Wowza! Model's Own Neon PM trio, reviewed

When these neon bottles tumbled out of their jiffy bag onto the garden table, my housemate looked up from his laptop and said "What is that?? Is it makeup?"

Yes, it most definitely is!

Neon PM is one of several nail polish trio collections assembled by stylish new British cosmetics brand Models Own. The pink, green and highlighter-yellow shades are all available to buy individually for £5, while the trio together costs £12.

I'm reviewing all three of these brighter-than-bright polishes. Read on to find out if the result is dazzling or simply extreme...

Review - Illamasqua Sirens nail polish in "Muse"

Now normally, nail polish isn't something I splash out on. Polish is polish, I tend to think, and I buy Barry M, Boots 17, or Bourjois. I expect them to chip in a couple of days. That's OK, then I get to try a new colour.

I'm colour-driven. I'm only lured out of my budget habits by the most exquisite shades or unusual duochrome finishes. (More about my love of duochrome in another post). Muse leapt out at me from Illamasqua's display for its totally unique hue - it's a pure, solid petrol blue/teal. Deep turquoise. A very warm toned blue, if you like. A kind of faded, but vivid teal, like the flank of a gorgeous old car. I've never seen anything quite like it in a nail polish - so I pounced.

The picture above doesn't really do the exact hue justice - for a truer representation, here's Illamasqua's own depiction of the shade.

The bottle is square glass with a glossy black plastic lid, and the brush is pretty typical - it's not a flattened brush or anything, it's pretty old-school, but it works. The colour inside is a medium consistency, smooth, not runny and not goopy. It goes on easily, and the pigment is very intense. Total, opaque glossy coverage in two coats. Drying time is quick as a result.

The lasting power is positively other-wordly (as is fitting for the Sirens theme). A week later, I still have glossy, perfect petrol-blue nails that look great with a surprising number of different outfits.

This is nail polish in another class - and I will be more than happy to invest in other Illamasqua shades, for colour, but also for the divine finish and application and the phenomenal lasting power.

Muse is limited edition with Sirens, which is the first ever Illamasqua LE collection (there will be 2 collections each year). It costs £12.50 from Illamasqua

Illamasqua Selfridges gift set - a future collector's piece?

For Selfridges' 100th anniversary, limited edition items in the signature yellow hue have been produced by everyone from Moleskine to Coca-Cola. As the newest and brightest addition to Selfridges' Beauty Hall, it figures that Illamasqua would be joining the party. They have created a limited edition gift box containing both the black shade "Boosh", and a centenary special edition yellow called "Self".

It costs £25 - the same price as two nailpolishes from the regular line. Only 200 sets have been made. With Illamasqua's reputation rapidly climbing, and the added prestige of the Selfridges' connection, this is probably a wise investment for collectors.

However, I doubt if many people could manage to stop themselves from using the vivid yellow before it matured to collectible status!

The talons of fantasy - Nfu-Oh

Enfu-Oh is a Korean nail artist on a mission. Her mission is to make the most remarkable, unusual, exceptional and downright weird nail art the world has ever seen. Or at least that's what you might conclude after a visit to her site.



Claws filed to pinprick points, exquisitely hand-painted and appliquéd in the most baroque detail. Forget opening a can with these nails - you could stop traffic just by lifting a finger.

There's small but growing buzz around the web about Enfu's brand, Nfu-Oh, in particular the multi-faceting sparkling polish she makes. It's not directly available to us in the UK, though if you were near her Seoul-based salon it would certainly be worth a visit. The polish can be ordered from overseas at the moment, and sometimes filters through onto UK eBay.



Nfu-Oh's work is global and spans the whole discipline of nail art, but it's those kaleidoscopic polishes in their cute corset-shaped bottles that I've got my eye on. Some shades are a translucent base colour with fine leaf foil and glitter, some are holographic metallics that mesmerise in bright light.

I'm planning to track a couple of shades down through eBay. You'll hear more if I do. In the meantime, why not visit the blog of Nfu-Oh's main distributor in Asia for a bit of inspiration?