My Issues with Nail Polish

Up until I was 20 my nails were almost non-existent. They were chewed, nibbled on, bitten to within an inch of their lives (you know what I mean!)! But when I turned 20 I decided that it was time to grow up and act like a lady. And a lady has lovely, long, strong, colourful nails. The first thing I did was invest in a jar of Sally Hansen Maximum Growth Daily Nail Treatment (click here for link) and applied this religiously everyday. I also had to teach myself to stop biting my nails and get rid of that awful habit.

Once my nails decided to grow a little bit I treated myself to a jar of Barry M polish in Raspberry (a beautiful, deep, berry shade, ideal for the autumn months). I was very proud of myself. I had lovely long nails and they were a gorgeous colour. And then it was time to show off my lovely new accessory. I bounced into work full of the joys of Spring, casually showing off my wonderful new nails. Now in my job, there is a lot of glove work, washing hands, washing up cutlery and utensils etc. So your hands unfortunately suffer. By the end of the shift my once beautifully painted nails were now a shadow of their former selves. The polish was chipped on every single nail and a couple of them had started to break. I was pretty fed up. Having my nails painted cheered me up, everytime I looked at them I saw an achievement, it had taken me years to get to that point. And now they were ruined and I was right back to where I had started. So that was when I decided that I needed to invest in a decent base coat and top coat and that I would only paint my nails a colour on the weekends I didn't work (I get every other weekend off). I became quite tight in my nail-polish-buying. I didn't see the point in spending a lot on something that would only survive on my nails for a couple of days.
I've always loved the Barry M range, they've got such an array of colours its hard not to find one that suits your needs. I also really like the quality of the formula in Barry M polishes, the colours are buildable but usually I only need 2 coats and I'm happy.
For a long time I only bought the Barry M polishes, and that was when they were on offer. But then my Mother bought me a few of the Rimmel 60 seconds polishes and, I have to say, I think I prefer these. The brushes are wide enough to use one stroke only, there isn't as much choice on colour but the colours they do have are lovely. So I started to widen my collection of polishes but still only buying them when they are on offer.

Nowadays I have a wide collection of polishes but I still refuse to pay more than £6 for on a jar of polish. I can get 2 for that usually! A friend bought me an Essie polish and although I think its a lovely polish I cannot find any difference to the Barry M or the Rimmel polishes. In fact, I have almost the exact shade in a Barry M Polish. Also, since I've discovered this fabulous world of blogging if I read a review of a lovely polish by Chanel or Illamasqua, I can quite often find a matching review on a dupe of these products. Win Win!
I now have a lovely collection of polishes, and seeing the colour on my nails still cheers me up and brightens my day (the little things and all), and I still will only buy polishes when there is an offer running in one of the drugstores. I know that sounds tight and cheap but when you're on a budget you must live by your means and for me that includes my beauty purchases.



Can anyone recommend any other good drugstore nail polishes? I'm always keen to discover new brands!