ysl rouge pop art (1)

it seems that lately i'm publishing only dark polishes, and i felt like i need something more lively. what better choice than ysl rouge pop art, the first one in their core collection.

i am not a red nail polish hoarder, but from time to time i get the urge to wear red on my nails. and rouge pop art always manages to cheer me up. i believe that it is a red with a perfect balance of orange and blue undertones.

it is a borderline crelly. although the coverage is good, if you have longer and more pigmented nails, the tips will be visible. i don't mind it  though, for some reason it feels even more cute and fresh. it s well formulated, as usual.

natural light:

chanel graphite (illusions d'ombres)

after showing quartz and peridot from chanel's illusions d'ombres collection for autumn 2011, it is about time to show the third one, graphite.

graphite is a dark silver, but this is quite an oversimplification of its colour. it is a metallic, foily polish that looks a bit textured, while being perfectly smooth.

this unusual finish gives it more depth, so in shade it becomes more pewter-y, even greenish. formula is amazing, so much that even the chanel brush is not annoying me.

natural light:

picture polish gala (opulence)

picture polish gala was released in spring 2016 and added to the opulence collection that already had glitch and subsequently added chameleon.

gala is a gorgeous, prerfect purple shade. it is decribed as a dusky violet scatter holo, but to be honest, i don't see the dusk part. i love the holo flecks, it is one of my favourite finishes.

it has a solid formula and two coats are enough for perfect opacity.

new in and empties: 2021

 well, well, well... it took me a while to do this post because i had to triple check, but here we are: i bought a total of 0 polishes this year. 0. this was not planned, just pandemic doing its thing and time just passed. i was by no means on a no buy, but it happend. 

on the other hand, i finished up 8 bottles:

a england polovetsian dances (russian soul)

i am showing you another a england beauty from their russian soul collection, and this time is polovetsian dances. so far, we saw waltz of the flowers and natasha's dance.

i love this polish. love it! it is a blackened purple with a hint of blurple. unfortunately, a bit more blurple in my photos than in real life. the holo effect is just perfect, just as in the rest of the collection.

formula is, as usual, flawless. i highly recommend this polish.

natural light:

opi have you seen my limo (holiday in hollywood)

before i started this post, i was completely unaware that opi's have you seen my limo is such an old polish! the collection it was in, holiday in hollywood, was released for holidays 2007.

i have no idea how opi managed to mess up the promo picture like this, because it's not even similar to what it looks in real life. it is supposed to be slightly duochrome as well, but i definitely can't see it. nevertheless, i adore this polish, and i think it's easy to see why.

limo is a purple-eggplant type of shade with awesome subtle green and subtle shimmer that my camera just can't seem to catch. this is such a pity because it is what gives this polish that extra special touch. it is so rich and pretty!

natural light:

dior samba 794 (birds of paradise)

for the summer 2013, dior came up with two sets of polishes in the birds of paradise collection. while i had no interest in getting bahia, the other set called samba consists of colors that i know i'll love even without seeing them in real life. today, it's time for samba 794.

samba 794 is described as "metallic peacock green", but it is more of a teal going on blue. it really is gorgeous and pictures don't do it justice. the shimmer is amazing and gives it a bit of a glow, and the duochrome effect can make it look even goldish.

the bottle is smaller than for the regular dior polish (7 ml). the brush is a bit different too, it has the same width, but it is flat, so this is a plus for those of you who don't like the regularly cut dior brush (i actually love the standard one). it is a bit sheer with one coat, but the second one gives complete coverage. there are some visible brush strokes, but they are subtle. i love this polish and i think it's great for the summer!

direct sun:

china glaze heart of africa (pop top)

pop top was china glaze collection back in 2014, that had all the toppers and two base colours. the bases were the iconic white on white and today's star, heart of africa.

heart of africa is one of those burgundy shimmers that everyone has to have. it is a classic for a reason. china glaze people described it poetically: "deep thinkers glam it up in black cherry red that's ready to shimmy in the shimmers."

it is in my collection for so many years, and the formula is still great. a real, a little overlooked, gem of a polish.

chanel mediterranee (mediterranee)

chanel gave us four polishes in their 2015 summer collection, mediterranee. i was circling around lavanda and terrana, but took only mediterranee. i might be regretting taking only one.

these tealish-blue shades are my soft spot. they are hard to photograph, and look different in different lighting, so all of these pictures are both accurate and inaccurate. it is a really pretty muted blue. looks not to flashy, but still amazing on the nails. i really am a fan!

natural light:

picture polish fantasy (collaboration shade)

fantasy is yet another in my huge collaboration shade collection from picture polish. fantasy was created in 2018, with the now defunct simpy polish blog.

fantasy is decribed as a dark berry plum, with a scattering holo effect. as other polishes of this type, it is a nicely saturated jelly, with good coverage with two coats. it is gorgeous and a bit vampy, but with a twist.