Catrice nail polish collection 2011 part 1

420 Dirty Berry

New Chanels! (swatches and comparison)

Dear Lacqueristas,

Some better swatches of the latest Chanel polishes:

Pearl Drop

Pearl Drop is a gorgeous opaque white polish with a satin pearl like finish. There's a lot of golden shimmer going on. When the light hit's it, the gold is pretty strong. The heavy shimmer makes this a pearly finish, there are some brush strokes but not in an annoying way.




Peche Nacreé - with a shell I found in the carabbean see





Peche Nacreé





Peche Nacreé is a super cute but not unique polish. Soft, pinky peach with again, a satin like pearly finish. This one is more pearlized then Pearl Drop. But there is no complex shimmer or a flash of another color.

The color reminds me of the inside of a shell I found.

Black Pearl in overcast. The finish is extremely glossy.



Black Pearl -direct sun. Complex shimmer!

Black Pearl is a blackened forest green pearl. Or is it a greened black? Or just oil slick.... It's all in the eye of the beholder because this polish is a chameleon. Ofcourse as the theme of this collection is pearls, this polish  has a pearl finish. But when the light hits it, the most complex shimmer surfaces.

In overcast or indoors the shimmer and pearl hide and the glass like surface shows. This is definitely one of the glossiest polishes I've ever seen. I could almost use my nails as a mirror :-D I think I remember OPI's It's All Greece To Me to have a similar glossy finish.




Chanel Pearl Drop Vs. Intermezzo

 



Bottles compared





I'm in love with Intermezzo. It might even be my favorite Chanel polish. A tie with Marilyn. And Rose Confidentiel.

What is your favorite Chanel?

How do you feel about these polishes? Do you like pearly finishes?

Hasta la vista, Lacqueristas!

My overkill has been cured. Bring on the bling!

Dear Lacqueristas,

This seems to be the year of the foil type a duo/multi chromes. In one of my last post I stated I felt the need to take a break of the extra special sparkly special effects polishes. I found my zen back by having a good ol' creme mani.
Ok, so I have recovered from this lil overkill I experienced. I feel brand new and eager to further explore the world of bling bling finishes. Guess what I just got in the mail?

See the green around the cuticles and the purple near the tips?

 There are many, many reviews out there already and I'm pretty late to the party but boy was I amazed by this very polish. I don't have anything like this in my stash. Mesmerizing. Green, gold, purple... And glossy like outta this world. Maybe not that flattering on my skintone but it's too pretty to care about that.

Daylight, overcast

Artificial light

Akward finger position toshow the color shifting

Bottle pic!

This polish is so special and has so many faces that it needed many pics. I hope yall don't mind?
What is the most over-the-top or akward polish in your personal stash?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

New Dior polishes: Bronze Libertine and Aztec Chocolat

Dear Lacqueristas,

Yesterday I posted about Dior's new range of 21 polishes. Today I will show you two of the most unique ones of the bunch:

706 Bronze Libertine in sunlight. Glowing,velvetty. 

Bronze Libertine in the shade

Bronze Libertine is a moss green shade with some bronze in it. The green is dominant. In the shade it's pretty glossy, but in the sun *wow* glowing surprise! It had so much depth that it made me think of velvet. Pretty unique, not for my skintone but the finish is mesmerizing.

886 Aztec Chocolat in the sun

Aztec Chocolat in the shade. Shiny like vinyl

For both pictures I applied 3 coats. Application was tricky but that wasn't caused by the formula but by the new tapered brush. Both polishes swatched above had significent pearlized pigments but not so much that I would consider these frosty. Just heavy on the shimmer. No visible brush stroke issues. (if you do see them in my swatches, let me know ;-)

How do you like these shades?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

New Dior Nail polish range, 21 shades

Dear Lacqueristas,

Dior is retiring their current nail polish range.The good news is: Dior is launching an entirely new nail polish range! This range is available from europe 1st in europe, I can't tell you a release date for the rest of the world as of yet.

The following changes have been made:

• The durability is improved. More chip resistant.
• The formula has been upgraded. Lacquered glossy finish, shine and sparkle amplifying together with pigments and pearls enhance light reflection 10 x
• The brush has been changed. From a traditional square brush to a tapered, wide flat brush.
• The color range. 21 mostly new shades, some other are similar to previous Dior shades but since their formula has been improved, there might be differences.

The color range is divided in three color families: coral-red, purple and flesh-brown.
Here's what they say on their website:

Dior Vernis, Long Wearing Nail Lacquer
"Never before has the color of the new Dior Vernis displayed such lacquered and vibrant shine! A cocktail of Shine and Sparkle Amplifying active ingredients directs pigments and pearly particles to enhance light reflection tenfold. Once again, the 21 enchanting shades created by Tyen reflect Galliano’s imagination and the spirit of Dior fashion shows.



Application is even easier with the new brush. Dior Vernis also features a new chip-resistant formula that protects and embellishes the nails, day after day. "

Have alook at these press shots

Source: Google images

Now I go on to my own pictures. First of all, have a look at their new brush:

Wide, tapered. Somewhat similar to Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure brushes, but smaller.

Flat from the side

Dior on the left, Sally Hansen on the right

The shades

The new Dior Vernis range has 21 shades, I can show you 6 of them:

In the same order as above

The most unique polish of the bunch so far is Bronze Libertine. It is a bronze, but oxodized to a mossy green. A quick swatch showed a strong pearl but not overly frosted so I hope the brush strokes won't be too visible.

Aztec Chocolat and Bronze Libertine

That's all for now, I might post some swatches soon!

Are you gonna buy some back ups now that the current (old?) collection will retire? And does this new brush look promising to you?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

Zoya duo chrome heaven...

Dear Lacqueristas,

One of my dreams is to work as a polish designer. I would travel around the world for inspiration and create the most unique shades of polish with high teck finishes. This next polish would be something like the ones I would have invented:

In the sun, in the right angle you see only the purple

In the shade, at any angle you get the green

Most of the times, you get both the green and purple together. Look at the bottle!  *drool*

Zoya Adina is a true duo chrome. I have no other polish in my stash where the duo chrome is this obvious. I actually had difficulties to capture *just* the purple shade of this polish because the green would always peek-a-boo right through the purple.

This polish is a stunner and regardless if the shades are flattering or appealing, this is just a liquid miracle every lacquerista should at least see in person. Formula was good, though the finish was a little frosty and left some minor brush strokes (visible in the first picture)

Oh how I love my Zoya's! If they were only available in the Netherlands...

What's your favourite duo chrome?

Hasta la vista, Lacqueristas!

OPI Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow Suede

Dear Lacqueristas,

Today I tried my first ever Suede... Meet OPI's Here Today... Aragon Tomorrow:

No topcoat, overcast

Personally I am not wowed by this finish. I think it looks dull and muted. Because look how pretty this polish is when you add some ultra shiny topcoat (I used Chanel's but I'm sure you can use any topcoat)

With topcoat, overcast

See how all the pretty shimmer comes alive? It gives this polish dept and makes it appear more vibrant. I wish it was more like the original HTAT though... more blackened. I even thought it might compare to China Glaze's Emerald Sparkle but I should have know that that's incomparable:

Emerald Sparkle is in a league on it's own

Do you have suede's and do you like their matte finish or do you rather put a topcaot? And what's you favourite suede?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

review: Nfu.Oh #63 and #71

Dear Lacqueristas,

I have read and heard so much about Nfu.Oh nail polishes, but for some reason I've never tried one. Such a shame because I was pleasently surprised:

#61
This is a cool pink holographic polish that leans lavender. Did I mention holographic yet?
One word: W.O.W.
I own quite a lot of holographic polishes (China Glaze OMG collection, Kaleidoscope collection, Gosh, OPI etc etc) but I've never seen a holo this holo-ish. In sunlight this polish just jumps off your nails and even indoors the holoness is evident. Just see for yourself:

The formula of #63 was very good. Dried in an instant too. But I'm not so fond of the brush which is kind of narrow and not so supple. The awesomeness of the holo effect definitely makes up for that.
Overall, I am in love and am sure I will explore the other colors in Nfu.Oh's holographic collection.


#71
There has to be some funky, creative people behind the Nf'.Oh designer tables. I don't even know how to describe this color.... A greenish gold? A faded lime with a golden swirl? Antique gold with green stains? The finish falls somewhere between a micro glitter and a foil. Very unique.

The formula was good and also dried fast but not as fast as the holographic Nfu.Oh.


These polishes were provided to me by Nfo.Oh Nederland, the official distributor of the Netherlands.

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

China Glaze Entourage and Fly (Kicks collection)

Dear Lacqueristas,

China Glaze came out with the Kicks collection in april 2009 but only now I've bought two shades from the range. Let's start with Entourage:

A lighter lime green shade but not too vibrant or bright. There's lots of pretty glass flecks that China Glaze is so famous and loved for. A juicy, lushious nail polish if it weren't for the dissapointing formula!

Close-up

I experienced cuticle drag due to the runny formula and as a side effect, the polish that I applied to my nail would slide off to the sides to leave the middle part of my nail with sheer spots. I didn't use too thick coats but this would still appear. I had to use 4 coats to achieve opacity.

I decided to take off the polish of my index finger and put China Glaze Snow as a base coat (an opaque white). On top of this I still had to finish off with 2 coats of Entourage. You can see in the swatch pics that my index looks a bit more vibrant though.
All and all I like the shade but hate the formula.


Fly
A darker fuchsia with blue undertone, leaning even towards purple. This one has tiny tiny glassflecks that sometimes appear like a flash. This is a pretty unique finish and in most lightings it appears so glossy that it reminds me of plastic, or patent. Awesome shade and awesome formula. Application went flawless, I used two coats and practically no clean-up!

Sun

Shade. See the glossy *plastic* finish?

Close-up

What other shades from the Kicks collection do you recommend me?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

My first featured Konadicure (Catrice I sea you)

Dear Lacqueristas,

I love playing around with Konad, I have many plates but I find that the more graphic, abstract designs REALLY rock. Most of Konad's designs are very tame, floral designs that I just never use. I've seen Bundle Monsters image plates and I like them so much better, they have these cute modern funky designs (peacock, poodle, stars etc) but I can't buy them becasue they don't accept paypal and I have no creditcard. Bummer!

Anyways, I was so inpired by the many *ss-kicking pics I've seen on MUA that I decided to show you all one of my Konadicures for the first time!

For the base I used Catrice I Sea You, the actual design was stamped with Konad special princess polish in Deep Jungle and the image plate is M51.

Here's the reason you should use the special Konad top coat or SV. I used Chanel Quick Shine and it made my design bleed :-(

So, do you Konad? Or Fauxnad? What are your favourite designs? And, do you know a place that sells Fauxnad (bunleMonster) that accepts Paypal?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

Like blackened olive and gold glitters? I do! Yeehaa!

Dear Lacqueristas,

I knew this polish wasn't made for me. It's a warm toned blackened olive with golden glitters. But Scrangie's swatch was soooo mouthwatering I just HAD to buy it. Wagon Trail is part of the Rodeo Diva collection of China Glaze.

Wagon Trail is a beautiful nail polish because of it's finish: it's packed with golden microglitters that shimmer right through the layers of polish. In direct sunlight it's a true stunner. I added a video to show you Wagon Trail's full beauty:

Application was good. Formula was not too runny nor gloopy. I like the brush. The good thing with darker colors is that they are easy to do clean-up becuase the contrast with the cuticle is so high.

Don't you just love these polishes that have that *lit-from-within* quality? Do you have a favorite?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

My mood swings and I love swapping

Dear Lacqueristas,

Remember my post from a while back? That I wanted to have a Claire's mood swing polish badly? Well, thanks to Chris from Lacquerware for tips and toes I got not one, but THREE! She offered to swap with me, the polish I sent her is still pending, can't wait to see how she feels about those.

Claire's Happy/Earthy

To show you the color difference I put my fingers in hot and cold water

This is how it looks like normally when you wear it. The free edge would be green and on the nailbed the polish shows yellow

Formula is great. Glided on the nail like butter but to reach opacity I had to use 3 coats and I can see in the pictures it couls have used a 4th. The polish is neon so it dries so a matte finish. I used topcoat on the pinky and ring finger, I left the other fingers with the original matte finish.

Oh man how I love these gimmicky touches to nail polish! I can't stop lookign at my nails to see how the colors are, and I go around showing everybody my nails. Men seem to like this gimmick as well! They ask me like how it works, technically. I don't have the answer to this. I Googled it but didn't find a satisfying explenation.

Do you know how the color-changing works?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

This is also in my giveaway: H&M Hello Kitty polish in Garden Green

Dear Lacqueristas,

You either love or hate this little pussycat but she's iconic for a fact. Hello Kitty has a beauty range in H&M and ofcourse nail polish. It is actually meant for children. On the back of the bottle is a sticker that says it's not suitable for children under 3 yrs of age. I am a little over that so I figured I'd be just fine.
Garden Green is a light green (No mint! Green!) polish with a subtle shimmer.

Unfortunatly I had to shoot this swatch in overcast *I'm looking at YOU Iceland* But believe me that this polish has the cutest shimmer. For little AND big girls to get dolled up.

You like this polish? Good for you. It is part of my GIVEAWAY!!!

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

Lancome - Petrol Pop

Dear Lacqueristas,

With easter coming up, I see sweet pastels everywhere. Today my rebel came out. One of my untrieds, Lancome Petrol Pop. This came out in Lancome's make-up collection of this spring.
A dark green with a green tone to it. Packed with shimmers. As with a lot of dark polishes, this does appear black-ish in bad light. In sunlight however the real soul of this polish breaks loose, shimmers and even a slight pearl peeps around the corner.

Formula was good, I applied 2 coats.

Are you in the pastel mode or does your inner rebel come out as well? And what will be your easter mani? I'm thinking of a skittle pastel mani, not just because it's cute, but also because I will get to see my nieces and I just KNOW they will love it!

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!