Tag Archives: crackle/shatter

Sunday Spam: IsaDora Love!

Posted on June 16, 2013 | Leave a comment

Happy Sunday! Today I have a whole bunch of IsaDora polishes for you that I wore recently. Technicalities upfront: 2 coats each.

756-Coral Reef* is a vibrant orange. My camera hates orange, so this looks a bit washed out. Great orange creme, and as I recently decided that I like orange (in summer!), one that I’ll be wearing a lot (and surely on my toes!).
Isadora 756 coral reef_1

757-Scuba Blue* is a fun blue creme – somewhere between sky blue and periwinkle. It applies heavenly, so if you like this color, you should consider getting this. I loved wearing it, and it is also in my top summer colors.
IsaDora 757 Scuba Blue_1_1

758-Aquatic* was another win for me. It’s a dark blue creme but it looks and dries like a jelly. It’s lighter than OPI Roadhouse Blues, but still a very dark blue. It reminds me of ink… Great base for nail art too!
IsaDora 758 Aquatic_1_1

759-Atlantis*  is a turquoise/sea foam green creme. It is also very vibrant, and a great summer color. I feel stupid writing this all over again, but I really liked it, and I think it’s a very good quality creme polish.
IsaDora 759 Atlantis_2_1

805-Spraycan Blue* (over Coral Reef) is a dark blue crackle polish. All the crackles look a bit different, some burst open and leave a wide gap, while others crackle a bit more shy. This one is one of the latter, and I wore it a couple of times, but I’m rather over the crackle look.
isadora 805 spraycan blue_Isadora 756 coral reef_1

851-Gun Metal* is an olive green gold magnetic polish. I originally was head over heels for this polish – the color is totally what I love – but then slowly my love for magnetic polishes started fading, and I lost a bit of interest. Never the less, if you love this, all the IsaDora magnetic polishes I tried were worth the money.
IsaDora 851 Gun Metal_1_1

Candy Floss is a sheer whiteish pink – I get the feeling lately, that these sheer mikly polishes are having a come-back, and as much as I try to wrap my head around that, it is just not for me. Sheer and VNL after two coats? No thank you.
Isadora Candy Floss

Opal* (over essence walk on the wild side) – a sheer polish with shimmer that really comes to life over black. Not only do sheer polishes celebrate a comeback, so do these topcoats. I’m not the biggest fan, neither was I a big fan of the CND topcoats, which offer the same effect. I have one that shimmers blue, and gives me a feeling of luxury, because it’s from YSL. Hence I didn’t really need another. If you, however, don’t have anything like this yet, the shimmer particles in Opal were very dense and if you don’t mind VNL, you can wear this alone as well.
IsaDora Opal over essence walk on the wild side_1

*Thanks to the lovely IsaDora PR Team who always supplies me with my IsaDora fix :)

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essence Oz – The Great and Powerful TE

Posted on March 5, 2013 | 2 Comments

essence is trying its best to be the OPI for the small purse lately. They announced a collaboration with Justin Bieber (…), they released a Snow White TE and now they put out a Wizard of Oz TE. I wonder what will be next?

Let me start off by saying that all these polishes are crackles. We know that crackles aren’t necessarily a new thing, but as they say, good news travels fast, and logically, bad news travels slowly, so no wonder that a year after the crackles were cool, essence releases a whole collection.

good witch is a super new absolutely innovative gold crackle. I layered it over flormar M12. It crackles nicely, and to be honest, gold crackles are the ones I liked the most. So this one gets a pass!
essence good witch_flormarM12_1

delicate but determined is a navy shimmer crackle. The color in this picture is true to its real color, even though my fingers aren’t. I layered it over flormar M04. I wish this wasn’t a crackle polish, the color itself is beautiful.
essence delicate but determined_flormar M04_1

winds of change is mainly a song, if you ask me. Taaaaaaake me to the magic of the moment…etc, etc. Great song to sing along falsely and overly loud. The polish though is the opposite: red crackle. Never understood the benefit of red crackle. It looks horrible over pretty much any color. I layered it over flormar M03.
essence Winds of Change_flormar M03_1

master of illusion can’t fool me. The illusion of it being a nice turquoise/aqua creme shatters just like the polish itself. I layered it over flormar M09.
essence master of illusion_flormar M09_1

winged wonder is a peach/coral creme crackle. It crackles the least good of the bunch. I layered it over flormar M10.
essence winged wonder_flormar M10
 

Do you still like crackles? Or would you just get them because they are a Wizard of Oz TE?

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Oxidized Sandart

Posted on December 11, 2012 | 2 Comments

 

Whenever I get nail mail and I find something super exciting in there, I swatch it on a nailwheel, catalogue it and then put it in my nail polish storage so I can wear it at a later, more special, occasion. Instead, I wear the polishes that I’m not sure about – does this fit me, does it match my clothes, etc, etc. That is, I realised, one of the most stupid things to do. I should just wear the polishes I know I love right away!claires sandart_2

Thing is, that the polishes I “keep for later” eventually end up in the “I’m insecure about you” pile, so that in effect, the snake bites it’s own tail and the circle is complete. Exactly what I described happened to poor old Claire’s polish in Sandart. Luckily my second assessment was just as the first one, and it is absolutely a keeper. It dries matte, but it looks sweet with topcoat too – the holographic glitter in the polish is very fine, but ensures that the polish will sparkle when you least expect it.claires sandart_4

I had no time for nail art when I wore this, but I felt like doing something. First I thought of putting Crackle polish all over, but then I decidede not to, and eventually this is what I ended up with (no topcoat in this picture):claires sandart_china glaze oxidized aqua_1

I used  China Glaze Oxidized Aqua, which on me mostly looks like a somewhat darker periwinkle or metallic blueberry… I had the best success with the China Glaze crackles so far – the OPI ones have failed me. The depend ones work for me too, and of course the KIKO ones, but none as good as the ones from China Glaze. tmi, right….claires sandart_china glaze oxidized aqua_2

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How I wore it: KIKO 600 Light Yellow

Posted on December 5, 2012 | 1 Comment

 

Just a quick How I wore it post for you today!

I found these pictures neatly stacked away in the back of my computer, but they are still made in Paris, so I decided to show them to you. (Eiffel Tower in the background!) 

I was wearing KIKO 600 Light Yellow, which is a crackle topcoat, over a grey-blue nail polish. I think it’s this one from Rituals, but I didn’t write it down and I can’t remember.

It may be that crackles and shatters stopped being in but then, Vintage is in too at the moment, and I refuse to wear my grandmother’s curtains. So, I stand by my unfashionable choice.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The pictures were made in the Jardin du Luxembourg, which is a very nice parc in Paris. If you’re there, take a stroll through the parc and try to find the Statue of Liberty (one of five in Paris).OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I’m wearing pants and blouse from UNIQLO, shoes from Yellow Mellow. If I remember right, the ring says “Caroline” and is from my other M.-swap friend – it’s a mood ring, pretty oldschoolcool, huh?!OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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Mismatch

Posted on September 26, 2012 | Leave a comment

 

Somehow, sometimes, in my head I imagine combinations of nail polish and they look pretty, but in reality they simply don’t. Same happened here….

I started off with three coats of depend 058, which is a sheer purple/lavender polish interspersed with holographic glitters. It also shifts color from purple to a sage green, and I should have layered it over a darker color to make the color shift pop a bit more.

I like it generally, but I really should’ve layered it rather than wearing it on it’s own. Also, I took these pictures in the beginning of summer, that explains my super short nails! I have since managed to not break one, so let’s cross our fingers that I won’t just because I typed this today. You know, Murphy’s Law…

I decided to layer KIKO 607 over it. I’m still not completely over crackles, and I love playing with them. My favourite part is to watch the polish break.

Nevertheless, this wasn’t my best idea. I don’t like the combination, but I like the polishes single. The KIKO crackles, btw, are among the best crackles I’ve ever tried.

What was your latest mismatch when it comes to nail polish?

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Where’s my super soft and warm pullover?

Posted on July 26, 2012 | 4 Comments

Nails Inc Queensgate Meuws is a dark aubergine/plum creme, super saturated and covers with one coat (if you don’t take pictures, that is. I used two coats.)

Queensgate Meuws is from the Nails Inc winter collection 2 years ago as far as I know, and it is a wonderful winter color. It gives me the same winter-feeling as essie Angora Cardi, which makes me reach for my super soft super large super warm woolen pullover. I was surprised by how well this color goes with my skin tone. I try to avoid warm colors in general as they don’t work very well with my complexion, but this one is apparently just cold enough. I must admit that Nails Inc. started climbing up the ladder to my polish heart some time ago, and their formula seems to get better and better. I think I will invest in Baker Street soon, what do you think?

On my pics Queensgate Meuws looks a bit more brown than in reality, but my camera was being a meanie and didn’t want me to show you great pics. Sorry about that.

I layered P2 Purple Fusion over this manicure after a day, because I became a bit bored. I like Violet Fusion, and I like the combination, but I also start to get over the crackle hype. Hmmm. You?

 

 

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All but Antiquated

Posted on March 12, 2012 | 2 Comments

This is color club Antiquated. I only recently started noticing color club, mainly because I received some in a swap, and the glitters that I got were awesome beyond words.

This polish, however, isn’t a glitter (obviously.), but a metallic/foil polish. It works perfectly for stamping, covers in two coats, shines as if there was no tomorrow and is, as the other colours that were released in the foiled collection, pretty awesome. You can still find this on SaleNail, or, if you live in the U.S., I heard that you could try your luck at “Ross”.

above: daylight. Below: artificial light, no flashBelow: flash

I decided to layer a crackle polish from a local drugstore over it. It is called “dark knight”, is from a brand called b:pretty and retails at BIPA (local drugstore) for only 1,29€. What I like about it is, that the dark blue looks black in some light, and in other light the sparkle in the dark blue really light up. What I don’t like is that the cracks are so small; from my point of view those could have been more visible gaps. Nevertheless it crackles very  nicely, and for that price I really can’t complain!

What do you think about Antiquated and the color club foils? Did you buy any?

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Pink Wednesday: IsaDora Power Pink

Posted on March 7, 2012 | 1 Comment

I was lucky enough to receive three nail polishes from IsaDora – they sent them to me to test them out. If you missed my initial review of IsaDora Beetle Green, you can click here to read more about the brand.

I have since added a minty green from IsaDora to my collection, “Marzipan”. I love Marzipan, and the mint green colour is also beautiful. I’ll show you that one later! For today let’s stick to “Power Pink” and “Spraycan Blue”. The third colour I received, “Mellow Yellow”, deserves a post by itself.

Power Pink is a pink (surprise!) creme, opaque in two coats. The application was easy and the polish went on smoothly, so no complaints here! The pink itself is not too warm, which I like. Nevertheless, colours such as this have been spotted in the past… but if you still need one, and prefer good application to a little higher price (9,5€ at douglas), I could only advise you to pick this up.
I didn’t use a topcoat, because I wanted to show you how it looks by itself. Drying time was reasonable – maybe on the faster side.

above: daylight. Below: artificial light, no flashbelow: flash

Luckily, Power Pink is a cool-toned pink, so it fitted perfectly with “Spraycan Blue”, which is a crackle topcoat. I was very impressed by the crackle effect of this polish! I might like it better than my China Glaze and OPI Crackles.

above: daylight. Below: artificial light, no flashbelow: flash

 

What do you think about Power Pink and Spraycan Blue? I love the “Graffiti Nail Top” as IsaDora calls their crackle polishes, but I’m also totally not over the crackle yet. And the pink is totally down my alley… me & pinks, I could start writing a blog about that. Oh, wait, Iam already…

 

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How I wore it: Flormar U31

Posted on February 20, 2012 | 3 Comments

Hi everyone!

Here in Vienna the weather is getting a little nicer – more sun and warmer temperatures! I’m really happy about that because my poor skin suffers from cold and dry weather, and my hands are rough and my cuticles look horrible. Luckily, I made those pictures after a night of excessive moisterizing (I love those gloves I can wear during sleeping), so no horrible pictures for you.

I wore flormar U31, one of their supershine miracle polishes (that’s how they call it, not my idea!). It’s basically a glassfleck duochrome nail polish. U31 doesn’t need any underwear, it is opaque in 2 coats.

As always, duochromes look the best in daylight. That’s when the colour shift is most apparent (see pic above for proof!).

I decided to pair U31 with a scarf I brought back from India; it is one of my favourite scarfs. I just love the pattern, and the Indian blockprint is beautiful. If you visit India, you should go by one of the Anokhi stores. I love their home furnishing ideas, the clothes, the scarfs… 

(that sweater is actually dark blue, but the artificial light makes it look purple….)

After a day I was bored so I added some crackle polish over U31. I’m so not over crackle polish, especially if I want to add something but not remove the nail polish. I used 2 different crackles, both from bpretty, which is the in-house brand from the Austrian drugstore chain bipa. The purple one is called “pure lilcac” and the green one is called “shiny grass”.

Do you like flormar polishes? And are you over the crackle trend yet?

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How I wore it: Illamasqua Velocity

Posted on January 17, 2012 | 4 Comments

Today I would like to show you a purple that I really like and deem elegant and work appropriate: Illamasqua Velocity.

Velocity is a medium dusty grey/purple creme polish. I used 2 coats, and I want to show you how it looks like after being worn for 2 days. That’s also why there is a dip in my ringfinger – but I decided that I need to show you how good the quality of this polish is.

above: daylight. Below: artificial light & flash

I wore this polish with a darker purple jacket, a jeans skirt, matching purple tights and a simple white t-shirt. I actually got compliments on my nail polish matching my outfit!

After 2 days I started seeing some tipwear, so I decided to put some crackle polish over it; I went for P2 Violet Fusion. I don’t own many crackle polishes, but the ones I have I still like. They’re easy to use and the perfect choice to make a manicure last another day! Basically I just said they’re polishes for lazy people like me who don’t want to remove something….

above: artificial light & flash; below: daylight

What do you think about my outfit? And do you like Velocity & Violet Fusion? Or do you think crackle polish shouldn’t be used with corresponding colours?

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