China Glaze - Agent Lavender + flakies

Fantastic colour and you know I love those nail-art flakies I already used :>

I'm not into intricate details on nails, and this time I decided for a "french-flakie" mani!

"Agent Lavender" is a perfect light lavender pastel, formula's easy to apply, no streaks, no mess.

(bottom part of picture in the sun, lightly washed out)

Two coats of polish, and it covers all well, I don't have complaints about it!

These are the flakies I used, from Fontana Contarini's range for nailart. I love the colour base, they go so well with cold shades!

During these days other lovely ladies gave me some awards!
I don't "do" them, especially if they require talking about me, simply because I'm a reserved person, plus from a couple of weeks I'm terribly busy "outside", but obviously I appreciate them and the people who decide my blog is worth some attention :>

juntasperonorevueltas gave me a Sunshine Award: I like these girls because not only they're kind, honest and write clear and complete reviews, but they have a beautiful cat too :D
Same award from todoslosesmaltessonpocos, which I didn't know before, but I completely agree with this name :D
Varnish Me gave me a Top10 Award: I tried to think about one thing I like in ten different versions, but ten is a big number for me :D (ok, not regarding nail polishes, but in that case I should write a Top100 or so...)
Thank you again, girls, and I'm sorry I'm not able to partecipate to these awards as well as you!


Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Missing one item

What am I talking about?

Meet_me@holografics.com Essence's collection is now in stores here in Italy, so when I saw the stand full, I grabbed bottles nearly without thinking about colours I liked... Not good, I know.

Once returned home, I realized the stand wasn't complete at all, since I didn't saw the other two shades of the collection, "Holoberry" and "Lil@c".
"Holoberry" wasn't in my buying plan, but "Lil@c"... I miss it :^|

"Blue ray" (the blue one) is beautiful, "Gagalectric" (the lilac one) looks promising, "Prism@tic White" (the white one, obv.) ... I don't really know why I bought it, since I don't wear whites, pearls or so, I tried it layered and: meh.

It's not so pearled, seems more like a fine and dense shimmer, but with colours of pearls... Not for me.
At least, it's beautiful in the bottle...

So, I'm wondering:

1) any suggestions on how to wear "Prism@tic White"?

2) anyone out there who has an unwanted "Lil@c" to sell me, if I don't find one for myself? :D


Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Color Club - Wild At Heart

Every once in a while you find a little treasure, one of those jolly-products which has just positive features, and zero defects.

A jolly nail polish is Color Club's "Wild At Heart": this is ONE coat. Is that enough for you?

No, it isn't enough, as the colour makes your nails as little jewels.
See them in the sun:

Even if my pictures aren't the best (did them in a rush around 7:30 AM), if you like purple polish, you MUST have this in your stash, period.
Top coat doesn't ruin holoness.
The fastest mani I ever did, so useful when you're tired after dinner, but you need as well to do your nails :D

Obviously, straight in my favourites folder!


Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Essence - Out Of My Mind + Golden Rose - Magic Color n. 307

How to revamp a "tired" colour? By adding something special :>
I chose this fabulous duochrome lilac-purple glitter by Golden Rose, sent to me by Zygzak in a previous swap.
It's from their Magic Color line, and I see why they call it "magic".

N. 307 is a pretty sheer polish (can't be used on its own), in fact I applied two layers over "Out Of My Mind", but final result is something so so pretty.
It reminded me of a cross between China Glaze's "Blue Iguana" and Sally Hansen's "DVD" from the Ultra HD line, what do you think?

Layered over a turquoise, n. 307 made "Out Of My Mind" a blurquoise (lol) with purple sides. And for me = ♥___♥
This is my favourite picture, in shade, see the colour shift? Even the green of the base °_°

In the sun:

In daylight is more luminous, just like a foil:

Duochrome!

As expected, I get tired of the beetle effect of "Out Of My Mind" (even if it's so beautiful), and I like this mani much more.


Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Essence - Out Of My Mind

After days and days of rain, grey sky and CLOUDS, finally sun returned (not in all its glory, though).
I didn't feel like wear polish during these days, but yesterday I decided to add some colour in my life :D and I chose something VERY bright, "Out Of My Mind" by Essence.

ELECTRIC turquoise with GREEN flash (not teal), which makes your nails like the coloured chrome false ones you can buy for Carnival, lol.
In daylight, the truest to its real appearance:

EDIT: Emerald Sparkled pictured it as it appears in real life, my camera isn't as good as hers, I guess :^/

In the sun, but colours are washed out, it's way more intense to the naked eye, and flash is greener:

Artificial (bathroom) light, more true to life:

It has a subtle (VERY subtle) duochrome pink side, you can watch it here better together with a comparison of "Out Of My Mind" and "Choose Me!", but in this shade picture I took it's somewhat visible:

These are two coats, but you have to apply them thick, otherwise you'll need three.
Average drying time, I expected this to be more glossy, but whatever, top coat and it'll shine properly.

Just one flaw: don't know why, but I feel I'll get tired of this polish very soon... Does that make sense?


Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Catherine Arley - n. 674

Yesterday it rained like hell, today (28th) weather it's p e r f e c t: fresh breeze, clear light and SUN - not the torrid one.

Holo time, so, but in a lighter way: a baby blue holo!

Thanks to Sabbatha, now this polish it's happy among its new friends in my Helmer :D

Not only it's a holo, but it has a blue flash too - see it in the pic above - very nice.
Anyway, pretty strong holo effect in the sun!

I'm in love = it goes straight in my favourites :D

Inside house is a dusty baby blue, but holographic shimmer can be visible as well (even more than in my next pic), it just depends on the angle of light.

It's pretty sheer, I applied two coats on some nails and three coats on the others, but to the naked eye, VNL isn' that... visible.

I'm satisfied, it dries quickly between one coat and another, and I'm wearing top coat too: usually it dulls the holo effect, and yesterday I wanted to do a test by leaving some nails without top coat (to check any difference in the sun), but then I forgot it and top-coated all :D
Anyway, I don't think top coat ruined holoness.


EDIT about wear: it's now the fourth day of wear, and it's pretty perfect!
Being a light colour, tipwear isn't that visible (anyway, I got just a minimal tipwear), and holoness diffuses light in a way that even nail growth isn't noticeable.
This is the perfect polish for a journey mani, or so :>


Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Some beauty and some love

Do you need some beauty? I have it!
Ladies and - ehm - gentlemen, Ozotic Pro n. 504 and n. 528:

(bottom part of the image, n. 528 left, n. 504 right)

Clearly nail polish beauty :>
I treated myself for my birthday these two magnificent shades, ordered from the australian site PicturePolish.
For the italian readers, parcel took almost one month in total (from the dispatch date, 27th april) to arrive here (25th may). Long wait, but it's worth it.

If you are here you all know there are many stunning shades from Ozotic Pro, but I learned from this post that they're not all unique; rare, but not unique. It isn't a flaw, just thought you'd like to know it.
Briefly, n. 505 is a dupe of Sally Hansen's "Turquoise Opal" and n. 506 is a dupe of "Garnet Lapis".

Given that I recently got them in a swap, I left just n. 503 and n. 504 in my wishlist; the time I decided to order a couple of bottles, n. 503 wasn't available (you can admire it here), so I chose n. 504, which is basically a 16ml of blue/purple-to-orange/gold multichrome, more or less like this:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Lol :D

The Elytra collection (three shades available) is more than gorgeous: 16ml of MULTICHROMATIC GLITTERS in a clear base.
I chose n. 528, which is a progression of turquoise-to-purple-to-acid-green, like this:
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

How not to love them?
That's it, and picture speaks for itself; google this brand and you'll be astonished if you didn't see it before.
I have another couple of lemmings from Ozotic Pro, so I'll make a new order as soon as I can.


Now, the "love" part: first of all, I want to thank all the people who chose to be a regular READER (I never liked the word "follower") of my little blog :>

I received some awards from some nice bloggers out there and even if I don't "do" them, I would like to thank these ladies for their kindness, it's good to be appreciated by someone :>
Colorfulvanity gave me a Versatile Award, Maki a Kreativ Award, GothamPolish a Liebster Blog and Hobina03 a One Lovely Blog Award.
Thank you again, girls :^]
I don't want to choose one or more blogs in particular, as I read many many blogs and everyone has their own strong point, so you can browse my link list and if you don't know a name, click on it and you'll certainly find a very good job in taking pictures, or describing a product, or being silly... Well then, all you need in life, right? :D


Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Comparison: Gosh "Purple Heart" vs Essence "Where Is The Party?"

Requested by theallamenta, here it is!

(no base coat, no top coat)

I think picture's already pretty clear: they're not dupes, but very similar concept wise.

"Purple Heart" is darker and more pigmented - I used three coats just because there were a couple of tiny barely bald areas, but two coats carefully applied are enough, trust me; "Where Is The Party?" is sheerer, but three coats cover well everything, otherwise you can layer it over a dark base and use less coats...
But I love the dark edges "Where Is The Party?" gives to nails!

Duochrome side isn't the same, as "Purple Heart" (top nail in the last two pictures of the set) is of a forest green when angled (difficult to capture), while "Where Is The Party?" (bottom nail) is a lighter green (and more noticeable, to my eyes).

Just a note: you know there's Catrice's "Iron Mermaiden" too, but I keep reading that it's the sheerest of these kind of duochromes, so I didn't buy it, and I don't think it's worth it.

Do you like them? :>


On a side note, a notice for the italian readers: sono stata invitata a quest'evento, ma non posso partecipare, però, per chi fosse interessato, l'iscrizione è libera e gratuita (ma i posti sono limitati) e le beauty blogger sono le benvenute, basta chiamare e prenotare.


Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Miscellaneous

Nail polish number continues increasing...
While I decide if it's a bad or a good thing, here there are the newest buyings:

1) Pure Ice "Heartbreaker"... Yessss, long time lemming, I found it on eBay, it came from USA and, last but not least, I didn't have to struggle with customs! :D

2) Barbara Daly (for Tesco) nail polish, no name or number found, except for a "denim" on the back.
Another eBay find: did you ever search for a non specific brand on eBay? I do, sometimes; I type something like "blue polish/varnish" (or green, or purple) and see what eBay lists.
Most of the times I don't win the auction, lol, but this time I did, and this colour looks promising: is a dusty lavender/light blue - a little pearled - with tiny pink/bronze microflecks, I'll show it better when I'll wear it :>
Little bottle (7ml), but a nice colour indeed.

3) Gosh "Purple Heart": ♥ _♥

4) P2 "Rebel", what a deeeeep blue/purple!

Thanks again to Daph for having sold me last two polishes :>


Then, suddenly Catrice appeared in Milan too for our (my) joy, and I found the last "Dirty Berry" in the stand ^_^

Now, this little plastic bag, can you guess what does it contain and what I'll use it for? * ghghgh *

Last, my very useful nail polish dryers, I know you know which is my favourite :D

EDIT about the holo dust: I want to warn you that seller of that dust increased price per gram :^/
I paid $14 plus $5 for international shipping, now it's $22 AND $9... I'm wondering how many girls of us searched for this pigment right after reading the post on My Lucid Bubble and bought it :D
Business is business, but what a rip-off :^(


Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)

Essence - Chacalaca + Sally Hansen - Garnet Lapis

Ahhhh, finally my nails are painted again :D

After my move, some fingers are still terribly dry/irritated/wounded (paper and dust aren't friends for skin) and obviously I had to file nails to a resonable lenghth, but I thought I would suffer much more all the mess a move creates :D
So, to celebrate my new house (lol, it isn't mine, but whatever), a GREAT manicure, great for me at least :P

I always see "Garnet Lapis" layered over black, but what about a nice inky blue like "Chacalaca"?

I'll try to contain my love, but "Garnet Lapis" is surely one of my favourites of all time, because of THESE REFLECTS:

How is it in shade? GORGEOUS indeed, as well as in full sun:

It changes colour in shade too! *_*


I couldn't choose a picture or another, so I put almost all in one :D

"Chacalaca", I must say, is very good too: I put just ONE coat on my left hand and almost two on my right one (I'm right handed), so pigmented.
One coat of "Garnet Lapis" too, it's enough and you'll have this rainbow on your fingers.
Not much left to say: buy it if you don't own it yet!


Have a nice day/night/whatever and thanks for your attention ;¬)