BeYu - n. 381

Hi all :>

This is the first colour I wore in 2013, couldn't have been any other colour but a blue? :D

A GREAT blue, let me tell you; I showed it in this post some time ago.

First of all, my camera didn't capture the green-teal side, and I don't know why, since that it was there all the time.. Pity, if you see my bottle shots, that's how your nails will look most of the time :/

Anyway, this is a blue jelly base, with duochrome shimmer (blurple to teal) and silver glitters: just like a night in mountains :>

(daylight)

Pictures show the purply side, not the teal >.<

(direct sun)

It's very reflective and shiny, a great festive blue.

(daylight)

I tried many lighting conditions, but you have to trust me when I say you this is a must-have, and looks better in real life.

These are three coats, happy application, not so happy price: BeYu is priced more than €6 here :^(

But I think you can still find it, n. 381 isn't a limited edition shade.

(outdoor daylight)

Maybe you can see some teal in the pic above? 

Mh, not so much, but that was my last try :D

This is a complex blue, you won't surely get bored with it!

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

Layla - Hologram Effect Flash Black

Last colour I've worn in 2012!

First I have to thank Stregalice for having found me this gem at a decent price - I would have liked to own more Layla holo shades, but they're too expensive for me, so when she told me she found some bottle for "cheap" (less than €10!), I chose the only one really worthy, the black :D

(artificial light - NO lightbox! Just the hanging lamp in my kitchen...)

Unfortunately, I don't have full sun pictures, because I only had the chance to take pictures in a mid-sunny day, but, hey, I think you can see how beautiful is this colour :>

Example: next pictures were taken in daylight, and rainbow is fully visible *_________*

(daylight)

Best best reflects, nothing more to say.

(daylight, a little washed out)

What about application?

Well, here's the deal: formula is runny and pretty impossible to work with :D

Some time ago, I bought the Essence Studio Nails 24/7 Nail Base, which was supposed to work well with holos; since that I don't have an aqua base, I tried this one.

It's actually a little sticking and gummy-looking, but first coat of "Flash Black" was a true disaster, patchy as all good holos are.

Every time I read about aqua bases, they're always effective with holos, so I guess this Essence base isn't really helpful :D

Second coat went better, but all dried mat, because this Essence base dries completely mat: almost no reflects at all!

So I applied top coat and applied a third coat, gif below shows the difference:

Left (or upper) nail is the result of two coats of "Flash Black"  + top coat = glossy with some reflects.

Right (or lower) nail is two coats of "Flash Black" + top coat + one third coat of "Flash Black" = BOOOM :D

I painted all my nails like that.

(demi-sun)

Anyway, I can't complain, if I will ever find an aqua base, I'm sure it will be a total pleasure :>

(artificial light)

Full hand shot: don't you think it's great? I'm not really a "pure black" nailpolish, this one is perfectly dark-looking and FUN at the same time!

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

Last new buyings of 2012

Looong post today... better start NOW :D

Sinful Colors!
Don't know why, but SC finally decided to import more interesting shades here in Italy, here's my first two picks:

Left: "Kissy", right "Blue By You".

I made some quick cap swatches and a little comparison:

1) "Blue By You"; in these pics, bottle shots is true to life: it's an electric blue base with turquoise, mmh, flecks? Don't know how to call this kind of shimmer, it's grainy. Instant love.

2) Essence "Choose Me!", compared with 3) "Kissy": they're very similar, as you can see "Choose Me!" is sparklier, that's why it looks greener. Maybe Probably you don't need both :D

Next, it's a great Pupa shade from their Déco Christmas collection:

This is n. 811, the "green" one, but as yu can see, it's not only green ♥

Since that I'm a true professional swatcher, I've even made a gif :D

(on the nails, Q by Colour Alike n. 118)

Golden-sage green to purply-bronze, how much awesome is that? Too much.

(almost sun)

Sinful Colors again :D

This is the famous "San Francisco":

Honestly, this is simply GREAT :D

It's green, but it has also a strong blue side, look at the cap swatches.

Bottle appearance it's pure green in real life (like the left swatch), but pictures captured more of the blue you can actually see, don't know why :D

Anyway: COOL.

Ok, let's change brands.

A while ago, Shaka released a collection which you can surely recognize as inspired by something else well known...

Being Shaka distribution a true disaster, almost no-one saw them in real life, I only eyed  CH2 "Purple", and CH3 "Emerald", which I bought.

On the right, another Astra Holo, n. 708 ♥

They're both super-pigmented; "Emerald" isn't the most original green-teal-goldish reflects you can find on the market, but we're sick, and we buy things we like in multiples :D

Last two brands (with swatches!), Rimmel and Catrice.

"Rock Royalty" by Rimmel is darker and deeper, has some purple sides and a beautiful shimmer I can't define at this moment :D (looks pink...)

Actual awesomeness is the left Catrice shade, a new one: "Steel My Heart".

Nailpolish bottle cap says this colour has a "brushed metal effect", and you can see from the cap swatch that it's true: "Steel My Heart" is a mat bronze metal nailpolish, honestly I've never seen a finish like that and I like it very much!

Two coats on the cap without top coat.

Maybe it recalls the OPI suede finish? I don't know, I don't own any of them, but this is GREAT, you can notice the colours of shimmer, blue, purple, green, pink...

I bet it'll be stunning with top coat! 

BUY IT, if you can.

If I remember correctly, there's at least another "brushed metal effect", more on the blue side, but it was a little too grey for my tastes...

Last Catrice, a gold one, "Oh My Goldness!"

Yes, I bought a true gold, but, hey, this is molten gold in a nailpolish bottle.

Swatches show the shimmer, this varnish is a clear base with micro gold shimmers, VERY shiny, rich and precious.

Uff, what a marathon, if you read all this post, you really like me :D

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

Mavala - Velvet + Essence - Viva La Green

Believe me or not, this is one of my favourite manis of 2012 °_°

That time I wanted a discreet colour, but I knew I would get bored quickly, so I thought adding a twist of colour, and I still had to try this new Essence...

(outdoor daylight, a little washed out...)

Characters: Mavala "Velvet", always liked this rosy-browny-nude, I think it looks good with my skintone (you can notice the usage level :D ) and Essence "Viva La Green", which is a bright pastel green, not fluo, but so so bright - the ideal partner for the calm "Velvet" :>

I must admit it took me a little patience to achieve this result, but I think I did a good job, since that I used two really different colours, don't you think?

I applied two (or three? Damn!) coats, then I started sponging the green on tips, just like a french manicure: I needed several steps, but in the end I succeded in melting the two colours.

(indoor, low daylight)

Look at the whole hands shot, don't know why, but I really really LOVED this combo!

(outdoor, daylight, again: washed out)

 

This time too I topped all with Essence Better Than Gel Nails top coat, it helps a lot mixing colours when you do gradients.

Argh, too many pics, I know, this is what happens when you like something :P

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

Kiko - n. 291 + Sinful Colors - Nail Junkie + Mi-Ny - Top5 Violet

Ok, this is the experiment I told you in the previous post: a sponged-gradiented manicure :D

(daylight)

When I got one of these Mi-Ny Top5 I just couldn't resist trying it, so I tried a thing...

(daylight)

Base is Kiko n. 291, tips are sponged (and patted) with Sinful Colors "Nail Junkie" ( ♥ ), then I applied Top5 "Violet" to make a gradient...

INFINITE job :D

I applied it like this:

- 5 coats on my thumbs;

- 4 on my pointers;

- 3 on my middle fingers;

- 2 on my ring fingers;

- no Top5 on my pinkies.

Finished all with Essence Better Than Gel Nails top coat.

(upper: indoor, shade; lower: outdoor daylight)

Honestly, I was hoping in a better result, more visible, but I think these glassy coloured top coats are meant for lightest bases, in order to show well the gradient...

(artificial light)

If you look carefully, you'll notice that thumb is darker than the pinkie (check out below pic), but I really liked how Top5 transformed "Nail Junkie", look, is bluer and deeper :>

I loved the colours and the final result.

(semi-sun light?)

I guess next time I'll try it directly on glittery colours, or foils, I'll get interesting effects :>

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

Kiko - n. 291

First post of 2013... with an old colour :D
And it's not even a blue!

This is a colour I wore around mid November, but right now I just applied a MAGNIFICENT blue I'll post in the next weeks, so you can trust me I started the new year with a "me" colour :>

Anyway, this is an "old" Kiko shade, but I think it's still available for sale.

(daylight)

Purple-magenta-who-knows-which-damn-hue-of-purple-this-is-called creme nailpolish :D

As always, Kiko cremes are the best you can get here in Italy in my opinion: easy and quick application, good to very good coverage, quick drying, extremely high shine.

(outdoor daylight)

These are two coats without top coat: told you about the shine :>

It changes a bit under different lighting conditions: I took a flash pic by chance, so I decided to include it as well to show the hue; lower part of pic shows the colour in shade, it becomes almost a berry purple!

This was the base for a little experiment I'll show you next time :>

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