Essie Mint Candy Apple

When I first saw swatches of this polish many, many years ago, I fell in love and I mean
L O V E! But sadly, Essie wasn't available in my little country yet, so I couldn't get my hands on it. But I kept pining after it and when I discoverd a little thing called internet shopping, I jumped for joy! Finally, this beauty was going to be mine!

Imagine my horror when I discovered I absolutely hated it on me. I didn't just dislike it a little, no, I absolutely H A T E D it. I almost cried...

So in my helmer it went, or more acurately, the box I was using at the time as my stash was considerably smaller than now, only to be taken out to admire in the bottle or take part in nail art.

For some reason, I felt the need to try it again last week and I couldn't believe my eyes, I actually liked it! I was planning to just swatch it, take a picture and take it off again, but I liked it so much, I ended up doing a full manicure!

Essie Mint Candy Apple is a mint cream. It's part of their core collection and should be widely available.

The formula is not the best, it's a little patchy and streaky and you need 3 coats to get it opaque. If you're really carefull when applying this polish, you might get away with just 2, but I just don't have the patience for it, so 3 it is. It does dry fast and shiny, so 3 coats isn't the biggest deal.

Just look at that color, isn't it pretty? Why did I hate this so much on me? I went from liking it to really liking it to loving it, to L O V I N G it.

Since I ordered this online, this is the salon version, with the narrower brush. I happen to like this brush a lot better than the wide drugstore version that's being sold over here.

What do you think? Is it just me and do you still think this doesn't match my skintone or do you like it too?

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China Glaze Can I get an untz untz

I love a nice neon polish and I love a good glitter, so when I saw China Glaze was releasing 3 neon glitter toppers in their Electric Nights collection, I knew I had to have them all!

China Glaze Can I get an untz untz is a mix of neon green, blue and purple small hex glitter in a clear base. These are iridescent glitter, so they show up best when layered over a light base. I layered it over white, to show off all the pretty colors.

The formula is ok, it's a little base heavy, but I didn't have any problems getting the glitter out because they're all fairly small. I did need to do a little bit of dabbing to get the glitter exactly where I wanted it, but not a lot. My swatches are just 1 coat over white.

Isn't that pretty? I absolutely love it! I prefer it over white, but I have worn this over China Glaze Treble Maker and I do love that too, but you do loose a bit of the glitter with a darker base.

I got this polish at Hypnotic Polish, but since this is part of the newest China Glaze collection, you can get it pretty much everywhere that sells China Glaze.

Do you like neon glitter or do you prefer a regular neon polish?

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piCture pOlish Fool's Gold

If you've been reading my little blog for a while, you probably know that I'm a huge fan of Picture Polishes. I just love their formula, even though I did finally come across the first with a trickier formula recently. In the last few months, I've picked up quite a few of them, so you're going to be seeing a lot of this brand here.

Today I have one of their collaboration shades.

Picture Polish Fool's Gold is a turquoise base with gold micro glitter and shimmer. It was created with Sam from The Nailasaurus, whom I've been following for a while. If you have shorter nails, she's the girls to follow, because hers are just stunning! If you want to read all about how she came up with this polish, click here.

The formula is so nice, it's like applying a smooth cream instead of a glitter. It's one of those polishes that is a little sheer on the first coat, but pretty much opaque on the second. You might need 3 coats if you do really thin coats, but it dries so fast, 3 coats is a breeze.

Turquoise is a tricky color for me to wear, it can wash me out really quickly, so when I first got this polish, I was really scared this wouldn't suit my skintone. But I have to say, I really like it. It's just bright enough for me to pull off.

I always prepare myself for stained nails when I wear turquoise, blue or teal, but I didn't have any issues with this polish. No staining to be seen and that's always a huge plus in my books!

Picture Polish is available on their website and via a lot of international stockists like Harlow&Co, Color4Nails and Pretty Polish. Just check their listing to see which one is easiest for you.

What do you think about Fool's Gold? Do you love it as much as I do?

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A England Princess Sabra

It's been so sunny here the last few days, I almost thought it was Summer already, but unfortunately I just saw the forecast and we're about to get some rain...
But with all that lovely sun, I was in the mood for a nice holo polish.

A England Princess Sabra is an olive golden holo polish. I know that's possibly the worst description of a polish ever, but when you see the swatches, you'll totally understand, trust me!

The formula is really nice, A England is famous for their one coaters, but this isn't quite there. If you do a thick coat, you could get away with just one, but I prefer 2 thin coats. It's really easy to paint and it dries fast and shiny.

This is what you'd call a pretty/ugly color and it's not for everybody. I already know some people who are going to think that this is the ugliest polish ever released by A England, but I think it's stunning! There's just something about the olive golden tint with the subtle holo that suits my skintone really well.

I love this type of holo, even though it's technically a linear holo. It's so subtle, it looks more like a scattered holo and it doesn't take away from the gorgeous color of the polish. This looks every bit as pretty in low lighting as it does in full sun.

Do you like and rock olive polish and what is your favorite A England polish?

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Zoya Savita

I love purple polish and own quite a few of them, but somehow I never seem to be in the mood for purple nails. I always go for the same kind of colors (red, blue, green or something DarknTwisty), but a few months ago I decided to try to step outside my comfort zone more often and wear different colors.

Zoya Savita is one of the first polishes I wanted to wear. It's a stunning deep purple with a pink shimmer. This is part of the Matte Velvelt collection, just like Veruschka that I showed earlier.

I'm so in love with this bottle shot, my cat wanted to play with the bottle while I was taking pictures and her little nose ended up in the shot :)

The formula is very nice, but because it's a matte velvet polish, this dries really fast, so you have to work fast, or you'll end up with a streaky finish. It's opaque in 2 coats, but if you do a thick enough coat, you can definitely get this opaque in just 1.

Even though it's a matte polish, it does have a bit of shine to it and I actually prefer this velvet matte finish to a normal matte finish. When you add a top coat, the pink shimmer is even more noticable on the nail and even though I really love it shiny,  I prefer the matte version. It's just a little more special.

The color just takes my breath away! It's so pretty, I absolutely love it! The pink shimmer gives a lot of depth to it and makes it perfect for every season. I'm so happy Zoya decided to re-release this collection, I'm just hoping they'll re-release the chartreuse one too (Mitzi I think?), but I doubt they wil.

Have you picked up any of the Matte Velvets or do you avoid matte polish?

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China Glaze Treble Maker

I'm back! After a week of not posting and just laying in bed, I have such a gorgeous polish to show you. I was so dissapointed with the China Glaze Road Trip collection, that I didn't have high hopes for the new Electric Nights collection. But when the first swatches and reviews began to pop up, I slowly started to realize I might need to pick up the entire collection!

I didn't end up doing that, but I did pick up 6 of them and today I have the first to show you.

China Glaze Treble Maker ís a bright grass green creme and it's possibly my favorite of the entire Electric Nights collection.

The formula is nice, although a little on the thicker side. It's opaque in 2 -3 coats, depending on how thick you make your coats, dries really fast and super shiny. Mine was extremely difficult to get on my nails, because I got a wonky brush. It's crooked, bends and the bristles are placed on the stem at an angle. Yikes! It took me a few nails to get used to it, but I'm convinced this is just a fluke, as my other brushes are fine.

The color... oh, this color! I'm absolutely in love with it! It's so bright and fun. It reminds me of fresh cut grass and that happens to be one of my favorite things in Spring, I'm almost dissapointed it doesn't smell like grass.

I can't get enough of it and I've already worn it twice, on it's own and with a glitter topper that I'll be showing later. I loved it both ways and I've gotten a lot of compliments on it.

If you love green polish, this is a definite must have!

Have you picked up any polishes of the Electric Nights collection and, if so, which one is your favorite?

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China Glaze Pop the trunk

I love orange on my nails and one of my favorite polishes of all time is China Glaze Riveting. I've worn that so much, my bottle is almost gone. So when I saw China Glaze included an orange polish in the recently released Road Trip collection, I just had to get it.

China Glaze Pop the trunk is a very red leaning midtoned orange cream. This was marketed as a bright orange, but I just don't agree with that. It is a really nice color though that will suit just about any skintone.

The formula is... well... not my kind of formula. It's not bad, but it is rather thin and it does tend to run down the nail and flood the cuticle. You need to be very careful not to overload the brush when applying, or you'll end up with a mess on your nails.

Besides the very thin, runny formula, this also needs at least 3 coats to be fully opaque and it doesn't dry as fast as other polishes. It is a nice and shiny polish, but I'd suggest adding a fast drying topcoat anyway, to help with the drying time.

I do really love this color, It's the perfect midtoned orange. Not too bright, not too muted and it will look good on just about everybody, but it's just not so unique that I want to put up with the formula.

If you like a thin formula, this is the polish for you, but if not, I'd skip this one.

Did you pick up any polishes from the Road Trip collection?

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Girly Bits Glow Worm

It's supposed to be Spring, but when I look out my window, all I see is grey and rain pouring down...
I'm so over this bad weather and I'm just craving sunshine. If I can't have it outside, I'm just going to have to paint it on my nails.

Girly Bits Glow Worm is a bright, in your face lime green jelly base with a glass fleck shimmer. It was released as part of the 2012 Slapdash collection and has since sadly been discontinued.

The formula is really nice, it's easy to paint and dries really fast, The only problem I have with it, is that it's really sheer because of the jelly base. You can get this opaque on its own, but you'll need about 4 - 5 coats to not see your nail line. I've used 3 generous coats in these pictures and you can still make out my nail line. I don't mind that too much, but if you want a fully opaque look, I'd suggest layering 1 - 2 coats over a white base.

This was on my wishlisht for quite some time, but I never picked it up. That is untill I heard it was going to be discontinued. I checked online to see if it was still available and it was already sold out on all the sites, except for 1 (I don't remember which though...), but they only had 1 bottle left. It was in my cart and paid for so fast, a friend I was chatting to that really wanted it too missed out on it.

But seriously, can you blame me? It's such a fun color, just try not to feel happy when you look at it, go on, I dare ya! It's just not possible.

Girly Bits is available on their website or you can get them at Llarowe or Harlow&Co.

Are you brave enough to rock a bold in your face color like this or do you go for more muted colors?

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piCture pOlish Lollipop

Sometimes a blogpost writes itself, but today's post...  not so much.
I struggled a little to get the wording for this post right, but the biggest struggle was to get this polish on my nails in such a way, that it did justice to the absolutely stunning polish I saw in the bottle. This wasn't a polish that I just slapped on or a blogpost that I wrote in 2 minutes, this has taken a bit more effort on my part to get it right.

Picture Polish Lollipop is the polish that gave me such a hard time. Yup, a Picture Polish that I struggled with, it's a first for me. Lollipop is a gorgeous deep purple jelly base, filled with different sizes and shades of purple glitter.

When I first saw this polish, I was over the moon with it. It's such a gorgeous deep color and it has glitter in it! The reason that I struggled with it, is that the jelly base is quite sheer and I just couldn't get it opaque and looking deep enough on my nails, while still being easy to paint.

I tried 2 thicker coats, but ended up with a gloopy mess, I tried 3 thin coats, but I found I just didn't want to deal with the thicker formula and run away glitters. I felt so dissapointed and I almost gave up, but I've seen so many people rave about this polish and it looks so good in swatches, I wanted it to work for me too!

So for my third attempt I tried layering it over a single (not even opaque in the slightest) coat of OPI Do you have this color in Stock-holm? and low and behold, it worked, no, it looked stunning!

I only needed 1 coat but I did 2, just to see if it would deepen the color. It didn't, but it did add extra glitter. I absolutely love how this looks, finally I understand what people rave about and this is now a favorite instead of a dissapointment.

This polish was created in collaboration with Nail Polish Canada, a Canadian polish retailer that (unfortunately) doesn't ship internationally. But if you live in Canada, this is a great site for you!

This polish was intended as a more textured polish, so if you want a smooth finish, you do need to add a good topcoat. I suspect that's also the reason for the much thicker than all my other Picture Polishes formula.

What do you think about Lollipop?

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OPI Crown me already!

If you would've told me I'd be showing you today's polish as a polish I really love about a year ago, I wouldn't have believed you. Not only because it's such a hard to find polish, but because I used to hate silver on my nails. I really didn't like any of the metallic colors, but somehow I've been loving gold and silver lately. I still don't like the (often streaky and brushstroky) metallic foil polishes, but as a color in general... LOVE!

OPI  Crown me already was first released in the Miss Universe 2011 collection and as it's an older polish, you might have a hard time getting your hands on it. This particular polish was on my wishlist for quite some time, before I suddenly stumbled across it while browsing Color 4 Nails.

Crown me already is a stunning silver micro glitter and small silver hex glitter in a clear base. It's so dense though, you can get it opaque all on its own in about 2 coats. It's such a breeze to paint, I didn't have any issues with the glitter what so ever. It dried really fast and shiny, but I do recommend a nice topcoat to smooth it out and prolong your mani.

Funny how your tastes change, because this is fast becoming one of my favorite OPI polishes. It's such an eyecatcher. You can wear this as an overal mani or as an accent nail with just about any polish you want.

The hex glitter makes this a totally unique polish in my collection and I'm so happy I was able to pick it up. You might be able to find this on sites like eBay or Amazon, but I haven't come across one recently. If you do, don't hesitate and just pick it up. You won't be dissapointed!

Do you like a silver mani or do you stay far away?

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Girly Bits Fright Night

Spring is just around the corner and I've been loving light, airy colors, but yesterday I was in the mood for something dark and vampy. I debated if I wanted a black or red nail and decided to go for both.

You know I love my dark colors, but my biggest weakness, besides red polish, is a black jelly base, packed with red glitter. I think I own one from every brand, but I keep buying them. I just can't help myself. Today I have my favorite of all those polishes to show you.

Girly Bits Fright Night is, like I said, a black jelly base, packed with various sizes and shapes of red glitter and teeny tiny red bar glitter. This polish was released as part of the 2012 Halloween collection and has since been retired.

The formula is nice, it's opaque on its own in about 3 coats, but I like it better layered over a black base. The glitter comes out easily and you don't need to manipulate it at all to get it spread evenly on the nail. It dries really fast, but a little on the dull side, so I'd suggest a good layer of top coat to smooth it out and make it shine.

This is just a single coat over one coat of China Glaze Liquid Leather and I love how this looks. You could definitely do more coats if you want more glitter, but I think this is perfection on a nail.

I'm normally not the biggest fan of bar glitter, but these are so tiny I don't mind them. I Actually really like them, they're extra fun!

This is the old Girly Bits bottle and I love the little rhinestone on it. I understand the label had to be updated and even though I like the new bottle, I still prefer the rhinestoned one. Fright Night is no longer available, but there are a lot of other, gorgeous polishes you can try from this brand.

You can pick up your Girly Bits from their website or you can get them at Llarowe or Harlow&Co.

What's your favorite Girly Bits polish?

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OPI Do you have this color in Stock-holm?

When OPI released the Nordic collection, I saw some great colors, but I wasn't too excited. A lot of the colors where not that unique and I already owned a few similar shades, so I decided not to pick up any, but there were 2 polishes in the collection that I just couldn't resist. The first one was Viking in a Vinter Vonderland, I already showed you this gorgeous polish and I have the second one for you today.

OPI Do you have this color in stock-holm? is a very vibrant blue based purple cream. It tends to look a little more blue in pictures than it actually is, but I have to say, I'm pretty happy with the color in my shots.

The formula is really nice, it flows on the nail, doesn't want to pool at my cuticles and it levels out nicely. It's opaque in 2 thin coats, dries fast and super shiny.

I actually ordered this polish twice, because the first time I received this, the bottle had broken in transport en I had purple polish everywhere. It doesn't happen often, but it is a risk your taking when ordering online. Luckily, I ordered from a great store and they gave me a full refund for it, so I could order again.

I love this color so much! It's such a vibrant and happy color, you can't help but stare at it. I was a little afraid this would stain my nails, because it's so highly pigmented, but it didn't at all. If you love purple polish, you need to go out and get this!

What's your favorite polish form the OPI Nordic collection?

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A England Rose Bower

If you've been following my little blog for a while, you probably know I'm not a big fan of holo polishes. I think it's such a shame that all you see is the overpowering holo and the often gorgeous base color is nowhere to be found. Or the polish is gorgeous in the sun, with it's holo in full effect, but really boring and dull in normal lighting.

Well, I think I have to adjust that statement just a little. I really only don't like the strong linear holo polish, but I absolutely love a subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) scattered holo! It gives the polish a nice boost in the sunlight, while still being absolutely gorgeous in low lighting.

A England Rose Bower is just that, a gorgeous deep red polish, packed with a scattering of subtle holo goodness.

The formula is... well...  it's just flippin' fantastic! This is a true one coater, even for me! I tend to do such thin coats, that most polishes that people rave about being a one coater, need 2 on my nails (Sally Hansen Pacific Blue for instance). Not this one, this was opaque in just 1, the second coat that I added (I've never been able to do just 1 coat, no matter how opaque it is. I know, I have issues...) didn't do anything for opacity and it didn't change the color either. It was easy to paint and dried fast and smooth.

Isn't it a pretty red color? This is what it looks like in low lighting, just a gorgeous, vampy red polish. But the real beauty of this polish comes out when the sun hits it. It transforms a relatively simple polish into an absolute stunner!

Just look at that holo sparkle! I can't get enough, it's just so pretty, without taking anything away from the base color. This is my kind of holo!

What's your favorite kind of holo? Do you like your holo's subtle like me, or are you the boom in your face kind of holo lover?

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