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

Posts tagged ‘creme’

China Glaze At Vase Value and comparison

I really love China Glaze At Vase Value. Four thin coats (plus topcoat) to even out the streaks is what’s shown here, which sounds like a lot, but it dries extremely fast. You can easily go digging through your purse five minutes later and not smudge the polish at all. These photos are all with flash since they were taken at night. 

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Since At Vase Value makes me think of another favourite bright pastel turquoise of mine, Color Club Blue-Ming, I did a little comparison. Blue-Ming is on the left (index nail) three coats plus topcoat, At Vase Value on the other three nails. As you can see, Blue-Ming is a little darker and greener. I love them both!

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Two Grasshoppers and some stamping

I have a very spring-appropriate mani to show you today πŸ™‚

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Grasshoppa’ by Eat Sleep Polish, the main polish in this mani, is unfortunately no longer available. It’s a great mint green with various shapes and sizes of pink and off-white matte glitters, lots of gold fleck shimmer, and the creme base also has holo although it’s hard to tell in most lighting what with everything that’s going on in this awesome polish! But the holo was quite apparent when I was riding the elevator at work, gotta love elevator LED lighting! πŸ˜‰

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I used two coats of Grasshoppa’ plus top coat.

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On my ring finger and thumb I used the second grasshopper polish, BB Couture Grasshopper.

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It’s a lighter more celery/yellow-toned green with some fine iridescent gold-green glitter in it.

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The BB Couture polish was kind of streaky and needed four coats plus top coat for complete coverage and evenness, but dry time was pretty good. I love this combo!

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I decided to add some stamping to the accent nails. I wanted to coordinate with the larger pink hex glitter in Grasshoppa’ so I used Pink Tourmaline by Lacquer Lust to stamp with. It stamped quite well using my Messy Mansion rectangular stamper.

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The design is from Bundle Monster plate BM-04. I stamped it once on each ring finger and twice on the thumbs, once on each side in opposite directions.

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I love this mani so much! πŸ˜€

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Kunimitsu Nail Potions Classic Tabby layered over Milani Teddy-Bare

March Fo(u)rth and conquer! Today I’ve got another cat-themed Kunimitsu polish to show you – Classic Tabby!

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This is two coats of Classic Tabby, a clear-based glitter topper, over Milani Teddy-Bare. The cat stamp on my thumb is from plate HB49 and is done with Kleancolor Black.

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I used three coats of Teddy-Bare as the base, as I found the polish to be a bit thin and runny. Here it is on its own before the topper, but note that the first two photos are the most colour accurate – it’s definitely a taupe brown, not a chocolate brown as it appears in the rest of the photos. Sorry about that, the rest of them were taken in late-afternoon sunlight whereas the two above were taken the following day around midday.

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Kunimitsu Classic Tabby contains various sizes of metallic brown, metallic burgundy, and matte black hex glitter, as well as tiny matte black bars (“hairy” glitter, very appropriate for the cat theme haha).

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I didn’t have any trouble with placing the glitter, it spread quite nicely, even the tiny bars which I was worried might all line up in the same direction, but that didn’t seem to be the case!

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Now, he isn’t technically a “classic” tabby (just stripes instead of swirls/”bull’s eye” pattern, so he’s a “mackerel tabby”), but this polish and layering combo makes me think of my handsome Wilbur:

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❀

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We do have a true classic tabby in our clowder also – beautiful Seymour is a classic tabby but with white as well:

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Look at his adorable toe pads! ❀

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China Glaze Spring in My Step and Valentine’s Day Stamping

Happy Valentine’s Day! This mani started out with a polish I like a lot, Spring in My Step from China Glaze.

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Four coats plus top coat. The four coats are needed, but the formula is thin so it doesn’t seem too thick on the nail, and it dries super quickly. Like, quick enough that this polish and the others I have from this collection (last spring’s City Flourish) are among those I would choose when rushing to cover up naked nails before leaving for work in the morning! I know a lot of people hated the formula of the pastels in that collection, but I loved it!

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I then added some stamping using Bundle Monster plates BM-H16 and BM-H17. I received both of these plates as gifts from the people at Nail Polish Canada, H16 last year and H17 this year. I think they send them out to regular customers or something. Thanks NPC! πŸ™‚

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The polishes I used for stamping were Kleancolor Iridescent Fuchsia (which is a ridiculous name as it’s not in any way iridescent, it’s a straight creme polish!) and Red Alert. Someday I hope I’ll get the hang of stamping so that the whole images will transfer without gaps and smudges πŸ˜‰

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I coloured in a few of the stamps using OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston, a coral pink jelly polish.

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Here’s a close up of the thumb stamp, since it didn’t show up very well in the other photos.

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And here’s the right hand – here, I coloured in some of the stamps using OPI Houston We Have a Purple, another jelly from the Texas collection.

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Disclosure: the stamping plates used in this manicure were provided free of charge by Nail Polish Canada.

Essence Gorgeous Bling Bling and Grey-t To Be Here

Essence Gorgeous Bling Bling, two coats. Burnt orange-brown creme with gold flakes. Back when my nails were long…

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Grey-t To Be Here, three coats. Light grey creme with pink shimmer flecks.

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A few odds and ends

I have a few random phone pics of relatively-recent manis to share today!

Quo by Orly Infinity and Beyond (same as Orly Milky Way), layered over Cosmetic Arts Sky High (which I think is the same as Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau). Accent nail is just the Cosmetic Arts by itself.

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Kleancolor Concrete, a one-coater, with Kleancolor Yogurt Raisins on the accent nail.

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Maya Cosmetics Big Chief, two coats. The glitter was a little sparse but other than that it had a great formula.

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And finally, Misa High Brow, a gorgeous vampy purple shimmer with a satin-matte finish. On my rarely-seen right hand:
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On my usual hand, with topcoat:
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Maya Cosmetics Turbo Classy

This lovely beige/taupe/nude polish is Turbo Classy by Maya Cosmetics! It’s a creme base with plenty of subtle shimmer in it. I used two coats plus top coat here; the formula was smooth and easy to apply.

Under halogen light:
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Overcast natural light:
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With flash:
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And again with halogen light:
Maya Cosmetics Turbo Classy

Zoya Zuza, Wednesday, and comparisons

I should have posted this ages ago, but then I lost the photos of the nail wheel comparisons… or maybe I forgot to take the photos, I don’t know! So I took new ones recently, but they aren’t exactly colour-accurate… Ah well, I’m posting them anyway! πŸ˜€

Zoya Zuza

Here is Zoya Zuza, a beautiful shimmery turquoise. Two coats, and the formula was a little thick, according to my notes. I love Zuza.

Zoya Zuza

Zoya Wednesday

Zoya Wednesday, a slightly dusty turquoise/minty/tiffany blue creme. Two coats, three on my ridgey ring finger. The formula on this one was a little thin.

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And here are the comparisons! The photos are not colour accurate; they photographed a bit too green and dark, which you can see by comparing Wednesday (3:00 position on the left wheel) to the swatch photos above. So keeping that in mind, the pic can give an idea of how similar they are to other polishes in the same colour family. Zuza is directly next to Wednesday on the other wheel, at the 9:00 position on that wheel. Should have numbered the polishes on the wheels, sorry about that…

(Not colour accurate, leans slightly too green.) Left wheel, clockwise from 3:00 position: Zoya Wednesday, Color Club New Bohemian, Orly Gumdrop, Nubar Mod Agua, Cult Nails Manipulative, Kleancolor Pastel Teal, Soulstice Kona, Sephora by OPI Natural Environ-mint, NYX Girls Pistachio, Essence You Belong To Me, China Glaze Aquadelic, Color Club Blue-Ming, NYX Salon Formula Surf, Barry M Mint Green, Orly Ancient Jade, Fingerpaints Choco Mint, NCLA Santa Monica Shore Thing, Fingerpaints Tiffany Impostor. Right wheel, clockwise from 9:00: Zoya Zuza, Nicole by OPI Diva Into the Pool, Manglaze ILF, Milani Golden Sea, LA Girl Delirious, China Glaze Custom Kicks, Kleancolor Teal Envy, Kleancolor Mystic Grass, Sparitual Rhythm of Life, Butter London Thames, Gosh Ocean, LA Girl Obsess, Kleancolor Teal Marble, Kleancolor Metallic Aqua, Fingerpaints Winter Sky, NYX Juliette, LA Girl Chromium Green, Kleancolor Metallic Jungle.

(Not colour accurate, leans slightly too green.) Left wheel, clockwise from 3:00 position: Zoya Wednesday, Color Club New Bohemian, Orly Gumdrop, Nubar Mod Agua, Cult Nails Manipulative, Kleancolor Pastel Teal, Soulstice Kona, Sephora by OPI Natural Environ-mint, NYX Girls Pistachio, Essence You Belong To Me, China Glaze Aquadelic, Color Club Blue-Ming, NYX Salon Formula Surf, Barry M Mint Green, Orly Ancient Jade, Fingerpaints Choco Mint, NCLA Santa Monica Shore Thing, Fingerpaints Tiffany Impostor.
Right wheel, clockwise from 9:00: Zoya Zuza, Nicole by OPI Diva Into the Pool, Manglaze ILF, Milani Golden Sea, LA Girl Delirious, China Glaze Custom Kicks, Kleancolor Teal Envy, Kleancolor Mystic Grass, Sparitual Rhythm of Life, Butter London Thames, Gosh Ocean, LA Girl Obsess, Kleancolor Teal Marble, Kleancolor Metallic Aqua, Fingerpaints Winter Sky, NYX Juliette, LA Girl Chromium Green, Kleancolor Metallic Jungle.

NCLA Poolside Party, All Eyes On Me

Today I have one of my favourite creme polishes to show you, NCLA Poolside Party, All Eyes On Me. One reason I love this so much is the uniqueness of the almost-neon pastel peach shade. I previously showed it in a swatch wheel comparison here.

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This is one of those colours that is really difficult to photograph accurately! The first two photos are with flash, and the last two are under Ott lite, and give a pretty good indication of the colour in different lighting, I think.

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I used three coats of Poolside Party, plus top coat. The formula is admittedly difficult to work with; it’s got the streakiness typical of pastels. But so worth it!

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I would highly recommend this for anyone who likes peach and/or neon-pastel shades!

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Authority Cosmetics Swatches and Review

Today I have four polishes to show you from the relatively-new brand of vegan polishes, Authority Cosmetics. Two cremes, a slight duochrome shimmer, and a glitter topper – let’s get started with the swatches, shall we? πŸ˜€

Authority Cosmetics Disco

This great lime green creme is Disco. I used two coats.

Authority Cosmetics Disco

The formula was thick and pigmented and went on without streaks; I was really impressed!

Authority Cosmetics Disco

The glitter topper, I Heart You, has a clear pink base and is filled with small iridescent glitter and pink and red heart-shaped glitter. I applied one thick coat over Disco and wasn’t sure if it would work out with the green and pink layered, but it turned into a really great olive green shade! I think it actually ended up being my favourite combo with I Heart You! A couple of swirls of the brush generally brought out 1-3 hearts from the bottle without trouble, and there was a little placement of hearts involved to get them distributed evenly on the nail.

Authority Cosmetics Disco and I Heart You

The second shade, Paradise, is a medium bright blue creme, also thick and pigmented like Disco. In fact, this swatch shows just one thick coat.

Authority Cosmetics Paradise

I probably should have done two thinner coats instead of one thick, since I ended up getting a few tiny bubbles as it dried, but I wanted to see if it covered in a single layer.

Authority Cosmetics Paradise

The sun had gone away so this next pic is under the Ott lite:

Authority Cosmetics Paradise

Here is one coat of I Heart You over Paradise, turning it a dusty periwinkle. Sorry for the little bald spots in the glitter; I didn’t notice until I took the photos!

Authority Cosmetics Paradise with I Heart You

Authority Cosmetics Paradise with I Heart You

Last but certainly not least, the duochrome, Emerald Sky. This is a shimmery green-teal-blue subtle duochrome in a smoky, slightly blue-purple base! (These first photos in natural light are a little too blue, and the later ones under Ott and halogen light are more colour accurate.)

Authority Cosmetics Emerald Sky

The base is sheer to let the shimmer show through, and the formula is thinner than the other polishes. It builds to a nice glowy colour in just two coats though, which is what is shown here.

Authority Cosmetics Emerald Sky

Authority Cosmetics Emerald Sky

Under Ott Lite:

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With flash:

Authority Cosmetics Emerald Sky

Here it is again under Ott lite, with a layer of I Heart You on the ring finger:

Authority Cosmetics Emerald Sky with I Heart You

I also did a comparison with one coat over black versus two coats alone (bottom to top in the photos).

Authority Cosmetics Emerald Sky alone and over black

Applying over black makes the look more opaque and dark, but doesn’t really change much about the colour shift. At an extreme angle, you can see the shimmer shifts more to blue.

Authority Cosmetics Emerald Sky alone and over black

This last photo is under halogen light.

Authority Cosmetics Emerald Sky alone and over black

Authority Cosmetics is available on their website here. They have just 10 colours so far, but if they’re all like the ones I’ve reviewed here, the quality is great! I have to say I am impressed with these! πŸ™‚

Disclosure: The polishes in this post were provided for review. Opinions expressed are my own honest opinions.