MUA Nail Quake Shatter Polish Swatches: Quiver, Shiver, Shockwaves

Shatter polish now comes in colour - and without the exorbitant price tag, or the crap-it's-only-available-in-the-USA headache! Superdrug MUA has now launched six (yes, six!) awesome shades of Nail Quakes, and I'm absolutely shattered (I know, so lame)! The first three, which I showcased yesterday, were great polishes, but the colours were largely already available on the market (black and silver shatter? Been there, done that). So this batch is definitely much more interesting to me - all colours, and not a single boring shade in sight!

The shades here are all cream finish - no foils (like the silver shatter polish) or interesting finishes. But they definitely bring in some colour to your nails - on the cheap, too! These come in Shiver, a peach-coral shade, Shockwaves, a red shade, and Quiver, a cobalt blue. All the names are earthquake theme - I guess that's why they're called Nail Quakes!



L - R: Shiver, Shockwaves, Quiver

I'm sure you don't want me blathering on about how awesome these shades are, so without further ado, here are swatches of the Nail Quakes!

First up we have Shiver. This is a coral-looking peach in the bottle, but on my finger it looks a bit more pinky-peach. It was the hardest of the lot to apply - for some reason it didn't seem to want to cooperate with the polish underneath. Perhaps it was because I was using one of the China Glaze Khromes, which can be tricky to layer with (if you've tried konading on top of them, you'll know what I mean). Still, it went on nice and thin, instead of thick and goopy like most shatter polishes, so I'm not complaining.



Next up, we have Shockwaves, a red. Mmm, red shatter polish. Just imagine the possibilities. Red over black, red over white, red over silver, red over anything! This one was also easy to apply, coming out in thin instead of thick coats, and more fluid than some other brands. Because it tends to apply thin instead of thick, it tends to crack into longer, thinner, pieces, instead of shorter, square-shaped pieces, which I rather like.



Lastly, but definitely not least, we have Quiver, a colbalt blue. This one also applies fluidly and thinly, and thus doesn't look as dark as it appears to be in the bottle. It's actuallyi more of a medium blue on. I really like this one - blue is definitely another colour where the possibilities are endless.



All in all, I can't actually find anything I don't like about the MUA Nail Quakes. They apply well, aren't as prone to being dried up or goopy unlike other (sometimes more expensive) brands, and come in a wide variety of colours to shatter yourself into shatter nirvana! The only downside I can think of is that because these apply in thin coats, rather than thick coats, they aren't as opaque as some other brands, although they are by no means sheer, as the photos attest. If you're looking for cheap and good quality shatter polishes, I definitely recommend the MUA Nail Quakes.

(Product was sent for review. Review is my complete and honest opinion. I am not affiliated with/compensated by the company.)

Wet n' Wild Blue Moon and Nailene Nail Art: Cheap and Awesome

Reading through my older blog entries, I realized I really love to use the term "like stars in a night sky" to describe makeup or nail polish - like you know, when describing a black eyeshadow with silver glitter, or a nail polish that's a blue jelly with glitter...I don't know why, but I guess it's just one of my pet phrases!

So in light of that, don't be surprised if I say this NOTD was inspired by stars in a night sky, LOL! But hey, it's a base of blue shimmer, and some really pretty star nail stickers with small gemstones! The base is Wet n' Wild Blue Moon, while the awesome nail stickers are from Nailene,(which, by the way, have a pretty awesome selection of nail stickers for cheap, and they're readily available at drugstores. I also really like their nail glue, and I use it whenever I have to fix a broken nail.)



Anyway, I had no trouble at all with the Nailene nail stickers. These were easy to remove from the backing, were sturdy enough not to tear when subject to twisting from my tweezers, and stayed on until I removed them. A lot of people have issues with nail stickers, because they are worried that the nail stickers will fall off, but as long as you topcoat over your nail stickers, they'll be A-Okay.

The Wet n' Wild polish, on the other hand, kind of disappointed me. I loved the application, and the colour - oh how I loved the colour! - because it was a kickass deep navy blue with a unique green shimmer. But as is typical for WnWs, the wear really got to me, and it chipped the very next day. I was absolutely heartbroken!

If anyone wants to suggest a dupe of Blue Moon that won't chip as easily, I'm all ears!

(Nailene stickers were provided to me for review. I am not affilated/compensated by the company. This review is my full and honest opinion.)

Eyeko Rain Polish and Saucy Polish NOTD, Swatches and Review!

Eyeko has released two new nail polish colours, Rain Polish for City Nails, and Saucy Polish for Naughty Nails. These are limited edition and come in slim, small bottles, housing 8.5ml of polish. That's a slightly smaller bottle than average, but these bottles still pack a punch in terms of pigment - in fact, both of these can be one coaters if you're careful with how you apply your coats.



Rain Polish is quite aptly billed as being "for City Nails" (the way Eyeko tells you what effect their polish is supposed to give your nails never fails to make me chuckle, it's so cute!), and indeed it does kind of remind me of cities - particularly the ever-cloudy skies of London. When I first started living in London, I was struck by how it was always overcast, and the sky was never blue (well, it was Fall back then). It was always some weird shade of blue-grey, and it was a couple of months before I saw my first glimpse of blue sky in London.

So what did that all have to do with the polish? Well, Eyeko has done an awesome job of capturing the grey-blue colour of the skies I saw in their polish. This colour is just the colour of those skies, which I think is pretty cool. And it's a beauty, too! It's a cross between a blue and a grey, and I can't decide if it's a blued grey or a greyed blue. It's a muted, dusty colour, one that's really chic and stunning without being loud or neon. Awesome stuff.

Here's a swatch. This is as colour accurate as I could make it - you know how hard it is capturing accurate photos of greys and purples. But I think I pretty much nailed it!



She's a beauty, isn't she? This polish has a slight shimmer in the bottle that doesn't really show up on the nail, it kind of just reveals itself as a reflective sheen instead. This is definitely the next big hit for Eyeko.

And next we have Saucy Polish. Now this is billed as being "for Naughty Nails", but we all know reds are a classic - they just give off that 1940s movie-star vibe. Sexy, classic, and a little retro all at once. I always feel it's a pity that red nail polish, just like red lipstick, seems to have gone the way of the dodo now that girls are so cautious about wearing red.



This is red. Straight-up neutral red. Fire engine red. Telephone box red. Hollywood movie starlet red. Colour wheel primary red. I love it! I don't normally wear reds, but I'm of the opinion that every girl needs a red lipstick and a red nail polish, and I like this one. It's a middle-of-the-road neutral that leans neither too cool or too warm - this is pretty much as neutral as red gets. And it's not too dusty or muted, but it's not so bright it's neon either. It's just right. I love it. If you're looking for a red nail polish on the cheap, this is probably as good as any other.

Application on both was pretty good. These are a little thicker than I'd like, and are not as thin as say, Zoyas, which may or may not be a good thing, depending on your preferences. These are also awesomely pigmented, which means if you're careful with application, one coat is enough. However, my swatches all show two coats, because I couldn't get the first coat to be even enough due to the slightly thick texture.

Colour-wise, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Rain Polish. It's always going to have some sentimental value to me, reminding me of the London skies I glimpsed at when I first stepped foot into the city. The only catch is that being blue-based, it's a shade that might potentially be unflattering on girls who are really warm-toned. Still, I think it's a pretty shade worth a shot if you're game for it.

(These products were sent to me for review. I am not in anyway affiliated with or compensated by the company for this review. This review reflects my honest and complete opinion on the products.)

Rimmel Blue Me Away and Nails Inc Trafalgar Square NOTD

Sometimes, you just want to wear something weird. And clashing. And really ugly. And sometimes, it ends up sort of growing on you.

Like this NOTD, from a few weeks back. It all started when I decided I suddenly wanted to wear blue nail polish. If you know me, you'll know I'm not THAT big a fan of blues, for some reason. I don't even know why, especially given that I LOVE purples, and purples are essentially half blue? But that day I decided I wanted to wear blue. So I dug out Rimmel's Blue Me Away. It's a beautiful blue with fine red-orange shimmer. It's pretty cool, actually - it's rare to see a blue with shimmer of a contrasting colour, since most blues I've seen have silver shimmer.

So I put it on. While I like Rimmel's Lycra Pro Finish range, and their Lasting Finish Pro Enamel range, Blue Me Away was from the 60 Seconds Nail Polish range, and applies less well. I also don't like the brush as much - while the other two ranges have brushes with a curved end (which I particularly like), the brush on this one is cut across horizontally, and it is a little stubby. But it's nothing that can't be dealt with.

After putting it on, I decided that it wasn't weird enough. So I decided to put glitter on top of it. And I thought, why not put a red glitter on top, since there's already red shimmer in the polish?

So I dug out Nails Inc Trafalgar Square (which does seem quite a lot like China Glaze Ruby Pumps, another cult colour), and applied it on top. And as usual, this applied like nearly all the other Nails Inc colours I've tried before - without a single flaw.



There. Are your eyes begging you to spare them the sight of my nails yet? I don't know why I like it, but I do. But I'm pleased to tell you that this lasted for a good 4 days before the first chip came on :P

Essie Aruba Blue NOTD

An unfortunate accident has befallen my fingernails, so while I grow out the damage, I probably won't be taking NOTD pictures for a little while. Fortunately, I do have a backlog of NOTDs. Not a lot, and they're not very good, because they're from the days before I learnt about shaping my nails and cuticle cream, but they'll be sufficient to tide us over til my broken fingernails grow out again.

Anyway, today's featured NOTD is Essie Aruba Blue. Ahh, how I love this one. I know it's nowhere near summer yet - not here at least - but this is the perfect encapsulation of summer in a nail polish. It's a perfect blue, and I don't even normally wear blues! It recalls beaches, pools, and tans (not that I'm a fan of tanning, fake or real, due to the skin damage it causes). Just wearing Aruba Blue kind of makes me feel like the weather is warmer already!



The thing I really like Aruba Blue is that it's a good cross between a darker navy blue, and a brighter jewelled blue. I think it's a happy medium. And of course, how can you not love that glowy, reflective shimmer?

Application on this one was also good - it was pigmented and covered in one coat, although I did two out of habit. Wear time was also good, about 3-4 days before chipping. I usually don't like Essies because they're synonymous with boring pinks, sheers, and blahs, but when Essie decides to get a bit more creative, she does produce some really nice stuff. Come on Essie, we know you have it in you to give us something more than yet another ripoff of Ballet Slippers and all its sisters, brothers, cousins, half-cousins, and uninvited uncles, aunts, and in-laws. Will you now expand the family of Aruba Blue, please?