The Product
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The product I am reviewing is by Avon and is a nail enamel fortified with acrylic gel for strength. The product claims to give you 12 days of long lasting colour and up to 10 days of shine. The product also claims to give a glossy and finish and to be chip resistant. My sister handed me an Avon catalogue a few weeks ago so I decided to purchase a few items from there to try. The nail enamel is available to buy in over 20 different shades which include pinks, reds, blue, purple and other colours. I actually purchased a metallic silver looking colour which was called 'Starry Sky'. I thought silver would be the perfect colour to wear during the party season but could also be worn for a night out on the town as well. The nail enamel comes in a black box which states what the product it. It also has some other information, most of this which is in a foreign language so I don't have a clue what it says. On the top of the box it states what colour product you purchased. When you open the box there is yet more information on the inside of the box such as warning information and a list of ingredients. Again this information is in a number of different languages. The nail enamel comes in a rather flat bottle which is quite tall and holds 12ml of the product. The lid to the nail enamel is black and is a squared shape. You can clearly see the colour of the nail enamel in the bottle. This particular colour (Starry Sky) was a lovely silver colour which looked slightly glittery and metallic. I couldn't wait to try the product out. The full price of this product is £6.00 which seems quite expensive for nail enamel; how-ever I did purchase this when it was on offer for £3.51. You can also purchase this from Avon's website for the reduced price.

Using the Product
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Before I apply any main nail varnish colour I always use Barry M all in one for a basecoat. After this had dried I then got ready to apply the nail enamel. I shook the bottle well and as I did this I could hear the metal ball bearing in the bottle. The brush to the nail varnish was slightly wider than on other products I have used before; how-ever there was a good amount of the nail enamel on the brush ready to apply. The nail enamel painted onto my nails easily using 2 brush strokes. The colour looked great and really metallic looking but I would definitely need to apply at least another coat for best results. The nail enamel didn't take too long to dry; how-ever I gave it some extra time before I got ready to apply another coat to my nails. Once I had completed a 2nd coat my nails look fantastic. I loved the finished results. My nails looked really eye catching with the metallic silver nail enamel which looked really festive and caught the light whenever I moved my hand. My nails had a lovely smooth finish to them which made the finishing results look even better.

Results
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Day 1 - I went to work and carried out my normal duties which involves packing orders, moving boxes, stock replenishment and typing on the computer. I find that with some nail polish it starts to wear off around the tips of the nails due to me typing on the computer. I was pleasantly surprised when I check my nails at the end of the day. The nail enamel hadn't worn off at all, not even around the tips of the nails. The colour still looked brilliant and still had the lovely silver metallic look to it. I was very impressed and hoped that these results would last for a few more days before I noticed any chips or the nail enamel wearing off.

Day 2 - I went to work again and carried out all the work I normally would. When I got home I looked at my nails to see how they were looking. There was now some slight wear showing which was at the tips of the nails. Some of the nail enamel was wearing off at the tips of each nail, how-ever this was only very slightly and wasn't really that obvious unless you took my hand and had a good look. As the nail enamel was starting to show some obvious signs of wear I was expecting to have to completely remove the nail enamel in approximately 2-3 days before my nails started to look too scruffy.

Day 3 - I was at work again and looked at my nails during the afternoon. I know had a few noticeable chips in the nail enamel in 1-2 nails. The nail enamel had also started to wear off a little around the cuticle area. The nails didn't look that bad, how-ever as it had started to chip and wear off I intended on taking the nail enamel off within the next 1-2 days.

Day 4 - There was now noticeable wear around the tips of my nails from where the nail enamel had worn off and you could see the tips of my nails. The rest of the nail seemed to still be covered in nail enamel apart from a few chips here and there on each nail. I decided that it was now time to remove the nail enamel as I wanted to re-paint them in another colour ready for the weekend anyway. To remove the polish I put some nail varnish remover onto a cotton wool pad and rubbed gently at the nail. I did have rub a few times as first to start working the nail enamel off but once I had rubbed the nail a few times it came off without me having too rub too hard at the nail.

Overall Opinion
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I was really impressed with the colour of the nail enamel and I thought the colour was beautiful and perfect for the festive season. The colour was really easy to apply and gave a professional finish to my nails. I was impressed at how long the nail enamel lasted after wearing it to work as normally some nail polishes only last about a day before wearing off or chipping. If I had painted my nails and not gone to work I am confident that the nail enamel would have stayed looking better for much longer. In terms of value at full price the nail enamel is a lot more than what I would normally pay for a nail polish, how-ever I don't mind paying a bit more for fantastic colours and a nail enamel that stays on without chipping or wearing off, which this one clearly does better than others I have tried. I will be purchasing more colours when my sister gives me a new Avon book and I look forwards to trying them. I highly recommend this nail enamel and it's one of the best nail enamels I have tried.



(review will also appear on ciao)