Models Own 'Grape Juice'

Hello all,

After what I felt was a disaster yesterday wearing Nails Inc. 'Elizabeth Street', I decided to scrub it off and try a polish I bought around Easter time when Boots had a 3 for 2 on everything in the cosmetics section. Since I heard so many good things about the brand, I decided to buy two with my third selection being a lip felt tip (essentially). This particular colour was my 'wildcard'. I knew I wanted a glitter (Models Own 'Southern Lights') and after 45 minutes (yes, I took THAT long) I decided to go with 'Grape Juice' - one of the brands new lines they had brought in for the spring.

Their selling point was that they were 'scented' and all had the theme of fruit. The others were Apple Pie (green), Blueberry Muffin (blue), Banana Split (yellow) and Strawberry Tart (pink). I chose the 'Grape Juice' one because a) I love the artificial smell of grapes and b) the pastel lilac was unusual yet still very feminine.

I was very excited to try this at the time as I had heard many good things about this brand. So what did I think when I tried it on again today?

Models Own 'Grape Juice'

Well, I did feel quite disappointed in the results. The brushes of this brand are not to my taste. I much prefer a wider brush that covers the nail in one stroke (like Essie, Rimmel, Bourjois etc) rather than having to do lots of little strokes. Having to apply the polish this way seems to make application streaky and produces a lot of bald spots. However, in the picture above I have only applied two layers as I had little patience with the dragging.

It also seemed to take forever to dry completely. Even after ten minutes of application it smudged very easily to the point that I was fed up and have taken it off.

It is a shame as the polish does have some very good points. It does smell great. It does smell of artificial grapes (like the scented pens I used as a kid). I think it lasts a long time too (from what I remember when I first wore it). Another plus point for it is you do get 14ml for £5. This is relatively cheap for a bigger bottle of varnish.

For those of you that have the patience to work with thinner brushes and a thicker formula, I would give it ago. If you are like me and prefer the stress free application of a wider brush and thinner formula, give this a miss.

Am I the only one who finds this product hard to work with? Or are there any tips I could be given to get the best out of this varnish?

Let me know :)

xxxxx