Saturday 29 March 2014

Above The Curve Risen Angel 2.0

Over the last month I have blogged a couple of Above the Curve polishes, and this is the 3rd one - Above The Curve Risen Angel 2.0.
This is gorgeous, as were the other 2, I am not sure if I have a favourite, but today I am absolutely loving this! It is probably the more subtle shade of the 3 I bought. Risen Angel 2.0 is a soft dusky lilac holo. The holo is pretty strong; I am sat at my laptop now typing this and the early evening sun is peeping though the study window and the holo is seriously distracting me!
This painted on well in 2 coats, dried nicely and I am completely in love, although to be fair, it occurred to me the other day, I am often completely in love with my polishes!! I am quite choosy with what I buy and I haven't made too many mistakes. I just love a varnish that paints on well, and makes me happy when I look at my nails. This one certainly does that.
I am generally more comfortable in softer, more neutral tones, ones that you can just wear and love instantly! The dusky lilac shade of this is a perfect "me shade" and it goes so well with the cabled jacket I finished earlier in the month!
Above The Curve Risen Angel 2.0
Above The Curve Risen Angel 2.0
Above The Curve Risen Angel 2.0
 Above The Curve Risen Angel 2.0
  Above The Curve Risen Angel 2.0
 Above The Curve Risen Angel 2.0

Friday 28 March 2014

Quirk Real Name's McGill

Today's polish is Quirk Real Name's McGill. This is from Quirk's Breaking Bad Collection, available here.
The collection is made up of 4 polishes. I just went for 2, Real Name's McGill and Heisenberg.
All 4 are complete glitter bombs from the swatches and bottle shots that I have seen!
Real Name's McGill is absolutely packed with glitter in blues and green. What this means is your nails will look like they have been utterly encrusted in blue and green gems, I am certain this is the sparkliest my nails have been for a very long time!
Due to the amount of glitter, this is a very thick polish and I found it quite tricky to get a neat line as I painted, more of a dabbing action is needed. I think with hindsight a darker base would have been advisable. The polish gives pretty much full coverage in 2 coats but the slightly uneven line around the edge bugged me a bit as I had a very pale base underneath; black or any dark shade would have been better.
Anyway, that aside, I must remember that scrutinising the photos at 10 times normal size is not actually realistic. The nails at the ends of my fingers looked awesome to the naked eye, the blue and green tones are just fantastic. These are just the sort of nails that you look at and they make you smile, and as for out in the sunshine, the sparkle was amazing - not just a whole range of blue and greens but red and gold too.
Quirk Real Name's McGill
Quirk Real Name's McGill
 Quirk Real Name's McGill
 Quirk Real Name's McGill
 Quirk Real Name's McGill
 Quirk Real Name's McGill

Wednesday 26 March 2014

TarasTalons Spring

Today's polish is another pretty holograhic polish from TarasTalons. This is Spring which I think is a great name, it's a lovely delicate pale green holo, just the colour of catkins - that's what came to mind as I was trying to describe the colour.
This is quite a sheer polish and being pale I decided to use my old faithful Nails Inc Fulham Palace Road, as a base. It just hides that visible nail line that I hate so much, and give a nice neutral base for the polish.
Spring applied really nicely, dried well and I had a lovely finish after 2 coats. Pictures are taken here with no topcoat.
The holo is very delicate, but very pretty and I do like this shade. I think I'd consider it to be a nude, subtle and understated and it makes a lovely change from the reds and purples that I've been wearing.
TarasTalons Spring
TarasTalons Spring
 TarasTalons Spring
TarasTalons Spring
 TarasTalons Spring
 TarasTalons Spring

Tuesday 25 March 2014

Above the Curve Scarlet

Today's polish is stunning. Following on from my last red/pink holo, Girly Bits Crantini, this is a darker shade and this one was instant love. Above the Curve Scarlet is a deep intense raspberry red with very fine scattered holographic particles. Most noticeable are fine pinky red sparkles but in the sunshine you can also see a  blue/purple shimmer as well as the delicate holographic sparkle.
This is my favourite shade of red, because it has that slight blueness to it. I absolutely do not do warm reds!
I was already in love with this one before I even went out in search of sunshine because of the richness of the colour, and outside it is just gorgeous. I just kept gazing at the sparkles!
It has a super glossy finish even before top coat. Two coats gave great coverage and it dried well. This is my second Above the Curve polish and I like them a lot, the quality is lovely and I will be on the lookout for more. I do have one more in  my stash, and I think I'll be trying it very soon.
Above the Curve Scarlet
Above the Curve Scarlet
Above the Curve Scarlet
Above the Curve Scarlet
Above the Curve Scarlet
Above the Curve Scarlet
Above the Curve Scarlet
Above the Curve Scarlet

Monday 24 March 2014

TarasTalons Daintree

TarasTalons Daintree is a very pretty glitter and I am really pleased I spotted it when I placed my last order. I am not sure that this one is available any more but a browse of Tara's web site will always bring up some delights!
Daintree is made up of a lovely collection of quite fine glitters, both hexes and squares in various sizes and in purples, pinks, silver and green. The base is clear, which would generally be my preference for a glitter topper as it doesn't restrict the choice of bases. When it arrived I swatched it quickly over a green and it looked great, I always love green and purple together, but on this occasion I felt it would look good over my OPI Miss You-niverse as most of the glitters are pale enough to stand out against the dark purple creme.
I was delighted to see it is dense enough to do a glitter gradient. I have to admit I didn't spend ages on this manicure, I just did a quick coat at the base of the nail and then touched it up a little, so it's not a true gradient but I love the finished look. This is yet another glitter which I think is going to look great over so many different colours, I love it and am very pleased I got the full sized one!

TarasTalons Daintree
TarasTalons Daintree
 TarasTalons Daintree
TarasTalons Daintree
 TarasTalons Daintree
 TarasTalons Daintree
 TarasTalons Daintree

Sunday 23 March 2014

OPI Miss You-niverse

This week is Epilepsy Awareness Week and the colour for this cause is purple, so here is one of my most recent purple purchases.
My lovely purple polish is from OPIs 2013 Miss Universe Collection. I hadn't actually heard of this collection until I saw someone wearing Miss You-niverse in one of the Facebook groups very recently. There are 3 polishes in the collection and a week after I'd seen this one, I spotted it in the bargain section of a local Sally's, so I snapped it up quick! If I see the pinky purple creme in the collection, I'll be snapping that up too as it looks lovely.
Miss You-niverse is a dark purple creme, and it's exactly the sort of shade I love, quite a blue toned purple, with a hint of grey. I love slightly dusky colours, they are so easy to wear.
This is quite a thick polish, completely opaque in two coats. The finish was good and with a coat of top coat it's so glossy. Some of the reflections in the pictures I took are quite amazing.
OPI Miss You-niverse
OPI Miss You-niverse
  OPI Miss You-niverse
 OPI Miss You-niverse
OPI Miss You-niverse
 OPI Miss You-niverse
Not the best pic but the reflections look like mini landscapes

Saturday 22 March 2014

Girly Bits Crantini

Pink nails today, which are always outside my comfort zone! Sounds odd I am sure but I am never certain about pink on my nails and it always takes a while for me to get used to them. I fell in love with swatches of this polish by Girly Bits and had to have it, even if I don't do pink! It did take me a couple of hours once it was on my nails for me to really love it. Going out into the sunshine helped enormously because Crantini is a gorgeous holo polish. I have seen it referred to as a cranberry shade but to me its more of a bright pink, maybe fuschia with a tiny hint of blueness to it. It is lovely in the sunshine and and in the shade it is still a beautiful shade. Under artificial light the holo is not so apparent but it is actually still sparkly, so it is rather like a mixture of a linear holo and a scattered holo.
I applied two coats, but I did leave plenty of time in between to dry as my hands were really cold, and then added a top coat. Coverage was good but the finish was actually quite rough - the top coat sorted that out.
This is a gorgeous colour and I am really pleased I bought it, although it did go in and out of my Rainbow Connection basket a few times before I actually pressed the button! Looking at it now I can't believe I was so unsure about it, I am in love!!
Girly Bits Crantini
Girly Bits Crantini
Girly Bits Crantini
 Girly Bits Crantini
 Girly Bits Crantini
 Girly Bits Crantini
 Girly Bits Crantini
Crantini in the shade


Monday 17 March 2014

Smitten Polish Claddagh

It is Saint Patrick's Day, so obviously I had to do a green mani. Not that I ever need an excuse to wear green polish, despite a broadening of my polish tastes, blue and green are still firm favourites.
I was given my first Smitten a couple of months ago by a lovely friend and and once I had tried it I headed straight to their facebook page to find out what else was out there! That's where I spotted Claddagh, released in March 2014, the most stunning emerald holographic polish. I knew I had to have it, but postage on one polish from the US was a bit steep. Luckily for me, another lovely friend was about to place an order, and she very kindly added it to her order.
I was over the moon when it arrived, it's every bit as beautiful as I thought it would be but I waited patiently until today to put it on.
It is a stunner! It is quite a runny polish so I did 3 very thin coats, I also noticed it was dragging a little as I tried to even it out so I was very patient and allowed it to dry properly between coats, without going back and touching up in between. End result - perfect holographic emerald.
I really love this, the holo effect is amazing and I just adore that deep velvety finish that you get as you gaze into the depths of the holo!
Smitten Polish Claddagh
Smitten Polish Claddagh
Smitten Polish Claddagh
Smitten Polish Claddagh
Smitten Polish Claddagh
 Smitten Polish Claddagh
  Smitten Polish Claddagh
Smitten Polish Claddagh
Smitten Polish Claddagh - flash photo


Thursday 13 March 2014

Smitten Polish I Never Drink...Wine

Today's polish is a real beauty and in the sunshine it is absolutely stunning. Smitten Polish I Never Drink...Wine is a gorgeous deep red/ burgundy holographic polish. The holo is lovely. Sat at my computer I can see the holo, and out in the sunshine it is just amazing.
I love the deep intense red of this polish and I made some new gloves especially to go with this one and two other red toned holos I just bought! Even out of bright light the shimmer and intensity of colour make this a fantastic polish, unlike anything else I own.
This polish applied well in two coats, although some of the pics have 3 coats on. This is because I top coated it and then decided maybe it would photograph better without a topcoat, so I did another layer. To be honest I am not sure it made the slightest difference! I still can't actually record the exquisite beauty of the holo. I also tried with my camera and my phone, still no noticeable difference. The best shot I think is the last one when I finally gave in and took the pic with the flash!
Anyway, it's a beautiful polish, I am really glad I have it in my collection, definitely a keeper.

 
  
 
  
Smitten Polish I Never Drink...Wine (flash)