Ninja Polish Alexandrite, Eye Candy and Zultanite

 

Hope you all enjoy your (long) weekend! Today I have some Ninja Polish polishes to show you which I have been trying out over various colors other than black.

First up is Alexandrite. Its a fine glittery duochrome nail polish that can be worn alone if you’re willing to waste this beauty on layers, or it can be worn over other colors. The duochrome effect is very strong and evident on this one. It sparkles turquoise to purple, sometimes a bit pink, gold and blue too. I used one coat over MAC Peppermint Patti.

I tried Alexandrite over various other colors, but I like it the best over mint. I also thought it looked cool over a vivid medium blue, such as essence shopping @ portobello road.

With Eye Candy, I had some difficulties finding a good base color. It is a very colorful tiny glitter mix consisting of blue, purple, green, gold/orange, and most probably other colors, but that’s primarily what I see. Unexpectedly, I liked this best over purple (p2 cool plum)….

… and blue (p2 wintry blue). 

 

 I’m a big fan of polishes with a gold-greenish color, so Zultanite looked the most fun to me from the beginning on. It has this unusual color shift from copper to olive but an intense golden glow (it is never, ever, brown.) I love colors like this! I decided to layer it over a similar base color – obviously the color shift is stronger if layered over black, but I think everything looks so alike if layered over black! – but it looks the most “natural” over Revlon Spanish Moss.

 

Did you find any other layering combinations you could share? I’m always interested!

How I wore it: Revlon Downtown

You all know I have a thing for pink, and lime green, and lately red. But did I ever tell you my favorite finish? Shimmer, yes. But my second favorite then? It’s this metallic/foil thing that Zoya does so well, but I’d take it from any brand.

So understand my excitement when I received some Revlons in a swap that have a similar foily finish! I swatched them immediately, was super happy about them, put them in a drawer, and forgot. I actually didn’t wear any of them until recently, when I realized, I can’t just put stuff in drawers, I have to wear it! So there you go, Revlon Downtown.

I picked Downtown first, because I don’t want to wear blues and greens to work, and it was weekend.

Application wise, Downtown was great. It dried really quickly and I had no problems whatsoever. I used two coats for full coverage.

 I don’t like dressing up all that much on the weekends, so I decided to just warp myself in a huge scarf that I got from Accessorize. I would have never paid regular prize for this, I’m cheap and I have patience until stuff is on sale.  (I even look like what I just said in this picture! Whaaat, not on sale?!)

The skirt is from Uniqlo, the t-shirt is a dress from Oysho, but much too short for me, so I could only wear it as a t-shirt. The jacket is also from Oysho. It is super cozy and I love it to bits! The boots are a present from my mum. There’s nothing special to say about make-up, so I’ll be silent in that department.

    Do you also just want to relax on weekends?

Worst polishes of 2012

While everybody else is out there praising their 2012  favourites, I decided to give you a random list of “worsts”! The main reason for this is that there are too many polishes I liked in 2012, and the other reason is that I enjoy being mean sometimes – and this will give me the perfect opportunity. You can disagree with me and let me know which polishes you didn’t like this year!

As a general info: Worst of 2012 refers to polishes I wore in 2012, not necessarily ones that were brought out in 2012. Let’s get started!

Pretty much everything from the Catrice Hidden World LE. brown, salmon and frosty white – no thank you!

 OPI Play the Peonies. Okay, so I liked Chanel Attraction, but this is also more pink. Frosty, white-ish pink. Brrr.

Revlon Mint Gelato. Sheer dusty turquoise, unbearable smell (and I love mint!): overall performance could not convince (that was very diplomatic).

I like the idea of  NYX Precious Gems, but the execution lacks… skills? experience? love? ideas? Well, you pick.

Models Own Dusty Mauve - they name already gives this one away. Not much I can say or do that will make it cry harder.

It pains me to say it, but Orly Artificial Sweetener only looks good in the bottle. I gave it chance after chance, but it just looks yuck on me. Even though it is pink!

essence Rebel Topcoat in Punk Royal  (and Catrice No smoke without fire): jelly black doesn’t work. AT ALL. Even if it has glitter in it. Ooooh I think these two might win the ugliest of ugly award.  Looks like black snot or slime over my nails! *shudders*

OPI Gouda Gouda Two Shoes. This is not a decent or elegant version of brown, this is ugly. Same goes for Nubar Charmeuse -  just because Nubar makes it a bit more difficult to call this plain brown, it is freakishly boring (and ugly). And, a bit more mauve but still too brown for me: OPI Mauving to Manitoba.

Glitter Gal Flawless Pink is everything but flawless. At least it’s holographic, but it’s definitely not flawless (and, to be honest, it’s not much pink either).

MAC Style Clan - poop brown with orange glitter – it can’t get much worse. Oh, wait! Short nails make it look extra bad. I don’t even want to start telling you what I think this looks like.

Jessica Glitterati - great idea, but such a failure. I pretty much hated how it looked like on the nail. The only thing left to say is, WHY?!

GOSH Ocean. Eeeeuh. It’s too much of everything. Too many brush strokes, too much color, too much, just too much.

Barielle Out-grey-geous. Can’t even deal with this after I stamped over it. It’s completely boring and unfitting, and then, why the many “-” in the name?

I thought I’d never have complaints about yellow polish, but Nicole by OPI Yellow it’s me changed my mind. I tried it alone, over white, over yellow – the orange/red glow in it just ruins it for me, apart from it being so sheer. In the same area is essence peach beauty (fruity TE) – I mean come on, patchy, sheer orange? Hell no! There’s no excuse for sheer yellow nail polish. Polish makers of the world, unite, and fight against this nuisance!

The extra awards for horrible application go to Face of Australia Verdigris (bubbles in metallic, streaky military green) and Sinful Colors Cinderella (patchy shimmery light blue, impossible to make opaque without it looking as if it ran down your tips).

I wish you all a great New Year’s Eve and a good start into the new year. Hope your hangovers won’t be too bad, and that you all have someone to kiss at midnight.

Sunday Spam: Gliiiiiitters!

Well, finally I have a Sunday SPAM Post for you again! This Sunday’s theme is G.L.I.T.T.E.R. Isn’t that awesome? Let me know in the comments which one you like best!  PS: all the people who celebrate Christmas: Aren’t you excited? I sure am!! One more night!

Sation Summer Night Sparkle over barry M bright pink. It looks like little air bubbles in an aquarium. 1 coat.

Sally Hansen  Into the spotlight over Finger Paints Grape Gumball. Into the spotlight is medium sized holographic bar glitter in a clear base. I used one coat.

Sinful Colors Call me later over funky fingers mrs mint. Call me later is a mix ov super tiny green and gold glitters and larger round green ones. One coat.

Sinful Colors Green Ocean, also over funky fingers Mrs. Mint. This is a iridiscent glitter, on the verge of looking like a flakie. Very ocean-like! 1 coat.

sally hansen Rockstar Pink over SOPI Iris I was thinner (still funny!) – this would probably cover in 2-3 coats, but I decided to layer it. It’s a mix of magenta, blue and gold glitter, but the magenta glitters prevail. 1 coat.

OPI I Lily love you over OPI Houston we have a purple. I Lily love you is a mix of iridiscent glitter shreds  and smaller round glitters in a sheer, pink tinted base. If you didn’t realise yet, I like iridiscent glitters. More than a grown woman probably should, but who am I to judge. 1 coat.

Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter over OPI If you moust you moust – same principle, iridiscent glitter in a pink base – the glitters are smaller though, and the pink base leans towards neon pink! I tried to apply it without a base color, but that would take way too many coats.

Sation Glints and Glam over Revlon Sugar Glaze. Glints and Glam is a mix of differently sized holographic glitters in a milky pink base. I don’t like how thick this can look, so I try to layer glitters in milky bases over similar colors. I used only one coat.

This was your Sunday Spam – what would you like to be spammed with next week?

Stamping Stairs

Just a quick post for today, but one of the manicures I loved the most lately. I started off with two coats of Revlon Cherry Bon Bon, a medium tomato red polish. It is somewhere between jelly and creme in texture – easy to apply, maybe a bit on the thin side.

Then I picked up my bottle of Sancion Angel Neytiri, which is a dark blue holographic polish – the holographic effect isn’t the strongest, but I like them that way too.  Most importantly, it works wonders for stamping.

I stamped this stair-look-alike pattern, and I wore it basically until it grew out. Who would’ve thought that I so adore the red and blue combination? What do you think?

Sunday Spam: Miscellaneous

Have you had a nice weekend so far? I surely did! I love lazy Saturdays and Sundays!

First up, wet’n'wild Wild Card – mostly a purplish mauve polish, but it changes to a slightly taupe or grey color. I used three coats, and the brush strokes are still slightly visible, even though the polish is completely dry. 

Spa Ritual Running with Wolves is a brown shimmer polish – it’s a medium warm brown. The brushstrokes are barely visible, and I only needed two thin coats. 

Essence Gold Digger is a glitter topcoat. It consists of tiny golden glitters and a bit larger red glitters. I used one coat and I must say I really like it over Spa Ritual Running with Wolves (below, and before that: one coat over Revlon Cherry Berry).

Sinful Colors Boogie Nights versus Revlon Tropical Temptation – they seemed to be the same in the bottle, so I wanted to know. They are virtually impossible to tell apart in daylight, the slight difference only shows with flash. 2 coats each. 

Sinful Colors Cinderella was a polish the whole nail polish world fell for. It is very pretty indeed, especially as it has this beautiful pink flash. I used three coats though, as it didn’t level out properly.

Revlon Lemon Meringue is a beautiful pastel yellow creme. It is rather jelly like, so it had less issues in application than the average yellow pastel creme. Only downside is that it smells – it is ‘perfumed’, something I have an aversion against.

Models Own Golden Peach is a coral polish with immense golden shimmer. I love golden and silver shimmer, so it was obvious to me that I’d just love this! 2 coats.

Models Own Dusty Mauve is a grey polish that leans purple. I didn’t like this on me, even though it looked very pretty in the bottle. 2 coats. 

Revlon Cherry Berry is a pretty average pink/red creme. It does look very cherry colored, so I agree with the name . I used two coats.

L’oréal Pink Carat is a pink creme. It’s very vibrant, but not unique, and also, L’oréal doesn’t last very long on me – I get tip wear way too quickly.  2 coats.

Coastal Scents Peony – 2 coats of a very vibrant pink. Love the color, but I think I may have 10 other polishes that are exactly the same.

Mist Stockholm Cosmos over Coastal Scents Peony – super awesome pink with a strong golden and green shimmer. I love this, and it looks just like Zoya Happi. 2 coats, first picture is with flash to bring out the green!

And last for this Sunday: Orly Pixie Dust – a blue/grey polish with silver specks in it. I used two coats – great color!

 

 

How I wore it: Revlon Mint Gelato with glitter

Are you already totally in fall mood or are you enjoying the last sunny days before the leaves start turning red and yellow?

I definitely was in a summer mood a couple of days ago, so I decided to take out Revlon Mint Gelato and give it a spin.

Mint Gelato is a light teal jelly polish. I used two rather thick coats, but you can see that it looks patchy and it doesn’t fully cover. In turn, it looks super squishy. Unfortunately, this polish is scented, and it has a super artificial mint chocolate smell. I could have dealt with the application, but the smell was unbearable for me.

 

I decided to paint Sally Hansen Showgirl chic over the tips of my manicure. Showgirl chic is a very dense silver and blue glitter polish, that can be worn alone or over a base color.

Then I painted one coat of Milani Teal over the whole nail. Teal is a glitterpolish that has blue, teal and green glitters in a clear base. I used one coat over the Revlon and Sally Hansen manicure, and I liked this combination  a lot. It’s almost a gradient look, and it was easy to do and quick!

 

I paired this look with a teal jersey necklace from Cora Kemperman and matching earrings from H&M. I also wore jeans in boyfriend cut (Pepe Jeans) and a regular white t-shirt from Etam.

Red glitters Comparison

I haven’t gotten over glitters, and I assume I never really will. There are periods when I wear less of it, but despite the removal issue, I am still very fond of glitters, especially the glitter polishes that consist of small glitters and can therefore be worn alone. Hence it is not surprising that I have a generous amount of polishes that look similar, and I went on a dupe hunt for you.

I have never shown you Revlon Glitz and Glam before – it is a dark red jelly leaning towards pink filled with silver glitters. I used three coats of it for the swatches below.

 

I have two polishes that I thought would be similar, but well, judge for yourselves – I don’t think they are very much alike.
Sally Hansen Lady Luck on my middle finger and index finger is a dark red jelly like the one from Revlon, but there’s no silver glitter. Instead, is is filled with glitter the same base as the jelly and sparser holographic glitters.
Nicole by OPI Sensational Scarlet – on my pinkie and ring finger – has a differently colored base even, it is more of a ripe tomato red color, hence “scarlet”, and it is filled with red and iridescent glitters. No dupes here, I’d say! I used three coats for both polishes. 

Which glitters do you like best?

Girly Purple

 

Today I’m showing you another franken I made some time back. I like frankening, but I am super careful about advertising them, because some of them look so gorgeous in the bottle and turn out horrible on the nail. I love the amount of glitter bombs out there by various indie polish makers, but I am also very cautious about buying some of them, as some, not all obviously, are made quickly and not tested long enough. So I only post my frankens after wearing them at least once before, which means at least a couple of weeks of them resting untouched in my polish vault. This particular unnamed franken is one of the ones I’m happy with (I make about 10 finished frankens when I sit down and get creative, and usually one or two make it in my nail polish vault, as the other ones have issues with bleeding or curling glitters, etc), so I wanted to share it.

I used 2 coats of Revlon Girly as a base. Girly is a pastel lavender polish with intense silver shimmer provided by the silver particles in the polish. It dries to a somewhat brushed metallic steel look, this is the best I can describe it. It looks like our kitchen counter  

The franken polish itself is a sheer purple (yes, you heard right! I made something purple!) jelly, interspersed with blue, silver and pink hex glitters in various sizes. There are also occasional bar silver glitters in there, but not many. I haven’t worn it on its own, but I assume one would need many coats for it to be opaque. I used two thin coats for the pictures below, and I had no problems applying the glitter, as the base of the polish is rather thick.

What do you think, do you like it?

 

Nail Polish Confessions

I must confess something to you. I received this polish, one of my biggest lemmings, in a swap I did with my friend H. We have an ongoing swap, and this was in the first package she ever sent me. She tracked it down, and sent me a triumphant picture that she found it and there and then I knew I couldn’t let her go! So, what is there to confess? I never wore it. Never. I have been sitting in front of my desk, eyeing it, I have held the bottle 2cm before my eyes to take in the colour in all its beauty, but I never dared to put it on. I mean, what if I wore it and it would be -God forbid- empty some day? What if I accidently hit it and it would spill? What if it wasn’t as beautiful as I imagined it to be?

Well, luckily, I got over those fabricated fears of mine. Luckily for me, it has not disappointed me in any way what so ever. It is beautiful.

Revlon Not so blueberry.

It had to be typed in a special paragraph for impact, right?! I used two coats – application and coverage are just fine. The colour is somewhere between periwinkle and purple, it is metallic, but doesn’t have those annoying brush strokes. Also, it is calm, cool and beautiful. And the shimmer is amazing.

above: daylight. below: artificial light, no flashbelow: flash

Well, what do you think- about the polish, not me. I’m assuming you think I’m weird and crazy!