Kiko - 442 - Techno Black

Techno Black is another polish from Digital Emotion, Kiko's Christmas Collection for 2013.  This is the polish I had on for New Year.  I was planning on stamping over it but yet again time overtook me and I ended up just leaving it plain.  Thankfully in person it's a lovely blingy holographic glittery shade so it still felt fairly party appropriate.

 

 

It's pretty much impossible to get a photo which shows how sparkly and lovely this polish is so you'll have to trust me that in person it is very glittery and gorgeous.

 

It applies nicely and two coats leave it opaque, I did three as I like to have a really good layered coverage with these sort of glitter polishes as it makes them seem more three dimensional.

 

Kiko - 437 - Intuitive Pink

Intuitive Pink is a polish from the Digital Emotion Collection, Kiko's Christmas Collection for 2013 and for me it is by far the winner from the 6 polishes released, I only have 4 of the 6 but I am willing to bet I couldn't love the two I don't have any more than I love this.

 

 

Intuitive Pink is rammed full of pink and holographic glitter pieces, I used a pale pink base but alone it would easily cover in three coats, maybe two.  It's impossible to capture how super sparkly it is in photos, particularly these photos which I took while feeling very delicate on Boxing Day.

 

This was my Christmas Day manicure, I'm a little late posting it - I know - I was hoping to have something much more festive and fancy but as it was I was so busy on Christmas Eve that I decided just chucking on something quick but sparkly was the way to go.

 

I'm pleased I did because I loved having this polish on, so much so that I have been struggling not to put it back on for the last week, it's so gorgeous and glittery and holographic in person that it's hard to stop looking at it, hopefully next time I wear it I might manage to get a slightly better representation in picture form to show you.  In the meantime if you like it then grab it quick, Digital Emotion is a LE collection so it won't be around forever.

 

Orly - Sunglasses at Night

Having had a search online I can now tell you that Sunglasses at Night is part of the Orly Flash Glam FX Collection, a range of glitters Orly brought out about 18 months ago.  I just found it in TK Maxx (£4.99, bargain!)and thought it was pretty so had to buy in. :)

 

 

These pictures are two coats over a black base.  It's horrible to photograph and the ones I took just don't do it justice, the bottle shot below gives you a better idea of what it looks like, a sheer grey black base jelly packed full of holographic bar glitter.

 

In regular light it isn't amazing but under bright indoor lighting or in sunshine (I'm guessing, we're about 5 months off seeing sunshine in Glasgow at this time of year) it really comes alive and is super sparkly and holographic.

 

It applies nicely, with the usual notes about trying to avoid any of the bar glitter hanging over the edges of your nails as it'll feel rough, and two coats over an opaque base gave a properly sparkly and rather 3D looking effect.

 

Bourjois Holo Glitter

Unfortunately I'm not sure of the name of this polish, I think it must have been discontinued as I can't find it online anywhere.  I know I picked it up for cheap ages ago so it might have been an end of line sale before it was taken off the market.

 

 

These pictures are two coats of the Bourjois glitter polish over Barry M Gelly Hi Shine in Dragon Fruit.  As you can see the glitter is in a very sheer base polish so it needs a little colour under it.

 

It's so hard to take a good photo of, in artificial light the glitter is so holographic and glows and colour shifts beautifully, unfortunately it just doesn't show up in the photographs.



China Glaze Galactic Grey & YCC 114

I decided to do a holographic manicure today with a holographic accent nail.  For the main manicure I used China Glaze Galactic Grey from the Hologlam collection and then I added an accent nail of YCC 114 on my ring finger.

The lovely Claire from Nuthin but a nail thing sent me my YCC polish but you can buy it at Millennium Nails should you wish to.

Look at the holographic glittery goodness!  This polish is so sparkly and holographic and it's packed with glitter.

The downside is that I really struggled to get this polish to dry, I did two coats and then top coat and they were not for drying at all, although the top layer set underneath the polish was still super squidgy and moving about. 

So I added a coat of Seche Vite and sat very still for about half an hour... still squidgy underneath but solid on top now, so I gave up and carried on with my day which could explain why the edges of the glitter accent nail looked a little bashed, or it could be the horrible shrinkage I always get with Seche Vite, who knows, either way it's not exactly perfect.

I love the effect this glitter gives but the drying time was awful, I'd love to use it for a full manicure but I'm not sure I have the patience to wait for it to dry!

Have you used any YCC polishes, how do you find them for drying time?

Color Club Halo Hues 2013 - Beyond

I've wanted a black holo for FOREVER and Beyond is very close to what I have been hunting for, let's get straight to the good stuff, look at it!

There isn't much to be said about this polish except it's beautiful and hard to photograph, the holographic effect is even stronger in person.

All these photos are 2 coats, a top coat and then a third coat of Beyond over the top.

Beyond applied beautifully, it's a smooth easy to use formula and I was surprised at how well it lasted on my nails as some holo finishes can be a bit chippy.

I'm running out of useful things to say but I have so many pictures to post...

Here's the first post I did which mentions Beyond, with links to where you can buy it and the rest of the collection.

Some holographic polishes can look a bit flat and rubbish in low light but Beyond is really pretty even when it isn't showing off it's full holographic potential.

Even in overcast conditions it has a pleasant shimmer to it which makes it a wearable shade even when the full rainbow isn't on show.

Suffice to say I love this polish.



Color Club Halo Hues 2013 - My Picks

I have been lusting after the Color Club Halo Hues for a while now so when I heard that RWBeauty had started stocking them I had to make a sneaky purchase. 

 

 

There are 6 colours in the collection but I was very good and only grabbed two, Beyond, the dark grey / black, and Eternal Beauty, the purple.

 

 

They arrive super fast from RWBeauty and very well packaged.  The polishes are priced at £6.49 each, P&P is an additional £2.95 which isn't too bad considering there are very few places which sell Color Club in the UK reliably.

 

I can't wait to try these out, I have been lusting after a black holo since the days of the original My Private Jet by OPI so I am really hoping this has some serious holo goodness when applied.

 

It looks quite promising from the bottle!  Look out for swatches and full manicures using both colours coming very soon.

 

Have you tried any of the Halo Hues?

China Glaze - When Stars Collide

I have the second of my Hologlam picks for you today (I already showed Strap on your Moonboots previously), When Stars Collide, this one is a gorgeous deep maroon sort of shade.

 

It's not a really in your face, vivid holo effect like the OMG collection but it is super pretty!  These pictures are all 3 coats.

 

 

Under bright indoor lighting you can really see the holographic effect in action.

 

Unfortunately I can't comment on how good it looks under direct sunlight as it's Glasgow, it's February and sunlight is in short supply.

 

 

 In low light it takes on a lovely silvery hint, I assume from all those holographic particles that are crammed in there.

What I really love about this polish is that it's also so pretty when the holographic effect isn't so obvious, it's a lovely warm plum shade which is really given some depth by the holographic particles even when they aren't out in full force.

 

 

When I first put this on I immediately though that my mum would adore it, she's not one for very bold colours but this is such a classic shade that's it's wearable by anyone but it also has a little extra depth and edge added by the gorgeous holographic effect.

China Glaze - Hologlam - Strap on your Moonboots

 

Today I have one of the new China Glaze Hologlam polishes to show you, I mentioned the two I bought previously here, this post features the blue one; Strap on your Moonboots.

 

 

I really like this polish, although it's not a very holographic look like the OMG collection it is pretty and you can definitely see the holographic element of the polish, especially under fluorescent lighting.

 

What I also like is that even in dull natural lighting the polish is a great colour, it's a sort of steely silvery blue, reminiscent of denim.

 

So even when the full holographic goodness isn't showing it's still a really nice colour to wear.

 

In bright light the polish looks like a royal blue holo, very pretty!

 

Due to it being February in Scotland I can't comment on how it looks in direct sunlight, we haven't had direct sunlight up here for about 6 months! ;)  But if the look under artificial lights is anything to go by I think this one might be a winner in the real sunshine!

China Glaze Hologlam Collection Picks

China Glazes OMG Holographic collection are probably some of the best loved polishes in the nail world, unfortunately they seem to have been a one off and later holographic collections for China Glaze have never been quite so spectacular.

 

So, although I didn't have hugely high hopes for the Hologlam Collection the choice of colours meant that I couldn't resist picking up a couple of bottles to try.  I chose When Stars Collide, a deep maroon / burgundy shade and Strap On Your Moonboots a sort of dark royal blue.

 

 

The colours look beautiful in the bottle but not very holographic, even under bright light.

 

I love the colours and since I'm not expecting them to be the amazing in your face holo goodness of the OMG collection I don't think they will be disappointing on the nail, keep your eyes peeled later in the week for manicures done with both new colours.

 

Have you picked up any of the Hologlam collection yet?

Octa-gone Wild!

I decided to break out a holo today and went with the dusky lilac Octa-gone Wild from China Glaze, here it is in natural light, quite plain, not very holo but pretty none the less:

 

And here is with flash, showing a little more of it's holo side:

 

The rest of the pictures show my nails under bright fluorescent lights, as you can see the holo side really shows well in this sort of light, which is just as well because in January in Glasgow there is no direct sunlight to show it off in!

 

This polish is part of the Kaleidoscope collection that China Glaze brought out a few years back, the colours are not quite such in your face holographic as the OMG range but I still really like them.

 

Unfortunately they don't wear brilliantly and you can already see some tip wear in these shots, since they were taken after a day of work there is more tip wear and the odd little chip which is a bit frustrating.  I always end up forgiving holographic polishes for their crappy wear time though because they are so pretty when you wear them. <3 p="p">

Sally Hansen - Gem Crush - Glitz Gal

How excited was I when I found this display in Superdrug recently?!  Sally Hansen polishes in the UK and not only that but the gorgeous Gem Crush Collection.

The one downside?  The price!  £6.99 per bottle!  It really annoys me when I know fine well I could buy it in America for 1/4 of that price!  I was going to be good and not buy anything but I simply couldn't pass up on this little beauty, Glitz Gal (08):

It's a beautiful charcoal grey shade of glitter rammed full of little holographic sequins.  On first look I thought this was a grey based polish but it's actually a clear base with loads and loads of really fine charcoal glitter. It's so pretty under bright lights which is part of the reason I couldn't get out of the very brightly lit Superdrug without it!

 Here are a couple of bottle shots to get you in the mood.

I applied it over a dark grey Kiko base (381) to make sure it was fully opaque:

On the nail it doesn't disappoint, this polish is like a galaxy on your nails, I love it.  Two coats of base and two of Glitz Gal achieved the look below, apologies for the pre clean-up picture but it's the one which really shows off the polish in the most true to life way, as with all holographic glitters it's very hard to capture how lovely it is on camera.

Yet again, I am having cuticle issues so excuse the lack of pinkie in some shots, it's currently rocking a style all of it's own.

Have you tried any of the Gem Crush polishes?  What others would you recommend?