A England Tristam

Hello lovelies!

It's Thursday, which means the week is nearly over! I can't wait for it to end. It hasn't been fun sitting around at home being ill. Blah. But today the sun came out for a bit and I took it as a sign to put on something holo. I just knew I had to put on the stunning A England Tristam. It instantly made me feel better, as I knew it would. <3

Tristam is a stunning deep blue holo. As with the other A England holo, Lady of the Lake, the holographic effect is subtle and elegant, but definitely there. In the sun it's impossible to look away from - even my dad was fascinated ;) I love how this looks with pale skin (again with my skin looking weird and darker than it is in pictures...).

On top of being a beauty, the formula on Tristam is flawless. Let me say that again: the formula is flawless. (It's pretty much a one coater, but I did two out of habit.) I have absolutely nothing negative to say about this polish. In fact, I have absolutely nothing negative to say about A England in general. Except maybe for this: I think I'm spoiled for life. I'll always compare other polish to A England from now on. ;)

What do you guys think? Did you take advantage of the free shipping A England has yet? What's your go-to feel good polish?

Pink Wednesday: Kiko 237

Hello lovelies! :)

I hope you're all having a good week so far. I'm still stuck at home, ill. Ugh. Anyhow. It's Wednesday, and you all know what that means...

This is one of the Kiko polishes I made my dad bring back from Barcelona (isn't he awesome? :D) and I freaking love it. It's got the number 237 (am I the only one who hates when polishes have no names? I could look it up on the website, but I'm too lazy.) and it's one of their "sparkle touch" ones. I think these were meant for layering, because they are very sheer, but I wanted to try and wear this on its own.

I started out with a base of two coats of OPI Ridge Filler, then I added three coats of Kiko 237. Application was alright: I really like the Kiko brushes, but the formula was definitely on the thin and runny side. One thing I did notice was that drying time was insanely long on this. I ended up adding a second coat of Seche Vite after a couple of hours, which solved the problem. (This reminds me... I had the same problem with that one scented Revlon polish. I'm wondering if it's because of the Ridge Filler? Anybody else experience something like this?)

Enough talking. Here's the pretty!

Do I really need to explain why this is awesomesauce? The multicoloured sparkles, the way it lights up in sunlight, the way it's a bit of a chameleon (going from pale to bright), the gold that makes it look like it's on fire.... Such a beauty. <3 I can't wait to layer with this!

What do you lovelies think? Do you own any Kiko polishes? Are you wearing pink today? :)

Sally Hansen Calypso Blue

Hello lovelies!

I'm stuck at home, because I'm ill and the weather isn't too great, so I can't actually do any swatching. -__- At any rate, I'm not feeling great so today I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

Calypso Blue is part of the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line. It's a gorgeous turquoise shimmer, with an almost golden sheen to it. Makes me think of clear blue oceans, the beach, tropical drinks...in short, everything I don't like. lol Still, pretty polish!

I used two coats for full opacity. Application was smooth and easy. I actually really liked the formula on this. What bothered me was that I found it chipped super quickly and that it did give me a very slight case of smurf nails.

Anyway. That's it from me for today. Have a lovely rest of the day! <3

Work Mani: Essie Sand Tropez

Hello lovelies! Happy Monday!

This will post when I'm at work, which is quite fitting...

I work for a company that is very strict about personal appearance: amongst other things, we're not allowed to wear colourful makeup or nail polish. This has been quite tough for me, because I'm usually all for bold colour statements, but needs must. I took it as an opportunity to break out all my nude and subtle polish.

Since Monday is the beginning of yet another work week for most of us, I'll be posting my work manis on Mondays. Not sure how frequently, as I don't have an unlimited supply of work appropriate polish, but we'll see. I always have a hard time finding work appropriate polish as I can never really find proper swatches online - no wonder, it's mostly boring polish. I hope this helps some of you who, like me, can't wear fun polish to work. :)

Essie Sand Tropez is a very light, grey-toned beige creme. This is two coats plus topcoat. It's a very opaque polish, but as with most colours as light as this, the formula isn't perfect. It's quite thick and runny at the same time - a tricky combination. Application is alright, not perfect but not terrible.

What do you guys think? A polish you'd wear to work? What's your favourite work appropriate polish? I need suggestions! :)

Nubar Night Sparkle

Hello lovelies!

I hope you're all enjoying your Sundays! Personally, I hate Sundays even more than Mondays. I'm always too busy being grumpy about having to work the next day to enjoy them. lol

Anyhow. Today's polish is one of the few Nubar polishes I own and so far my favourite.

Night Sparkle is a midnight blue jelly base with a ton of fine silver glitter in it. Isn't it stunning? The name is so fitting, in my opinion. It really reminds me of a star-strewn night sky, cosmos, supernovas...how could I not love this?!

I needed three coats for full opacity, which isn't too surprising for a jelly, even if it's a dark one. (Remember to wrap your tips with both polish and topcoat to avoid shrinkage!) I thought the formula was on the thin side, bordering on runny, but still manageable. Also, drying time seemed to be quite short.

One thing to watch out for: smurf nails! I did use a basecoat, but my nails were still quite stained. By now (two polish applications later) the blue is gone, though. :)

But here's the really awesome thing about this polish: it wears insanely well. I'm such a chaotic, clumsy idiot that polish usually chips in the first 24 hours on me, but this one didn't have any chips when I removed it after two days. Can you say awesome?

On a different note, I'm currently experimenting with nail shapes. Right now I'm sporting round nubbins (as seen above). I'm liking my nubbins these days, but maybe that's because I don't really have a choice. Work basically kills my nails every time. :( But it's been fun to see how different colours look on short nails! What do you guys think? Do the nubbins suit me or should I go back to long nails asap?

China Glaze Ick-A-Body

Hello lovelies!

I hope you all made it through the week unscathed and are now enjoying your weekends! :)

I know it's only September, but since Halloween isn't really a big deal here anyway I figured I might as well show this awesome polish now! I picked this up super cheap while I was in Canada and boy, am I glad I did! I knew there was a reason I wanted this polish so much...

China Glaze Ick-A-Body is a ton of orange glitter in a murky, dark green jelly base. Since there's so much glitter in this it does dry gritty and somewhat dull; what you see here is two coats, plus one coat of Seche Vite. It's not perfectly smooth, but not so gritty that it would bother me.

I thought both formula and application were very nice. Not to mention that it's an absolute stunner!

What do you guys think? Do you own this one? Too early to break out the Halloween polishes?

NOPI That Go-Glitter

Hello lovelies! Happy Friday! :)

Today's polish is another one I picked up while I was in Canada. This was my first ever experience with Nicole by OPI and I sincerely hope it's uphill from here.

That Go-Glitter is blue and silver holographic glitter suspended in a clear base. What you are looking at here are six coats. It is crazy sheer and, if I'm completely honest, that sixth coat didn't even do much. As you can see in the pictures, the glitter isn't completely evenly distributed. Not pretty. It was probably meant for layering, but if you look at the bottle it looks like glitter in a blue base, hence my putting it on alone.

Needless to say, this took for-effing-ever to dry. I was super excited about this polish, but I'm not loving it at all. :(

Maybe I'll try layering it over something. I feel like I should give it a second chance. Doesn't it just look super pretty in the bottle?

Does this ever happen to you: buying a polish expecting one thing and then you apply it and it's completely different? Any suggestions how to make this one work?

A England Galahad

Hello lovelies!

Today I have another beautiful A England polish to show you. This was the first one I ever wore - it just spoke to me. So much that I reached for it before any of the holos or shimmers or other stunning colours. And let me tell you, there was a reason.

Galahad is a gorgeous turquoise creme. I'm not sure what it is about this polish, but I think it might be my favourite A England polish yet. I adore the way this looks with my complexion (my skin always looks darker than it is in pictures, so you can't really tell here, but this looks stunning against pale skin).

This is two easy coats, but if I hadn't been taking pictures I would have gone with just one coat. While a little on the thick side, it is super easy to apply. It's honestly one of the best cremes I've ever used.

What do you guys think about this polish? Do you own any A England polishes? Which is your favourite?

Pink Wednesday: OPI Flashbulb Fuchsia

Hello lovelies!

Once again I apologize for not posting; I've had a lot going on. Without further ado, here is today's pretty.

 (Excuse the state of my cuticles.)

OPI Flashbulb Fuchsia is one of the beauties I snatched up while I was in Canada. It is, as the name suggests, a fuchsia shimmer. I'm not sure if it really comes across in the pictures, but this does have a fun, albeit subtle, blue-purple-ish duochrome-esque flash. Neat little feature.

I needed two coats for full opacity; application was smooth and easy.

That's it from me for today! What are you wearing on your tips today?

One more question: would you guys be interested in seeing what brands I have to show you and then vote which ones you'd like to see first?