Barbara Daly Nail Polish. Suncoat Polish Remover

Make-up artist Barbara Daly is a legend. She did the wedding make-up for Lady Diana Spencer, developed The Body Shop's wildly successful Colourings make-up range and has worked with everyone from Grace Coddington to Cindy Crawford. She even has an OBE for services to the cosmetic industry. Her current venture, launched in 1998, is Barbara Daly Make-Up for Tesco, the British supermarket giant. US readers: think Walmart.

It's been successful way beyond Tesco's original plans, and that's because the quality is exceptional at the (extremely) inexpensive price point. I've even heard rumours via Sharon Dowsett that much of it is produced in the same factory as Chanel's color cosmetics.



These varnishes are just £2.99 each. For that price and with these bright neon colours, I'd expect them to need at least two coats to get a non-streaky depth of colour. But! Look! No, not at my hideous stumpy fingers & the crappy attempt at painting my nails in manner of a hyperactive tween, but at the smooth, shiny, non-streaky colour from just one coat. Very impressive.

Because I didn't want to look like the afore-mentioned tween (pink varnish: yes, green: er no), I then wiped off the colour using Polish Remover from natural brand Suncoat. Which, for an odour-free, biodegradable, corn & soya based product, is actually just as effective as acetone, and has the benefit of adding moisture, not leaching it as normal removers tend to.

Suncoat Nail Polish Remover £12.95; www.gentlebeauty.co.uk
Barbara Daly Make-Up for Tesco Nail Varnishes £2.99
Tesco branches which stock Barbara Daly cosmetics here