Cuccio ~ Illumination

Cuccio ~ Illumination

Sheer purple base packed with blue glitter

This is by far the weirdest glitter I own. Cuccio themselves describes Illumination as holographic but it’s not. It looks duochromatic in the bottle but I think it’s an optical illusion because the base colour and the glitter have different colours. Not a holographic, at any rate.

Anyway – it’s not an easy polish to apply. I dapped the glitter on and for a moment I thought it would take 6-7 coats to make it cover. It didn’t though. It only took two careful coats and the drying time is pretty average. I applied a layer of topcoat before I took my photos.

Here’s two coats plus a layer of topcoat:

This picture shows you the illusion of duochromatic effect.

Isn’t that just a weird glitter? :D

I stamped on it. I found some skull designs on Moyou London’s stamping plate Biker Collection-05 and I stamped with a no name black stamping polish.

Here’s my final mani:

And one last picture:

The designs are not from an XL-plate and the designs are still so big that they only just fit onto my relatively small nails. I love the designs though; I would just use the plate more often if the designs were smaller!

NailNation 3000 ~ Amaze-Ballz

NailNation 3000 ~ Amaze-Ballz

Barbie pink linear holo

It’s time for another NailNation 3000 polish – this time it’s pink!

Amaze-Ballz has a good formula that is easy to work with. It took me two coats to achieve the desired opacity and the drying time between the coats was average.

Look how pretty two coats and no topcoat is:

These two first pics are taken with flash, in case you hadn’t guessed :D

Here’s a low light picture. I still like the colour!

If you saw my post earlier today, you’d know that I promised myself to freehand a leopard design today and that’s exactly what I did. I made some red dollops on my nails with a dotting tool and then outlined them with a black striper. I sealed my design with a layer of topcoat, and here’s my final mani:

Again: My freehanded animal designs aren’t perfect, but I actually think this is pretty good for a first attempt!

What do you think of this? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Average

Finish: Linear holo
Overall impression: I have really come to like this particular shade of pink recently, and I obviously love the holo effect!

Buy again: Probably not

NailNation 3000 ~ Steel Violet

NailNation 3000 ~ Steel Violet

Blueish violet linear holo with red and holo glitter

Steel Violet demanded to be swatched today, so here goes.

The formula is a bit on the thin side but still easy to work with (or: it doesn’t flood your cuticles). I still had visible nail line after two coats, so I applied a third layer and that did the trick. The drying time between the coats was pretty average.

Here’s three coats, no topcoat, pic taken with flash:

I love the mix of effects: Linear holo mixed with glitter!

The colour is way softer when I turn off the flash, take a look:

I decided to freehand a red and blueish zebra! Usually I would stamp the zebra design, but sometimes it’s nice to actually try and challenge yourself. So I grabbed a red striper polish from L. A. Colors and started painting my zebra stripes. I sealed them up with topcoat after they had dried.

And by all means, it’s not at all perfect, but I don’t mind: I still like it!

Here’s a flash picture:

And another one:

The topcoat did mute the holo effect a bit, but the zebra still looked alright. I’m happy with this and the next thing I’ll do is a freehanded leopard design! :D

Number of coats: 3
Drying time: Average

Finish: Linear holo with microglitter
Overall impression: I really like this polish in the sun, but it’s a bit too “boring” for me when it’s in the shade

Buy again: No

Glittering Elements ~ Chrysocolla

Glittering Elements ~ Chrysocolla

Green to teal holographic

I was in the mood for green today, and Chrysocolla sat in the box and demanded to be the one. I gave in – she is really pretty after all! :D

The formula was good and almost a one coater. It reaches perfection after two coats though, and the drying time between the coats is pretty good. The polish dries up really glossy too. And girl, I love this colour!

Take a look at two coats, no topcoat; the pic is taken with flash:

I love it when it looks as if the polish glows from within!

And the effect also works in lower lights. Here’s a picture taken without flash:

I stamped on it. I found an all nail design on Moyou London’s stamping plate Pro Collection-02 and I stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri “Jumpin’ Jade”. Here’s what that step looked like – the picture is taken with flash:

Then I sponged some glitter on the tips. I used Misa’s SuperNova, which is a silver/holo glitter with various shapes and sizes of glitter. I sealed the whole thing up with a layer of topcoat, and here’s the final mani taken without flash:

I must admit that I really like this. It reminds me somewhat of mermaids! :)

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Pretty good

Finish: Holographic that also works in lower lights
Overall impression: I love this colour and the holo effect is really pretty

Buy again: Yes

Darling Diva x 2 + Golden Rose

Darling Diva x 2 + Golden Rose

A tricolore mani

Today it’s time for a three-coloured mani! I went for blue, magenta and silver.

I started out with Darling Diva’s Royale, which is a medium blue linear holo. The formula is pretty normal and it takes two coats to achieve opacity. The drying time between the coats is good, no worries about that.

It’s a lovely blue – here’s what two coats and no topcoat looks like in the sunshine:

And here’s a picture taken with flash:

Then I added a wide stripe of Darling Diva’s Rose Diamond down the middle of each nail. I didn’t use tape, I just freehanded it – I didn’t necessarily need it to be perfect. It went pretty well though, and Rose Diamond is a one coater! So here’s a coat of Rose Diamond over the blue; the picture is taken in the sunshine:

Here’s a flash pic of the same thing:

Then I added a stripe of silver glitter down the middle. I used Golden Rose #122 from the Jolly Jewels collection.

I was surprised to find out that the smallest glitters are actually golden, but I still like the polish!

Verdict:

This mani turned out exactly the way I wanted it to. I love the colour scheme and I love that my hands are getting steadier and steadier when I do nail art. Progression is so nice!

Kiko Life in Rio Sun Show - swatches

Kiko Life in Rio Sun Show ~ #469, 471, 472, 474 and 475

Swatches

It’s time for another batch of Kikos, this time it’s some of the Sun Show collection from spring 2014! There are 10 polishes in the collection, and I bought five of them. They’re all gorgeous shimmers, enjoying Kiko’s great quality.

All of the polishes have great formulas and I used two coats for each of my swatches. There is no topcoat involved – these babies are super shiny in themselves.

Let me show you what I’m talking about:

First one up is #469 Delicious Mango. It’s bright orange packed with golden and darker orange shimmers. I don’t buy many orange polishes because I don’t wear orange very often, but this one was too bright and cheerful to give a miss.

Two coats, no topcoat:

Look at that shimmer!

Verdict:

This is a seriously cool orange, I love it!!

♥

Next one up is #471 Juicy Pitaya. It’s hot pink with something that looks like orange shimmer, and it’s very eye catching.

Two coats, no topcoat:

On this picture it shows that the shimmer has a different colour. I think it’s orange, or at least golden.

Verdict:

Keeper, that’s all there is to say! :D

♥

Next one up is #472 Tasty Grapes. It’s purple with golden shimmer; so good it’s almost duochromatic!

Take a look – two coats:

Can you tell that the shimmer has got a different colour?

Verdict: This is funnily enough not one of my favourites. Pretty but not spectacular.

♥

Next one up is #474 Luxurious Indigo. It’s an indigo base packed with purple shimmer. The shimmer was definitely not shy on the nails, but I had such a difficult time catching it on camera. Weird! I ended up taking the pictures in the bathroom, which is why my fingers suddenly have a much warmer tone to them. The pictures show the polish colour accurately.

Take a look:

The shimmer is amazingly pretty!

Verdict: This is also a cool colour and I like the shimmery effect.

♥

Last one up is #475 Tropical Blue. It’s sky blue with what looks like indigo shimmer. Looking at the bottles it looks exactly the opposite of Luxurious Indigo that I just showed you.

Anyway, here’s what it looks like on the nails:

Wow, right? This is SO pretty!

Verdict: This is my favourite of the bunch. Even though the indigo shimmer was practically non existent on my nails, the colour is just amazing. I didn’t want to take this off :D

The polishes I didn’t buy was: #467 Quindim Gold, 468 Samba Pink, 470 Dainty Passion Fruit, 473 Precious Amethyst and 476 Joyful Emerald.

The collection was limited edition and is now discontinued.

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Fast

Finish: Super shimmers!
Overall impression: Great collection with fantastic shimmers. I love the way Kiko added shimmers that complimented the polishes perfectly.

Buy again: Yes

KB Shimmer ~ Whole Lava Loving

KB Shimmer ~ Whole Lava Loving

Raspberry red linear holo

It’s holo weather today, yay! And I am in the mood for red!

Whole Lava Lovin is cherry red and looks lovely in the bottle. Dumbass name, but hey ho. The formula is good and the polish doesn’t need an aqua basecoat to work, it behaves nicely with any ol’ basecoat. It takes two coats to achieve desired opacity and the drying time is good. And girls! This baby can really shine.

Take a look at two coats and no topcoat in the sun:

The rainbows are pink and orange, and I love how they look!

The polish is quite special in the shade too. Here’s a lightbox picture – check out them rainbows:

I wanted stars on them. I used a star shaped hole puncher and punched some holes in masking tape. I put the tape over my nails and painted with Dance Legend’s New Prism “Cosmic Rainbow”, which is a lovely purple linear holo. I sealed the whole thing with a layer of Poshé topcoat andhere’s my final mani:

Is that gorgeous or what? I believe it is!

And a lightbox pic – with the hole puncher.

I like Whole Lava Lovin – no doubt about that! Do you?

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good

Finish: Beautiful linear holo
Overall impression: Great quality polish, fantastic colour with some really good rainbows!

Buy again: Yes

Essie ~ Toggle to the Top

Essie ~ Toggle to the Top

Deep red jelly with red glitter

Honestly: I am not a dedicated Essie fan. I don’t own many of their polishes, but once in a while there is this one that speaks to me. Toggle to the Top is such a polish.

Application was easy and so was the coverage. It took two coats to achieve desired opacity. Drying time between the coats was pretty good.

Here’s what two coats and a layer of topcoat looks like:

I really like the glitter – red glitter is my kryptonite!

Showing off the glitter:

I didn’t know what to do with it so I ended up just painting two holo lines on each nail. I used Color Club’s Halo-Graphic and I made the stripes with a striper brush. It’s definitely not my best nail art, but it can’t all be, now can it!?

I hate to say that I am a little bit disappointed in Toggle to the Top. The base is way darker than I imagined and ended up looking almost black on my nails. And if there’s something I don’t think looks good on me, it’s black nails.

But never mind. I’m sure I can find a good home for it ;)

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good

Finish: Jelly with glitter
Overall impression: Good formula, good quality polish. The base colour is a bit too dark for me

Buy again: No

Love & Beauty ~ swatches

I bought three Love&Beauty polishes on my vacation to New York last October, and today is the day where they have their little moment of fame.

The first one up is a textured purple polish called “purple/silver”. It’s not hard to guess the colour of it, is it? :D

Application was a breeze and girls, this purple beauty is a one coater. Drying time is good, no problems there either.

Here is one coat:

I like the added silver - that really does something good for this polish!

I mean: Look at that shine!

Verdict:
I like this. The sand effect is nice, and not so hugely gritty that you hang up on everything. I love that it’s a one coater and the added silver glitter is a big bonus!

♥

The second polish up is a glitter, and that funnily enough is also called “purple/silver”! Guess what colour this one is!! :D It’s a purple tinted base with silver glitter and hexes. It doesn’t work on it’s own, it’s a topper. So I paired it with a purple polish from Golden Rose with the number 107, which is my default purple when it comes to purple underwear. It’s beautiful and it’s a one coater. Enough said. So I applied a layer of this glitter over the Golden Rose. I dipped the brush in the bottle one time only per nail – and here’s what it ended up looking like:

Glitter, glitter, glitter.

One last shot:

Verdict: Hmm. It’s a pretty glitter but it isn’t spectacular. You can definitely use it over colours other than purple because the base colour is so discrete!

♥

Last one up is my favourite of the bunch: Blue Jewel. It’s a blue texture with the most beautiful shimmer in it. It’s not really fair that it has been sitting in the box for so long, because it was never really an untried! *gasp* I wore it while I was still in New York, you see, but I wasn’t able to get any good pictures of it back then – that’s why you haven’t seen it before, and also why it wrongfully sat in the box of untrieds! Sorry for that little lacquer. Poor baby!

Anyway, the formula is good and the polish is really easy to apply! It does take two coats to make it opaque, and the drying time is pretty average.

Here’s what two coats look like:

Look at that shimmer that really shows off on my middle finger and my pointer on this pic:

And here – isn’t it gorgeous!!

Verdict: Yes please, this is a seriously cool textured polish, I love it!