Layla ~ Ceramic Effect 28

Layla ~ Ceramic Effect 28

Turquoise shimmer

I got Layla when I was in Italy earlier this year. It’s a lovely turquoise – easy to apply and to work with. I used two coats for my mani and the drying time between coats was pretty good.

I applied a layer of holo topcoat to add a bit of rainbows. I used an oldie for that, Treasure by Tan’s “Oasis”. I haven’t used that much since I bought it, mainly because I wasn’t happy with the other Treasures by Tan polishes I bought at the same time. They’re all sold now, but there’s nothing wrong with the holo topper, which is why I kept it.

I made the whole thing into a star manicure. I used cheap vinyls for the purpose, and I sponged the silver holo on. I used Colors by Llarowe’s stamping polish “Sparkling Diamonds” to sponge with.

This is the final manicure, including a layer of topcoat. The photo is taken with flash.

The stars on the ring finger is actually vinyls from the sheet I used. I really like the effect of them.

This is Layla #28, two layers, with a layer of Treasures by Tan’s “Oasis” holo topcoat on top. The photo is taken in the sun.

And here’s the Layla on its own. Two coats and no topcoat. It’s a lovely polish on its own as well.

This is all the stuff I used. The vinyls are big and my nails are small, so each vinyl covered two nails, which means I used 6 vinyls for 10 nails in total.

I love having stars and holo on my nails!

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good

Finish: Shimmer
Overall impression: Good basic polish, good quality

Buy again: Yes

Treasures by Tan ~ Kinky & Blue Hawaiian

Treasures by Tan ~ Kinky & Blue Hawaiian  

Pink & Sky Blue linear holo

I’ve had my Treasure by Tan holos sitting in my stash of untrieds for a while now. And I haven’t really been in the mood for using them, since I was so disappointed in the first ones I played with. And today the sun was out, I had time on my hands, and so I decided to swatch the last two and get them out of the way. I thought that perhaps they might be better than the rest of them. Let’s see how it went.

I started out with Kinky, the pink one. It looks great in the bottle, but the formula is really sheer. I didn’t buy these to layer them, so I started applying. It looked horrible after the first coat, and the second didn’t help much. The third coat helped, and now it was actually wearable, although it still looked really sheer. And drying time didn’t help either. If it had dried super fast, then I could live with three coats, but sitting around waiting and literally watching paint dry – it’s just not worth it.

But: The sun was out, so let me show you what it looks like. Three coats, no topcoat:

If there’s one thing I don’t think of when I look at this colour, it’s kinky. The name is totally mistaken, I think! Straight pink, no kink.

One last shot – this is where the polish presents itself the best. But it didn’t actually look *this* good in real life, I’m sorry to say.

Let us move right on along to the other polish, Blue Hawaiian. It’s certainly blue, like the name indicates. So far, so good.

The formula is just as sheer as Kinky is, if not more so <eek>. I actually had to apply four coats of polish before I couldn’t see my nails peeking up from underneath it. Four coats, dear ladies, and the drying time isn’t fast either. <big impatient yawn!>.

It *is* pretty in the sunshine though, the prettiest of the ones I’ve tried so far:

I like the colour. It’s what I want my sky to look like. Pretty and blue.

And Blue Hawaiian continued to be a pretty colour out of the sunshine. It gets one little plus for that.

Verdict:

It’s way too sheer and it’s only when you apply minimum four layers that the holo effect is strong enough to impress. Drying time isn’t user friendly, which is a real killer if you need three or four coats to make the polish work. However, Blue Hawaiian is actually very pretty, both in and out of the sun – so points for that. Kinky didn’t have that feature, unfortunately - perhaps I should have given her four coats as well. But I didn’t. So basically the verdict is no. Just no. Sorry and all that.

Opacity: 2/10
Colour, prettiness: 4/10
Durability: N/A/10
Value for money: 4/10
Overall: 3/10
Buy again: No

Treasures by Tan ~ After Shock

Treasures by Tan ~ After Shock 

Cherry linear holo

It’s not a secret that I haven’t been impressed with the Treasure by Tan holos that I bought on Etsy. I don’t think they’re opaque enough and I also don’t think the holo is quite strong enough. It’s taking me quite a while to get all six of them tested, since I’m not totally thrilled; you know what I mean?

One thing I do know: I love it when my manis pop! So I decided to use the brightest red I have as underwear for this cherry coloured holo. I used Revlon’s “Fire Fox”, which is a bright red matte suede, that covers perfectly in two easy coats. Drying time is great too, you can literarily sit and watch it dry because it dries up semi matte!

Here’s the base colour for the holo; two coats and no topcoat:

It’s a nice “in your face” red, I like it! 

Now for the holo. I applied two coats of “After Shock”. It applies easily and doesn’t pull on the polish underneath it. Drying time is really slow though. I waited really patiently but it seemed like forever before it was dry. I didn’t apply a topcoat yet – I’m not done yet :D

Two coats over the bright red Revlon:

It’s nice and bright, but the holo isn’t very strong, which is disappointing!

This is actually as strong as I can make it look. I give credit to the underlaying polish for the fact that I actually like the colour! :D

Then I decided for some easy nail art. I used OPI liquid sand “Honey Ryder” from the Bond Girls collection. I made stripes on three of the nails. Then I used a mini craft punch and cut out hearts in masking tape. Then I placed the tape on the ring finger and the thumb and sponged “Honey Ryder” on before quickly removing the tape. And alas: Even half an hour after the last coat of “After Shock” the polish wasn’t quite dry, and the tape pulled on the mani. Argh!

Here’s the final mani after one layer of topcoat:

And here’s the craft punch that I bought really cheap in a local dollar store:

I’m not really a gold kind of girl, but I kind of like this :D The red holo ended up in my box of shame and has already found a new home, along with some of her sisters.

Opacity: 3/10
Colour, prettiness: 6/10
Durability: 6/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 5/10
Buy again: No

China Glaze ~ When stars collide

China Glaze ~ When stars collide

Deep plum holographic

Every time the sun shines it’s holoday!

I want to show you another polish from the Hologlam collection from Spring 2013, namely 'When stars collide'. I wasn’t sure whether I should buy it or not when it came out – I was wondering if maybe it would be too brown for my likings. Well - I can reveal already now that it isn’t! :)

I used an aqua base coat, because I’ve heard that this polish works best either with that or with no base coat at all. My nails are still yellow after a green polish that decided to leave its colour on my nails – through basecoat and everything, so I’m definitely not ready to make out with a new polish without using some form of protection!

Anyway, the formula is great – a bit on the thick side, but I don’t mind that – and the drying time is no less than fantastic. The pigmentation is also really good: with thicker layers I might even be able to get away with just one coat. I applied two coats, because then I’m sure that I give the polish the best conditions to show off.

Here it is in direct sunlight, my dear ladies, in all its glory. Two coats, no topcoat:

It’s in the sunlight this polish really shows its beauty.

  

I really like it in the shadows too, and I think that this is one of the holos I actually get to wear during the winter! I like the colour and it’s a great base for some cool nail art. I made my nail art really simple today, because I wasn’t in the mood to make a big deal out of it. I applied a sticker on the ring finger and one on the thumb. The stickers are from Essence and I bought them in Germany way back.

Here’s how that looks:

I quite like the simplicity of this! The polish is elegant, in my opinion, and invites you to decorate with something simple.

I wasn’t quite done though! :) I decided to add extra holo effect, so I applied a layer of Treasures by Tan “Oasis”, which is a spectraflair topcoat. It dulled the colour some, but I actually found it to be okay, since the base colour is so dark in itself.

Take a look at my final mani:

I really like When Stars Collide. I like it because it looks great in the sunshine, but I also like the colour of the polish itself. It’s so easy to be blinded by the rainbows in the sunshine, but I want my polishes to look good all of the time!

So you like this polish? Have you got it?

Opacity: 9/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Buy again: Yes

Foxy Paws ~ Only Teardrops and Orly ~ Aqua Pixel

Foxy Paws ~ Only Teardrops

Aqua blue linear holo

Foxy Paws is a Danish indie brand. Only Teardrops is from a Eurovision Song themed collection of two polishes called “The Eurovision Collection”.

Denmark won the Eurovision Song Contest of 2013 with the song “Only Teardrops” sung by Emmelie de Forest. I’m not hugely interested in Eurovision, but I do think it’s pretty cool that Denmark actually won.

But anyway! I didn’t buy the polish because of all that, I bought it because it’s blue and it’s holographic, and because I didn’t have a shade quite like this in my collection.

The formula was good, and so was the drying time. It took two layers to make it look cool, which is pretty good for a light colour like this. I chose a different polish for my ring finger and my thumb: Orly’s “Aqua Pixel”, which is their version of an aqua blue textured polish with silver glitter. The formula of the Aqua Pixel is no less than fantastic. It almost covers in one coat and the drying time is really good. I applied an extra coat just to give the polish the best conditions to shine!

So, here’s a picture of two layers of Only Teardrops and two layers of Aqua Pixel. The picture is taken in direct sunlight:

I’m really glad I bought both these polishes. They fit so well together. I love this colour, that is a new addition to my stash. And I seriously love that textured Orly!

I know I sound greedy now, but I just wish that the holo was a little bit more prominent in Only Teardrops. It’s lovely, but… you know… just a little bit more! :D 

I should have left it like that, but I had an idea in my head, that didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to. Now you get to see it! :D I painted two “teardrops” on three of my nails. I used a polish from H&M called Active Blue, which is a mini bottle full of navy blue shimmer. I used my dotting tool to make the teardrops. And here’s the result of that:

I’m not as good at drawing teardrops as I thought I was! But never mind, I think it looks pretty cool anyway. In all modesty, obviously ;) 

Here’s when I decided to add extra holo! I used a holo topcoat from Treasures by Tan called “Oasis”. I applied a single layer over the three fingers, and here’s a sunshine pic:

Now that’s much better – look at them pretty rainbows right there! <3

This is a Treasure by Tan polish that I’m sure to keep. The holo is great and it doesn’t dull the underlaying colour as much as I’ve seen other holo toppers do.

In fact; all these three are keepers, yay!

Here’s the winner song of Eurovision Song Contest 2013: Only Teardrops with Emmelie de Forest: 

Do you like this mani? I’m quite fond of it myself :)

Foxy Paws ~ Only Teardrops

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

Orly ~ Aqua Pixel

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 9.25/10
Buy again: Yes

Treasures by Tan ~ Oasis

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

Treasures by Tan ~ Lickin’ Lizard

Treasures by Tan ~ Lickin’ Lizard  

Pale metallic green linear holo

Here’s another one of the six Treasures by Tan holos that I bought recently. I knew already from the first one I tried (check it out here) that they need underwear to work. That’s kind of a disappointment, but fortunately something I can work my way around.

I started out with a Pastel polish that I got in a swap with my friend Aylin from Posh Nail Art. I think I’m slightly colourblind when it comes to blues and greens, because I took it for being mint green, although on the pictures it looks blue. But anyway, it’s #145, and the formula is great, even for a pastel colour, and the drying time is really good. It took two easy coat to make it look good, and behold – I’m wearing pastels again, take a look:

I must admit that I like this! I wouldn’t wear it on its own, but then again, I hardly ever wear any polish on its own, so I don’t see that as a big deal.

I applied the Lickin’ Lizard, and I snapped this picture after having applied one coat on my little finger and my ring finger – just to give you an idea of what it looks like over the mint. The two first pictures are taken in regular daylight.

Then I applied the holo on the rest of the nails, ending up with two coats on each nail. And here’s a picture in the sunshine for you:

The holo isn’t very prominent, as you can see. Hmfr!

Here’s one last shot – it is a holo after all!

 

I really wanted to like this series of holos, but I’m not convinced that they are keepers yet. I’ve still got a blue, red, magenta and a holo topper to try yet, before I make the final decision about these.

So, what do you think? Would you keep?

Opacity: 3/10
Colour, prettiness: 6/10
Durability: 6/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 5/10
Buy again: No