Friday, May 31, 2013

Ozotic ~ 505



Ozotic ~ 505
Multichrome that shifts between green, purple, pink, blue and golden

Here’s another one of my beloved Ozotic polishes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen polishes that have as dramatic colourshifts as Ozotic has. Let me show you what I’m talking about! I started out with one layer of Essence Black is Back, because 505 shows its fullest potential over dark polishes.

After that I applied one layer of Ozotic 505, and waited for it to dry. Drying time is pretty average. The colour shift is amazing! It took me a while to figure out how to capture is best on camera though. I didn’t have any luck in my light box, and the sun had just gone down. I ended up in the bathroom! It’s not the first time I’ve taken my nail pictures there, haha!!

Enough talking – here are the pictures! One coat over black:


If this isn’t amazing, then I don’t know what is!


I think it almost looks as if I taped my nails as painted them teal and a purple.


The polish shifts between green, purple, pink and has actually got some golden in it too.



When I tilt my fingers like this, you’ll be able to see the golden green this polish also has:


This polish is nothing less but a gem. I’m totally thrilled over the colourshift, which is much more prominent in real life than I was able to catch on camera.

Are you also into colourshifting polishes, or do you prefer one colour at a time?


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


I bought this polish myself, and it’s available from Norway Nails, who have kindly offered my readers a 10% discount code. Just use the code RAINBOWIFYME10 at checkout, and you'll be getting 10% off your purchase.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

OPI ~ Unfor-Greta-Bly Blue with Girly Bits ~ Cosmic Ocean



OPI ~ Unfor-Greta-Bly Blue
Deep shimmery Marine blue
and
Girly Bits ~ Cosmic Ocean
Blue/green duochromatic layering polish

I’m getting more and more blue polishes in my stash. There was a time where purple was my favourite colour polish, and I still think purple is pretty. But blue is so pretty as well. I’ll see if I can vary my use of colours more in future, I promise! :D

Anyway, I started out with an OPI from the Germany collection from winter 2012, namely Unfor-Greta-Bly Blue. A re-gretta-bly silly name for a very pretty polish. You should know by now that I’m not an OPI fan, but if all OPIs were like this one, then I’d definitely be a huge fan. The polish applied easily and dried fast too! That almost never happens when I wear OPI polishes, so I was amazed!! The polish is a gorgeous blue, very vibrant. Take a look – this is two coats, no topcoat:


Whoa, right? Here’s another shot:


Then I added some extra shimmer and slightly duochromatic effect. I applied a coat of Girly Bits “Cosmic Ocean”, which is a beautiful blue/green shimmer. I didn’t know it was a topper when I bought it, so I was a bit disappointed when I saw the polish at first. But after having walked around it for a little while, I’ve now come to the conclusion that this polish definitely has a place in my stash.

I’ve applied one coat over my little finger and my ring finger, and none over the middle finger and the index finger, so you can see what difference the shimmer does:


It’s not dramatically different, but enough to make a statement in my opinion. Here’s a picture where I’ve applied Cosmic Ocean on all my nails:


Note the shimmer that really shows on the thumb! This polish is a gem!

I still stamped on it :D I stamped with Gosh Holographic Hero – it’s a fantastic stamping polish, and I used the stamping plate H22, which I believe is a Fauxnad plate. I also used my new XL stamper. I sealed the whole thing up with Poshé topcoat, and here’s the final result:

the picture is taken under a light bulb

And here’s a picture taken in my light box.  I really like this kind of pattern:


I was so lucky that the sun was shining the next morning, so I snapped this picture:


Isn’t it just gorgeous in the sunshine?

Here are the three polishes I used:


It seems that my favourite colour nail polish at the moment is teal, closely followed by blue and purple. What is yours?
  
I bought my Cosmic Ocean at Foxy Fingertips. It’s a Danish website, but they do ship to other European countries. Say hi from me, if you order from their store please :)

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

China Glaze ~ Blue Bells Ring



China Glaze ~ Blue Bells Ring
Icy blue foil

Blue Bells Ring is from China Glaze’s Holiday Joy collection from Holiday 2012. I didn’t pick any polishes up from that collection, but was so lucky to get this as a birthday present from Doctor S. Fierceness. She’s a dear friend that I’m in a birthday group with <3

The formula is great! It would have been a one coater if I had been more careful with the first coat! I applied a second coat to even out all the little “misunderstandings”, and wow! I love this polish!

Here’s a pic of two coats in daylight: 



I love how vibrant this colour is!


And I absolutely love the foil-y finish!
  
Here’s a shot from my lightbox. It shows the texture of the polish really well.


I stamped on it! I used Essie’s “Nothing else metals” and my Apipila 01 stamping plate. And then I tried my XL stamper for the first time! It’s big, it’s squishy, soft and very sticky. And it works!! :D I’m having a few issues with the stamping “head”, which fell out of the stamper a few times. I’ll see if I can find a solution to that little problem, because that was a little bit annoying!

Anyway – one coat of Poshé topcoat finished my mani, and here’s the result:


And another shot:

 
I’m impressed with the stamper, I’m really glad I bought it. I bought it from evilBay and I waited almost 2½ months for it. The first one they sent got lost in the mail, but fortunately the second one they sent showed up! Yay!

Did you pick up any of the polishes from the Holiday Joy Collection 2012?


Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10
Buy again: Yes

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Joss ~ Flash Diamond



Joss ~ Flash Diamond
Silver glitter with holo effect

Here’s another holographic polish from Joss. I thought that it was a strong linear holo like the other Joss holos I’ve tried (check them out here, here and here), but this one is different. The holo isn’t as prominent and strong in this one. Hang out, and I’ll show you.

The formula is really good, and the polish is so easy to work with. It only took two easy coats to make this look good. As with the other Joss holos I’ve tried, I just used my regular base coat as underwear, and I had no problems with bald spots or dragging.

I was lucky: The sun was out. Let me show you what I’m talking about when I say that this is a different kind of holo. Here’s two coats, no top coat:



See? The holo is no way near as strong as the others. In fact, I took a gazillion pictures just to catch the holo – even in direct sunlight.


Here’s one last shot of the rainbows:



The polish is like tiny silver microglitters with holo effect. It’s pretty, but it’s not a traditional holo as I know them.

And I obviously can’t wear this on its own ;)


So I made a tape mani. I’ve been drop dead envious over Missy from Gnarly Gnails’ tape manis. She makes it look so easy, but the times I’ve tried to copy them, I just end up with tiny bits of tape on my nails, LOL! I’m not done practising though, so here’s another attempt! I cut bits of tape out and put them on my nails. Then I painted with Picture Polish’ “Focus”, and removed the tape right after. Focus is a red/violet crelly loaded with micro-flakies. It’s pretty pigmented, which made it great for this purpose. After having done all the nails, I finished the mani with a layer of Poshé top coat, and here’s the final result:


This is not anywhere near as cool as Missy makes her tape manis, but it’s definitely my best attempt yet!


Focus is such a lovely polish, I’m definitely going to use that for full manis as well! What do you think? Are you into tape manis like this one? If yes – are you good at making them?


Joss:
Opacity: 8/10
Colour, prettiness: 6/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 7/10
Buy again: Maybe


I bought Joss Flash Diamond from norwaynails.com.

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


Norway Nails have kindly offered my readers a 10% discount code. Just use the code RAINBOWIFYME10 at checkout, and you'll be getting 10% off your purchase.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Maybelline ColoRama ~ 170A - with stripes and glitter



Maybelline ColoRama ~ 170A  
Denim blue with silver flecks

It’s funny with Maybelline polishes. They are available here, but not all of them. That’s why I was happy to receive 170A in a swap with my dear friend Anastasia from Little World of Coloured Nails. I love denim blue polishes and this one looks really pretty in the bottle. I was excited to see how well all that prettiness would transfer onto my nails.

The formula of the polish is great. It’s a bit on the thick side, but so easy to work with because it’s not gloopy or anything. The polish glides right on, and covers in one easy coat! Amazing!! It dries up to a semi matte finish, and that means that you can actually sit and watch it dry. I love that! :D

Here’s one coat, no top coat. The picture is taken in daylight, but without direct sunlight: 



Isn’t that just pretty?! I love it!!
Here’s a picture taken in my lightbox:



There’s something special about matte polishes with shimmer. I’m fascinated over the fact that it’s even possible!

I painted purple stripes over it. I used a striper from L. A. Colors called “Vibrant”, and it’s got a fine shimmer in it too. After that I sponged some glitter onto my nails, using a Wet N Wild polish from the Fergie line called “XoXo”. It’s blue and purple glitter in a clear base. It’s right up my alley :)

One coat of Poshé top coat and my mani was done. This is a daylight picture:


And here’s a pic taken in the lightbox.


And one last shot because I think this turned out pretty good:


The polishes I used:


So, what do you think? Do you like that the stripes are a bit on the discrete side?

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 9.5/10
Buy again: Yes

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Nail Mail from Turkey

I was excited when my friend Aylin and I set up another swap. I've totally fallen in love with Turkish polishes, so I'm bouncing up and down every time I receive nail mail from her.

This is what showed up after only three days of waiting. Three days from Turkey to Denmark, that has to be the fastest ever!



 It looks great, doesn't it? 

Let's take a closer look at them. First the Pastels:

Pastel #140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145
"Pastels", you might think. "What has gotten into her?"
I don't know, to be honest. I felt like stepping outside my comfort zone and get some pastels I can stamp on. And I know Pastel as a great polish brand, so why not?! :) I think they're pretty!

Next ones up, Golden Rose Jolly Jewels:

Golden Rose Jolly Jewels #105, 108, 121, 122
 These are some seriously fine glitters! The silver one, #122, reminds me of OPI Crown me Already, so I might do a comparison post on the two of them. 

There's something funny about the red one, #121. Take a closer look:

#
Golden Rose Jolly Jewels #121
 It's got two stickers! I think it looks totally awesome! :)

Next lot is a bunch of Golden Rose Holiday polishes; textured polishes:

Golden Rose Holidays #52, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60
This is Golden Rose's version of textured polish. They're all shimmers and they look absolutely gorgeous!

Here are two pretty extras, Aylin included for me:

Catherine Arley #730 and Flormar Supershine #U24
I also got Turkish delight - yummy! - and soap and creme. 

I'm thrilled over a Turkish nail mail once again! Thank you so much, Aylin, and I hope your package shows up soon! ♥

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Coolcos ~ 06 and 07



Coolcos ~ 06 and 07  
Pink metallic shimmer and deep purple shimmer

Coolcos is a new Danish brand that hit the shelves here recently. I had said to myself that I wouldn’t be buying any of their polishes, because the first time I looked, I saw nothing but crèmes, and as you know, dear girls, crèmes aren’t my favourite polishes. Besides – I have so many polishes in my stash of untrieds, so, yeah - well, I thought I’d give the new brand a little time to settle in first.

But then I went into the shop with my boyfriend and he immediately spotted a pink nail polish, that he wanted to buy me. Then he found two more - #07 which is a deep shimmery purple, and #05 which is a shimmery neon pink.

Today I’ll try two of them. I started out with the metallic pink and was very surprised to learn that it’s a one coater! I applied an extra coat to one of my nails to see if it made a difference, but it didn’t. It applies easily and drying time is pretty average. There’s one thing about this polish though: It smells. It smells just as bad as Kleancolor’s polishes. But at least it doesn’t dry as slow, haha!!

This is one coat:


It is a little bit brushstroky, but I don’t mind that at all. It’s pretty and shiny. I like it!

 
Then I decided to make a bit of nail art on it, and that’s where it all went wrong. I made a line of dots down each nail with Coolcos #07.

Then I made a glitter gradient with Finger Paints’ “Purple Palette”. I applied a coat of Poshé topcoat to make this shine some more:


You know I’ve made heaps of glitter gradients, and I am using the exact same brand of sponges as I’ve done before. But the sponge didn’t work very well with Coolcos’ polishes. If you take a closer look at my pictures, you can see that the sponge got “dissolved” by the polish, leaving lumps of sponge on my nail :/


Here’s a close up of the sponge.


And the polishes I used:



I’m sorry to report that I removed this mani after having taken these pics. I don’t usually do that, I like wearing my manis. But the bits of sponge ruined this too much for me.

Have you ever tried that a sponge dissolved on your nails like that?

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 7/10
Durability: -/10
Value for money: 10/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Buy again: Yes

Friday, May 24, 2013

Joss ~ Flamingo Dancer



Joss ~ Flamingo Dancer
Pink linear holo

Here’s another holographic polish from Joss. Joss is an Australian brand, which makes really impressive holos.

I used my regular base coat as underwear for this polish. I applied two very easy coats to achieve the desired opacity. Drying time is pretty average, not slow and not the fastest either. Average is okay in my book :)

The sun was out – hurray for holos in the sun. Look how pretty Flamingo Dancer is in the sun:


It’s like I have a gazillion little gems on my nails!



Flamingo Dancer has a blue tone to it that makes this polish really special. And it’s even prettier in real life than it is on the picture.


I don’t have topcoat on in these pictures, but only because I am going to do a bit of nail art on it in a minute. 


Here’s an indoor pic. The holo effect is still visible, but it also shows that the polish has an almost foil-ish finish when it’s out of the sun. It’s definitely still wearable for me, which is a must when we’re talking about which polishes to keep and which to find new homes for. This one is a keeper!


I stamped on it. I chose a simple crisscross design from the plate Apipila P.6 and I stamped with a no name black stamping polish. I actually tried to stamp with a “regular” purple polish first, but this plate isn’t “cut” deep enough, so you have to work faster than fast to make this work.


I like!

 
I’m wearing a layer of Poshé top coat over the stamped design, and it doesn’t dull the holo at all. It’s perfect!!


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

I bought this polish myself, and it can be bought from norwaynails.com.

Norway Nails have kindly offered my readers a 10% discount code. Just use the code RAINBOWIFYME10 at checkout, and you'll be getting 10% off your purchase.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Maybelline ColoRama ~ 53 and Pupa ~ 606



Maybelline ColoRama ~ 53  
Baby pink with holographic microglitter
&
Pupa ~ 606  
Burgundy with pink shimmer

Here’s a post featuring two polishes I received from dear Anastasia from Little World of Coloured Nails.

I started out with two easy coats of Maybelline’s #53. The pink has a good coverage for a light colour, and drying time is pretty good. I was so lucky that the sun was out, so here’s what the polish looks like in the sun:



Do you see that hologlitter sparkle? It’s so pretty! Here’s another pic for you:


I also took a picture in my lightbox, just to show you what a difference it makes when the sun shines on this polish:


It’s still a nice polish, but obviously not a polish I’d wear on its own.

I taped my nails diagonally across and applied a layer of Pupa 606. I removed the tape right after having applied the polish, and while it was drying, I made a line of burgundy dots on the pink polish. One layer of Poshé top coat, and my mani was done:


Isn’t that Pupa just pretty in the sun? I really like when the shimmer makes the polish look as if it’s glowing :)



This last picture is taken in my lightbox. The Pupa still shows off, in my opinion.

So, those were two new polishes I got all the way from Russia. Not bad at all, eh! Definitely worth the almost two months of waiting for the postal services to bring it to me, LOL!