Severina, Finger Paints and striping tape

Severina Chameleon ~ 615  

Dark dusty greyish green with shimmer

meets

Fingerpaints ~ Late Night Rendezvous  

Blue glitter

I’ve been wanting to try out my striping tape for quite a while, but haven’t really been up to it before now. So let me show you my very first striping tape mani!

I started out with a polish that I got from sweet Anastasia from Little World of Coloured Nails. It’s Severina Chameleon #615, and it’s a dark dusty green with lots of grey in it. I’ve had it sitting in my pile of untrieds for quite a while, but today is the day!

The formula was OK, and the pigmentation was fine. It was opaque in two coats, and the drying time was good. I like it when polishes dry before I dent them, LOL!

Here’s what 615 looks like, without top coat:

I’m quite impressed with pretty much all the polishes Anastasia sent me, and this is no exception. Pigmentation is great, and the polish evens out nicely, leaving a really good result! Score!

Now for the actual purpose of this base: Striping tape! I cut out little bits of tape and put them on my nails. Four pieces of striping tape on each nail. And then I painted the whole thing with Finger Paints “Late Night Rendezvous”, which is a gorgeous blue glitter with a teal undertone.

I did one nail at a time, and removed the striping tape right after applying the glitter. And I sealed my mani up with NYC fast drying top coat in the end.

The funny thing about this is that the Severina is also called Chameleon, and that’s exactly how it made the Finger Paints react. It turned green! I was amazed!!

Here’s the bottle shot. The Finger Paint is holding the striping tape on the brush handle :)

I must admit that using striping tape was more work than I expected it to be, and very fiddly - but I really love the result, so it will not be the last time I do this. Next time I’ll try with polishes with bigger difference between the colours.

What do you think – is this something you’d do yourself? Have you any great bit of advice about striping tape for me?

Valentine's Day part II

Valentine’s Day, part II

Avon, Golden Rose, Sally Hansen and NYX

We don’t really celebrate Valentine’s Day in Denmark, even though the florists and candy stores really want us to. I guess that means that some are beginning to take this American holiday seriously, but not me.

But since I know that I have got readers from all over the world, I decided to take this opportunity to nail some of the pinks in my stash of untrieds. First one up is Avon’s “Viva Pink”, that I received via a swap with lovely Anastasia from Little World of Coloured Nails.

This is what I’d describe as a Barbie pink crème, it applies easily and covers well in two coats. Drying time is a bit on the slow side, so I added a few drops of Sally Hansen Dry Kwik to speed things up.

Here’s a pic of it. It’s not colour accurate. The pic shows a coral tone, that the polish doesn’t actually have. I don’t know why this particular pink made my cam go crazy (and illustrates why it’s not possible for me to totally trust other people’s swatches online – I know that what you see isn’t necessarily what you get in the bottle):

Then I added a layer of glitter from Golden Rose. It’s called 165, and is a mix of small glitters, hexagons and bar glitter, in magenta, silver and holographic. It’s also a polish that Anastasia sent me! My intention was to just put glitter on half the nails, but this is definitely a topper, so the contrast wasn’t big enough for my likings. So: I ended up applying glitter to all of the nails. When I made the pics ready for this post, I realized that I hadn’t taken any pics of this particular step…

Then I stamped on my ring finger, my middle finger and my thumb, using a stamping plate from Bundlemonster: BM02 and Sally Hansen Insta-Dry “Wined up”, which is a lovely, deep red, shimmery polish.

I painted stripes on the remaining nails, using a striper polish from NYX Ink called “Deep Red”. It’s a perfect name for it, because it’s exactly what it is, LOL!

I think this is a quite nice mani for Valentines Day! :)

Here is a picture of three of the four polishes I used. The Golden Rose must really have felt left out!

So here’s a picture of it on its own. I’m usually not a bar glitter fan, but I like this polish!

That’s it. My second take on a Vday mani! :)

Do you celebrate Valentine’s Day where you live?

OPI ~ Suzi and the 7 Düsseldorffs in a V-day mani

OPI ~ Suzi and the 7 Düsseldorffs

Deep shimmery red-ish purple

Suzi and the 7 Düsseldorffs is from OPI’s Germany collection from Autumn 2012. I’ve been looking at it again and again in the shops, but restraining myself from buying it for two reasons: 

1. I think the name is absolutely ridiculous. And I think that OPI is getting worse and worse with the ludicrous and\or dumb-ass polish names
2. It’s an OPI, my Nemesis. The brand that I keep buying and being disappointed in because it doesn’t work well with my chemistry…

But - when I found an unused bottle in a blog sale, I gave in and bought it. It’s such a pretty purple after all, shimmery and almost glowing.

Little did I know that I was in for a surprise: The formula was actually nice, and the pigmentation was good. It took two coats to reach the desired opacity, and the drying time was also pretty good, even for me.

Here’s my mani, two coats and no top coat:

And from another pretty angle: 

I decided to make this a Valentine’s Day manicure. I stamped on three of the nails and painted glitter over two.

I used an Essence stamping plate (no name or number) and Essie’s “Nothing Else Metals”, which I only bought with stamping in mind.

The glitter on my pinkie and my thumb is from Finger Paints and is called “Movie in the Park”. It’s a lovely purple and blue glitter that looks amazing over this base colour.

There’s one coat of Poshé top coat on it, to seal it all up :)

So there you have it: An OPI I’m truly happy with! Score! ♥

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

Milani ~ Red in another red and black mani

Milani ~ Red

Clear base with red glitter

...and a couple of other polishes!

I just love red and black together! I usually say that purple is my favourite colour nail polish, but I am not sure that’s entirely true. Red is not my favourite either, but red and black together, now that’s just yummy!!

So here’s another red and black mani for ya!

I started out with black on two nails and red on three. I used Essence “Black is Back”, which is my favourite black crème – and a one coater too; and H&M’s “Berry Love”, which is a red crème. That’s usually also a one coater, but I have some green spots on my nails from a previous mani, that peeked through the red, so I gave it two coats to cover that up. I’m looking forward to my nails growing so I can cut the green spots off, LOL!

Anyway – here’s the base for my mani:

  

Then I used Milani’s “Red” over the black crème. Red is such a boring name for this awesome blingy glitter – it could have had an awesome name instead, like umm… “Bond Babe” or “Bling it on!”. But no; Red it was. No wonder that the marketing guy was fired from OPI’s team and replaced with a girl! :D Just kidding!!

I stamped on the red nails, using a black no name stamping polish and the stamping plate KD3, which is a fauxnad plate, but it works brilliantly!

I couldn’t find my faithful Poshé top coat, so I topped this with NYC fast drying top coat instead. And that little b*tch pulled on my designs, grrr!! Fortunately it shows more on the pics than it did in real life :) 

(In the meantime I found my Poshé – she was exactly where I left her…)

Do you like black and red manis? Or which colours do you return to?

Sally Hansen ~ Purple Pizzazz - with dots!

Sally Hansen ~ Purple Pizzazz  

Dark purple jelly with pink glass flecks

Purple Pizzazz is one of the few jellies that I actually like. Admittedly: I didn’t know it was a jelly when I bought it. I just thought it was a dark purple glitter. Little did I know that I had gotten my hands on a purple beauty.

The only downside as I see it, is that it takes three coats to reach its full potential. I think I’ll try layering over a plain purple next time, to see if I still get the same depth to it.

But anyway – the formula was like most jellies are. It looked awful after the first coat, bearable after two, and after three…? Well, take a look:

This close up shows you some of the pretty flecks:

I made dots on this. I used H&M’s “Snow White” and Essence’s “Sending you kisses” from their Ready for Boarding collection.

I sealed it all up with a layer of NYC fast drying top coat, and my dots were ready to rock! :)

And a final shot, because I like this so much:

What do you think? Isn’t the purple just a total win?

Opacity: 5/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 7/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
Buy again: Yes, probably

Gina Tricot ~ Brilliantly Blue with Models Own ~ Juicy Jules

Gina Tricot Beauty Nails ~ Brilliantly Blue

Shimmery smurf blue with sparse microglitter

I don’t know how well known Gina Tricot is around the world, but for those of you who don’t know it: It’s a chain of clothing shops that have now also started to sell makeup and nail polish. I have bought a couple of them – it’s always nice to know what’s the local polishes are like.

“Brilliantly Blue” is exactly that. It’s the colour of a smurf with a tan :D The formula is really good to work with and it was almost opaque in one coat. I obviously applied two to give this polish the best possible conditions.

Here it is in all its glory – shiny, but without top coat:

I like the subtle microglitter in this polish! And the shine is fantastic!

I wanted more glitter though. I used Models Own’s  “Juicy Jules”, which is a holographic glitter. I thought it was a topper when I bought it, but it’s far from that. Stay with me a little while longer, and you’ll see!

I taped my nails and painted one coat of Juicy Jules on the half of the nail that wasn’t covered with tape. Then I made three dots with Juicy Jules on the blue half of the nail, and three dots with Brilliantly Blue on the glittery half of the nail. I finished my mani with a coat of Poshé top coat:

Here’s the mani seen from “the blue side”:

I love the glitter, although I’m not quite convinced that the dots were a great idea - but there you have it. Done is done, and tomorrow there’s another mani awaiting…

Here are the two pretties:

So; what do you think? And do you know Gina Tricot?

Opacity: 8/10
Colour, prettiness: 7/10
Durability: 7/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Buy again: Yes

Ulta ~ Material Girl

Ulta ~ Material Girl

Burgundy with holo glitter

I would have bought this polish for the name alone, but it happens to be a lovely polish, so it’s a bonus that I like the name too!

The formula is great. The polish glides on easily and covers really well. I used two coats for this mani. It dries up a little bit gritty, but nothing that one coat of top coat can’t fix.

These pics are without top coat:

And from a different angle:

I decided to stamp on it. I used a white no name stamping polish, and Cheeky stamping plate CH15. I was very please with how crisp this design turned out. And Poshé was a good girl today and didn’t smudge the design at all. I’m very pleased!

I have read that Material Girl should be pretty close to OPI DS Extravagance. After having read that, I googled swatches of the both of them. They’re close, but they’re not dupes, and I don’t mind having both of them in my collection. If push came to shove and I had to let one go, I am sad to say that it would have to be Material Girl leaving the stash. But fortunately I’m able to give them both a good home :)

I like this stitched heart design, although I had hoped that it was a bit more delicate. My nails aren’t that big, so sometimes designs like these don’t make any sense on my nails.

I like it anyway! :)

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

Sally Hansen ~ Scarab - featuring The Beetles

Sally Hansen ~ Scarab

This mani is special because it made me step outside my comfort zone.

It all started out with two layers of Sally Hansen “Scarab”. Scarab is a duochrome shimmery polish that shifts between blue and green. I like this! The polish is easy to work with and has very good pigmentation. Drying time is pretty average.

Here’s what two coats of Scarab looks like, with a layer of NYC fast drying top coat over:

I looked at it for a little while, considering what to do with it, when it struck me: Why not try and make the colours of a pretty beetle?

I used a make up applicator to sponge across my nails. I used Chatte Noire #709, which is a beautiful green/gold duochrome. I got it in a swap with sweet Anastasia from Little World of Coloured Nails.

Here’s that step: 

Then I grabbed one of my new polishes, namely Sally Hansen’s “Gilded Lily”, which is a gold glitter. I’m so not into golden polishes, but I’ve been eyeing this since they put it in the display in my local drugstore. And I bought it because it’s nice not to limit yourself colourwise :)

I used the same applicator to sponge on a thinner band of gold across the band that I’d already sponged. I am quite impressed with this golden glitter – it’s definitely a win to have a polish like this!

 

Then I mixed a couple of drops of Scarab with a couple of drops of Gilded Lily on a piece of plastic and used the same applicator to sponge on the mix over the existing band of polish. I did this to make it all come together. Scarab isn’t quite golden enough to pull off this mani, so I thought I’d help it a little bit.

Here’s another picture of the finished mani:

And the bottle shot:

I like the look of beetles; I think most of them have really amazing colours.

What do you think? Are you a beetles fan? ;D

Ninja Polish ~ Nebula - in a gradient

Rimmel ~ Purple Addict and Ninja Polish ~ Nebula

Here’s another glitter gradient I did, because I really like them!

My base colour was Purple Addict from Rimmel’s Lycra Pro series. It’s a shimmery purple with red undertones. It took two easy coats to achieve desired opacity, and drying time was pretty average. I was very positively surprised over this polish – it dried up to the most beautiful finish. Seriously: I gazed at my nails for about an hour (while watching Pulp Fiction) before I did the gradient.

Here it is. There’s no top coat on it yet:

Shiny and pretty and purple, just the way I like it. I like glitter too though, so let’s move on to that.

I used Ninja Polish’ Nebula, which I got from my very good friend the Nail Ant. I’m very glad that I own this glitter. It’s duochromatic, and shifts between green and purple, and the glitter in it is just amazing.

I sponged my gradient on, and reversed my ring finger and thumb, just because I can :D

I couldn’t get Nebula to flash her true colours for the camera. She looks blue here, but she isn’t. In low lights she flashes all the purpleliciousness, and when I twist my fingers she shows her green side.

I think I have to try Nebula for a full mani instead of just a gradient, because I really want to show you her true colours!

This is my first Ninja Polish but it will definitely not be the last. What about you girls? Are you a Ninja Polish fan?

Attitude Gradient in blue, magenta and silver

Attitude ~ Dancing Duchess, Damsel in Disguise and Glam Glitter topcoat  

Let me show you a cool gradient I did the other day. I used three different Attitude polishes. I love the brand name, and I certainly love the glittery polishes they made.

I used a dark blue with glitter, the Dancing Duchess. It’s dark, vampy and delicious, like a Duchess should be.

The second “stripe” is Damsel in Disguise, a beautiful glittery magenta, that can outshine many glitters if you want it to.

The third “stripe” is Glam Glitter topcoat, a holographic topcoat, that is so dense that it can be used for purposes like this.

The mani is finished off with two layers of NYC fast drying top coat. The magenta and the holo dries up pretty gritty, so a glitter tamer could also be a good idea for a mani like this.

Here are the pretty Attitude polishes:

Do you like this? I think it’s pretty awesome!