I’ve seen Hot Shot nail varnishes from Collection 2000 around the blogging sphere when they were first released and have just got round to trying them out myself. I think my opinion of them will no doubt echo what a lot of bloggers have said but here’s my two cents anyway.
Hot Shots are smaller than the average nail varnish size, at just 8ml, but they are super cheap at only £1.99 each. I got these on offer 3 for £5. I suppose at this price I can’t expect a great deal and the first time I used them I was pretty shocked at just how crappy they were - chipping on the same day I painted them! The only consolation was that I only needed a couple of coats for a complete non-streaky glossy finish and they did dry quickly. I didn’t want to completely disregard this product though so I tried it over a coat of Barry M base, top coat and nail hardener et voila! It stays on as long as any other polish, so far I’ve had 3 or 4 days wear with only slight chipping starting on a couple of nails. I suppose I should’ve tried this first as I know it’s recommended to always wear a base coat with nail varnish, but I confess I just don’t do this very often!
So now I’m happy with them I wanted to share with you the colours I got, it seemed pointless before sharing a product I hated! I got three pastel shades, which I love the names of by the way. Wham is a great grey colour,
a paler version of Barry M’s Grey. Button Moon is a pretty unique colour I think, it looks kind of mint green in the pot, but on is more a turquoise blue colour, a lot more striking on your nails and guaranteed to get you a few comments. Sorry about the extremely sloppy application in this photo. I did this quick just to throw it in here. At least you get the idea about the colour.
Finally Dynasty is a very pretty pinky purple colour, more pink than purple once you’ve painted your nails with it.
So Hot Shots are pretty hot after all, just get yourself a good base coat! I think for the price you can’t really complain. There’s quite a few shades to choose from, a great way to experiment with colour and matching your nails with your outfit.
On a completely different note, I wanted to show you by parent's pup Layla. I mentioned her when they first got her, and meant to keep you updated on her but then for one reason or another I didn't. I'm not sure how relevant it is on a beauty blog! Anyway, here she is, at 7 months old, she's pretty much full grown now. Every time I go to see her she'd grown so much and seemed to forget who I am at first.
It's hard to get a good shot of her, she doesn't stay still for long and her fur is so long and wild it covers most of her features. She's a bit of a scaredy cat at times but she's just a bundle of fluff and I really miss her!
I don't know what it is about these shades, but I seriously love them! This one is called Mushroom, which I don't think is a particularly accurate description, the colour is more of a greyish, slightly taupe shade. The other pastel colours are named after ice cream, this would probably fit in as the chocolate ice cream of the bunch (at least in the bottle...).It really doesn't come out the same as the colour in the bottle which is more brown toned. That's ok though, I'm happy with the result, I don't own any shades in this family so this is a good start. I love the finish of this nail varnish. It's super shiny and glossy and a good formulation because I applied two coats of this yesterday and no sign of chipping yet. Another winner from Barry M.
It’s very flattering and suitable for any occasion, it makes a nice change to your typical white tipped manicure. The pictures are both taken in natural light.
I would highly recommend any of these nail polishes, they dry very quickly, and after three days of wear have shown no signs of chipping. They do give off quite a strong odour when you’re painting your nails, which I guess is the price paid for the quality of the varnish, just make sure you’re in a well ventilated room would be my advice! I’m not sure I’d be willing to pay their RRP of £16 a piece, but for three, I’m very happy. You can look at all the shades available here:
