China Glaze New Bohemian Luster

sun

China Glaze Swanky Silk. Two coats, with topcoat. This is from the Fall 2012 duochrome collection, and hopefully you can see here that it goes from a neutral, greenish-gold to a dusty rose gold, in a lovely chrome finish. This was quite pretty, but I think three coats would've been better. Formula was great, if a little thin and sheer, but application was a breeze. It was so delicate and ethereal!

shade

This really reminded me of Black Hills Gold - they make beautiful gold jewelry with combinations of green, yellow and rose gold. I'm pretty sure there's at least one dupe floating around, but I don't own any, so no comps this time.

light box

And because I can never leave a mani alone, I stamped over it! I used Swanky Silk's collection mate, China Glaze Deviantly Daring, and BM315 for the paisley pattern. Not my best work, but it's pretty all the same.

More Purple Layering

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NYS Hot Purple + Nicole by OPI Count On Me. 2 coats NYS + 1 coat NOPI, with topcoat. Shortly after using my beloved Hot Purple for the glitter sandwich I posted last time, I found another spectacular use for it - as the base color under the beautifully iridescent Count On Me. If you look closely at the above pic, you will see prominent blue shimmer in the direct light, but you'll also notice some pink highlight to the side - both are the NOPI! I really adore duochromey shimmer polishes like this, especially when they're sheer enough to layer over darker colors that really showcase the color-shifting properties. I couldn't capture the completely pink shift on camera, but it's there irl. This really sparkles, too - I would classify the finish as micro-glass fleck, if that makes any sense. It's in a sheer, pink-tinted base, that only marginally changed the color of the base polish.

full sun

Here's a shot in full sun, just because. I wasn't counting on the NOPI being quite as sheer as it ended up, or I would have used three coats of NYS Hot Purple, or a proper underwear polish. As it was, the VNL was only apparent in full sun. Once again, I really needed to wrap the tips with every color layer, especially for photos. D'oh!

I'd like to expound a bit on how NYS Hot Purple has totally won me over on jelly finish polishes.  I really dislike most jellies/sheers I've found for the following reasons: 1) they aren't supposed to be sheer, so they end up looking like the bad formula that they are, 2) they're just watered-down, washed-out versions of a color, 3) they're usually a streaky mess, 4) I'm not fond of the unintentional French mani look, 5) they'll never even get close to opaque, no matter how many coats you slather on (see the NOPI above), or 6) they're so dark that by the time they're opaque, they're also black (google Nars Zulu, for example). NYS Hot Purple, on the other hand, ticks all the right boxes for me. The rich, saturated color is outstanding, and never looks black. The squishy translucence and shine are irresistible. It's a real multi-tasker, too, looking stunning with layering (especially glitter sandwiches!) or all by itself. It's buildable to full opacity in three coats. Now I find myself seeking out sheers, but I don't think I've found any that equal this one yet, especially for the price (only $2.50, and cheaper online)! Needless to say, I'll be snapping up any more New York Summer 'Hot' polishes I find.

How about you? Have you ever been completely converted on a finish or color by a single polish?

Here, There Be Pirates

This post is brought to you by the letter "Arrrrr". Sorry, I couldn't help it! Let's just get on with the pictures, shall we?

Savina Black Pearl. 2 coats, in artificial light. Gorgeous duochrome! I would say the base is slate blue, and the shimmer flashes from bright teal to bright purple, with every shade in between.

These two were taken in full sunlight, where the slate base was most apparent, but also, no purple! It looked like a completely different polish. I noticed that in different lighting, the character of the polish shifted completely. In some light, it was solid purple, in some, solid teal. It was the neatest effect! I think this is the strongest duochrome polish I own. Love it!
And, since I can't leave even such an awesome polish alone I added some stamping to it. In honor of the much-loved pirate movie franchise that includes a ship by the same name (Black Pearl), of course. As you can see, I used China Glaze Metallic Muse for stamping.

As soon as I saw this sparrow stamp, I immediately thought of the tattoo that Johnny Depp has on his forearm. Just Google 'Johnny Depp tattoo', and you should be able to find a pic of the original. Not bad, huh? Also, I really couldn't resist the cupcake and crossbones - isn't that hilarious? This mani is anything but cursed! (*ahem* Sorry. Again. But not really. LOL!)

Thanks for reading!

Springtime! At Least On My Nails...

I've been lemming Zoya Adina since the first swatch I saw, but I know I won't be getting it anytime soon, so in the meantime thought I'd try a substitute. I think I'm on to something here!

OPI Done Out In Deco. Dusty lilac creme. Very pretty! This is 2 coats, no top coat. Great application. I'm really getting to appreciate wider brushes. This is the base I used for underneath Significant Other Color.

OPI Significant Other Color. Two Coats (over DOID). This is fantastic! It's definitely tri-chrome, with green, pink and lavender flashes. I love how delicate this looks!

This one definitely shows the dark pink side, and I love how the bottle looks in this one.

Here, you can see all three colors, especially on my middle nail. I love it!

Please ignore the finger print, :P, this is pre-cleanup and pre-topcoat.

Freaky bottles shot.
I don't have any photos to prove it, but this is equally lovely matte. It looks like frosted glass, and retains it's tri-chrominess. (New word, LOL!) Another little tip: instead of regular topcoat, I used Orly Twilight for some sparkle.
Thanks for reading!