Choi's nails

L-R: Bubblegum, Luis lemon, Toxic apple, Pink punch, Pukka purple

Bubblegum. A neon hot pink. Bubblegum is pretty opaque with the first coat and application was smooth so here I'm wearing one on every nail except for the pinkie. I'd say add another layer to be safe though and only after looking closely on the computer screen do I see some VNL (visible nail line), it's hardly noticeable in person. It took a few minutes to mattify but it had more of that rubbery/semi matte finish. I actually applied a top coat on the index and ring finger but whether it's on camera or in person there's not much of a difference. The fourth picture is how it looks in the sunlight, bright shade right?


Luis lemon. Bright lemon yellow. Without me telling you see that this one is obviously sheer. Sheer on the first coat, better on the second but still very sheer. If you're not a fan of showing some VNL, wearing this with an underwear might help. You could try this over a white base. The formula for this one is slightly runny and applies streaky but good thing it evens itself out. The first photo is Luis lemon in sunlight and no top coat applied here.

Pukka purple. A neon purple. I don't know how else to describe this. This one seemed like a normal purple to me and my camera has altered the colour to make it look a bit more blue. This one had a consistency that was a little more thicker than the rest and became opaque with one coat.

Toxic apple. Bright green. The formula, application and sheerness was very similar to that of Luis lemon. This polish evens itself out also and in the photos I'm wearing two coats.

Pink punch. A pink-y orange. Here I'm wearing two coats since one is sheer, two is only a bit better but you see less of the VNL. I stopped at the second layer but you could go ahead and add a third, it won't hurt since the formula was alright with this one. Not too thin nor thick.

Here you go, the ice neon collection. These were all so bright and easy to work with. Most of the polishes had a thin consistency and went on sheer. These are all swatched without a top coat just so you could see how it looks matte but they all seem to have that rubbery/semi matte finish unless I never left them to dry long enough.

On the Models own website it states: 

The only way to keep fluoro really bright is to KEEP IT COLD! We've packed this collection in specially-designed frosted bottles that you should keep refrigerated to protect the intense fluoro colour from fading. These on-trend neon shades bring summer alive with fluoro flavour, bold and bright.

That being the reason for the collection name 'ice neon'. I won't test this claim though. My parents already find my growing collection of polishes weird anyway, they won't be happy to see one sitting in the fridge.

I think these are a bunch of fun colours. Won't personally wear them alone because they're so bright but I wouldn't mind using them for a design. This'll be the last of the Models own swatches I give to you since I think I've shown enough. The remaining polish I haven't tried can wait for next time.

Argh! After battling with the HTML codes for 6 hours last night and continuing with it today, I give up.  I couldn't care less about whether my blog looks pro or not and I could do without the headaches it's giving me. Just going to have to make do with how it looks. It's not too bad right? 

Do you own any neons? Which one is your favourite?

This is one of the duo-chromes from the Fall 2011 Beetlejuice collection which as the name mentions is a mix of aqua blue and violet. If you look closely you'll see more of the duo-chrome goodness near the cuticles, it's much more obvious in person.

This one is indeed interesting. Didn't particularly like it but definitely didn't hate it either; I guess it was partly due to the application. The first coat was really sheer, the second coat was better but still a bit sheer so I added thick third coat. Quite a few coats here hence my nails looking a little thick. Because it's so sheer I did paint a little wonky without noticing, check the right corner of the tips on the index and around the middle and ring finger. 

I finished everything off with a top coat but even though the top layer dried, the layers in between still felt a little 'squidgy' after a few hours and so I managed to smudge it badly. Didn't feel like removing it immediately after so much work and knowing I wouldn't be leaving the house the next few days, I kept it on for 3 days. It started properly chipping after the second day.

If it didn't need so many layers I think I'd like it much more but even being a duo-chrome this one didn't excite me as much as I thought it would. A pretty shade though.

Do you own any duo-chromes? What's your favourite?

L-R: Banana split, Strawberry tart, Blueberry muffin, Grape juice, Apple pie

Here's a shot of all the stickers on the bottle caps except blueberry muffin which didn't come with one, it most probably got picked off before I got my hands on them. If you give the stickers a little scratch it gives off a fruity scent. Must say I was impressed that it actually worked and smelled quite nice. I didn't want to play with it too much though just in case all the scent disappeared before I've tried the polish.


Banana split. This is a lovely light pastel yellow and by far the best yellow I own. This one has a runny formula and is pretty streaky especially on the first coat. On my index and middle finger I applied two layer but three on my ring and pinkie. Having a third coat is much better and I'd say stop there because the nails were starting to look kind of thick.


Strawberry tart. Very straightforward pink pastel creme. Like banana split this one was also slightly runny and streaky. Here I'm wearing two coats and even so you could see that it's still a little streaky. Three coats would've been better but don't remember why I just decided to stop there.


Blueberry muffin. Pastel sky blue. The formula, streakiness and application is just like that of the two above. I ended up with two coats here.


Grape juice. Pastel purple creme with a little hint of pink to it. Runny and sheer but everything looked fine with two coats.


Apple juice. Minty pastel green. Same formula as above and I'm wearing two coats in the photos.

This is a lovely collection for Spring. All swatches were taken without top coat. Since they're scented having a top coat might affect how much scent you'll get out of each wear and they do smell pretty nice. Dry time is average and only after it has fully dried will you be able to smell the scent properly. I wore apple juice for a little while longer and realised the smell starts to fade after a day which is good enough, after all I do eat a lot of finger food which means washing my hands frequently.

This is the first time trying Models own polishes, their brushes are thin and light. I guess that's to do with the  plastic bottle cap which reduces the weight. All the ones in this collection had a runny formula and require at least two to three coats. Thankfully the polish is self leveling so you don't have to worry about it looking smooth or not.

As for the streak on the left side of my ring finger, that has nothing to do with the polish itself. I just have a ridge there which tends to show as a streak. Don't mind the marks on the pinkie in some swatches too. It's what happens a lot of the time when start picturing my nails when they're not fully dry.

I realised some of the swatches in term of the paint job and lighting definitely isn't great but it'll have to make do. All photos were taken indoors but I'm considering making a light box once I gather the right materials.I could use the awesome light my sister purchased but I'm missing a cardboard box. We actually don't have a spare one lying around the house and I need to figure out a way to keep the light hovering above since it doesn't have a stand.

Do you own any Model's own polishes? What's your favourite? Will you be purchasing any from this collection?

Top row L-R: Bubblegum, Luis lemon, Toxic apple, Pink punch, Pukka purple, Aqua violet Bottom row L-R: Banana split, Blueberry muffin, Strawberry tart, Grape fruit, Apple pie, Purple blue

The first time I picked up two neons and all the pastels except the pink one, strawberry tart, because they didn't have any in stock and I didn't know it existed. All Models own polishes retail for £5 each and Boots were having a 3 for 2 promotion so I purchased 6 polishes for £20.

On the second trip I picked up the four remaining of the pastel and neon collection and since I didn't want to let go of the promotion I picked up another two, aqua violet and purple blue. I purchased three of them using the points I had on my Boots advantage card since I had £15 in my account so I received them for three and paid £10 for the rest. 

Talking about this I didn't quite like the sales assistant that served me. I had to separate my transaction into two since I didn't have enough points to purchase the whole 6 and her expression made me feel like I was being a little troublesome. She's lucky she smiled at me as I left, it saved her LOL.


I needed a nail polish remover because the I finished the 100ml Curex bottle I previously hadone I had much quicker than I thought I would and only after I received it in the post did I notice that it contained acetone. I think my nails could do with less of that harsh chemical since I already use it for cleanups.


I've used a Sally Hansen remover before but couldn't remember which one, they seemed to work okay for me so I picked the SH acetone free one for artificial and sensitive nails. I wanted something a bit more strengthening and nourishing but the ones they offered didn't meet my needs or contained acetone. This 200ml bottle costed £2.45. Got slightly annoyed when I found that I could've purchased this cheaper elsewhere though.


I really don't need two removers but I've heard about this one before and was really interested so I picked it up without having a second thought. I'll be doing a review after I've used this long enough. This is priced at £4.99

Purple blue

Aqua violet

Last but not least, here's a bottle shot of the two extra polishes I took home with me. I believe both of these are from the beetlejuice collection which I told myself I'll get someday.

In total it came up to £52.44 for 14 items altogether but only £37.44 came out of my pocket. That's like £2.68 per item. I like to think of it like that because it makes things seem more worth it :)

Hope you enjoyed my haul! :)

Do you own any models own polishes? What do you think of them?

Gel effect Nail Paint that provides an extra glossy finish

Top row L-R: Plum, Blackberry, Watermelon, Blood orange, Blueberry, Prickly pear, Satsuma Bottom row L-R: Grapefruit, Pomegranate, Lychee, Dragon fruit, Greenberry, Papaya

L-R: Plum, Blackberry, Watermelon, Blood orange

L-R: Blueberry, Prickly pear, Satsuma

L-R: Grapefruit, Pomegranate, Lychee

L-R: Dragon fruit, Greenberry, Papaya

Plum. A deep dark purple which is definitely a one coater. The consistency was slightly thick and opaque in one coat so I didn't add another because it really didn't need one. It shows up a little too dark in my photos but in the collection photos above you could see the purple in the bottle.


Blackberry. Deep navy blue. This one passes off with one slightly thick coat as well or if you prefer, two thin coats. Same consistency as plum and no problems experienced whilst painting. It did seem to stain a teeny bit after I removed it though.


Watermelon. Deep dark green and like plum my camera didn't capture the colour right and it's looking a little darker than it is. Thick formula once again and this time I painted one coat on my middle and index finger and two on my ring and pinkie.


Blood orange. Looks like a blood red in the bottle but appears a little brighter on the nails. It's like a classic red. Thick consistency and in the photos I'm wearing one coat.


Blueberry. My camera doesn't always capture blues right so this one turned out brighter in the pictures. Everyone says this is like a cornflower blue. Just Google searched the colour and it seems close so I'll agree. Slightly thick formula once again but this time I used two coats to cover some of the sheer patches it had. It's best to be careful with the application of this one.


Prickly pear. A light pastel lilac. Being a light colour with a slightly runny formula this one also needed two coats. Three if you want to make sure everything is covered and even but if I thought it was fine at two coats.


 Satsuma. Really bright orange. This one has potential to be a one coat polish if you apply it evenly which I didn't so I'm wearing two coats in the photo to cover up a few streaks I had. Slightly thick consistency.


Grapefruit. A bright pinky coral shade. Here's two coats of grapefruit. It was almost opaque at one coat but wasn't quite there yet so I added another. Slightly thick formula.


Pomegranate. A raspberry pinky-red. Has a thick consistency and only took one coat. Noticed a slight bit of staining after I removed it too.


Lychee. A nude beige which surprisingly looked nice against my skin tone. I think I've found my next favourite nude. First coat was streaky as I'd expected with colours like this and two was fine. The formula of this one was a little thinner than others.


Dragon fruit. Bubblegum pink creme that looked like it had some fine silver shimmers in it. This one was slightly runny that it applied a little streaky and pooled into the cuticles a little. Two coats did the job and made everything opaque though.


Greenberry. A turquoise green. For this one it's slightly thick but also on the runny side. The brush picked up a bit more than I wanted and it ended up pooling a little onto my cuticles as well. I left this with two coats in the end. 

All photos taken indoors. Natural lighting.

Papaya. Peachy orange shade which is bright and great for summer. No surprise with the slightly thick consistency and this one needed two coats.


A really good bunch of colours in this collection. My favourites being the reds, pinks and darker ones like plum. I didn't use a top coat for any of these swatches since the collection claimed to offer a glossy shine and the best way to prove this is without the added top coat. They all applied shiny but dulled down after a little while. I remember keeping one of the shades on for a little longer and it held up for 3-4 days with minor tip wear and chipping. That's just me having very little to do at that time though, just a lot of crazy typing being the roughest thing I do. I didn't wear the others long enough to comment on their wear time but I'd suggest adding a top coat if you really wanted to extend the wear.