China Glaze Jitterbug & holo glitter gradation

China Glaze - Jitterbug & holo glitter gradation, 2 coats

Party on my nails! Too bad we didn't get any sun so I only got to admire the pretty bling under supermarket lights (my camera is too large and clunky for any discreet photo sessions between the aisles, teehee). The gradation was done with a kitchen sponge (an unused one! :D) using Nubar Hologram Glitter, China Glaze Nova and Model's Own Silver Spangle - oh, and removal was a major PITA...

Beauties Factory nail art stamping swatches

 Beauties Factory nail art stamping swatches, left hand size reference

 Beauties Factory nail art stamping swatches, right hand detail reference

I recently ordered a bunch of nail art stamping plates from Beauties Factory. The price of each plate is a very affordable $2, shipping is essentially free (unless you want tracking) and my items arrived - with a free gift - a week after I had placed my order. They also accept PayPal which is a huge plus in my book since I don't wish to submit my CC info to just any random site. So, I rate the buying experience a solid 10.

Buuut....

...The designs are TINY, about half of what Konad's images are. They're very detailed but the details get smudged when they're stamped (I'm crap at stamping, though; someone with more experience could get clean, crisp images). The designs in my pics are from the following plates:

HB26 - Hand & footprints (the hand's right side is smudged in my pic, as are the feet)
HB28 - Halloween (the plate's two witches are just blotches when stamped, too small detailing)
HB34 - Insects, birds and other critters
HB35 - Xmas ornaments
HB37 - Pawprints

The reviewed items were bought at my own expense.

Milani La Vie En Rose & DICI 063

Milani - La Vie En Rose, 2 coats

Son, I am disappoint. La Vie En Rose is darker and more red on the nail than it is in the bottle - I was expecting a daintier and more blue leaning colour. The formula was runny (not thin, though) and the polish flooded the sides of my nails on several occasions.

Milani - La Vie En Rose & DICI - 063, 2 + 1 coats

I love this blingy pinky purple glitter on my toes, but on my nails it looks a bit too chunky. This needs to be patted on because the clear base is quite thick in consistency, and the larger hex bits have to be fished out of the bottle and placed on the nail one by one.

Maybelline Colorama Ruby Flare & Beams of Fire

Maybelline Colorama - Ruby Flare, 2 coats

I filed my nails down and was feeling brave enough to sport a red lacquer. Ruby Flare is a delicious poison apple red and lands somewhere between a jelly and a creme. The formula was wonderful and the polish was easy to apply despite of the usual splayed out brush that Coloramas tend to have.

Maybelline Colorama - Ruby Flare & Beams Of Fire, 2 +1 coats

This was a gorgeous combination - look at the third picture! - and I think I may have just killed a lemming for Barielle Elle's Spell. I think that these Colorama flakies lie flatter on the nail than Nfu-Oh's and thus don't require an extra/abnormally thick coat of TC to get a smooth surface.

Color Club Pucci-licious, China Glaze Electric Lilac & IsaDora Black Tag

Color Club - Pucci-licious, 2 coats

Um, just wow. The formula in this was WONDERFUL, probably the best I've come across so far. Color Club calls Pucci-licious a neon but most don't consider it as such. It dries slightly matte, though but it's not retina-searing like neons tend to be.

Color Club - Pucci-licious & China Glaze - Electric Lilac, 2 + 1 coats

Electric Lilac has been in my untrieds since last summer and I figured it'd go great with the similarly coloured Pucci-licious. It was a nice combo, sure, but not really earth-shatteringly gorgeous.

Color Club - Pucci-licious, China Glaze - Electric Lilac & IsaDora - Black Tag, 2 + 1 + 1 coats

... And of course I had to see what the black IsaDora crackle polish would look layered on top of these two. I guess it looks okay but this combination devours top coat like nobody's business. This is with three coats of TC and it still wasn't smooth.

Etude House Glittering Sherbet Blue & lace nail art

 Etude House - Glittering Sherbet Blue, 2 coats

I'm not sure if this polish is really called Glittering Sherbet Blue as it has no name printed on the label, but that's what the majority of eBay sellers are calling it. I have no complaints about the formula, the polish was easy to apply and it has one of those wide brushes that I love.

  Etude House - Glittering Sherbet Blue & lace nail art, 2 coats

I followed this tutorial and used a well pigmented dark blue to create the effect. When the polish was dry enough not to smudge underneath, I added a coat of opalescent glitter similar to Sinful Colors Pearl Harbor, a coat of clear and finally top coat. I loved this effect and will be sure to use this technique again.

OPI Coney Island Cotton Candy vs. Sinful Colors Subdued

OPI - Coney Island Cotton Candy (index, ring) & Sinful Colors - Subdued (middle, pinkie), 4 + 2 coats

Perhaps a slightly dull comparison of nudes, but hey. Coney Island Cotton Candy and Subdued look relatively similar in the bottle, but on the nail CICC is much more yellow and Subdued definitely appears to be very pink. The Sinful Color is a nice self-leveling creme but it's way too pink to be a perfect match for my skintone. I guess the OPI can be classified as a jelly and as such takes tons of coats to be even remotedly opaque - I did four coats and you can still see my VNL. I think there are two versions of this one floating around - mine is from the newer batch.

OPI Catherine the Grape & Lumene Magical Moment

OPI - Catherine the Grape, 2 coats

Catherine the Grape is a muted red/brown purple with shimmer what I think is a sort of an orange colour. It's quite chic, methinks. Formula was okay but not quite on par with most of my other OPI's.

OPI - Catherine the Grape & Lumene - Magical Moment, 2 + 1 coats

Magical Moment might be too sheer to be worn on its own, but layered over another polish is when the real magic starts happening!

Avon Splendid Blue & Sinful Colors Deep Blue Ocean

Avon - Splendid Blue, 2 coats

Yet another winner from Avon! Splendid Blue is a maelstrom of teal glass flecks in a blue base. Again, formula was spot on and the flat, wide brush is - well, splendid! I have a feeling that this one could be quite a stainer so be sure to use a good base coat.

Avon - Splendid Blue & Sinful Colors - Deep Blue Ocean, 2 + 1 coats

Adding a coat of Deep Blue Ocean over the Avon transforms it into a deeper, more violet toned blue. This combo required two coats of clear polish in addition of my regular top coat to get rid of the rough surface. Removal was a bit of a pain but this super pretty flakie & glitter polish is totally worth it.

H&M Kitty Queen & OPI Wing It!

H&M - Kitty Queen, 1 coat

Glass flecked. One coater. Cost less than 2€. Me likes! Kitty Queen is a raspberry coloured pink creme that has silver glass flecks in it. It's super thick and needs to be thinned before use or it'll be a pain to apply.

H&M - Kitty Queen & OPI - Wing It! 1 + 2 coats

Don't these two make a lovely couple? I'm sorry I didn't get any pics showing the duochrome nature of Wing It! but the glass flecks in it change from pink to yellowish orange. I've fallen a bit behind on posting but I should be able to catch up soon, I'll post another NOTD tomorrow and hopefully yet another on Friday.

Casuelle Purple Pearl

Casuelle - Purple Pearl, 3 coats

Casuelle is one of those cheap obscure brands that pop up in shady discount stores. I searched the net for any info about the manufacturer and pretty much only found product reviews written by Finnish and Dutch bloggers; they don't even have a website. Also, any of their polishes I own don't have names on them so I'm calling this colour simply Purple Pearl. I picked up this lacquer from a display advertising their "new" pearly polish collection which had about five different shades ranging from a boring standard white, super pearly colour to a couple of different pinks and a slightly muted baby blue to this purple which was the most exciting one. I'm hesitant to call this a true pearl polish, it's more of a weak shimmer. The base is an undefinable grayish colour which brings depth to the lacquer - if Chanel Paradoxal had a more transparent base and stronger shimmer this is what I'd imagine it'd look like... sorta. There's a teeny tiny bit of duochrome action going on but not enough to call it one. The formula was pretty bad, like I was trying to apply wallpape paste on my nails (or if you're familiar with the dessert called kiisseli or kissel, it's exactly the word I'd use to describe Purple Pearl) and drying time was... I won't even go there. This was the most difficult colour ever to photograph and I had to do a lot of colour correcting on the pics. Still I'm quite fascinated with this polish and will definitely try layering it over my Barry M Dusky Mauve which is the only Paradoxal dupe I own (not counting my own franken).