Wednesday 30 December 2020

new in and empties: 2020

well, if you needed any more proof of how weird this year was, here's a mindblowing info for you: in this year, i bought only two polishes. TWO. 2. can you believe that. and i finished up 7. who am i? 

Sunday 27 December 2020

picture polish karma (collaboration shade)

i am a huge fan of picture polish collaboration line, and karma was made with probably the most famous nail polish blogger, sveta sanders, back in 2015. 

karma is described as "a dark purple holographic nail polish with holo flakes". it is a perfect eggplant-purple type of shade, vampy and moody. it dries smoothly, and the scattered holo effect gives it even more depth.

Tuesday 22 December 2020

chanel eastern light (reflets d'eté de chanel)

eastern light was at first featured as a part of a limited chanel hong kong collection for winter 2013, with western light, that was almost impossible to find. luckily, it resurfaced in 2014 summer collection,  reflets d'eté de chanel, and it is my only purchase.



i seriously got into whites lately. there is something about a white polish, of course, if it's well executed, that gives king of a clean look. so, no wonder eastern light really caught my eye. formula isn't the smoothest, but is quite self leveling. when you get past the streaky first coat, the second one evens things out, and with addition of a top coat, you should end up being streak-free.

the shade is the purest white you can imagine, and it manages steering away from the kind of a plastic look. i'm really enjoying wearing it.

natural light:


Thursday 17 December 2020

opi leonardo's model color (muse of milan)

it has been a long time since i bought a new polish, and opi's muse of milan collection looked really interesting to me so i ended up with two. the first one i am showing is leonardo's model color.



opi's description: "sraped in the glow of shimmering light, this purple long-lasting nail polish is an inspiration for any master artist." 

there is something space-y about this polish. the base colour is a sheer dark blurple, filled with copper and purple shimmer that looks simply magical. beacause of the sheernes, it looks best with three coats, and i have to say that it looks much better in real life, i absolutely adore it!

natural light:


Saturday 12 December 2020

ysl taupe graine (fall 2014)

today i am showing the first one from the  ysl fall 2014 collection duo, taupe graine.



taupe graine is a darker shade of brown, but it never looks black. textured effect is just beautiful (if you are a fan to begin with, and i certainly am).  it dries really quickly and looks a bit edgy but too not extravagant. 

i love taupe graine, probably because it really has this leathery look. it is a one coater, and dries very quickly.

natural light:

Wednesday 9 December 2020

butter london knees up (holiday 2009)

there was a period where i really had a thing for butter london polishes, and it's a pity they weren't that easily found, otherwise i would have owned much more. today i am showing knees up, a really suitable polish for holiday season, even if it was 2009.


butter london's description for this one: a smashing metallic-red nail lacquer perfect for getting smashed in. so, yeah, according to butter london, knees up means getting drunk at a party!

it is a gorgeous, shimmery metallic red that simply glows on the nails. it was originally the part of their holiday collection, but it became part of the permanent collection. the formula is great, i just wish that the brush is a bit wider, and  it would be just perfect!

natural light:



Tuesday 1 December 2020

zoya aurora (ornate)

 i still remember 2012, when zoya released ornate collection. i was obsessed! i've  shown storm and blaze so far, and today it's time for what was probably the star of this collection, aurora.

as always, zoya people were quite wordy with their description : " aurora is a medium sugarplum purple flecked with a high concentration of micro fine diamond holographic glitter. the rainbow holographic sparkle turns this plum purple into something truly captivating". 

this holo beauty is a truly perfect medium purple, with scattered holo particles. it is gorgeous indoors and outdoors, and even 8 years later, still hasn't lost its spark.

natural light: 

Saturday 21 November 2020

a england gloriana (elizabeth & mary)

after virgin queen, it is about time i've shown another polish from a england's elizabeth and mary collection from back in 2015, and my choice is gloriana.

gloriana is a burnt orange or amber shade loaded with gold foil flecks. it looks so rich, and i can see it not being everyone's cup of tea, but i find it really wearable during autumn and winter.

the formula is great, it is almost a one coater, really nothing to complain about.

natural light:

Wednesday 11 November 2020

china glaze tounge & chic (autumn nights)

tounge & chic belongs to a 2013 china glaze collections, autumn nights.



when i initially bought tounge & chic, i couldn't get enough of it.  i almost missed out on it, because i thought i'm really overdoing it with these sorts of shades, but it surely is unique. then i kind of forgot about it, but that is about to change.

it's such a rich shade, dark, cool teal with metallic shimmer, definitely a stunner, since it never got unnoticed when i had it on my nails. for me, the only problem is that it is slightly thick, one of those almost one-coaters, and because of that (and the fact that i generally don't like cg's narrow brush), i could never really apply it perfectly, but that's a small price to pay for gorgeousness!

natural light:


Wednesday 4 November 2020

picture polish cyan (collaboration shade)

it's time for another super oldie. it is another picture polish collaboration shade called cyan.

i guess that by now everyone in the polish universe is familiar with picture polish's concept to collaborate with bloggers and create some truly unique polishes. my choice for today, cyan, was created with the help of the chit chat nails blog back in 2014.

the colour is so gorgeous and fresh. it is is a light blue/turquoise highly pigmented jelly, with scattered holo particles. the base colour is just slightly lighter than for fool's gold. i am simply in love with it.

natural light:

Monday 2 November 2020

opi your royal shine-ness (serena glam slam england)

 it's again time for an oldie, your royal shine-ness from way back in the summer of 2011, when opi's serena glam slam england collection was released.

i acquired a fair share of silver foils. ok, i have three currently, and it might be too much, but one of them is zoya trixie, that was my first and it's a pretty little thing, the other is my newest addition, chanel intemporel. so, opi is definitely the unnecessary one, but i can't get rid of it because of the name.

it is a medium to dark silver foil with really good formula and zero brushstrokes. definitely not the most unique polish, but if you don't have anything similar, this one is an excellent choice.

natural light:


Saturday 24 October 2020

chanel azure (l’eté papillon de chanel)

i guess it can be said that blues from chanel's summer collection l’eté papillon de chanel, bel argus and azure, were THE most talked about polishes of 2013. after bel argus, the star of today's post is azure.



we all know by now that i'm a huge fan of blues in all the shades and finishes possible. i loved this duo ever since i saw the promo pictures and knew i could buy them blindly, but somehow thought that, after piling up one blue polish after another, they will not leave me breathless. boy, how was i wrong!

azure is a turquoise duochrome perfection, a true peacock shade. it screams summer, beach and waves. duochrome effect isn't insanely strong, but just enough for me to keep glancing at my nails at different angles. since it is metallic, there are some brushstrokes, but nothing too bad.

natural light:


Wednesday 30 September 2020

dior galaxie (mystic metallics)

dior's 2013 autumn collection consisted out of two "mystic metallics" polishes, destin (not my cup of tea) and today's star, galaxie; together with their first attempt at magnetic polishes, mystic magnetic.

galaxie is the perfect polish for cold, winter days that are quickly approaching. it reminds me of cosy winter nights, spent indoors with friends,  mulled wine and smoke. ah, i miss the days of indoor gatherings.!

the colour is so rich, burgundy-ish plum, with gorgeous dense shimmer that makes the polish borderline metallic. application, consistency and brush are just as i like it, so nothing to complain about there.

Thursday 10 September 2020

china glaze stone cold (capitol colors)

it's time for some stone cold classics, so today i am showing china glaze's stone cold from the capitol colors collection for the spring 2012.



capitol colors was intended to be a spring collection, but i somehow picked up the more autumn looking shades (see gorgeous agro). it may be weird, but i see this polish as super elegant. i wore it to a couple of weddings, actually. maybe it's because of the matte finish, maybe because i see all shades of grey as elegant, even when they are asphalt-like.

the formula got a bit thicker over the years, as it happens with matte shades, so it is a one coater. 

natural light:


Saturday 5 September 2020

a england jane eyre (gothic beauties)

we are going back to 2012, where a england released gothic beauties collection, with jane eyre as one of six.



my disappointment with this collection has not been a secret. the promise of black base infused with amazing shimmer is not translated well in the reality, as the shimmer gets drowned. i got jane eyre on a blog sale, so i use it when i want plain black polish, or as a base for toppers.

it is advertised as "intensely smouldering crimson embers, imprisoned in a veil of sombre black". as you can see, the red shimmer gets buried in the base, but the base colour itself is very pretty, and formula great. when you look at it as a slightly spiked black polish, it works perfectly.


Monday 31 August 2020

picture polish fresh (collaboration)

well well, we are approaching the end of summer (if  we can even call it summer in 2020), so i had to go with something.. fresh! so here it is, picture polish collaboration shade fresh, from 2018.


god, this polish is pretty. it is a bright lime green, not super blinding, but just the right amount of neon. 

there are some holographic flakies visible in the bottle, but are definitely drowned on nails. if nothing, they are helping the formula, because it is flowing nicely, like it's not a neon, crelly polish.

natural light:


Saturday 22 August 2020

chanel taboo (revelation of chanel)

 it's time for one of the most unique and beautiful polishes i own, chanel taboo from their revelation de chanel collection.


where to start in describing this beauty? the color is quite complex. the base is deep, dark cool purple with the shimmery fleck in silver, blue and burgundy color, giving it a bit of a galactic look. in the bottle it looks much more red that on nails

i'm pretty convinced that this polish looks good on both cool and warm-toned skin. and under different lighting, different tones of it can be dominant. good thing is, that it is never almost black and the shimmer is nicely visible indoors. it really is gorgeous, vampy, mysterious but also elegant at the same time!

formula is also great and easy to work with. it is a bit thicker than your usual chanel polish, but it flows smoothly and is almost a one coater. 

natural light:

Friday 14 August 2020

dance legend tetraodon (caviar)

dance legend quickly became one of my favourite brands. today i'm showing tetraodon from the caviar collection. it is fish inspired, and a little bit down, you can see the actual  tetraodon.


this collection is really cute. the idea is the same; a saturated jelly base, in this case, medium green, with the same black hexagonal and white square micro glitter.

it looks really interesting in real life. even though it is glittery, it doesn't eat up the top coat. it looks really cute and i ended picking up another one from the collection.

natural light:

Tuesday 11 August 2020

opi warm and fozzie (the muppets holiday)

lately, i am getting this complete sense of shock when i realize how old some collections are. the next in line to surprise me is warm and fozzie, from opi's the muppets holiday collection from 2011. 

warm and fozzie is described as "a feel-good shade of metallic copper." not sure how accurately my camera picked up the duochrome effect, but it is subtle anyhow. glitter is predominantly coppery, but there is some rose gold as well. in bottle, one can pick up on green as well, but it doesn't translate to the nails. the formula is a bit patchy, but it builds up nicely with two coats.

 the finish is not gritty, but it's also not really glossy as well.

Wednesday 5 August 2020

china glaze outta bounds (ski)

today's choice, china glaze's outta bounds, took me by surprise, when i learned it was released waaaay back in 2007, in the winter collection called ski.

this entire collection, of which i own only frostbite and outta bounds, has this, as they described it, "high luster pearl" finish. outta bounds is an emerald green shade, with metallic, shimmery finish.

the formula is tricky, but it is something to be expected from these sorts of polishes. it is both runny and thick at the same time, quite streaky, but still, i love the end result so i don't really see this as a huge problem.

natural light:

Sunday 26 July 2020

zoya liberty (pixie dust)

it's time for another zoya pixie dust polish, this time, gorgeous liberty from the summer collection. you could already see  beatrix.

zoya describes it as a "blue sugary sparkle", which it really is! the shade is medium blue, just perfect, with silvery shimmer and the gorgeous textured finish. i would be really sorry if i missed it, because it really looks amazing. true pixie dust, if you ask me! 

i compared the newest photos with the ones made back in 2013, and, as expected, the texture factor became more flat. this is a known thing with textures, and i am showing old pictures first, followed by the recents.

old:

Tuesday 21 July 2020

ysl vintage plum (scandal)

in 2016, ysl launched a gorgeous fall duo in scandal collection. i've already shown fur green, and today it's time for vintage plum.

vintage plum is a classy but vampy dark red- purplish-plum shade. it may not be the most unique shade in the world, but it is one of those that fit every skin tone.

as usual, the formula is impeccable and  it is really easy to apply it.

Wednesday 15 July 2020

a england wuthering heights (to emily bronte)

after showing let me in a while ago, it is time for another gem from a england's to emily bronte collection, wuthering heights.


it is described as "soft medium grey holo wrapping multiple reflections the setting of the novel: a dark, windy, stormy place". it is such a flawless shade, a medium grey with purple undertones and soft holo finish. i know it is summer now, but it is such a perfect sweater shade.

as expected, formula is amazing and smooth.


Thursday 2 July 2020

essie midnight cami (cuddle with color)

essie midnite cami from cuddle with color collection is my first essie ever.



i got it as a gift back in the day from one wonderful nail polish addict. she obviously knew what to gift me, since she chose the color that is described as "a shimmering deep twilight blue".

the brush is similar to the china glaze's, or should i say, thin :) i prefer wider brushes, but the formula is good so i had little problems. shimmer is quite discreet and visible only in strong light.

natural light:

Sunday 28 June 2020

dance legend cosmic rainbow (new prism)

it's always good time for a holo, so i'm showing dance legend's cosmic rainbow from the awesome new prism collection.

cosmic rainbow is such an awesome bright purple linear holo. new prism is definitely one of the best collections of crazy holos. i apologize for the amount of pictures because i just couldn't make up my mind.

i always use water base with linear holos, so i can't comment on how it works with regulare base coat.

natural light:

Monday 22 June 2020

chanel bel argus (l’eté papillon de chanel)

the moment hot weather starts, i reach for bel argus, chanel's beauty from their l’eté papillon de chanel, from their 2013 summer collection.


i guess it's a known fact that it's named after lysandra bellargus butterfly, but it's only the male that is entirely blue; the top part of the female's wing is brown.

when i wear bel argus, i prefer it to azure, and vice versa. it is another blue gorgeousness, this time, almost electric, deep sea blue metallic. it's duochrome effect is a bit toned down comparing to azure; also, the brushstrokes are less visible!

i can't wait to wear it near the water, it made me daydream of sea today at work! 

natural light:

shade:






i used base (china glaze strong adhesion) + two layers of polish + top coat (essence better than gel nails top sealer BTGNTS).