Italian Nail Mail!

Yesterday I got an amazing nail mail from my dear friend Tanja at Raggio di Luna Nails! She lives in Italy and she sent me six gorgeous beauties from Kiko, Pupa, Deborah Milano and Maybelline. From the bottom of my heart: Tanja - mille grazie cara!! <3

Tanja and I share a deep and long lasting love for blue polishes which you can see reflects well in this fantastic nail mail ;) I can't wait to try these and I bet the ones from Kiko are good for stamping! :D Just look at the duo chrome one!! It makes me drool ;)

Which one would you like me to try first? :)

Shimmer Cristina - swatches and review

This is my first experience of a Shimmer polish. I had such a hard time choosing which one to try first  so I went for the one with the same name as my mother - Cristina. My mother is fantastic so I gathered this one would be too! ;)

I'm not sure if this polish qualifies for Green Wednesday but I'll give it a try ;) It is a sort of green/turquoise/teal blend :)

This is Cristina on her own, two coats.

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Glitter.

Number of coats: Two.

Formula: Nice formula for a glitter polish. A bit thick but not gluey.

Brush: Medium thick and straight cut.

Top Coat: Yes, one coat. More needed to get it ultra smooth.

Color accuracy in pictures: My camera kept wanting to capture this polish green :/ but these three pictures are accurate. 

Grade: 3+/5

Maybe I wasn't in the mood for this polish or perhaps my expectations were to high but I was a bit disappointed how this turned out on the nails. So dark and gloomy. However, it is a pretty blend of glitters so a 3+ from me this time :) I really like the red contrast glitters.

How do you like Cristina?

Jade Energy - swatches and review

It's Holo Friday and I've got a stunning Jade polish for you today! You've probably seen it before but these are my pictures and my review ;)

GOOD TO KNOW ABOUT ENERGY:

Type of polish: Holographic.

Colour: Teal/Greenish turquiose with a strong holographic effect.

Opacity: Very good! This is two coats.

Formula: Excellent! The application was totally effortless. The two coats just slid on easily!

Brush: Excellent! No complaints what so ever!

Shine: Very shiny on its own so I have no top coat in these pictures. I did apply Seche Vite after taking these pictures and I thought that actually diminished the holo effect. So I recommend no top coat for this polish.

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: Accurate. Perhaps slightly more green irl and sooo much more gorgeous irl! ;)

Grade: 5/5 :D

This is an amazing holo polish with an absolute perfect formula! And the holo effect is amazing!

How do you like the beautiful Energy?

A england Saint George - swatches and review

This is a beautiful teal holo from a england!
Not the strongest of holo ;) but still gorgeous!!

In halogen light

In halogen light

In halogen light

In artificial light

In artificial light

In artificial light

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Holographic.

Colour: A dark rich teal with a holo effect. The blue and the green sparkles of the holo effect are dominant.

Collection: A england The Ledgends Collection.

Opacity: Excellent! This is ONE coat!! :D 

Drying time: Normal.

Formula: Very good! Nice texture and easy to work with. Stays where you want it to. :D Be careful with the number of strokes though to avoid bald spots.

Brush: Perfect! Thick and firm! Very easy to apply with. ;)

Shine: Very 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 top picture. This is a dark teal coloured polish. It's not dark blue. It's not dark green. It's teal! ;) It has a depth in it that doesn't really show in these pictures. It's absolutely gorgeous IRL! ;)

Grade: 5/5 :D

Teal, holo, a one coater AND an excellent formula!?!? Am I dreaming?? ;) Anything but a top grade would be a disaster!! ;) Ok, I wish the holo effect would be a bit stronger, but it's quite nice with a holo polish that doesn't scream out rainbows. But that's nice to of course ;) 

Do you have any a england polishes?

Do you like this one or is the holo effect to weak for you...? ;)

Panda nails - swatches and tutorial

I made these cute panda nails for this Nail Art Sunday.

The theme of today is... Zoo!! :D

My inspiration :)

I used the following polishes:

China Glaze - Exotic Encounters (teal)

Barry M - White Matte (white)

Illamasqua - Boosh (black)

How to do make these panda nails:

Apply a base colour.

Make white large circles at the end of the nails.

Use a dotting tool to make the ears and eyes.

Apply a top coat. Done! :D

What do you think?

Cute or just too much...? :)

Four shades of teal - a quick comparison

Since my newest obsession is TEAL ;) I wanted to compare my four new teal polishes to see how alike they really were. This is the result! :)

In daylight

In artificial light

The compared polishes are: (from left to right)

Gina Tricot - Petrol

Barry M - Watermelon

China Glaze - Exotic Encounters

a England - Saint George

Ok, the are all teals, but they are all unique colours! :D No dupes here! ;)
And I needed them ALL! ;)

I can't choose a favourite... :/ but IF you twist my arm I'll have to go with... China Glaze's Exoctic Encounters AND a England's Saint George, because it's a holo ;)

Which one do you like most?

Do you have another favourite teal polish? Do tell!!

China Glaze Exotic Encounters - swatches and review

This polish is even more beautiful on the nails than I could ever imagine! :D
I love it! To me, this is the PERFECT teal!!

In daylight

In artificial light

It dries a tiny bit darker on the nails than the colour in the bottle

Perfect teal! ;)

My cat Smilla decided she wanted to join me as I shot this picture :)

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Cream.

Colour: A medium teal (a bluish dusky green).

Collection: China Glaze On Safari Collection Fall 2012.

Opacity: Excellent! This is ONE coat! :D

Drying time: A bit slower than normal, probably because the formula is on the thicker side.

Formula: Very good! It's applies like dream :D - even though it's a bit thicker. It stays exactly where you want it to! :D

Brush: A bit on the thin side but the formula was so good that I didn't mind.

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

Accurate colour, photo vs IRL: Quite accurate. Maybe a tiny bit more green... Best picture is the nails in the bottle picture.

Grade: 5+++++/5 :D

I absolutely adore this polish! The colour is gorgeous! The formula is excellent! A one-coater!!! :D If you like teal, this one is da s--t! ;)

Do you share my enthusiasm?

Have you tried this polish?

New polish arrivals!!! :D

I love to see what other laquer heads have bought - so I thought you would like to see what I've bought! ;) This is what I picked up at Gina Tricot the other day:

From the left: Petrol, Brilliant Blue and Wannabe

I got so inspired by Pamsan at ClawsInColor when she had her Gina Tricot week last week! I just had to pick up three Gina Tricot polishes of my own! ;)

I expected to have to stand by the the crowded pay desk and look through a messy box of polishes but NO! They had a neat large rack (almost a wall) in the shop area where all the polishes stood in their own holes sorted by colour :D
This was a nice suprise indeed! :D
They had at least 30 different colours and also removers, nail files etc.

The price is also quite good - you get three polishes (10 ml bottles) for 99 SEK ($14 or £9). (Or 39 SEK per bottle.)

I'm a big fan of blue and green so it'll be great fun to try them on!

Have you tried any of Gina Tricot's polishes?

What do you think of them?

Do you like the ones I bought? :)

Butter London Slapper

Today I will show you a beautiful bright teal polish from Butter London called Slapper!
Not unique, but ooooh soooo lovely!!!

I don't really understand the link between teal and the word "slapper" though... :/ Please comment if you have any thoughts on this! ;)

In artificial light

Also artificial light but there is no greater difference in colour between artificial light and sunlight

GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Cream.

Colour: A bright teal.

Opacity: Very good!! This is two coats. You can possibly get away with one coat if you apply it a bit thicker.

Drying time: Normal.

Formula: Excellent!!! It's so easy to apply! Actually, most Butter London polishes have really good formulas.

Brush: Great! Perfect actually! :D

Durability: Good. A bit better than normal to be honest :)

Shine: Perfectly shiny on it's own, but I have one coat of Seche Vite in these pictures for better durability.

Accurate colour, photo versus IRL: A bit more green than in these pictures, but still teal, not turquoise.

Grade: 4+/5

I love the colour and the formula, but it's not a very unique polish colourwise.
If you only want to have one teal in your collection though - this is it! :)