Comparison post - sparkly dark pink reds

When I wore Leighton Denny Best Seller earlier this week, it brought to mind some other dark pink reds that I have and I was curious as to how similar they were.
So here we have a comparison of OPI You Only Live Twice, A England Rose Bower, Above The Curve Scarlet, and Leighton Denny Best Seller.
Having swatched all 4 together I am pleased to say they are NOT the same, but I'll share the results anyway, just in case you were wondering.
Obviously 2 of these are holographic, whereas 2 are shimmery with fine glitter but it was the tone of red that brought them to my mind.
You Only Live Twice and Best Seller are the most similar, although the OPI is slightly more red and brighter than the LD.
I'd say Best Seller and Rose Bower are the closest in tone, and indoors in lowish light levels pretty similar, but out in the sunshine they are worlds apart.
Scarlet is the darkest, and more blue.
On the whole, as a person who doesn't wear red often, with the LD and OPI being quite close, I could probably have done without Best Seller but I absolutely need all the others!

Nails painted in the same order as the bottle picture, and interestingly, in the sunlight they look a lot more similar than in real life. The most accurate picture is the last on, taken under my desk lamp.

OPI You Only Live Twice, A England Rose Bower, Above the Curve Scarlet, Leighton Denny Best Seller

Pictures taken in sunlight

 

 

Daylight picture

 

Picture taken under fluorescent light

Leighton Denny Best Seller

As far as I can remember, today's polish is the only one I have ever owned, sold and then re-bought!
I originally bought a set of Leighton Denny's Top 5 sellers from QVC back in 2011, but I sold this one on straight away as it wasn't my colour. Best Seller is red, and back then I absolutely didn't do red!
Well, almost 3 years have passed, and last month Best Seller was one of the "freebies" in Harpers Bazaar. A friend in one of my facebook groups was wearing this and I thought how lovely it looked, and wished I hadn't sold it. I stopped by W H Smiths in my local town on the off chance and found 1 copy of the mag, and it was the right one, so I snapped it up.
I wasn't sure when I was actually going to wear it but I didn't have a mani planned for yesterday so I asked my husband what colour I should wear. "Red" he said straight away, and there was Best Seller sitting in the untried pile so that's what I put on.
My first thought as it hit the nail- this is not red! I actually think this is a very dark pink, a real deep raspberry shade, and if I was going to wear something in the red spectrum it would certainly be on this side of red.
This painted on nicely in 2 coats, and dried quickly. It has a very pretty shimmer and is packed with tiny pinky/red sparkling glitter. I actually think I may have 3 or 4 other quite similar polishes (but not the same of course!) and when I get the chance I'll do a quick comparison.
I really wouldn't call this red, hubby thinks it is, so he is happy, but I still see pink! and I happened to be wearing a cerise pink top yesterday, I think they go great together. It does look a little more red in these pictures, but either way, its a lovely intense colour, I can see why it is in LD's top 5 and I am very happy to have it back in my collection.

Leighton Denny Best Seller

 

 

I Love Nail Polish Mutagen

Today's polish is cool, in fact SO cool even my husband said "wow" when he saw it! However, as usual with the most exciting polishes, capturing it to share with you was a bit of a challenge.
In the end I decided not to stress about it too much, I've done my best, I can tell you what I think about it and show you my pics, and then there's always Google.
I almost always google swatches before I buy, and I read reviews too so I can avoid streaky polishes, ones with a shimmer that I won't like etc. or be prepared for any challenges with application, so obviously I have seen plenty of swatches of this and I know what pictures I ought to be able to take!
So, this is Mutagen, by I Love Nail Polish. It is a deep green multichrome, which shifts through a tealy blue, then purple and finally through to a coppery/bronze.
When I first got this I swatched it as 2 coats on its own, but most bloggers seem to recommend duo and multichromes over black, so I have done 1 layer of Mutagen over 2 layers of Nails Inc Black Taxi.
Comparing back to a quick shot I did of my swatch I think I'd tend to agree that the black base does help, although I am not quite sure how that works. The first coat of my swatch on its own was pretty sheer whereas the coverage and effect with 1 coat over black is perfect, I can't see 2 coats being any better.
The pictures are taken without top coat, in the hope of capturing the effect, so some of the later ones do show a few signs of wear, but this has been on 2 full days now and other than a couple of knocks it's still looking good and I just love that green/purple shift!
I didn't capture all the colour range, but even the green base colour on its own is lovely, and prompted me to drag out a bit of green knitwear, despite it being in the high 20s and no need for any knitwear at all! This is such an eyecatching polish, the finish is amazing and I can't help thinking about beetles with their hard shiny iridescent shells!

I Love Nail Polish Mutagen

 

 

 

  

Think this is maybe the beetle I was thinking of - A Mint Leaf Beetle - picture from Wild About Britain

Mint Leaf Beetle

Girly Bits A Stripper Has Been Sleeping In My Bed

Today's polish is just stunning. This is Girly Bits A Stripper Has Been Sleeping In My Bed, which I bought recently from Rainbow Connection.
This is just amazing - when it first arrived I swatched it over an existing mani and the coverage was brilliant, so you could wear this as a pretty dense topper or get full coverage with 2 to 3 coats.
This has a pale grey jelly base, quite subtle, almost clear but visible when I swatched it on a sheet of white paper, but it is just packed with glitter. The overall appearance on the nail, and in the bottle is silvery grey but it is so much more than that! The glitter is holographic and picks up so much light and colour, it is quite amazing, especially in the sunshine where it is utterly mesmerising.
The polish applied and dried well, I did use 3 coats although I had almost perfect coverage from 2. Because of the density of the glitter it did take a couple of coats of top coat, and I could still feel a slight texture. That didn't worry me but a 3rd coat would probably have smoothed it out perfectly.
My nails looked like solid glitter, they felt really strong too! In fact, I did a naughty thing - I cut and then filed my nails while I still had the glitter on, and it didn't chip - evidence the final photo of shorter nails, a day after I cut them.
I am seriously impressed with this polish! The colour is just beautiful, you have that quite neutral silver grey tone that is very wearable and then all the beautiful sparkly glitter, in every colour under the sun it seems!
So, I love it - did you get that? and because of its durability, this is my chosen toenail polish for my holidays.

Girly Bits A Stripper Has Been Sleeping In My Bed

 

couldn't resist a bit of matchy

also couldn't resist a close up to show all the colours!

And finally a shot after I cut my nails (kitchen light - sorry abut the shadows)

Liquid Sky Lacquer Tripindicular

Today's polish is super pretty and I wore it for almost a week, which is something of a record for me, especially as I am not normally a pink person! Even as I was painting this on I wasn't 100% sure but by the time I'd finished I was in love! And what is this wonderful polish? It is Tripindicular by Liquid Sky Lacquer.
It is a gorgeous pink holographic polish. The holo does add a warmth which concerned me a little as I was painting as it is warm pinks that I am less comfortable with but there's just something about this bright hot pink that I just love! I googled Tripindicular to find out what it meant and according to the Urban Dictionary, it means "Awesome" - I think that's a perfect name.
I was mega busy this week, so I didn't see a lot of sun and there aren't many pictures I'm afraid - a shame as when the sun did come out this polish really was awesome!
It painted on well although it was a little sheer so I did 3 coats, and the pictures are taken without topcoat. This is a great colour and the holo is pretty strong.
It felt very sophisticated and elegant and it looked good even without the sun but I must wear it again soon and get some more of that beautiful pink rainbow!!

Liquid Sky Lacquer Tripindicular

 

Tripindicular with the un-named pink rockery plant in my garden

Tripindicular without the sun - still awesome

Dark Metal Lacquer True

Todays's polish is a stunning blue holo from Dark Metal Lacquer. True is a really lovely cornflower blue, and it is absolutely gorgeous, especially in the sunshine!
This is another great polish from UK Indie Dark Metal Lacquer. It applied well, gave great coverage and has a beautiful glossy finish. Pictures are taken without a top coat.
This is a really pretty blue and very slightly more purple than the pictures show. It is a constant frustration to me that my camera cannot see the colours the same way as me!! The last 2 shots are the most colour accurate. The actual colour is lovely and the holo is nice and strong, apparent in most levels of light but, of course, at its best in sunlight!
I am really pleased with this polish, I have tried a few paler coloured holos recently and been a bit disappointed but this is great, as is the other Dark Metal Lacquer I wore a couple of weeks ago, The Boo. The colours have a vibrancy and depth even when the holo is not apparent, and the finish is excellent. I am looking forward to trying more of these!

Dark Metal Lacquer True

 

 

  

 

 

Girly Bits The Power of Love

Today's polish is a real stunner. It is utterly gorgeous, but rather frustrating as I really don't think my pictures show just how beautiful and sparkly it is.
This is from Girly Bits 80's Girl Band Collection. The collection only came out in June, so I am quite delighted to have my hands on a couple of these of these so soon, having ordered them from Rainbow Connection at the weekend. Rainbow Connection is fast becoming my favourite place to shop!!
So, the beautiful polish on my nails today is The Power of Love. It is an absolutely delightful lavender holo packed with blue, green, lavender, silver and holo glitter, and catches every colour of light.
This is such a beautiful pinky lavender tone which is very wearable. I haven't worn glitter for a while and generally I am not that attracted to the very pretty shades, but I love this and I just want to keep looking at my nails!
I swatched this as soon as it arrived over a grey holo, and it worked nicely as a single coat topper. I also noticed when I was doing this mani that because of the density of glitter in here I think you could easily wear just one coat for a really delicate look if you have nice clean healthy nails!
I have used 2 coats and got really good coverage. There appear to be some bare patches on the pics but they aren't apparent in real life although you could easily add a 3rd coat if you felt the need. It applied well, and dried nicely. The finish is quite rough, but smoothed out nicely with top coat.
I am on the look out for a pretty polish to wear on my holidays, glittery so it will last a fortnight and quite subtle in tone so that it will go with any outfit - this is a definite contender.

Girly Bits The Power of Love