Colour Alike ~ 496

Colour Alike ~ 496

Green scattered holo with flashes of blue

Today is green so I grabbed number 496 from Colour Alike that I got in a swap with sweet Joanne from Joanne’s Polishes.

The formula is great and so is the coverage. The drying time is average, but that’s okay because this is a one coater! The OC!

Here’s one coat and no topcoat, dear readers. Note the flashes of blue too!

Amazing, right? Here’s how pretty it is in low lights. I’d wear this as a base for Christmas nail art! :D

But for now I added glittah! Two stripes of glitter on each nail did the trick for me. I used Gloss’n Sparkle’s The Talisman, which is a red, orange, green, yellow, and black hex and square. I made the stripes with a striper brush. I applied a layer of topcoat before I took my pictures of the final mani. Here it is taken with flash:

This low light picture might give you a better impression of the pretty glitter.

This is super simple but I love it. I love that it didn’t take long to make it either.

Number of coats: 1
Drying time: Average

Finish: Scattered holo
Overall impression: I love one coaters and this is a really pretty green

Buy again: Yes

Gloss ‘N Sparkle ~ Retrovertigo

Gloss ‘N Sparkle ~ Retrovertigo

Green crème with purple and burgundy glitters

Retrovertigo is Dulcet’s sister and she demanded to be put on asap!

The formula is great, even better than the formula of Dulcet. The polish spreads out effortlessly and is surprisingly opaque – it was practically a one coater! I was amazed! Drying time is average, but as I’ve said elsewhere it’s very humid here so it might be faster when the air isn’t carrying such a load of moisture.

Take a look at how pretty Retrovertigo is – here’s two coats and a layer of topcoat:

All the pictures are taken in my lightbox.

I must admit that this is a really unusual colour combination even for me, but I love it!

I haven’t dabbed the glitters around or made any extra effort btw, this is the way they ended naturally.

One last shot because Retrovertigo deserves it!

Verdict:

This polish really impressed me quality-wise. I know Gloss ‘N Sparkle make good polishes, but I think this one has the best formula I’ve tried from them so far. Thumbs firmly up from me.

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Average

Finish: Crème with glitter
Overall impression: Good quality, great colour combo, nice glitters!   

Buy again: Yes

Gloss ‘N Sparkle ~ Dulcet

Gloss ‘N Sparkle ~ Dulcet

Pink crème with fuchsia, pastel pink and blue glitters

The formula is good and the glitter is easy to work with. I didn’t dab the glitter around, it just placed itself as I applied the polish. Coverage is good for an almost pastel, two coats is what I used for my swatches. The polish doesn’t dry up completely flat because of the glitters, so use a good topcoat to even everything out. Drying time between the coats was average, but bear in mind that it’s pretty humid here at the moment, so I expect it to dry a bit faster when the air gets a little less moist

Anyway, let’s look at the pretty one!
Two coats and a layer of topcoat:

The pictures are all taken in the lovely sunshine.

I like the way the glitters compliment the base colour, it works for me.

I won’t lie to you: I like the way this looks!

Verdict:

The quality of the polish is really good and the glitter is gratifyingly easy to work with. It can sometimes be a bit of a hassle to get the glitters placed nicely on the nails, as you know - but not with this one. I also like the way the glitters compliment the base colour.

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Average

Finish: Crème with glitter
Overall impression: Good quality, nice workable glitter!   

Buy again: No

Gloss n Sparkle ~ Harlot

Gloss n Sparkle ~ Harlot

Burgundy with a very fine red glitter sparkle and subtle holographic glimmers

I don’t own many Gloss N Sparkle polishes, but I like the few ones I’ve got. So when I saw this beauty online I didn’t hesitate buying it.

The formula is good and so is the drying time. I used two coats and was happy with that. I can see that my camera would have loved a third coat, but it also has a tendency to pick up things that you can’t see with the naked eye!

Anyway – I applied a layer of topcoat, and then I took my pictures.

This picture is taken with flash to make the holo sparkle show. It’s subtle but it’s there.

And the sun was shining too, I am a lucky girl today!!

I decided to go holo crazy! I found a stamping design on Moyou London’s stamping plate “Back to the 80’s-04” and I stamped with Color Club’s Cloud Nine, which is a pink extreme holo. Here’s what my final mani looks like:

Yes, that’s what I like innit dahlin!

And here’s a lightbox picture. This is also pretty in lower lights!

I ended up liking this mani a lot!

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Fast

Durability: Good

Finish: Delicious shimmer
Overall impression: I love the colour and the finish. This is such a cool polish.

Buy again: Yes

Gloss and Sparkle ~ Above Deck

Gloss and Sparkle ~ Above Deck

Blue base with blue glitter and green shimmer

I seem to have a crush on blues, greens and teals at the moment, so I welcomed Above Deck in my stash recently.

This is my second Gloss and Sparkle, and I was impressed last time (you can check out that polish here, if you missed it back then). Let’s see if Above Deck can live up to my great expectations, shall we?

The formula is just great! The polish glides on easily and effortlessly and covers well in two coats. Drying time between coats is average, so I didn’t have to sit around for too long and wait :) And the colour… the colour is fantastic! I’d say that this polish fits its name just perfectly! It’s a blue, blue shimmer with a splash of green – just the colour you’d love to sit and watch when you’re above deck – in a sun chair.

I applied a layer of H K Girl topcoat before taking my pics. Take a look at two coats:

Isn’t that just something? I mean: Wow!

The shimmer and the depth in this polish is just amazing!

I took way too many pictures of this beauty!

The polish is just as shiny without the topcoat really, but I just love how it looks with too.

I tried to catch some of the holo glitter in it....here’s a tiny spark of it:

I went out shopping (gasps of surprise all round), and in one of the stores I went in, the lights made the polish shine particularly nicely. I decided to take advantage of that, and took this picture. Above deck is incredibly sparkly, and this picture shows it the best:

Verdict:
I’m stunned! This polish is so beautiful that it almost took my breath away! If you think it looks beautiful on the pictures, then I have to tell you that my pictures don’t do the polish justice. It’s so much more “alive” in real life than it is on my photos. Polished thumbs up from me: This baby is a winner!

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Average

Durability: Good

Removal: Not as tough as a “real” glitter, but tougher than just a crème
Overall impression: I’m in love with this stunner!

Buy again: Definitely!

Gloss ‘N Sparkle ~ Edge of the World

Gloss ‘N Sparkle ~ Edge of the World

Dark teal jelly base with micro hologlitter and blue and green glitters and hexes

There’s only nine days until Christmas now. It’s amazing how this month has just passed.

‘Edge of the World’ looked really amazing on pictures, so I couldn’t wait to see if it lived up to my very high expectations. I’ll reveal that at the end of this post.

I am not the best of friends with jellies, but this one actually behaved quite nicely. The glitter is quite chunky and there’s quite a lot of it, so I had to be careful to get the paint all the way to the edges of my nails without getting it all over my cuticles. I managed that quite well, and I give all credit to the polish for behaving nicely. The polish is on the thick side, so it covers quite well. It only took two coats to reach desired opacity. The downside of the thickness is that the drying time was on the slow side. I did manage to sit through the drying time between layers though! :D

I applied a layer of Poshé topcoat, and my mani was done.

I can only say Oh.My.Gawd!! I Absolutely.Love.This!

I love, love, love the way the glitters swim around in the dark base.

I can easily forgive the slow drying time when the polish ends up looking like that on my nails!

Can you see the depth of it? It’s amazing! My pictures don’t even do it justice.

One last picture, just because I took so ridiculously many.

I guess it isn’t a secret that this polish lived up fully to my expectations. I love that the base isn’t just black, but actually dark teal. The glitters and hexes are so beautiful, and the added holo microglitter just makes this polish pretty close to perfect.

Is this a polish you’d wear? And have you got a trick that makes polish dry a bit faster? If so, please do share in the comments below, and I’ll be forever grateful! <3

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