Born Pretty Holo Polish #8 and #11

Born Pretty Holo Polish #8 and #11

I was thrilled when my new holos arrived. We all know that pictures can make a product much prettier than it actually is, but these polishes look really cool in real life too!

The formula is good. I used my regular base coat and the polish applies easily, and the drying time is average. I had expected it to dry really fast, but no, just average. The first coat seemed a bit sheer, but the second coat covered the nail line and smoothed all irregularities out. And man! Can these babies shine and make rainbows? I tell you what: Yes They Can!

Here’s a picture of two coats, no topcoat. The picture is taken in direct sunlight: 

Isn’t that just pretty? The rainbow effect is great!

Look at the bottles in the sunshine! I love holos like these ones.

Then I did some simple dots on it, just to show you the coverage of the polishes. I made dots with the alternate colours down each nail. The purple is the darkest of the two polishes, and it is also the most opaque of the two. But the blue one covers pretty good as well – take a look for yourself:

There’s still no topcoat on these pictures btw.

The verdict:

Pros:

Strong linear holo effect

Gorgeous colours, and there are 12 different colours to choose between

Easy application without aqua basecoat

Good coverage

Cons:

The price tag. The polish costs $12.88 for only 6ml.

Average drying time – as opposed to fast (not fair to put this as a con, is it?)

A Butter London gradient

Butter London ~ Dodgy Barnett & Bluey

Grey/silver holographic & Metallic, shimmery blue

Let me introduce to you my two first (and only) Butter Londons. I’ve been considering trying them for a while, but wasn’t really willing to pay the relatively high price for them. I found these two babies cheap in a blog sale, so destiny has spoken: I was meant to own Butter Londons after all.

I started out with Dodby Barnett, which isn’t usually a colour I’d pick. I have got several silver holos already, and this isn’t the strongest example I’ve seen. The formula is good, it applies easily and dries relatively fast. The first layer is so sheer – I actually thought that it was a holo topcoat to begin with, so I googled swatches before adding the second layer to see what other bloggers had experienced. Most said that two coats would make it opaque, so I just added the second layer, and yes, it did get opaque! If I should wear this on its own, I would probably had added a third layer, but that wasn’t my intention with this mani. So here is a pic of two coats, no top coat:

All the pictures are taken in my bathroom, and with flash. Today is a dull, grey and rainy day, and the bathroom seems to have the best conditions for taking holo pics when the sun isn’t shining :D

The holo is there, but it’s not very prominent, as you can see. I like this as a base for nail art though. So yes, I’ll probably keep this, and see if there are some of my other silvery holos that needs to find a better home :)

It’s been ages since I made a gradient! I made one today, with Dodgy Barnett and Bluey, and they’re so pretty together. I blended them together with a make up sponge, sealed the whole thing up with a layer of BK topcoat, et voilá, here’s the finished gradient:

Let me show you a clearer picture, that shows the gradient better:

I am very pleased with this gradient, and am happy that I didn’t lose the hang of it even though it’s been such a long while. I seriously need to do gradients more often, because I really like the look of them!

I decided not to add more nail art to it, and just enjoy it as it is.

All in all I like my Butter Londons. The formula and drying time is great, coverage is good and they’re easy to work with. If I must mention a con or two, then it’s the price tag and the cap. I don’t like the cap! Take a look:

They’ve got a square cap that you pull off, leaving you with a silly little ridged handle to hold on to while you polish. I would have preferred to actually just hold on to the bigger, square cap. It may just be me, and it’s only a little thing, but it all adds to the experience one way or another, so I just thought I’d mention it.

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

Zoya ~ Alegra

Zoya ~ Alegra

Fuchsia pink sparkling metallic

Alegra is from the Sparkle collection from summer 2010, and she’s sister to Charla, my favourite Zoya polish. You can see Charla here.  

The formula lives up to Zoya’s good standard; the polish was easy to apply and dried fast. I used two coats for opacity and man can this baby shine! Take a look for yourself: Two coats, no top coat:

The polish is full of little flecks that sparkles like crazy. It’s a beautiful polish!

 

I stamped on it, using Bundlemonster’s plate BM-316 and Kiko #616 from their mirror collection. After having stamped my all nail design, I sponged glitter on the tips, using Savina’s “Sparkles”, which is a multicoloured glitter. I sealed the entire thing up with a layer of my faithful Poshé topcoat, and here’s the result:

And a final shot for you:

I really like this polish (although it’s not as pretty as Charla), so I might have to see if there are other polishes in the Sparkle collection that need to come and live with me.

Are you also a fan of Zoya polishes?

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

Pretty Serious ~ Galaxy Invader

Pretty Serious ~ Galaxy Invader

Blue/purple duochromatic shimmer

This is my second “Pretty Serious” polish ever, and I just knew I had to have it from the first time I laid eyes on it! It’s blue, it’s purple and it’s shimmery – I don’t know what more to ask of a polish really, if I can’t ask for holographic!

The formula is really good, although I was a little bit worried about it being sheer. I considered layering it, but I saw other bloggers state that it’s a two coater, and sometimes the first layer doesn’t really tell the whole story. It simply wasn’t enough with two coats though - it took three to make it look really good. Fortunately the drying time was really good, so I didn’t mind the three coats that much. This, ladies, is so pretty that no pictures do it justice.

Allow me to try anyway. Here are three coats, no top coat: 

Isn’t that duochrome just delicious?!

Here’s a shot from a different angle:

This picture is showing how the polish looks most of the time; shimmery blue:

I didn’t feel like doing a lot with this, so I simply applied a layer of Revlon’s “Star”, which is silver and holographic glitter in various sizes, in a slightly dark toned base. The toned base makes Galaxy Invader show darker, which I don’t mind at all:

I find this glitter great with Galaxy Invader, because the mani now reminds me of a summer evening sky :)

This is probably not going to be my last Pretty Serious polish. I like the quality, and I love lots of the colours and finishes they come in. How about you – is this a brand you know?

Opacity: 5/10
Colour, prettiness: 8/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
Buy again: Yes

Darling Diva ~ Persephone

Darling Diva ~ Persephone

Multichrome that shifts between pink, deep red and icy blue

I’m pleased to show you another one of my Darling Divas. When I saw pictures of it I was amazed, and it is truly an amazing polish. I think it’s the most spectacular colourshifting polish I’ve got.

Anyway – let’s get to the point. Application was a breeze, and it only took two coats for it to be opaque. That surprised me somewhat, since I had expected this to be an effect polish only. But no, this works perfectly as a standalone! Drying time is fast – I didn’t have to wait very long between the two coats.

I think this polish is full of magic, seriously! Let me show you some pictures. I have to show you more than a couple, because this is a true chameleon! I’m not wearing topcoat on the following pics!

Here’s a picture taken in direct sunshine:

The shimmer in Persephone is icy blue and it’s almost blinding! Let me show you a picture taken from a different angle, also taken in the sun:

This picture is taken in my lightbox. It shows that the red around the corners of the nails, and the blue flash in the middle of my nail beds:

I made a bit of nail art on it! I made a belt of dots in various sizes across the nails with China Glaze “Modify Me” from their “Tranzitions” collection. I topped it with a layer of Depend’s topcoat, and here’s a picture taken in the sunshine:

Look how the two blue colours compliment each other!
Here’s a picture that shows Persephone’s wine red side – also in the sunshine:

This picture is taken in the light box. I really like the effect of these dots!

And one last picture taken in the sunshine, just because I like this and because I can. There is no better reason than that! :D

Here are the two bottles:

This is the most special colourshifting polish I’ve got! I love the fact that I don’t have to layer it; I love the fast drying time, and I love the crazy colourshift! That’s a lot of love! :D

Please don’t hesitate to tell me what you think of this in the comments below! :) 

Opacity: 8/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8.25/10
Buy again: Yes

I’ve bought this polish on norwaynails.com.

If you want to order something there too, you can get 10% off your purchase. Just use the code RAINBOWIFYME10 at checkout.

China Glaze ~ Fancy Pants with holo stamp

China Glaze ~ Fancy Pants

Blurple with pink shimmer

Fancy Pants is from China Glaze’s Avant Garden collection from spring 2013 and the only one I bought from that collection. I almost bought another one, Sunday Funday, it’s a lovely turquoise, but it’s a plain crème, so I gave it a miss.

The formula was the good China Glaze quality. It took two coats to reach the desired opacity, and the drying time between coats was pretty good.

I couldn’t quite decide whether this was a blue or a purple, hence the blurple in the title, but here it is, two coats, no topcoat:

I absolutely love the pink shimmer that this polish has got. In fact, I wouldn’t have bought it if it wasn’t for the shimmer! Here’s a pic taken from a different angle:

 Pretty, yes?

I wanted to stamp on it, because I’ve just got myself some XL stamping plates, and I wanted to try them out. I stamped with Color Club’s “Cloud Nine”, which is an amazing pink linear holographic. I used the stamping plate B for this purpose. The top coat is from Poshé. 

I stamped with my XL stamper, which is extremely soft and squishy and I haven’t quite gotten used to it yet. It’s so soft that it’s possible to stretch and bend the motifs. Take a look at my middle finger, and see how psychedelic that looks! O_o

The sun was not wiling to cooperate so here’s a picture taken under a light bulb:

The holographic stamping makes this mani looking really spectacular and if I hadn’t know better I would have thought that the base colour was holo too (which it isn’t, of course!)

How is this? Do you like it as much as I do? :)

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

Invogue ~ Sophisticated

Invogue ~ Sophisticated

Purple suede

Today I’ve got the last of the three Invogue suedes I bought in London. I’m glad I saw them on a British blog before I went, because I’m not sure I would have bought them if I hadn’t seen swatches first. They are so much prettier on the nails than the bottle suggests.

I used aqua base coat instead of my regular base coat. It works okay with a regular base coat, but the aqua base coat just makes it so much easier to avoid dragging and bald spots.

Sophisticated is just as opague as her sisters. One coat almost does the trick, but the second coat completes the mani. Drying time is also great; it didn’t take many minutes for it to dry.

So here you have it, sweet readers: Two coats of Sophisticated, no topcoat:

The pictures are taken in daylight, but the sun wasn’t out.

The suede effect is simply amazing, I love, love, love the shimmery velvet look of this!

I made a simple dotticure out of it. I made a triangular looking row of dots with a dark blue polish from Bourjois called “Bleu mystérieux”, and a second row of silvery blue dots with Manhattan & Buffalo’s #05. I sealed it up with a layer of Depend “Quick & Shine top coat”, and here’s the result:

That’s the only picture taken in the sunlight – the sun was only out for 5 minutes or so! :D 

Here’s a picture taken in my lightbox:

The polishes I used:

Depend isn’t my regular basecoat, but I got it as an extra in a package of polishes I bought, and I am not wasting any topcoat! :D As for the mani: I really like the dotticure, I think these three colours go really well together, and I love the base colour. You know how I love shiny stuff, right? Well, this polish actually looks much better as matte! It’s as if the shine makes it a bit “messy” to look at. I don’t know how to put it any other way.

What do you think of this? Do you like the Invogue matte suede polishes?

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

Kiko ~ 400 Grey holo

Kiko ~ 400 Grey holo

Charcoal linear holo

This grey holo has been sitting in my stash of untrieds for a while, waiting for the sun to shine – and today is the day that it moves from the untrieds and into the Helmer!

The formula is great! I had a slight problem with dragging – but I used my regular base coat, so perhaps this polish just likes an Aqua base coat instead. I was being very careful with layer number two, using the lightest touch possible, and that minimized the problem quite a big deal! Drying time was fine, and the polish dried up to a semi matte finish, which I liked a lot.

Two coats, no topcoat:

This isn’t the craziest holo I’ve ever tried, but I must say that I really like it! 

The pictures here are taken in direct sunlight (evening sun). I love that this is dark grey instead of black!

Last picture alone, just to show of some really pretty rainbows:

I went for some really simple nail art: stripes! I used a striper from NYX nail art called “Deep Red”, which is exactly what it is. I made three stripes on each nail – a long stripe, a medium length one and a short one. I liked the way it turned out. I was in a hurry with the pictures, because the sun was about to go down, so there is no topcoat on these pictures:

Isn’t this pretty cool?

I have to say again that I’m so happy that the sun finally shines so I can enjoy the holo on my nails. What about you? Have you pulled your holos out yet? :)

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

Kiko ~ 421 Pearly Pink Iguana, with sunny flowers

Kiko ~ 421 Pearly Pink Iguana

Bright fuchsia with pink shimmer

Here’s another polish bought in London. I’m quite fond of Kiko polishes, so I was happy to bring home a few from my holiday. This one is from the LE Celebration collection, of which I bought 3 out of 10. Pretty good score, if you ask me!

Application was a breeze and I was impressed with how opaque it is. I could have gotten away with one coat, but the second once made the colour richer and even more vibrant. I was like “wow” when I looked at my fingernails: This is really a colour with an attitude. I love that!

The sun was shining, so you get to see this beauty in all its glory. Two coats, no topcoat, in direct sunlight:

If that isn’t right in your face, then I don’t know what is! Here’s another shot:

Look at that shimmer, I absolutely love that! 

I stamped on it, using a single flower design from Mash’ plate Mash35 and a no name dark purple polish called “Suzi skies in the Pyrenees”. I dotted the middle of the flower with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri “Lightening”, sealed it all up with a layer of Poshé topcoat, and I was done.

The sun went down behind a building while I was stamping, so here’s a picture out of direct sunlight:

The polish isn’t quite as vibrant, but I still think it’s gorgeous! 

Here’s one last picture of my very summery mani:

I must admit that I’m a little bit sad that Kiko isn’t available in Denmark, because I think it’s a great brand at affordable prices. But – so far I’ve managed to get my hands on pretty much what I wanted, so I guess I’ll survive :D

Do you know Kiko polishes? If yes, do you own any?

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

Darling Diva ~ Oh no!! She didn’t!!!

Darling Diva ~ Oh no!! She didn’t!!!

Blue linear holo with silver glitter

It’s cool to try out new brands now and again, and I am pleased to try out a couple of Darling Divas. First one up is “Oh no!! She didn’t!!!”, which is a lovely blue holo with silver glitter. It’s pretty sheer, and I wasn’t in the mood to sit still and apply layer after layer, so I used underwear for it. I used Golden Rose Matte Velvet #104, which is a fantastic blue suede polish. It’s a one coater and it dries really fast, so I thought it would be perfect for this purpose.

Here’s what one coat looks like in the sunshine:

Isn’t that just a fabulous polish?! I love suede polishes with shimmer!

Then I applied one coat of “Oh no!! She didn’t!!!”. The formula is great, the polish spreads out evenly and drying time is pretty average. The holo isn’t the strongest in the pack, but it’s there and it’s pretty.

Here’s one coat over Golden Rose Matte Velvet #104:

One coat

I wanted more holo effect though, so I applied a second layer of ONSD, and look at this:

Two coats

That’s much better! The pictures are all taken in direct sunlight.

Then I made a thin line of dots down the side of each nail, and a little heart on my little finger. I used Joss “Flash Diamond”, which is a silver holo. And here’s the final result – there’s no topcoat over this:

The last picture is the one that shows the holographic effect the most. The holo was hard to catch on pictures even though it was there in real life, just not the strongest I’ve seen.

I like this polish though; I’ll definitely try and layer it over other colours too, just to try that out. I’m not disappointed in my first Darling Diva, even though I had wished for a holo I didn’t have to layer :)

What do you think, girls? This is a keeper, right?

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 4/10
Durability: 10/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Buy again: Yes

I’ve bought this polish on norwaynails.com.

If you want to order something there too, you can get 10% off your purchase. Just use the code RAINBOWIFYME10 at checkout.