Emily de Molly ~ Imperfect Harmony

Emily de Molly ~ Imperfect Harmony

Periwinkle subtle linear holo

Imperfect Harmony is beautiful, period. It is from the second Holo Grail box from April 2014, the one that was called Meet the Makers pt. 2. I only bought the two first boxes. There weren’t any colour clues back then, so you only knew which brands the box contained, not which colours. It’s a relatively expensive box too, and I just hate it when I end up with polish I’m never going to use. This second box contained four polishes: This one, a beautiful magenta, a brown (ugh) and a very very pale mint green (ugh again). So basically I paid for four polishes, and I’m ever only going to wear two of them. So even though I like surprises in the shape of mystery boxes, then I still have to feel that I get value for my hard earned bucks!

Back to Imperfect Harmony: The formula is good and the polish covers in two coats. The drying time is average. The holo effect isn’t as strong as I prefer it, but it’s there. Take a look at two coats and a thin layer of topcoat taken with flash:

The colour is really pretty, I like it a lot!

Here’s a daylight picture. The colour is still nice!

I wanted to make a dotticure and I wanted the dots to be shocking pink and white. But I couldn’t get the pattern right in my head so I ended up stamping on it instead. I found a swirly motif on Moyou London’s stamping plate Princess Collection-14 and I stamped with a pink polish from Coolcos with the number 05. I sealed it all with another layer of topcoat, and here is my final mani with flash:

Daylight picture:

I really like Emily de Molly’s polishes and I really like this one even though I would have loved the holo effect to be more in your face.

Are you a fan of mystery boxes yourself?

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Average

Finish: Subtle linear holo

Overall impression: Good quality, nice colour!

Buy again: Yes

Whimsical by Pam ~ Gelt

Whimsical by Pam ~ Gelt

Golden multisized glitter and hexagons

My awesome swap friend Carolyn sent me four Whimsical by Pam polishes in my last package. I have heard about the brand before but I haven’t got any of them; or at least I didn’t have any of them. Now I have four, yay!

I wasn’t quite sure if this was a topper or not but I decided to try and use it as a regular polish because I like to see how my polishes work on their own. The formula is good and it builds up in two coats. The drying time is good. The polish dries up a little bit bumpy because of the many glitters. A layer of topcoat fixes the bumpiness though.

Here’s how it looks like on its own. It’s two coats and no topcoat.

I added some stickers I bought on Aliexpress. I love stickers because it’s such an easy way to decorate your nails. I added a layer of topcoat and here’s my final mani:

Look at how pretty and blingy it is.

I’m pretty impressed by the quality of the polish and can’t wait to try the other three on. Stay tuned for that experience!

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Pretty good

Finish: Glitter

Overall impression: I like the quality of this polish. I’m not usually into gold, but I love the fact that I now own a gold glitter.

Buy again: Yes

Powder Perfect ~ Sunset in the Valley

Powder Perfect ~ Sunset in the Valley

Berry pink linear holo with red sparks

Powder Perfect make nice holos. Period.

The formula of Sunset in the Valley is really good and I used two easy coats for my mani. The drying time between the layers was good too.

I had sunshine available - and that is always a plus when I want to show off the pretty rainbows on my nails, yay!

Here’s two coats and no topcoat in the sun:

Wow, right? I absolutely love it.

This picture is taken in ordinary daylight, in the shade. The colour is still pretty and the sparks make the finish look a little bit metallic. I like that effect a lot.

I didn’t want to cover up too much of the sparkly holo goodness, so all I did was to make two stripes vertically down each nail and one stripes across. I sealed the whole thing up with topcoat and here’s my final mani in the sun:

Here’s the daylight picture. The lines are made with Zoya’s Payton.

Verdict:

I don’t know why but I thought this polish was more burgundy. That it turned out to be berry pink was such a nice surprise. The longer I wear this, the more I love it. It’s a winner in my book for sure!

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Really good

Finish: Linear holo with sparks

Overall impression: I really like this.

Buy again: Yes

I bought Sunset in the Valley from Edgy Polish

You can find more info on Edgy Polish’s Facebook page, link here.

Mentality ~ Bolt

Mentality ~ Bolt

Orchid scattered holo

Bolt is described as a bright purple holographic polish and it’s listed as neon. I will get back to you on that.

The formula is good and easy to work with. It looks sheer after the first coat, but the second coat magically did the trick and erased all signs of visible nail line. The drying time is pretty good. It dries up semi matte so I added a layer of topcoat before I took my pictures.

Here’s what it looks like in the sun.

And here is a picture taken with flash:

Here’s what it looks like in the shade. There’s not so much brightness or neon over that, is there.

I can’t wear polishes like this alone, it’s not blingy enough, so I added glitter. I used a multisized and multishaped silver/holo glitter from Delush called Nue Girl. I added another layer of topcoat to seal it all up, and here’s my final mani with flash:

And here’s the low light picture.

I have to admit that I am a little bit disappointed in this polish. I had expected much more neon-ness than I actually got. It’s a nice and work friendly shade, but that is not what I went for, haha! :D

EDIT: This polish is no longer in my possesion. I sent it back after I heard about the issues with Mentality's base. I wouldn't dare to wear it again.

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Pretty good

Finish: Semi matte muted holo

Overall impression: Disappointed in the lack of neon. Other than that, yes, it’s a nice, work friendly polish

Buy again: Nope

Powder Perfect ~ Border of the Forest

Powder Perfect ~ Border of the Forest

Green holo with microflakies

Border of the Forest. It’s green, it’s holographic and it’s got microflakies. It has to be a winner!

                                                             

The formula is good and so is pigmentation. I used two coats for full opacity and the drying time between the layers was also good.

The sun is my friend today, so here’s two coats and a layer of topcoat:

I made a watermarble on my ring finger with Border of the Forest and a Silver Holo from Urban Outfitters. I placed a stud by the base of each of the other nails to complete the look.

This is also taken in the sunshine:

This picture is taken in daylight. The microflakies make the polish look a little bit metallic. I like that a lot.

This is also a daylight picture.

This last picture is taken with flash, just because I can!

Verdict:

I love the formula of Powder Perfect’s polishes as a rule. They’re easy to work with and has a good drying time. I love that it marbles as well, that’s a bonus. And this is just the perfect colour for Autumn, which is just around the corner.

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Really good

Finish: Holo with flakies

Overall impression: Great quality, cool effect.

Buy again: Yes

Dance Legend WOW Prism ~ Strutter, #23

Dance Legend WOW Prism ~ Strutter, #23

Grass green glass fleck holo

I asked my boyfriend which colour I should wear on my nails today and the answer was green. I found two in my box of untrieds: Emily de Molly’s “Jealousy make you Nasty” and ‘Strutter’ from Dance Legend’s WOW Prism collection. He looked at the two bottles for less than 5 seconds and chose the Dance Legend. I don’t mind at all; I love all my WOW Prisms!

The fomula is good and the polish covers in two easy and fast drying coats.

My camera insisted on making the green a tone darker than Strutter actually is, so this first picture is not quite colour accurate:

 

I stamped on it. I hadn’t given up on stamping neon yellow flowers on my nails, so I picked the floral design from stamping plate BP-L 005, and I stamped with El Corazón’s stamping polish Neon Yellow, which has number 09. I dotted each flower with Mentality’s Neon Red Opaque.

Here’s my final mani:

And this last picture is actually colour correct, hooray!

I love this whole collection of Dance Legends. They’re gorgeous all of them!

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Fast

Finish: Crelly with holo flecks
Overall impression: I love it!   

Buy again: I would for sure

Urban Outfitters ~ Ariel

Urban Outfitters ~ Ariel

Pale green linear holo

My to go silver holo comes from Urban Outfitters. Easy to use, never fails, just a good polish. Expensive though, costs more than OPI here. And the price tag on ordinary OPIs here says more than US$20! I kid you not.

But they had a sale last time I was in Urban Outfitters! And they had two different holos on sale, Ariel was one of them. Price tag said a little less than US$ 9, which is a price that suits me much better. It’s pale green, and therefore not exactly my colour, but I thought it would be great as a base for nail art and/or other experiments.

Here’s two easy and fast drying coats:

This is taken with flash. Ooh la la, pretty rainbows!

It’s too pale for me on its own, so I made a dotticure out of it. I used two different Picture Polishes for that purpose: Lagoon and Orbit.

Here’s the final result in low lights:

And here’s a flash picture of the same thing:

The polishes I used:

I like the fact that Ariel actually has got a name. The silver holo sister is just called Silver Holo, which is pretty boring. Ariel is a good name for this pretty polish. I’m glad I found it on special because I probably wouldn’t have bought it at full price.

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Really good

Finish: Strong linear holo

Overall impression: Fantastic rainbows, great quality polish

Buy again: Yes

Kiko 521 ~ Pearly Ocean and 529 ~ Metallic Beetle

Kiko 521 ~ Pearly Ocean and 529 ~ Metallic Beetle

Along with H2-OHHH from NailNation 3000

Kiko deserves more love in blog land. They make really good polishes at a very reasonable price. As far as I know they have only released four holos so far – and they’ve been discontinued by now. But if they released more I am sure that more people would see what a cool brand it really is.

My boyfriend picked these two beauties for me. First 521 Pearly Ocean, which is a lovely sky blue shimmer. Easy to apply, covers well in two fast drying coats. A lovely polish for sure.

Here it is:

I like blues like this. I applied a wide stripe of 529 Metallic Beetle down the middle of each nail. It’s a very dark blue with shimmer. Then I added a striped down the middle of that with NailNation 3000’s H2-OHHH. I finished the whole thing off with a layer of topcoat, and here’s the final mani:

My pictures make the Metallic Beetle look black, but it isn’t. It’s more like blackened blue. I think the H2-OHHH completes the mani perfectly.

Here are the three beauties:

I ♥ Kiko.

  

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Really good

Finish: Lots of shimmer

Overall impression: I love it. It’s easy to work with and beautiful too!

Buy again: Yes

Powder Perfect ~ Dust & Shadows

Powder Perfect ~ Dust & Shadows

Dark purple strong linear holo

I don’t think I ever get tired of purples. And I know for sure that I don’t get tired of holos, and especially holos with a strong effect. I loved it the moment I laid eyes on it.

The formula is very good. In my opinion, Powder Perfect should get more love in blog land because they make really good polishes. I love all the ones I’ve got! I used two easy and fast drying coats for full opacity.

The sun was playing hidey go seek, so the two first pictures here are taken with flash:

Look at those rainbows. I’m swooning over here!!

This picture is taken in the shade. It shows the true colour of the polish and also reveals that the rainbows refuse to not shine! I love that.

Then the sun came out to play, yay! I always love when I get sunshine pictures of my holos.

I added glitter, because holo and glitter together is almost always a winner in my book. I used Color Club’s “Something New”, which is a clear base packed with white glitter and white and baby blue hexagons. I sealed her up with a layer of topcoat and here’s my final mani with flash:

Here are the two polishes:

Verdict:

If you like dark purple polishes, then you should consider including Dust & Shadows in your stash. If you also love strong holos, then it’s definitely a winner. The quality of the polish is excellent and the rainbows in the bottle are just mesmerizing!

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Really good

Finish: Strong linear holo

Overall impression: Deep vampy colour, strong and pretty rainbows. I like it.

Buy again: Yes

Kiko 497 ~ Pearly Indian Violet

Kiko 497 ~ Pearly Indian Violet

Deep purple with violet shimmer

Yesterday I showed you a Kiko polish my boyfriend picked for me in Germany, and today it’s time for one of its sisters. He picked that one as well. He did not know that Pearly Indian Violet is a dupe of Chanel’s Taboo. I knew that, I had read that on several blogs. And even though the girls say that they’re not dead on dupes, then I seriously can’t see the difference when I look at the pictures they posted.

I haven’t got any Chanels, so I obviously don’t have Taboo to compare it with, but never mind.

The formula is a little bit on the thick side, but that’s how I like it. It covers really good; I have one coat on my left hand and two coats on my right hand and I can’t tell if there’s a difference! So for me it’s a one coater. The drying time is really good too.

I made a marble on two of my fingers, using Urban Outfitter’s Silver Holo and Kiko’s Pearly Indian Violet. Yessirebob, it marbles too, even though it’s thick!

Here’s my final mani. There’s a layer of topcoat involved too.

The shimmer was really hard to capture on camera; this is the best I could do.

I love that marble! I have got one layer of the Silver Holo as a base colour.

Like I said, the shimmer isn’t that easy to catch, but it’s beautiful! And don’t think that this is what you see all the time. When I look at my nails this instant, what I see is just a really dark purple; I can’t see the shimmer at all. So yes, sometimes the pictures make the polish look more spectacular than it is in real life. 

Here’s a close up of my pinkie.

That is it for today. Would you like to see the other Kikos he picked for me?

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Really good

Finish: Lots of shimmer

Overall impression: Great quality and much better price tag than Chanel! The colour is a tad dark for me though, but the water marble helped a lot!

Buy again: Yes