Pure Ice: French Twist

Pure Ice: French Twist
Blackened base with blue glitter and hexes

I don't buy many black or blackened polishes. I really like the look of black polish on others, but not so much on my own nails. The blue glitter in "French Twist" was too pretty to give a miss though.

I used three coats for my nails today. I could have layered it over black but I wanted as much glitter on my nails as possible. The drying time was good.

I applied a star onto each nail and then topped the whole thing with a glitter polish from Depend: #335.

Here's what it all looks like in the sun: 

Pure Ice: French Twist

And here's the same thing under a lamp. 

Pure Ice: French Twist

This is "French Twist" on its own; three coats and a layer of topcoat. 

Pure Ice: French Twist

Here are the things I used today. 

I really like the look of "French Twist" but it is too black for me. The blue glitter is stunningly beautiful though.

Number of coats: 3
Drying time: Good
Finish: Blackened jelly with glitter and hexes
Overall impression: I love the glitter and hexes. The blackened base isn't quite me
Buy again: No

Fashionista: Jet Set

Fashionista: Jet Set
Denim blue with metallic shimmer

This is the last of four Fashionista polishes I bought on a holiday in London years ago. It's a lovely denim blue polish with metallic shimmer.

The formula is on the thick side, but it's smooth - and it is super easy to apply. I used two coats on my nails today, but I do think that one could have been enough. The drying time is good.

I topped it with a layer of "Djinn In A Bottle" from Enchanted Polish. "Djinn In A Bottle" is a holo topper, and it's a good one. It doesn't create the strongest holographic flames, but it doesn't grey the colour underneath it either. It's a great holo topper!

I stamped on top of that. The design is from the stamping plate "Born Pretty-Decoration-L003". I stamped with a plain white stamping polish from El Corazón.

Here's the end result, including a layer of topcoat. The photo is taken in the morning sun.
 

Fashionista: Jet Set

I think this is super pretty.

 

Fashionista: Jet Set

Here's two coats of "Jet Set", topped with one layer of the holo topper from Enchanted Polish "Djinn In A Bottle".

Fashionista: Jet Set wit Enchanted: Djinn In A Bottle

This is Fashionista's "Jet Set" alone; two coats and no topcoat yet.  

Fashionista: Jet Set

Here are the things I used today.

 I love both "Jet Set" and "Djinn In A Bottle", they're great polishes.

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good
Finish: Metallic shimmer
Overall impression: Very beautiful colour, awesome effect, thick but great formula
Buy again: Yes

Essence: Cosnova

Essence: Cosnova
Red toned purple crème

"Cosnova" is from Essence's Trend edition collection for July/August of 2013. And yes, I've had it for that long!

The formula is good and it covers in two coats. The drying time is good.

I applied a layer of baby pink glitter/hexagons/bar glitters from Miss Sporty.

Then I stamped on it. The design is from the stamping plate "Born Pretty-Decoration-L003". I stamped with El Corazón's "Orchid".

This is the final result, including a layer of topcoat. 

Essence: Cosnova

I like this a lot. 

Essence: Cosnova

Here's "Cosnova" on its own; two coats and no topcoat. 

Essence: Cosnova

Here are the things I used to beautify my nails today. 

"Cosnova" is really pretty, and I like it even more with the glitter on top.

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good
Finish: Crème
Overall impression: Nice colour, great for all sorts of nail art
Buy again: Yes

Cupcake Polish: Santa Clause

Cupcake Polish: Santa Clause
Multichrome that shifts from red to gold to green

"Santa Clause" is from Polish Pickup from December 2019.

The formula is really good and the polish works on its own without any coloured underwear. I used two easy coats for full opacity. The drying time is really good.

The stamp is from the stamping polish "BP-42". I stamped with a golden stamping polish from Born Pretty Store.

Here's the end result including a layer of topcoat. The photo is taken under a lamp to how off a bit of the colourshift. 

Cupcake Polish: Santa Clause

This is the same thing in the sun. 

Cupcake Polish: Santa Clause

Here's "Santa Clause" alone; two coats and no topcoat. The photo is taken under a lamp. 

Cupcake Polish: Santa Clause

Here it is in the sun. 

Cupcake Polish: Santa Clause

Here's an unintentionally blurred photo of the things I used today. 

"Santa Clause" is such a colourshifter, I like it a lot.

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Really good
Finish: Multichrome with shimmer
Overall impression: Great formula and coverage, nice drying time, such a pretty colour
Buy again: Yes

Fashionista: Jezebel

Fashionista: Jezebel
Full coverage green microglitter

This polish is bought in the UK a whole bunch of years ago. It's a lovely green metallic microglitter. The polish is a full coverage glitter, so it covers in two coats. The drying time is good.

I made white and yellow stripes from the base of my nails and approximately halfway down on each nail. I topped it all with topcoat and this is the end result: 

Fashionista: Jezebel

I love this mix. 

Fashionista: Jezebel

I think this glitter is adorable. 

Fashionista: Jezebel

Here are the things I used today. 

"Jezelbel" is a really cool, full coverage microglitter. I love the fact that it works on its own in two coats without problems.

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good
Finish: Microglitter
Overall impression: Great formula and coverage, beautiful colour and effect
Buy again: Yes

Cupcake Polish: Blue Tourmaline

Cupcake Polish: Blue Tourmaline
Rich turquoise/teal full coverage holo micro glitter polish

Let me start by telling you that no photos do this beautiful polish any justice. "Blue Tourmaline" is stunning! The formula is good and easy to work with. It takes two easy coats to achieve full opacity and the drying time is good.

I applied a small nail sticker on each nail and topped the whole thing with topcoat.

Here's "Blue Tourmaline" in the sun: 

Cupcake Polish: Blue Tourmaline

Here's a slightly blurry picture to show off the amazing glitterness. 

Cupcake Polish: Blue Tourmaline

 

And this is "Blue Tourmaline" alone; two coats and no topcoat yet. 

Cupcake Polish: Blue Tourmaline

"Blue Tourmaline" is absolutely beautiful, I love it.

 

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good
Finish: Jelly packed with glitter
Overall impression: I absolutely love this polish, the colour and the effect is just beautiful
Buy again: Yes

Cupcake Polish: Rock My World

Cupcake Polish: Rock My World
Pink jelly packed with orange to gold to green shifting iridescent flakes and a complementing orange to gold to green shifting iridescent shimmer

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I wish you all the best for a great 2021. Hopefully we'll get rid of Corona shortly, so we can get some sort of normality back into our lives.
 

"Rock My World" is from The Polish Pickup from May 2020. I got it in a grab bag last time Cupcake Polish had a sale.

The formula is good and easy to work with. It's sheer though. You can build it up to full opacity in three coats, but I wasn't quite in the mood for that. I decided to test out my thesis on my little finger nail and applied three coats for full opacity on that. I layered "Rock My World" over a deep pink on the remaining nails - we'll get back to that in a moment.

I applied a stripe of pretty tape down the middle of each nail and made purple stripes to outline the tape.

Here's the final result:

Cupcake Polish: Rock My World

I must admit that the tape doesn't allow the polish to shine much. 

Cupcake Polish: Rock My World

So here it is in all its glory. One coat over a deep pink shimmer on my pointer, middle and ring finger, and three coats alone on my pinkie. I really like "Rock My World" layered, the flakies really pop that way. 

Cupcake Polish: Rock My World

Here are the things I used today, minus the purple which I forgot to add to the picture. The purple is Herome's WIC "Canberra".

 

Number of coats: 1 coat over a coloured base or 3 coats alone
Drying time: Good
Finish: Flakies
Overall impression: Nice flakie, very pretty colours. I prefer it over a base because it makes the flakies pop more. 
Buy again: Yes

Anchor & Heart: Salt Water Treasure

Anchor & Heart: Salt Water Treasure
A sea foam green crelly with blue/green/purple shifting shimmer, and delicate pink, green, and purple flakies.

The theme for the "For The Love Of Polish"-box for July 2020 was Sea Glass. 

The formula of "Salt Water Treasure" is sheer and I needed three coats for full opacity. The drying time is good.

The floral nail decorations I'm wearing are water decals.

Here's the final manicure.

Anchor & Heart: Salt Water Treasure

I really like this.

 

Anchor & Heart: Salt Water Treasure

Here's "Salt Water Treasure" on its own; three coats and no topcoat yet.

 

Anchor & Heart: Salt Water Treasure

Here are the two things I used today: 

 

Here are links to the two other polishes in the July 2020 box:

Pahlish “Adrift”: A bright cornflower blue with a mix of green and violet/blue aurora flakes.

Polished For Days "Sea Gems": A pink base with a rainbow of seagrass inspired iridescent shifting flakes and holographic flakes.

 

This is the polish that looks the best in the bottle of the trio. It felt a little "meh" on my nails though.

Number of coats: 3
Drying time: Good
Finish: Crelly with shimmer and flakies
Overall impression: The colour is nice. The effect is a bit meh to me.
Buy again: No

Pahlish: Adrift

Pahlish: Adrift
A bright cornflower blue with a mix of green and violet/blue aurora flakes

The theme for the "For The Love Of Polish"-box for July 2020 was Sea Glass.

The formula is a crelly packed with flakies. Not the easiest to work with, but manageable. You have to be careful with application in order not to get bald patches. I used three coats for my manicure and the drying time was good.

I made red and white stripes on it because I was short of other ideas :D

Here's the final result in daylight.

 

Pahlish: Adrift

 

The colour combo is nice.

 

Pahlish: Adrift

Here's "Adrift" on its own; three coats and no topcoat yet.

 

Pahlish: Adrift

 And here are the polishes I used today.

Here are links to the two other polishes in the July 2020 box:

Polished For Days "Sea Gems": A pink base with a rainbow of seagrass inspired iridescent shifting flakes and holographic flakes.

Anchor & Heart "Salt Water Treasure" :A sea foam green crelly with blue/green/purple shifting shimmer, and delicate pink, green, and purple flakies.

 

I must admit that I'm beginning to have enough of flakies for now. I mean: I really like them and I think they are really pretty. But I'm not a huge fan of crelly-polishes because they're usually at least three coaters, and I honestly prefer my polishes to cover in two coats. I do understand that flakies like this need to be crellies in order for the flakies not to drown but it's still not really my thing.

Number of coats: 3
Drying time: Good
Finish: Crelly with flakies
Overall impression: Very pretty colour, tricky formula
Buy again: No

Polished For Days: Sea Gems

Polished For Days: Sea Gems
A pink base with a rainbow of seagrass inspired iridescent shifting flakes and holographic flakes.

The theme for the "For The Love Of Polish"-box for July 2020 was Sea Glass.

The formula is quite thin and I used three coats for my nails today. The drying time was really good.

The floral stamp is from the Moyou London's stamping plate "Mother Nature Collection-16". I stamped with a no name dark purple stamping polish from Born Pretty Store.

Here's the final design. 

Polished For Days: Sea Gems

I think this floral stamp is super pretty. 

Polished For Days: Sea Gems

Here's "Sea Gems" alone; three coats and no topcoat. This polish is as close to my skin colour as they get. I couldn't wear this on its own. 

Polished For Days: Sea Gems

Here are the three things I used for my manicure today. 

Here are links to the two other polishes in the July 2020 box:

Anchor & Heart “Salt Water Treasure”: A sea foam green crelly with blue/green/purple shifting shimmer, and delicate pink, green, and purple flakies.

Pahlish “Adrift”: A bright cornflower blue with a mix of green and violet/blue aurora flakes.


"Sea Gems" is pretty but it's not my colour. I like the mix of flakies in it though.

Number of coats: 3
Drying time: Really good
Finish: Crelly with flakies
Overall impression: Very "work friendly" polish, the mix of flakies is pretty
Buy again: No