Sparkled Beauty

It has been a long time since I posted a NOTD. I still wear nail polish every day, just don't have the habit of taking pictures anymore.

I haven't bought new nail polish for a while either, until a bunch of Formula X collections showed up on Sephora sale page in the last week. You might see more nail polish on here because of that, starting today with a Kiko Cupcake texture shade.

This is 650 Peach, still matte with different coloured "sand" texture, but unlike the first 2 shades from the same line that I tried - Wisteria and Pistachio, it took 2 coats to even out.

The colour is quite unique in my texture stash, so I would not mind an extra layer. And it wears beautifully, I can't complain.

The bottles in Kiko Cupcake collection are 0.37oz/ 11ml, reg. $4.90, on sale for $1.90 each at the time my friend bought it for me. Absolute steal!

After a long time being available in the US (in stores and online), Kiko still does not show any interest in entering Canada. Such a shame, cause their makeup is awesome too.

There has been sunlight (liquid gold as I call it) in the sky in the last few days, and I have gone holo crazy! I am showing you 6 of Jade's latest Hologram & Rainbow shades I bought a while ago.

This is Psicodelica, a silver, slightly sheer after 2 coats but I surprisingly like it better this way, because of the nude base I think.

Mystic Gold is just simply golden (pun intended) with just one coat. I trust that with holographic nail polish, pictures speak louder than words so I won't be too wordy :)

Fasten your seat belt and put on your sunglasses, as it is getting more crazy from this point on. Fascinio Violeta, a violet, 2 coats, with random sheer/ bald spots.

Vermelho Surreal, described as a red, turns out to be more of a pinky red than a traditional classic red.

Uau, an orange, 2 coats.

The 5 shades above are categorized as Hologram but this next one, Mirage, a turquoise, is from the Rainbow line. I can't say I see the differences.

I am sad Jade is leaving the nail polish market, judging by the quality of these shades - easy to apply, last reasonably long with a top coat and the holo effect are strong in the sun or with flash (more calm/ subtle in the shade, but that is expected).

If you don't know already, however, Jade's bottles are small (8ml), retail $6.50 each.

It has been a long time that I showed you a NOTD post.

When life gets busy, the hands sure take some serious beating and neglect. I still wear nail polish every but without the proper care I normally have for my nails.

Just to keep the flow going with a Rimmel post yesterday, I thought I would show you a nail polish from the brand. This is Rimmel Diamond Dust, from the Glitter - High coverage line, graciously given to me by a blogger friend, thanks to her recent trip to the UK.

Looks like this shade is from the Precious Stones collection, first released in 2012 in the UK. I can't recall if Canada ever got it on our shelves.

I had some doubt on the "high coverage" claim so I did one coat of OPI Give Me Space as base on the index and ring fingers, on its own on the pinky, and experimented with Diamond Dust on its own (2 coats) on the middle finger.

Obviously, it does not need any base for opacity, but the base is helpful to change the colour tone of the mani or when it comes time for removal :)

If you have access to this shade, I sure recommend it. The bottle is small (8ml), £3.99.

I took a really long break from buying nail polish (only started again last month with a few holographic bottles), I am still tackling the unworn stash.

2013 was the year of Zoya Pixie Dusts, a true blast from the past :) So far I have shown you a shade from the Spring collection - Nyx and 2 from the Fall collection - Dhara and Chita.

Today is one from the Summer collection that year - Stevie. Now if you know me, I do like purples but the dark, vampy type more than this innocent-looking violet/ lilac colour. However, the sparkles and textures naturally drew me in fast.

This is 2 coats, complete opacity. I have not come across a Pixie Dust that I don't love, and Stevie is not an exception.

I do feel more girly wearing it, which is normally not what I look for in a nail polish. But it is just nail polish, similar to the "It's just makeup, it will wash off" mentality, so I am ok with it.

How has April been treating you? We got late snowfall for the first half of the month and it only starts getting warmer as we speak. May will be a very busy month at SB HQ, we'll see if I can keep up with the 5 posts a week standard :)

We cannot deny the fact that OPI Hello Kitty collection is very cute :) I appreciate the special details on the cap but wish it was printed on instead of being a plastic sleeve.

Start with this beautiful blue cream called My Pal Joey, one coat, definitely great on its own. Adding a layer of Charmmy & Sugar, a pink and gold glitter (various sizes), bring the mani to the duochrome territory. It is a lot more beautiful in person.

2 more colours that we don't normally expect in a Hello Kitty collection - Never Have Too Mani Friends!, an opaque black cream, and Let's Be Friends, a cotton candy pink cream. A perfect black and (almost) white pair!

On to the obvious colour options for the famous cat :) Spoken from the Heart is a coral pink and 5 Apple Tall, a bright apple red cream, is just a tad more red. Pick your poison.

Super Cute in Pink is a blue toned pink which I can see myself wearing (I am not a fan of pinks, as you know). Starry-eyed for Dear Daniel is in similar tone, just a lot more glittery:)

Then these pinks are very Hello Kitty-y for the girly girls - Look at my Bow!, a darker pink cream and Small + Cute = ♥, a very pale pink.

To wrap up the collection, here is My Twin Mimmy, a sunny yellow cream, opaque in 2 coats and not streaky. Kitty White is a pearly white with micro shimmers, slightly sheer so I recommend to layer it up, but not on top of a different colour though (see my pinky).

Other than the overwhelming amount of pinks, I enjoy this collection quite a bit.

Second half of OPI Starlight collection today, starting with Cosmo With a Twist. Described as a dark purple with purple and blue micro shimmers with subtle duochrome effect, it looks dark navy most of the time (because of the strong blue shimmers) except around the edges of the nails.

I topped it up with Infrared-y to Glow, similar odd shapes Two Wrongs Don't Make a Meteorite from the first batch (linked above) has but in gold and rose colours.

A deliciously dark pairing with Guys & Galaxies, an almost-jelly dark maroon red and I'm in The Moon for Love, a shimmery plum.

Some "sister" pairings next. There happened to be quite a few similar colour tones in silver and almost black in the collection, with different finishes.  

No More Mr. Night Sky is a dark shimmery grey with silver flecks that only become "vocal" at removal. They go everywhere from my cuticles up and require an extra cotton pad to clean up.

Super Star Status made my head spin the first time I applied it, as it turned out to be a silver textured glitter on a grey tinted base.

I totally did not expect to see a texture in the mix of this collection, but it is the holiday after all, anything goes. It sure glows in the bottle but there was no indication of the texture on the packaging.

Center of The You-niverse is obviously a lot darker, with a shimmery and almost jelly finish.  

Is This Star Taken? has short holographic bar glitters in the mix, but are quite hidden once applied because of their size and of the opaque silver base.

The holographic effect is only visible under strong lighting and at certain angle, which is a shame. Maybe the brand should just make the whole base holographic, for my benefit :) Bar glitters are not very favourable with nail bloggers anyway.

Another surprise, shown here on my index and ring fingers, Ce-less-tial Is More is also a textured shade, slightly less gritty than Super Star Status and with a pink base instead of grey.

Comet Closer is a shimmery leaning metallic silver, slightly more matte than others. The base is the same as that of Is This Star Taken? above, just without the holo bar glitters.

And saving the best one for last. This is Give Me Space, a deep navy blue with very scattered holo flecks. Don't think I need to say more :)

Over all, it is a fun holiday collection. I do wish the brand branched out a little more and added more festive colours instead of too many silvers.

OPI's holiday collection called Starlight during vacation, so these NOTDs are a bit late. It is a big and diverse collection with different colour tones and finishes, so I'll break it down in a few posts.

I like the first pairing more than I thought. On the left is Press * for Silver, a rosy silver (more modern and on trend than a pure silver), slightly metallic. Then I added Two Wrongs Don't Make a Meteorite in the pic on the right.

The glitters are in random odd shapes and different sizes of rose colours, plus dark grey diamond shapes. Not for everyone, but I like it for now :)

If you are more traditional, go with I Drive a Supernova, a one coater silver foil, shown on my index and ring fingers. On the exact same tone is By The Light of The Moon on the middle and pinky fingers, but with a bumpy finish because of those silver glitter pieces that can't peak through the base.

The experiment with the finish of By The Light of The Moon obviously did not turn out well, plus the base is not as opaque, so I recommend I Drive a Supernova if you want a silver.

Then, a trio of reds. Love Is In My Cards, on the index  finger, is a basic blue based red, Ro-man-ce On The Moon, on the middle finger, a shimmery red (the only shade among these 3 that took 2 coats), and Let Your Love Shine, on the other 2 fingers, a glittery dark red that seems to glow from within.

They are all great, don't get me wrong, but when put together, Let Your Love Shine steals the show for sure. It is dark but still very festive, and wears well. Enough said.

The finish of these shades has been interesting so far, I am excited to try the rest of the collection. Stay tuned for more NOTDs.

Remember the beautiful and holographic Different Dimension Cruella I blogged about last month? I was lucky to find more than a few gems in that surprised grab bag, and today is the second shade from that bunch.

This is Karma, one of the blogger collaboration shades in 2015 between Picture Polish (correct spelling piCture pOlish) and Sveta Sanders, a famous Russian nail instagramer, with inspiration of the contemplation of the night sky.

Described as a dark eggplant jelly with scattered holo flecks, Karma dries pretty smooth on the nails. First coat is a little patchy, 2 coats even things out and darken the base.

You know I love dark colours like this, adding some holo effect and it is a winner in my book. I find the formula a little thick but a few drops of polish thinner would take care of that.

I haven't bought new nail polish for a while but love the idea that brands enable nail bloggers/ instagramers to have their dream shade made and get their names out there (fits the slogan on the bottle "What you can imagine, you can create").

Hope your first week after the holiday is going well. I'm back to work next week, ready to cry now! :)

It took me a while to go back to the Kiko Cupcake nail lacquer bunch after wearing Wisteria in September. I got carried away with holiday nail polish this time of year.

Today's spotlight is 656 Pistachio. Again, only the number is printed on the bottle, and I had to refer to their website for the name, which I find inconvenient.

If you don't remember the Cupcake line, it includes polishes with multi-colour grains and matte Sand/ Sugar finish.

The "grains" sure illustrate the name accordingly, and I love their colour combinations, which work well with the pale yellow base. Quite different and lovely.

Similar to Wisteria, Pistachio also takes one coat with light touchup on random bald spots (my application, not the nail polish's fault).

And the wear time is similar too, over 2 days which is good on me.

Good size bottle (0.37oz/ 11ml), reg. $4.90, on sale for $1.90 each on Kiko US website.

A super quick post today, as I am still recovering from jetlag.

Following the master post of Yves Rocher holiday nail polish is Pearly Midnight Blue. It is deep with beautiful shimmers that brighten up the base when the light hits. And this shade of blue works great on my skin tone. One coat to full opacity.

The accent nail is with the Silver Glitter top coat, also only one coat on top of Pearly Midnight Blue. I love that the glitters are dense and I don't have to layer them to get the full effect. If you only get one thing from the holiday nail polish collection, pick the glitter top coats.

The bottles, again, are 0.16 oz/ 5ml, $3.50 each.