Green Fingers

Lately, I've been eager to try some new green nail polish shades. 

Before I pursued a few new green bottles to try, I owned perhaps four or five green nail polishes- mainly in shades of mint, but also one in a beautiful green so dark it's almost black. That dark green nail polish has become one of my top three favourites, and the reason I've been curious about dipping my toes (and fingers) in other green paints. I like the way it looks on my nails!

With not a lot of money to spare, I couldn't afford to spend a lot of cash on new nail polishes, so I thought it was the perfect time to give Fragrance Direct a try.

I'd popped on to their site for a browse a couple of times before, but I'll admit I didn't know much about them, apart from that they sold ridiculously inexpensive make up and cosmetics. I assumed the products were so cheap because they were seconds or the packaging was a little outdated, but I was wrong. The products I bought were current lines, and the prices are low because they cut out the middle men, and sell directly.

I was surprised to see how inexpensive the Sally Hansen and Essie polishes were. I'd always wanted to try them, but I couldn't justify spending seven or eight pounds on one nail polish. On Fragrance Direct, the Essie polishes were just £1.99 (RRP £7.99), the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails £0.99 (RRP £4.99), and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure £1.49 (RRP £4.99). I bought one of each. Plus a Dainty Doll Concealer Pen (but more on that another day).

I think my order for all four pieces came to around eight pounds for all four products with delivery, and I have to say, when the parcel came through the door a few days later I wasn't disappointed.

I couldn't choose which polish to wear first, so I did a manicure using all three...

First up, is Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear Nail Colour (try saying that three times fast!) in Emerald City. I applied two coats to my thumbs and little fingers. Each layer was easy to apply with the long flat brush, and it dried in just a couple of minutes. The colour is a gorgeous dark emerald green, which has a little shine to it, and a lovely opaque consistency. I adore the colour, and really can't find a fault in this polish!

The other Sally Hansen I ordered was the Complete Salon Manicure polish in Grass Slipper, which is a brilliant bold grass hopper green. This is actually one of my favourite eye make up colours, but I wasn't sure how I'd feel about wearing it on my nails. Turns out, I love it on my nails; it's such a striking colour! (And you guys know how I am with colour)! 

This polish comes in a big 14.7ml pot, but the angular shape makes it easy to handle. The brush also makes application a breeze, as it's long and the brush gets in to the corners. Again, I only needed two coats to achieve the perfect opaqueness, and it dried within a minute or two. 

I'm definitely planning to try some more of these Salon Manicure polishes, as I'm really impressed with the results. I can't believe what a bargain it was! I'd actually been looking at this same polish in Superdrug a couple of days before ordering, and it was £6.99!

And the third nail polish I purchased and used for this manicure, was an Essie Nail Polish in Mojito, which I applied to my ring and index fingers. The colour is a warm green, somewhere between dark mint and sage, which is lovely, but a little more subdued shade than I'm usually drawn to. 

This was another super-fast dryer. I found the polish easy to apply with the medium length brush, although the polish had a slightly watery consistency in comparison to the two Sally Hansens- however two coats still gave my nails optimum opaqueness. This was the first Essie polish I'd ever tried, and I'm certainly intending to give some other colours a try after the success of this one.

I can't decide which colour is my favourite from the three, but they sure do make a pretty manicure! I'm looking forward to wearing each colour on all ten fingers and thumbs in the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, my quest for gorgeous green nail polishes will continue!

Can you recommend any green nail polishes to me?

 And have you tried any of these polishes, or purchased from Fragrance Direct yet? If not, go and have a browse; I don't think you'll be disappointed!