picture polish nemesis (vampy chameleons)

 nemesis was my only pick from a truly gorgeous picture polish collection, vampy chameleons.

since i am not a huge red fan, i decided to pick only one polish from this collection, and nemesis somehow caught my eye.

the base colour is burgundy, with a slight duochrome effect as it gets goldish in the edges. add to that scattered holo and some shimmer, and you get a true gem. application is flawless. it is one of those that gets a completely new life when in shade, so i had to double the amount of photos.

natural light:

opi grape set match (glam slam england)

grand slam england! was the thirdcollection in opi's collaboration with serena williams. it was released in summer 2011 and i already showed your royal shine-ness, so it's time for grape...set....match.

grape...set....match is a stunner. a gorgeous, super rich grape purple, packed with blue and magenta microglitter. it is a foil that a slight duochrome effect as well.

the formula is not perfect, as expected with these polishes, but the coverage builds up nicely with two coats. i completely neglected this polish and will have to wear it more!

opi ds mystery (designer series 37)

remember those days when opi's designer series was the most exotic type of nailpolish you could find? one of those is mystery, back in 2010.

i love mystery, it is kind of vampy with a twist. i know it may be underwhelming with all the bling we can get nowadays, but there is something in its colour combination that really strucks a cord with me. 

it is described as deep purple with golden flakes, but it's more leaning to the eggpant side. the flakes are somewhat duochromatic, but it depends on light. i should definitely try it with a matte top coat, i believe it would make this effect more prominent. formula is still quite solid.

chanel rose fusion (vamp attitude)

rose fusion, from chanel's  2015 holiday collection called vamp attitude, is one of the polishes that always surprises me. i keep forgetting how pretty it is.

i would have probably overlooked this one. the botlle can fool you to think that this is a dull polish, while in reality, it is one of the most complex. the amount of colours and finishes in one bottle is crazy. on  a cloudy day, it is a gorgeous purple to taupe duochrome, while at sun it becomes a more bronzy metallic polish with awesome silvery shimmer.

it is really unique and magnificent, as if you are wearing a different polish every time you look at your nails. the formula is a bit brushstrokey, but it's really fine. i have a lots of pictures, because i couldn't resist.

cloudy day:

china glaze unpredictable (new bohemian)

when i saw promo pics for china glaze 2012 bohemian collections, my eyes immediately popped out! i love duochromes, and i couldn't decide which one i liked better. i decided to get unpredictable, and then decide if i should get more. i believe i made a perfect choice, but regret not getting more.

the base color is a teal green with gold shimmer, so i guess you could say that it is a green/blue/gold duochrome.

the formula is good, although it leaves visible brushstrokes, but since this is expected for this type of finish, and since the color is sooooo beautiful, i'm letting this one fault slide. it is fully opaque with two layers.

natural light:

fun lacquer desires (h) (christmas 2015)

 i am really getting obessed with f. u. n. lacquer, so i am showing you the gorgeous desires (h) from christmas 2015 collection.

polishes in this collection come in a holo, marked with (h) and non holo version. i got cheers to the holidays (h) as well.  desires is really gorgeous duochrome, with medium green being the most dominant shade, that shifts to goldish/bronze brown, as you can see in the images in shade.

in the holo version,  fine and micro holographic gold glitter and shimmer are added to the mix. the end result is a really awesome shade. i see it perfect for christmas period, but definitely not limited to it. formula wise, there is really nothing to complain about it.

natural light:

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:

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.

chanel peridot (illusions d'ombres)

i think it's about time to show the gorgeous chanel peridot, from the 2011 fall collection illusions d'ombres.

when it comes to peridot, i have a story. i admit i am a latecomer when it comes to high end polishes, but peridot was the first polish of this kind that i heard of. there was an article in one serbian newspaper, that was about this collection and mentioned that in many countries, there's a waiting list for peridot. this honestly shocked me, so i was interested to see how this polish looked like, and was surprised that i immediately fell in love with it!

and it sure is one of the shades i feel most comfortable with, although i can understand that it can be too much for some people. i also understand that the first association to it is not the stone of the same name, but the common fly. nevertheless, this combination of greenish gold duochrome (green more dominant in the shade, while gold wins in direct light), with my love for metallic finishes, makes it obvious to me why so many companies tried to make the dupe for it.

it is metallic, therefore brushstrokey, but the formula is impeccable.

natural light: 

picture polish magic (collaboration shade)

in these trying times, when we are all scared and panicky, it is time for a little bit of magic, so i am showing just that, from picture polish collaboration shade with lakkomlakkom.

source

magic is a very unique and complex polish. duochrome, switching from  rose gold to a sort of beige shade, with holographic shimmer that looks like it's floating on top of the nails. stunning! hope that the gloominess of the day at least enhanced the duochrome complexity.

natural light:

dance legend wood goblin (anna gorelova winter 2014)

gloomy weather is perfect for duochromes, so i am going with wood goblin from anna gorelova's winter collaboration with dance legend.

wood goblin is really stunning. it's a deep green duochrome, shifting to deep purple. unfortunately, even though the shift is very visible in the shade, my camera just couldn't capture it, but you can at least get a glimpse of it in the bottle.

it dries in kind of a satiny finish, which i find to be gorgeous so i didn't use a top coat.

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!

dance legend sirin (anna gorelova winter collection)

anna gorelova winter collection for dance legend is a complete dream. i took the first picture from her blog, and you see that you also get a cute ring with the polish. if you ask me, sirin, the bottom right, is a standout!

this polish is gorgeous, just gorgeous! amazing duochrome, mostly turquoise but leaning to other shades of blue. there is also some tiny holographic glitter, in just the right amount, not to overwhelm the polish.

formula is also nice, and, overall, a beautiful, magical shade that i'm in love with. and i wear the ring really often!

natural light:

cirque colors lucid dreams (the dreamscape)

i only made a couple of purchases this year, but when i saw lucid dream from cirque color the dreamscape collection, i knew it had to be mine.

i love polishes with iridescent shimmer. add to it a ocean blue type of shade, and i am sold (or, the polish is sold to me). 

this entire collection is a dream, and i might pick up one or two more. they are all of a similar, if not the same, type, to quote cirque people: "shimmer polishes are packed with glimmering pigments which give them a unique multidimensional finish", and they really look spectacular. 

lucid dream itself is described as "vivid green-blue nail polish with deep violet shimmer and delicate holographic sparkle". it is a chameleon, which is why i apologize for the number of photos.

natural light:

picture polish pshiiit (collaboration shade)

picture polish collaboration shades have that habit of being too gorgeous to be captured faithfully. trust me, pshiiit, the polish created by camille from pshiiit.com, is one of those shades.  this is one gorgeous blog, with amazing manicures and pictures.

to call pshiiit beautiful would be an understatement. i wore it three times, and my camera refuses to pick up the gorgeous green nature of this chameleon, so you can see just one aspect of it.

the base color is a highly saturated turquoise jelly duochrome (looks greener in the bottle), with green shimmer and flakes. it's vibrant, eye-catching (i went clubbing with it, and when i saw official photos from the event, my nails really stand out :D) and simply gorgeous, pictures don't do it justice.

shade:

opi show must go on (burlesque)

after teas-y does it, i am showing another polish from opi's holiday collection burlesque back in 2010, show must go on.

i am so sad that i had only the mini version of this polish, because it is a stunner (and, unfortunately, finished now). a magenta-burnt orange duochrome, awesome for gloomier days because you can see all the little details in it. i think it is really unique and wish i could find a dupe!

the formula was decent, especially for a mini, but i would forgive it even if it wasn't, that's how pretty it is.

overcast:

opi green on the runway (coca cola)

green on the runway is my only pick from opi's coca cola collection back in 2014.

the second i saw the first picture of this polish, i knew i'm in love. seriously, whoever came with this idea, deserves a prize.  it is supposed to represent sprite, but i honestly can't see the inspiration. yup, the can is green, but a completely different sort of green.

this duochrome is beyond stunning. it is mainly olive green, but at more extreme angles it shifts to coppery kind of colour. application is nice, almost no brush strokes. it is a beauty.

natural light:

picture polish copper field (collaboration shade)

copper field is yet another picture polish collaboration shade, this time from 2016 and made together with laura vgp.

well, the name really says it all. the shade is copper, and with the name-play (the magician david copperfield), it truly is magical.

it is a duochrome metalic, predominantly copper with shifts to gold and ping. add scatter holo particles, and you get a concoction that is never too much. i love it, especially in these gloomy days.

natural light:

gosh ocean (540)

while i'm on the subject of polishes that are hard to capture, say hello to gosh's ocean, that i won on cayca's giveaway ages ago. i almost finished the polish but i'm just now showing it. 

it is one of the polishes that gets mentioned as a close enough dupe for chanel azure. gosh is a danish brand so not so easy to catch, therefore i don't have no idea if it is supposed to be more accessible than the chanel one.

it is a very pretty (mostly) turquoise duochrome, that shifts through many ranges of blue and green, depending on the light. it also has a touch of iridescent effect on it. brushstrokes are there, but not overwhelming. a perfect summer polish!

natural light:

picture polish free (special edition)

today i am showing you a special edition picture polish, free, that is so far my favourite polish of 2017.

if you live in australia, you get this polish for free (hence the name) with your purchase. luckily, us non-australians can still buy it regularly. and this polish is truly divine! it has a duochrome effect, shifting from teal to blue, with awesome holo shimmer. 

the formula is awesome, it simply flows. i couldn't stop looking at my nails, so i am posting a bit more photos than usual, because it is truly a chameleon. i took pictures under direct sunlight, slight overcast and in shade, and it is stunning in every condition.