini Nail Polish in Elegant Mauve. The colour itself is very interesting as its almost holographic and seems like it has lots of depth and layers to it. There's elements of pink, gold, bronze, glitter and lots more depending upon what light you're in and I think it works with my skin colour really nicely.

The application was great and I had an opaque, smooth and effective look within two coats. Although its a mini polish, the brush is great although I would recommend that you don't wipe the excess polish off within the bottle before you apply it as the brush holds the polish itself perfectly.

This is my first use of a Max Factor product and have been really impressed with it, so will definately try another colour again soon - 10/10.