Girly Bits ~ Get Weaponized

Girly Bits ~ Get Weaponized

teal holographic polish with purple and magenta microglitters

It can’t be a secret to anyone that I love holographic polishes – and that I like teal! Get Weaponized is both, so it’s a winner before it’s even on my nails. Not bad!

Anyway, the formula is also a winner. It was really easy to apply and it almost a one coater. The second coat made everything just a tad better though. Drying time between coats is good, no problems to report there either. And girl, is this pretty or what? I believe it is!

Let me show you what I’m talking about. Here’s two coats and a layer of Poshé topcoat. The picture is taken with flash to show off the holo effect:

OMG, I think I just died and went to holo-heaven!

Here’s a picture taken in lower lights. Check out that bottle – it really shows off the magenta microglitters!

I stamped on half of it. I taped my nails diagonally across and found a swirly motif on stamping plate DRK-B, stamped the unmasked nails with a no name black stamping polish, and removed the masking tape again. When it was dry, I applied another layer of Poshé topcoat, and here’s my final mani taken with flash:

And here’s a no flash picture for you:

I’ve been meaning to do a half stamp like this for such a long time, and now that I see how cool it actually looks I want to do it again! What do you think of this? It is cool or not so cool?

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good

Finish: A mix between scattered and linear holo

Overall impression: Beautiful colour and I love the added microglitters!

Buy again: Yes

Darling Diva ~ Green Diamond

Darling Diva ~ Green Diamond

Green holographic

I made my boyfriend pick the colours for my nails today, and he went for green straight away. Clever man! I picked 3 greens from my box of untrieds and let him pick again. Green Diamond is the one he chose. Good choice – I’ll show you why in a moment!

The formula was pretty difficult to work with. The polish is so heavily pigmented that the formula is really thick and relatively fast drying. that means that you don’t have many brushstrokes for each nail before it all turns to crap. And the polish is not self levelling either. I think I managed pretty well anyway. It’s a one coater, but I applied a second coat to see if that would level out the irregularities the formula had left me with. It didn’t at all. It’s dried up to a semi matte satin finish. Nice!

But anyway, Green Diamond is so pretty, and I honestly think that a bit of thinner will solve some of the problem with the formula. We’ll see about that next time!

Here’s what two coats look like. There’s no topcoat involved just yet.

These pictures are taken with flash. Green Diamond is described as a linear holo, but I think it looks like a mix between linear and scattered.

Last flash picture.

The polish is also pretty outside the flashlight.

I stamped on it. My boyfriend chose a motif from stamping plate DRK-B and I stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri “Jumpin’ Jade”, which is a gorgeous dark green. I applied a layer of Ellagee’s topcoat “Glass” and here’s my final mani photographed with flash:

It’s amazing what difference it does to the underlaying colour to have the darker green on top.

And a non-flash picture for you:

Here are the two pretties plus the topcoat I used:

I have to say that I totally love this mani. I find myself staring at my nails at all times, LOL! I wonder if you like this as much as I do! Please do tell me in the comments below.

Number of coats: 2 – but 1 would have been enough
Drying time: Very fast

Finish: A mix between scattered and linear holo

Overall impression: Oooh, I love the colour and the way the holo works!

Buy again: Yes

Ninja Polish ~ Candy Cane Floam

Ninja Polish ~ Candy Cane Floam

Red and white matte glitter in a clear base

When I am deciding which polish to wear, I often open my box of untrieds and sit and gaze into it until inspiration hits me. I don’t even always know what colour I’m in the mood for!

Today my eyes suddenly fell onto Candy Cane Floam from Ninja Polish. And right next to her was a burgundy suede from Avon, “No. 502”. They looked like a perfect match, so I thought…why not!

I started out with two coats of the suede Avon. The pigmentation is really good, and if you’re careful you can get away with one coat. I used two. The drying time is fantastic. Once I had finished hand number two, I could pretty much start on hand one again! I like that a lot.

Here’s what two coats and no topcoat look like in daylight:

In the beginning I thought it looked a bit brown, but it’s not. It is a rich burgundy, and I like the effect:

Then I was ready for my nail art. First I stamped on it. I used stamping plate DRK-B and stamped with Essie’s “Nothing else metals”, which is a soft pink that looks perfect on red shades of polish. Then I sponged Candy Cane Floam on the tips of my nails, applied two coats of Poshé topcoat, and my mani was done:

The pictures are taken in daylight, but there was no sun available, unfortunately.

I think it looks as if I dipped my fingertips in sprinkles!!

Here are the sisters in crime:

This mani grew on me; I ended up really liking this. What about you girls, do you like it, or is there too much going on on my nails?

Fire Gradient

Fire Gradient

I wanted to try and make a fire gradient.

I started out with Sally Hansen X-treme Nail wear’s “Crushed”, which is a bright, shimmery orange. It was a really easy polish to work with, and drying time was average. I gave it two coats, and it looked like this:

Then I used a eyeshadow applicator to sponge on some red for the depth of the fire. I used Astor #25, which is a deep red with a golden shimmer. Perfect for this type of mani in my opinion.

Here’s that step: 

Then I stamped the flames on. I used stamping plate DRK-B and a black no name stamping polish. I don’t have pictures of that step, sorry! :)

I finished my mani by adding a layer of Nubar’s flakie “2010”, which really added something to the flames. I love the sparkle of these particular flakies.

I must admit that I like it way better on the pictures than I did in real life. I need to try out some other stamps of flames, but I’m not totally convinced that I like these ones. 

Here are the polishes I used:

This was a learning experience to me, and not my best work, but not the worst either.

Have you ever done a flame mani? If yes, please link me to it in the comments – I’d love to see it!

Models Own ~ Southern Lights stamped with blue

Models Own ~ Southern Lights

Lavender toned glitter with holo glitter

Southern Lights is from the Wonderland collection. Models Own themselves describe the collection as “a magical polish collection offering gradients of subtle to dense glitter for a sophisticated grown-up glimmer”.

I bought three out of the set of five, and this is the first I try on.

The formula is good; Mind you, I’ve never experienced anything else with Models Own’s polishes. I applied two easy coats for desired opacity. The sun wasn’t cooperative, but man, can this baby sparkle! Here’s a pic of two coats; no top coat yet.

The holo glitter is really effective! It sparkles in little rainbows even in low light. Here’s an indoor shot from another angle:

This colour is too pale for me to wear on its own though, but it is perfect for stamping on with a darker colour. I picked a dark blue from Sally Hansen’s Insta-Dri series, called “Blazing Blue”. I used an all nail design from the XL stamping plate DRK-B, and sealed it all up with two coats of Funky Fingers top coat. I bought that top coat in a blog sale (why not just use it yourself instead of selling it?), and it’s not a fast drying top coat. I’m going to use it anyway!

Here’s the final result:

And from another angle:

The pretty couple:

I seem to have some problems with my DKR-B plate. The designs are cut so deep so if I press the stamper too hard down onto my nails, the design will smear and smudge. So I feel really challenged. It doesn’t matter quite so much on this background, but still. I love the designs, but I really have to pick my motifs carefully, when I choose something from that plate. I don’t regret buying it one bit though! :)

Here’s the verdict:

Opacity: 6/10
Colour, prettiness: 8/10
Durability: 7/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7/10
Buy again: No

Color Club ~ Winter Affair

Color Club ~ Winter Affair

Deep burgundy with flake-ish shimmer

Winter Affair is from Color Club’s holiday collection 2012, which is also called Winter affair! :D There are six polishes in the collection, and I bought half of them.

This polish is a deep burgundy packed with shimmer. The shimmer looks duochrome to me; it sparkles in various colours, from pink to orange. It’s a dark, vampy colour – and it’s so me!

I have quite a lot of Color Clubs; it’s a brand that I really like. I was surprised over the formula in this one though. The first coat was really difficult to apply. I kept pulling on already applied polish with the brush, and it all ended up looking like a streaky mess. It puzzled me, because I’ve never experienced that with a Color Club before! I was relieved when I applied the second coat though. That evened out every streak and bald spot, and made the polish look really great.

Here’s a pic of two coats – no top coat:

Look how vampy and delicious this is – isn’t it just a great polish?

Another angle:

I’m not sure I’d guess it was a Christmas polish if I didn’t know it, so I decided to make it more Christmassy. I stamped on it, using my DRK-B stamping plate, and I stamped with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri “Whirlwind White”, which is a plain white crème polish. Then I dotted the berries with another Insta-Dri, namely “Rapid Red”, which is a bright red crème polish.

I finished it all off with a layer of Poshé top coat, and here’s the final mani:

And from another angle:

The bottle shot:

I didn’t quite know where this mani would end when I started it, and when it’s like that things tend to go all wrong. But not this time. I really like this. What about you – do you think this turned out more Christmassy than the Color Club alone?

Opacity: 8/10
Colour, prettiness: 9/10
Durability: 9/10
Value for money: 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Buy again: Yes

Golden Lady ~ 400 and H&M ~ Look at Me

Golden Lady ~ 400  

Rose shimmery foil

This Golden Lady is rose pink but packed with silvery foil. Sweet Aylin sent me this gem in a swap. The formula is great; the polish applies very easily. Pigmentation is fantastic for such a light polish: It was opaque in one coat.

One coat – no top coat yet:

Isn’t the shimmer just fantastic? I’ll try to use this as a stamping polish as well – I’m almost positive that it’ll work!

Then I choose a polish from H&M called “Look at Me”. It’s red with a metallic finish. I thought it would fit the Golden Lady perfectly. I applied dabs of red with an eyeshadow applicator. I just dabbed 2-3 times on each nail, and here’s that step:

That looks pretty funny, don’t you think? 

Then I took my stamping plate DRK-B, and stamped with a no name white stamping polish. I’m amazed over how big these designs are! I’m so glad I finally ordered this fantastic plate, ‘cause I’m sure I’m going to use it a lot!

When I’ve stamped I ended up by applying a coat of Poshé top coat.

Here’s how it ended up looking:

I like the effect of the two colours underneath the stamp. I considered a “real” gradient, but I wasn’t really in the mood for it anyway.

Dear ladies – what’s the verdict, please? :)

Opacity: 10/10
Colour, prettiness: 7/10
Durability: 6/10
Value for money: 7/10
Overall: 7.5/10
Buy again: Yes