NOTD - Surreal Monet Layering

An awesome layering combo will be shown today. What was initially a quick pick of two polishes for a fast mani turned into something divine and unexpected. The colors were soft and reminded me of Monet's Water Lilly painting (my favorite painting). I got a lot of compliments on this mani and also comments on its similarity to an OPI polish. Let's hop to it!

(Picture heavy to show all angles and the crazy duochrome of this combo!)

Mani Composition:
Base - China Glaze Queen B (one coat)
Topper - Orly Angel Rain (one coat)
Seche Vite top coat (one coat)

The duochrome of this mani is incredible! Mostly it shines purple but the green is strong at certain angles. Brush strokes were not noticeable as long as application of Angel Rain is even with a light touch. Having a dark blurple like Queen B really gave this mani it's personality making it dark and blurple. Angel Rain doesn't really lighten the shade of Queen B, instead AR adds duochrome to the dark blurple.

I was getting comments that this layering combo looks similar to OPI Peace, Love & OPI. I, also, thought the same thing while wearing the mani, so here's a quick breakdown in words:

OPI is a duochrome also of purple and green. However, OPI shine mainly a different shade of green (nicer green in my opinion) and flashes purple at certain angles. Also, OPI has a charcoal/pewter base colour as oppose to blurple. All in all, the two mani's are very different.

I looooved this mani! If you guys have these polishes, you must give this layering combo a try, you won't be disappointed.

Do you like to layer duochromes on creams or wear them on their own?

Swatch - OPI Solitaire

Today, I will be reviewing a liquid sand from the OPI Bond Girls liquid sand collection that came out in May last year. I am having a dilemma with whether or not to get the final polish from the collection: Honey Ryder. Many reviewers seem to really like it, but I'm not sure if it's sparkly enough... only time will tell (because seven months of time hasn't been enough :P). Few months ago I made a tutorial on how to convert any of your regular polishes into a liquid sand/textured manicure using OPI Solitaire. Click here to check out that tutorial!

OPI Solitaire:
A pearl white with silver glitter. This liquid sand twinkles in the sun, and is not as sparkle-tastic as some of the Mariah Carey liquid sands. It's a nice soft white that doesn't look chalky or like white-out.

Shown below is a comparison of what the polish looks like with a few coats of top coat to create a glossy surface. Personally, I prefer Solitaire without the top coat because with it the texture is emphasized instead of the sparkle (which is the case for some textured polishes).

Index and ring have top coat, whereas middle and pinky do not.

Specifications:
Formula - Great, easy application
Pigmentation - Great, slightly sheer on first coat and second coat gives full coverage (no VNL)
Dry time - Faster than other liquid sands I have tried, but not fast drying by any means
Shine - none, textured and matte finish that is supposed to be worn without top coat
Wear - Good, did not chip after 2 days of wear
Removal - Same as other liquid sands

After wearing this polish for a couple of days, I must say I am growing quite fond of it. I think this is a good palette cleanser making it a great alternative if you do not feel like wearing a nude.

What are your thoughts on OPI Solitaire or liquid sands in general? Do you own any polishes from the Bond Girls collection?

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?