A vegan nail polish blog. A celebration of colour and light, as well as of justice for nonhuman animals.

Archive for October, 2012

China Glaze Cast a Spell and Make a Spectacle

Happy Halloween! These two polishes are from China Glaze’s Halloween collection, Wicked.

China Glaze Cast a Spell

This is Cast a Spell, a blackened green with golden shimmer flecks.

China Glaze Cast a Spell

It has a great formula; shown are two coats that glided on super-smoothly.

China Glaze Cast a Spell

China Glaze Cast a Spell

And this is Make a Spectacle, one generous coat over Cast a Spell. Make a Spectacle has a ton of iridescent hex and small glitter as well as golden glass flecks in a clear base.

China Glaze Make a Spectacle over Cast a Spell

China Glaze Make a Spectacle over Cast a Spell

China Glaze Make a Spectacle over Cast a Spell

And here is Make a Spectacle on its own, 3 coats. Pardon the orangey stained nails underneath!

China Glaze Make a Spectacle

I absolutely love Make a Spectacle; I think I’m going to have to get a back-up bottle, especially considering it’s one of those thick glitter-packed polishes that tends to get used up quickly!

China Glaze Make a Spectacle

China Glaze Make a Spectacle

Hope you’re having a great Halloween! 😀

No Miss Casselberry Cream and comparisons

Today I have a polish from No Miss to show you. No Miss is one of the traditionally vegan brands of nail polish often sold by online vegan stores.

No Miss Casselberry Cream

This is Casselberry Cream, a peachy off-white jelly polish. Shown are four coats of polish over two coats of ridge-filling base coat.

No Miss Casselberry Cream

It applied really nicely, not streaky like a lot of pale sheer polishes are, and it self-levels. The four coats were just to build up the colour so my stained nails didn’t show through (even with the ridge filler, they’re kind of orange these days, too many bright coral polishes!), not because of streaks.

No Miss Casselberry Cream

There is no top coat here; it’s a very glossy polish on its own.

No Miss Casselberry Cream

I was really pleasantly surprised by this polish; it doesn’t look like much in the bottle, yet another pale sheer nude, but I really like its jelly finish and the formula was unexpectedly good for this type of shade!

No Miss Casselberry Cream

I compared Casselberry Cream to some other similar polishes I have: from left to right, No Miss Casselberry Cream, Zoya Lucy, OPI Barre My Soul, and Orly My Beau.

No Miss Casselberry Cream, Zoya Lucy, OPI Barre My Soul, Orly My Beau

Again, I did two coats of ridge filler before applying the polishes, and used four coats of each polish for comparison’s sake.

No Miss Casselberry Cream, Zoya Lucy, OPI Barre My Soul, Orly My Beau

Left to right: No Miss Casselberry Cream, Zoya Lucy, OPI Barre My Soul, Orly My Beau

As you can see, they each have a different off-white tone; Casselberry Cream is more peach, Lucy is white with slight yellow undertones and is also the most sheer of the bunch, Barre My Soul has a pink undertone, and My Beau is the yellowest and the most opaque at four coats. My Beau was also the streakiest of them, and needed the fourth coat to smooth out all the patchiness. I didn’t wait all that long between coats since it was just a comparison, and by the end I had a few bubbles starting to form, mainly but not only in the OPI (but I find bubbles develop more easily on my ridgey ring finger in general, so that’s probably not the OPI’s fault). So, I recommend waiting several minutes between coats, although I suppose that’s pretty much a given when you’re applying four coats of any polish!

No Miss Casselberry Cream, Zoya Lucy, OPI Barre My Soul, Orly My Beau

Left to right: No Miss Casselberry Cream, Zoya Lucy, OPI Barre My Soul, Orly My Beau

And here is Azrael on top of my Helmers! ❤

Picture Polish Demeter and Kryptonite

I have two polishes by Picture Polish to show you today, both with scattered holo particles, both from their recent collaboration collection. All the photos are in direct sunlight.

Picture Polish Demeter

This is Demeter, a dark brown with scattered holo. This shade was a collaboration with Katie who runs Harlow and Co.

Picture Polish Demeter

Shown are two coats of Demeter. It was a little streaky on the first coat, but a second thick-ish coat evened out nicely. These two polishes contain true holographic particles, not glitter, so they’re smooth to the touch.

Picture Polish Demeter

Next is Kryptonite, an emerald green jelly with scattered holo. This one was a collaboration with More Nail Polish blog.

Picture Polish Kryptonite

The formula was really similar to that of Demeter, except that this one is in a translucent jelly base. The photos also show two coats.

Picture Polish Kryptonite

Both of these are great polishes!

Picture Polish Kryptonite

Zoya Kieko with dotted flowers

This is a mani I did last week and liked a lot. The base colour is Zoya Kieko, a red-toned medium purple creme from last year’s Summertime collection. I used two coats of Kieko, which had a very nice formula, no complaints. I used a dotting tool to make the flowers – the centres are Zoya Reagan, and the petals are Zoya Lara, both from the Beach collection, and finished with Poshe top coat.

Zoya Kieko with dots in Reagan and Lara

Zoya Kieko with dots in Reagan and Lara

Zoya Kieko with dots in Reagan and Lara

Zoya Kieko with dots in Reagan and Lara

China Glaze Want my Bawdy

Today I have another of the China Glaze New Bohemian polishes to show you. This is Want My Bawdy – groan-worthy name that looks like something OPI would come up with, but beautiful indigo blue shimmer with slight purple duochrome!

China Glaze Want My Bawdy

The duochrome on this one is very mild; it’s the least duochrome in the collection, but there is a bit of a purple flash at an angle in the right light, as seen in the above photo.

China Glaze Want My Bawdy

The formula was thin and sheer, and I got some bald spots in my application from not waiting long enough between coats (as often happens, I was rushing to get my swatching done before the sunset!). These swatches show three coats of the polish, no top coat.

China Glaze Want My Bawdy

In the next two photos I swatched it over black as I usually do with duochromes (one coat of Want My Bawdy over one coat of Kleancolor Black), but it didn’t really change the look of this one much. It mostly just makes it appear more blackened around the edges. This next photo is with flash (all the others are in sunlight).

China Glaze Want My Bawdy over black, with flash

Despite the very subtle nature of the duochrome in this polish, I’m personally not disappointed with it! It’s a beautiful glowy blue, and that hint of purple flash that comes out occasionally is just an added bonus. 🙂

China Glaze Want My Bawdy over black

Nicole by OPI Just Busta Mauve

Nicole by OPI Just Busta Mauve

This amazing polish is Nicole by OPI Just Busta Mauve, which I haven’t seen for sale here in Canada (it’s supposed to be exclusive to Target stores and we don’t have those yet), but I was able to get with the help of someone having a blogsale! (Thanks again, Amy! :))

Nicole by OPI Just Busta Mauve

Shown are three coats plus a layer of topcoat; the polish is slightly sheer to allow the duochrome iridescent shimmer to show through.

Nicole by OPI Just Busta Mauve

I recommend waiting a minute between coats to avoid any balder spots near the cuticle, but other than that the formula was good!

Nicole by OPI Just Busta Mauve

These photos are in natural light, various degrees of shade/partial sun.

Nicole by OPI Just Busta Mauve

I love the finish on this polish! As you can see, there are a whole lot of colours in the flecked/foily particles: mauve, blue, copper, pink, plum, and a lovely warm golden orange colour shift at an angle. It’s the kind of polish that doesn’t really belong to just one colour family!

Nicole by OPI Just Busta Mauve

There are two other polishes in this release that have a similar finish, and I’ll be posting those at a later date. 😀

Nicole by OPI Just Busta Mauve

Soulstice Prague and Kauai

Two more shades in my project to photograph all my Soulstice polishes! Which is finished by the way, but most of them still need editing and uploading.

Soulstice Prague

This is Prague, a very fall-appropriate dusty brick/burnt orange creme-based shade with mauve undertones and fine silver shimmer that falls somewhere between pearl and frost.

Soulstice Prague

I used two coats here, and the formula was thin but smooth.

Soulstice Prague

I love this colour! Here it is in the shade:

Soulstice Prague

Next is Kauai, a pinkish strawberry shade with silvery microglitter-type shimmer that even looks good at one coat:

Soulstice Kauai - one coat

Here it is at two coats in the following picture, looking like a delicious strawberry!

Soulstice Kauai

The formula on Kauai was a little thicker than Prague’s, and was excellent. I swatched it without basecoat and I’d say this one is a potential stainer, so be sure to use a good basecoat!

Soulstice Kauai

In the shade:

Soulstice Kauai

More Soulstice swatches to come soon!

Gosh Fossil Grey and SpaRitual Conglomerate

Today I have a rock-like mani to show you: Gosh Fossil Grey with an accent nail of Sparitual Conglomerate.

Gosh Fossil Grey and SpaRitual Conglomerate

This is two coats of Fossil Grey, which had a slightly thick but good formula. It’s a warm/yellow leaning grey pearl base with silvery shimmer that gives an almost speckled effect.

Gosh Fossil Grey and SpaRitual Conglomerate

On the ring finger I applied one generous coat of Sparitual Conglomerate, from their recent fall collection, over Fossil Grey. It also had a nice formula, and it wasn’t too difficult to get a good density of the black and white hex glitters on the nail.

Gosh Fossil Grey and SpaRitual Conglomerate

I love Conglomerate; it’s quite unique with its deep charcoal grey base, its dense, fine gold shimmer throughout, and its scattered black and white hexes!

Gosh Fossil Grey and SpaRitual Conglomerate

On its own, Conglomerate is opaque in two coats. Glad I picked this one up, it’s really interesting and the gold shimmer makes it very wearable for me!

Gosh Fossil Grey and SpaRitual Conglomerate

China Glaze Fast Track

China Glaze Fast Track is a taupey-beige nude with heavy golden shimmer flakes. It was released last spring in the Hunger Games collection.

China Glaze Fast Track

Shown are two thick coats. In the sun photos, there’s also a layer of topcoat. As evidenced by the sideways watermark, these pics were also taken using my phone, haha!

China Glaze Fast Track

I found the formula a little thick but didn’t have any problems with application.

China Glaze Fast Track

The sun photos didn’t quite catch all the tiny sparks of different colours, little flashes of orange and green, that are often reflected in the sparkle of this awesome polish!

Here it is in the shade:

China Glaze Fast Track

China Glaze Fast Track

As a bonus here is what I ended up doing to this mani after a couple of days, mainly because I didn’t want to take the time to remove Fast Track first, and then I just kept adding things, haha…

China Glaze Fast Track with

Over Fast Track is a coat of Orly Nite Owl, an opaque taupe with silver shimmer, then two layers of Glitter Gal Buckled Bronze, Nubar Petunia glitter on the tips, and Spoiled by Wet n Wild’s Trust Fund Baby over it all!

China Glaze Fast Track with

Zoya Tracie, Meg and comparisons

Since October is Depression Awareness Month (yup, it’s not just for breast cancer!) and the depression awareness colour is green, I thought a green-heavy first post of the month would be appropriate.

So, I’ve got Zoya Tracie and Meg from the Beach and Surf collection, along with nail wheel comparisons with tons of other green shades!

Zoya Tracie

This is Zoya Tracie, two coats. I love this colour, soft yellow-toned green creme base with subtle pearly silver shimmer.

Zoya Tracie

The formula was a little tricky, thick yet threatening to drip down the brush stem, and I had to take care to let it dry between coats to prevent dragging. Worth it for such a great shade! The photos include base and top coat.

Zoya Tracie

Meg is a medium green foil. I also had a little streaking and dragging with this one, but then I didn’t use a base coat for this swatch so that may have been the reason. This is two coats of Meg.

Zoya Meg

Really nice polish as well, but much less interesting than Tracie to me. Tracie is much more unique.

Zoya Meg

Zoya Meg

And now for the massive comparisons! The first photo shows the nail wheels in direct sunlight, and the second photo shows them under the Ott Lite. Clicking on the photos will bring up a bigger version where it’s easier to see the polishes (but then, the caption isn’t included, so the close-up polishes and their names aren’t visible together; sorry about that). Meg and Tracie are the polishes in the middle that are almost touching, one on each wheel.

Zoya Tracie & Meg green comparison wheels

Left wheel, clockwise from top: Color Club Mol-ten, Color Club Kiss Me Mistletoe, Wet n Wild Jungle Fever, Cosmetic Arts You Sleigh Me, Zoya Meg, Kleancolor Metallic Green, Butter London Dosh, Finger Paints Comet’s Collar, NYX Girls Luscious Green, Zoya Midori, Nicole by OPI Make Mine Lime, Sparitual Greenhouse, Gosh Golden Dragon.
Right wheel, counterclockwise from gap in polishes: NYX (Salon line) Lime, Nicole by OPI My Favourite Gold, OPI Simply Smashing, Kleancolor Jazz Olive, Zoya Tangy, Misa Secrets, OPI Bikini Envy, Zoya Tracie, Milani Original, LA Girl Color Addict Urge, Soulstice Telluride, Misa Fountain of Youth, Milani Key Lime Shine, Nubar Baby Sprout, NYX (Salon line) Pastel Pistachio, Nubar Kiwi.

No exact dupes to these Zoyas, but Wet n Wild Jungle Fever is very close to Meg, and Cosmetic Arts You Sleigh Me (next to Meg) is also pretty similar. The base colour of the NYX Salon polish in Pastel Pistachio is pretty close to Tracie, but the NYX polish is just a plain creme without any shimmer. OPI Bikini Envy is the shimmery polish that I’d say is closest to Tracie, but the OPI is lighter, more sheer, and frostier. Actually, I’m thinking Tracie is pretty similar to what it would look like to mix NYX Pastel Pistachio and OPI Bikini Envy together!

Zoya Tracie & Meg green comparison wheels

Left wheel, clockwise from top: Color Club Mol-ten, Color Club Kiss Me Mistletoe, Wet n Wild Jungle Fever, Cosmetic Arts You Sleigh Me, Zoya Meg, Kleancolor Metallic Green, Butter London Dosh, Finger Paints Comet’s Collar, NYX Girls Luscious Green, Zoya Midori, Nicole by OPI Make Mine Lime, Sparitual Greenhouse, Gosh Golden Dragon.
Right wheel, counterclockwise from gap in polishes: NYX (Salon line) Lime, Nicole by OPI My Favourite Gold, OPI Simply Smashing, Kleancolor Jazz Olive, Zoya Tangy, Misa Secrets, OPI Bikini Envy, Zoya Tracie, Milani Original, LA Girl Color Addict Urge, Soulstice Telluride, Misa Fountain of Youth, Milani Key Lime Shine, Nubar Baby Sprout, NYX (Salon line) Pastel Pistachio, Nubar Kiwi.

A couple pairs of notable near-dupes in here: Color Club Mol-ten and Kiss Me Mistletoe (Mistletoe is scented, though); OPI Simply Smashing and Nicole by OPI My Favourite Gold (which I think is an odd name, my favourite gold is a green??).