Halo

Spontaneous polish purchases are something that I don't do that often any more - for stash control purposes. Swatches of every shade are thoroughly scrutinised by me in an attempt to conclude whether I really want this polish or not. All the above did not refer to Orly Halo which I bought simply because I liked it on a nail wheel in a store. Oh, and it was on discount, too ;)

Orly Halo is a transparent base full of golden glitter and bigger silver hexagones. It took me some time to realize that they are actually silver - and this is where the secret of this polish is hidden. Silver counterplays with gold, and all the thing glimmering - a nice effect is created overall. Now I can justify my spontaneous purchase - the shade was interesting enough to be in my stash :)

The application was ok, it's just the polish is quite transparent, so I needed 3 coats. I also covered it with a top coat, and it became even more shiny. Never seen halos, but they definitely could look like that :) 

And my attempts to make the close-up shots. Uff I need a better camera... but just to describe it in 3 words: glitter, glitter, glitter. Me happy :)

I have a weird but persistent idea to mattify it.. it either will kill all the beauty or will make it look different but cool. What do you think?

Sol Brillante

If I see an appealing or an unusual "noname" polish in a shop, I rarely grab it without googling some swatches. However, when I saw [b] Basic Sol Brillante from Sevilla LE, I was not pondering even for a second. What is here to ponder, if the polish costed around a euro... Never ever have I regretted later.

[b] Basic Sol Brillante is a mixture of gold and red glitter in a clear base, whereas the red particles are larger than the gold ones. To get an opaque (more or less) coverage, you will need 3 coats. A top coat would be good to use, too, because this thing doesn't really dry by itself.

The bottle was not so poorly designed for a euro-polish, and it sparkled like crazy under the sun. So did the polish itself when applied on the nails - these are the good news.

Another piece of good news is that this polish is multifunctional - you can apply it solo, use it for layering or create cool gradients by sponging it on the nail tips. The latter I really want to try once!

The bad news is that it was a limited edition launched in like 2012, so I really doubt that you can ever find it. BUT...

...if you liked the polish and wanna get something similar, try China Glaze Electrify and Sinful Colors Pumpkin Spice. If they are not dupes, they are extremely close relatives.

March Snow

Guess what? It's snowing in St. Peters! And not just a couple of snowflakes, but myriads of them falling heavily. Well, hello spring, I saw snow in May as well ;) This time the weather affected my choice of polish: instead of picking one of the pastels and corals that I prepared for wearing in the next days/weeks, I decided to put on this snowy thing - El Corazón Confetti 531a.

El Corazón Confetti 531a is white tiny glitter floating in a clear base. As simple as that. But how damn unique, no? I personally don't remember of any similar polish. If China Glaze There's Snow One Like You looks as a gross snowdrift, Confetti 531a rather reminds a thin layer of tiny snowflakes.

Be aware of the application though: it's not easy. It took me some time to figure out that this polish does not need a 3rd coat, neither a top coat. On the pictures you see 2 thin coats - they dry neither glossy nor matte, smth inbetween :) Oh, and about drying time - you'll have to be patient. To shorten the time and to smooth out the look, you'll have to apply thin coats. 

As much as I liked the "snow look", the next day I decided to upgrade it somehow, and thought that one of the best suiting options for white is gold. So I sponged some Essence Make It Golden on the tips.

I remember the times when there was a huge hype over Essence Make It Golden, both because it's a great polish and because it's a good substitute of Deborah Lippmann Boom Boom Pow. It's such a pity that Essence is discontinued... and my tiny bottle is half-empty.

Anyway, I loved both looks. How about you? :)
*The nail polish was kindly provided by El Corazón company for my consideration. In this post I expressed my honest and unbiased opinion about the product.

Golden Nude

It's harsh winter around here and I really didn't have any wish to repaint my nails, because any colour would look crippled on bright red fingers - which I had because of the frost. Finally the temperature became human friendly again, and I realised that I want nude nails, so I painted them with Yes Love #629, a nice beige shade. But after 2 days I got bored a bit, and decided to make the nude festive - with Milani Gold. 

Milani Gold is a gold glitter in the shape of hexagons in a clear base. The glitter particles are quite large and the DO stand out on the nails, even if painted over a nude. I wouldn't say that it was easy to spread the goldinis over the nails, but my bottle is pretty old, and the polish might have dried up a bit.

I was wearing this combination on the weekend, so I didn't really care if it was too much for work. Even though we don't have nails dress code, lol.

Just for you to see the other combinations with Milani Gold - here are the swatches over dark blue, turquoise, and gold (!). I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Mellow Yellow

Holiday time starts to feel in the air, and I'm still painting my nails with the pastel shades. But what can I do if I have the undying love for pastels :) Besides, yellow is good at any time of the year, even winter. So, the hero of today's post is piCture pOlish Mellow Yellow:

Mellow Yellow is a pale pastel yellow creme, which I have shown in my blog once already. You can compare the swatches of "now" and "then", hehe. What I feel is that the formula became a bit goopy with time, and so I needed 3 coats to cover all bold spots.

The shade is very pretty though and the application is way better than in case of similar whitened pastels. And it dries very fast, so I didn't bother to put on any top coat. 

Actually I did use a top coat, but later on, when I decided to cover the polish with loose gold glitter - holiday time is in the air, I'm telling you :) That was not a rocket sience: working with one nail at a time, I was applying a top coat and immediately sowing the glitter on top of the nail with a fan brush. Then dabbing slightly and letting dry a bit. 

So, are you in the Xmas/holiday mood already or it didn't reach you yet? :) 

Hopping&Sponging

For some unknown reason this manicure was lingering in the drafts for years... you can see it by the length of my nails - I do not wear them so long any more :D Anyways, it's never too late to show a classical sponging mani in even more classic colours: mauve+gold.

Base colour is 2 coats of Essie Island Hopping - a nice mauve that I get bored of very easily. After applying it I sponged Andreia #93, gold glitter in a transparent base, on top. Ready.

Finally I think I've chosen the right time to show this manicure - autumn/spring. Probably this is why it was always a draft - there was no right moment for it in summer or spring :) 

Do you like sponged tips? I think it's one of the coolest and easiest designs for all times, no? :)

Holiday Nails

Back. Depressed. After a month in +35 got into +15. People in swimwear changed to people in jackets and coats. Just to cheer up, I'm posting some random pics of my summer manicures. Disregard the quality of application and photos, it was holidays after all :)

Bright turquoise, almost the colour of Cycladic islands waters - Depend #227:

Golden foil China Glaze Midnight Kiss.. I wanted to wear golden nails so much this summer!

Pupa #715, my ever favourite blue:

And two pedicures, although I don't usually post feet pics. Someone was waiting for me in Santorini so much, that he even wrote my initials on the ground :) :)

And this gateway plate... I just liked it :)

One observation: I guess now I know why there are so few nail bloggers from Greece: it's soo hard to paint the nails there in summer. My polishes were freaking out, being goopy, leaving streaks, so did the top and the base coat!! Bubbles everywhere, every time.. 

And finally, this is the place that totally won my heart... Santorini:

Gold on Gold

"In a very timely manner" (I know, I know... : { ) I'm showing you my New Year's Eve manicure. Gold on gold, as you can see yourself. For some reason I have an inner belief that if I wear something gold on the night of 1st January, it will bring more prosperity (read here: money) next year. It has never come true yet, lol, but never say never!

On the photo you see the 7th (!) day of wearing Milani Gold over 2 coats of China Glaze Midnight Kiss. The latter is a cool-toned golden foil, which I basically wear each year around Christmas time. I feel so bad I didn't manage to make nice swatches of it.. it's so worth it! And Milani Gold is a big-sized golden glitter. I believe it should be awarded with "the hardest polish to remove EVER" title : ) It took me 40 minutes to get rid of it - with a foil method!!! But it was so nice and blingy when I was wearing it : ) 

Craving For Alice

The glitterisation of my brain is in its prime phase, and the Christmas stuff and decorations all around are only reinforcing it : ) Today I'll shift a bit from traditional red-green-white Xmas scheme to the blue side of the colour range. I decided to do a glitter layering - gold over electric blue. I wanted to try this combination long ago, mostly because I'm still craving for OPI Absolutely Alice, which is unreal to find for reasonable money :{

As a base I was using Amour Blue Glitter, a lovely dense electric blue glitter, which I always dig out of my stash in winter time. I already showed it here, but I decided to do a bit of reswatching : ) Two coats and top coat on the photos below.

As much as I like this polish by itself, I layered it with one thin coat of Andreia #93 (you can see it alone here), and I was very satisfied with the combination : ) Blue glitter with the sparkles of gold, how cool is that..

Although it may not be a dupe of Absolutely Alice - Alice has a darker blue base, now that I did this layering  I want Alice much less. Why bother, if I can mix up or layer something similar.. But to mix up Mad As A Hatter (which I also crave) - now THAT is the challenge : )