Maxfactor 'Fantasy Fire'

If there's one polish that reading nail and beauty blogs has inspired me to get, this would be it, Maxfactor 'Fantasy Fire'. Its a shimmery duochrome polish, that goes from a lovely rich purple colour to striking shades of red and orange - the colours of fire. I had read so much about this polish but could never seem to find it...until I did.

2 coats of Maxfactor 'Fantasy Fire' over 2 coats of NYC 'Prince Street'

Everyone and their dog has talked about this polish, so much that for a while you really just couldn't find it anywhere because it was so hyped up. I tried to resist for a while because I don't really like purple on my nails that much but I finally caved in and have found that I have mixed feelings about this polish really. 

2 coats of Maxfactor 'Fantasy Fire' over 2 coats of NYC 'Prince Street'

On one hand this polish does have a really beautiful duochrome, I thought I might have found the one purple polish that I would like on my nails but this polish is incredibly sheer. I tried using this on it's own and I gave up after 4 coats because it still wasn't really anywhere near opaque. In the photos I have layered it on top of NYC New York Color Nail Polish in 'Prince Street', a purple in a similar shade that I was hoping would provide an opaque base so I could layer 'Fantasy Fire' over the top of. 

2 coats of Maxfactor 'Fantasy Fire' over 2 coats of NYC 'Prince Street'

The result was much better with the NYC colour underneath, but I think that it may have dulled the duochrome a little which is a shame. Ideally I would wear a purple creme polish under 'Fantasy Fire' but I couldn't find one in the right shade so I went with a metallic. The duochrome was still visible under most lights and was really beautiful under bright lights, you could see the colour shift really nicely.

2 coats of Maxfactor 'Fantasy Fire' over 2 coats of NYC 'Prince Street'

I will keep it and use it as a layering colour but I can't see myself using it too much just because it is difficult to work with because of the sheerness. Do I think it's worth the hype? Probably not, but it is something fun to have in your collection to change the look of other polishes.

You really can see the best of the duochrome in the bottle, a very pretty idea

Have you tried 'Fantasy Fire'? What did you think?

GOSH 'Holographic Hero'

I was so excited when I finally managed to find Gosh's holographic polish in Superdrug recently, I may have done a little dance in the middle of the store. I have heard a lot of things about this polish and had always wanted to try it out but they just never seemed to have it in stock in any Superdrug store, that is until now.

3 coats of 'Holographic Hero' with no top coat

Under some lighting this polish can look like a flat, light silver colour, but under the right lighting it really comes to life. I used 3 coats, I could probably have gotten away with 2 but I thought that an extra coat might intensify the holographic effect....it didn't. This is the first holo that i've ever owned but i've read lots about them and seen lots of pictures and I think that this one is quite subtle compared to others that you can get, perfect for if you don't want anything too crazy but want something a little interesting.

3 coats of 'Holographic Hero' with no top coat

One problem I had with this was wear time - the bottle advertises that the polish will only last for one night, which kinda sucks, although I really like that they're being up front about it, it doesn't seem to have stopped people buying it (myself included)! Plus this would be a great polish for a night out because it looks amazing under bright lights.

3 coats of 'Holographic Hero' with no top coat

I must admit that my photos don't show this polish in all it's glory, it was quite hard to capture just how pretty it is when the light hits it. I think I will save it for nights out because of it's short wear time but I think it will definitely be used. I can see myself wearing a plain black outfit and this on my nails to add some interest.

Close up of 'Holographic Hero'

What do you think of 'Holographic Hero'? Do you think it lives up to the hype?

OPI 'Absolutely Alice'

OPI 'Absolutely Alice' is a beautiful blue glitter polish with some gold glitter in it. I think the gold is what makes this polish so pretty to me, I have quite a few blue glitter polishes but the gold really sets this one apart and gives it some depth. I'm so glad that I managed to get my hands on this polish when it first came out because it became so hard to find.

2 coats of 'Absolutely Alice' with 1 coat of Seche Vite fast dry top coat

Because the blue colour in this polish is a little deeper it suits a lot of skin tones and I wear it all year round. It's really hard to photograph it properly because it is so incredibly sparkly, under all types of lighting, but my camera just didn't want to pick that up unfortunately. You get the best idea of the amount of sparkle in the bottom photo of just the bottle, it is just so eye catching and beautiful, i'm not surprised this was a sell out polish.

'Absolutely Alice' under natural lighting

I used 2 coats of 'Absolutely Alice' in the photos above which I think is pretty good for a glitter polish. I didn't use a base colour which was a welcome change and used only one (thick) coat of top coat, although I think 2 would have achieved a smoother finish. I think this may be one of my favourite OPI polishes ever, its sparkly and very eye-catching, in a flattering colour that happens to particularly suit my skin tone and it's associated with Alice in Wonderland....what more could I ask?

You can see a bit more of the tiny sparkle in this shot

I wouldn't have thought that this would be a unique colour in my stash but it turns out it is which is always nice, but only one of many reasons that I love this polish. I like that the glitter is fairly small and not too chunky because sometimes I just feel like having the sparkle factor but without having chunky glitter flakes on my nails.

Sorry about the lack of focus, it was the best way to capture the individual glitter flakes for this polish

I'm really not looking foward to taking this off my nails because of the mess that is glitter polish removal so maybe i'll leave it off for a little while....or perhaps i'll just bite the bullet and remove it so I can try something new and fabulous (OPI Skyfall collection anyone???), probably the latter. *confessions of a nail polish addict*

See how sparkly it is in the bottle?.....Swoon!

Did any of you manage to get your hands on this polish when it came out way back in 2010?

Butter London 'Henley Regatta'

This post has been a very long time coming, really this is more of a summery polish but at the moment my nails are in need of some TLC as they were breaking quite a lot so I was looking through the photos on my computer and discovered that i'd forgotten to post on Butter London 'Henley Regatta'.

2 coats of 'Henley Regatta' over 2 coats of OPI 'Fly'

'Henley Regatta' is a bright teal glitter polish, Butter London describes it as a "nail lacquer glitters like the Thames on a sunny day — a fusion of green and blue glitter that varies in intensity depending on the light" and I think that is fairly accurate. It's so sparkly, I was drawn to the bottle like a magpie and I knew that I had to have it.

'Henley Regatta' under natural lighting

As far as glitter polishes go this one is actually fairly opaque, in the pictures above I have 2 coats of 'Henley Regatta' layered over 2 coats of 'OPI 'Fly' but I think that this polish would be opaque on its own in 3-4 coats. I think this a beautiful glitter for summertime, the sun shines off of it in the most delightful way, I actually took these pictures about a month ago when the weather was still nice here and I suppose that now it won't really be worn until spring/summer 2013.

I used Seche Vite fast dry top coat to give my nails a smooth finish

The formula was pretty nice, as i've already said there's a lot of glitter in this baby so it wouldn't take as many coats as some other glitter polishes to get an opaque finish. The clear base isn't too thick so the glitter doesn't all gather in one place on the nail, I like that there's a mix of blue and green glitter because it gives the polish some depth and reminds me of the ocean or something, perfect for summers by the sea.

Close up of 'Henley Regatta'

How do you feel about wearing bright and vibrant colours on your nails in the colder months? Do you love it or loathe it?

OPI 'Mrs O'Leary's BBQ'

How ironic is it that one of my favourite polishes for the autumn time happens to have quite a summery name? I really want to talk to you all about a polish that i've had for a good while now and really love. It's OPI 'Mrs O'Leary's BBQ'; a deep burgundy shade that isn't so dark that it looks black on the nail.

2 coats of OPI 'Mrs O'Leary's BBQ' with Seche Vite fast dry top coat

I'd say that the photo above is very true to how the polish actually looks on the nail, it really does look kind of like i've dipped my fingers in a rich, sticky barbeque sauce. Wow, i'm making myself long for summer, sigh. I think the thing I love most is how rich this colour is, and in sunlight you can see more of the red undertones that this polish has.

2 coats of OPI 'Mrs O'Leary's BBQ' in dim lighting

The formulation of this one is pretty nice, used 2 coats for the photo's included and both coats were necessary. The first coat applied quite unevenly and looked a little streaky but the second coat managed to magically even it all out and give a nice, even, glossy finish. I like this polish because it's vampy (which seems to be the 'in thing' this season) but can still be quite elegant.

2 coats of OPI 'Mrs O'Leary's BBQ' in natural lighting

When trying to think of a dupe, the first thing I thought of was Essie 'Bahama Mama' but when I actually held up those bottles next to each other 'Bahama Mama' had much more purple in it whereas "Mrs O'Learys BBQ' is brown based. I then thought of Revlon 'Vixen' which is similar but the red undertone is much more pronounced making it more of a true burgundy colour.

Close up of OPI 'Mrs O'Leary's BBQ'

What do you think of the vampy nail polish trend? Are you rocking vampy or nude shades this autumn?

Experimenting with nail effects

Lately i've been trying out quite a few different nail effect polishes. Normally I really don't like the look they give but I wanted a cool nail to go with my halloween costume (because I get super excited for halloween) so I decided to experiment with some different combo's and I thought that you might like to see the results.

1 coat of Bourjois 'Python top coat' over 2 coats of Essie 'Sand Tropez'

First up was Bourjois 'Python top coat' over 2 coats of Essie 'Sand Tropez'. I didn't really like how this one turned out, I thought it might look like blood on plain nails but it really didn't. Oh well, thats what experimentation is for, right?

 1 coat of Bourjois 'Python top coat' over 2 coats of Nails Inc 'Black Taxi'

Then I tried that same Bourjois polish over Nails Inch 'Black Taxi'. The problem with this was that the red python effect polish was too sheer to be seen as an actual colour over black and turned out looking kind of like glossy, lumpy dirt. I thought this could be cool for a halloween look but just wasn't the kind of thing that I was going for really.

1 coat of Barry M 'Black Croc Effect' over 2 coats of Ciate 'Dangerous Affair'

My favourite of the 3 combos I tried was the Barry M 'Black Croc Effect' with the deep red Ciate 'Dangerous Affair' polish underneath. I think this managed to look menacing enough to be a part of a halloween polish without looking so weird that i'd feel odd wearing it for a day afterward or whatever. Plus red and black will probably be the colour scheme of my costume and this will go nicely.

So what do you think? Do you style your nails especially for halloween?

Deborah Lippmann 'Ruby Red Slippers'

It's been a while since i've used a Deborah Lippmann polish and when I was looking through my stash I knew it was time to put on my 'Ruby Red Slippers'.....and follow the yellow brick road. Cute name of this polish aside (I really love The Wizard of Oz) this polish really is something. I have a lot of red glitters, and I mean a boat load, but I think the black base on this one makes it feel much more modern.

4 thin coats of 'Ruby Red Slippers' - much more black is present on the nail than in the bottle in this photo and I think that it's fairly accurate

'Ruby Red Slippers' is a black jelly base with smaller red microshimmer and larger red hexagonal glitter. Application was nice, although this was a sheer polish, it applied quite evenly and it wasn't too hard to get plenty of glitter on the nail. Because of how sheer this polish is I used 4 thin coats which makes it quite a time consuming polish so that's something to keep in mind.

4 thin coats of 'Ruby Red Slippers'

I think that this could be a great twist on a sparkly red polish for when it gets closer to the festive season, I think that the black base is something quite unexpected and is perhaps more interesting than just having a red base. I will admit the first thing that sprang to mind when I first saw it was 'Oh my.....I have found the perfect polish to wear on halloween' but it looks very different on the nail. In some lights fleeting glances may lead you to believe that the polish is a burgundy colour which I think is pretty cool.

4 thin coats of 'Ruby Red Slippers'

This polish is quite expensive, I got mine for £16 at House of Fraser which is the only place that i've seen Lippmann polishes being sold in-store in the UK. I feel like I might actually use up this polish at some stage because it does require many coats (I will be trying it over a black creme base though) so it doesn't seem like great value but I love the look it gives and haven't seen anything else like it. I know that in the US there is a Wet N Wild dupe, unfortunately we don't get that brand here in the UK but its something to keep an eye out for if you're in the states and are considering 'Ruby Red Slippers'.

4 thin coats of 'Ruby Red Slippers'

What do you think of Ruby Red Slippers? What are some of your favourite Deborah Lippmann polishes?