Le crazy polish haul !

After three (or more) weeks of procrastination, I finally have time to post the swatches!
Sorry la, people had to cope with new job ma. :B

My indie polish supplier Mei Mei's Signatures had a clearance sale some time back.
A purchase of above $200 entitles you to a 50% discount + 1 surprise bottle - LIKE OMG WHY NOT.

So in the end, $102 got me 14 bottles of polish, which is $7 per bottle?!
FYI usually 1 bottle costs at least $18-$25

Rainbow Honey - Mint Flavor
Turquoise leaning mint with silver shimmer
2 coats for opacity.

Rainbow Honey - Tessie

Periwinkle purple with blue shimmer

2 coats to opacity.

I think I have a million colors like this and I'm still in love with periwinkle.

Rainbow Honey - Tiny Ruby

A slightly pinkish leaning red jelly, packed with holo shimmer and glitter.

The formula was good, so 2 coats to opacity.. though under the strong sun slight VNL could be seen.

See the holo shimmer! This red is slightly truer to color

Rainbow Honey - Hanami

A glitter topper, with white and gold micro glitter, and rose pink microglitter and hexes.

Applied over Pretty & Polished - Pretty 2.0

This was inspired by the Japanese custom of flower viewing during the sakura season. 

I thought RH did this polish very well, as the polish brought out the delicacy of the blossoms.

Powder Perfect - Iteru, The River

Royal blue microglitter holographic bomb!

2 coats to opacity

Another color I'm a sucker for.

Powder Perfect does damnnn awesome microglitters. 

This was so sparkly without any top coat !

Had to use two coats of top coat to smoothen it out.. cause shiny glitters are thirsty.

XOXO Nails - Coffee Date
A glitter topper - nude jelly base with bronze hexes.

I painted 1 coat over Dorian Gray..
One day I'm gonna try make mint choco chip nails. :D

Love, Angeline - Magical Romance 2.0
Soft purple, with silver shimmer.

2 coats to opacity, with slight VNL .
The formula was good, color built up easily and was not very streaky.

Pretty & Polished - Pretty 2.0

Pink tinted nude, with pink shimmer and gold flecks.

3 coats to opacity.
First coat was quite sheer and I honestly got a shock. hahaha.

Formula was good, built up easily despite its initial sheerness.

A england - Dorian Gray
Cool pewter grey
1 coat to opacity.

Smooth formula from A england, as usual.
No worries about streakiness!

A england - Her Rose Adagio
Metallic pink holographic polish
At some angles you can see a rose pink duochrome shift.

1 coat to opacity.
A england - still the best holographics.

Emily de Molly - Dead and Dreaming
Dark plum-red holographic polish.
The color and name made me think of dead wilting roses. :D

2 coats to opacity.

Delush Polish - Swans upon a time
White creme base with pink shimmer.

2 coats to opacity.. which is a headache.
The formula was quite thick, and it applied streaky.
A lot of patience is needed to get it smooth.

Jindie Nails - Mango with the Flow

A pastel orange crelly with silver hexes.

Er I'm not sure if I received a faulty bottle or what.. but it was horrible.

Polish was gloopy and there was too much glitter with each coat, no matter how much I tried to wipe it off.

Maybe I need to thin it more.. like a lot more.

I should like to mention I also ordered Rainbow Honey's Spirit of Wonder,  one of their limited edition Christmas polishes.
It was supposed to be a pure white base, but the bottle I got was yellowish.

I emailed Mei Mei, who kindly offered to give me a swap, but her other stocks were faulty too.
She then offered me a refund - which I declined cause its too much of a hassle, and its not really her fault.
I had emailed Rainbow Honey too, and their response was kind of disappointing.
Their representative informed me that it is a common issue for some of their polishes, especially those over two years.
Eh but most of my other indie polishes dont have the same issue leh.. and it felt as if they were just brushing it off.

But its okay. I'm in the process of frankening the polish to get out the yellow tint.
#sciencestudentFTW

Swatches - Basic colors Part II !

I'm back with Part II !

Seriously considering if I should even start on the glitters, 

because it's damn hard to remove and I'll probably kill my nails.

We'll see.

China Glaze - Electric Beat

2 regular coats. No issues whatsoever!
Dusty blue-leaning periwinkle

China Glaze Bahamian Escape

1 slightly thick coat, due to its consistency.
Azure sky blue

China Glaze - Man Hunt

2 slightly thick coats

Navy blue crelly texture, dries slightly matte.

Essie - Bouncer It's Me
3 thin coats are needed for opacity, jelly polish which dries with a matte finish.
Apply carefully as there it is slightly streaky.

In the bottle its a bright cobalt blue, but you need a white base to get the true color.
Index and middle finger has no white base, Ring and pinky has 1 coat of white.
Index and pinky is the matte finish, Ring and pinky has has top coat.

China Glaze - I Sea the Point
2 regular coats, but you can get away with 1 coat if careful.
A true cobalt blue with slight matte finish

China Glaze - Sunday Funday
2 thin coats. Very watery and tends to flood cuticles, so be careful.

Medium blue.

China Glaze - Creative Fantasy
Issues are similar to Bouncer Its Me.
Neon jelly polishes tend to be like that actually;
they need more love and patience, but I find the bright color worth it.

3 thin coats are needed for opacity, jelly polish which dries with a matte finish.
Apply carefully as there it is slightly streaky.

In the bottle its a bright cobalt blue, but you need a white base to get the true color.
Index and middle finger has 1 coat of white base, Ring and pinky has no base.

Another major issue I had with this polish, was the fact that the color had changed over time.
Not sure if I was unlucky and got a bad batch,
but I had the same issue with another polish from the same collection (Cirque de Soleil).
I've given up on that one (Hanging in the Balance), because the color is not unique.

Look at the difference between the new and the old bottle.

Index and pinky is the correct shade - with / without white base.
Middle and ring is the mutant shade - with / without white base.

China Glaze - Urban Night
2 thin coats.
A deep plum creme, almost black.

Color Club - Disco Dress
2 thin coats, slightly watery.
Neon purple crème, slightly similar to Creative Fantasy.

China Glaze - Skyscraper
3 thin coats, slightly streaky on first coat.
Dark indigo jelly with silver shimmer.

China Glaze - In a Lily Bit
2 thin coats, streaky on first coat but evens out. slightly watery.
Light purple pastel, almost pink.

OPI - Pink Friday

2 regular coats, slightly streaky on first coat only.

Light pink creme.

Here's a comparison shot between Pink Friday (Index and Middle) and In a Lily Bit (Ring and Pinky)
You can see the purple tone for In a Lily Bit from here.

China Glaze - Surreal Appeal
2 regular coats
Coral Pink.

OPI - I Think in Pink
3 coats for visible color.
Forget about reaching full opacity with this jelly shade! VNL will be seen unless you apply a white base
Soft light pink.

OPI - You're Such a Buda-Pest
2 thin coats, slightly streaky on first coat

Purple leaning periwinkle with slight shimmer.

China Glaze - Street Chic
2 thin coats, slightly watery.
A milk chocolate brown.

OPI - My Vampire is Buff
2 thin coats, slightly watery.
A cool-toned nude creme, like panna cotta.

OPI - Nude

3 thin coats for visible color, VNL seen.
2 thick coats for partial opacity, some VNL seen.
A nude jelly.

So yupp, these are some of the basic shades I use for nail art!
I say most cause I realised I forgot about black and white.. HAHAH.

For black, I use Essence Black is back.
Doesn't dry too fast, so it's good for nail art detailing.
That's not a good sign if you want to use it for base though.

Cirque's Black has also had good reviews,
but I haven't had the chance to purchase it yet *waiting for sale :B*

For white, I use a brand which I found in Seoul, Korea.
Its quite opaque on first coat, and not streaky, super rare for a white!
With regards to drying time, its good for both nail art and base.
Makes me want to go back and stock up :xxx

Hope it has been useful !

*All nail polishes purchased by myself*

Review: Essie Bouncer It's Me

I've found the perfect cobalt blue on my nails !

Essie's Bouncer It's Me, from the Neon 2013 collection.

This awesome neon polish is jelly based, so it requires a few coats (and some patience) to apply.

I used a white base to bring out the full neon of the polish :D

My favourite white is China Glaze: White on White. 

This is one coat of BIM on two coats of white.

As expected with jellies, it is slightly streaky, so apply a thin coat first.

Three coat opacity.

I AM IN LOVE. ELECTRIC BLUE BABY!

It really takes a lot of time to apply because of the multiple coats involved, 

but the shade of cobalt blue is so pretty and worth it.

It dries off to a satin matte finish, so top coat should be applied to make it glossy.

On my second application, I tried skipping a second coat of white to cut the time.

It turned out a shade darker, like a bright indigo blue. Sort of similar to China Glaze Manhunt.

One coat white + three coats BIM.

Still neon but really darker.

Next time, I'm not skipping the second coat. :x

April is Autism Awareness month and the nail community celebrated it with #bluenailsforautism

This was my design for the event. 

With the accent nail representing the jigsaw ribbon for autism. (: