Orly Space Cadet

Collection: Cosmic FX (2010 Fall)

A sheer teal base with duochrome glass flecks that flash gold, purple, brown and green. Absolutely stunning! When I first showed my best friend swatches of this online, her response was “No wonder it’s called Space Cadet.” And I agree that it’s aptly named!

It took three thin coats to reach full opacity but it was completely worth it! Dry time between each coat was fast and the glass flecks were so shiny that I didn’t need to add top coat.

OPI Who Needs A Prince? + Nubar 2010

I managed to get my hands on the Nubar 2010! It's very hard to find Nubar in Singapore, but I found a blogshop selling it for just S$12.50! I know the flakie layering craze started out last year with Sally Hansen's Hidden Treasure; Nubar 2010 and Nfu Oh 38 create a very similar effect. Every nail blogger suddenly had either the Hidden Treasure or 2010. Or both. But the beautiful swatches made me green with envy because I would never find either. Or so I thought.

Nubar 2010 has a clear base with translucent flakes that flash red, orange, yellow and green. It looks absolutely gorgeous in the bottle! And it’s equally beautiful when layered over other colors. I haven’t tried it over many colors yet but I’m sure I’ll have the opportunity to play over the next few months!

OPI Who Needs A Prince?

Collection: Princess Charming (2006 Spring)

A white jelly with red pearl shimmer. It was originally from the 2006 Princess Charming collection but has been incorporated into the Soft Shades line. Coming from the same collection as My Daddy’s The King, it has the same squishiness and fine pearl shimmer.

From a distance, the red pearl makes the polish appear pale pink. But up close and under good lighting, the fine shimmer can be seen in the white base. I loved this combination as it gave a unique twist to the classy white jelly.

One coat

Two coats

The application was very quick and easy. It wasn’t streaky and it dried quickly too. (Sorry for that bit of dust that stuck to my nail while the polish was still wet.) The first coat was just a hint of milkiness coupled with that red pearl. The second coat provided more coverage but the nail line could still be seen. Since I didn't want my VNL to be seen, I added a third coat.

Feel free to click on the pictures to enlarge them. And thanks for reading! (:

Polish sandwich:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• OPI Who Needs A Prince? (3 coats)

China Glaze Black Mesh

Collection: Crackle Glaze (2011 Spring)

A black crackle matte. It's my first crackle polish and I love it! It dries matte as most crackle polishes do but a top coat will solve that. It was very fascinating to see the crackling while my nails dried. I stared at my nails the whole time, trying to guess how and where the polish will crackle. The end of the crackling also meant that the polish was completely dry.

The base color I used was a light purple cream from Nature Republic, a South Korean brand. The code for this polish is Color Waltz PP402.

Polish sandwich:
• Poshe Fast Drying Base Coat (1 coat)
• Nature Republic Color Waltz PP402 (1 coat)
• Seche Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)
• China Glaze Black Mesh (1 coat)
• Seche Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)