Crowstoes ~ Dragon in Drag

Crowstoes ~ Dragon in Drag

Clear base with multisized glitters in green, teal and purple

Today is the 13^th of December – Christmas is close now! Are you looking forward to it? I know I am!

Today I will show you Crowstoes Dragon in Drag, which is from the Better Late than Never-collection from Autumn 2013, and it’s a clear base with different colours of green glitter, and an accent of purple.

I spent quite a lot of time trying to decide what to layer this pretty glitter over. If I layered it over purple, the purple glitters would drown. If I layered it over green, it would be the green glitters that didn’t “show themselves” properly. I didn’t want to layer it over black – that’s not my style – I like my glitters better over a real colour. All of a sudden it struck me: A dark green glittery beauty from China Glaze’s holiday collection Let It Snow from 2011: Glittering Garland. I’ll show you later why this beauty was the perfect underwear for my Dragon in Drag!

The glitter was pretty easy to work with. I dabbed is around a little bit, but it wasn’t a big deal to spread it out. Drying time is pretty average.

Let me show you what I’m talking about. Here’s one coat of glitter layered over Glittering Garland. There’s also a layer of topcoat over it:

If that isn’t beautiful then I don’t know what is.

You know how I wear my glitters: One dip in the bottle per nail – that’s how I like it. So you can see that this pretty dragon is packed with glitter!

Purple and green go really well together, I think. To begin with I wasn’t crazy about chunky glitters, but that opinion has definitely changed. I love this!

One last shot of my pretty dragon:

Glittering Garland turned out to be pretty much the perfect underwear. It’s a tiny green glitter in a deep blackened green jelly base. Application was really easy, drying time was good, and it took two coats to make it look just great. Take a look – two coats, no topcoat:

I’m really happy to enrol Dragon in Drag in my collection. I have a soft spot for dragons and for glitters obvious. I love both teal and purple – so this is an absolute winner in my book!

What say you, girls?

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

Nubar ~ Lemon

Nubar ~ Lemon

Bright Yellow crème

It’s been a while since I wore any of my Nubar polishes. It’s not because I don’t like them - because I do! It's merely because it’s been a while since I bought any of them. I received this yellow Nubar in a grab bag from Norway Nails quite a while ago. I wouldn’t have picked a yellow myself, but hey ho, it’s nice to have at least some yellows in my stash.

Application was a big challenge. It wasn’t a surprise, since many yellows act like that. First layer was streaky and patchy and ugly. Second coat helped a little bit, but I was only happy after the third. A fourth would have made it look even better, but I wasn’t in the mood for that ;) 
Drying time between layers was good, no problems in that department. And hey – this yellow is actually pretty nice!

Take a look – here’s three coats and a layer of topcoat:

There’s a slight visible nail line, but I had stamping in mind, so I knew that would be covered up.

I had decided to stamp a bee-motif on it. You know, that pattern that looks like the inside of a bee-hive. I know I have that stamp, but I went through my plates three times and wasn’t able to locate it. Grr! So I went for a chequered design instead that reminds me of that flag they’re using in motorsports. I used stamping plate Apipila Mix and stamped with a no name black stamping polish, and here’s what it looked like before the topcoat:

The pattern was quite deep, so I’m puzzled why some of the design didn’t transfer onto the nails. But oh well.

Black and yellow together is cool, I like that.

Can anybody help with locating which plate the beehive-design is on, please?

Opacity: 5/10
Colour, prettiness: 6/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 7/10
Buy again: Maybe

You can buy Nubar from norwaynails.com just like I did, and they're on special today! You get 25% off if you buy them from Norway Nails - but only until the next offer is up, so I wouldn't wait too long if I was you!! 

You can find more info on NorwayNail’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.

Joss ~ Exotic

Joss ~ Exotic

Turquoise shimmer

It’s the 12^th of December, and since we’re halfway to Christmas now, I want to show you a Joss Nail Lacquer I bought a very long time ago. I feel sad for this pretty polish to have sat in my box of untrieds for so long, but never mind. Norway Nails has Joss polishes on special today, so I thought it would be perfect to show the polish today! :)

This is the only Joss polish I have that isn’t a holo. It’s one of these polishes that look extremely thin when you apply the first layer – and then it steps up and looks perfect after layer number two. It’s funny how that happens! Drying time is somewhat on the slow side, but that’s nothing that a fast drying topcoat can’t fix, haha!

Here’s what two coats and no topcoat looks like:

Isn’t that just a gorgeous colour?

I must say that this kind of blue sneaks up fast on my list of favourite nail polish colours!

See how it shimmers and shines!

I went for something really simple today, so the nail art wouldn’t over and out shine this prettiness. I found some Hello Kitty stickers that I got from a sweet friend of mine a while ago now. I placed a sticker on each of the nails, by the base of the nails. I didn’t topcoat it, and here’s how my mani ended up looking:

Damn, those stickers were really tricky to place. You want to make sure that they are *exactly* where you want them before you press them down on the nails. Several of them ended in my lap or on the floor before we were done, grrr! :D

You can buy Joss Nail Lacquers from norwaynails.com. This one is sold out but they have some really cool holos, and also holo glitter toppers, both in gold and silver! And they are on special today – you get them 25% off if you buy them from Norway Nails today. You might not want to wait for too long – the offer is only valid until the next offer is up.

You can find more info on NorwayNail’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.

Femme Fatale ~ Edge of the Cosmos

Femme Fatale ~ Edge of the Cosmos

blackened purple base with fine holographic particles, and a variety of holo shapes and sizes

Here’s another polish I received in a scratch 'n dent box! It’s actually a polish that’s been on my wish list for a while, so I felt very, very lucky when I opened the envelope it was sent in and saw it.

I love stars on my nails. I like stickers, stamps and polishes with added stars to them. Edge of the Cosmos has got stars, and then much more than that: Moons, glitters in various sizes and holo particles. Imagine the cosmos as a big dark purple place – and right *there* is Edge of the Cosmos!

It’s a jelly, but I decided not to layer it. I wanted to see what it acted like on its own first. It’s relatively easy to apply, for a jelly. I didn’t fish for the hexagons, the stars or for any others of the glitters. I don’t do that, as you know. What you see on my nails is the result of what came up with the brush on its own.

I used three coats for the pictures. Two coats covered, but I know jellies – if you’re not sure whether two coats are enough, well, then they aren’t. So three coats is what I wear here, and a layer of Poshé topcoat. Drying time between coats is on the slow side...so I recommend putting on a good movie while you wait for it to dry.

Is is worth the wait then? Let me show you so you can judge for yourself first. three coats and one layer of Poshé topcoat:

I got two stars on my pinkie and one on my ring finger! The moons didn’t come out and play at all, this time.

Let me show you what it looks like if I turn the flash on:

That makes the holo particles pop. Now it’s easy to see that the polish fits its name!

Here’s a bottle shot that shows the stars, moons, hexes and even large circle glitter!

Do you think this polish was worth the extra effort? I think it was! I don’t think I’ll be wearing it like this again though – next time I’ll try and layer it over either a dark purple, or perhaps even over a midnight blue, to see what that looks like.

I never expected to find polishes like this in a scratch 'n dent box. The boxes that Norway Nails are selling consists of minimum 5 polishes and/or treatments. The polishes are in scratch 'n dent boxes because of a bad stick-on label, a leakage from another package, an opened bottle, a bad brush or something like that; something that means they won’t be suitable to be sold in the shop.

My Edge of the Cosmos missed its label on the bottom. I can easily live with that! I haven’t got a label on my bottom either – and I’m perfect!

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

You can buy Femme polishes from norwaynails.com just like I did, and they're on special today! You get 35% off if you buy them from Norway Nails - but only until the next offer is up, so I wouldn't wait too long if I was you!! 

You can find more info on NorwayNail’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.

Chaos & Crocodiles ~ Bwahaha

Chaos & Crocodiles ~ Bwahaha

Clear base with 3 sizes circle glitters, stars and hexagons; purple neon, holo, metallic and matte glitters

It’s the tenth of December – only two weeks till Christmas now! I’m starting to get really excited now, it’s fantastic!

I’m going to show you a polish you’ve seen here before recently, namely Bwahaha from Chaos & Crocodiles that I got from Norway Nails. I’m showing it again because it’s on special today – more about that at the end of the post! Last time I showed it over a deep blue, but this time I decided to go purple.

I started out with one coat of Golden Rose Matte Velvet #107. It’s a deep purple velvet with shimmer. It’s gorgeous – there’s a picture of that alone at the end of the post. I made a glitter gradient on four of the nails, and painted the entire nail of my ring finger with the beautiful glitter. I sealed the entire thing up with a layer of H K Girl topcoat, et voilá: Here’s my final mani:

I must admit that I think that Bwahaha is even prettier over purple!

The bottle is crammed with glitter, it’s amazing they managed to get so much in there. I’m amazed, in the most positive way possible!

It’s definitely not the last time I layer this over purple! But I think I’ll try other colour combos too!

A close up of my thumb. I didn’t fish for any glitter at all – what you see is what came up with the brush.

I promised you a picture of the Golden Rose I used as my base colour. It’s an amazing polish, that has a great formula and pigmentation. I love it! This, dear girls, is one coat:

I’m *so* pleased with this. Do you like it too?

You can buy Chaos & Crocodiles polishes from norwaynails.com, and they're on special today! You get 30% off if you buy them from Norway Nails - but only until the next offer is up, so don't wait too long!!

You can find more info on NorwayNail’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. 

A England ~ St. George

A England ~ St. George

Dark teal scattered holo

I might as well tell you right away: I fell in love with St. George the moment I laid eyes on him. Dark, handsome, mysterious – I knew that we were meant to be.

I was so happy when he finally became mine! It’s so long ago now – all the way back to before Royal Mail in the UK started to steal destroy nail mail. I have to confess that I have kept him very safe since then. He’s been sitting safely in my box of untrieds ever since. But today is the big day!

Application was a breeze, no less! And it’s a one coater too! (I applied two anyway – out of habit, I guess, haha!) Drying time is good. In fact, I can’t really find anything negative to say about this polish. It’s teal, it’s holographic, it’s delicious. Oh joy!

Allow me to demonstrate what I’m talking about. Here’s a picture of what two coats, and no topcoat looks like – the picture is taken in indirect light:

Isn’t that just delicious? Let me turn on a lamp for you:

Then the scattered holo effect shows up, yay! And here’s a couple of pictures taken with flash:

I know, right? Isn’t that just something? Is it so weird I fell in love?

Here’s what A England writes about St. George:

Bearer of a valiant & courageous heart, this fathomless teal reveals the strength of the brave knight's convictions with his gleaming, fiery core.

I want my St. George to be a bad boy! So I found a stamping plate from Moyou London called Biker Collection-05:

...and chose three different designs from that. I stamped with Kiko 616 Emerald from the Mirror Collection. And here’s a picture taken in my lightbox:

And here’s a picture taken with flash:

Last picture is of my thumb – I just love that design. I’m sad that it’s so big that I can only use it on my thumb, but I guess it’s better than nothing.

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

A England’s polishes are really good quality polishes, and they come in a great range of colours. And it’s your lucky day if you’re interested in buying some of them! They are on special in Edgy Polish’s webshop! You get 20% off A England polishes, but only for the next 12 hours!

You can find more info on Edgy Polish’s Facebook page here.

Maybelline Color Show Vintage Leather ~ 207 Turquoise Temptation & 210 Red Grained

Maybelline Color Show Vintage Leather ~ 207 Turquoise Temptation & 210 Red Grained

Dark teal crème with flakies and bright orangy red with flakies, both matte

I was surprised to see something else in the Maybelline stand here recently. Usually we only get the boring stuff, and I have to rely on swaps to get the more interesting polishes. These two were from a collection called “Vintage Leather” and they had little flakies floating around in them, and that was enough to make me curious. So I bought these two, and also decided to wear them together, even though red and dark teal might not be the most obvious combination.

They’re both pretty opaque, and almost cover in one coat. I did need two coats to be fully satisfied though. The teal is of a thicker consistency than the red, but they both dry fast. I have no complaints over the formula.

The flakies were a little bit shy though. Here’s what two coats of each colour and no topcoat look like:

The polishes dry up matte and velvety, and if you want to see the flakies, then check out the bottle on this picture:

I did some really quick nail art on it. I made circles of dots with the teal on the read. And then I applied a layer of topcoat to see what it looks like shiny:

The flakies do get a bit more visible with the topcoat, and I really like this shiny morsel.

The polishes aren’t as spectacular as I had hoped and wished for though. I do consider offering them to a better home in near future ;)

What do you think girls? Is this go or no go?

Opacity: 8/10
Colour, prettiness: 6/10
Durability: 7/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
Buy again: No

Darling Diva ~ Anna

Darling Diva ~ Anna

light blue jelly packed with blue and holo glitter

This glitter has been sitting in my stash for a looong time, and that’s a shame, because it has really tried to get my attention. Today is the day. Anna shall not be waiting any more. Let's celebrate that it's the 8th of December, shall we? Norway Nails does that by selling Darling Divas on special. Read more about that at the end of the post!

I reckon the glitter can build up to full opacity but it will take at least 3 coats, maybe even 4. I wasn’t in the mood for that experiment, so I started out with a layer of deep blue shimmer. I used Essence “Hard to Resist”, which is a one coater that dries fast. Win! There’s a picture of that in the end of the post – because for now I want to show you Anna.

The formula is great and the polish is easy to apply. The glitter spreads out effortlessly and the drying time is good. I had a naïve hope that this would be a two coater, but I think I’ll be able to live with layering it ;)

Anyway – enough talk! Here’s what it looked like after the first layer of glitter:

It wasn’t bling-y enough for me though, so I applied another layer, and that helped. Here’s two layers of Essence “Hard to Resist”. There’s no topcoat involved; the glitter dries completely flat:

Here’s a pic that shows some of that holo goodness.

It’s cool, isn’t it?

I still hadn’t had enough though. I went for stamping today! I used a design from Red Angel called RA-103, and I stamped with Color Club’s “Angel Wings”, which is a baby blue linear holo. And here, sweet girls, is the final result:

All the pictures are taken with flash. But it’s full of bling even in low light!

As promised! Here’s one coat of Essence “Hard to Resist”; a beautiful dark blue packed with shimmer.

It’s funny that it’s only when I write this that I recognize that I’ve used two times Angel in my mani: Red Angel stamping plate and Angel Wings holo. Perhaps Anna is an angel too, who knows :)

I am sure that it doesn’t come as a surprise that I really like this polish. Glitter, and hologlitter, and holostamp on top. Yes please!

Opacity: 5/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Buy again: Yes 

You can buy Darling Diva polishes from norwaynails.com, and they're on special today! You get 50% off if you buy them from Norway Nails - but only until the next offer is up, so hurry!! That's right: Half price, ladies!!

You can find more info on NorwayNail’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.

Linda Johansen ~ Tango

Found in a scratch 'n dent box from Norway Nails

Deep burgundy with various colours of shimmer

I’ve got a soft spot for grab bags! It’s like I can’t resist them. It is partly the curiosity of what’s inside them, but also the excitement when you open them – and the hope to get something really nice. I was always a sucker for a lucky dip! :)

I’ve been winking at Tango almost every time I’ve visited Norway Nails’ website, so I felt like I was seriously lucky to actually get it in a grab bag! Yes, they do occasionally sell scratch 'n dent boxes there! I’ll tell you more about that at the end of the post!

Onwards to the polish! The formula was really good, and the pigmentation was also good. Drying time, check, no problems in that department either. Two coats is what it takes to make this baby shine – although I have helped it a little bit with a layer of topcoat. Take a look at how pretty it is:

I can see at least blue, pink and golden shimmer in this baby. Not quite as much on my nails as in the bottle; perhaps I didn’t shake the bottle well enough before use.

The vampiness of this polish is right up my alley – and I obviously really like the shimmer. I definitely wouldn’t have liked the polish as much without the shimmer.

I stamped on it. I used two different stamping plates: Bundlemonster’s BM-311 for the ring finger and the thumb, and a no number or name stamping plate from Essence for the rest of the nails. I stamped with Kiko #618 Orchid Pink from the mirror collection. The entire collection is no less than fantastic for stamping!

I applied a layer of topcoat before taking these pictures:

I double stamped on the middle fingers, as you can see. I think that looks really cool.

I like these more “open designs” that doesn’t cover up too much of the original polish.

Like I said: I felt it was a real treat when I found this polish in a scratch 'n dent box. The boxes that Norway Nails are selling consist of minimum 5 polishes and/or treatments. The polishes are in scratch 'n dent boxes because of a bad label, a leakage from another package, an opened bottle, a bad brush or something like it; something that means they’re good, but they won’t be suitable to be sold in the shop.

My Tango had a ragged lid, and I obviously wouldn’t have paid full price for it. But in a grab bag it was just a gem.

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

Are you a sucker for scratch 'n dent boxes just like I am? If you are you should definitely go to Norway Nails' webshop and buy yourself one today. They're on special!! They're usually 299 NOK, and today they're only 199 NOK! I've already ordered another one! ;)The offer is valid until tomorrow's offer is up.

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.