Hmm, I should probably put a disclaimer up that the bright orange nails I was sporting last weekend have absolutely nothing to do with football! Although my really, really local team, Diss Town, are orange, and my supervisor has the Netherlands in the department sweepstake so them winning is in my interests for keeping him in a good mood… nonetheless, neither team was doing anything of particular interest at the time I applied this polish, so the disclaimer still stands. ;)

Anyway, this is Hip Hop from Collection 2000’s Hot Looks range. I will come out and say I love the colour. I wasn’t sure I would - it is so different from anything I would normally wear. But it is bright and vibrant and summery, and - naff though this sounds - one of those colours that can cheer me up a bit each time I look at it. In technical terms, I was impressed with it. The first coat looked a bit patchy, but the second was great. It lasted from Saturday night through to Tuesday afternoon with just a bit of tip wear - not bad going as I wasn’t wearing a top coat.

Taking it off, eurgh, different story. Suffice it to say my nails - after several goes with extra-strength remover plus plenty of immersion in soapy and shampooey water - STILL bear a disturbing resemblance to those of a hundred-a-day smoker. I used exactly the same procedure with this as I do with anything that goes on my fingernails - a coat of Barry M 3-in-1 as a base, Boots Quick Off remover when the time comes to say goodbye. I rarely get staining. I have no idea whether this is an issue with the particular colour (or just my bottle?!?) or with the range as a whole, but it doesn’t inspire me to try the others…