OPI ~ I Carol About You

OPI ~ I Carol About You

Just playing around with purple, blue and glitter

If you have been around for a while, then you’ll probably know that I had camera issues three months ago. My camera broke down and the camera shop spent an entire month working on it, only to find out that they couldn’t fix it. I got my money back and I bought another camera – same brand, just a newer model than the old one.

Now, only two months later, the new camera is now back in the repair shop. The flash didn’t work properly, and this time of year I need to use the flash a lot. It’s dark here peeps, at least until February/March. I talked the shop into lending me a camera while they try to make my own work. They gave me an SLR: A Sony AX 3000. It’s not that I mind operating an SLR, but the point of having a compact camera for me is that it’s easy to operate with one hand – as in: I’m taking pictures of my other hand.

So: Please bear with me while I try to get used to this camera – and cross your fingers that I’ll get my own one back really soon!

Anyway – today’s mani ended up looking like this:

I started out with two layers of OPI’s I Carol About You from the recent Christmas collection. A lovely, dark purple that applies easily and dries fast. The polish smells of fish but that’s the only bad thing I have to say about it. Here’s that step:

I didn’t want my mani quite so dark, so I dapped some blue holo on the tips. I used cling film as my “sponging” material since I didn’t want it to be smooth.

And then I applied a layer of OPI’s Snow Globetrotter on top of it all. It’s a mix of white and iridescent glitter in a clear base and it’s also from the Christmas collection.

Here are the polishes I used.

I actually quite like this.

LynBDesigns ~ Our Little Infinity

LynBDesigns ~ Our Little Infinity

Multichrome that switches between blue, purple, red and orange – with added holo glitter

Our Little Infinity is from the “Fault in Our Stars" Collection and it’s absolutely gorgeous! I love multichromes, and when holo glitter is added I’m definitely a fan! Nice name, too.

I was unsure about how many coats is would take to make it opaque so I have layered it. I used A England’s lovely “Avalon” as my base. It’s not a true one coater, but one coat is enough for making a good base for Our Little Infinity. I applied two coats of the multichrome over the A England. The drying time was good. I think it would have been opaque in three coats so I didn’t really save anything by layering it… oh well; I couldn’t possibly know.

Anyway – let me show you how pretty it is. Here’s two coats over purple:

These first pictures are lightbox pictures, no flash. The glitter refuses not to sparkle!!

Here’s an intentionally blurry flash picture, just to show off the sparkle!!

I made a gradient stamping on it. I found a star and swirl motif on Bundlemonster’s plate BM-610 and I stamped with Moyou’s baby pink and baby blue. I applied a layer of topcoat over the whole thing, and here’s my final mani taken with flash:

And here’s a low light picture:

I really like the effect the two pale stamping polishes make here!

If you like multichromes like I do, you should definitely consider buying Our Little Infinity. It’s gorgeous!

Number of coats: 2 over a base (or 3 alone)
Drying time: Good

Finish: Multichrome with holo glitter
Overall impression: I love the colour and the colour shift – and the holo glitter is a great bonus!

Buy again: Yes

A2Z Challenge: J is for Jewel

What do you think about when you hear the word Jewel? Something like this?

That’s not what springs to my mind. Instead I think of this sweet character:

She’s from the animated movie “Rio” from 2011. She’s beautiful and she’s fiercely independent – I love her to bits! I can’t really do her justice on my nails – but here’s my attempt anyway:

I used two blues for the base colour: Golden Rose matte velvet #103, which is the bottle I’m holding, and then a layer of Finger Paints’ “Laugh My Art Off”, a lovely blue microglitter. The white is my to go white: NailNation 3000’s “White”.

I stamped a wing pattern on my pinkie and pointer, using a motif from Moyou London’s Tropical Collection-06 and I stamped with Color Club’s “Over the Moon”. The flower on the ring finger obviously symbolizes Jewel’s flower and is from Moyou London’s Tropical Collection-01. I stamped with a pink stamping polish from Moyou (not London). I double stamped the parrot on my middle finger, first with black and then with white. The motif is also from the Tropical Collection-01.

 That’s my Jewel for you, girls and guys :)

The polishes I used: 

The challenge next week is Kitchen Sink. I’ll have to figure out what the heck that means, haha!

Please check out the what the other super talented girls did: 

An InLinkz Link-up

Glittering Elements ~ CE402 and CE403

Glittering Elements ~ CE402 and CE403

Two unreleased prototypes

The creator of Glittering Elements, Casey, sometimes sell her prototypes. I had no idea about what I said yes to when I ordered four of them, but I like Glittering Elements as a rule, so I wasn’t nervous to receive crappy looking polishes. The four polishes I received were gorgeous – and I’m going to show you two of them today.

CE402 is a spring green scattered holo. Easy to work with, good drying time and covers in two coats. CE403 is a dark blue linear holo with the same good formula. Here they are:

The glitter in the middle that binds them together it Absolum – Your Potions Master from CrowsToes. I dapped it on with a dotting tool. 

There’s also a layer of topcoat involved.

Here’s my mani in lower lights. I really like what the glitter does here…

Isn’t that just pretty?

Here’s what CE402 looks like on its own; two coats and no topcoat:

And here are the pretty polishes:

If I’m ever seeing Casey offering prototypes for sale again, I’ll definitely say yes please!

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good

Finish: Green scattered holo and blue linear holo
Overall impression: Great polishes, I really like both of them!

Buy again: Yes

Girly Bits ~ Scandilous

Girly Bits ~ Scandilous

Sky blue with rainbow flecks and holo shimmer

Today I’m going to show you a special polish from Girly Bits. It’s called Scandilous – and if you don’t know that polish, then it’s probably because you’re not a member of a specific Scandinavian nail polish Facebook group. Scandilous is a group custom.

The formula is great, and the polish applies easily. I used two coats to get rid of all visible nail line and the drying time between the coats is good. I really like this blue – here’s what two coats and no topcoat look like in the flash light:

The holo effect isn’t in your face, but it’s there.

This low light picture gives you an impression of the little flecks:

I did some simple flowery nail art on it. I made to diagonal lines with black polish on each nail, and then I dotted a flower in white and magenta. Here’s how great that looks:

Then I applied a layer of my favourite holo topcoat. It’s called Rainbow Syrup and it’s from Ellagee. I love that topper!! The final mani looks like this:

I am soooo glad that I own Scandilous – it’s a great group custom in my opinion. If we ever have another one made I wish for an in your face holo :D

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good

Finish: Rainbow flecks and holo shimmer
Overall impression: Special in many ways: The colour and the flecks are beautiful – and I’m impressed by the quality too.

Buy again: Yes

LynBDesigns ~ Off with her Head

LynBDesigns ~ Off with her Head

Red jelly base with small red, silver, and white glitters

Off with her Head is from the "Wonderland" Collection. I have a soft spot for red jelly bases with glitter – and I loved the way this looked with the silver glitters and all. So here it is!

The formula is good, and since it is a jelly it requires three coats to look its best. It is easy to work with and the drying time is good. I applied a layer of topcoat before I took my pictures.

So here’s three coats and a layer of topcoat:

I like the addition of white glitter, it gives a bit extra to the finish.

I like this!

I didn’t actually do anything extra with this. I just wasn’t in the mood! *gasp*

Number of coats: 3
Drying time: Good

Finish: Jelly with glitter
Overall impression: It’s a good polish and I especially like that the red glitters are mixed with a couple of other colours.

Buy again: Yes

Emily de Molly ~ Cool, Calm and Collected

Emily de Molly ~ Cool, Calm and Collected

Sky blue linear holographic

It is time for another pretty Emily de Molly! I was in the mood for blue, so Cool, Calm and Collected almost shouted up at me when I opened the box of untrieds :D

The formula is great! I had no problems with applications, and I used two coats for full opacity. The drying time is really good too.

Here is two coats and no top coat:

  Oooohoohoo yes, I like that!

And what I really like is the fact that it’s also pretty in lower lights:

I didn’t want to overwhelm the prettiness so I went for a couple of simple stripes. I used a nice pink from Coolcos. It hasn’t got a name, but it’s number 05. It’s a really cool pink – the polish itself smells really odd, but I love Coolcos polishes for nail art because they’re highly pigmented! Score.

Here’s my final mani, after topcoat:

I love these colour together!

My only problem with this mani is that I don’t want to take it off, haha!!

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good

Finish: Linear holo
Overall impression: The perfect blue linear holo.

Buy again: Yes!

This polish is available from norwaynails.com.

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!!

Cupcake Polish ~ Next Taupe Model

Cupcake Polish ~ Next Taupe Model

Purple linear holo with copper shimmer

I am in the mood for purple!

I started out with Cupcake Polish’s Next Taupe Model from their Autumn collection 2014. The formula is a bit on the thick side – I can’t even get the mixing ball to click against the bottle, even when I shake it vigorously! But I don’t mind thick polishes, I actually prefer them over runny polishes. So – I found application to be easy and the polish covers in one single coat! I applied two coats to see if the second coat actually made a difference, but I don’t think it did. The drying time between the coats - good. Next Taupe Model dries up a little bit bumpy, but a single layer of topcoat fixes that little problem.

Here it is, two coats and no topcoat:

These first two pictures are both taken with flash, and I love the rainbows!

The cool thing is that the rainbows also are visible in lower lights: Score!!

I stamped on it, using a floral motif from Moyou London’s stamping plate Princess Collection-10. I stamped with NailNation 3000’s Black. Afterwards I sponged a bit of China Glaze’s Tail Me Something from the Mermaid Collection on the tips. It’s almost the same colour as Next Taupe Model, but the glitter and the texture adds quite a lot to the final mani, IMO!

Here’s the final result – still without topcoat:

I quite like this design. I actually considered dotting the China Glaze on the tops of the flowers, but the two purples are too alike for that to make any sense.

Here’s a low light picture to show off the sugary tips :D

The pretty purple pair:

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good

Finish: Linear holo with shimmer

Overall impression: Great quality, fantastic rainbows, nice shimmer!

Buy again: Yes

Darling Diva ~ Funny Bunny and Caged Heat

Darling Diva ~ Funny Bunny and Caged Heat

Two polishes from my latest grab bag

Today I’m going to show you two Darling Divas that I received in a grab bag. The concept is that you buy five polishes in one go – and you have no idea about what colours are going to show up. You can’t request colours or finishes.

The first one is Funny Bunny. It’s a purple jelly with glitters, hexes, more glitters and stars in various colours. I intended to wear it on its own, but seeing how sheer the first coat was, I changed my mind. I guess it would have taken at least four coats to build this up to full opacity, and I was definitely not in the mood for that. So I layered it over a lovely purple from Golden Rose’s Matte Velvet collection, #107. It’s my favourite nail art purple because it’s both beautiful and a one coater – I love that.

I applied one layer of Funny Bunny over the purple. I had to dab the glitter around a bit to make it spread out evenly on the nails. Drying time is pretty good.

Here’s one coat of Funny Bunny over Golden Rose Matte Velvet #107, plus a layer of topcoat:

I was unsure about the green stars when I saw them first, but I must admit that they add positively to the polish.

And nothing really sticks out from the nails, and that’s a big plus!

Here are the polishes I used:

The next polish up is a topper: Caged Heat. It’s a clear base packed with black and white hexes, circles, bars and glitters, and there is holo goodness in the base too.

I chose to apply it over red, namely another Golden Rose Matte Velvet: #106. I simply love that series of polishes!

There’s so much glitter in the bottle, so I had to wipe off some of it before I applied it onto the nails. So what you see is perhaps half a dip in the bottle per nail, haha. The glitter doesn’t spread out evenly, it really wants to follow the brush to the end of the nail – I struggled a bit with that. Anyway – the drying time is good.

Here’s one coat of Caged Heat over Golden Rose Matte Velvet #106:

I am not a fan of bar glitter, so I’m pleased that I didn’t get that much of it on my nails :D

Here’s a flash picture, so you can get a small peak of the holo goodness.

And here are the two polishes I used:

What do you think?