W.I.P. by Urban Outfitters ~ Galaxy

W.I.P. by Urban Outfitters ~ Galaxy  

Dark burgundy/purple/golden shimmery multichrome

When I started this mani, I wasn’t quite sure what it would end out like. I think that was a mistake, but I’ll get back to that.

The formula is OK, and applies pretty easily. It’s one of these polishes where the first coat looks like a mess, and it makes you sure that you need at least five more coats to make it look good. But the second coat is very forgiving, and smooths out all the bald and uneven spots.

Here’s two coats, no top coat:

It’s a very shimmery polish, and the multichrome is definitely not shy:

 And here’s where I should have stopped, but no! I wanted to stamp on it, and I chose a full nail design stamp and did two nails with white stamping polish. It looked absolutely horrible, so I didn’t take a pic of that. Instead I picked a glitter, because “if everything else fails, use glitter!” I chose NYX Girl’s “Spot Light”, which is a clear base with silver glitter and larger holographic hexagons.

I applied one coat over Galaxy, and here’s what I chose to be my final mani:

I was so unhappy with this, that I removed it right after having taken this pic. I prefer wearing my manis at least a day, so I thought it was a shame, but I don’t want to go around hating my mani for an entire day, LOL!

This was my first W.I.P. polish by the way. I have two more to show you later :)

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

Miyo ~ Mars - sponged with Icing glitter

Miyo ~ Mars

Shimmery multichrome that shifts between green, purple and teal

I bought this polish in Sweden. The brand is new to me, but the display attracted my attention. I only bought this one polish though, because all of the others were crèmes, and a bit boring in my opinion. But the multichrome effect in Mars looked very promising.

The formula is good and application was easy, although the first coat looked like a streaky mess. The second coat was almost self applying, and evened out every streak and bald spot. And the colour is even more beautiful on the nails than in the bottle!

Here’s what two coats look like, without top coat:

It flashes both teal, green and purple, although the green was excessively shy when I turned on my camera. But hey – I assure you that the green is there! :D

I decided to go for a glitter gradient today. I chose a “double ended polish” from Icing called “Force of Love”. It’s a darkened base with silver glitter and larger teal hexagons. I bought it very cheap in a blog sale, and I think the previous owner has had it for a while, because it’s very thick and gloopy. But it’s nothing that a bit of thinner can’t fix, and besides, it’s perfect for this purpose: Sponging!

I sponged it halfway up on each nail, covered it all up with a layer of Seche Vite, and my mani was done:

Here’s a pic taken with flash. I really like the final result.

 

So that’s my newest polish bought in Sweden. Do you know this brand? Are you also a multichrome fan?

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

Make Up Store ~ Charmaine

Make Up Store ~ Charmaine  

Teal with a vague scattered holo

I don’t buy Make Up Store polishes very often. I think they are really good quality but they are also a bit on the pricey side. But when I laid my eyes on Charmaine I just knew I had to buy her. She’s a scattered holo that isn’tt very prominent. Make Up Store calls her a shimmer, which I don’t think she is. But she’s pretty nonetheless! And she’s opaque – a true one coater!

The formula is great. The polish glides on like butter and the brush leaves no bald spots or brush strokes. It’s a fantastic polish!

Here’s one coat – no top coat:

And from another angle:

Isn’t it just gorgeous!? Looking in the rear view mirror I should have kept it like this. But there’s something about one coloured nails that just doesn’t appeal to me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s okay on others. I just can’t leave it like that.

I was indecisive though – what to do with it? So I took Gosh Holograpic Hero, and sponged it on the tips. I don’t know why I did that. The sun wasn’t out, so I should have known that I couldn’t pull out a rainbow pic for you girls.

Here’s how it looked anyway, still no top coat:

I think it’s a bit boring. So I added glittah! :D I dapped on one coat of Kleancolor’s “Afternoon Picnic”, and then topped it all with one coat of Poshé top coat. And here’s the final result:

I’m not at all happy with this, but life’s like that sometimes. It’s not the first time I feel a Kleancolor glitter has let me down. Please tell me what you think of this, and be honest with me. :)

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

From Russia - with Love

Yesterday when I got home, I had nail mail waiting for me. It was all the way from Russia, and it was from very sweet Anastacia from Little World of Coloured Nails. I didn't know exactly what was in the package, and man, was I in for a surprise. There were so many pretties in it, that it was difficult to stay calm.

Let me show you what I'm talking about:

JA-DE: 210, 225 and 355 Celestial

 Duochrome, shimmer and glitter!

Dance Legend: 12, 14 and 52

 2 holos and a very pretty multichrome!

Divage: Cosmic 9805 and 9806 and Precious 1222

 Shimmers! And a duochrome!

Pupa: 136 and 051, Eva 061 and Divage Chic 1714

Pupa polishes - I have been wanting to try Pupa polishes forever. And that Eva looks really interesting!

Severina 3D: 310 and Chameleon:  615. Chatte Noire 709

A holo, a duochrome and a multichrome. That Chatte Noire is probably the most spectacular multichrome I have! 

Golden Rose Paris: 131 and Golden Rose Care and Strong: 165
Avon Viva Pink, Max Factor Nailfinity Lilac Haze

 Golden Rose is a really great brand that I like a lot. And the two others were the two polishes that started this swap to begin with :)

And I also got deliciously smelling hand cream, a home made lip gloss (or two, in a box) :) and oil for my lashes.

Am I being pampered here, or what? 

Thank you so much for this swap, Anastacia, I appreciate it all! ♥

OPI ~ Absolutely Alice with Essence dots

OPI ~ Absolutely Alice  

Medium blue glitter with sparse gold glitters

"Absolutely Alice" is from the Alice in Wonderland collection from spring 2010. I’ve been lemming this for quite a while now, but it’s getting harder and harder to find at a reasonable price. I found this in a blog sale, and I paid $25 for it. That’s way more than I would usually spend on a polish – but since OPI costs $22 here, I didn’t think it was hugely expensive. I was very impatient with my postman until the day where he finally brought me Alice :D

It took two easy coats to reach desired opaqueness. Drying time was pretty fast, and that pleased me a lot. I hate sitting around just waiting for paint to dry…

Two coats, no top coat yet:

And from a different angle:

I decided to go for dotting for my nail art. I used two Essence polishes: A white crème from their “50’s Girls reloaded” collection, and a pink crème from their “Ready for Boarding” collection.

I tried to keep the dots on half the nails, like as if I had masked it with tape diagonally across. And I dotted in various sizes with the two colours.

Here’s it’s sealed up with a layer of Poshé top coat:

On this pic you can see how I tried to keep half of Alice by herself:

And here’s another shot with the other bottle, just because I like this mani so much:

 

The involved polishes:

So – what do you think, girls? Would you pay $25 for one polish? If not – what’s your limit?

Opacity: 9/10
Colour, prettiness: 10/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8.75/10
Buy again: Yes

Magnetic ~ Spect Stone

Magnetic ~ Spect Stone  

Dark burgundy with scattered holo

I started with two coats of B.O. “Original Nail Envy”. It’s a Chinese polish, it’s pink with silver shimmer and it smells horrible! :D The formula is great though, it applies easily. However, it does dry relatively slowly.

Now let’s move on to the polish this polish is really about: Magnetic “Spect Stone”. Don’t let the name fool you – it’s not a magnetic polish at all. It’s a scattered holo and it’s beautiful.

I taped my nails diagonally across and painted the bottom half of them with Spect Stone. It only took one coat to make it opaque! Then I dotted over the “line” where the two polishes met.

After that I sealed it all up with a coat of Seche Vite, and here’s the final result:

This isn’t as pretty as I hoped for. I must be getting colour blind or something, because the two colours weren’t as good together as they were in my head. I didn’t really love this mani – but that was definitely not the Magnetic’s fault. I’ll give it another go a day where the sun shines, that’s for sure.

 

 

What do you think? Is this a go or a no go? Am I really colour blind, or do these colours go together ok?

Golden Lady ~ 400 and H&M ~ Look at Me

Golden Lady ~ 400  

Rose shimmery foil

This Golden Lady is rose pink but packed with silvery foil. Sweet Aylin sent me this gem in a swap. The formula is great; the polish applies very easily. Pigmentation is fantastic for such a light polish: It was opaque in one coat.

One coat – no top coat yet:

Isn’t the shimmer just fantastic? I’ll try to use this as a stamping polish as well – I’m almost positive that it’ll work!

Then I choose a polish from H&M called “Look at Me”. It’s red with a metallic finish. I thought it would fit the Golden Lady perfectly. I applied dabs of red with an eyeshadow applicator. I just dabbed 2-3 times on each nail, and here’s that step:

That looks pretty funny, don’t you think? 

Then I took my stamping plate DRK-B, and stamped with a no name white stamping polish. I’m amazed over how big these designs are! I’m so glad I finally ordered this fantastic plate, ‘cause I’m sure I’m going to use it a lot!

When I’ve stamped I ended up by applying a coat of Poshé top coat.

Here’s how it ended up looking:

I like the effect of the two colours underneath the stamp. I considered a “real” gradient, but I wasn’t really in the mood for it anyway.

Dear ladies – what’s the verdict, please? :)

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 7/10
Durability: 6/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Buy again: Yes

American Apparel ~ Neon Violet - with holo hearts

American Apparel ~ Neon Violet  

Neon violet :D

The neon polish has been sitting in my stash for so long that I’ve forgotten where I got it from. I only have this one bottle, so my guess is that I bought it in a blog sale. It’s amazing what beautiful polishes people get rid of.

The formula of this polish was great. The brush is a little thin for my likings though, and because the polish dries up so fast, you have to be prepared to work fast. I did alright though (in all modesty). The polish dries up semi-matte. Here’s what two coats look like, without top coat:

It’s pretty, eh?

 

I gazed at it for quite a long time before I decided what to do with it. I went for something really simple, just to try it out. I used Flormar’s 392, which is a holographic glitter, and drew little hearts on each nail with my dotting tool. When that was dry I applied a coat of Seche Vite top coat, and the mani was done:

I freehanded the hearts, and I’m pleased with the result. I was afraid I was going to mess them all up, but I managed to only mess up one, which I saved by drawing a much bigger heart where the “mess” was :D

I love this. Simple but still noticeable. What do you think? Too simple?

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

Quo by Orly ~ Celestial Star

Quo by Orly ~ Celestial Star  

Dark blue/purple shimmery duochrome

Quo by Orly polishes are only available in Canada, and that’s a shame because they’re really beautiful. I received mine in a swap, and I love the ones I’ve got. Celestial Star is the first one I’ve tried on. It’s a deep blue/purple duochrome with tons of shimmer in it. I was excited to find out if the beauty would transfer onto the nails.

First coat was streaky and weird, and drying time was rather slow. I applied a second coat, and that helped. Drying time was on the very slow and very boring side, but I managed to sit through it without denting the mani. The beauty definitely transfers onto the nail. The main colour is blue, and the purple flashes nicely as I twist and turn my fingers.

Here it is in all its glory; two coats, no top coat:

And from another angle:

I wanted to add some stars to the Celestial Star. Cheeky stamping plate CH4 has an all nail design with stars, and I used Konad’s white stamping polish for the design. And here’s the final result:

And from another angle – isn’t it just a fabulous polish? I love it!

Here’s a close up of the bottle. It depends on the light whether the polish flashes more blue or purple. But I love both colours, so I’m good with either of the two.

I’m in love with this colour, and I can’t wait to try my other Quo by Orly polishes on. Is it a brand you’re familiar with?

Opacity: 7/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 6/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7.25/10
Buy again: Yes

Pure Ice ~ Iced Merlot - with Color Club dots

Pure Ice ~ Iced Merlot  

Burgundy with silver shimmer

This is my second Pure Ice polish. I wasn’t impressed with the first one, so my hopes weren’t up very high for this one, frankly. But I wanted to give it a try, because it looks really beautiful in the bottle!

The formula on Iced Merlot is a dream. The polish glides right on, leaving no bald spots or brush strokes. The pigmentation is really great, and it’s a one coater. I applied two coats anyway, to add to the depth of the colour.

Two coats, no top coat:

Look at the depth of the shine. I think it looks really great, and I’m both surprised and impressed.

Now for a bit of nail art. I taped my nails vertically and painted the non taped half of the nail with Color Club’s “Foil me once”, from their Foiled collection from Autumn 2011. This collection is just awesome for nail art. It comes in six colours, and they’re all so pigmented that they cover in one coat.

I also dotted “Foil med once” on the Burgundy part of the nail, to make a see through effect. I covered it all with a layer of Seche Vite top coat, and my mani was done:

Here’s another shot of it:

I quite like this, but I wish I had done it the other way around, so it was the Iced Merlot that was the most visible colour. What do you think – should I have reversed the colours?

Pure Ice ~ Iced Merlot

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 7/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Buy again: Yes