W7 & In Vogue Suede Nail Art

There's a good reason why I don't do freehand nail art very often, it always ends up looking a bit rubbish.  This attempt is no different.

 

Some People are excellent when left to their own devices with a dotting tool, I am not.

 

 

To create this look I painted my nails with Aqua Suede and then taped off half the nail on an angle, then I applied In Vogue Emerald Dust over the top to create the two tone look.

 

 

Next up I dotted Pink and Purple Suede over the join to add a dotty effect.  Finally I added a top coat to take away the suede effect and make the surface a little bit smoother.

 

 

Overall not too bad an effort but my dotting skills are still put to shame by the rest of the blogging world.  One of the many reasons I stamp instead of freehand 95% of the time.

 

W7 Mauve Suede (with Top Coat)

Once you apply a top coat to the Suede polishes they lose their suede effect, however they do become glittery and shimmery and rather lovely.  Unlike my nails (excuse the peely tips and dry cuticles, I think a serious rescue mission needs to be mounted)

These pictures are two coats of Mauve Suede with a top coat over them.

The polish lasts much better with a top coat and isn't so prone to chipping, it also becomes a rather gorgeous sparkly Cadbury purple shade.

Kiko Sugar Mat - 639 - Golden Mandarin

This is the first polish I have tried from my most recent delivery from Spain; 639 Golden Mandarin.  It was the first of the new Sugar Mat collection that I saw swatched online and I knew I had to have a bottle for myself.

 

 

Golden Mandarin is an orange-y peach shade with bright yellow gold glitter scattered through it, and of course it has the rough sandy textured finish that all the Sugar Mat polishes have.

 

I really like the colour but what surprises me more is how much I love the textured finish, normally I love my nails to be as super smooth and glossy as possible but I actually really enjoyed having them this more matte rough finish.

 

The polish applied beautifully, these pictures are 3 coats but 2 would be more than adequate, and it lasted really well too, I never tend to get as long out of matte finish polishes but the Sugar Mat lasted really well, it was still going strong when I took it off after 3 full days.  It also dried super fast when applying which was nice.

 

The shimmer / glitter through this polish makes it a little more unique than all the other suede / textured / matte polishes which are out at the moment.  I can't wait to try out the other shade I chose from this collection.

Let Me See Your Peacock.

That's what this manicure reminds me of; a Peacock, or some sort of exotic bird. 

 

 

Two coats of W7 Aqua Suede and an accent nail of In Vogue Feather Effect in Show me the Money.

 

 

I applied top coat over all the nails which means the suede effect is no longer suede, now it's a shiny, foily finish instead, which I really quite like.

W7 Suede Effects - Pink, Mauve & Aqua Suede

Today I am testing out the remainder of the W7 polishes I bought recently, you can see all of them here, I've previously posted about Night Suede and how I wasn't very impressed with the way the polish wore, although I did love the colour and application.

Today I have on the Pink, Mauve and Aqua Suedes.  This time I made sure I wrapped the tips of each nail to try and stop the horrible tip wear which I got with Night Suede.

 

Again, I love the colours and the application.  The polish goes on so smoothly, is totally opaque in one coat (although I did two) and dries super fast.  Each colour has a vivid base shade shot through with tiny silvery particles which make it seem both matte and yet shimmery at the same time, they give an almost foil effect to the colours.

 

Unfortunately these three are just as bad for tip wear and chipping as Night Suede is, even after wrapping my tips wear started to show fairly quickly.

 

Although this time I did manage to get pictures before it happened, sadly by the end of the working day typing had taken it's toll and there was obvious tip wear, along with a few chips.

 

I will definitely wear these polishes again because I love the colours but wrapping the tips and remembering that they will only last for a day is essential, the wear time on these is frankly RUBBISH which is such a shame as the formula and colours are great.

 

Hopefully they will all stamp nicely and I can use them for that, I'm also going to try them with a top coat and see what they look like un-mattified.

 

Have you tried any of these polishes?  How do you find the wear time?

W7 Suede Effects - Night Suede

This is the first polish I've worn from the W7 Suede collection, you can see all the ones I purchased here, my first impressions were good.  The polish applies beautifully, it's really smooth and easy to put on, is almost opaque in one coat and seems like it will stamp nicely too, another bonus is that it dries super fast too.

 

 

Night suede is a black matte effect polish shot through with silvery gold shimmer (depending on what light you are in) and it does look nice on the nail, unfortunately not for long though.  The tip wear on this polish is terrible.

 

I applied it in the evening and it looked like this:

 

By the time I got up in the morning, before even doing anything, there was already a fair amount of tip wear which just got worse as the day went on.  It's also prone to chipping, particularly at the edges of my nails.

 

I really like the colour of the polish and how it applies but the wear time is terrible.  It's definitely tip wear rather than shrinkage as I didn't apply a topcoat to my nails (doing that would have changed the suede effect).  I am hoping that if I make a special effort to wrap my tips next time I use one of these polishes the tip wear won't be quite so bad.

 

On the plus side, since it applies so nicely and dries very fast it's not a huge issue that it only lasts a day, it's easy enough to change it the next night.  I'm curious as to whether all the suede effect polishes that are out at the moment are the same so if you've tried other brands then please let me know how you find them!

W7 Suede Effects

When I saw these beauties on Claire's blog, nuthin but a nail thing, I knew I had to have them.  I decided to check out my trusty supplier of W7, Nail Polish Direct, and sure enough they had the polishes for just £1.95 each!

 

There are 6 colours in the collection; pink, mauve, aqua, night, silver and golden.  I decided to be good and just order 4, here they are:

 

 

I am now lamenting the fact I didn't order golden as well.

 

As you can see from the little swatches below the polish has a sort of shimmer effect to it although they dry matte on the nail, which is what gives them the suede effect.

 

 

I can't wait to try these out.  The formula seems pretty thick so they might even stamp which would be an added extra.  Check back soon for swatches!