Pretty & Polished ~ Sand Art

Pretty & Polished ~ Sand Art  

Clear base packed with matte blue, green, pink and purple glitter

I have had this Pretty & Polished glitter in my stash for a while, trying to figure out some clever mani to use it for. I decided to go for something familiar: A glitter gradient.

The underwear for this gradient is Sally Hansen “Calypso Blue”, a pretty, shimmery turquoise, which is opaque in two easy coats. Drying time is average on this one. Here’s first a picture taken in my light box: Two coats, no top coat:

The light is flat, and even though it’s obvious that the polish has a really nice shine, it doesn’t at all show what potential this baby has got. Let me show you what it looks like in the sunshine instead: 

See that polish come to life? I love it!

I wish I had been more creative with my Sand Art, but my mind went blank. I sponged the glitter onto the tips of three fingers, and reversed it on the last two fingers.

The glitter dries up really gritty. I applied two layers of Catrice Quick Dry & High Shine topcoat, but that didn’t make any difference when it comes to grittiness. Fortunately I don’t mind so much about that.

Picture taken in the light box:

Picture taken in the sun:

If you look at the thumb, you can really see the depth of the shimmer.

Here are the two polishes in crime:

I’m pleased with this, even though it’s not my most creative mani. But they can’t all be equally creative, can they? I need to make up a challenge soon, to get my creativity running again!

Tell me what you would have done with this polish, please! :)

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

OPI Liquid Sand ~ The Impossible

OPI Liquid Sand ~ The Impossible

Reddish base with glitters and stars

Here’s  the other one of my liquid sands from OPI’s Mariah Carey collection.

The polish applies easily, and I used two thin coats for to make it opaque. Drying time was on the slow side, just like the other liquid sand was. But hell, I managed :) I wanted the full effect of the liquid sand, so I didn’t apply any topcoat.

So here it is:

The stars are shy! I decided not to fish for them, but to just see how many I would get without making an effort. The answer is three. One on each of my ring fingers, and one on my left thumb. Not impressive!

There’s something about the tone of colour that doesn’t appeal to me and doesn’t quite suits my skin tone. The polish is red-ish/pink-ish, but the undertone has a coral note that I do not like.

I wore the polish like this for a day before I changed it to something else. And if I decide to keep this and use it again (not guaranteed), then I’m definitely going to add some nail art to cover up a bit of the coral colour.

Do you like the liquid sand polishes and have you jumped that bandwagon yet?

Opacity: 7/10
Colour, prettiness: 3/10
Durability: 8/10
Value for money: 6/10
Overall: 6/10
Buy again: No

OPI Liquid Sand ~ Stay the Night

OPI Liquid Sand ~ Stay the Night

Black base with pink glitters

Behold: Here’s a mani without nail art on it!! *gasp*

I have been so curious about the liquid sand polishes from OPI’s Mariah Carey collection, so I knew I had to get my hands on a couple of them. Stay the Night is the first one I try on.

I used two thin coats for this mani. The formula was good; I didn’t have any problems with getting an even amount of glitter all over the nails. Drying time is a killer, though. I’m not the first nail blogger who states this fact, and I’m probably not going to be the last either.

But. I managed to sit through the drying time without denting or making any other damages, or indeed going off my head :D

I obviously didn’t apply a top coat. I wanted to feel how it was to wear the polish the way it’s meant to be worn. For once ;)

That is also why there isn’t any nail art on this. It doesn’t happen very often that I wear a polish all by itself, so this is a very special day!

The glitter in the polish makes this very special in low light. It makes my nails look all velvety with a deep pink glitter to it. Prettay!! :D

So – my verdict is that the liquid sand polishes are a good buy, even though they are OPI polishes (I’m not an OPI fan). They are fun and easy to apply, but please note, dear reader – they are dreadfully slow dryers.

Have you tried any of them? If yes – did you like them? If no – why not? What’s keeping you? I’m curious to know, so please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts in the comments below!