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

Posts tagged ‘glass-fleck’

Soulstice Kiev, Hana, and Berlin

Today I have three more swatches to show you in my project to photograph all my Soulstice Spa polishes.

Soulstice Kiev

Kiev is a burgundy jelly polish with a hint of a brown tone.

Soulstice Kiev

This is three coats, since I found I got a little bit of cuticle drag at two coats (maybe I just didn’t wait long enough between coats).

Soulstice Kiev

In low light it can look quite dark:

Soulstice Kiev

Then I added one generous coat of Hana overtop of Kiev.

Soulstice Hana over Soulstice Kiev

Hana is a very sheer iridescent flake polish, so I didn’t bother swatching it on its own.

soulstice_kiev_hana2

The tiny flakes reflect all sorts of colours; here over Kiev the overall effect is a mainly blueish shimmer.

Soulstice Hana over Soulstice Kiev

Soulstice Hana over Soulstice Kiev

Next I have Berlin, a very dark vampy purple that has a semi-jelly formula. It’s dark enough that it often looks almost black.

Soulstice Berlin

The formula was very similar to that of Kiev.

Soulstice Berlin

I’m actually not sure whether this swatch was two or three coats; apparently I forgot to write it down.

Soulstice Berlin

Lastly, here is a comparison between Berlin, Kleancolor Black (one coat), and Kiev to show the relative depth of the colours.

Soulstice Berlin, Kleancolor Black, Soulstice Kiev

Soulstice Berlin, Kleancolor Black, Soulstice Kiev

OPI Goldeneye and Comparison

Happy solstice! πŸ˜€ I thought I would post a sunny colour to celebrate.

OPI Goldeneye

This is OPI Goldeneye, which I used in a couple of previous nail art manicures. I love gold polishes and this one is a great one, full of irregular foily flecks.

OPI Goldeneye

The swatch shows three coats; the polish is sheer but has a good formula.

OPI Goldeneye

I did a comparison of Goldeneye to a few other yellow gold polishes. First, here’s a bottle comparison of Goldeneye to Orly Glitz & Glamour. Goldeneye has more of an orange/copper tone to it than Glitz & Glamour.

OPI Goldeneye and Orly Glitz & Glamour

Top to bottom: OPI Goldeneye (3 coats), Orly Glitz & Glamour (2 coats), Sparitual Solstice (2 coats), Wet n Wild The Gold and The Beautiful (3 coats).

OPI Goldeneye, Orly Glitz & Glamour, Sparitual Solstice, Wet n Wild The Gold and the Beautiful

OPI Goldeneye, Orly Glitz & Glamour, Sparitual Solstice, Wet n Wild The Gold and the Beautiful

Glitz & Glamour and Solstice are yellower than Goldeneye and are dupes to one another; I’d guess they’re probably the exact same polish in fact, since Orly and Sparitual are made by the same company.

OPI Goldeneye, Orly Glitz & Glamour, Sparitual Solstice, Wet n Wild The Gold and the Beautiful

The Wet n Wild polish is the sheerest of these shades. Instead of a foil it’s more like sparse glass flecks. At three coats here, it’s still quite sheer. I like to use this one in frankens when I want to add some gold flecks!

OPI Goldeneye, Orly Glitz & Glamour, Sparitual Solstice, Wet n Wild The Gold and the Beautiful

Zoya Rory, Kimber, and Comparisons

Today I have another one of my straggling summer Zoya posts – the two pink foily polishes from the Surf collection! (Look at how long my nails were – I really liked this length/shape! ;))

Zoya Rory

First is Rory, an awesome cool-toned, lilac-leaning bubblegum pink foil polish! Quite unique, I love it! This was two coats. The formula was a little thick but easy to apply.

Zoya Rory

And next, Kimber, a darker red-toned warm fuchsia pink with golden shimmer.

Zoya Kimber

I’d say that Kimber’s finish is somewhere between foil and glass-fleck, definitely not a true foil like Rory.

Zoya Kimber

This is also two coats of Kimber, whose formula was similar to Rory’s, although slightly thinner. Neither had any issues with application.

Zoya Kimber

And now, some nail wheel comparisons of any and all polishes I had that were remotely similar! The first photo is indoors near my Ott light, the second in direct sun; neither is that great lighting-wise but I hope each can make up for the other’s deficiencies in showing the colours! Kimber and Rory are directly across from one another at the point where the two wheels are closest to each other.

Left wheel, clockwise: Soulstice Kauai, Milani Photo Flash, Milani In a Flash, Kleancolor Metallic Pink, Manglaze Lesbihonest, Milani Golden Girl, Milani Gold Digger, Milani Pink Out Loud, Zoya Kimber, China Glaze Strawberry Fields, Essence Glamorous Life, China Glaze Endurance, Zoya Starla, LA Colors Coral Reef.

Left wheel, clockwise: Soulstice Kauai, Milani Photo Flash, Milani In a Flash, Kleancolor Metallic Pink, Manglaze Lesbihonest, Milani Golden Girl, Milani Gold Digger, Milani Pink Out Loud, Zoya Kimber, China Glaze Strawberry Fields, Essence Glamorous Life, China Glaze Endurance, Zoya Starla, LA Colors Coral Reef.
Right wheel, counterclockwise from top: LA Girl Rockstar Scandal, China Glaze No Way JosΓ©, Orly Rose Radiance, LA Girl Pink Steel, Zoya Rory, Pop Beauty Ruby Metal, Orly Preamp, LA Girl Color Addict Euphoria, Milani Gold Violetta.

As you can see, Rory is unique even among the other pink foils I have, and Kimber is fairly similar to China Glaze Strawberry Fields. Strawberry Fields is a bit lighter and less red though, and its shimmer is less dense.

Left wheel, clockwise: Soulstice Kauai, Milani Photo Flash, Milani In a Flash, Kleancolor Metallic Pink, Manglaze Lesbihonest, Milani Golden Girl, Milani Gold Digger, Milani Pink Out Loud, Zoya Kimber, China Glaze Strawberry Fields, Essence Glamorous Life, China Glaze Endurance, Zoya Starla, LA Colors Coral Reef.

Left wheel, clockwise: Soulstice Kauai, Milani Photo Flash, Milani In a Flash, Kleancolor Metallic Pink, Manglaze Lesbihonest, Milani Golden Girl, Milani Gold Digger, Milani Pink Out Loud, Zoya Kimber, China Glaze Strawberry Fields, Essence Glamorous Life, China Glaze Endurance, Zoya Starla, LA Colors Coral Reef.
Right wheel, counterclockwise from top: LA Girl Rockstar Scandal, China Glaze No Way JosΓ©, Orly Rose Radiance, LA Girl Pink Steel, Zoya Rory, Pop Beauty Ruby Metal, Orly Preamp, LA Girl Color Addict Euphoria, Milani Gold Violetta.

Picture Polish Voodoo and Comparison

Picture Polish Voodoo is a gorgeous deep plum/burgundy base with golden glass fleck shimmer, giving an overall brownish-burgundy look.

Picture Polish Voodoo

The burgundy base is a little sheer, so that the golden glass flecks shining through it often appear like red sparkles. As you can see in the bottle in the following shot, they’re definitely gold though!

Picture Polish Voodoo

The formula was a little thick but not difficult to work with. These photos show two thick coats of the polish.

Picture Polish Voodoo

I love it!

Picture Polish Voodoo

I did a comparison of Voodoo to China Glaze Midtown Magic, which I previously reviewed here. From top to bottom, the photo shows Midtown Magic, Voodoo, Midtown Magic.

China Glaze Midtown Magic and Picture Polish Voodoo

The main difference is that Midtown Magic is darker, more blackened. The shimmer also has more red in Voodoo, due to it shining through its base. My favourite of the two is Voodoo since it’s not as blackened!

Nicole by OPI If the Blue Fits

This glowy blue is one of the fall 2012 “Target exclusive” Nicole by OPI polishes that I bought from a blogsale.

Nicole by OPI If the Blue Fits

It’s a medium-deep blue with sparkly blue-purple-pink duochrome glass flecks that my photos don’t quite do justice to (but as always you can click on the photos to get a larger version).

Nicole by OPI If the Blue Fits

The formula is a little sheer but I imagine that’s what helps the duochrome flecks show up. I used three coats although two thick coats might be enough.

Nicole by OPI If the Blue Fits

In terms of application the formula was great, no issues.

Nicole by OPI If the Blue Fits

This is a really nice blue, and I love the finish!

Nicole by OPI If the Blue Fits

This last photo is an indoor shot with indirect light from my Ott Lite.

Nicole by OPI If the Blue Fits

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! πŸ˜€

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. πŸ˜€

Nicole by OPI Just Busta Mauve

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??).

Zoya Myrta and Comparisons

Zoya Myrta is from their summer 2012 collection, Surf. I’m slowly but surely trying to do large nail wheel comparison posts for all of the Beach and Surf polishes. I like to see where shades fit into the colour spectrum of similar shades, and hopefully you do too, dear readers. πŸ™‚

Zoya Myrta

Myrta is an orange-red coral shade, with a finish somewhere between foil and glass fleck. This is two coats of Myrta, with two coats of Cult Nails Get it On base coat underneath as I’d heard this polish stains. The two coats of base coat did prevent staining, but did cause a bit of bubbling; not sure if I didn’t wait long enough between coats, or if Zoya just doesn’t play nicely with Cult Nails base coat…

Zoya Myrta

Bright, shimmery, pretty!

Zoya Myrta

Here are my nail wheel comparisons with Myrta! I used pretty much any polish in remotely the same colour family here, so the wheel is full! I realized afterward that I probably should have numbered or somehow indicated the start position on the wheel, but hopefully it’s not difficult to find Myrta as it’s pretty much at the top in both photos (more specifically, it’s the one right above the letter ‘L’ in the word ‘WHEEL’ that is on the centre of the wheel) and right next to it is the matte Manglaze polish (I applied topcoat to only half of this matte shade’s swatch). As usual, each swatch shows a progression of one, two and three coats of the given polish.

Like last time, I have to apologize again for the lack of appropriate lighting to properly and accurately show the nail wheel comparisons. Again, I did one photo in the sun and one under the Ott Lite. I’m waiting on a soft lightbox that I ordered, so hopefully soon I’ll be able to take better photos of these types of comparisons. Sun photo:

Zoya Myrta comparison

Clockwise from top: Zoya Myrta, Manglaze Butt Taco (matte, left side of swatch with topcoat), Color Club Feel the Beat, LA Colors Fiery Orange, Nubar Arencia, Milani Metal Gear, Orly Flicker, LA Girl Copper Alloy, No Miss Tamarack Tangerine, Soulstice Rio, LA Colors Coral Reef, Milani Glitzy Jam, Milani Just Peachy, Milani Melt With U, LA Colors Aztec Orange, Orly Emberstone, Milani Orange Burst, Milani Flashlight.

Ott Lite photo:

Zoya Myrta comparison

Clockwise from top: Zoya Myrta, Manglaze Butt Taco (matte, left side of swatch with topcoat), Color Club Feel the Beat, LA Colors Fiery Orange, Nubar Arencia, Milani Metal Gear, Orly Flicker, LA Girl Copper Alloy, No Miss Tamarack Tangerine, Soulstice Rio, LA Colors Coral Reef, Milani Glitzy Jam, Milani Just Peachy, Milani Melt With U, LA Colors Aztec Orange, Orly Emberstone, Milani Orange Burst, Milani Flashlight.

In terms of similarity, I’d say that Myrta is closest to LA Colors Aztec Orange (4th shade to the left of Myrta), although Aztec Orange has a sheerer base and more sparse shimmery flecks. As you can see, some of the shades on the wheel are dupes or near-dupes to one another, notably Milani Orange Burst and Flashlight, and the trio of LA Colors Fiery Orange, Nubar Arencia, and Milani Metal Gear.