I have mixed feelings about this collection.
Things I like about Khromes:
- futuristic-looking, mirror-like finish
- they dry in no time at all, without fast-drying top coat
- as a matter of fact, no top coat is necessary
- they are very pigmented: you can be fine with just one coat
- ideal for Konad designs
Things I dislike about Khromes:
- being very pigmented, they stained my nails terribly, worse than any blue or green can
- as they dry in a record time, Khromes are a bit tricky to apply. Try not to go over the same spot twice: cover the whole nail in a one gigantic stroke
- Khromes are kinda boring as a collection. Yes, the finish is fantastic; but the color choice - not so much. Seriously, how many different golds does a person need? I would love to see the same finish in an array of colors: blue, green, pink, purple... Yes, purple Khrome, pretty please!
On to the pictures (they are clickable, as usual):
Millennium: very silvery, very reflective silver. These are not ridges on my nails, these is light reflected off the Millennium.
2030: warm-neutral gold
I did not use a base coat, so you can see my horizontal ridges in all their ugly glory. TC is a must with these polishes!
Hi-Tek: a mix between a warm bronze and rose gold. Color is the most accurate on ring and pinkey.
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I got lots and lots of polish for my birthday from my family and friends (did you expect I would ask for, say, a new tool bench or pancake griddle for my birthday?); so I have plenty of pretties to swatch and photograph.
Today - one of China Glaze new glitters, Ginger. It's unmistakably Fall color - reach pumpkin orange mixed with a reddish-brown caramel:
Chock-full of silver shiny micro-glitter and round holographic macro-glitter. Don't get me wrong, larger one is not chunky at all, but big enough to be visible.
Very festive, somewhat weird color - reminds me of a scarecrow in a sequined dress. I mean it in a very good way. I guess, an odd combination of a typical fall color and all this bling confuses me a bit. Ginger is really blingy. Here is a blurred picture to show you the sparkles:
Almost opaque in two coats. Not rough at all; it's a smooth kind of glitter.
PS: I also have Pom-Pom, really sparkly pink that makes my inner 3-year-old squeal... And red; and some gold.
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Wow. Wow-wow-wow. I have no idea that "nonconformist" is a new word for "ass-kicking"; but this certainly is the case with Finger Paints 2009 Holiday collection. It's truly stunning and not exactly traditional color-wise.
Let's start with nonconformist part. Seriously, who includes pink in a Christmas collection? Finger Paints does; and this pink is absolutely dazzling, living up to its name, Decked with Dazzle:
I don't like pink at all, and even I must admit - this is a stunner. Foily finish, multicolor sparkles (it seriously sparks); opaque in three coats. The only problem this it was the smell - for some reason, Decked with Dazzle reeks. Weird chemical smell, not at all like a "normal" polish smell.
It works great with a matte top coat. Here I used Essie Matte About You:
Now, another gem of this collection is Evergreen Dream:
It's very close to both Nubar Greener and legendary Emerald Sparkle by China Glaze. Evergreen Dream has the same velvety depth as Greener features; but it sparks almost as intensely as Emerald Sparkle does. This is an absolute must for those of you who love green. It's just... I don't know... OMGOMGOMG it's so gorgeous. One coat was enough; but I did two out of habit.
A little comparison pic, Greener and ED; Greener on the left:
As you can see, ED's texture is a bit rougher than Greener's - this is because ED has more prominent shimmer, or, rather, golden sparkles.
Last, but certainly not least - Icy Iris. Purple lover's dream comes true.
Eggplant purple, loaded with unbelievable multicolor shimmer/spark. It's breathtaking. Instant top 1 in my vast collection of purples.
Please click on the pics to look at this wonderful, magical, I-can-stare-at-this-forever shimmer. Yes, I'm drooling with Barbie-pink drool. Just wait till you see this color on your nails and then judge me.
Icy Iris formula is opaque in one thick coat; unfortunately, it stinks as badly as Decked with Dazzle does.
This collection also features a pale sparkly silver and two reds: one with multicolor shimmer and one with a distinctive gold hue. I didn't care for either one of them; so no pics of these three will follow.
Finger Paints Holiday collection is available at selected Sally's. Good luck finding it!
PS: Special thanks to my friend Hanna who made this post possible.
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Just pics, without me blabbering:
Greener by itself and Konaded:
I really think this green doesn't need any comments.
Iced Licorice, one of the prettiest polishes ever:
Please keep in mind these pictures are not exactly color accurate. This polish is more duochomeysh IRL; and it has a distinctive warm brown undertone to it.
PS: As you probably noticed, I really got into Nubar lately. I have plenty of pics to follow, as well as a couple of words about their treatment.
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Yes, that's right - I just said "Twihard". I know it's lame, but I'm sure Glacier is exactly what Stephenie Meyer had in mind when she described Edward's sparkly butt vampire's skin under the sunlight.
Glacier is a multicolor - mostly pastel - glitter (with some holo particles) in a milky-white base. It is very pretty, very sparkly and very difficult to photograph.
Here is the best I could do (click on the pick to enlarge):
This pic shows the different colors pretty well, but there is no way you can see how incredibly sparkly it is; serious driving hazard, really.
I figured Glacier would be too cool for my skin tone, so I layered two coats of it over one coat of a neutral beige - Color Club Sugar Baby.
Formula is really good: not too thin, not too thick and easy to work with. I was afraid it would be very gritty, but one coat of TC smoothed it out completely.
So far, I have just two of new China Glaze glitters - Glacier and Cleopatra - and I truly love them both. Very happy polishes.
PS: Twihards, take no offense - I'm one of us, just closeted. Yes, I'm closeted Twihard, Team Jacob. Now you know.
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Long time no see, huh? I'll explain my extended leave of absence in the following posts; now on to the polish.
Moon Shadow. One of Nubar duochromes. Nubar makes really mean duochromes (check Scrangie - I'm sure she posted a bunch of Nubar duos a while ago). This one is purple/brown/amber-green. Really complex and really gorgeous. Main color - purple - has this glowy quality to it. I'm very picky when it comes to purples, but I love this one.
Under some light purple leans a bit on a brown side; very warm brown:
Moon Shadow is not one of the subtle duochromes, when you need to squint to see a change in color. It's a bold and true duochrome; as obvious as a chameleon.
I dunno about you, but I said "Wow!":
Couple of words about application. This one required three coats; in two coats it still looked like an ugly, weird muddy gray (huh?). Talk about ugly duckling.
PS: Don't forget to click on the pics to enlarge them. Totally worth it.
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About a month ago nail polish world became agitated about the newest addition to OPI DS family - promo pictures promised a long-awaited purple.
I was able to get my hands on a mystery Mystery. Well, let me tell you: if you expected a purple holo, you're up for a big disappointment. It's not a holo; and it's not exactly purple. For me, DS Mystery is what I wanted Sephora OPI Never Enough Shoes to be.
Mystery is almost black and loaded with millions of tiny gold scales. Unlike other DS polishes, it's not a smooth holo, but somewhat gritty glitter. /side note - do you see any similarities between this picture and a OPI stock image? I don't/
My guess, it's as badass as OPI can actually get. Not exactly edgy, but cool enough. After the Espana collection (aka yawn inducer in my book) I'll take it, thankyouverymuchsuzi.
Under natural light Mystery looks like a very, very dark brown. Base color is actually dark, inky purple, but polish certainly doesn't look like it.
I like this type of glitter: not smooth, yet not scratchy either. Here, I dissolved a base color to show the gold particles:
Rather ugly picture of one coat, freshly applied, to show the base color:
It's purple, right? Too bad it doesn't look like one after a second coat.
I think this one would be an awesome choice for those of you who like clubbing - for some reason, Mystery looks wonderful under artificial light. Golden sparkles turn into brown, red and purple ones; and polish itself looks way more purplier (is it a word?):
More pics, just because I've already edited them:
All in all, it's a good color with a very decent application. When I saw a bottle, my heart skipped a bit: Mystery looked like a magician's cloak: velvety-purple with golden stars. In reality=on my nails it's not even close to this Dumbledore-ysh color; yet, I'll probably keep it.
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I did not use a base coat, so you can see my horizontal ridges in all their ugly glory. TC is a must with these polishes!
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