Tuesday 30 August 2011

Clarins 230 with BeYu Crackling Top Coat 202

I was wearing this mani for nearly a week, and as it hadn't chipped I thought I'd test out a black crackle polish from BeYu (a present from my awesome nail enthusiast auntie). 


so this mani is quite the sandwich here are the layers :)
Base Coat: Nail Envy
Essie Smooth Sailing 2 coats
Clarins 230 1 coat
BeYu Crackling Top Coat 202 1 coat applied in three thick non overlapping strokes

BeYu Crackling Top Coat is a little thinner than the Barry M crackle and OPI Shatter polishes, which actually makes it very easy to apply, I actually think its the best crackle I've tried so far, its pretty hard to get application wrong with this one! I love how the crackle looks over Clarins 230, even though I only added it on the day I was actually considering changing my mani :) Clarins 230 is just too special on its own!!! :) Anyway onto more photos!






Tuesday 23 August 2011

Clarins 230 over Essie Smooth Sailing

Warning - This is going to be an extremely pic heavy post!

I've been dying to try out Clarins 230 over another shade, I'd already tried it over China Glaze's Long Kiss (metallic red), but I was convinced I'd get even better results over a different shade. So I decided to try a couple of coats over Essie's Smooth Sailing...this must be nail polish heaven!












Even with so many photographs I still don't think I've managed to capture how awesome Clarins 230 is in real life! Here is what the base colour looks like on it's own, you can click the photo to see the original post

Essie - Smooth Sailing
click photo for original post

Sunday 21 August 2011

Essie Braziliant Collection 2011 - Smooth Sailing

Smooth Sailing is the only polish I've picked up so far from Essie's Braziliant Collection for Summer 2011.
And I absolutely love it! Here are some pics :D


Smooth Sailing is a Dusky Lavender Blue polish packed with gorgeous pale blue and silver micro shimmer. The shimmer is very subtle, but gives the colour a gorgeous pool like depth. Formula was awesome, I'm absolutely loving Essie's formula this year, it is complete perfection. Opaque at 2 coats and as hard wearing as ever (Essie is the only brand I've been able to wear for a week with no chipage). 


sunlight

Friday 19 August 2011

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam England: Your Royal Shineness with Servin' Up Sparkle

Servin' Up Sparkle is the second polish from OPI Glam Slam England, here is how it looks over Your Royal Shineness:


Servin' Up Sparkle is a clear base packed with small round and large hexagonal holographic glitter, together with Your Royal Shineness you get serious disco ball nails :) unfortunately pictures don't do this glitter justice, I included the last blurry pic to give you a better idea of how many gorgeous colours this glitter flashes!



Monday 15 August 2011

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam England: Your Royal Shineness

Here is Your Royal Shineness, from Serena Williams Glam Slam UK for OPI, this set also came with Servin' Up Sparkle a gorgeous holographic glitter, which will feature in the next post!

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam UK: Your Royal Shineness 

Your Royal Shineness is a gorgeous metallic silver foil, definitely not a unique shade (see China Glaze Jingle Bells below, from Tis The Season... Christmas collection 2010, which is slightly lighter) but I definitely have a soft spot for metallic finishes, they have a cool futuristic look to them which I love, I just wish they could perfect a formula for true mirror look nails, ah well, at least they have stick ons hehe :) This was opaque in 2 coats and the formula is perfect!

China Glaze Jingle Bells
click photo for post

Your Royal Shineness 


Next up: Your Royal Shineness with Servin' Up Sparkle

Wednesday 10 August 2011

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam France: Rally Pretty Pink with Red Shatter

Here is OPI Rally Pretty Pink (from Serena Williams Glam Slam France) with Red Shatter on top. I have to admit I was initially a little underwhelmed by the pairing of these two polishes, I wasn't too sure they would work together, but boy was I wrong!  

OPI Rally Pretty Pink with Red Shatter (no top coat)


Red Shatter, like most crackle polishes dries with a matte finish. However the big surprise with this polish is  almost jelly like finish, allowing the polish underneath to actually show through slightly. This effect is absolutely stunning, especially with this colour combination, it looks like a radiant jewel, and is very reminiscent of Traditional Indian Wedding colours (See pics below). Once topped with Red Shatter, the gold tones of Rally Pretty Pink stand out a lot giving this combo a gorgeous contrast! 



OPI Rally Pretty Pink with Red Shatter (with top coat)

The top coat seriously makes this combo dazzling and very jewel like, I really love this set, absolutely gorgeous!


Application Tips:
  • As with most shatter/crackles, Red Shatter applies best in non-overlapping strokes and as quickly as possibly. 
  • I found that applying it thickly creates the best effect in 3 strokes. 
  • Make sure you wait a few mins for crackle to dry before applying Top Coat, if it's too wet the cracks will be a little blurred around the edges!


Friday 5 August 2011

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam France: Rally Pretty Pink

OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam France collection cosists of two polishes: Rally Pretty Pink and Red Shatter top coat, first up a look at Rally Pretty Pink on its own:


Rally Pretty Pink is a mauve/pink base packed with gorgeous golden shimmer, the effect is very similar to polishes in the Zoya Sunshine Collection, in particular Faye (pictured below) which is has a slightly more purple tone:

Zoya - Faye
click photo for post

OPI Rally Pretty Pink

Application wise, the consistency is very similar to Zoya Sunshine polishes and a touch on the gloopy side, the finish is a little sheer, this was 3 coats, and although some of the flash photos do show a hint of VNL, this is barely visible in real life. On the whole Rally Pretty Pink is a gorgeous shade for summer, the vibrant gold shimmer is literally dazzling in the sunlight, I'm looking forward to seeing how the red shatter looks on top :D


Next up: Rally Pretty Pink with Red Shatter