Missha Crystal Nail Polish HGR01 & Zoya Charla

Missha Crystal Nail Polish - HGR01, 2 coats

Oh HGR01, you so pretty! Just look how many different faces she has! Formula-wise HGR01 is nice for a metallic polish, but the wand is way too big in relation to the bottle's neck and you'll end up getting polish all over it. So remember to wipe the neck clean with some acetone after use if you don't want this beauty to evaporate before its time. The strong rose scent makes me almost queasy, but the polish is so lovely that I guess I just must grin and bear it... By now HGR01 has become a cult polish and you can easily find it on eBay if you don't yet own it.

Missha Crystal Nail Polish - HGR01 & Zoya - Charla, 2 + 2 coats

Everyone says that Charla stains like a mother, thus I've never worn it by itself. But just look how these two polishes compliment each other so well! To avoid streaks I used two coats of Charla over HGR01 and it dampened the duochrome maybe a bit too much, next time I'll stick with just one coat of Charla and make sure to apply it with extra care.

L&B Metallic green

L&B - Metallic green, 2 coats

I know very little of the L&B brand, I guess their polishes are sold in UK supermarkets?.. I bought this cute little set of four L&B lacquers (standard red, metallic charcoal, sparkling silver and this one) from an eBay seller, and since none of them had any names so I'll just call this metallic green. Nice brush & formula, no complaints there.

L&B - Metallic green mattified w/ Essie Matte About You, 3+1 coats

I've had Essie's Matte About You top coat for at least 6 months and I really haven't used it for anything else than goofy experiments, so I figured I'd do at least one proper mani with it. Lo and behold, I think I've killed another lemming of mine - OPI Here Today Aragon Tomorrow suede. While I do like the matte effect, I moisturize my hands so frequently that I'm soon left with a lacklustre satin finish which I don't really dig all that much.

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...

Sinful Colors Color Scare & Precision Hazel & Gretel

 Sinful Colors - Color Scare, 2 coats

The gorgeous, glowing Color Scare has golden metallic particles in a burnt orange base. I'm really not into gold or bronze copper at all, but I have to admit that Color Scare looks great with my skintone, bringing out the warm tones (I usually look like a corpse with just about any polish on).

Sinful Colors - Color Scare & Precision - Hazel & Gretel, 2 + 2 coats

I'm not sure if Hazel & Gretel has a typo in the name ("Hanzel & Gretel") or if it points to the orange half of this silver and orange glitter polish. Anyway, these two make a great festive pairing that looks good under all lighting conditions.

DICI 013 & IsaDora Subway Green

DICI - Metallic green 013, 2 coats

Lobster hand alert! 013 is a very pale green consisting of super dense, super tiny metallic pigment particles. I got this super cheap off eBay last summer - I'd direct you to the seller's profile but they're no longer registered there. I could've gotten away with only one coat, but since I'd be applying a crackle polish over it I decided to do two to avoid bald spots for this base colour would be shrinking with it.

DICI - Metallic green 013 & IsaDora - Subway Green, 2 + 1 coats

This is a pretty spot on photo of what the colours really look like together - the base polish looks almost golden until you take a better look. Be prepared to work FAST and try to apply only one swipe of polish. My gripe with the IsaDora graffiti lacquers is that without a top coat they wear off super fast. I don't mean they chip off but little by little, the actual pigment is transferred to anything you touch, be it a tissue, your clothes or even the walls of your house. You could use your nails to draw on a piece of paper! I've worn this mani for less than 12 hours and already I've lost almost half of the graffiti lacquer from my index fingers and my right thumb. Also, I noticed that after I took a shower and applied my regular hand lotion the graffiti shrank even more, pulling the base polish with it and now my mani is a faded crumply mess. :< Next time I'll be sure to use my regular quick dry top coat.

Revlon Silver Switch

Revlon - Silver Switch, 2 coats

Silver Switch is an old, discontinued shade from their Color Illusion series. Application was a bit tricky it having a metallic finish but the sheer prettines of the polish makes up for its other flaws. The colour changes from purple to two different tones of green with a hint of silver.