No.7 Gel-Look Nail Colour - NEPTUNE

Regular readers of my blog will know I have recently had a bit of an interest (obsession) with high street, gel-finish nail varnishes.

I'm a huge believer in a shiny nail...and the gel nail varnishes promise exactly this.

No.7 have very recently broken into the gel nail polish market, with a tentative offering of 7 'gel-look' shine nail varnishes.  This 'dip your toe in the water' approach has been seen by most of the high street cosmetic companies, which either suggests they think gel-nail varnishes are a flash in the pan, or they aren't sure how the public will react to them.

The colour range on offer is a pretty typical palette of colours - a baby pink, a fuschia pink, a red, a deep wine (you get the idea....) and normally I probably wouldn't have even given the range a second thought, as I am definitely not a fan of No.7's normal nailvarnishes.  However, one colour caught my eye, and that was this deep grey/denim blue....

I hadn't really seen a shade like it before, and something about it really appealed to me. Sooo....as per usual out came the debit card and £6.50 later I was the (somewhat dubious) owner of No.7's new gel look nail colour in Neptune.

The blurb on this is that it not only offers high shine, but it also claims to only need one coat.  Bold.  I've never had a successful experience with "1-coat" nail varnish before, but hey ho.

After one coat

So above are my nails after one coat.  The flash on my camera definitely exaggerates the 'streaks' in the colour, as they weren't that obvious in reality.  In fairness to No.7, I'd say you could probably get away with just one coat of this nail varnish, if you were in a hurry and weren't looking for an ultra-groomed finish.  The depth of colour was really impressive, and the consistency was thick but still really easy to apply.  The brush is slightly flatter and wider than their usual nail varnishes which definitely aids application.  I could cover my whole nail in one 'swipe' of the brush and the finish was nice and even.

Width of the brush (apologies for the poor quality of my camera!)

Anyone who has read my nailvarnish posts before though will know I am a sucker for depth of colour, and I am therefore never going to be a girl to settle for a one-coat wonder.  And in honesty, I think this nail varnish comes into its own in the second coat.  The consistency is so nice to work with and the second coat delivers a much stronger, fuller, solid colour, and you really notice the 'gel shine'.  I haven't got any top coat on in the photo below, and I think the shine is really impressive.

With regard to the colour, I am a little in love with this shade. It is a deep denim / blueberry blue with grey undertones and I think it looks quite unique.  I haven't come across a colour like it before - definitely not on the high street anyway.  The unique shade, coupled with the rich colour this nail varnish offers, makes for a really impressive product. 

It's a shame that No.7 haven't got any other shades that immediately take my eye...I've already got a red gel nail varnish by Barry M, and the other colours don't really appeal to me.  However I would say this is the best high-street gel nailvarnish I have tried.  It beats the Barry M one hands down on both application and richness of colour, and for £6.50 it doesn't exactly break the bank.  I''d recommend looking out for No.7 offers, as they are always running 'money-off' vouchers or 3 for 2.