I’m still embracing more autumnal nail shades due to the absolutely miserable weather in London. I’m hoping for an Indian summer but think I may be disappointed! Today’s blog post features some of the beautiful Margaret Dabbs nail varnish range. If you haven’t heard of this brand before then take a look below for all the details and swatches.
I originally heard about the Margaret Dabbs nail varnish and brand from my lovely friend Kirsty, who swears that their salon manicures are the best she’s ever had… high praise indeed! They kindly sent me some polishes to try out and show you, so I hope you like the colours I chose. A quick note to say that I love the packaging – it’s very luxe and classic, with good size lids to grab hold of. I wish the brushes were a little wider as they’d be a little easier to use, but that’s my preference. They all dried with a very high shine (but please note the pics below show them with Seche Vite on top) with the exception of ‘Tiger Lily’ which had a slightly dull finish. And finally, they all include Vitamin E to strengthen and protect the nail.
‘Crocus’* is a beautiful grey polish that’s a little darker and more lavender-leaning on the nails than it is in the bottle. I’m biased as I love grey nail varnish but this is a seriously pretty shade. This only needed two coats for full coverage.
‘Bellflower’* was the most surprising shade in the collection for me. In the bottle it looks like quite a standard mauve shade but on the nails it’s so much more interesting. A chocolate-y, purple-y, dusky, grey-brown that is unique in my stash. This was another two-coater.
We’re getting into the vampy, autumn appropriate shades now and good lord are these beautiful. ‘Pansy’* is a rich and luxurious purple that is much prettier out of the bottle. I thought it was going to be a little bit dusty and muted (not necessarily a bad thing, as you can see HERE) but it is much darker and more intense on the nails and I love it. This was perfect in two coats.
Another strangely deceptive shade, ‘Lupin’* looked a lot lighter and grey-toned in the bottle, but gives a really deep navy on the nails. It has a slight purple tint to it, giving it a lot of dimension. I can’t wait to wear this in the winter. This needed three thin coats for full coverage.
‘Ivy’* is a true luscious green, almost a racing green. I always have a soft spot for green polishes and love the colour, but this one had quite a thin and streaky formula which I found hard to work with. I needed three coats to cover any bald spots. It also didn’t dry as smoothly as the others I tried, so I’m not sure if there was a difference in formula.
‘Tiger Lily’* was the shade I was most excited about and was actually my least favourite. It stuck to the trend of turning out darker on the nails which is shame as the bottle colour is so vibrant and a stunning orange, while on the nails it’s more of a dark red-orange. The formula was also very different to the others, almost like a jelly finish. The photos above show four coats and you can still see my nail line but I just checked the website and it does say that it’s semi-sheer which I didn’t realise!
Which is your favourite shade from my picks of the Margaret Dabbs nail varnish collection? Are you more of a bright nail fan? Or a dramatic vampy manicure kind of person? Let me know in the comments below!
Lex
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