Top 5 Tuesday: Summer Nail Polishes

I can't lie to you, if I was a rich woman (and hopefully someday I will be!)  a bi-weekly mani/pedi would definitely be a must in my life. But for right now, a trip to the nail salon is a pretty infrequent occurrence in the life of Elise and I am left to fend for myself when it comes to nail polish. Doing nails on a budget doesn't mean you can't have awesome colors! So for this Top 5 Tuesday I thought I'd share my favorite nail polish colors for summer from the drug store.

Colors listed from left to right! But other than that they're in no particular order.

1) Funky Fingers- Mrs. Mint

 I purchased this color from Five Below which is essentially a "dollar store" where everything is under $5. I love this color though! I don't really go for blue/green toned polishes very often, so it says a lot that I reach for this one. It's got good color pay off and who doesn't love mint for spring and summer?

2) Sinful Colors- 24/7

I got this color from Target for $1.99. This line is kind of hit or miss for me. This particular polish dries with a matte finish which isn't my favorite, but others in the line dry glossy. I just do two coats and add a top coat over it and it comes out fine. It's not the best quality (but hey, you get what you pay for!) but the color is pretty unique. I don't think the camera actually does it justice, but it is literally the most neon of pinks I have ever seen. And if you can tell from the swatches I chose, I love me some pink nail polish. 

3) Spoiled by Wet n Wild- Uh, As If!

I found this color at CVS Pharmacy and this was also $1.99. I was insanely impressed with this color, especially for the price. First off, let's just point out that the name is a Clueless reference (for those of you who didn't know I was Cher Horowitz in a previous life) so it automatically gets points in my book. Next, the brush is super wide so it's really easy to get a nice smooth coat without much effort. And to top it all off the color payoff is great for such a cheap polish. You don't even need two coats if you don't want which is crazy! 

4) Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Xtreme Wear- Coral Reef

I think Sally Hansen polishes are pretty easy to get your hands on, but I got mine at CVS for $3.19. This is one of my go to colors for spring and summer. I did a whole blog post on it previously, but coral is something I can't get enough of! The formula is good and it dries with a really nice finish and it was definitely a good find.

5) Sally Hansen Hard as Nails- No Hard Feelings

Again, I got this one from CVS and I'm having trouble finding the price online for some reason, but it's still listed on the Sally Hansen website so I know they still make it! But anyways, this color is beautiful and I love that you really only need one coat, even though I usually deepen it up with a second one. My one complaint is that the brush is too thin, but I'll get over it because it's a perfect purple!

Okay so holding this pose so you can actually see all the nails is super hard! And now the swatches are from right to left.

And I added a top coat for this photo, but I don't know if the camera even really picks up the difference

And now it's time for me to rave about my favorite base coat/top coat combo. My boyfriend's sister used these on me and my $2 nail polish lasted just about a week with no chips. After that, I immediately went and tracked down my own set. The polishes came together and I got them for about $8 at CVS. I've never been crazy into top coats and base coats but I really like this set and I think it makes my nails look professionally done.

So let me know you're favorite nail polishes! I'm going to London in September and I can't wait to get my hands on some Barry M and Tanya Burr colors. Any suggestions from my European readers?