Sunday, 19 March 2023

dior graphic berry (violet graphique) (nail bar)

graphic berry, known also as violet graphique, is part of dior's nail bar collection from back in the 2011. do you remember those days when dior gave their polishes both english and french names?


graphic berry is a very pretty, cool magenta. one of those "impossible to really capture" shades. it is a bit out of my comfort zone, but it is a nice spring or summer polish.

formula and coverage are solid, nothing to complain about here, even after all those years.


Friday, 17 March 2023

picture polish aurora (limited edition)

i remember started drooling when i saw the five polishes in picture polish limited edition collection, and managed to snatch all of them. after altered state, ilusionist and gravity, the time has come for aurora.


ok, the tagline on the bottle says it all: wowza! it is advised to wear it over black polish, so i layered one coat of aurora over one coat of a england jane eyre.

it is said that this one has the most prominent colour shifting effect. it is extremely stunning, it really looks like galaxy nails. my coworkers asked me how i did it and how many polishes did i use :) the most prominent colours are turquoise type of green and purple, but blue and pink are clearly visible. it is glittery, it is shimmery, it is multichrome, simply put, it's pure magic!

the effect is so stunning, there is no need to tilt your fingers in order to see the colour change. i am so in love and i have to apologize for the massive ammount of pictures to follow.

natural light:

Wednesday, 1 March 2023

opi ski teal we drop (swiss)

ski teal we drop was originally a part of swiss collection, but it got (rightfully) upgraded to the  permanent collection. opi's description: "there are mountains of color in this grey-green-blue".

i once mentioned that half of my wardrobe is green or olive green. well, another half is almost all teal! the shade of teal in "ski" is on the darker side of the teal hues, it is such a rich, nicelly pigmented creme that i can't get bored with. i think it will always be in my top polishes lists.

natural light:

Saturday, 25 February 2023

catrice beleive in jade (iconails)

i already wrote how much i like the current catrice collection, iconails, when i wrote about aqua man-icure. today, i am showing believe in jade.

believe in jade is, well, as the name says, a jade polish. it is a perfect jade though, not too muted, not too bright, just perfect. formula is also amazing, as well as the brush, so i am definitelly recommending this line.

Tuesday, 21 February 2023

a england tess d'urbervilles (gothic beauties)

back in 2012, a england released probably their only underwhelming collection, gothic beauties. the main issue seemed to be the lack of shimmer, and with all the polishes being either black or off black, it all seemed like a dark blob. i already showed jane eyre, now it's time for tess d'urbervilles.


oh,
tess... this hardy's novel is one of the most depressing books i've ever read, i just kept waiting for something nice to happen and it never did. it scarred me for life and i don't even want to watch any of the movie adaptations. but i digress. tess is described as 'like the secretive black of a deep forest, sublimely displaying its provocative emerald secrets". 

in reality, it is a black polish infused with emerald green flecks. it had to be double of the amont for it to really stand out, like this, the effect is mostly subdued. but, like with jane eyre, if you look at it as a simple off-black polish that has just enough of oompf not to be a plain black, then you are fine. formula is amazing though.

Sunday, 19 February 2023

zoya envy (truth and dare)

zoya envy is from there really old collection truth and dare for autumn 2009.



in ever truthful words of zoya people, it is a "deep blackened green with subtle yellow undertones and barely-perceptible shimmer." in my opinion, that shimmer is so barely perceptible that i honestly first saw it in this description :).

is a really nicely formulated creme. under at least a bit of light, it can barely be mistaken for a black polish, but it has a tendency to appear more black than green. certainly the darkest green i own.

natural light:

Saturday, 11 February 2023

picture polish citrus

picture polish citrus is so old that i am not sure which collection it comes from. it is also from the era before they started publishing pictures of bottles. 2011 is the earliest that i found info about it.

citrus is a perfect summer polish. the orange is so juicy, it almost smells like fruit. it is bright and almost neony, with a surprisingly amazing formula, with two coats enough for a total coverage.


Saturday, 4 February 2023

dior bleuette (glowing gardens)

this year's spring collection from dior, glowing gardens, had a couple of interesting polishes. one of them is bleuette. garden can be found here.



bleuette is a stunner. a gorgeous blue creme, bordering on being pastel.it is a baby blue with a hint of green in it, just enough to make it (completely) different from 2015's porcelaine. i don't know if i like it more in the sun or in the shade.

it has a magnificent formula, totally untypical for these sort of shades. i am really impressed by dior polishes since they got reformulated.

natural light:

Tuesday, 31 January 2023

china glaze blue bells ring (holiday joy)

blue bells ring is one of my favourite polishes from the amazing china glaze collection holiday joy. winter holly, angel wings, cranberry splash and glistening snow were already featured here. 

i've been drooling over bbr swatches ever since first pictures of holiday joy emerged, but when i finally got the bottle, i was utterly underwhelmed. it looked too silvery with only a hint of blue, nothing like the swatches. but, when i put it on my nails, i was amazed!

china glaze really knows how to make blue polishes with a twist. this one falls in the amazing category, together with blue iguana and frostbite. it is electric blue packed with silver foil shimmer, giving it a metallic look. it looks so amazing, the pictures don't do it credit! it is definitely a one coater, i added the second but it really wasn't necessary. the formula is on the thicker side, but it is easy to work with .

the only problem is removal. it doesn't stain the nail itself, but when you remove the polish, firstly the entire blue part goes away, leaving the silver foil. blue part stains the skin around the nails, but it disappears after you wash your hands a couple of times.

it looks the best on a cloudy day:


Thursday, 26 January 2023

opi green-wich village (mod about brights)

mod about brights is a really old opi collection from back in 2008,  making green-wich village one of the oldest polishes in my collection. the it color was already shown here.


green-wich village is a proper swampy, froggy green, and quite bright and in-your-face. 

even though it is so old, the formula is still the same as it was, which is, not perfect :) it is a sheer creme, and it definitely needs three coats to get to the full colour. i am a great fan of greens, so this is right up my alley.