piCture pOlish ~ Lagoon

piCture pOlish  ~ Lagoon

turquoise with small turquoise glitters and holographic sparkles and flecks

I decided to wear another one of my untried Picture Polishes after wearing Amethyst. Click here if you missed it.

Lagoon looks pretty much like the perfect turquoise to me! The formula is great, drying time is really good, and so is the pigmentation. It took two easy coats to make this look fantastic! The glitter dries flat on the nails, but I applied a layer of Poshé topcoat anyway, to let this baby shine to the max!

Have a look at how pretty this polish is:

Lagoon is the perfect name for this polish too! Imagine clear blue water in a lagoon, and the sun shining down on it, making it sparkle like a brazilion little diamonds. It looks like this:

This polish is so me!

I stamped some fish on it. I used Konad’s plate m27 and stamped with Kiko 625 Emerald from their Mirror collection. I chose a variety of fish for my nails, because I thought that this polish invited to a sea theme! Another layer of Poshé sealed it up, and here’s the final result:

And a closer look:

This stamping plate, Konad m27 is the only one of my stamping plates, that actually has a name. It’s always called my “Lady Toy”! Sounds kinky, eh? Well, take a look at how it was declared when I received it in the mail:

I love that, hahaha!!!! The postman must approach my front door with a head

full of unlikely ideas every time I get a parcel, now haha :D

So anyway, Lagoon is another winner in my book – I love everything about it, no less! What about you – are you into turquoise polishes like this one?

 

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

I bought this polish from norwaynails.com.

You can find more info on Norway Nail’s Facebook page, link here.

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.

L. A. Girls 3D Effect ~ Teal Dimension

L. A. Girls 3D Effect ~ Teal Dimension

Teal jelly base with holographic glitter

I am not a polish snob. I like what I like, cheap, expensive, easy to find or hard to get; I don’t mind, as long as it’s pretty!

L. A. Girls make some really nice polishes at a very good price. I’ve got a fair number of them by now, and their 3D Effect collection is really good. It’s basically a jelly base with holographic glitters in it – simple, and easy to remember. I like it :)

The formula is great, and all it takes is two coats, then it’s fully opaque. Drying time is good, and what the polish looks like in the bottle is exactly what you get onto your nails. Pretty, very pretty!

I didn’t have sunshine available today, so all the pictures are taken indoors with flash. Oh spring, I long for you already!! Anyway – here’s what two coats and no topcoat look like:

You can see how the glitter makes the polish glow as from within, it’s a really nice effect. I’m usually more into linear holos, but this is really cool too!

You know I love teal, and you can’t have been around my blog very often if you don’t know I love glitter – so yes, this is right up my alley! ♥

I decided to stamp on it. I used a Konad stamping plate: M69, and I stamped with “Silver Holo” from Urban Outfitters. I made a zebra design, and I really like the effect of that. I topped the whole thing with a layer of topcoat before taking these pics:

I wish the sun was shining, but it isn’t. I just can’t let my pretty holos sit in their boxes all winter, can I? :D

One last shot, just because I like my holographic zebra! ;)

I have only positive things to say about L. A. Girls’ polishes. They are good quality, nice colours and cool finishes, and then they’re totally affordable. I call that a total win situation, and probably haven’t bought my last one yet…

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

Hot Topic with holographic skull stamps

Hot Topic ~ ?

Multichrome shifting between blue/purple/green/something

I know that Hot Topic’s polishes aren’t necessarily of the highest quality, but I’m a sucker for a great looking bottle. And I love skulls – so this polish just had to be mine.

I used three coats for desired opacity, and the drying time wasn’t the fastest, so that was quite a challenge for me :D But anyway – the effect of this polish is quite special, and unfortunately almost impossible to capture on pictures :/

Here’s an attempt:

It flashes so many different colours, depending on which light you see it in. In direct light it flashes mostly blue and purple, but in low light I see both teal and dark green. Quite special!!

It is also shimmery, which I really like. 

I stamped on it, and as a tribute to the bottle (and perhaps also a little bit to the colour), I chose to stamp skulls on it! I used Gosh Holographic Hero as my stamping polish, and stamping plate from Konad M13:

There’s a layer of BK top coat over the stamp.

This didn’t quite turn out quite as I expected, which was a disappointment - but hey, sometimes it’s just like that. A bit like Life. I try to turn all of my less cool manis into learning experiences, figure out why it didn’t happen for real the way it did in my head, and try to get better each time I do my nails.

 

Opacity: 4/10
Colour, prettiness: 6/10
Durability: 5/10
Value for money: 5/10
Overall: 5/10
Buy again: Yes, but only for the bottle

Color Club ~ Angel Kiss - with holo stars

Color Club ~ Angel Kiss

Pale green strong linear holographic

Angel Kiss is from Color Club’s Halo Hues collection from winter 2012. It is a series of 6 polishes, of which I bought three. This is the first one I’ve tried on, and I am amazed! Wow, what a holo!!

I have written in my description that it’s pale green, but when I look at it, it’s definitely blue.

The polish glides on easily over a regular base coat. I only got problems with dragging when I tried to correct minor flaws in application, so - don’t do that. Correct what needs to be fixed with layer number two. It was almost perfect after the first coat, but the second coat it’s just fantastic!

No more words to describe it, just this pic, taken under a light bulb. The sun is not willing to show its face at the moment.

Now for the fun! I taped my nails diagonally and painted the tips with Pop Beauty Nail Glam’s “Poetic Peacock”, which is a dark teal packed with shimmer. It’s a beautiful polish, which I’m going to play more with later!

Here’s that step: 

Then I stamped on the tips. I used Angel Kiss as my stamping polish, and stamping plate M3 from Konad. And now I’ve got little holo-stars on the tips of my nails!

Whoa, I really dig this effect!

It’s definitely not the last time I stamp with Angel Kiss over a dark polish, I think this looks amazing!

And here are the two polishes in my light box. The holo effect doesn’t show itself in there.

How do you like this? Is this cool or what? I’m really proud of it myself!

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

Zoya ~ Blaze with Gosh ~ Holographic Hero

Zoya ~ Blaze 

Berry red with holo glitters

Blaze is from Zoya’s holiday collection 2012, “Ornate”. It’s a beautiful berry red with a pretty high concentration of holo micro glitter. I’ve been lemming this since I first laid my eyes on it, and was extremely happy to receive it in a swap!

The formula was fantastic – I love Zoya’s polishes. It took two very easy coats to get it opaque, and the drying time was pretty good. Not super fast, but pretty good. There’s two words we like to hear together, right? Pretty, and Good. J

I don’t have access to sunshine at the moment, it’s winter here up in Northern Europe, so all my pics are taken under a light bulb to show off the pretty holo in Blaze.

Here’s the polish alone. Two coats, no top coat:

The holo is so pretty, I really like this polish. I can’t wait to see what it looks like in the sunshine!

I was going to a Christmas party, so I wanted to add a little extra bling. But I didn’t want the bling to take over the show, if you know what I mean. So I pulled out my Gosh “Holographic Hero”, which I’m sure everybody has heard about by now. I stamped two different snow flakes that I found on Konad’s stamping plate M59.

I really like stamping with Holographic Hero. It is really pretty, also in low light, which is a good thing here.

One coat of Poshé top coat, and I was ready for the Christmas party:

Isn’t this just perfect for Christmas?

Here’s the bottle shot for you:

 So, this has to be one of my favourite Christmas polishes. Which polish is your favourite for this season?

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

Music Challenge 11: Born to be Wild (Steppenwolf)

Music Challenge 11: Born to be Wild (Steppenwolf)

Welcome to the last entry in my Music Challenge 2012.

Born to be Wild was on the soundtrack to “Easy Rider” from 1969. The movie tells the story of two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and South. The movie explores the social landscape, issues and tensions in the US during the 1960s, such as the hippie movement, drug use and communal lifestyle. Born to be wild alright!

There are two colours that spring to mind when I’m thinking of the theme, and that’s black and red. Wearing black leather and riding on red motorcycles. I decided to go with both.

I used a black glitter polish by Sabrina that hasn’t got a name, and a dark red from Essence called “Fateful Desire”. I painted my pinkie and my thumb black and the three other fingers red – two coats on each finger. Then I sponged the black halfway up on my ringfinger and my pointer.

Here’s how that looks without a top coat on: 

It was funny with the black. When I sponged it on it was as if the black disappeared, leaving only the silvery glitter. That puzzled me, but it doesn’t really matter, because I like the look of that!

Then I stamped on the middle finger. I chose an eagle design from Konad’s stamping plate M28. I used a no name black stamping polish for it. I chose the eagle because that goes so well with the spirit of this theme. Born to be wild – born to be free!

After sealing it all up with Poshé top coat, my mani was done:

I think I would have liked my eagle to show itself a bit more, so perhaps I should have stamped with silver instead. But that would have ruined the idea of just black and red, so I’ll stay happy with it as it is :)

The bottle shot: 

What do you think? Is this mani true to the theme?

Check out the other girls’ blogs to see how they interpreted “Born to be Wild”.

Aylin: http://poshnailart.blogspot.com

Mette and Lisa: http://neglerier.blogspot.dk

Anne Mette: http://amnegle.blogspot.dk/

Brianna: http://welcometobriannasworld.blogspot.com

Celia: http://neglegejl.blogspot.dk/

Astrid: http://polish-life.blogspot.com

Bonus link to Steppenwolf “Born to be Wild!”:

That was the last challenge in this series of music related manicures. I hope you enjoyed this month’s Tour de Nail. I definitely enjoyed it myself!

Born to be wild – Yeehaaw!

Music Challenge 2: I wanna be a rock star (Nickelback)

Music Challenge 2: I wanna be a rock star (Nickelback)

Here’s the second spot in my music challenge. I think it’s quite funny to make these challenges because it causes me to reflect.

What do I think of when I think of rock stars? Hmm… Denim and leather and rivets, I guess. I went for the denim look today.

I’ve got this polish from BK, called 04. It’s probably the thickest polish I own, and the brush is quite fat. It’s denim blue with shimmer, and it only took one coat to be opaque.

I thought it would dry up semi matte but it didn’t, it was just shimmery. Here’s how it looks; one coat with one layer of Miss Sporty top coat: 

 And from another angle:

I quite like this look, so it’s definitely not the last time I’m using this polish. I even wonder if it’s a dupe for Barry M’s Denim…but I don’t have that, so I can’t compare.

Then I stamped on it. I used a plate from Konad called m3 and Essence’s “Stamp me! Silver” stampy polish for the stars on three fingers, and Mash stamping plate #28 and a no name white stamping polish for the skulls on the ring finger and the thumb.

Here is the final design – covered up in a coat of Poshé top coat as usual:

And from another angle:

 

Rock’n’roll!!

What do you think of when you think of Rock stars?

Let’s head over to the other girls who are doing this challenge, and see what they’ve come up with: 

Aylin: http://poshnailart.blogspot.com

Mette and Lisa: http://neglerier.blogspot.dk

Agnes: http://www.facebook.com/AgnesNegleDesign

Anne Mette: http://amnegle.blogspot.dk/

Brianna: http://welcometobriannasworld.blogspot.com

Celia: http://neglegejl.blogspot.dk/

Astrid: http://polish-life.blogspot.com

Next challenge up is in three days, and we’re going “Over the rainbow”! I can’t wait!  

Bonus link to Nickelback’s I wanna be a rock star:

Zoya ~ Reva

Zoya ~ Reva  

Strawberry red packed with golden glass flecks, almost multichromic

It’s Zoya themselves that describe Reva as strawberry red. Here’s the exact description: A cool toned strawberry red with glowing golden metallic sparkle.  A very rich and luxurious looking gilded red.

I don’t totally agree on that. It’s red, yes, but the golden metallic fleck makes the polish look almost like a multi chrome! I’ll get back to that shortly.

The formula was a dream to work with. I’ll almost call it self-applying polish! It was pretty much opaque in one coat, but I gave it two, to cover the last couple of thin spots. Drying time was pretty much average.

Here’s a pic taken in the sunshine. The metallic flecks make it glisten like crazy, and the golden glow disappers completely and makes it my kind of polish. You should know by now that I prefer silver to gold, also when it comes to nail polish. 

Here’s an indoor shot. The golden glow is now visible, and when I twist and turn my fingers, the polish looks multi chromic – shifting from red to golden and magenta. 

Here’s a pic taken from a different angle. I like the structure of this polish, I find it very pretty. 

I stamped on it, using Konad’s white stamping polish and Mash stamping plates, number 45 for the swirly design and number 49 for the stars.

Then I topped it with a layer of CND Sapphire Sparkle to bring back the shine and sparkle to the mani!

I am unable to decide whether I like this or not. I like the white and red together, but perhaps there’s a bit too much going on with my nails? Please let me hear your thoughts! 

Opacity: 9/10
Colour, prettiness: 7/10
Durability: 7/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Buy again: No (only because of the golden tone)

Max Factor Glossfinity ~ Amethyst

Max Factor Glossfinity ~ Amethyst  

Dark purple crème

Max Factor only started selling Glossfinity full size polishes here recently. They’re not cheap, normal price is 79DKK/13.85US$/10.6EUR, but I was lucky to find these at “special introduction price” (50DKK/8.75US$/6.75EUR), so I bought three. Amethyst is the first one I try on.

The formula is quite good, it’s thick without being gloopy, and it’s easy to apply. It takes two coats to reach opacity.

Here’s an indoor shot – the sun didn’t want to come out and play! 

It says “for up to 7 days” on the bottle. I can’t remember if I have ever actually worn a polish for that many days in a row! But perhaps I’ll test it at some point, just to see if it’s all about marketing!

Time to sparkle it up! I applied one coat of Catrice “Return of space cowboys” from the “Million Styles” collection. It’s such a lovely topper, which makes the purple almost duochromatic! And if that wasn’t a word before, it is now! :D

Here it is, without any additional top coat:

Sparkly and cool, isn’t it?

Now, onto the stamping. I picked a Konad stamping plate, M83, and used Barry M’s Instant Nail Effects Foil in the colour Purple.

Here’s the final result, sealed up with a layer of Poshe top coat:

Do you like it? Man, I absolutely love that Catrice topper!

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