The Science of Procrastination: AUTUMN NAIL POLISH PICKS

As is evident by the droplets on the window pane in the picture above, the weather in England has taken a turn for the worse - it's safe to say that summer has come and gone this year. With that in mind, I decided to pick out some of my favourite nail polish shades for the autumn months, owing to the time of year and the cold weather.

REVLON COLORSTAY NAIL ENAMEL IN SPANISH MOSS

The colour of this particular polish is not quite a moss green as its name suggests - the shade is sort of a mixture between a mid-tone green shade and grey. The result is that the colour is not too bold or bright, but a more of a muted, almost khaki, green colour. One of the things that I like about this polish is that the shade is quite unusual; many of the green nail polishes that I have bought in the past or looked at in the shops tend to be quite vivid and bright, but Spanish Moss is more of a subtle way to wear green nail polish. The consistency of the Colorstay range is quite thick, which I find preferable, as fewer coats are needed.

O.P.I. JAMES BOND COLLECTION IN GOLDENEYE

While this colour may look to be more of a summer shade to some, the colour of this polish from O.P.I.'s 2012 James Bond collection seems suitable for autumn/winter to me. It is reminiscent of both yellowing leaves and Christmas decorations, so I feel that it is more of a colour for the colder months. Depending on the number of coats applied to the nails, the colour can either be a light wash of glitter or a more solid gold effect. The issue with this polish is that, being an O.P.I. Polish, it is relatively expensive - however, since the collection is from last year it should be cheaper to buy now, providing that availability isn't an issue.

REVLON NAIL ENAMEL IN VIXEN

Another shade from Revlon here, however Vixen is a far cry from the previous colour. This shade is best described as a very dark maroon - however, the polish looks like a deep purple in the bottle. Vixen is an ideal colour for autumn, as darker toned shades are often favoured for the colder months - and this polish is reminiscent of the colour of berries. Unlike the Revlon Colorstay range, the original polish collection has quite a different consistency - it is not as thick, which means that one or two more coats may be needed (perhaps a minimum of two or three coats), but I don't think that this is hugely problematic.

O.P.I. JAMES BOND COLLECTION IN LIVE AND LET DIE

The swatch for this shade is a little different from how the colour actually looks (it is quite difficult to photograph this shade) - Live and Let Die is a duo-chrome colour; in some lights it looks like a glittery black, but in other lighting it looks more like a dark teal colour. Similarly to the Revlon shade Vixen, the reason that I think that this shade is suitable for autumn is because it's very dark - unlike the Revlon shade, however, this polish is glittery (which isn't very visible in the swatch), but it's quite hard to tell what colour the glitter actually is. This polish will probably have the same issue as the previous O.P.I. shade, in that it may still be quite expensive to purchase and it may not be available anymore (but it is worth a look online).

BARRY M NAIL PAINT IN RASPBERRY

The final nail polish is probably the most affordable of the five that I have selected - Barry M nail polishes are generally very good quality as well as being cheap to buy. As the title of this shade suggests, this polish is a true raspberry colour - the more coats added, the darker the polish gets. This polish is the brightest (aside from the gold, perhaps) of the shades that I have selected; however, since the colour is aptly berry toned, it seems fitting to wear it in the autumn months.

Of course, any of these shades could be worn throughout the year, but I feel that these colours work particularly well in the autumn/winter months. As per usual, I will link some websites where each of the polishes can be bought from.