Top 5 nail picks for summer! (or lack of)

Okay, a little disclaimer and note - I know I said this would be a summer lipstick post but at the minute I'm really struggling to get good photographs of my lips - if anyone has any good tips please leave them below! I use a Canon 1100D if that helps with settings at all. But anyway - on to the nails! The brief summer weather we've had seems to have been replaced with thunderstorms today, so no more lovely dresses and sandals! :( To cheer myself up I've picked my top 5 nail colours to brighten up my outfits.

L-R: Topshop 'Hidden Treasure', Barry M 'Lychee', Collection 'Hip Hop', Maybelline 'Urban Coral', Maybelline 'Electric Yellow'

1. Topshop 'Hidden Treasure' (thumb) £6.00

This is actually a nail varnish from last year, but seems to be part of their permanent collection. It's one of the colour-shifting ones that everyone went mental for! This one shifts between gold and green, and almost a teal in some lights. It looks beautiful with a tan (fake tan obviously, not going to get anything natural here!), and I just think it works really well as a summer shade - when the sun light shines on it, it looks beautiful.

2. Barry M's Gelly Effect 'Lychee' (index finger) £3.99

Okay, so I can imagine this one will get very mixed reviews. I first saw this on buynowbloglater, and just knew that within 24 hours I would own it. It's like a lot of the popular nude 'skin tone' nail varnishes that are around at the minute, but there's a little bit more white in it - without sounding gross it reminds me of bones! There's still enough nude in it to make it wearable but it's just something a bit different to all the other nudes I've seen out there. I think it makes a great light summer shade, neutral enough to go with any outfit but different enough to grab attention.

3. Collection 'Hip Hop (28)' (middle finger) £1.99

I absolutely love the Collection (can't get used to saying Collection and not Collection 2000) 60 second nail polishes - £1.99 and in about 3 millions different colours that actually have decent wear time - what's not to love? I have so many of these it's ridiculous. Hip Hop is a beautiful, bright, pure orange - not neon but definitely bright. Orange is my favourite colour and I tend to wear this nail polish with my orange Topshop ballet flats - it might be a bit 90s but I like having them match as a nice little finish to my outfit!

4. Maybelline Colour Show 'Urban Coral' (ring finger) £2.99

These are not too dissimilar from the Collection 60 second polishes, except a pound more. There is less of a colour range but all the colours are more stand out - they are all more 'statement' colours, if you will! This is a perfect pinky coral that actually reminds me a lot of the MAC Viva Glam Nicki lipstick. It's bright, summery, and very very girly. I do actually feel a bit Barbie-ish when I have a full set of nails in this shade! 

5. Maybelline Colour Show 'Electric Yellow' (pinkie finger) £2.99

Like most people, I am a bit afraid of yellow. Yellow scares me - it can look childish, brash, and tacky. However I saw this colour in Boots - when I picked up Urban Coral - and as it was buy one get one half price, I bit the bullet and bought this shade. It is bright, and it does make me feel a bit like I've drawn on my nail with a crayon but I do love it. I'm wearing a mint jumper today and the two colours look so nice together that when I take this rainbow hand off later, I'm going to repaint all of my nails with this one! 

So they are my top 5 nail picks at the minute, best part of all they are super cheap! Do you have any favourites that you dig out for when the (supposed) summer months come around? Let me know in the comments! :) 

P.S all of the polish prices I have written are correct according to Boots (and Topshop obviously) which is where I purchase all of mine from - hello Boots points - and as I'm writing this there is still a buy one get one half price offer on all makeup. Enjoy!