No7 ~ Vivid Violet & China Glaze ~ Bad Kitty

No7 ~ Vivid Violet

Purple red-toned shimmer

&

China Glaze ~ Bad Kitty

Iridescent glitter in a pale pink jelly base

I bought No7 on my vacation in London. I haven’t tried the brand before, but the purple looked really cool, so I wanted to give it a try.

The formula is really good. It applies easily and it took two coats to reach desired opacity. Drying time is pretty average, which is ok.

Here’s what two coats look like. There’s no top coat involved just yet: 

Isn’t that shine just looking great?

I think this is a fine purple!

Now for the glitter. “Bad Kitty” is a birthday gift from one of the girls I’m in a birthday group with, namely Maria. I was very pleased to unwrap it, because it’s been on my wish list for a while now :)

Anyway, one coat of Bad Kitty and here’s what that looks like:

The glitter is denser than I though it would be, but I really like the look of it.

Stamping time! I used my new stamping plate Apipila01 and I stamped with Kiko 616 Silver from their Mirror collection. I sealed it all up with a layer of Poshé top coat, and here’s the final mani: 
 

I must admit that the glitter underneath overwhelms the heart design a bit, but I like it anyway!

Here are the polishes I used:

So there you have it: Three new polishes used in one single mani :)

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

Nail file and cuticle pusher review

Look at this nail file that I'm trying out today:

  
Here are the tools that came with it:

Five different tools! From left to right: 

• A nail file
• A buffer
• A tool to smooth out ridges
• A cuticle file
• A file for dead skin

 The nail grooming tool came with an instruction sheet, explaining which tool to use for what: 

The electric nail file requires two AA batteries, which aren't included in the package. 


I've used three of the five files so far. I've tried the one for the nails, which works okay, but I must admit that it takes quite a bit longer to do it this way than I'm used to, so I'm probably not going to use it that much. 
I've also used the two white cones for removing dead skin around the cuticles with. That works okay too, once I learned to control the tool. When you're accustomed to using a manual file, then it takes a little practice to get used to an electrical one :)

Pros:

• The price tag says only $10.12 - of which you're getting 10% off if you're using my code: JCJ61!
• It comes with five different tools, so you should be covered, file wise!
• Great size, you can take it with you in your purse if you wish to.
  

Cons:

• My test nail filing device is a little difficult to work with - sometimes I have to unscrew the lid to the batteries several times to make it work. I don't know if it's just mine in particular though, or if it's a general problem to do with the manufacture or design.
• The nail file does take a bit of patience to operate effectively.
  

Verdict: 

All in all a neat little tool! Not for "heavy" users though.



Next thing I'm trying today is a cuticle pusher:

It looks like this: 

 One end is spoon-shaped, and is for shaping and pushing cuticles. The edge is quite sharp, so it can also be used for removing dead skin around the cuticles. I find it a little "rough" for finger nails, but perhaps it's good for people with false nails. I've found that it works great for the toenails instead, so that's what I'm using it for!

The other end is like a hook. It is good for cleaning under the nails, and I find it particularly good for my pedicures. I have a tendency to suffer from ingrown toenails, and this tool is perfect for cleaning and "lifting" the toenail slightly to ease the pressure.

Pros:

• The price. It only costs $2!
• The material is stainless steel, very sturdy
• Great for pedicures

Cons:

• It's a little rough for manicures

Verdict:
Definitely recommendable!

Joss ~ Caribbean Holiday

Joss ~ Caribbean Holiday

Sky blue linear holo

When I saw Caribbean Holiday on Facebook I just knew I had to have it. And I was told that the stock was limited, so I ordered as soon as I saw it on Norway Nails’ website. I ordered it along with some of its sisters, but that’s a different story - one that I will get back to! Anyway, I was so pleased when the polishes arrived because this looked just as pretty in real life as it had done on the pictures. The big question was: Would this prettiness transfer to the nails. Stay tuned, and we’ll find out in a minute!

I used my regular base coat. Joss polishes don’t need the special aqua base coat to work, I really like that fact. I applied two easy coats, and the polish lives up to my high expectations fully!

Take a look at this:

It takes my breath away!!

Here’s a shot from a different angle. Isn’t this just pretty??

And the holo also pops in lower light, which I really like. This picture is taken in regular daylight: 

There’s no top coat involved in any of the previous picture!

Now for a bit of stamping. I used my new plate, Apipila P.6 and a no name black stamping polish. I bought my Apipila plates in a group buy on Facebook, and I am totally in love with all of them. The designs are SO cool and easily big enough to fit my whole fingernails, which is just great!
I chose a scattered design, and here’s the final result:

This design is a total winner for me! 

 
It’s the closest we get to a crackle without involving a crackle polish! :D

There’s topcoat on the stamped nails, and it’s my all time favourite: Poshé!

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

I bought this polish myself, and it can be bought from norwaynails.com when it’s back in stock. 

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. You should do it today, where the sales start!!

Ozotic ~ 621

Ozotic ~ 621

Red scattered holo

Ozotic could easily become a member of my top ten list of polish brands I love. This time I’m trying on a red, scattered holo, because I fancy red and because the sun was out to play, hurrah!

So – I just used my regular base coat, and that caused me absolutely no trouble at all. Two easy and fast drying coats and my mani was done! There’s no top coat on the two first pictures, so take a look at how pretty this is!

I really like this second pic because it shows how pretty this holo is in the sunshine:

I gazed at it for half an hour or thereabouts, trying to figure out what to do with it. You know I hardly ever wear a polish on its own, but holos are really a challenge for me nail art wise, because they’re so pretty in themselves. :)

I went for a couple of simple stripes, like racing stripes on a red, fancy car. I used my black striper from Claire’s and made two parallel stripes on each nail. I topped it with Poshé top coat (Oh Poshé, how I love thee!!) and hurried to take these last pics while the sun was still out:

And a last one, because I love a good, red holo that is also pretty outside of the sun: 

I am totally in love with this! Simple and yet pretty, that’s how I like my nail art!

What do you think? Are you also a holomaniac like me?

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

Picture Polish ~ Orbit

Picture Polish ~ Orbit

Purple toned blue with tons of silver microglitter

Here’s yet another pretty Picture Polish, namely Orbit. I got this from my friend Stinna for my birthday.

Orbit’s formula is thick, but manageable. The brush was a little bit wonky which made it a bit difficult to apply the polish neatly, but I was satisfied with how I did. The polish covers really well – I made one coat and was actually satisfied. I gave it a second coat to see if it made a difference, but it didn’t. Drying time is really fast, by the way. I love that! There’s one layer of Catrice “Quick Dry & High Shine” top coat on to make it shine even more!

No more words, just enjoy the prettiness:

And again: 

I stamped on this, because I wanted to try my new Kiko polishes. I bought a bunch from their Mirror collection because I heard they should be great for stamping. I wanted to test that myself. I used stamping plate GA34 from Gals Fairy set of plates. I stamped with Kiko 618, Orchid Pink.

And man, does that work! I am totally blown away over how well that stamps!

Let me show you:

And another shot, to convince you: 

How about that? Is that amazing or what?

I have to say that I am not utterly pleased with my Fairy set of stamping plates. I have to double stamp my thumb, which is ridiculous, because as you can see, I don’t even have long nails! It’s the same problem with the Princess set, so I’m not totally convinced that I’ll keep them, but we’ll see.

Anyway, here’s the pretty couple of polishes:

Have you tried Kiko’s Mirror collection for stamping? If yes, did it work out just as good for you?

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

Catherine Arley ~ 666 - with fail dots!

Catherine Arley ~ 666

Dusty berry coloured holo

Here’s another one of the Catherine Arley polishes from my sweet friend Aylin from Posh Nail Art.

I was quite thrilled with the first one, so when the sun came out for just a little while, I was eager to try another one! I just used my regular base coat and the polish just glided on. No problems with dragging or anything, not even on coat number two! The coverage is really good, and this was almost a one coater. I applied two anyway, just because I wanted to.

Here’s what that looks like in the sun:

And from a slightly different angle:

I really like the look of this in the sun. The holo isn’t hugely prominent but is enough to make a difference, if you know what I mean.

I took a picture in the shadow too, so you can see how this polish looks under those conditions: 

 

 As you can see, it turns out quite dusty! That’s why I had to do some nail art on it. I tried a dotticure, but I failed :/ I’m going to post it anyway, to make this a learning experience. I saw something like this on another blog, I can’t remember which one, and thought it would be cool. But either I’m not good enough at it, or my nails are too small to even make the attempt. I go for the latter :D  I used Nail Pop “Glamrock”, shade 14. It’s a deep magenta glitter in a blackened base. I bought it when I was in London over Easter. I topped it with a layer of Catrice “Quick Dry & High Shine” topcoat.

Enough with the talking. Here’s one picture of my failed mani.

It looks as if I attempted to do nail art while being drunk, LOL! I can assure you that it isn’t the case, just please bear with me, okay? :D

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

Layla Hologram Effect ~ Purple Illusion - with baby dragon

Layla Hologram Effect ~ Purple Illusion

Dark magenta linear holo

Here’s my other birthday present from my friend Line.

This is actually my second Hologram Effect polish, but the first one has been sitting in my box of shame for maybe 4-5 months because it didn’t behave when I tried it. Little did I know that the reason I couldn’t get it to behave was because I didn’t use proper underwear for it. Hologram polishes requires aqua base coat. Line also gave me one of those recently – what a great friend she is! ♥

Applying this over the aqua base coat was easy! The two coats glided on like butter. No streaking. No bald spots. Just pure perfection!

Here’s what two coats and no top coat looks like in the sun:

Look at the depth in that holo! Isn’t it amazing?!

I gazed at it for a little while before I decided to add glitter. I used “Baby Dragon” from Glitzology. I really like the look of Glitzology’s polishes, but I’m so not happy with their formula! It’s thick and almost impossible to work with. But it’s okay for sponging, so that’s what I’m going to use it for. One coat of Quick Dry & High Shine top coat from Catrice finished my mani, and here’s the final result:

And from another angle:

The polishes:

I love the way holos and glitters compliment each other. The glitter makes the mani interesting even when there’s no sunlight, and the holo is just amazing in the sun! Total win!

That’s my opinion anyway – but what do you think?

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

Dandy Nails - Perspective

Dandy Nails ~ Perspective

Magenta with purple and blue shimmer

Here’s another polish I got for my birthday! It was from sweet Lauriestrode from Lauriestrode’s Fun with Nails. It’s my first Dandy Nails product, and I fell in love instantly. Most of you girls probably know that I love glitter by now, but I’m also a huge shimmer-fan, and “Perspective” is packed with shimmer!

The polish is a little bit thick, but it applies easily and dries fast. It dries up semi-matte, but unfortunately that doesn’t show on the pictures.

Here’s a pic of two coats, no topcoat:

Isn’t that shimmer just gorgeous?
The next picture is taken in the sunlight, and that really makes the shimmer pop!

I stamped on this beauty, using Mash’ stamping plate Mash-42 and a no name black stamping polish. I sealed it all up with a layer of my faithful Poshé topcoat and here’s the final result: 

I like this Inca-ish design, I think it goes really well with that magenta colour!

That’s it! Being in a birthday group can be great fun with the right girls, and I am really happy with the group I’m in. At some point I’d love to join an international birthday group as well.

Do you like my new pretty polish?

Blue Frankenholoshimmer!

Blue Frankenholoshimmer ~ I only have eyes for you

Do you remember this post, where I showed you my latest frankenpolish? If not, then please go and read it – I’ll wait for you here while you do :D

Back yet? Alright, let’s move right on. I decided to use my frankenpolish for an entire mani instead of just for nail art.

The polish is pretty opaque, but it still takes two coats to make it look great. The polish applies easily and the drying time is reasonably average. Let me show you what two coats (with no top coat) looks like in the sun:

The holo isn’t the strongest but it’s definitely there. I guess the reason for it being less prominent is that I added quite a lot of shimmer to this polish. I love shimmer, as you may know :D Look at this pic:

I also decided to name my creation. I call it “I only have eyes for you”, and to honour that name I picked two other holos, namely Color Club’s Beyond, which is a fantastic black holo from their Halo Hues collection from this spring, and an Urban Outfitters holo called Silver Holo.

I dotted with the silver holo first, and then the black on top of the silver, attempting to make them look like little eyes, LOL! I topped it all with a layer of Catrice Quick Dry & High Shine topcoat, and here’s my final mani:

Another angle:

And the pretty holos:

Here’s an before and after picture from when I made the franken:

I really like this – it really shows how big a sucker I am for holos! I’m so glad to be able to finally wear them after having had them stored away for the entire winter!

Do you like holos as much as I do? If so, what’s your favourite brand/polish?

piCture pOlish ~ Do you wanna see my peacock

piCture pOlish  ~ do you wanna see my peacock

Purple jelly base packed with green and teal glitter

I have become a big fan of piCture pOlish recently! I like their range of colours and glitters, and I like the quality. If I must put a finger on something that I don’t like so much, then it’d be the weird way they write the brand name. I mean, what’s with the capital letters in between it all? Plus it’s a total pain in the backside to remember when you’re typing it out in a review :D

But anyway! I reckoned that this jelly would take three coats to be opaque on its own, so I layered it. I considered whether I should layer it over black, purple or green. I ditched the thought of black pretty fast, since I think it is a boring way to layer polish. In the end I went for green. I used one layer of Flormar #442, which is from their spring&summer collection 2012. It’s almost a one coater, and it dries really fast.

Then I applied two layers of the piCture pOlish over the green. The formula is fantastic! The polish glides on easily, the glitter spreads out without effort, and there’s absolutely no need to dab the glitter around. One layer would actually have been enough, but I wanted to see if I got some extra depth to it by adding a second coat. It didn’t make a difference though :)

Here’s a picture taken in the sunshine:

There’s a layer of Catrice Quick Dry & High Shine top coat over it, by the way! Here’s another sunshine pic so you have a chance to really enjoy the glitter:

Here’s a picture from the light box. Here you can see how the purple peaks through in between the pretty green.

Then I stamped on it, and to honour the sun I chose to stamp with a new silver holo I bought from Urban Outfitters. It’s just called “Silver Holo”. I stamped a feather from the stamping plate H22, which is a fauxnad – I can’t remember where I got it from any more.

Here’s how that looks in my light box:

And here it is in the sunshine, isn’t that just pretty!?

And here are the polishes I used:

I’m so glad that I got piCture pOlishes in my stash. Despite the dumb caps in the name, they’re all nice’n easy to work with and soooo pretty!

That’s my peacock for sure! :D What do you think?

Opacity: 6/10
Colour, prettiness: 8/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
Buy again: yes

I bought this polish myself, but it’s available from norwaynails.com if you’re interested.

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.