China Glaze Magnetix

China Glaze is releasing a magnetic collection in 2012! This is really good news for me because I've wanted magnetic nail polishes for the longest time! It's not easy to find such polishes in Singapore as it's rather hard to find Essence, Nails Inc or LCN Magnetic. The only time I ever saw magnetic polishes in person was in my secondary school days; remember those old L'Oreal Star Magnets in Watsons and Guardian?

There's no fixed date for when this collection will be released but many bloggers suspect a Spring/ Summer release. I can't wait to get my hands on these babies!

Downtime

My desktop containing all my pictures is down so I won't be able to post before I get it fixed. Luckily, it doesn't seem to be a hard drive problem but graphics card issue. In the meantime, I'll see if I can use another computer for the time being.

On another note, did anyone notice a new tab at the top of my page? Click on the Giveaways tab and it shows some of the giveaways (or contests) that are currently going on. They are organized by fellow nail bloggers that I read and follow. I don't claim to know all the giveaways out there but those that I know of I'll add to the page.

Purple Paradise

It was my birthday on Sunday and I decided to treat myself by breaking out my bottle of Nfu Oh 51. However, since it has a sheer purple jelly base, I painted it over another untried color, Michelle M32. M32 is a purple cream that is nowhere near to 51’s base color (more on that below). No matter, I think it turned out well!

Rainbow 03

Golden beige holographic. Previously, I mentioned that there were two versions of 03 and 05 floating around. This is one of them, which can be labeled as either number.

I found this to have a weaker holographic effect as compared to the previous two shades. But I would still recommend it to any holo lover as it's cheap and easy to apply.

Thanks for looking!

Polish sandwich:
• Rainbow 03 (3 coats)

OPI Mermaid's Tears

Collection: Pirates of The Caribbean (2011 Spring)

Dusty sea foam green cream. Most swatches online show this as more cyan than green. It does have a touch of blue that many cameras capture, but it’s definitely green. Still, whatever we choose to call this color, it’s a real beauty. I wore it for a friend’s wedding last month and got lots of compliments!

I do wish the consistency was less watery and more leveling. I read that Orly Ancient Jade is a close match but just a bit brighter and greener. I do like how murky Mermaid’s Tears looks so I’ll be keeping this. But I can never have enough so maybe I’ll get Ancient Jade one day too.

Thanks for reading!

Polish sandwich:
• OPI Mermaid's Tears (3 coats)

China Glaze Jitterbug

Collection: Vintage Vixen (2010 Fall)

Gunmetal-silver foil. The picture above displays how it looks like most accurately. But when the light hits it, it really glows and reflects because of the silver foil particles.

Honesty, I could have added another coat as there was a small bald spot or two. But it’s so reflective in real life I never saw those spots, which is just the way I like it.

Thanks for reading!

Polish sandwich:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• China Glaze Jitterbug (2 coats)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

Nubar Reclaim

Collection: Going Green (2009 Summer)

Grass green holographic. This is a much loved shade from Nubar as it’s every green lover’s dream. Usually green holos are light silver-green but this is far from it. I really love how rich this color is!

Thanks for reading!

Polish sandwich:
• Michelle Base (1 coat)
• Nubar Reclaim (2 coats)

Elianto Indigo Shine & China Glaze Midnight Mission

Elianto Indigo Shine: index and ring fingers (three coats)
China Glaze Midnight Mission: middle and little fingers (two coats)

The base of Midnight Mission is blue while Indigo Shine has a teal base. Because the glitter in both is silver, the base tints it. Both are similar but definitely not dupes!

Midnight Mission is more opaque, needing only two coats. Indigo Shine needs three but I think it’s worth it. Which do you prefer? Should I keep both?

Zoya Caitlin + Nubar 2010

When I first saw this combination here I knew I had to try it! I haven’t really experimented with 2010 since I got it. I only have one bottle and I’m afraid I’ll use it all up! This is the first time I’m using Caitlin as a mani, but I loved it on my toes last month and I wanted to use it again!

Rainbow 05

Light mauve holographic. Here’s another of the Rainbow holographics! I really love these as they’re beautiful and really easy to apply! No patchiness like the Nfu Oh holos (I can’t wait to try out my new babies 66 and 51!).

I’ve noticed that there are two colors of 05 and 03 floating around. I’ve seen this color labeled as both numbers. The other color has a golden beige base, also labeled as both numbers. A batch or two was probably mislabeled.

I know I haven’t been updating much this month. I change my nail polish every week and I also try to swatch at least once. However, it’s monsoon season in South-East Asia now. It's sunny one moment and rainy the next, so please bear with me. Also, I'd rather show a fresh manicure than one with tip wear so I usually don't take photos after the second or third day (there are exceptions though!).

Thanks for dropping by!

Polish sandwich:
• Rainbow 05 (3 coats)

Rainbow 02

Medium pink holographic. Since I was only bitten by the holographic bug this year, I missed out many great polishes that are now discontinued and hard-to-find (HTF). But this is not one of those at all. It’s from Daiso and is $2 for 5ml. It might not seem like a lot but it’s still cheaper per ml compared to China Glaze, Color Club or OPI.

The formula gave me no problems and it dries rather shiny. I added Seche Vite on my other fingers and I’m happy to report that it didn’t dull the holo.

I’m not usually into pink but I’d take a pink holographic over a cream any day. I will definitely be buying backups of this because the bottle is so small I’ll probably finish it in five manicures. Plus, it’s affordable.

Thanks for looking!

Polish sandwich:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Rainbow 02 (2 coats)

Nature Republic GR602

In my previous post, I used this as base for my fimo nail art. But it wasn’t accurate color-wise, so I decided to swatch it to show how vibrant it is.

I found this polish to be thick even after I added thinner to it. Whenever I tried to do thin coats, it came out very streaky with plenty of bald spots. To prevent that, I discovered it was best to do thick coats with as little pressure as possible.

But it’s not all bad. It self-levels and is very glossy without any top coat. It also dries a bit faster than average despite the thick coats.

Thanks for reading!

Polish sandwich:
• Nature Republic GR602 (3 coats)

Fruit Fest!

Over the weekend, I decided it was time to try out the fimo nail art that I got from Ebay a few weeks ago. My intention was to use a cheery color for the base and I settled on a green cream from Nature Republic.

I bought my fimo pre-sliced so I didn’t need to do any extra work. Some might prefer to buy the whole canes instead as it is cheaper. The canes can be cut with a penknife, and you can decide how thick you want the slices to be.

I found the thinner slices more flexible and they contoured easily to the curved surface of my nail. However, when it’s too thin it lies rather flat on the nail; a thicker slice gave me a greater 3D effect.

I used clear eyelash glue to stick the pieces on my nails before adding a thick coat (or two) of Seche Vite. SV really helps to secure the slices as it creates a thick protective layer over the. I also found SV to be a good substitute for the glue.

My biggest problem with this was that my hair kept getting caught on it. Three pieces got pulled off within a day and I was worried every time I washed my hair.

As this is my first time trying 3D nail art, please ignore the imperfections that can be seen. Still, I think it’s a decent attempt as I got positive reactions from my friends. I don’t mind trying it again, just not so soon. Or maybe with less slices or as an accent nail. (:

Here’s a close up of my favorite nail. I just wanted to show this as I thought it came out the best! I hope you find this as cute as I found it!

What are your opinions on fimo nail art? Will you try it? Or is it not for you?

Polish sandwich:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Nature Republic GR602 (3 coats)
• Fimo Nail Art
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

Elianto Racing Green

Collection: Sparkling Diva

Green jelly with gold glitter. This is the most well-known polish of this collection; it made the Elianto brand famous on MUA! It’s a gorgeous green that’s similar to Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe. I don’t have MMUTM but I heard that Racing Green leans a little more yellow, so they’re not dupes. I’m glad I found RG because it killed my lemming for MMUTM.

Two easy coats gave me great coverage. As usual, the finish was shiny and smooth, so it’s alright to skip the top coat. This is the last of my Sparkling Diva polishes so I hope you enjoyed them! I wanted to post this up last week but it slipped my mind, so here's a bonus bottle shot! Thanks for looking!

From the left: Glittery Nickel, Racing Green, Indigo Shine

Polish sandwich:
• Elianto Racing Green (2 coats)

Elianto Indigo Shine

Collection: Sparkling Diva

Dark teal jelly with silver glitter. When I first bought this polish, I thought it was blue. But when compared to a true blue based polish, it’s very obviously teal. The best thing I really like about silver glitter is how it reflects the base color beautifully. In Persian Indigo, it was purple, and here, it’s teal!

The formula was a bit thin and sheer, needing three coats for full opacity. Still, there are no bumps despite the glitter, and it dries with a high shine. Thanks for reading!

Polish sandwich:
• Elianto Indigo Shine (3 coats)

Fairy Wings

As mentioned in my previous post, I have two more Elianto polishes to show you. But before that, I wanted to show you how Elianto Lilac would look layered over another color. In my swatch post, I pointed out that Lilac is very sheer even at four coats. So I tried it over a beige cream.

This looks like off-white with light pink glitter in both direct and indirect sunlight (as in see the two photos above). But that is misleading as it hardly appears like that in real life.

While the particles in Lilac are a mixture of pink and gold, the pink appears more strongly because of the sheer lilac base. I can usually see the pink glow whenever any light hits my nails but my camera can’t seem to capture that properly. The glitter should be brighter and more vibrant than the picture above.

China Glaze Classic Camel

Collection: Vintage Vixen (2010 Fall)

Yellow-toned khaki with golden shimmer. There’s quite a lot of golden shimmer, but since the base color is similar, it doesn’t stand out. I can’t decide whether I like it on me, but I love how it looks in the bottle. Many of my friends thought it was gold, so I guess my skin tone makes it turn golden. (Please ignore the bubble on the index finger.)

It required a few drops of thinner for a smoother application. I painted my right hand before I thinned it and I needed three coats to cover the bald spots because it was so sticky. But on my swatch (left) hand, I managed with only two.

I still have two more Elianto polishes from the Sparkling Diva collection to show you, so please look forward to them! Thanks for looking!

Polish sandwich:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• China Glaze Classic Camel (2 coats)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

Nfu Oh GS14

Collection: Glitter

Black jelly with small holographic hexagonal and square glitter. I have to admit, I bought this more for the bottle than the polish itself.

The cap is a corset with the tie strings at the back. The bottle itself is like the skirt of a gown and the back folds reveal the petticoat underneath. Isn't gorgeous?

Elianto Lilac

Collection: Sparkling Diva

Sheer lilac jelly with pink and gold glass flecks Lilac is the most delicate and sheer of all the Sparkling Diva polishes that I have tried. It is also the only one that has pink glitter; all the others have silver or just gold glitter. I bought this together with Shimmer Pink and thought it was really pretty! And it is if you’re into shades like this – which I am normally not.

I can still see my VNL even after four thin coats. When I did a full manicure though, I settled with three thick coats instead. I have put this on as a full manicure a couple of times but now prefer it as a layering polish. It dries smooth and shiny so it’s fine even when I skip the top coat.
Thanks for reading! What colors should I try layering this over? (:

Polish sandwich:
• Elianto Lilac (4 coats)