The Monday Manicure - OPI's Wing It! & Catch Me In Your Net

Yes, I know that it is technically Tuesday, but every Monday I will be doing the Monday Manicure (I painted my nails yesterday but the light wasn't good enough to photograph them then).

Let me know if there are any particular brands or colours or finishes that you would like to see in future weeks and I will try my best to oblige.

This week I have chosen colours from OPI's Summer Flutter Collection as I refuse to wave goodbye to summer until after the Bank Holiday weekend. I had difficulty restricting myself to just 1 so I have painted my toes as well so I can show you 2 different, yet spectacular shades.

I have used Wing It! on my fingers and it is an eye catching mix of red, orange and pink shimmer with a fine sprinkling of glitter. It is quite difficult to accurately describe but it reminds me of how petrol can sometimes look when the sun hits it (not the most glamorous analogy). This shade would look fantastic with a tan, alas my hands are deathly pale even in August, and is a must if you have plans for this Bank Holiday. It screams summer even if the UK weather disappoints. It applies like a dream, but the main drawback is that even with 3 coats, the nail line is still quite evident. If this bothers you, then it might be better to just use on the toes.

For my toes, I chose Catch Me In Your Net, which has a similar finish to Wing It!. Again it is a mix of colours with fine glitter, blue, turquoise and light green. It is my favourite out of the 2, mainly because I feel it is the more unique shade and it looks great on both warm and cool skin tones. It applies like a dream and I only needed 2 coats for an opaque finish (however it can be a pain to remove!).

The perfect manicure & pedicure ingredients:

2 coats of OPI Nail Envy (base)

3 coats of Wing It! for fingers

2 coats of Catch me In Your Net for toes

1 coat of Seche Vite top coat

Leighton Denny Corrector Liquid as required

1 application of OPI Avoplex Cuticle Oil

1 pump of Decleor Nourishing Comforting Hand Cream

1 pump of Margaret Dabbs Intensive Hydrating Foot Lotion

Overall, OPI is my favourite nail brand as I find it the easiest to apply and for me, it lasts the longest. The Summer Flutter Collection doesn't disappoint and these colours are sure to catch anyone's eye. If you don't really like to be noticed, then you can still carry off these shades, just restrict them to the toes.

Leighton Denny on QVC

This is just a quick post to let all those who, like me, are somewhat nail obsessed, that UK nail supremo Leighton Denny will be launching a Today's Special Value on the shopping channel QVC at midnight tomorrow (Monday).

For those of you who are unfamiliar with QVC and perhaps who would never dream of buying something off the TV, let me explain a few of the benefits.

1. Each day QVC has a Today's Special Value, one carefully picked and designed product that launches at midnight for a special reduced price. That price holds for 24 hours or until it sells out.

2. QVC stocks some fabulous brands that can be difficult in some places to get hold of. These include: Sarah Chapman. Perricone, Elemis, Decleor, Gatineau, Philosophy, Bobbi Brown, Duwop, Nails Inc, OPI and Smashbox.

3. You actually get to see the products being demonstrated (although some demonstrations are definitely better than others) so for nail varnish, on a website it can be difficult to see how a product looks on the nails, but on the TV, you get a more accurate picture of what the product will look like when you get it home. Also, with skincare and makeup, you can learn some great tips from the experts as to how they should be used.

4. You don't need to have access to or to watch QVC to take advantage of the great deals on their products. You can do all your shopping online at www.qvcuk.com.

4, Finally, and I''ve saved the best till last, QVC has a thirty day money back guarantee on all products. I found this unbelievable at first but it means you can buy anything, face creams, mascara, earrings etc, and use them for a full 30 days, and if you change your mind, you pay for the postage back but you get a full refund. I don't know of any other way of shopping where you can return used products that aren't faulty. This policy has made me a lot braver about trying more expensive skincare as I know that I only need to keep it and pay for it if I really think the product is worth it. No more expensive mistakes!

In all honesty, a few years ago I would never have dreamt of buying from or even viewing a shopping channel, but when I fell ill and my shopping activities were severely restricted, I accidentally found it and after some trepidation, realised what a great discovery it was! (and for those of you wondering, I do not work for a shopping channel!)

Now, back to Leighton Denny.

He has won a ton of awards for both his skill as a nail technician and for his product range. His wide range of colours retail for £10.50 a bottle and they are regularly featured in all the top fashion magazines. Aside from the colours, his range features some great treatments as well as the must have nail corrector which makes French manicures quick and easy to achieve. You can check out his website and see his product range at

www.leightondenny.com

To give you an idea, his previous TSVs on QVC have retailed around the £25 mark and the last one featured 4 colours as well as nail & cuticle oil, top coat etc. Whatever Tuesday's is, it is sure to be great value.

If you do tune in, beware not to get sucked into the constant pressurised selling. Be sure that what you are buying is something you really want and will really use, otherwise you can end up being swayed into spending a lot more than anticipated. Although, at least if you get a sudden guilty conscience when face to face with your purchases you can send them all back!