Jade ~ Violetta

Jade ~ Violetta  

Purple with a strong linear holo effect

There’s only 8 ml in Jade’s holos, so I decided to save the precious polish and put on some underwear for it. I applied one coat of Max Factor Glossfinity “Amethyst”, which is a squishy looking purple. I didn’t take a pic of this step – I had bald spots here and there so it definitely needs two coats to work on its own.

Then I applied one layer of Jade “Violetta”. Application was very easy, it covered my underwear perfectly – no bald spots, no problems with getting it to look good. The only downside is the smell. It doesn’t smell very good! (reading that all back it sounds hilariously weird, so I leave it unchanged, LOL!)

And here it is in all its glory:

There’s no top coat on yet. I can’t believe how fantastic a holo this is! There are little rainbows on all my nails, and it’s soooo pretty.

There are even rainbows in lower light too. Here’s a pic taken in daylight, but without direct sunlight:

Pretty eh? I’m totally in love with this holo! 

But even though I find this extremely pretty, I still had the need to modify it. I went for glittery tips. I used Revlon’s “Star”, which is a clear base with different sized glitter. I sponged it onto my tips, and my mani was done:

 

Then – mostly to seal up the glitter – I applied one coat of Seche Vite top coat. It didn’t seem to dull the holo effect at all, at least not in real life.

All in all I’m love with this holo. It’s definitely not my last Jade. What’s your favourite holo, if you have one?

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 5/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Buy again: Yes

tinS ~ 061

tinS ~ 061  

Dark pink with multicoloured iridescent glitter

Here’s another polish from Japan that has been sitting in my stash of untrieds for a little while. It’s not because it isn’t pretty, because it is. It’s just that I don’t wear pink that often, plus the fact that I’ve swapped a lot recently, which means that this polish just hasn’t been first in line.

But now it’s time. The brush is medium sized, which I like. The formula is quite thick – I don’t think I could have made it drip from the brush even if I wanted to. But application was quite easy anyway – I prefer thicker polishes rather than runny formulas, so perhaps that’s why I found it relatively nice to work with.

It was opaque in two coats. Drying time was on the slow side for a glitter that dries up gritty like this does, so I applied both a coat of Seche Vite top coat and Sally Hansen “Dry Kwik” nail color dryer before I dared to move a muscle! :D 

And here’s what it looks like in daylight. There was no sun to play with. The pic shows two coats and one coat of Seche Vite top coat:

 

Then I stamped on it. I used Essence black stamping polish, and Bundlemonster’s stamping plate BM-317. I used two different designs from this plate. Here’s a pic in daylight:

And here’s an indoor pic:

I will definitely try this stamp out again. I like both the designs. But next time I’ll stamp on something more “simple looking” than glitter, so the motif becomes more prominent.

Please do share your opinion about the polish and the final results in the comments below!

Opacity: 9/10
Colour, prettiness: 7/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Buy again: Yes, but I don’t think I’ll get the chance :)

Color Club ~ Foil me once and Maybelline ~ Amethyst Ablaze

Color Club ~ Foil me once  

Mauvish pinkish foil

meets

Maybelline ~ Amethyst Ablaze  

Metallic purple

The challenges that I went through over the summer made me want to experiment more and make more nail art. It kind of triggered my urge to be more creative.

So – here’s something I wanted to try. I started out with Color Club’s “Foil me once”. I bought the entire Color Club “Foil” collection from autumn 2011 with stamping in mind. But I wanted to try them as “regular” polishes as well. So here’s one coat of “Foil me once”:

There was no sun, he hadn’t come out to play, so here’s an indoor shot. I’m very pleased that it covered so well in one coat; that is very promising for the stamping!

Then I taped my nails and painted a stripe of Maybelline’s “Amethyst Ablaze”. Amethyst Ablaze is also a one coater, and will also be used for stamping in future! I removed the tape immediately after painting the stripe, et voilá:

Then I took my black striper from Claire’s and framed the purple stripe with two black stripes. The contrast between the two base colours isn’t big enough in my opinion – I’ll try with another combination next time. But the black stripes helped a lot:

More stripes added – I used Color Club’s “Copper Chrome” striper. And then I sealed it all up with a coat of Sally Hansen’s Diamond Shine top coat. And here’s the final result:

Here are the polishes involved:

This isn’t exactly what I wanted, but it’s close. And after having gazed at it for a while, I got used to it, and started liking it :)  But what do you think? Do you think I should keep experimenting and try different things – bearing in mind that I’m going to post the fails as well? Give me your honest opinion, I’m a big girl and I can handle it. 

Zoya ~ Reva

Zoya ~ Reva  

Strawberry red packed with golden glass flecks, almost multichromic

It’s Zoya themselves that describe Reva as strawberry red. Here’s the exact description: A cool toned strawberry red with glowing golden metallic sparkle.  A very rich and luxurious looking gilded red.

I don’t totally agree on that. It’s red, yes, but the golden metallic fleck makes the polish look almost like a multi chrome! I’ll get back to that shortly.

The formula was a dream to work with. I’ll almost call it self-applying polish! It was pretty much opaque in one coat, but I gave it two, to cover the last couple of thin spots. Drying time was pretty much average.

Here’s a pic taken in the sunshine. The metallic flecks make it glisten like crazy, and the golden glow disappers completely and makes it my kind of polish. You should know by now that I prefer silver to gold, also when it comes to nail polish. 

Here’s an indoor shot. The golden glow is now visible, and when I twist and turn my fingers, the polish looks multi chromic – shifting from red to golden and magenta. 

Here’s a pic taken from a different angle. I like the structure of this polish, I find it very pretty. 

I stamped on it, using Konad’s white stamping polish and Mash stamping plates, number 45 for the swirly design and number 49 for the stars.

Then I topped it with a layer of CND Sapphire Sparkle to bring back the shine and sparkle to the mani!

I am unable to decide whether I like this or not. I like the white and red together, but perhaps there’s a bit too much going on with my nails? Please let me hear your thoughts! 

Opacity: 9/10
Colour, prettiness: 7/10
Durability: 7/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Buy again: No (only because of the golden tone)

Nail Mail from Hungary

It's the second time I receive polishes from sweet Tünde in Hungary! 

She knew I was dying to try some new top coats, so she sent me two different ones, namely NYC Turbo Dry top coat and Miss Sporty Nail Expert Manicure for glossy nails. And then she sent me something else - something special. 

Take a look at what I got: 

The third bottle may look like Esssence "Blue Addicted", but it's not. It is in fact a Frankenpolish that she made especially for me! If that isn't the sweetest thing I've ever heard, then I don't know what is!!  It's a dark blue base, packed with blue glitters and also some green ones in between the rest. It's absolutely gorgeous. I had to try it on right away, of course. 

Look at the depth of this!!

I am totally overwhelmed! It's only the second time someone made a polish just for me, and I can assure you that it feels very good every time.

Thanks, Tünde, for doing this swap with me! ♥

PS. She sent candy too, but that magically disappeared...

Magnetic ~ Freakin’ Violet

Magnetic ~ Freakin’ Violet  

Dark purple base with green and blurple flakies

I got this polish in a swap with my sweet friend Kvacka from Rainbows and Blues. Don’t let the name fool you, it’s not a magnetic polish. It’s a beautiful flakie, and I’ve been dying to try this on.

The formula is good, although I had some trouble controlling where the polish went. It wasn’t the polish’s fault, but solely mine. Some days are just like that, eh?

Anyway, it only took two coats to achieve the desired opacity and here’s how it ended up looking. I’ve put on a coat of Seche Vite to protect it! :)

It’s obvious to see why they call it Freakin’ Violet. It’s amazingly deep. I wish the sun was out, I’m sure it’s even more amazing in the sun!

Anyway, moving right on. I decided to do a bit of nail art on it. I first used a striper from L. A. Colors’ Art Deco series called “Teal glitter”. I made three striped vertically on each nail. Here’s that step:

The teal compliments the purple and the flakies perfectly.

Next step was stamping. I stamped flowers taken from a unnamed stamping plate from Essence, and I used Barry M’s “Lilac foil” as my stamping polish. I stamped the flowers randomly on each nail, because I like that effect. After the stamping I sealed it all up with another coat of Seche Vite top coat.

 

And from another angle, just because I love this design:

 That’s freakin’ violet, ladies. Do you like it as much as I do?

Opacity: 9/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
Buy again: Yes

OPI ~ Super Bass Shatter

OPI ~ Super Bass Shatter

Fuchsia jelly crackle with shimmer

Super Bass Shatter is from the Nicki Minaj collection from spring 2012. It was the only crackle in the collection, and the only one I’ve got. I had decided to give this entire collection a miss, but my boyfriend thought this one was way too pretty to miss, so he bought it for me ♥

A crackle obviously needs underwear, and I used a silver glitter franken I made – this is one coat, covered with a thick layer of Seche Vite.

Crackle time! I haven’t used crackle polishes enough to have had enough of them yet. I used one medium coat of Super Bass Shatter for this mani, and it crackled perfectly, showing the shining glitter underneath it!

The polish was very easy to apply. It didn’t dry just as fast as some other crackles do, so I had time to re-dip the brush in the polish for the bigger thumb nails without creating really ugly double-crackles!

On the pics above I’ve applied another thick coat of Seche Vite top coat. The franken dried up gritty, and the crackle also, so even with top coat over the franken and an additional layer over the crackle, this mani is still very bumpy! I don’t mind a little texture, so I’m ok with that.

I’m glad I have this polish in my collection. I’ll try it over other colours as well – I know that it looks more purple if applied over blue for instance, so I have to try that.

What do you think? I know that the crackle thing was huge just before I started blogging – but isn’t there still room for a crackle mani now and again? :)

Opacity: 9/10
Colour, prettiness: 10/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 9/10
Buy again: Yes

Spoiled by Wet n Wild ~ Are Mermaids Real?

Spoiled by Wet n Wild ~ Are Mermaids Real?   

Medium dusty purple with golden glass flecks

I got this polish in a swap with Katee from A girl and her Polish. I must admit that I didn’t quite know what to do with it when I first got it, since I’m not a gold lover. But all of a sudden it struck me. I could make a Mermaid Mani with it.

So let’s find out if mermaids are real, shall we?

Application wasn’t as big a challenge as with the other Spoiled polishes I’ve tried on. The brush is just as wide, and the formula is quite thick. But I managed this one without problems.

I applied two coats for full opacity. And here’s how that looked without a top coat on:

And from another angle:

Then I decided to cover up some of the golden tones, so I sponged the tips with Sinful Colors Green Ocean, which is such a cool flakie that sparkles green and teal.

Now for the stamping! I stamped a scale pattern from Mash plate number 39, and used a purple no name suede called “Suzi skis in the Pyrenees”, which is my favourite purple polish for stamping.

 

Here is the final result sealed up with two coats of Poshé top coat.

My conclusion is that Mermaids must be real! ;)  I like this, despite the fact that this polish has golden undertones. Who knew that I could actually wear that!?

Opacity: 7/10
Colour, prettiness: 4/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 6.75/10
Buy again: No

Icing ~ Blue Goose - with freehand flowers

Icing ~ Blue Goose  

Medium blue with silver glass flecks

Here’s another polish I found in a blog sale. It’s a very pretty blue with tons of shimmer in it. I’d say that it’s a mix between frost and metallic, just easier to apply. It took two easy coats to reach opacity, and I didn’t experience any streaks, bald spots or brush strokes at all. And man, does this polish shimmer! This polish can shimmer without the sun being out. I can’t even imagine what it’s going to look like in the sun!

The formula was fine, drying time also, and here’s what two coats look like:

I don’t wear a top coat at this point, because I’m not done with this mani yet.

Last time I made a freehand flower mani I wasn’t satisfied with it myself. But I heard what many of you said: Keep on trying, and you’ll get better. I wasn’t convinced, but I do listen, so I went for another freehand flower design. I followed this tutorial where you make five dots in a small circle, and then you pull each dot inwards with an orange stick to form the petals. It’s pretty simple, but hard to explain, so check out the video tutorial if you’re interested :)

I used a metallic-ish polish from Isadora called “Icy Purple”. It’s more pink than purple, but never mind. Isadora is a Swedish brand with an ultra cool formula, often opaque in one coat. Just what I needed for the flowers.

Enough talking, here’s what it ended up looking like. I’ve got a layer of Poshé top coat on to seal it up nicely:

It was my intention to make a couple of flowers on each nail, but I misjudged the size of the dotting tool and ended up with one on each. I also had in mind to make a white dot in the middle of each flower, but I ending up leaving them like they were.

I’m very pleased with the outcome, which I decided to call Blue Hawaii! What do you think? 

Opacity: 8/10
Colour, prettiness: 8/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Buy again: Yes

Music Challenge in October!

Some of you know already that I participated in a nail art challenge recently. I learned a lot from that challenge; I had to try methods and styles that I hadn't tried before and I enjoyed most of it. I am now ready to do another challenge. 

This time I've made my own. There are eleven challenges and they are all supposed to be made and posted in October. That makes a challenge every third day. All the challenges have to do with music. I've picked eleven very different songs, and the challenge is to let each song inspire me to a mani.

Here's what the challenge looks like: 

(click on the picture to see a larger pic)

Does it look hard? Well, it is a challenge after all. 

As you can see I will start on the first of October. Do any of you girls care to join? Please email me on rainbowifyme@gmail.com if you're interested! I'd be happy to not do this challenge all alone. 

Happy polishing! ♥

Depend ~ 2032 Denim Blue

Depend ~ 2032 Denim Blue  

Denim Blue holographic

Depend is a Swedish brand that’s easily accessible in Denmark. That’s one reason I got so happy to see them came up with a holographic series of polishes! Finally some nice holo stuff within reach.

The road to the holo was long and narrow, since nailpolish isn’t a huge thing in Denmark. When I went to the shops to buy this new pretty polish, the sales assistants had no clue what I was talking about. I googled a pic for one of them on my smart phone, and she said: “But isn’t that just a glitter?” O_o

Anyway – to make a very long story nice and short, I talked one of the shop assistants into ordering the polishes for me, and it took about 2 weeks before they finally arrived.

And the sun decided to cooperate that very same day, so let me introduce to you: Depend Denim Blue holographic:

I took a million pictures to make sure I got some nice ones.

It’s much prettier in real life, like holos almost always are.

This is actually layered over another polish. I layered one coat of the holo over L A Girl’s “Matte Indigo”. Here’s what that looks like in the sun – it’s two coats.

Have you jumped onto the holographic trend?

Opacity: N/A/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
Buy again: Yes

Max Factor Glossfinity ~ Amethyst

Max Factor Glossfinity ~ Amethyst  

Dark purple crème

Max Factor only started selling Glossfinity full size polishes here recently. They’re not cheap, normal price is 79DKK/13.85US$/10.6EUR, but I was lucky to find these at “special introduction price” (50DKK/8.75US$/6.75EUR), so I bought three. Amethyst is the first one I try on.

The formula is quite good, it’s thick without being gloopy, and it’s easy to apply. It takes two coats to reach opacity.

Here’s an indoor shot – the sun didn’t want to come out and play! 

It says “for up to 7 days” on the bottle. I can’t remember if I have ever actually worn a polish for that many days in a row! But perhaps I’ll test it at some point, just to see if it’s all about marketing!

Time to sparkle it up! I applied one coat of Catrice “Return of space cowboys” from the “Million Styles” collection. It’s such a lovely topper, which makes the purple almost duochromatic! And if that wasn’t a word before, it is now! :D

Here it is, without any additional top coat:

Sparkly and cool, isn’t it?

Now, onto the stamping. I picked a Konad stamping plate, M83, and used Barry M’s Instant Nail Effects Foil in the colour Purple.

Here’s the final result, sealed up with a layer of Poshe top coat:

Do you like it? Man, I absolutely love that Catrice topper!

Opacity: 8/10
Colour, prettiness: 7/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7.75/10
Buy again: Yes

Nail mail from Slovenia!

I'm in the middle of a swap with a very sweet girl, that has become a great friend over the past months. It's Kvacka from Rainbows and Blues. The swap is not complete yet, because Kvacka's polishes are only on the way to her now. She was so extremely sweet to send me my polishes before I was ready to send hers. So I cross my fingers that her polishes will reach her soon! 

Here's what she sent me. First polishes up are Magnetics. And don't let the brand name fool you; they aren't magnetic polishes at all.

Freakin' Violet, Shimmering Titanium, Spect Stone

Freakin' Violet is the most beautiful flakie I've ever seen in my life! The two others are scattered holographics, and they look gorgeous!!

Next ones up are Deborah Milano Shine Tech polishes: 

56 and 60

That shimmer is just amazing. I will definitely blind people when I wear these! :D

Last ones up; Deborah Milano Prêt à Porter and Essence Fruity: 

Purplish and One Kiwi a Day

These are so great - I simply don't know which ones to wear first. That's actually a returning problem these days!! 

Thank you so much for doing this swap with me, Kvacka! ♥

Kiko ~ 341 - with stripes and dots

Kiko ~ 341

Bright blue crème with a teal tone

I got this lovely blue polish in a swap with Elsa from “Like a Candy Shop”. It’s a crème and it has a hint of green tone to it, so I’m almost calling it a teal. I just couldn’t catch the teal qualities on cam though, so here it looks like a nice blue, but there’s more depth to the colour than the camera shows.

The application was a bit trickier than I’ve previously experienced with Kiko polishes. It was totally opaque in two coats – good - but it was hard to level out the un-evennesses with the second coat. Fortunately it smoothed out all

by itself as it dried.

Here it is – two coats, no top coat yet. 

I think that it’s even more lovely in real life, where the teal shows.

With my two way nail art pen/brush from Claire’s I painted two white stripes and two white dots on each nail. I think it looks really cool.

Still no top coat:

Then I used my Rival de Loop glitter top coat, which is a clear base with holographic glitter in it. It’s from their “Glam Rock” collection, and I bought this baby in Germany. I topped all this with a layer of Poshé top coat.

The sun was out for a whole two minutes, so I snapped a pic of it in that nice natural, vibrant light.

And here’s an indoor shot for you because I like this mani so much.

The involved polishes:

I really like this mani. I love the colour, the simple decoration and the glitter. Do you also think this mani is a win?

Opacity: 8/10
Colour, prettiness: 6/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Buy again: No