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.

natural light:

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. 

natural light:

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).

natural light:

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.

natural light:

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.

natural light:

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. 

natural light:

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.

natural light: