Saturday 31 August 2013

Ullared Nail Polish Haul

My wonderful brother went to Ullared last week and he brought back some nail polish for me! :D Thank you soooo much!! I love you! <3

For my international readers I can tell you that Ullared is a huge out-let store in the south of Sweden. It's immensely popular and you can make huge bargains! :)

China Glaze Iguana Blue
China Glaze Nova
Wet n Wild Party of Five Glitters
Kubiss #64
Kubiss Denim #108

Are you curious of any of these beauties?
Have you ever been polish shopping at Ullared?

Winner Nordic Cap Giveaway!

I'm very pleased to announce that the winner of my Nordic Cap is:

Kim P

I've already been in contact with Kim who lives in the US. Kim, I will send you your four bottles of Nordic Cap as soon as possible! Congratulations!

Thank you so much to all of you who took the time and effort to join this giveaway! <3 Please don't be disappointed if you didn't win this time! I'm already planning a new giveaway :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday 30 August 2013

Darling Diva Little Red Corvette - swatches and review

For this Holo Friday I've got a real gem for you! Inspired by the Prince song Little Red Corvette this is a polish with the same name. It's a stunning red holo glitter polish surely worthy a corvette!


GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Glitter.

Number of coats: Two.

Formula: Thick but fairly easy to control and apply. I'll probably make it thinner next time and do more coats instead.

Brush: Very good! No complaints.

Top Coat: Yes. Two coats of Seche Vite. But it's a real top coat eater! You have to apply regularly if you want to keep it smooth and shiny.

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. But of course much glittery and sparkly live! It was impossible to capture the glow but if you want to see more there's a little movie on instragram. I'm called jezzlan or you can click on the instagram button to the left here.

Grade: 5/5

In spite of a thick formula this is still a stunning and unique polish! Another side effect of it has been that I've got into Prince again! His greatest hits have occupied my Spotify a lot lately! Lol! ;)

How do you like Little Red Corvette?
Are you into Prince?

Thursday 29 August 2013

Sephora Will You Jump? - swatches and review

When I saw this gorgeous indigo blue jelly for the first time at Nailmanic I knew that I had to have it! It was love at first sight! <3 It took me a while to go to a Sephora but finally I did and I could get my own copy of this beauty!

This treasure is so hard to capture! Mostly it turns out far more translucent than what it is. You get some serious VNL (visible nail line) in most pics! Yes, it's a true jelly which will never be opaque no matter how many coats you apply but I didn't want to show you pictures were it looked like I had no polish at all. :)

Anyhow, this is an amazing polish which is a must-have in every blueoholic's or jelly lover's collection!



GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Jelly.

Number of coats: Two.

Formula: Very good! Easy to control and self leveling.

Brush: Excellent! This tiny little bottle hides a very wide brush :D Like Isadora-wide or OPI-wide-brush-wide! :D This was a total suprise to me. The old Sephora brushes were very thin.

Top Coat: No. 

Color accuracy in pictures: Quite accurate. Perhaps a tiny bit brighter live.

Grade: 5+++++++++++++++++/5

This polish is AMAZING!! The color, the formula, the brush, the glossiness! I love it to bits! <3 Another thing I noticed was that it smelled almost nothing at all! The only thing I don't get is the name... Why is this gorgeous blue jelly called "Will You Jump?"?

How do you like Will You Jump??
What are your thoughts about the name?

Wednesday 28 August 2013

Gina Tricot Monaco Blue - swatches and review

I know this polish is called Monaco BLUE but it looks green so I have decided to show it for Green Wednesday after all :)

This polish consists or small green and blue hex glitters and larger silver hex glitters in a sheer blue base. That is probably why it's called Monaco Blue ;)

This is three coats layered on top of Catrice Petropolitan which is petrol green and makes Monaco Blue look green. :)



GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Glitter.

Number of coats: Three.

Formula: Very good! Easy to control. Sheer, so probably best for layering.

Brush: Very good! No complaints at all.

Top Coat: No.

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. 

Grade: 4+++/5

I liked this polish a lot more on the nails than in the bottle! It looks so luxurious and very beautiful! I like the combination of the glitters and the great formula too! The best part is that I got this polish on a sale for almost no money at all! :D

How do you like Monaco Blue?

Tuesday 27 August 2013

Comparison textured polishes

Today I've got a comparison of four different textured brands for you. I'm comparing Orly, OPI, Isadora and Barry M.

These are today's stars:
From left to right:
Orly Aqua Pixel
OPI Get Your Number
Isadora Sky Crush
Barry M Atlantic Road
Without top coat
With one coat of top coat

Number of coats: 
Two on all except OPI which has three coats. One coat could actually be enough for Orly.

Texture:
Isadora has the most rough surface, tightly followed by OPI and Orly. Barry M doesn't feel textured at all, more like it's dust in it.

Sparkle: 
Orly is the sparkliest. Isadora is on second place and OPI is quite sparkly and has holo in it. Barry M has no sparkle at all.

Drying time:
Isadora is no doubt the fastest, about 10-15 minutes. Barry M is on second place with approx 30 minutes. OPI and Orly took 40-45 minutes to dry.

Removal: 
Orly and OPI was fairly easy to remove. Barry M wasn't that hard either. Isadora was the less easy to remove. Note! No one of these polishes was very hard to remove. No need for the foil method. :)

With one coat of a top coat:
Orly and Isadora looked pretty much the same with a top coat and Isadora was still very rough. Barry M looks like an ordinary cream polish when you add a top coat. OPI on the other hand turns into a fantastic polish with gorgeous depth and shine! A great difference and a great improvement if you ask me! :)

Summary:
In my opinion Isadora is the winner here. Beautiful, sparkly, fast drying. I don't mind that I have to work slightly harder during the removal when I get the other qualities ;)
Runner up is Orly which could be a one coater, has an amazing shine and texture and is easy to remove. The only downside is the long drying time.
OPI is only beautiful with a top coat in my opinion and Barry M's "textured" polish is a pure joke.

Which one is your winner? :)

PS. I have not taken the prices of the polishes in consideration here.

Monday 26 August 2013

Isadora Love Crush - swatches and review

This glittery textured polish is so beautiful that my heart almost melts! The micro gold glitter in it makes it glitter like crazy in the sun. Swedish Isadora has really done a great job with this one!

It's also amazing with a top coat!


GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Textured.

Number of coats: Two.

Formula: Excellent! Super easy to control and it dries very fast for a textured polish.

Brush: Excellent! Nice and wide!

Top Coat: No. Except for the last picture ;)

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. The gold glitter is more visible live though.

Grade: 5/5

This textured beauty has it all really! Wonderful formula, great brush, fast drying and easy removal! And it's really beautiful too! :D The only downside is the price. 79 SEK (£8 or $12) for 6 ml (0,2 Fl oz) is a bit hefty in my opinion. I will show you a much better alternative shortly! An almost perfect dupe to half this price :)
I also find it very annoying that the little sticker on the cap is curling up all the time! Yeah, huuuuge problem I know! ;) Still annoying though :P

How do you like Love Crush?
Do you prefer it with or without a top coat?

Sunday 25 August 2013

Dotted Rainbow Nails - swatches

For today's Nail Art Sunday I might not be the only one showing rainbow nails ;) but this is my version! :) I know for sure that my dear friend Christine from Polished Marvels are!

Inspired by the Swedish athlete Emma Green Tregaro who wore a rainbow skittle during Moscow World Championships, this is my protest against Russia's new anti-gay laws. Read more about that here.

Come out of the Dark Ages! It's the 21st century!! Let people love who they want!

I used the following polishes (from left to right):
Illamasqua Boosh
China Glaze Happy Go Lucky
Nordic Cap NP07
Eyeko Saucy Red Polish
Catrice Planet Tokyo
H&M Blue My Mind

After applying the black base I just dotted away with different sized dotting tools. Because of the black base I had to dot twice on the same dots with the paler polishes.

The rainbows are reasonably held together in the middle but then I did some smaller dots at the sides to create an impression that the dots come from different places but join together in a beautiful rainbow. I think you can figure out the symbolism of that yourselves ;)

How do you like this rainbow manicure?

If you have done or will do any rainbow manicure feel free to upload your link here:
It will be open for a month so take your time! The most important is that you take a stand!

Saturday 24 August 2013

Swiss Nail Mail Polish Haul

Earlier this week I received an amazing nail mail from the fabulous Christine from Polished Marvels! I thought I'd share my new gems it with you today.

Nfu Oh 66, MOR11 and MOR10
Glitter Gal Blue 3D/holo and Essence Walk on Air
Ludurana Supernova Órion
Catrice Denim Moore
Catrice George Blueney
Hare Atolla
Finally I get to try this one!
I've heard great things about this top coat!
It'll be great to test it!
The most amazing nail mail EVER!!

I also received some nail art accessories, some L'Occitane samples and lots of lovely Swiss chocolate! Christine you are spoiling me rotten!! Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart!! <3

Are you curious of any of these polishes? Which one/ones?
Do you enjoy reading haul posts or do you think they are a waste of space? ;)

Friday 23 August 2013

Blue and Pink Holo Interlocking Dots Nail Art

It was really hard to name this manicure. I didn't quite know what to call it. But anyhow here it is and it's my contribution to Holo Friday!

The pink holo polish is China Glaze Visit Me in Prism and the blue one is OPI DS Glamour. Both are wonderful and rare holo polishes which I'm so glad that I own!

The nail art itself is pretty easy. The base is the pink holo. Then I have painted half the nail with the blue holo. I didn't bother with any tape, I just did it by free hand - hence the crookedness lol! ;)
Then I did large blue dots in the joints and then smaller pink dots inside the blue one.

I got the inspiration to this manicure from the lovely Colorful Cupcake Cat!


Finally a short reminder that today is the last day to join my giveaway! 
More info here.

How do you like this holo dotticure?

Thursday 22 August 2013

H&M Wintersky - swatches and review

H&M has released a bunch of new polishes recently. Both new colors and new bottles and brush design. The new bottle has a much thinner cap which is much easier to hold. The brush is much wider which I personally really like.

This beautiful duo chrome polish is part of the new release and it's called Wintersky. The name is so suitable for this wintry cold duo chrome. It goes from silver to pale green to cold grayish lilac and in some lighting to pale gold and orange. I instantly thought of mother of pearl when I saw it! It's absolutely amazing!!! And remember, I'm not even much of a duo chrome lover and I still say that it is to die for!! I'm telling you, this will be a hype! Get a copy before they run out! ;)

Pictures speaks louder than words! Sorry for the picture spam but this polish deserves it ;)

Old H&M brush vs the new H&M brush


GOOD TO KNOW:

Type of polish: Duo chrome.

Number of coats: Two, but I actually think you can get away with one coat. Yes, one!

Formula: Very good! Don't do too thick coats and use a light hand to avoid brush strokes and the application will be a breeze! :)

Brush: Very good! Wide and rounded. Much better that the old H&M brushes.

Top Coat: Yes, one coat. 

Color accuracy in pictures: Accurate. It's really hard to capture the beauty of a duo chrome but I think I did quite a good job with this one ;)

Grade: 5++++++/5

This is an amazing polish! So beautiful and with great qualities! And cheap too! 40 SEK or £4 or $5.50 is a bargain for this darling!

How do you like Wintersky?