Femme Fatale ~ Twilight Meteorite

Femme Fatale ~ Twilight Meteorite  

Rich pink base with blue to pink duochrome flecks

Today I’m going to show you a dangerously pretty polish. It’s a rich pink, almost purple base, packed with duochromatic flecks. Femme Fatale themselves suggest that it can be worn alone, or alternatively over a darker base. I was not in the mood for a darker polish than the bottle showed, so I wore this on its own.

The formula is just great – the polish glides right on smoothly and with ease. It took three thin coats to make this opaque on its own, which convinces me that this is more than just another layering polish. 

Take a look - here's a picture that shows three coats:

The duochromatic glass flecks make this polish look amazing! I don't think I own a polish that shines as much as this one does!

Here's a better look at the flecks:

In certain angles and lights this almost looks just pink.

And here's a bonus picture for you: I layered it over black, just to see what difference that would make. And wow! This is where the duochromatic effect really shows off:

If you look at the last three pictures it's like I have got three different polishes out of just one bottle. 

I can't find anything negative to say about this polish. It's pretty, the formula is good, and drying time is too. Here's another winner from Femme Fatale! 

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

Dare to Wear ~ Lover’s Embrace - with Hello Kitty dots

Dare to Wear ~ Lover’s Embrace

Red crème

I never get tired of Dare to Wear polishes. Lover’s Embrace is from the Sweet Love collection can be described as a classic red crème polish. I don’t have many of them in my collection, I’m not sure why that is, because I really like red.

The formula of this polish is great. It applies easily and evenly and dries pretty fast too. The pigmentation is fantastic, so it’s not one of those polishes you want too close to your cuticles! :D

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

Isn’t that just pretty? I love the look of this polish, so shiny and red. Mmmmh!!

Anyway – before I get to the nail art, let me tell you something. I’ve felt uninspired lately. I feel like I do the same things on my nails day after day after day. So I thought I’d let myself inspire by something. I googled some patterns, and this pattern is what I let myself inspire by:

Dots in dots!!

For the first set of dots I used one of my beloved Hello Kitty polishes; this one is called “Silver Kitty” and is from H&M. It’s an old bottle! I made dots in various sizes. When that was dry I made a dot with Lover’s Embrace on each silver dot, and here’s the result of that:

This picture is also taken in the sunshine.

Then I decided to add some extra bling. I applied a layer of Orly’s “Prisma Gloss Silver”, which is fine holo glitter in a clear base. And here’s the final mani:

This is right up my alley, I absolutely love this mani and couldn’t stop staring at my nails. Do you like the outcome of my inspirational post?

I’ve decided to make another challenge! Apparently that is what it takes for me to get my inspiration back. It’ll be every third day like last time, and I’m working on the theme. I will announce it here, obviously. And I think I may start in August. Feel free to join me if you’re interested – it’ll be fun! Send me a mail (rainbowifyme@gmail.com) or let me know in the comments below.

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

OPI Liquid Sand ~ Can’t let go & Get your number

OPI Liquid Sand ~ Can’t let go & Get your number

Purple with glitters & Blue with holo glitters. Both textured polishes.

Both of these polishes are from OPI’s Mariah Carey collection, and they are the last ones I miss trying on. So today I’m going to wear them both at the same time.

It took two thin coats to make them opaque enough for my liking. The purple covers way better than the blue, but both dry equally slowly. I didn’t apply topcoat on them, because I didn’t feel like it. But I’ve seen enough pics on other bloggers’ blogs to know that they are seriously cool with a topcoat too.

But here they are, two coats, no topcoat:

I really like these two – I don’t know why I bought them last, they’re so much prettier then the other two I’ve got! :D

Here they are! The blue looks cooler than the purple in the bottle, but on the nails it’s the other way around. Weird how stuff like that happens.

I’m glad I bought these, and I’ve got textured polishes from other brands to try on soon as well. I like this trend, it’s much more me than the magnets were.

What about you? Do you like the textured polishes as well, or do you prefer them with topcoat to smooth things out a bit?

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

MAC ~ Formidable!

MAC ~ Formidable!

Purple/blood red/blue multichromatic shimmer

I haven’t seen many bloggers showing off MAC polishes, and I’ve heard rumours that it’s because the quality can’t justify the relatively high price on the tag. I couldn’t resist this shimmer though, so I bought it and brought it home, and have had it for a couple of months. And today it’s time to try it out.

The formula is pretty good, and the polish dries fast too. I needed three coats before I was satisfied though, and looking at the sunshine pic it could have used a fourth. But the shimmer is beautiful. And what looks like only blue/purple in the bottle, reveals itself as blood red when it hits the sunshine. Let me show you what I’m talking about!

three coats, no topcoat

Blood red with blue shimmer – I don’t think I’ve ever seen a colour combo like this one.

When I take it inside my light box it tells a completely different story though. Now it suddenly only flashes its blues and purples:

It’s a spectacular colour shifter:

I didn’t know what to do with it though :/  So I ended up adding a layer of iridescent glitter from Trend, #39. The glitter also contains silver stars and blue hearts. Not many, so fishing is required.

Here’s the final result:

And a final pic:

I don’t like this as much as I thought I would, to be honest. I mean, I really like the colour shift and stuff, but it’s just not quite right – you know what I mean?

I don’t like that Trend polish at all. It smells horrible and I don’t like fishing that much after the pretty stuff. Just N O, OK?

Opacity: 4/10
Colour, prettiness: 6/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 4/10
Overall: 4.5/10

Buy again? No

Foxy Paws ~ Only Teardrops and Orly ~ Aqua Pixel

Foxy Paws ~ Only Teardrops

Aqua blue linear holo

Foxy Paws is a Danish indie brand. Only Teardrops is from a Eurovision Song themed collection of two polishes called “The Eurovision Collection”.

Denmark won the Eurovision Song Contest of 2013 with the song “Only Teardrops” sung by Emmelie de Forest. I’m not hugely interested in Eurovision, but I do think it’s pretty cool that Denmark actually won.

But anyway! I didn’t buy the polish because of all that, I bought it because it’s blue and it’s holographic, and because I didn’t have a shade quite like this in my collection.

The formula was good, and so was the drying time. It took two layers to make it look cool, which is pretty good for a light colour like this. I chose a different polish for my ring finger and my thumb: Orly’s “Aqua Pixel”, which is their version of an aqua blue textured polish with silver glitter. The formula of the Aqua Pixel is no less than fantastic. It almost covers in one coat and the drying time is really good. I applied an extra coat just to give the polish the best conditions to shine!

So, here’s a picture of two layers of Only Teardrops and two layers of Aqua Pixel. The picture is taken in direct sunlight:

I’m really glad I bought both these polishes. They fit so well together. I love this colour, that is a new addition to my stash. And I seriously love that textured Orly!

I know I sound greedy now, but I just wish that the holo was a little bit more prominent in Only Teardrops. It’s lovely, but… you know… just a little bit more! :D 

I should have left it like that, but I had an idea in my head, that didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to. Now you get to see it! :D I painted two “teardrops” on three of my nails. I used a polish from H&M called Active Blue, which is a mini bottle full of navy blue shimmer. I used my dotting tool to make the teardrops. And here’s the result of that:

I’m not as good at drawing teardrops as I thought I was! But never mind, I think it looks pretty cool anyway. In all modesty, obviously ;) 

Here’s when I decided to add extra holo! I used a holo topcoat from Treasures by Tan called “Oasis”. I applied a single layer over the three fingers, and here’s a sunshine pic:

Now that’s much better – look at them pretty rainbows right there! <3

This is a Treasure by Tan polish that I’m sure to keep. The holo is great and it doesn’t dull the underlaying colour as much as I’ve seen other holo toppers do.

In fact; all these three are keepers, yay!

Here’s the winner song of Eurovision Song Contest 2013: Only Teardrops with Emmelie de Forest: 

Do you like this mani? I’m quite fond of it myself :)

Foxy Paws ~ Only Teardrops

Opacity: 7/10
Colour, prettiness: 7/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 7.75/10
Buy again: Yes

Orly ~ Aqua Pixel

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 9/10
Overall: 9.25/10
Buy again: Yes

Treasures by Tan ~ Oasis

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

Lilypad Lacquer ~ Deep Blue Lagoon

Lilypad Lacquer ~ Deep Blue Lagoon  

Deep blue linear holographic 

Lilypad Lacquer is a new Australian brand that I’ve been wanting to try since I saw the first swatch of them. Their holos look amazing. I actually did a little snoopy dance when I saw the polish! Deep Blue Lagoon is from the "Colour my World" collection.

I just used my regular basecoat, and the formula was fantastic. This baby doesn’t require a special aqua basecoat, that’s for sure. The polish dries pretty fast, and it only took two easy coats to achieve desired opacity.

And here’s what the polish looks like in the sun; two coats, no topcoat:

“Deep Blue Lagoon” is the perfect name for this polish. I’m dreaming of bathing in a sleepy lagoon with water this colour!

The rainbows are not shy – they sparkle in the sun!

I have to admit that I took quite a lot of pictures of this baby!

The polish looks a completely different colour in the shade. Instead of this deep blue, it looks like a very darkened teal. It’s so nice to have polishes that have a great effect in the sun, but that also look cool in the shadows. I appreciate that a lot!

Seriously, I just couldn't stop!

I ended up doing a bit of dottery on it. I used a silver holo from Joss called Flash Diamond, and made a cross-like design. I chose this particular polish because I wanted another holo for the dots.

Here’s the final design – still without a topcoat:

And a last shot where the rainbows still show off: :D

The holo sisters!

I am extremely pleased with this polish. It’s pretty both in and out of the sun, and the darkness of it makes it perfect to wear when the summer leaves the northern hemisphere and the troll-filled darkness descends once more, and again we hear the Wolves howling throughout the long, cold nights. Right?? ;)

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

Tribal Colours ~ #09 and #07

Tribal Colours ~ #09 and #07

Red and purple textured polishes with glitter

Here are my new pretties: 

I wanted to try the red one first. It’s the colour I wanted the OPI “The Impossible” to be, just without the stars. I like the red, and it doesn’t have that coral tone to it that the OPI has.

Here’s the sight that met me when I pulled the brush up.

*growls* I hate brushes that look like that. Fortunately it was only a couple of hairs that stuck out, so I just pulled them off, and then the brush was ready!

The polish is quite thick, but I like that, so it wasn’t a problem for me. It spread out nicely and evenly and the bigger glitters weren’t shy at all. It took two coats to make it look like I wanted it to. Drying time between coats was terrible, however. I even tried to use my new RapiDry spray from OPI to speed things up. It didn’t help at all, but I don’t know if it’s the spray’s fault or the polish’s.

Here’s two coats, no top coat:

And from a slightly different angle:

Here’s a close up of the bottle, to show you the cool glitter:

Next one up is the purple one, number 07. The brush looked really nice on this polish. The formula was approximately the same as the red one’s and the drying time was slightly better, but only slightly.

Again: Two coats for full opacity.

The verdict:

Pros:

Great Colours

The polishes contain glitters – a huge plus in my book (they also come without)

Good coverage

Cons:

Drying time!

I also got a set of angled nail art brushes; a short, a medium length one and a long.

I tried to make some lines on the textured polishes above, but that was not a success. It was solely my fault and not the brushes’ fault though.

I like the longest brush the best – it’s perfect for making stripes on the full length of the nail. I’m not good enough at freehanding nailart to get a good use of the shorter brushes. I cleaned the brushes with polish remover, and had no problems whatsoever. The bristles ended up nice and lined up perfectly after that – ready to make more stripes at some point.

So yes – I don’t have any problems with recommending these brushes.

Born Pretty Holo Polish #12 Vs. Glitter Gal ~ Lizard Belly

Born Pretty Holo Polish #12

Dark green linear holo

I bought a couple of Born Pretty Store’s holos myself, because I liked them so much. #12 is a dark green linear holo, and when I got it, I was reminded so much of Glitter Gal’s “Lizard Belly” that I thought I’d do a comparison.

I used my regular base coat and as usual had no problems with dragging or pulling. I applied Lizard Belly on the nail of my ring finger and Born Pretty Holo on the rest of my nails. Born Pretty’s holo has the best coverage and a much more green tone to it. I wouldn’t mistake this for black, like I did with the Lizard Belly to begin with.

The difference in the sun isn’t that obvious, but it’s there:

Two coats, no topcoat

Lizard Belly isn’t quite as dark as #12.

There is also a difference in how dense the “glittering” parts are in the two polishes.

Here it is out of the sun. The difference is more obvious out of the sun. The dusty particles are more visible in Lizard Belly and the green is more obvious in #12. They’re definitely not dupes, but they’re stepsisters!

I wasn’t really in the mood for such a dark colour, so I spiced it up with some glitter! I used Colorful Explicit from LynBDesigns, which is a silver/holo topper with bar glitters and stars. It lessened the darkness of the green and obviously also a lot of the holo effect, but I liked it anyway!

I really like this glitter. It can pretty much save any manicure! :D

Here are the polishes I used. I must admit that I prefer #12 over the Glitter Gal. I just find them a bit too expensive when they’re full price, they retail for US$12.88. They’ve had them on sale on and off though and I was able to snatch these for US$5.99, which is more reasonable, since they only contain 6ml!

Remember that Born Pretty Store is offering my readers a 10% discount. All you have to do is to use the code JCJ61 when you check out.