Shard Glitter Coolness: Cirque Potosi Nail Polish!

Glitter nail polish has always been something I've always loved, and I feel like with my latest discovery, glitter has just been amped up a level. This, of course, is Cirque Potosi. Cirque is a US-based brand of nail polish with an artisanal slant, and Potosi is the lovely shade I tried.

Cirque Potosi is a clear polish with a happy mix of glitter types. There's your usual small round silver, of course, but what really makes Potosi shine is the multi-sized polygonal glitter that makes it look like silver shards on your nails. seriously, how cool is this?



The shard glitter is quite new to me - right now I don't really have anything like it in my stash at all! I'm in love with the effect - it's a little bit random-looking, but incredibly eye-catching. Like shattered shards of metal, or a mirror, on my nails.



Here I've layered it over 2 coats of a random nail polish I got from Sasa, Sasatinne SPN103. It's a deep, dusty blue-leaning teal, and I think the two go really well together. I used one coat of Potosi, and did a little dabbing at any empty spots to get a more even glitter spread. So as you can see, the coverage is fabulous.



If you aren't in the US, you can get Cirque polishes from Mei Mei's Signatures for S$16-19 apiece. She ships internationally, too, so great for everyone who doesn't have Cirque in their area.

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

Girly Glittery Nails: Sally Hansen Big Money and Essie Nice is Nice

So you know those awesome Sally Hansen Gem Crush shades that were recently released? I've been having quite a bit of fun with these ever since I bought them in the USA - they're great not just alone, but also lots of fun when layered. Just check out my latest mani as a case in point!



I was going for a pretty pastel look, so I layered Sally Hansen Big Money over Essie Nice is Nice. Essie Nice is Nice was from last year's Spring collection, but it's a very timeless pastel purple creme.



Sally Hansen Big Money consists of small gold glitter and larger (but not too large) light purple glitter in a clear base. This would probably be fully opaque in 3 coats if worn alone, but I was going for a gradient effect, so I just sponged it onto my tips. I just used a kitchen sponge, no fancy equipment. And yes, I still can't get my gradient right. It makes me sad.



Best part? I got em both on sale! I got the Sally Hansen Gem Crush shades when they were buy-one-get-one-50%-off, and I got Essie Nice is Nice from Marshalls for US$3.50! Score! It really made the cheapskate in me happy, it did.



Anyway, I like the overall look - it's a very pretty and office-appropriate way of wearing the glitters that are a mainstay of Spring and Summer collections. Now, if only I could nail the gradient technique properly...

Lippmann Happy Birthday NOTD (And Free Polish at Luxola Promo!)

It's not my birthday, but it's always the right time for happy festive glitter! And of course you know what I'm talking about - Lippmann Collection's Happy Birthday!



Lippmann Happy Birthday is a multi-coloured, multi-sized glitter in a clear base. And Deborah Lippmann has clearly pulled out all the stops making this one. The beauty about Happy Birthday is that although there is so much colout in that one tiny bottle (pink, orange, green, blue, silver, yellow), the end result is pretty and festive without being overwhelming.



There are so many ways you can wear Happy Birthday (alone, layered, jelly sandwich-ed) but the classic look for Lippmann Happy Birthday, if there is one, is layered over a white base. So here's one coat of Happy Birthday over two coats of Wet n' Wild White.



Happy Birthday had good application. The glitter does tend to pool in some places so a little work is needed to ensure it lands more evenly, but otherwise I've no complaint.



Now, I bet you're wondering about how to get a bottle of your own free. Well, if you're in Singapore or nearby (Malaysia, Indonesia or Hong Kong), Luxola is currently running a promotion whereby if you spend at least $50 at their store, you can get a free bottle of Happy Birthday with your order! Lippmanns aren't cheap (they cost $33-35), so how awesome is that? And Luxola currently also has a sale going on too, with some really good deals too! And for my Singaporean girls, there is free next day delivery too, right to your doorstep, so that's definitely a plus! The promotion runs only for this week, so don't wait to pick it up! You can check out the Luxola site here.

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

My First Franken! (In Which I Sort Of Dupe a Lemming)

Remember the last time I whined about how I couldn't get my hands on the Lunasol Nail Polish I really wanted? Well, after months of lemming from afar, I decided to take matters into my own hands, and franken something similar!

I knew I probably wouldn't be able franken an exact dupe, but that was okay with me. I really was just after the concept of a sheer white base with variously-sized gold glitter. And I had my own requirements too - the polish had to cover in 2 coats, and I was open to having not just gold glitter only. And i didn't want my franken to be so glitter-heavy that you couldn't see the white base. So with that in mind, I took out my various polishes and started to franken!



For this franken I used my Etude House Lucidarling Fantastic Nails in 04 Sequin Crystal Gold, Etude House Lucidarling Fantastic Nails in 01 Glittering Bare White, and my trusty Wet n Wild White. I used about 1/3 Etude House 01 Glittering Bare White, 2/3 Etude House Sequin Crystal Gold, and about 10 drops of Wet n Wild White. And this was the outcome!



Okay, so it's not really a dupe or anything. But it's not too bad right? I tried frankening once before, and that one sucked. This is a lot better, trust me. Here's my proud first ever (successful) franken on my nails!



Although it's not exactly a stunning dupe or anything, I'm happy with what I made. And it met all my franken requirements (cover in 2 coats, white base with variously-sized glitter, including gold). Maybe one day I'll put more gold glitter in there, just for more bling, but for now this is good enough. And I'm just glad that I did this all without making a huge mess of my desk! Do you guys franken? Any fun frankening stories to share? I'd love to hear them!



A Side Note: Asian (or just Etude House, really) Nail Polish Naming Conventions

For Etude House nail polishes, the naming conventions for these are really complex. Basically Etude House has a few "product ranges" of polishes, usually with different price points (e.g. Lucidarling Fantastic Nail, Nail Decoration, Dear Darling Nails, etc - and no I'm not making any of the names up), and under those range of polishes, each shade will have a number (e.g. 01, 02, 03 etc) and a shade name (e.g. Rosy Pink, Bare White, Coral Jewel, Tender Mint, etc). So in order to make sure I'm describing the exact shade name, I use the brand name (Etude House) followed by the product range (Lucidarling Fantastic Nails) and colour name and number (01 Bare White). Sometimes, like in the case of the Lucidarling Fantastic Nail range, they have product "sub-ranges" (e.g. Sequin, Glittering, Shimmer etc), so this complicates things a little more - the real shade names should be Etude House Lucidarling Fantastic Nail Sequin 04 Crystal Gold (using the format of brand, product range, product sub-range, product name and number). But because it confuses some readers, and because some websites jumble up the sub-range and product name, I choose to lump the sub-range and product name together to form a super long product name (hence 04 Sequin Crystal Gold instead of Sequin 04 Crystal Gold). For Asian readers who buy your polish in person, it probably isn't a big deal, but I imagine it can cause a lot of confusion for someone in the West buying polish sight unseen, and online. Hope this helps my confused Western readers who may be buying nail polish online!

Dupes or Not: Sally Hansen Gem Crush Glitz Gal vs China Glaze SomeLikeIt Haute

One of my recent buys was Sally Hansen's Gem Crush nail polish in Glitz Gal. It was a gorgeous sheer black polish with awesome holographic glitter! Exactly my kind of polish! I thought it was a dead ringer for China Glaze's Some Like It Haute, which I already bought previously, so I thought I would do a little compare and contrast for you guys. And no, I don't know why I felt compelled to get two of the same thing. It must be the holo glitter, I tell ya. Holo glitter is evil.

Anyway, up for the comparison. In the bottle, both polishes look pretty much identical. Same sheer black base, same awesome glitter.



On the nail, they're also pretty much alike. I think they're pretty much dupes, although I feel like Some Like It Haute is a tad blacker(?). It looks a little darker somehow, by a teensy bit, but to be honest I probably wouldn't notice the difference if I wasn't splitting hairs.

L-R: Some Like It Haute, Glitz Gal, Some Like It Haute, Glitz Gal

Otherwise, both polishes are pretty much identical. Other than the colour, the brushes are different - China Glaze has the typical nail polish brush with straight ends, while Sally Hansen's Gem Crushes have a brush edge that's more curved and more flat. I personally prefer the Sally Hansen brush, but both work well either way. Perhaps if you have a strong preference for one brush over another, this could sway your decision.



L-R: Some Like It Haute, Glitz Gal, Some Like It Haute, Glitz Gal

So, do you need both? Nope. Which should you choose? Well that would depend on the price and availability of each polish in your area (e.g. if you are not in the USA the Sally Hansen one will be hard to get), as well as your brush preference. If all else fails, toss a coin. Either one is great and won't disappoint. As for me, I am keeping both, because I, uh, "need backups". (I swear it's not my glitter-hoarding tendencies kicking in!)

Syrup Manicure and Sparkles: China Glaze Beauty and the Beach and Fairydust

I tried my hand at the syrup manicure the other day. I liked colour, but I didn't really like how the manicure itself turned out. I think I kinda sucked at the gradiation. So of course I did what anyone covering up for a failed syrup gradient manicure did - I put glitter over it! Here's the final look.

The syrup manicure uses just one colour, typically a very sheer jelly, in order to get the gradient effect, in contrast to other gradient manicures that use two colours. The sheer jelly shade would then be applied in successive coats to give the gradient effect. For this look, I used China Glaze Beauty and the Beach, which I bought like, in a haul a long time back, but haven't used til now (shame, I know). Anyway, I thought that since it was such a sheer jelly shade, it would be perfect for the syrup manicure.

In order to get the gradient effect, I started off with a coat of Beauty and the Beach all over the nail. I then applied a second coat of Beauty and the beach from three-quarters of the nail, and a third coat from halfway up the nail. The last coat was applied just to the top quarter of the nail, nearest the tip. That created the gradient look.



Sadly, I wasn't very pleased with how the gradient turned out. I felt like the gradient was too sudden, and wasn't very "gradient"-like. Anyway, I decided to salvage it by adding glitter on top. I mean, glitter makes every manicure look better, right? So on went a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust. Muahaha, now with my tips all covered with glitter (holo glitter, no less!) noone's going to notice that the syrup gradient isn't done right! How smart am I, seriously?



Anyway, if I had done the syrup manicure bit properly, I think I would have liked this a lot more. Although China Glaze Beauty and the Beach is annoyingly sheer, when layered it has a gorgeous lit-from-within glowy shimmer that I love. And of course, its annoyingly sheer nature makes it perfect for the syrup manicure. I also like China Glaze Fairydust - I swear, this polish just looks good over anything.



So there you have it - my failed attempt at a syrup manicure, and an equally fail attempt to cover it with glitter. Maybe next time I should do a few practice nails before jumping into these things. But for now, this is perfect for the spring and summer seasons - bright, happy, and tropical.

Nail Art with China Glaze Full Spectrum, Essie Foot Loose, and Striping Tape!

Ever I bought my China Glaze Prismatic Collection polishes, I've been experimenting with these babies, and boy, are they awesome! Even if you don't like how they look on their own (and how can you not?), I love how they really add that extra zing to any mani.

As proof, here's my NOTD (Nail of the day)!

This was a base of Essie Footloose, and then jazzed up with China Glaze Full Spectrum. Essie Footloose is a creme pinky-purple shade that's just perfect for Spring/Summer (which I've featured before), while China Glaze Full Spectrum, as one of the much-hyped Prismatic Collection polishes, needs no introduction. I've swatched Full Spectrum before (together with other Prismatic polishes), but I thought it would still be cool to share my mani with you guys!



This look was actually really easy to acheive. I first painted Essie Foot Loose as the base, then added on China Glaze Full Spectrum. After that, then I added on the white striping tape, which I got from Born Pretty Store. The good thing about adding on the striping tape is that the tape actually hides my messy edges when I painted out the shapes with Full Spectrum. In these photos, you can see the striping tape sticking out at some of the edges of my nail, as I wasn't very good at estimating lengths. I ended up using a nail clipper to clip off the extra striping tape sticking out! (Please don't laugh at me, it was my first time using striping tape!)



I really like this mani - it's girly, but still fun and eye catching, and has just the right bit of glitter for those who are glitter shy. And I have to say, I think the Prismatic polishes look fantastic layered - the different sizes and colours of glitter really add a bit more dimension to the nail. I'm definitely glad I got these, and I'm still looking for more ways to experiment with them!

China Glaze Prismatic Collection Swatches: Ray-diant

Remember when I last swatched some polishes from the China Glaze Prismatic Collection, I was raving about how much I loved them. Well, I loved them so much that I ended up buying yet another colour from the collection! And it wouldn't be nice if I didn't show off this latest acquisition too, right?

So here you are! This one I bought was China Glaze Ray-diant. Isn't it so pretty? Like the rest of the Prismatic Collection, Ray-diant isn't holographic, although from the official press releases put out by the company, I thought it would be initially. Nevertheless, it sure is cool. It consists of variously-sized and coloured glitter in a sheer tinted base, much like the rest of the Prismatics.



Ray-diant has a green-gold duochrome base that is very pretty to look at. There are big round bits of glitter in various colours, including silver, gold, blue and pink, as well as smaller silver speckles of glitter. This combination looks so pretty in the bottle - it's like a duochrome-y glitter rainbow in there!



On the nail, the duochrome is less obvious, but it's still there. I swatched some of the nails over black, just so you can get an idea of what it looks like layered over a dark colour. These are about three coats each, and I think that the glitter is dense enough for you to get opacity with three coats. The glitter adds such a burst of lovely colour, doesn't it?



L - R: China Glaze Ray-diant alone, Ray-diant over black, Ray-diant alone, Ray-diant over black

I'm so glad I bought these - if I'm not wrong, the Prismatic Collection shades are limited edition (gasp! The dreaded LE acronym!), so I wanted to get as many colours as possible. Like the other Prismatic Collection shades, Ray-diant is a pretty burst of glitter in a buildable duochrome shade, and is perfect either alone, or layered, or - if you are like me - just a fan of glitter. I can't wait to play around with these a little more to see what they can do!

China Glaze Prismatic Swatches: Liquid Crystal, Optical Illusion, Full Spectrum

China Glaze's Prismatic Collection has been making waves in the nail polish blogosphere, and horrible consumer that I am, I totally jumped on the Prismatic bandwagon! Last week, I happened to chance upon some China Glaze nail polishes being sold in person! They were on sale too, for SGD$8 a pop. That's just a bit more than US$6...not really cheap by US standards, but then again China Glaze is generally pretty overpriced over here. Anyway, I bought three colours from the Prismatic Collection - Full Spectrum, Liquid Crystal and Optical Illusion, so I thought I'd share swatches of these with you!

The first thing I noticed about this is that they're basically various sizes and types of glitter in a sheer-tinted base. So they're not holographic (I thought they would be at first, but they're not, and I'm cool with it), but they're still some really awesome colours, and pretty unique, too. Short of ordering from niche brands like Lynnderella, this is probably the closest we'll ever get to the mass-market multi-glitter, multi-colour, duochrome-y types of polishes that are so rare in polish-land. The second thing I noticed about these is that the glitter is pretty dense, so you can get full coverage with these in around 3 coats.



Now that I've gone on about these and how awesome they are, let's move on to swatches! First up, we have Full Spectrum. This is a pink base, and has large round multi-coloured glitter, as well as finer glitter bits. I got full opacity in 3 coats. I've swatched two of the fingers over black, just so you can see what it looks like over a dark colour as well.



L-R: Full Spectrum, Full Spectrum over black, Full Spectrum, Full Spectrum over black

The next one is Liquid Crystal. This has a slight blue-purple duochrome in the base colour, and it sure looks stunning in the bottle. What, duochrome AND glitter in the same colour? I could kiss whoever thought of this colour! This is a gorgeous colour on, too, you see a bit of the duochrome, as well as the bursts of colour provided by the variously-sized glitter. Pure love, this is.



L-R: Liquid Crystal, Liquid Crystal over black, Liquid Crystal, Liquid Crystal over black

Lastly, I also bought Optical Illusion, which is a gorgeous green-teal base. I love this colour, it's a very beautiful shade of bejewelled green, with further glitter added inside. Once again, I've swatched this both alone and over black.



L-R: Optical Illusion, Optical Illusion over Black, Optical Illusion, Optical Illusion over black

These look great alone, but I also think they would be amazing over other colours as a topper. I also think that layering a glitter over another would also be amazing. I know some people were a little underwhelmed by these because they weren't holographic (and if they were, I agree it would have been so much more amazing), but these are unique to my collection, and I'm happy as they're right up my alley. I can't wait to try these out more, and see what they can do!

Reverse Chevron Manicure Tutorial with OPI Nicki Minaj Shades

When I got my Feburary Vanity Trove, my mind was just racing with all the possibilities for some nail art fun. Finally, I settled on these pink and black glitter Chevron nails.

These were pretty easy to do, too. The tutorial below shows you just how easy it is.

1. First, paint your base colour. (I'm assuming you already have base coat on, of course.) Here I used OPI Pink Friday from the Nicki Minaj Collection.



2. After the base layer is dry, stick tape on top of the base layer in your desired Chevron shape.



3. Then, paint the top shade from the taped area to the ends of the nails. Here I used Wet n' Wild Black.



4. If you want to jazz up your Chevron, add a little glitter! This is OPI Save Me from the Nicki Minaj Collection.



5. Wait for the polish to dry, then peel off the tape, and viola! Chevron nails, with glitter on top!



Lastly, here are a few final tips I hope you'll find useful. Firstly, before you lay the tape over your base layer, make sure the base layer is really, truly dry. If not, the tape will peel the base layer off your nail. Also, for a sharper Chevron edge, wait til the polish is dry (or mostly dry) before peeling off the tape. If the polish is too wet, it will smudge when the tape is being peeled off.

I like this combination very much, I like the contrast of pink and black, and I also feel like the holo and silver glitter in Save Me really stands out against the black. I actually got these polishes in my Feburary Vanity Trove, so if you're interested you can check out Vanity Trove.

My Favourite Christmas Nail Polishes!

Since Christmas is just round the corner, I thought I'd share a little more on what are the shades I keep reaching for every festive season. Of course, these are all going to be Christmassy colours!

Here's a shot of all of them together. Green, check. Red, check. Gold, check. Glitter bling, check. Yet more glitter bling, check.

Let's start with one of my perennial favourites, Nails Inc Fitzhardinge Street. I know you're probably sick of seeing this shade now because I previously already did a Nails Inc Fitzhardinge Street NOTD, but I love this shade. It's the perfect deep Christmas green, and a one-coater to boot!



The next favourite is Nails Inc Paddington Street, which has also been overexposed with a previous NOTD, and yet another previous NOTD. But I love this shade. Deep, smooth berry red, perfect not just for Christmas but also all year round - it's just such a classic shade.



Annnd, gold! Orly Luxe (yet another polish I featured before sometime back, and again more recently) is definitely hands-down my favourite gold polish ever. I have a few golds, and none comes close. For me, this is it. Perfect neutral gold that looks good on any skintone, vibrant foil finish, and opaque in one coat. And, it also works well as a konading polish too, so it's really all that and a bag of chips. I've liked it so much I've used it not once, but twice!



Now onto glitter. Let's ease you in with the milder stuff first. Nubar Candy Apple may look kinda puke-green in the bottle, but when on, it really looks more like small gold glitter in a clear base. This makes it perfect for layering on top of a creme polish for that extra sparkle. It's wearable on its own too, but the more you layer it, the closer it looks to bottle colour, and thus the less Christmassy it becomes. It's still a nice colour, but just not Christmassy.



Now, the real bling. Before Essie Set in Stones was ever conceived, Maybelline Silver Spells was out there being a big, bad girl. Maybelline Silver Spells may look similar to Essie Set in Stones, but it really predates it by awhile. With two sizes of glitter, and a clear base, this is perfect for layering. I've used it in a recent NOTD, and the glitter is really dense.



So there you have it - my favourite shades for the holidays! What are yours? Anything I missed out? Tell me!

Simple Gold Glitter Gradient Christmas Nails

Since my nail beds were actually looking nice and pink and unstained for once, (I wish I could say that my nails were just that fabulous, but the reality is that I don't wear much nail polish at work anymore. Sigh.) I thought, why not do a mani to show them off? So I decided to do a gradient mani with - you guessed it - some bling!

I used Etude House Lucidarling Fantastic Nails in 04 Sequin Crystal Gold for the glitter gradient, but to add a little more pizzaz I also added a little bit of Maybelline Silver Spells for the big round glitter bits. For the base, I used Rimmel French Rose, which is a sheer light milky pink meant for French manicures.

I've blogged about the Etude House polish before, and back then I said it was pretty awesome, and one year on, I still think it is! It's a mix of small gold glitter and larger round holo glitter in a clear base, and so pretty. Silver Spells is such an awesome polish, consisting of very dense, big chunky pieces of hexagonal glitter in a clear base as well as tiny silver glitter - perfect for layering.



I didn't have much issue with Etude House Sequin Crystal Gold, and it more or less applies quite normally, although some dabbing was needed to even out the glitter. Maybelline Silver Spells definitely needed dabbing to prevent the glitter from clustering together. So basically this mani was quite idiot-proof - it was really more dabbing than painting! The painting bit came in right at the end, where I painted my nails with Rimmel French Rose.



I'm not sure if these nails really count as Christmas nails (I mean, there isn't any red or green!) but I do feel that the gold glitter really gives the mani a festive vibe. I like this mani - it's simple, wearable, and easy to do. Perhaps ideal if I want an understated holiday mani, I guess!