picture polish alive (collaboration)

(a)live is a part of picture polish collaboration shades collection back in 2015.

(a)live is a very unique and interested shade, a combo of a dirty pink/muted fuchsia, with magenta hexagonal glitter and holo shimmer. it was created by french blogger, sois polish, and the inspiration was the pearl jam song.

i like that it's not a strong pink, but a nice shade suitable for every season. it has a solid coverage and application.

natural light:

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.

china glaze bff (omg)

even 13 years later, i am still a sucker for the china glaze's original omg collection. after fyi, i am showing bff.

like all the other polishes in the collection, bff is also a linear holo. the shade is a soft magenta, very pretty but far from basic.

this, as well as the other polishes from the collection, are on the thin side, and work better with an aqua base. i sometimes forget about that and use a regular base coat, so it is not unworkable. i seriously still wish i had all of them!

natural light:

china glaze stella (retro diva)

stella is from one of the most classic china glaze collections, retro diva, that was packed with a lot of awesome polishes. i already posted about the stone cold classic, let's groove.

stella is a really stunning polish. a beautiful, magenta-toned deep purple with deep, almost metallic looking shimmer.

formula is also really nice, truly a classic purple shimmer and if you don't have one of those, i definitely recommend it.

natural light:

a england let me in (to emily bronte)

i have neglected a england recently, so i will start with the gorgeous  let me in, from the to emily bronte collection.

to call a england the queen of rich subtle holos is an understatement, and let me in is no exception.

it is a gorgeous deep magenta with a subtle scattered holo particles, or, in their words, "dark red berry holo full of depth and passion". it is so rich, with an effortless formula, a real stunner!

natural light:

china glaze draped in velvet (we adorn you)

china glaze's draped in velvet appeared in their 2006 we adorn you collection, and together with awaken was the first china glaze polish i ever bought.

draped in velvet is a gorgeous magenta purple polish, with very interesting blue microshimmer, giving it (surprise!) velvety look. i pretty much wear it mostly on cloudy days because direct sun makes it look washed out. 

the first coat is patchy, but the second one makes it fully opaque. it is a very interesting shade! i keep going back to these oldies lately, and they make me so happy.

essie jamaica me crazy (dive bar)

i bought essie jamaica me crazy from the awesome dive bar collection back in 2011, because we had a "favourite nail polish name" theme when we were doing "theme friday" challenge. this is my all time favourite name. then i realized that this dive bar collection is, for me, the best essie ever had. i mean, dive bar, sexy divide and trophy wife, it can't get better than that.

jamaica me crazy is not my typical color, but i have no magentas in my collection so i decided to give it a try. it turned out to be quite good. even though it is magenta, it has a purple undertone that makes it more my type, and gorgeous subtle purple shimmer.  

this is my first wide brush essie, and i'm happy with it. also, the formula was great, no bold spots, good coverage.

it's a difficult one to capture. direct sunlight washes it out, so the shade images are much more faithful.

natural light:

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.

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