new in and empties: 2019

overall, 2019 was a reasonable year, with 15 new polishes (8 picture polish + 3 ysl + 1 ilnp+ 1 cirque, and two gifts (kiko and essence), and 7 empty bottles!

ilnp christmas cookie (the snowed in)

when i saw christmas cookie, from ilnp the snowed in collection for 2019, i knew i had to have it!

christmas cookie is described with a lot of detail by ilnp people themselves: "christmas cookie is a deliciously fresh white-based speckled nail polish. simple and sweet, christmas cookie brings together the harmonious holiday hues of red and green in a metallic flake finish. formulated for depth and full visibility, christmas cookie’s striking metallic flakes standout undeniably for a mouthwatering sprinkled effect!"

it is a supercute polish, the red and green microglitter really gives it a festive look, but i am sure it can be worn all year. it took two coats for the full coverage, and i removed it easily, no need for special tricks. 

strangely, this is my first ilnp polish, but i am sure this will change!

opi alcatraz...rocks (san francisco)

opi's alcatraz...rocks from their san francisco collection back in 2012, almost immediately got a cult status.

textured polishes were all the craze in that period, and i am still sooooo into that trend. but, alcatraz is something special in opi's liquid sand family. it is a purple-ish base packed with all sorts of sparkling glitters, such as gold, bronze, green, blue, pink, you name it. 

it is such a fast drier, and it looks perfectly gritty on nails. it looks ridiculously pretty, it is such a joy to have it on!

a england oberon fairy king (shakespeare's fairies)

after moth the fairy and puck a fairy, the time has come for another beauty from a england's shakespeare's fairies collection to shine.

how to describe this gorgeous, complex polish? let's see a england's attempt: "king of the fairies; powerful and strong willed, hologram with additional iridescent glimmer. colour: complex dark smoky green."

well, they for sure are onto something here, but i don't think i would describe the colour like this... it looks darker in the bottle, like asphalt grey, but on nails, it is more of a grey icy blue, with green, blue, silver and gold holo sparkles. it is insanely pretty!

the coverage is awesome, they really make perfect holos, smooth and rich.

ysl mauve naif (core)

it's time for another ysl beauty, this time i'm showing 16 mauve naif.

it's far from secret that i'm obsessing with ysl polishes, and mauve naif was on top of my wish list from the beginning.

it's not the most unique shade in the world, but it's unique in my collection. i like my creme purples, but i didn't have any in the darker purple family. this one is gorgeous, purple with a strong blue undertone (in my pictures, the blue is just a little bit stronger than in real life). formula is fantastic, as expected, so easy to apply with a perfect brush and with amazing gloss on its own.

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chanel rouge noir

how many nailpolishes do you know that have their own wikipedia page? chanel's rouge noir is definitely the one of the most famous polishes in the world.

rouge noir, or vamp as it is known in the usa, first saw the light back in 1994. as those dark shades were not made back then, rouge noir became instantly successful, and chanel's best selling cosmetics product of that era. it is probably most famous for being on uma thurman nails on the pulp fiction poster. it earned 1 million $ in its first year!

it got revamped (pun, embarrassingly, intended) in 2015, which is when i got it. chanel made an entire make up line around it, with the tagline: "style tool accessible to all women. neither classic nor gothic, neither rock nor chic, or rather all of these rolled into one, rouge noir shakes up codes, discreetly distilling its dark and languid beauty. it  galvanizes all styles. better yet, it injects them with a new power."

its popularity is obvious, it is stunning, blackened red crelly. i am sure majority of women have a version of this polish in their collection.

dance legend through the glass (wow prism)

if there ever was a collection that could be called perfect (for me), it's dance legend's wow prism. after steel panther, i am showing through the glass.

like it the case of steel panther, this is a well pigmented jelly base with chunky holo shimmer that leaves a glittery impression, while being actually really smooth.

through the glass is a turquoise leaning blue, with awesome formula. it is just so awesome!

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zoya trixie (extreme)

sometimes, the day comes when a girl needs some bling on her nails, so for today, i chose zoya's trixie from the extreme collection back in 2010 (together with raven and purity).

zoya describes this polish as a "stunning light silver with a sparkling metallic foil finish. a chic and edgy shade that adds a spark to your look". i couldn't agree more! the polish is amazing, very dense with a metallic, mirror-like sparkly finish. it applies without streaks, but with a bit of a textured finish and it is very opaque.

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china glaze cast a spell (wicked)

i know that there were many interesting polishes in china glaze's wicked collection released in autumn 2012, but cast a spell is the one i really really wanted. actually, this polish hadto be one of my favorites of that entire year!

oh, are there even words to describe how amazing this polish is, and even the pictures don't do it enough justice. it is a dark green going to black base with green and gold shimmer, but if you look really closely in the bottle, you can see that it is also packed with multicolored tiny shimmery particles. if you ask me, it is a one coater. i went with two after all, but i couldn't see the difference. 

the formula is beyond amazing. even though it is super pigmented, it is not thick and is really easy to work with.

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fun lacquer midnight nocturne (summer 2015)

f. u. n. lacquer has amazing polishes, and one of them is midnight nocturne from their summer 2015 collection.

midnight nocturne is an awesome blue-dominating blurple holographic polish. like all of the polishes from this collection, it is filled with amazing gold holo particles. the shade is amazingly saturated, easy to work with and overall gorgeous.

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picture polish chameleon (opulence)

chameleon is the newest addition to the picture polish's opulence collection, and truly lives up to it's name!

chameleon is a proper multichrome, shifting from purple to blue and teal. it is seriously out of this world. it looks so special and magical. i was asked about it more than for any other polish, and a coworker immediately asked to borrow it.

it has a great coverage, applies smoothly, and it is overall a winner.

opi you're so outta lime (neon)

in 2014 opi launched a neon collection, and i purchased only you are so outta lime.

i wanted someting green and neon-y for a while, and you are so outta lime looked like exactly what i needed.

it is a medium green, somehow bright and muted at the same time. formula was a bit streaky to start with, but it evened out nicely. i decided to wear it without a white polish beneath, and i have no regrets.

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a england whispering waves

gorgeous whispering waves is an addition to a england heavenly quotes collection.

whispering waves is the odd polish in a england family. it is a very vibrant color and it really stands out from adina's usual range.

i am completely in love with it though. and what's not to love! the shade is a bright turquoise, with a slight duochrome effect and a fine holo finish, one of those where it seems like the shimmer is floating on the surface.

while the formula is typically awesome, it is a stainer, so i recommend two layers of base coat.

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dance legend steel panther (wow prism)

steel panther, from dance legend's wow prism collection (2014), is a polish that i keep forgetting that it annoys me.

wow prism is an awesome collection with polishes of the same theme: holographic glitter in a clear base. steel panther is a silver one in the collection. 

from the bottle, it looks like it will have a good coverage, even if you need three coats to achieve it, but it's not the case. it would be better if you wear it as a topper over a silver or grey base, but somehow i keep forgetting this and constantly attempt to wear it on its own. nevertheless, it is sparkly and fun.

zoya zuza (surf)

it's about time to show one of the zoyas so i'm presenting zuza from their surf collection for summer 2012.

well, guys at zoya are doing a great job about describing their polishes, so i'm just going to quote them. zuza is a "deep, saturated, oceanic turquoise with gold and silver metallic shimmer and a foil-like finish. a beachy, colorful, foil-like shade with the perfect balance between blue and green".

in my pictures, it is a tad more blue that in real life. it is like nothing i own, it is really interesting polish with a fantastic formula.

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china glaze passion in the pacific (fiji fling)

what a blast from the past! i am showing today the evergreen that is passion in the pacific from china glaze's fiji fling collection, back from 2006 (gasp!)

passion in the pacific is one of those polishes that you can never capture just right. and it looks different when you look at it from another angle or lighting. it is teal? is it green or aquamarine? is it neon or shimmer or frost? who knows! bottom line is, it is summer!

since it is an ancient polish, the formula is runny and it needs three coats to be fully opaque, but still brush strokey. i forgive it all, because i just love this weirdo.

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picture polish royal (collaboration shade)

royal is yet another stunning collaboration shade made by picture polish and olivia jade nails in 2018.

royal is a stunning vibrant blue-toned purple with holographic flakies that i am such a huge fan of. it is, as pretty much every purple shade, a pain in the butt to photograph, but i think i got it right.

formula is also stunning, and it is another very successful collab!

opi ink suede (suede)

i am currently in a matte mood, and i love opi's suede collection, so i decided to show ink in suede version.

i love ink in both versions, but they are quite different. ink suede is beautiful, eggplant type of colour. suede finish is beautiful, matte but filled with silvery shimmer that gives it a sort of a satin look.

the formula is  nice and it dries quickly, so try to be precise, otherwise you will get brushstrokes.

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a england virgin queen (elizabeth and mary)

it's time for another a england beauty, this time it's virgin queen from elizabeth and mary collection.

virgin queen is one of the hardest polishes to describe. the colour is is at the same time taupe, silver, gold, bronze, even olive. pewter is maybe the one that sums it up the best. even at a england they had to resort to using quite a few words: "pewter prismatic hue with pink undertones and a complex grey/olive/copper cast, soft but visible scattered holographic effect"

at the same time, it is slightly metallic and duochrome, but definitely a scattered holo. formula is, as always, impeccable. 

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frankenpolish the escapist by shine eye

the latest (and fifth) in my series of frankenpolishes  is the escapist.

the escapist is a pretty little purple scattered holo polish. it turned out a true purple, and i have no idea which polish in this concoction provided the holo effect, but it ended up looking perfect.

the song that inspired the name is the escapist by one of my favourite artists in the world, mike skinner aka the streets (link to the song at the bottom).

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dance legend lebedushka (anna gorelova)

when i saw the collection by anna gorelova  for dance legend, lebedushka was among my instant favourites.

source

the polish is named after an animated movie swan princess (that i never heard of :D). it really stole my heart, it is powerful and fluffy at the same time, definitely an unique polish in my collection. formula and brush are nice, and it dries quickly.

it is hard to describe the color, it is s light, icy blue with sparkle and a texture finish. in my photos, the strong, direct light makes it look washed out, so i added quite a few in shade. 

ysl violet underground (yconic purple)

after mauve alternatif, i am showing the second polish of ysl's yconic purple duo, violet underground. 

while mauve alternatif is a shimmery awesomeness, violet underground represents the creme option of this purple collection. it's one of these fan favourite shades, the dusty, mauvey, smoky purple, that looks so rich and sophisticated. 

as usual, the formula is a dream, and even though it is a perfect autumn shade, i wear it no matter the season.

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china glaze let's groove (retro diva)

retro diva is an ancient china glaze collection (well, from 2009) that gave us a lots of favourites, such as short and sassy, stroll and stella, but let's groove is one of the best polishes they ever released.

this polish is pure perfection. amazing warm, rich, not too dark purple with awesome shimmer. it is easy to see why it is one of their most popular polishes.

formula and application are fine, i just can't find anything wrong with this polish.

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picture polish jealousy (mesh)

my love for the greens is no secret, so i had to have jealousy from picture polish mesh collection.

i was circling around jealousy for such a long time, trying to convince myself that i don't need it, but it would be a pity if i missed it.

it is a vivid, grass green  glittery shade. even though it's pure glitter, it is perfectly dense so there is no fer of lousy coverage. it dries smoothly, but looks a bit gritty. for me, one layer of top coat was enough. 

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opi glacier bay blues (canada)

it is absolutely mind boggling that opi's glacier bay blues came out in their canada collection back in 2004!

gbb is one of those oldies that was at the height of nail polish blogger world was one of the biggest lemmings, that i snatched accidentally. because it is so old, it is not a big-3-free polish, resulting in stronger smell and a slightly runnier than usual formula an it has a thinner brush than the one opi made us all adore.

but, despite that, i would never let go of this polish! it is a ink blue duochrome, shifting around blueish-greenish-purplish shades. as every polish of this type, it is better worn on cloudier days. it needed three coats for full coverage, but the end result is so worth it!

a england natasha's dance (russian soul)

the first beauty i am showing from a england russian soul collection is natasha's dance.

i reread war and peace every few years, so i clearly remember the natasha's dance part in the book.

i'm not sure whether i should call it blackened blue or blue-toned black,  but it is a dark one. in direct sunlight it is obvious that it's not a pure black. it has this vibrant holographic shimmer that makes it pop out, but looks spectacular in shade as well.

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