Wet'n'Wild Blue Wants To Be A Millionaire

Hello lovelies! I hope you're all having a good Sunday! I've spent mine doing absolutely nothing so far. Work was crazy yesterday, I really needed some relaxation. I'm also glad I still have some swatches to post, because work killed my hands and nails. I've got all these cuts and scrapes from opening crates and boxes. :(

Since yesterday was Achtung Baby's birthday and thus the last day of my nail art project, we're back to regular polish posting! Today I've got for you Wet'n'Wild Blue Wants To Be A Millionaire.

This was four coats, no topcoat. It's quite sheer, but buildable. I only wish the holo would have been stronger!

That's it from me for today. Hope you all had a good weekend!

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?

Illamasqua Scarab

Hello lovelies!

First of all, my apologies for the lack of posting, but I had a job interview last Thursday (and got the job - yay!) and I've been rather busy with work and other things in my life lately. I hope I'll be able to post more often from now on!

Today's post is dedicated to Christina, who asked me to post pictures of this polish ages ago, because she wore it on the flight back from London. <3

Illamasqua Scarab is a gorgeous deep red shimmer. It's really hard to describe the colour, to be honest. It has that vampy, lit-from-within quality, and while it's definitely red I'm almost tempted to say it has some green to it. See for yourself:

(sorry about the crappy clean-up job.)

This is two easy coats plus topcoat, but essentially this is a one coater so if you're patient and take your time you probably won't need the second coat. I found that drying time was a bit on the long side on this one, but not abysmally so. It wore quite well, too. It reminds me a little of China Glaze Heart Of Africa, but to me Scarab is a little more...exotic.

I really love this polish! It's such an elegant, yet sexy and mysterious colour, and I love how it looks with my pale skin, though I can see this looking absolutely gorgeous with a darker complexion as well.

What do you think? Do you own any Illamasqua polishes? Which is your favourite?

Pink Wednesday: Zoya Anthea

Hello lovelies!

I know it's still Wednesday somewhere in the world and you know what that means...

I'm tired today, so this is going to be short and sweet. :)

Anthea is a gorgeous coral-leaning pink with subtle gold shimmer. It's slightly darker in real life, but no less gorgeous. This is two easy coats plus topcoat. I wouldn't have added the second coat if I hadn't been taking pictures.

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

Revlon Pineapple Fizz

Hello lovelies!

I hope you've all had a good weekend. I just came back from a girl's weekend with my mum, which was a lot of fun. :) Anyhow. On to the polish!

Revlon Pineapple Fizz is part of their new scented line. I picked this up along with two others from the collection while I was in Canada and after wearing this, I really wish I'd bought more.

I remember reading somewhere that these were really sheer, so I started out with two coats of OPI Ridge Filler as a semi-opaque white base. I used three coats for the pictures below, plus topcoat. Application was a breeze, but this took ages to dry. As in, after several hours it was still wet. I ended up adding another coat of Seche Vite at that point, which took care of the issue. I'm not sure if this was something I did or the number of coats or just the nature of the polish, but I thought it was a bit of a bother.

However, the end result more than makes up for it. The sheer depth of the polish blows my mind. I adore glass flecks. <3

Isn't it gorgeous?! Also, this is a bit of a chameleon; I was convinced it was a sunny yellow and then in some lights it looked more highlighter yellow. Strange, and awesome.

As for the scented aspect... I thought it smelled gross, to be honest. Even through two layers of Seche Vite it smelled sugary sweet and artificial, like someone who's never eaten a pineapple might think a pineapple smells. Not bad enough to make me take the polish off, but it did give me a bit of a headache if I kept my hands too close to my face (i.e. while sleeping).

Still, the awesomeness of the polish makes up for all of it, if you ask me. :)

Did you pick up any of the scented Revlons? Are you going to?

American Apparel California Trooper

Hello lovelies!

I know, I've been failing with the Pink Wednesdays. :( I promise next week I'll wear pink, so I can sit with you. <3

Today I have an American Apparel polish for you. California Trooper is a beige creme; nothing fancy, but I really like it. And it does have a sort of "dirty" look to it. I'm not sure whether this is two or three coats, but I remember application being a little tricky. The polish is rather thick and streaky and the brush isn't exactly the best, but I've had worse.

That's it from me for today. What do you guys think? Do you own any American Apparel polishes?

A England Lady of the Lake

Hello lovelies!

I apologize for my lack of posting, but hopefully this little gem makes up for it. :)

When I was in England at the beginning of July I was fortunate enough to meet Adina, the heart and soul behind A England, a fairly new nail polish brand. Adina is an absolute sweetheart, as is her gorgeous kitten Tristam, and her polishes are some of the best I've ever tried. To top it all off, her polishes are inspired by the Arthurian legend. Needless to say, I've fallen in love.

Lady of the Lake is a stunning purple holo. The holo effect is subtle and elegant and simply perfect for its namesake. Not only is the polish beautiful, but the formula is wonderful as well. I loved the brush, too. I did two easy coats for this. (I did use topcoat in these pictures, but if you're patient enough to let the polish dry on its own, you won't need it. It's crazy shiny.)

Isn't she a stunner? <3

I have a few other A England polishes to show you and I can tell you, they're just as beautiful as the Lady. :)

Have a lovely day, everyone!

China Glaze Let's Do It In 3D

Hello lovelies!

As promised, polish related posting commences. And with a rather lovely polish at that. :D I know, I'm not wearing pink this wednesday so I can't sit with you... :(

China Glaze Let's Do It In 3D came out with the Kaleidoscope collection in, I believe, 2009. Unfortunately the polishes aren't available anymore and on evilbay they're sold at absolutely ridiculous prices. I was lucky to get a pretty good deal on this and two others from the collection and I've been really excited to show you this one!

I used three coats, plus topcoat. I keep hearing that topcoat dulls the holo effect, but I haven't noticed it does. *shrugs*

Warning: Here there be many pictures.

Sunlight:

Artificial light:

Do I even need to say anything? *drools*

I hope you're all having a lovely day! <3

Swatches & Review: Catrice Sand Francisco

(Still on vacation; back on the 18th)

Today's polish is Catrice Sand Francisco, a gorgeous pale gold shimmer/frost. The reason I hesitate to call this a straight-up frost is because there's hardly any brushstrokes and it dries extremely shiny. It might have been intended to be worn sheer, but it's opaque in two easy coats. I guess it would work better with a darker skintone, but I kinda dig the way this looks with my pale complexion. :)

What do you guys think? I'm really not a fan of frosts or golds, but I like this one.

Swatches & Review: Orly It's Not Rocket Science

(Still on vacation, back on the 18th.)

There's an amusing (I hope?) story about this polish. I first heard about it in a video on youtube (it might have been one by MissChievous, but I'm not positive on that) and I thought it was called It's Not Rock, It's Science. I was delighted by that "discovery" because it reminded me of U2's guitarist, The Edge ("The scientist of the band", anyone?). I spent the next few days going HEE HEE HEEEEEEEE :DDD (I'm fairly sure this is also when the U2 nail polish idea was born.) Then I looked for it online and realized it wasn't called that at all. I'm STILL disappointed. :((((

Anyway, on to the pretty. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

*drools* This is one of my favourite green polishes. I love all the polishes from this collection, but unfortunately I only own this one. I can't quite bring myself to pay the ridiculous prices on ebay. Meh. MOVING ON.

Totally in love with this polish. <3