Color Club Glitter Wonderland - swatches and review

Next polish from Color Club's Holiday Collection "Winter Affair" is Glitter Wonderland. I must confess that I don't really like purple polishes... :/ Now, don't get me wrong, I like the colour purple, but it just don't fit my skintone... But this one wasn't too bad to my skintone and the colour is amazing!! Prepare yourselves for picture spam... ;)

In artificial light

In daylight

In weak sunlight

In halogen light

Full hand in weak sunlight

Close up. Look at the amount of red shimmer in it! :D

In some lights it turns red because of all the red shimmer in it!

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Shimmer (almost foil).

Colour: A medium purple base filled with so much red shimmer that it looks like a warm glowing purple foil. :D I can also see some blue shimmer in it and in dim lighting the polish looks like a red polish because of all the red shimmer in it! :D So I guess you can say that this is both a purple AND a red polish in one bottle! ;)

Collection: Color Club Winter Affair Holiday Collection 2012.

Opacity: Good! This is two coats. If you do very thin coats you might need a third coat. I did two fairly thick coats and it's completely opaque. :)

Drying time: Normal.

Formula: Just as Ho-Ho-Holly, from same collection, this one has a bit of a tricky formula I'm afraid... At least for the first coat. The formula is rather thin and I had to apply the first coat with light strokes and lots of polish on the brush in order to avoid bald spots... Second coat applied much better.

Brush: Good! Not too thin, so quite ok. I wouldn't have mind if the brush had been a bit thicker though... ;)

Shine: Shiny on its own, but I have one coat of Seche Vite in these pictures. I noticed a bit of a tip wear after the top coat had dried... :/ That is that the polish sort of shrank a tiny bit so that the utmost tip of the nail was left without polish. We're talking half a millimeter here, not centimeters ;)

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: Quite accurate. Best picture is the artifical light picture. The others don't show off all the red shimmer enough and it's more sparkly and glittery IRL too! And I promise you that the last picture when it looks really red is how it really looks in dim lighting! It truely turns from purple to red! And not in a duochrome way, there's no variegation, it just turns red! :D

Grade: 4/5 :)

This is an amazing polish even though the formula could have been better. I've never seen a purple polish with so much red shimmer in it! I think that is why I like it because normally I don't like purple polishes. And the way it turns red sometimes is just astonishing!! I've never seen anything like it! :

What did you think of this one ladies?

Any favourite so far from "Winter Affair"?

Color Club Snow-flakes over Ho-Ho-Holly - swatches

I just had to see how Snow-flakes looked over Ho-Ho-Holly after trying it over Berry and Bright yesterday. This is the result! ;)

In artificial light

In dim daylight

One more in dim daylight ;)

Close up in dim daylight

In artificial light

In daylight

Snow-flakes has a rather thick but surprisingly fast drying formula.

I liked this combination better than Snow-flakes over Berry and Bright (click here to see that combo), but in the end I like Ho-Ho-Holly best on its own without Snow-flakes. Click here to see how Ho-Ho-Holly looks on its own.

What do you think of this combo?

Ho-Ho-Holly with or without Snow-flakes...?

Color Club Ho-Ho-Holly - swatches and review

Second out from the Color Club Winter Affair Collection 2012 is Ho-Ho-Holly! I think I'll do this week to the Winter Affair week and show you the whole collection! How does that sound? ;)

In daylight

In artificial light

In artificial light again ;)

In halogen light

A blurry picture so you can see all that gold shimmer!

Close up in daylight

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Shimmer (almost foil).

Colour: A dark green base (almost jelly like) packed with so much gold shimmer that it looks like a warm glowing metallic green. :D

Collection: Color Club Winter Affair Holiday Collection 2012.

Opacity: Good! This is two coats. If you do very thin coats you might need a third coat. I did two fairly thick coats and it's completely opaque. :)

Drying time: Normal.

Formula: Hmmm... A bit tricky I'm afraid... At least for the first coat. The formula is rather thin and I had to apply the first coat with very light strokes and lots of polish on the brush in order to avoid bald spots... Second coat applied much better.

Brush: Ok! Quite thin but ok. Strange really, because "Berry and Bright" from the same collection had a much wider brush... :/

Shine: Shiny on its own, but I have one coat of Seche Vite in these pictures.

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: Quite accurate. Best picture is the daylight picture. The others are a tiny bit too dark green looking. You can see the gold shimmer much more IRL and it's more sparkly and glittery IRL too!

Grade: 4+++/5 :)

This is an awsome green polish packed with so much gold shimmer that the bottle almost explodes! ;) I really like it even though the formula could have been better. This polish gives me a christmas feeling even though you can use it all year around :)

What do you think?

Does this polish make your heart beat a little faster?

Do you get that x-mas feeling too? ;)

Color Club Snow-flakes over Berry and Bright - swatches

This is the effect top coat called "Snow-flakes" from Color Club's Winter Affair Holiday Collection 2012.
It's a flake polish which goes from yellow to orange to red and in some rare angles to green.
This is one coat over Color Club's Berry and Bright from the same collection.

In daylight

In daylight

In artificial light

In shadow

Close up in daylight

A bit of a thick formula but still very easy to apply. It dries very quickly too.
I think I like Berry and Bright better without "Snow-flakes". You can see how that looks here.

What do you like most? Berry and Bright with or without Snow-flakes?

And what do you think of this flake polish?

Color Club Berry and Bright - swatches and review

First out from Color Club's Winter Affair Holiday Collection 2012 is "Berry and Bright"! A gorgeous red which looked so much better on my nails than in the bottle! Let's take a look! ;)

In daylight

In artificial light

In halogen light

Full hand in artificial light

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Shimmer/Glass fleck.

Colour: A medium red packed with red shimmer and glass flecks. In some lights I can also se gold and silver glass flecks.

Collection: Color Club Winter Affair Holiday Collection 2012.

Opacity: Very good! This is two coats. If you do one a bit thicker coat, you can easily get away with one coat! :)

Drying time: Normal.

Formula: Great! It's applies almost perfectly and it stays exactly where you want it to! :D

Brush: Excellent! Quite firm and thick, just the way I like it! ;)

Shine: Shiny on its own, but I have one coat of Seche Vite in these pictures.

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: Quite accurate. Best picture is the daylight picture. The others are a tiny bit too orange looking. Much more sparkly and glittery IRL too!

Grade: 4/5 :)

This is a lovely red sparkly polish! It's classic but with a twist due to the heavy amount of shimmer and glassflecks in it! In some lights it looks like it glows from within which is soo gorgeous!
I had no expectations of this polish so I was surprised by its lovely colour, glow and of its excellent qualities! If you like reds, this one is a must in your collection! ;)

What do you think of this polish?

Tuxedo nails - swatches and tutorial

Today I've done a tuxedo manicure mainly because of two reasons:
1. It's Nailart Sunday and the theme for today is GALA :) and to me a tuxedo absolutely screams gala ;)
2. This week it was the premiere of the James Bond movie "Skyfall" and who wears a tux better than 007 ;)

My inspiration ;)

I used Orly's Halo as base polish for that extra sparkly tuxedo shirt ;) and then a black polish for the tuxedo details. I used a thin brush to do the sides and the bow tie and a dotting tool to do the buttons. I did the details in that order; sides, bow, buttons. I finished of with a top coat to seal the manicure.

Is this manicure gala to you?

Do you like it?

Orly Halo - swatches and review

They say that you shouldn't mix gold and silver... But this is just what Orly has done in this wonderful polish and it couldn't have turned out better!! Just look at this glitter bomb!! :D

In halogen light

In artificial light

Small gold glitter and large silver glitter makes a great combo!

Blurry picture so you can see the amazing glitter effect!! ;)

In daylight

Full hand in artifial light

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Glitter.

Colour: Gold micro glitter and larger round silver glitter in a clear base. The silver glitter kind of even out the gold glitter so it looks like a soft pale gold polish. It's so beautiful! :D

Collection: Orly Naughty or Nice Collection Winter 2012.

Opacity: Good. This is three coats, but the third coat made no difference so TWO coats is enough. :)

Drying time: A bit faster than normal. :)

Formula: Very good! Even though the formula is rather thick, it's applies perfectly and stays where you want it to! :)

Brush: Very good! :) As always with Orly it's a bit of a thicker brush and the cap is lovely to grip while applying. :D

Shine: Shiny on its own, but I have one coat of Seche Vite in these pictures. It doesn't leave your nails with that super rough surface as most glitter polishes do either. After one coat of Seche they get surprisingly smooth but if you want them super smooth you had better take two coats of Seche ;)

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: What you see is what you get! ;) Except that they are much more sparkly and glittery IRL! :)

Grade: 5/5 :D

This is a lovely gold and silver glitter combo which makes your nails glamourous in a tick! Excellent qualities for a glitter polish to. The creator of this polish simply must have been an angel and this was the colour of its halo ;)

What do think of this polish?

Does it make your heart beat a little faster? ;)

Comparison: Glampyre vs Cast A Spell - swatches

After applying China Glaze's Cast A Spell yesterday I just had to compare it to BB Couture's Glampyre because they are both heavy bronze/olive green shimmer polishes. So here's a quick comparison of the two! :)
Glampyre is on index and ring finger. Cast A Spell is on the others.

In daylight

In artificial light

In the shadow

Conclusion:
In some lights they are similar but they are far from dupes!
Glampyre is more bronze and Cast A Spell is more green. Cast A Spell also has larger shimmer particles than Glampyre.
They are both very beautiful in their own way. Perfect for fall manicures! So sorry all you lacquer heads - you need BOTH! ;)

You can see a full review of Cast A Spell here and a full review of Glampyre here.

Which one would you prefer if you had to chose?

China Glaze Cast A Spell - swatches and review

This polish deserves better pictures than these below! But no matter how I tried these were the best my camera would take... :/ You have to trust me on this one... it's an amazing polish!!! :D

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Shimmer.

Colour: Lots and lots and lots of gold/green shimmer in a blackened base. In some lights it looks green and in other lights it looks brown. It's amazing! :D

Collection: China Glaze Halloween 2012 Wicked Collection.

Possible dupe: China Glaze Wagon Trail is similar but not a dupe.

Opacity: Excellent! This is ONE coat! :D

Drying time: Normal. :)

Formula: Excellent! It's applies perfectly and it stays exactly where you want it to! :D One of the best formulas I have ever seen actually!! :D

Brush: Very good actually! :) A bit thicker brush than the normal China Glaze brush! :D I like it! Hope they keep up the good work! ;)

Shine: Shiny on its own, but I have one coat of Seche Vite in these pictures.

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: It's a bit more green IRL. I don't know why my camera didn't want to catch that... Best picture is the bottle picture. But as I wrote earlier, the colour changes depending on the light.

Grade: 5+++/5 :D

This is a beautiful polish with super excellent qualities!! Unique and it should look good on both short and long nails. Get a bottle before everyone wants one! :)

What do YOU think of this polish? :)

Flower nail art - swatches

Today I wanted to do something different so I did these toffee coloured flower nails ;) But didn't they turn out kind of cute...? ;)


They were so easy to do!
The base polish is China Glaze Desert Sun.
Then I did some stamping with a black Depend polish and Bundle Monster plate BM-224. I finished off with a top coat. Done! :D

Thumbs up or down? What do you think?

UP Colors Holografico Verde 360 - swatches and review

Today, as a treat for my good friend Sabina ;), I want to show you a holographic turquoise polish from UP Colors! I was both surprised and disappointed after having applied this polish. But let's look at it first! :)

In halogen light

In halogen light

In lightbulb light

In halogen light

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Holographic.

Colour: A medium turquoise with a holo effect.

Opacity: Excellent! This is ONE coat! :D

Drying time: Slower than normal, probably because the formula is rather thick.

Formula: Weird... Thick and saucy but it stays pretty much where you want it to. Use few strokes to avoid streakyness.. I can't remember having encountered a formula like this... It's so hard to describe...

Brush: Also weird... The brush appears directly where the cap ends and it's too soft... but somehow the brush must be working since the polish stays where it's supposed to...

Shine: Dries with an almost matte finish. I have NO top coat at all in these pictures.

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: Quite accurate actually but the holo effect is much more obvious IRL.

Grade: 3+/5

I was surprised that this was a one coater! Holos are normally sheer so that was a good surprise!
But on the other hand I was disappointed in the brush and in formula... I also thought it would be more of a brighter bluish turquoise (the picture on llarowe's site is not accurate at all!!)...
I had so high expectations of this polish which didn't come true so that's why I only gave it 3/5, but don't get me wrong - in the end it is a lovely polish! ;)

What do you think of this polish?

Did it meet your expectations? :)