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 ;¬)

Zoya - Gemma

Relaxing colour, this time :>

I needed something more neutral, but I didn't want to wear a nude rose or such, so I chose this spring green.

Clearly it has that interesting touch which made me fell in love with it: a violet shimmer!
Full sun:

Visible in daylight too:

If you take a look VERY close, you'll see that this violet flash is the result of pink+ blue shimmer (on thumb below), they're so fine that they give a glow from within the polish, once on nails.

Three easy coats, and you're done, top formula as always :>


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

Deborah - Shine Tech n. 60

I knew you all would like this nailpolish in particular from my last post, so here it is :D

Deborah has few colour lines, and lately it renewed its palette by adding new colours, finishes, etc.
Shine Tech is one of the oldest from Deborah's range, but I always try to skip it because each polish is €7,90 for 8,5 ml :¬(
But how can WE resist to a purple/gold foil? Lucky me I have just another lemming from this brand :D

Daylight:

Full sun:

This is a purple base PACKED with pale gold glitter/flecks.
In the sun it looks gold, but in daylight, glitters are somewhat between a pale gold and a liiiiight green, definitely it isn't of a pure 18k gold tint.
You can see what I mean from the pic above, bottom of the bottle. See the citrus green glitters?
It's a subtle detail, but gives an interesting effect!

EDIT: these are three coats, good drying time :>

Two more in daylight:


I didn't take pics under artificial light, but a warmer light makes this polish a little more plummy, and the glitters a little more gold. Always beautiful :>

Nailbamboo too posted about this polish: I LOVE her nails, but her pics are a little too blue/violet tinted, to the naked eye polish looks exactly like my pictures show.
If this polish had been just like in Bamboo's pics, it probably would have become one of my favourites of all time :D


WEAR: let's say 4 days of good-looking manicure; during these days I'm moving, plus I spent a weekend with friends in open countryside (including many hours of cooking :¬D), so to me it's pretty worth the price :>


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

Easter eggs

Welcome back to me :D

I know, Easter has just gone, but past days (weeks) were a nightmare for me, and now I can finally write something interesting on this pages.

First of all, BIG thank you to Sabbatha (again!) for providing me a backup of "Holographic" by Gosh :D
This swap was born from her offer to send me a second bottle of it, since I bought my first one in Bruxelles and I doubt I'll return there in the very next future; moreover, seems like "Holographic" will be discontinued soon, so... Ok, Sabbatha, let's swap :D

I sent her some Kikos, ans she sent me these cuties:

1) Catherine Arley n. 674, the only one holo by this brand I really liked :>

2) Lemax Colour - I didn't find a number or a name, but it's a rich metallic magenta/purple, really really deep.

3) Eveline Gold Colours n. 464, a slightly duochrome forest green/blue foil. These little bottles are always a surprise!

4) Colour Alike n. 457, deep little dusty teal creme, a classic ♥

5) Revlon "Emerald City", you all know what's this, but it was in my wishlist :D

6) As said, Gosh's "Holographic", a backup *_*

Sabbatha, will you want to be my naipolish twin sister? :D


THEN, some compulsive buyings :^/

1) Essence Special Effect Topper "Mystic Mermaid", duochrome light turquoise/light pink silver shimmer, very pretty.

2) Essence "Cool And The Gang", my nth blue jelly -.-°

3) Deborah Shine Tech n. 60, a masterpiece of colours in a bottle, that's why I put a second picture in the bottom, see how much SHINY are the glitters in it? *________________*

4) A homemade shortcrust pastry tarte, filled with ganache and topped with fresh strawberries, I made them yesterday for dinner and I thought you too would appreciate them :D


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