a-England - Galahad

You know you love colorful polish when you raid your stash in search of a palate cleanser and you wind up with a-England Galahad on your nails! Cremes are palate cleansers for me because I think they're boring in terms of finish. I mean, give me a hidden shimmer at the very least! So in spite of the bright color, I'd say this manicure is relatively tame for my taste.

Galahad is from a-England's The Mythicals collection, Adina's first collection inspired by Arthurian myths. It's a bright Tiffany blue that leans teal in some lighting and a true blue in others. I'm wearing two coats in these pictures. This is a great polish for Spring and Summer, but also a nice choice to cheer you up in the Winter. Application was nice, as is the case with all my a-Englands. My one complaint is that they don't come with steel mixing balls.

I did have a lot of bubbling with this manicure, but I suspect it had more to do with the poor condition of my nails that day and the heat in my room, rather than the polish itself. But that is one reason I seldom wear cremes - they show every flaw, dent and bubble. And as a perfectionist I can't stand it.

I love a-England polishes, especially the scattered holos. They can be purchased directly from Adina's site (free worldwide shipping), Llarowe, Ninja Polish, and Nail Polish Canada.

Nabi Magnetic - Dark Purple

You're probably looking at that photo and thinking I put the wrong polish name in the title. But this *brown* polish really did used to be dark purple. It's just brown now... which is totally fine by me! I bought a couple of Nabi polishes from Urban Behavior last summer and the other two haven't seemed to change color, only Dark Purple.

 

Magnetic polishes were a short-lived trend last year. While I wasn't a huge fan of most of the colors and finishes, I really like the look of a select few. Nabi Dark Purple (brown version) is one of those cases. I'm wearing two coats in these photos.

What I like best about magnetic polishes is that they look like cat's eye stones on your fingertips. When you move your hand about, the lines actually shift up and down, creating an interesting visual effect. Nabi Dark Purple is a perfect brown to replicate the look of cat's eye or even tortoise shell. 

The polish was extremely easy to apply. Each coat dried quickly, meaning the pattern didn't diffuse much after removing the magnet and there was minimal topcoat drag. The polish and magnet worked very well together, making a strong pattern that could cover the whole nail if applied with a practiced hand. I found that rolling the magnet around the curve of my nail in one steady motion gave a perfect pattern on the whole nail, which I learned by the time I did my final index nails.

Overall I like this polish very much. It's fun to explain how magnetic polishes work when someone asks you how you did your nails.

A wide selection of Nabi nail polish is available at Urban Behavior, although I'm not sure if the magnetic line is still available.

Darling Diva Polish - Ringer

Darling Diva Polish Ringer is one of the more popular shades from this prolific indie polish line. It is a dupe, or "ringer" for the elusive Clarins 230 and more recently Max Factor Fantasy Fire. It contains red-to-green shifting pigments in a sheer purple base. In these photos I'm wearing a very common pairing, two coats of Ringer over two coats Revlon Royal.

This combination is extremely pretty. It glows under almost every lighting condition. I love the squishy, translucent look the jelly finish gives. Application wise, Ringer is a bit annoying to work with. The consistency is almost sticky, like glue. It also takes forever to dry. However, I think the end result is nice enough to spend the extra effort. Just don't try doing a manicure with this if you're in a hurry.

Ringer is available from the Darling Diva Polish Etsy shop. Nfu Oh 51 is a more opaque version with color-shifting flakies. The Nfu Oh is one of my favorite polishes ever so fans of this type of polish should definitely check it out.

Sephora by OPI - It's Real

On the blog today is my birthday manicure from this past weekend: It's Real 18K gold topcoat by SOPI. It was a milestone birthday so I wanted to have something extra special on my nails, and what could be more special than genuine gold flakes? 

It's Real is a clear topcoat packed with fine gold foil flecks. I've tried it over various colors and I think it looks amazing over a deep green like Illamasqua Viridian or a dark purple. For this manicure I layered two coats of It's Real over two coats of Orly Liquid Vinyl.

I love how flat the foil lies on the nail because it creates a really unique visual texture (or you could say it looks like a really fancy counter top). The gold is more yellow toned and eye catching than my photos show. The formula is excellent - the flakes go on evenly, and the polish dries fairly quickly. The glitter doesn't need any babying either; just one coat of Out the Door gave it a smooth finish.

I purchased my bottle at Sephora during Boxing Week; you may still find it on clearance at your Sephora location. I assume this is being discontinued, but there are several gold foil topcoats still available from other brands. Ninja Polish carries a 24K gold topcoat while Zoya, OPI and Jessica offer 18K gold versions. However, they all contain larger, more sparse flakes. If you're like me and prefer the denser coverage of the small flakes in It's Real, I suggest you hunt down a bottle before they're gone.

Ozotic - 504

Ozotic 504 is one of my favorite polishes of all time. It is a stunning multichrome topcoat which shifts from blue to purple to bronze. Ozotic multichrome and mish-mash polishes (500- and 530- series) are too sheer to wear on their own, so it's best to layer this over black or another dark color. In these photos I'm wearing two coats of 504 over two coats of Orly Liquid Vinyl. 

 

Yes, the two pictures above are of the same polish! As you can see, the color shift is extremely prominent. Whenever I wear 504 I catch myself just moving my fingers around and staring at the changing colors; it really is a mesmerizing polish.

Ozotic 504 was sadly discontinued, but I have seen it and the rest of the multichromes and mish-mash pop up again on various etailers like Nail Polish Canada and Llarowe. From other brands, HITS Dreamer is an exact dupe, and Enchanted Polish Octopus Garden is a linear holographic with the same color scheme.

Smitten Polish - I Want It Now

 

Today I have Smitten Polish I Want It Now, from the Confection Collection. The collection is based on Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and this green shade is inspired by the greedy Veruka Salt. I have one coat of I Want It Now over one coat of a-England Saint George.

I Want It Now is made up of holographic green micro glitter in an army green jelly base. There is also black micro glitter in the mix that gives it more dimension. It's very dense and you can build it to opacity on its own with around 2-3 coats.  As with most dense glitter polishes, this is topcoat hungry. I have Gelous and Sally Hansen Insta Dri on top and can still feel some texture. I would recommend using Seche Vite over Gelous for a glassier finish.

 

The emerald green shade is really gorgeous and eye catching. The glitter wasn't difficult to remove, which is a plus.

 Here is a blurry shot to show the sparkle:

 

Smitten Polish can be purchased on Etsy and Llarowe.

Essence - Chic Reloaded

Welcome to my nail polish blog! This is a place for me to keep a log of my manicures and give my thoughts about the polishes I use. As I post more I hope to improve the lighting and overall quality of my photos :)

Let's kick off the new year with my first nail polish purchase of 2013, Essence Chic Reloaded.

Chic Reloaded is a blackened, green-to-purple duochrome that also flashes gold at extreme angles. The teal green was difficult to capture on camera, but the color shift is prominent, so much so that you can see both colors on the nail simultaneously. The formula is great - almost opaque at one coat (I have two coats here) and very fast drying.

This shade is part of Essence's core line in the newer, 8 mL bottles. I overlooked this so many times in the display because I thought it was too similar to Essence Where's The Party and Wet n Wild Grey's Anatomy, but this has a much darker base and I think it is far more flattering (and opaque!)

Duochromes and multichromes are my favorite finishes and Chic Reloaded has become an instant staple.