Esmaltes da Kelly swatches

Esmaltes da Kelly ~

Ana Carolina: Transparent base with pink, purple and red glitters

Wolfsbane: Clear sheer purple jelly base with pink and purple micro glitters

Camila: Transparent base with pink, purple, blue and holographic glitters

Slice of Life: A red jelly with copper, red and blue holographic micro glitter

Last time Llarowe had a flash sale, I grabbed these four glitters. I had been eyeing them for a while, and with a sale going on I just couldn’t resist any longer!

First one up is Ana Carolina. She’s a beauty that works on her own. The formula is a bit on the thick side (it’s often like that with glitters like these).

It works fine for me – I had no problems with application. Two coats is what it took to make it opaque on its own. Drying time between coats is on the slow side, so a good fast drying topcoat is definitely recommended!

Here’s what it looks like – two coats, one layer of topcoat:

Here’s a slightly blurry picture to show off the red glitters.

And the last picture is taken without flash.

Verdict:
Oh yes, Ana Carolina is beautiful; I love glitters like this! The only downside is the slower drying time, and perhaps the fact that the polish smells a bit odd. But again: I can live with that for a beauty like this.

Next one up is Wolfsbane. Wolfsbane doesn’t work on its own, so I decided to wear it over a black holo, namely Polished by KPT’s “Dark Angels”, which I showed you here. I thought that black and purple would look pretty cool together. So there’s one coat of Dark Angels, and then two coats of Wolfsbane – and I finished it off with a layer of topcoat.

Here’s what that looks like:

I quite like that! I am not showing you any pictures taken with flash, since the flash killed every visible sight of purple, LOL!

And one last shot:

Verdict:
I wish I had known it was a topper! However much I like to combine my polishes, then I’m still not a fan of the type of glitters that don’t work on their own. Perhaps it’s just me.

Drying time was slow on this polish as well.

The third one up is Camila. I was excited to find out that she’s a “real glitter” that works without underwear. The formula is relatively thick but easy to manage anyway. Every time I pulled the brush up, it was loaded with pretty glitter!

Here’s two coats of Camila, one layer of topcoat:

I love purple/blue glitters – I think they’re such a great match!

And I love the fact that it only takes two coats to make it look like this!

Verdict:
Yes, Camila is a winner. She looks good on her own and her colours are nice. Drying time: Same problem as the rest of them: Slow!

Last one up is Slice of Life. It’s the kind of red jelly with glitters that’s simply my kryptonite. I keep buying these red beauties, so sure that they are not quite the same as all the rest of them. Slice of Life is in fact a bit different: It has other colours of glitters in it than red, and also larger glitters instead of just microglitters. So yes, I had to buy it ;)

Formula is ok, a bit thick but workable, coverage is good – two coats is what it takes to make it shine. Drying time is … ugh! That’s another reason why I love my fast drying Poshé topcoat so much.

Here it is, two coats plus one layer of Poshé topcoat:

I believe that squishy is a great word for this polish.

I love the way the glitters glow from within. It is so pretty!

I kept this on, so I stamped on it. I used a black no name stamping polish, and I chose a ladybird design from Moyou London’s stamping plate Princess Collection-14. Another layer of Poshé sealed it up, and here’s my final mani:

I don’t stamp with black so much, but here’s it’s just pefect! The red is bright enough to make it look great.

Verdict:

All in all the Esmalte da Kelly-polishes are really pretty polishes! I love the glitter and the fact that three out of four work on their own, without supportive underwear. The formula is generally thick, but I like that so I won’t report that as a problem. The drying time is on the slow side though, and that is often a showstopper for me. Life is simply too short to sit and watch paint dry – so a good quick dry topcoat like Poshé, Seche Vite or H K Girl topcoat is definitely recommended! They wear like iron. I wore this for three days, which is unusual for me - and I had NO sign of tipwear whatsoever. Great polishes!! ♥