Layering Nail Art / Swatch

Nail Art / Tutorial

   Here is a very quick and easy manicure!  Last spring pond manicures exploded onto the scene, no doubt thanks to the prevalence of jelly polishes and the fact that nail art creators everywhere were loving the effects those sheer washes of color can give.  A true pond manicure involves a dotting tool and a bit of skill as you create small white designs (usually flowers, hearts, dots, etc) between layers of juicy transparent polish.  I set out to create something even easier!

   September.  Month of Multichrome Madness.  And Also a Baby!

   Of course you know that on the 15th my daughter Freya was born, so here's a quick rundown of the other little pretties I picked up this month...

   I couldn't resist preordering the new I Love Nail Polish brand multichromes.  (Website here.)  Left to right they are Cygnus Loop, My Little Glacier, Birefringence, and Mutagen.  These look pretty awesome, can't wait to try them myself.  =)

   I did a bit of blog sale shopping for the L'oréal jelly polishes Bananarama Love, Creme de Mint, and Bubble Trouble.  I also snagged the discontinued glitters Ozotic 528 and 530.  These five bottles all came from Jacki at Adventures in Acetone.

   Then I placed a very exciting Digital Nails (on Etsy!) order.  I bought Convergent, along with the Starship trio!  Serenity, Galactica, and Leviathan.  Sadly these multichrome glitters are suffering the same end as their Ozotic cousins above... once they're gone, they're gone.

   So, definitely on a bit of a multichrome kick.  But that's okay, the grey days of fall are a perfect time for appreciating these color-shifting gems.  Of course, I probably won't be paying too much attention to my nails until my little girl can go more than 3 hours without eating.  ;P

Swatch & Review

   Good day, princesses!  I have another Laquerlicous creation to share with you today.  Behold the glossy, glittery beauty that is Sapphire Glaze!

   I love this polish!  It's so gorgeous!  In the shop it carries this description: "This polish is in a deep blue base with blue, teal and magenta micro glitter."  That is very accurate.  You can tell there is more than one shade of blue glitter, and the magenta glitters give it a little something special.  The deep blue base often makes the magenta glitter look like a deep purple on the nail, which is awesome in my opinion!

   Looking at the polish in the bottle I thought "well, it's a dark jelly, but I wouldn't be surprised if it took 3 coats by itself".  Not so!  It covers very well and I had no issues with visible nail line or bald spots on my nail.  Despite being packed with glitter the glitter is very easy to work with and spreads evenly.  It does have some texture by itself but it smoothed right out with topcoat, which added to the shiny jewel effect.

   This polish is perfect for princesses who love royal blues and/or having their tips sparkle like gems!  You can find Sapphire Glaze (and a range of other jewel-themed "glaze" polishes) at the Laquerlicious shop.  My thanks to Michelle for sending me this polish to share with everyone on my blog!

Swatch & Review

   I have several polishes to share today, princesses!  Prepare your eyes for a feast of sparkly goodness!  If you were a fan of the jelly-with-holographic-microshards beauties Aurora, Blaze and Storm that Zoya released you will like these, too!  I couldn't resist trying these new L.A. Girl polishes, and seeing how they compare...

From left to right: L.A Girl 3D Silver, Teal Dimension, Brilliant Blue, Sparkle Ruby, and Dazzling Pink

   The 3D Effect collection has 3 more polishes that I did not pick up: Electric Coral (I'm not really a coral-wearing girl), Purple Effect (looks like an exact dupe of Zoya Aurora, which I already own), and Black Illusion (a dupe for Zoya Storm, again I already own that polish).  All of them include the same silver holographic microshard glitter in a jelly base, except for 3D Silver, which is a clear-based glitter.  On to the swatches!

Top to bottom: Teal Dimension, Brilliant Blue, Sparkle Ruby, Dazzling Pink

Teal Dimension 

   I used 2 coats, no topcoat.  This is a true, deep teal color.  It reminds me of jewels and peacock feathers!  The jelly coverage is fantastic while still being sheer enough to show off a lot of holographic sparkle.  Very beautiful and a great color for heading into fall and winter.

Brilliant Blue 

   I used 2 coats, no topcoat.  Deep sapphire blue.  It brings to mind the night sky or ocean depths.  Not normally a color I would grab but the finish and look of this is irresistible!  It should be perfect as a base for nail art or sponged into a galaxy manicure.  I think the darker jelly base gives an illusion of less or smaller pinpricks glitters.

Sparkle Ruby 

   I used 2 coats, no topcoat.  Deep burgundy-red.  I absolutely love this color and was really surprised not to find any swatches of it while picking colors to buy from this collection!  The darker base makes it look less glitter-packed, but it sparkles beautifully.  And yes, Sparkle Ruby seems to be an exact dupe for Zoya Blaze!

Dazzling Pink 

   I used 2 coats, no topcoat.  Fun, flamingo-ish, warm toned pink.  This color was the most sheer and could probably use 3 coats.  It really shows the glitter!  I was on the fence about ordering this color because I'm picky about pinks, and sadly I don't think this one is the right shade for me.

L.A. Girl 3D Silver, 2 coats alone and 1 coat over black

3D Silver 

  Again, no topcoat used.  If you love the glitter but don't like any of the colors in this collection, this would be the polish to get.  It isn't going to have quite the same depth as the jelly-based colors, but it layers over any color to create an effect that looks the same from arm's-length away.  This is definitely a topper, I imagine it would take 5 coats to try to get the glitter opaque by itself.

   I'm going to talk about formula now because these all had the same formula!  In most reviews I found the swatcher said the polishes were thick, but that was not the case for me.  They aren't thin and runny, but they are very easy to use.  I didn't have any issues with pooling, dragging, or glitter being uneven.  Also, they dried fast.  I didn't use topcoat because they dried to a perfectly smooth, glassy finish all on their own.  Durability was good; I only had minor tip wear after a full workday.  Removal was a breeze, as well.  In my opinion these are all real winners.

   As for the glitter particles themselves, they are fantastic.  The fact that they are tiny irregular shapes makes the polishes interesting and unique.  The rainbow sparkle is hard to capture in photographs, so please believe me when I say it is there!  And in some lighting these polishes give a very faint linear holographic effect.  Otherwise I would classify these as scattered holo nail polishes.

   While this collection may not be L.A. Girl's most original batch of creations, it worth noticing.  If you were left wanting more by Zoya's holographic jellies last year, take a look at these.  (Don't bother buying repeats of the identical colors, though.)  If you like delicate sparkly toppers, pick up 3D Silver.  If you like solid-performing polishes that can be found for $5 a bottle or less, definitely hunt these down!  Here is the official webpage for this 8-polish collection.  I hope you found my swatches helpful.  =)

Swatch & Review

   This mini might be my favorite of the three I was sent for swatching.  It's hard to say - I'm bad at choosing favorites.  But there is something special about this polish from the All Things Diva Laquerlicious collection.

   First off, it doesn't really make me think of diamonds.  Oh, it certainly brings to mind jewels with it's gorgeous sparkle, and I know that diamonds come in more than clear, but I mostly think of tasty jam when looking at this!  Perhaps jam with crushed up gemstones in it, yes.  But that really isn't important.  What is important is that it is pretty!

   I used 3 coats of Diamond Diva by itself for this swatch.  It was wearable at 2 but the jelly base had a couple sheer spots, so the look of 3 was better.  You could definitely layer this glitter polish over a similar berry-hued shade for opacity, but the depth of three coats on it's own is fantastic.  Diamond Diva wants to dry to a satiny matte finish, I added 2 coats of topcoat to give it a glassy finish that really brought the sparkles out.

   The color of this polish can look a bit different depending on lighting, but it is always a rich, cool-toned color.  I'd describe it as magenta/fuchsia jelly with a bit of shimmer and a lot of microglitter.  The glitters are in shades of pink, purple, and blue, as well as a bit of iridescent glitter that shines orange.  It has a whole rainbow of jewel tones going on!

   Diamond Diva has the same slightly stronger-than-usual smell that Divine Doll has, and I'd say that application is the same, as well.  It does best when you work with it quickly but gently, and give it a few minutes before doing another coat.  By itself it has a slightly lumpy texture from the glitter, but it smooths right out with topcoat.  I love it!  What do you think?

 

   As always thanks for stopping by and having a look!  =)

Laquerlicious Links:

Swatch & Review / NotD

   Here is a quick swatch post of my nails from this weekend.  I did them in our hotel room so I didn't have my usual lighting setup.  Not the best photos but this was a really simple combo, so I'm letting them pass.  I used 2 coats of My Pointe Exactly from the OPI NYC Ballet collection, which is a sheer grey jelly.  My nails were more grey-toned than they appear here.  Then I used 2 coats of I♥NP Silver Spoons, and I used one more coat of My Pointe Exactly on my ring finger to create a jelly sandwich.  These nails were subtle but very shiny!

   My Pointe Exactly is a very good neutral jelly that I am so glad to have finally found in stock on Drugstore.com.  Glad I picked it up because it will definitely see more use in both French manicures and layering for "jelly sandwiches".  Coverage is quite good.  Also, I think I have finally made peace with OPI's wide brushes; we didn't get along before this.  The above photo shows my results without any clean-up!

   Silver Spoons is unique among silver glitter topcoats thanks to those awesome little silver shards!  They aren't gigantic, lay flat and don't create texture on the nail.  (If I could find a topper of just these well-behaved silver shreds I'd be quite pleased!)  The silver microshimmer also has a wonderful sparkle that I love.  I was surprised at needing two coats for good coverage, however.  Sadly this polish is discontinued and gone forever... sorry!

   I wish I could have better captured the sparkle and shine of these nails - you'll just have to imagine it!  The look reminds me of Cinderella for some reason...  What do you think?

NotD / Swatch & Review

   Oops, this manicure almost got away from me!  These were my nails on January 1st, two weeks later I finally realized that I forgot to post about it!  I ordered 5 of the Jelly Syrup colors by Nfu-Oh, and figured that since I have 5 fingers on each hand I could use them all together.  And because they are jelly polishes I should do use them for jelly sandwiches!  The awesome black & white glitter Social Suicide from Different Dimension was my choice.

   As seen above:  The Nfu-Oh colors I used are #05: yellow; #10: true pastel pink; #13: lavender; #15: robin's egg blue; and #17: pastel green.  These are on the bright and vibrant side of pastels, but they are still pastels to me.  It was very hard to narrow it down to just these five colors to start with, but I know I'll use them a lot.

   I started my manicure with two coats of each color.  As you can see they are sheer, shiny, and squishy-looking.  The first coat tended to be a little patchy but the second coat leveled it out well.  I was careful with my brushstrokes to get a good spread of polish on each nail.  I was really impressed with the yellow, I didn't expect it to be so bright and it was more opaque than the purple.  After admiring how pretty these jellies are by themselves I put one coat of Social Suicide on each nail and covered it with the jelly color again.

   I loved this look so much!  It seemed like my nails were tiny pastel dinosaur eggs, hehe.  I used one coat of my Poshe topcoat to seal everything in and they dried to a super-shiny smooth finish.  Three coats of these polishes made for good opacity, though they were still sheer at the tips.  You could use a creme-glitter-jelly combo if you have a creme that would match one of these jellies.

   My pink thumbs were my favorite nails of all, if only because I think pink, black and white is an awesome combination!  I would wear a complete manicure of any of these colors, but especially this pink!  I was also very happy with the wear I got out of this manicure.  It stayed very shiny and it didn't get any chips.  I have always been impressed with my Nfu-Oh polishes and these followed that trend.

   I'd definitely recommend these polishes if you like the jelly look and what you can do with them.  If pastels aren't your thing there are a bunch of other colors in this line, too!  I buy my Nfu-Oh polishes from FabulouStreet.com - the customer service is great!  Social Suicide is available in the Different Dimension etsy shop!  Let me know if you have any of these polishes and what you think of them.  =)

Swatch / NotD

   The polish I'm showing off today was actually a bonus included with a giveaway prize (way back when) from Shally at The Polished Pixie, so thank-you again to her for picking something that I love so much!  This color is called Galaxy and is from the Petites Color Fever line.

   It might not be what jumps to mind when you then of space, on the nail it does have a sort of galactic quality to it.  The deep red jelly has a slight brownish tint to it, and is filled with light pink microglitter.    It was very easy to work with and fully opaque at 2 coats.  Removal was easy and it didn't leave any stains!  I'd recommend this polish if you like dark colors and subtle sparkle.

   Galaxy was pretty enough on it's own but even better when I added a few nail art stickers.  The effect was very striking and I'm super pleased with the way it turned out.  The two stickers I placed side-by-side created an interesting central accent.  Best of all it was super quick and easy-peasy!



   I used to think that nail art stickers were a kiddy thing to work with, but not anymore!  My hands were feeling pretty regal and fancy in this so-cheap-it's-nearly-free manicure!  =)

Swatch & Review

   L.A. Colors recently added new glitters and cremes to their Color Craze line.  I picked up six of the new glitters, and these are the three I've tried so far.  I've been really happy with them because they are exciting nail polishes at a very low price!  From left to right below they are Candy Sprinkles, Flurry, and Broken Hearted.

Candy Sprinkles


   This polish may look familiar, as it is very dupe-y for Deborah Lippman Candy Shop.  It isn't the first look alike, with Claire's releasing their own Candy Shop polish.  I passed on that one because of the warm-toned pink base.  It is worth noting that Candy Sprinkles looks paler and cooler in the bottle than it is when dry, but I found the color to be wearable.  I don't own the original Candy Shop so I can't make a comparison here, but Internet findings show that DL's blend has a jelly pink base and more concentrated glitter, more of the larger glitters, and additional orange glitter.

   So how do I feel about this rendition?  The creme base is opaque at two coats, and the mix of glitter is very good.  Larger hexes in silver, magenta, green and yellow.  Small pieces of silver, blue and green.  Red glitters are tiniest of all.  Personally I really like it.  They put a lot of blue in, which sets off the pink nicely, and having the smallest glitter in only red makes it stand out.  It's not perfectly balanced but also not an overloaded, muddled mess.  Two coats were smoothed out with regular top coat and wore well.  Removal was surprisingly easy.  And when you can buy it for $1-$2 per bottle, it's not hard for me to choose Candy Sprinkles over either version of Candy Shop.

Flurry

   This is the manicure I'm wearing right now!  My base colors were China Glaze Smoke and Ashes, and Zoya Yummy, which was the closest blue I had to Flurry's bottle color.  I love this polish more than I expected to!  Flurry is packed with both iridescent micro glitter and small hexes.  My pictures can't fully capture all the color shift going on here.  Over black the glitters flash emerald green, lime green, yellow and orange.  Sometimes even teal blue.  Over blue I see aqua green, purple, yellow and faint orange.  My husband said they looked "like space" with all the colors, and I have to agree!

  I used one coat on my index and pinky fingers, two on my middle and ring fingers.  I like it both ways.  The polish has a thick-but-smooth formula that is very easy to apply.  It dries nicely and is completely smooth with top coat.  I think the blue jelly base should be sheer enough to layer over a variety of polishes.  Maybe not the most unique polish but I'd definitely recommend it!

Broken Hearted

   I wore this polish two ways, so you're getting double pictures of everything!  My right hand had a gradient of Essie Licorice over China Glaze Wicked Style, which is the bottle color of Broken Hearted's jelly base.  My camera was having trouble capturing the vibrant pinkness!  I used one coat of Broken Hearted.

   After using Broken Hearted and seeing how vibrant the base was I decided to do my left hand differently.  I used two coats of Broken Hearted both alone and over my black accent nails.  While it does add a nice bit of pinkness I wasn't too fond of the visible nail line, so I freehanded my tips with Wicked Style.


   One coat or two, look at those colors!  This blend of glitters is awesome.  I can't think of any other polishes that mix iridescent shredded bits with small and tiny hexes.  The shreds shine orange to yellow.  The hexes flash an entire rainbow, showing mainly blues and greens.  It is like crushed candy on your nails.  =)


  Application was easy, with a few glitter shreds needing to be poked down into submission.  Top coat smoothed everything out nicely.  I didn't have to fish the glitter out at all, in fact I often was wiping excess back into the bottle!  I'd say black is definitely the base color of choice for this pretty polish, but it can make an interesting French manicure, as well.  (I will note that I had some patchy pink staining on my right hand; the fault of Wicked Style.  My left hand is fine.)  I doubt I'll ever use more than two coats, because I wouldn't want the distinct colors and glitters to get lost.


   I'm very happy with these three polishes, they are definitely keepers!  L.A. Colors 2012 Color Craze polishes are sold in 13ml bottles that you might be able to find in your local dollar store!  Have you spotted these yet?  Which manicure is your favorite?