Claire's Mood Peaceful/Confident & Finger Paints Art You Wondering?

Claire's Mood - Peaceful/Confident, 2 coats

I only got a VERY subtle colour changing effect with Peaceful/Confident - perhaps my bottle has gone bad already? In any case, I really didn't care that much for this colour, so hello all the layering possibilities...

Claire's Mood - Peaceful/Confident & Finger Paints - Art You Wondering? 2 + 2 coats

...Um, nope, Art You Wondering? didn't really manage to save this mani. In IRL the polish has way more blue glitter particles in it than you'd think based on these pictures, but my camera wasn't going to co-operate with me or the polish.

Revlon Ocean Breeze

Revlon - Ocean Breeze, 3 coats

So this is Ocean Breeze, another scented polish from Revlon. Even though I tried applying the polish carefully, letting each thin coat dry for ~15 minutes, I still got a little bit of bubbling. :L But I absolutely LOVE the scent of this as it reminds me of Davidoff's Blue Water... or more specifically, this cheap Blue Water copycat EdT which I had more than a decade ago. Actually, with a bit of luck you can find genuine Blue Water scented polish on eBay! :D Supposedly they were a strictly limited promo-only release... I'd love to get my paws on one of those bottles!

Missha Crystal Nail Polish HGR01 & Zoya Charla

Missha Crystal Nail Polish - HGR01, 2 coats

Oh HGR01, you so pretty! Just look how many different faces she has! Formula-wise HGR01 is nice for a metallic polish, but the wand is way too big in relation to the bottle's neck and you'll end up getting polish all over it. So remember to wipe the neck clean with some acetone after use if you don't want this beauty to evaporate before its time. The strong rose scent makes me almost queasy, but the polish is so lovely that I guess I just must grin and bear it... By now HGR01 has become a cult polish and you can easily find it on eBay if you don't yet own it.

Missha Crystal Nail Polish - HGR01 & Zoya - Charla, 2 + 2 coats

Everyone says that Charla stains like a mother, thus I've never worn it by itself. But just look how these two polishes compliment each other so well! To avoid streaks I used two coats of Charla over HGR01 and it dampened the duochrome maybe a bit too much, next time I'll stick with just one coat of Charla and make sure to apply it with extra care.

Hedy's okē.dokē Steal This Teal & nail art stickers

Hedy's okē.dokē - Steal This Teal, 2 coats & nail art stickers

Great name, not so great of a polish. For me, Steal This Teal was a bit of a let down as it's way dustier than I had expected based on other people's swatches. Ok, so Steal This Teal desperately needed some sort of cheeriness added to it; cue a whole sheetful of butterfly and floral 3D nail art stickers. The designs needed two thick coats of TC to smoothen things out (hence the bubbles galore), but the stickers themselves were great as they didn't stick out anywhere on my super curved nails, and they came off with ease.

Phloxes or daisies, which ones do you prefer?

More mani-matching flowers from mum's garden. I'd love to have Steal This Teal look like this, but it isn't as blue or saturated IRL. See the first two pictures for more accurate representation of the colour.

Snowcrystal #446 Electric Turquoise & China Glaze Crushed Candy

Snowcrystal - #446 Electric Turquoise, 2 coats

Snowcrystal is a Swedish brand whose products are sold in Kicks stores here in Finland. I got this polish when it was on sale (around 5,80€ vs. 8€ regular) and I'm sort of glad I didn't pay full price for it. 1st - it's not turquoise but teal (not that it matters but hello false advertising :p), 2nd - it was a frost (but not a seriously bad case), and 3rd - it stained my nails (BOO!). It's not a yucky lacquer but I don't see myself wearing this a lot in the future.

Snowcrystal - #446 Electric Turquoise & China Glaze Crushed Candy, 2 + 1 coats

 A little crack(le) makes everything better, right? These two go together great and I may need to invest in a backup bottle of Crushed Candy if they're still available on eBay for a reasonable price. ♥

Manhattan 78T & Nfu-Oh 52

Manhattan - 78T, 2 coats

Manhattan - 78T & Nfu-Oh 52, 2 + 1 coats

The Manhattan was gifted to me by my lovely friend Petri who bought it for me in Germany. The formula was creamy smooth and simply wonderful, but the short wand and small brush get minus points from me. I added a coat of Nfu-Oh 52 over 78T on the second day of wear.

Blue, teal & turquoise spam! Pt. 3

Franken - Envy Me, Carl, 2 coats

I mixed half and half of H&M Envy Me and Spending Cash With Carl to get this unbelievably gorgeous deep teal shimmer.

Franken - Envy Me, Carl & Precision - After Dinner Mints, 2 coats

 Orly - It's Up to Blue, 2 coats

Orly - It's Up to Blue & Nubar - Blue Silver Glitter, 2 + 2 coats

I was disappointed by It's Up to Blue - it looked horrible against my skin - so I topped it with Blue Silver Glitter from Nubar. OMG sparklefest! The glitter is tiny and two coats gave just enough coverage the green-ness of the Orly to shine through.

 Franken - Under the Sea, 2 coats

 DICI - 046, 2 coats

HOMG this is the most metallic polish EVER, it's incredible and must seen with one's own eyes! DICI is a Chinese brand available on eBay and is chock-full of toxic ingredients judging by the smell. It applied beautifully, probably thanks to all the carcinogenic stuff that's in it.

 Maybelline - New Year's Blues, 2 coats

 Revlon StreetWear - Midnight & Models Own - Blue Sparkle, 2 + 1 coats

Blue, teal & turquoise spam! Pt. 2

 Franken - Lady Sings the Blues Across the Universe, 2 coats

I wanted to create a franken that'd settle somewhere between Deborah Lippmann's Lady Sings The Blues and Across The Universe. I used a super pigmented dark blue, added a drop of black and lots of clear polish to get a jelly base that was opaque enough with two coats, but still managed to keep that squishy jelly look. I then added a ton of goopy silver hex glitter polish from Saffron and blue fine glitter lacquer called Mirage from La Femme - both UK brands - and finally Models Own Emerald City, a super dense green glitter.

 GOSH - Blue Monday, 3 coats

Blue Monday was *barely* opaque with three coats, I could still see a bit of VNL myself. Next time, I'll use either underwear or layer it over a similar colour.

Unknown brand - Blue glass fleck, 3 coats

Another eBay find, the brand name was written in Chinese and I don't know any Chinese, so under 'unknown brand' label it goes. I absolutely adored this lacquer and I hope I'll come across a backup bottle someday.

 OPI - Russian Navy Suede, 2 coats w/ top coat

The OPI suedes lull you into believing that they dry incredibly fast, but I think otherwise after denting Russian Navy *badly* after over an hour I had finished applying it.

OPI - DS Glamour, 2 coats

DS Glamour is one of the most coveted semi-HTF VHTF lacquers out there and much loved by the community... I thought it was just okay. *hides*

Blue, teal & turquoise spam! Pt. 1

DICI - 034, 2 coats

 Depend - 054, 2 coats

 Cutex - Huckle Buckle, 2 coats

 H&M - Blue Me Away, 2 coats

 Avon - Olive Green/Green with Envy, 2 coats

 Avon - Olive Green/Green with Envy & Nfu-Oh 50, 2 + 2 coats