NOTD - Sparkling Black Elegance

Lame title but the mani is far from lame! Came up with this mani when I decided to see what Zoya Tomoko looks like glossified by top coat. The look was so breath taking that a mani must be made out of it! At the time I really wanted to wear something gothy and dark = black. Tada! This mani was born.

 Some blurry pictures to show just how sparkly Tomoko is with top coat. Gorgeous is far from exaggeration!

Mani Composition:
Thumb, Middle & Pinky - OPI Black Onyx
Index & Tomoko - Zoya Tomoko (2 coats with 3 coats of top coat)

There is a beautiful balance between hard and pretty in this mani, which is what I love about it. Hope you like it as much as I do and will try it out~

What are your favorite textured polishes turned glossy?

NOTD - Halloween Nails!

Hope everyone had an awesome Halloween! Hope you guys got to have a festive and exciting way to celebrate the day. I did not get up to anything whatsoever; didn't even dress up for work. I realized, since my teens, I have only dressed up and done something festive two or three times. Perhaps next year I should force myself to do something even if Halloween falls on a weekday. Enough rambling, on to the manicure!

Short blurb on the manicure: me and my fellow polish loving co-worker went to work on Halloween with very similar nail art. We went around the office showing other girls our mani's and everyone thought we had done our nails together! Guess great minds think alike ;)

So much blood! Middle finger has blood dripping and pinky blood splatter. My Frankenstein ended up having very creepy, soul-less eyes that I thought was very fitting. Originally, the index fingers were supposed to be stamped with skulls but it was bed time (I need my sleep!). The thumb was an excuse to use one of my "fuzzy" polishes and I also ran out of nail art ideas. In case you are wondering my right hand had an identical mani.

Mani Composition:
Thumb - OPI My Vampire Is Buff (MVIB) topped with China Glaze You're A Hoot
Index - Zoya Arizona (base) topped with Zoya Rica
Middle - OPI MVIB with dripping OPI All I Want For Christmas (Is OPI)
Ring - Nicole by OPI Sweet On Pete, OPI Black Onyx, OPI MVIB
Pinky - OPI MVIB (base) spattered with OPI AIWFC

This was a fun mani to do. I got to try out a lot of nail art techniques that I have been wanting to do, such as the dripping and splatter techniques. The dripping turned out nicely, but the splatter needs more work (I think I need a thinner straw).

Did you guys do Halloween themed nails for Halloween?

Swatch - Zoya Blu

This polish has been on my wish list every since the collection came out, so I'm very excited to have it part of my stash! Welcome Zoya Blu!

Zoya Blu:
Pale baby blue cream. This is so delicate, clean and pretty. One note about the formula is the polish is on the thick and gloopy side resulting in thick coats. The thick coats could then lead to bubbles (as seen on my pinky). Don't let all that deter you because for a colour like this formulas are usually awful and this one actually had wonderful formula. Another note, I got lobster hands from this polish but that only intrigues me more since I hardly get lobster hands.

Two coats with no top coat shown.

Specifications:
Formula - Little thick making thick coats of polish inevitable (thin coats end up not covering the whole nail and streaks)
Pigmentation - Good, two coats
Dry Time - Average
Shine - Shiny and glossy
Prone to - Nothing
Removal - Easy
Staining - None

All the anticipation of this polish did not let me down. I love it just as much as I thought I would, isn't it nice to get that feeling? This is the first polish that made me notice the lobster hand effect. Some find it hard to ignore LHE but nothing deters me from a polish color I love. 

What colours give you the lobster hand effect? Does it make you avoid those polishes?

Swatch - Zoya Tomoko

Woohoo! My very first Pixie Dust polish from Zoya. Before there was no intrigue in Pixie Dust for me because they didn't look as glitter-tastic as some of the OPI liquid sands I own. However, Zoya managed to come out with two textured polishes that captured my attention big time. One of these polishes is Tomoko, which is what I will be reviewing today.

Zoya Tomoko:
Champagne (silver with the slightest bit of gold to give the colour warmth) textured polish. The texture feels a little "sharper" (more rough, getting closer to fine grained sand paper) than liquid sands to me. This guy was on the sheer side, where at two coats you could see just a hint of VNL at some angles. As for sparkle factor this one sparkles beautifully in the sun and under warm lighting; but just has a soft twinkling under fluorescent light.

The pictures show two coats with no top coat.

Here is a blurry picture to show all the magnificent sparkles!

 Here is a picture comparing top coat versus no top coat (middle & pinky). VNL becomes more noticeable when you apply multiple top coats (2 very thick coats here) until a glossy finish. This becomes a full glitter polish with top coat and is real sparkly. Breath-takingly beautiful!

Specifications:
Formula - Good, easy application
Pigmentation - Okay, on the sheer side so apply thick coats or three coats
Dry time - same as average creams (faster than OPI liquid sand)
Removal - Easy

My first Pixie Dust is a hit! I love this polish! This guy is amazing in the sun and warm indoor lighting. So so beautiful! Can you tell how much I like this polish? Not to mention this is a nice neutral colour that will match just about anything. There is nothing negative to say about this polish except that it could be more pigmented. However, even that isn't much of an issue in my opinion. All in all, I will definitely be wearing this polish again and again.

Do you own any Pixie Dust polishes? Which brand of textured polishes do you like best?

Swatch - OPI Can't Find My Czechbook

How about a nice change up while we are getting into fall. Yes, browns, plums, reds are fitting for this season but a nice shock of colour never hurt anyone. Actually, I have been finding it rather difficult to judge just what season it is over here. On weekends it is warm but during the weekdays it seems to be cold. Very odd. Then again this probably has something to do with the fact that I hardly see daylight during the work week...that sounds kind of depressing so let's get on to polish!

Pst! You can find a comparison post on this polish here.

OPI Can't Find My Czechbook:
Robin egg blue cream. The polish was released this past spring as part of the Euro Centrale collection. There is a slight dusty quality to the colour making it slightly darker than the bottle colour. (The dustiness also does not show up in the bottle colour). This quality makes this shade more muted and wearable, in my opinion. Pictures show two coats without top coat.

Specifications:
Formula - Great, easy application, self-leveling
Pigmentation - Good, 2 coats
Shine - Yes
Prone to - Nothing
Staining - None
Removal - Easy

I usually do not go for blues, but lately have been crazy about them. This polish is no exception and is more flattering against my skintone than expected. CFMC isn't a unique colour but a great addition to any collection if you do not own something similar.

How do you feel about blue nail polish? Do you tend to gravitate more to a certain shade of blue?

NOTD - Neon Colour-Changing Maze

There is a fun manicure to be shown today! There's nail art stamping and colour changing polish all in one mani. This was super fun to wear in the summer (yes, I did this awhile back); not only due to the colour-changing polish but also the fun, bright colours. The stamping is atrocious on a couple fingers, but I am very pleased with the others. Hope you guys enjoy this mani~

Mani Composition:
Ruby Wing Green Peace and Poppy
Stamping was in OPI Black Onyx using Gals Fairy Set plate GA31

Pictures below show the index and middle finger exposed to the sun. The mani becomes so cool with the colour contrast! I especially love the green one.

Gosh, looking at these pictures makes me miss stamping. I should do some in the near future. Why, why must I need so much sleep! There would be so many more hours in a day for nails. Anyway, hope you guys like this mani as much as I did. I highly encourage you guys to do some nail art with these colour-changing polishes. It makes the nail art even more cool!

Have you incorporated colour-changing polish with nail art?

Dupe? - Fly Czechbook Room For Blues

A comparison of blue and torquoise polishes is what's in store today. This is a comparison I was really curious about while trying to decide whether or not to buy OPI Can't Find My Czechbook. So in case some of you out there are still contemplating (since the collection seems to still be widely available) this is for you guys!

Fly: dark turqoise cream. Looks green compared to the other two, much darker and much more green than CFMC. Originally, I was hesitant on buying CFMC because comparisons I saw made them out to be the same colour just very slightly different in shade. Turns out they are completely different colours.

Can't Find My Czechbook (CFMC): Robin egg blue creme, dusty/less vibrant, maybe has a barely-there green influence in colour but really I do not see any green at all for this colour. More milky (white) than NRFB. Looks muted next to NRFB.

No Room For The Blues (NRFB): more vibrant (not dusty at all) than CFMC, even though darker colour. Very different colour from CFMC. It is a mix of cornflower and cobalt blue.

Formula-wise they are all great, dry with a high shine and require two coats.


These three polishes are completely different. Once again the choice comes down to what type of colour you like. I am a total sucker for teals/turqoise so naturally my favorite is Fly. However, now that I see how muted CFMC really is, I find this blue much more wearable. Mid-toned blues have never got my heart racing because I don't like the way they look against my yellow-toned skin. NRFB is a beautiful colour that I wish matched my skintone better.

Which polish out of these three do you like? Do you own any of these polishes?