Essence - 03 Mauvellous Fairy (Hidden Stories Trend Edition, january 2015)

Most of the time I'm not very impressed with the trend collections by Essence...but this time I couldn't pass the display without taking Mauve-llous Fairy with me!
It is a lovely....mauve.....with lilac, pink and blue micro glitter: the whole thing looks quite fairy like or you could say I dipped me fingers in sparkly berry yogurt ;-)

Essence Mauve-llous Fairy

The formula was OK, not as glue like as Essence can get; I needed three coats to get to opacity.
The hold was not very good, after one day I had some chipping so that's a bummer. Perhaps it would stay on longer if I layered it over a nice creme base?

China Glaze - Boundary of Memory (The Giver Collection, autumn 2014) and comparison with China Glaze In The City (Metro Collection, autumn 2011)

China Glaze and micro glitters: WOW they do them so well!
There are two in The Giver collection: Boundary of Memory and The Outer Edge. The last one is probably more of a topper but you could get it semi opaque on the nail if you really wanted to (and I DO, but I'll reserve that for later).
Today it is Boundary of Memory: a splendid mix of black, silver and copper gold micro glitter. The formula was a bit thick, like I was putting a sandy syrup on my nails but it was workable and completely opaque in two coats.

China Glaze - Boundary of Memory

I used Essence Nial Art Peel Off base coat and added one extra layer of topcoat (Essence Gel-Look XXXL shine) underneath China Glaze Fast Forward to even everything out. This whole sandwich was VERY hard wearing! It didn't chip at all and after a week I needed to work very hard to "peel" (more like hack and peck) the whole thing off again.
This glitter mix does remind me a bit of China Glaze In the City (China Glaze Metro collection for Fall 2011) but that polish had more of a lilac undertone and was thus a bit colder in hue.
I will put a comparison swatch up when I have time this week.......

BB Couture for Nails - Eve (Infamous Lovers Collection 2010)

Infamous lovers...doesn't that sound great?!
And of all these infamous lovers I choose Eve and the colour and name combination is perfection.
Eve is a murky, mossy, swampy green-brown jelly with flashy green micro glitters floating around and a vague brown red duochrome quality. It is a complicated shade (fitting for Eve) that is hard to capture in words and in pictures, but one that is very, very fun to wear!
It is an older polish (2010) but I think if you channel the Sherlock Holmes in you, it might still be possible to find this polish on the web...

BB Couture for Nails - Eve

The first coat was a bit streaky but the second one made all the difference and gave me these beautiful swamp nails!
This would be a very nice Halloween polish as well, come to think of it....

CrowsToes - Bifrost (Nine Realms Collection, spring/summer 2014)

Indie polish today!
The first time I saw swatches of the new Nine Realms Collection (based on the nine words in Norse mythology) by CrowsToes I just n e e d e d Bifrost (and Huginn & Muninn), so I tried my best and got my paws on it. Bifrost is the rainbow bridge that connects Midgard (home of the humans) and Asgard (home of the gods) with each other. And a rainbow bridge it is!
Wow, all colours of micro glitter are present in this lovely polish which has a clear base!

Midgard and Asgard

Midgard and Asgard

CrowsToes - Bifrost

This was two coats of Bifrost and there are still some less dense spots on the nail, but they are more visible in the pics then in real life. There is just so much sparkle and colour that it is just not that visible.
I still don't know if there is holo micro glitter in the mix as well or that all the colours together mimic the holo effect......but in the sun I would swear that there is holo glitter lurking around in Bifrost :-)

Maybelline Forever Strong - Green Miracle 720 and China Glaze - This Is Tree-mendous (Happy HoliGlaze Christmas Collection 2013)

I bought this green a while ago at a discount store....the green metallic shimmer just called out to me and it needed to come home with me. It was sitting on my little polish "Helmer" for a while and it was overtaken by all the Essie's, Opi's, indies and China Glaze's until now.
Green Miracle is a grey green jelly with a ton of green metallic shimmer, in low light it looks quite dark and in the sun it's metallic green goodness!

Maybelline - Green Miracle 720

The formula is thin and you need to apply a fair amount of polish with as little brushstrokes as possible. Otherwise you end up with bald spots..... This was two layers and when you look carefully you can see the bald spot problem on my ring finger....

Next day, I added China Glaze This Is Tree-mendous on the tips (to disguise some sleight tipp wear).

China Glaze - This Is Tree-mendous

Quite the Christmas combination.....
Usually I like it better to make a gradient from the base of the nail, but well...that does not disguise any tipp wear, now does it?!

OPI - You Callin' Me a Lyre? (NYC Ballet Soft Shades Collection, spring 2012) and OPI - Which is Witch? (Oz The Great And Powerful Collection, spring 2013)

I needed something fresh and neutral on my nails this week: so I choose OPI You Callin' Me A Lyre? sandwiched with Opi Which Is Witch? This is two layers of YCMAL then one WIW and then again one YCMAL to finish the sandwich.
I love it when glitter is sandwiched or mattified...it makes the glitter more wearable and less harsh ;-)
YCMAL is a soft peachy pink jelly, very neutral really. WIW is holographic micro fun (it's a true micro disco ball): there are silver holographic micro glitters, silver holografic micro bars (more like tiny mouse hairs) and some bigger silver holografic hexes in a clear base.

The result:

OPI - You Callin' Me A Lyre & OPI - Which Is Witch?

It was a nice "palate cleanser" and I wore it for four days. I liked it so much that I will stay in the soft and pink corner for a while. It is always nice to be a bit pink and girly!