nails inc x alexa chung fabric collection swatches and review

InStyle magazine recently ran a competition with Nails Inc, in which you could send pictures to them of your matching nails and outfit. I was one of the lucky winners, and received the complete Alexa Chung fabric collection! I've never done swatches and a review of a collection before, and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show you this amazing set!

Silk is a shimmery grey/black. The colour reminded me of Black Jack sweets, if you can remember that grey/black with a tinge of blue. I loved how unique this was - it was super glossy and shimmery but without being glittery. It really did give the impression of silky smoothness! If I had buffed my nails before application, this would have looked much silkier. This was 2 coats with no topcoat. 

Camo is a clear polish PACKED with nude, gold and green chunky glitter. It's like glequins in a polish. I loved this one the most in the bottle, but was quite tricky to apply. The neck of the bottle becomes gloopy and chunky, and the polish drags the base coat underneath, so you have to do a lot of dabbing to get a good placement of the glequins. The end result is super cool though - who doesn't like glam camo?! I've layered three coats over Porchester Square.

Leather is the classic leather effect polish. This isn't anything new in terms of formula, but I've never tried a leather effect polish before, fearing it would be really gimmicky as I'd always compared it to the horror that is velvet nails. However, I think this was one of my favourites out of the lot! The texture was fairly subtle, and I loved how much the colour and effect suited my skin tone. This is 2 coats with no top coat.

Cashmere has a similar texture to Leather but is much more subtle. It is a nudey-pink with a silvery-blue shimmer running through. This, surprisingly, was the favourite out of the whole collection for me. It really does remind me of an Alexa jumper! Although the shimmer didn't really translate on the nail, I do love how this polish is textured, but also slightly glossy. It's a great, grown-up look. Love!! This is 2 coats with no topcoat.

Sequin is definitely on my list for Christmas party nails. It's a clear polish packed full of gold and black glitter/glequins of varying sizes. I layered it here on top of a burgundy colour, but next time I would go for a nude or even straight onto the bare nail. It's so dense that you can barely see any of the base! This was another standout in the collection for me, purely because the coverage gave an amazing sequin effect, rather than the average sparse glitter topper I was expecting. This is 3 coats over Victoria.

Lace is the final polish in the Fabric collection. I wasn't expecting too much from this, as it reminds me of those 'feather effect' polishes that I'm not so keen on. I also didn't really think it would give a lace effect. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that I actually love it on my nails! It doesn't look like lace to me, but I think it does produce a unique effect. This is 2 coats over Black Taxi.

Overall, I LOVE this collection! There are some really unique colours and textures, and I can definitely picture Alexa wearing these herself. My favourites of the bunch are definitely Cashmere and Leather. 

I also have to mention the bottle redesign: I love the new classy feel of the logo, and the bottles are quite heavy now too! The bottom is also curved, which means you can put your finger underneath to do a 'sneak preview' of the colour on your nail, which is a great little feature!

What's your favourite from this collection?