Isadora Black galaxy

I have some really busy days behind me. Saturday we had a really big Christmas party with almost 40 guests at home. We prepared for days and it turned out really well. I wore a black dress with flower print and on my nails I had Purple with a purpose on my nails. It matched perfect.
It was really fun also because many of the guests had painted their nails just because they were coming to me. One friend, Johanna, showed me her nails and asked which polish I thought it was. And I guessed it right! Warm and Fozzie from OPI. I was so impressed with myself. And I also realised then how much of a nail polish nerd that I am.

But anyway, over to the polish that I am showing you today, Black glaxy from Isadora. This I had on at the Isadora event last week. It is from their Christmas colelction Red rush and it is the one that caught my attention at once.

This is a black polish with holo glitter. It looks fantastic in the bottle, but on a grey day in November in Sweden the fantastic glitter doesn't really comes alive on the nail. It looks it best at night time, in artificial light. Then it sparkles and I really like the look.

The formula was really good and easy to paint with. I needed two coats for full opacity.

Isadora pressevent

Last week I was to a pressevent where the Swedish make up brand Isadora showed their coming collections for the first hald of 2011. Of course I was mostly interested in the polish news (okey, I love all sorts of make up and use a lot of make up, but nail polish is what I write about here) and there are some beauties coming from Isadora. Colors that I want to wear on my nails.

The spring collection is called Pearls for passion and in there is a marzipan green polish. Looks fun.

Isadora also presented a nail art brush that will be in the shops after new year I think. I got that in the goodiebag so I will try it. I am not very good at nail art though, but I will try. I always try things once.

From the goodiebag: Silver sky, Marzipan, Gothic black and the nail art brush.

China glaze Skyscraper

This is the first polish to be tried by me from China glaze Metro collection. And I love it! Skryskraper is so beautiful.

Skyskraper has a denimblue, but with a purple undertone, jelly base with small glitters in silver and blue. Very good combination! With this on I can't stop looking at my nails. Blue is also a color that is growing more and more for me.

I needed three coats for full opacity, but the last coats were mostly to cover some bold spots. The formula was both good and needed a bit of work. But it is worth it.

It dries pretty smooth so one coat of top coat is enough. I used Good to go from Essie. But, this polish chipped bad less than 24 hours after I painted my nails. I know it happens easy with glitter polish, but still it is not acceptable I think.

Isadora Mad blue

Some more glitter! Here is Mad blue, a crackle polish from Isadora. Although I am not a big fan of crackles I like this a litlle bit. A tiny bit. Okey, maybe a little bit more than I want to admit.

I painted Mad blue over the purple metallic Sexy Divide from Essie. I like the combination. Mad blue crackled well, but it is important that the base color has dried well, otherwise the crackle polish will shrink it.

A top coat is necessary to bring out the glitter.

New polishes in my stash

It is always fun to find some polishes in my mail box. These beauties were sent to me a week ago. Polishes from China glaze Metro collection, two from China glaze Halloween collection, polishes from the Italian brand Collistars holiday collection Carisma och polishes from Mavala.

I have had my hands on Denim blue from Mavala several times but never bought it, so I am glad I got that. And China glaze Skyskraper looks amazing. The same with Collistars Blue Lamé Matte.
Hmm, am I in to blues or what at the moment?

From China glaze: Skyskraper, Concrete catwalk, Lofty ambitions.

From China glaze: Haunting, It's alive.

From Collistar: Blue Lamé Matte and Pomegranate.

From Mavala: Denim blue, Platinum Marble, Racing green.

Depend 260

I don't like this with polishes having number as names. It is so hard to remember. A fun word name is much easier, and yes, makes me more likely to buy it. I am that easy.

Well, anyway Depends polish number 260 is a soft military green creme. Or an avocado-gone-a-bit-bad kind of a color. It is nice, but not wow. I have seen it before. This is the kind of polish to wear to work and match with the right clothes.

The formula though is a bit thick, but hey, it is a one coater! One coat is enough to get full opacity. Love that!

Essie Cocktail bling

Time for a creme again, this time from Essies holiday collection Cocktail bling. And it is the polish giving name to the collection.

Cocktail bling is a greyish light blue creme. In some light it looks grey but if I put it against something grey it looks more blue. And sometimes I see a tiny bit of lilac in there. I think this is very beautiful, it is sophisticated without being boring. And needed for the times when I get tired of shimmers, metallics and glitters.

The formula was very smooth and easy to work with. This kind of shades can sometimes be streaky, but not this one. I needed two coats for full opacity.

Isadora Merry red

The first polish to be tried from Swedish make up brand Isadoras holiday collection is Merry red. This is a red shimmer with orange and pink undertones and a subtle goldshimmer. On the nails it reminds me a lot about Animal-istic from OPIs holiday collection The Muppets.

It is beautiful, absolutely. It glows on my nails. The goldshimmer is not so visible on the nail but it gives the polish a depth and that glowing feeling. But it doesn't make my heart jump.

The formula was great, no problem at all. For opacity I needed two coats.

OPI Are we there yet?

I am almost through OPIs Touring America collection. Just two left I think, one is Are we there yet? that I am showing you today.

Are we there yet? (I love the tname by the way, how many times doesn't my son ask that when we go on any kind of roadtrips) is a orangetoned peach with a subtle gold shimmer. The shimmer is not so visible on the nail but gives the color a depth. This color definetely feels like summer. It is nice but not something I am falling for.

It was also a bit hard to get an even result, the formula is thin and it is streaky on the nail even after three layers.

Color club Candy cane

I felt for some bling on my nails again. Why not? I felt like I needed it this Wednesday in November. I also wanted to try out Candy cane from Color club that I got last week. This is my first Color club-polish ever.

So, Candy cane is from Color clubs holiday collection Beyond the mistletoe, it is a collection with only glitters. Perfect for me becasause I can never have too many glitters.
Candy cane is pink glitter with a clear base. The glitter itself is quite small and there are at least three tones of pink and also some holographic pink. I love this, it is very sparkly and girlie. The pink is quite soft.

The formula though was a bit thick and I had to work it to get it right over the nail. Because of that I had to use three layers to cover some spots with the last coat, if it would have been easier to work with I think two coats would have been enough.

Butter London Knees up

One of the first polishes I wanted to try from my swap with Pink polish addict was Knees up from Butter London fall and winter collection. This is my first polish from Butter London.

Knees up is a metallic red polish that makes my heart jump. Just this kind of metallic finish is one of my favourites, I love the shine. My collegue said it looked like christmas wrapping paper and she is right, it does.
The red tone is warm and fantastic. Gosh, I can't stop looking at my nails with this on.

The formula was quite good, two coats were enough to get full opacity. You have two work it a little bit though to not get brush strokes, but most disapears when it dries and with top coat on.

Cult nails Unicorn puke

Today I am showing you one of my favourites at the moment, Unicorn puke from Cult nails. Yes I was able to get one of those numbered, limited edition bottles. At first I thought there was no point to even try to get one, but I tried and was so happy when I succeded.

So, how is the polish then? Is it more than a really cool name? Oh yes. It is. I am in love.

It has a sheer blue toned purple base that is filled with flakies in green, blue and something I would call pink gold. It is really beautiful, it sparkles even in the Swedish grey light that is now in November.

But since it is sheer it takes four layers to build up some kind of opacity, so maybe this polish is best for layering. And when layered it shifts character, depending on what color you layer it over. I choosed to layer it over a color that is pretty close to the base, the purple creme Grape pop from China glaze. The result is fantastic I think. I am loking forward to try more combinations.

The formula is great and it is easy to control on the nail. The flakies is easy to spread over the whole nail.

If you like this it is not to late to get a bottle. Unicorn puke will come back, but under the name Clairvoyant from Cult nails. Same, same but different.

From the top one, two, three and four layers.

Unicorn puke layered over Grape pop from China glaze.

A package filled with polishes

The other day, when I was still at home being sick a package I have been waiting for arrived at my door. Yay!!! And of course it was filled with polishes. It was from another blogger, Pink Polish addict, that I have a done a swap with me. A perfect way to get hold of polishes that I can't get here in Sweden.

Among the polishes I immediately fell for were Butter London Knees up and Orly Flirty, a bright, bright pink that might be the perfect pink. And all the polishes from Butter London looks great. Don't know which one to wear first...

Polishes from Color club: Blue-topia, Hot like lava, Secret agent, Candy cane, Fame & fortune.

Orly Flirty, China glaze Ghoulish glow, Butter London Knees up.

Revlon Fuchsia fever

Revlon is a brand that is not sold in Sweden so I took the chance to get at least one polish from them when I was in Scotland this summer. I had seen Fuchsia fever on a blog and since I am looking for the perfect pink I wanted it.

Fuchsia fever is a fuchsia pink creme. It is bright and very pink. It is very beautiful, but what was I thinking when I bought it? I have a million of this kind of color. I have to stop bying them.

The formula was a bit tick, but still smooth.It is very well pigmented so two coats is enough for opacity.

Isadora Gold bomb

I decided to try if I could do something more fun with Essies Case study, a camel brown, that I showed you earlier today, so I added some gold in the form of the new crackle polish Gold bomb from Isadora. Isadora launched four new glitter crackles that they call Graffiti last week and Gold bomb is the first one that I try.

I am not a big crackle fan, nor a gold fan. But I kind of like this combination. The gold glitter lifts the camel brown and the camel brown makes the gold a bit more sophisticated. They help each other.

The crackle result turned out a bit different on the nails. The best results I got on the two middle fingers on the photo where I used a medium thick coat.

To get the most glitter effect I topped it all with a top coat.

Essie Case study

Lets continue with Essies fall collection, inspired by bags. So how about Case study?
This is a beige polish, a camel brown that doesn't makes my heart jump. It is just...meh. I know a lot likes this kind of colors and think they are wearable to most things. But I want a bit more humph. Follow me?

The formula though was fantastic. Very smooth and easy to work with.

I will give this polish to my friend Vicktoria. She loves this kind of colors, she will use it...

OPI Suzi takes the wheel

Hmm. I have a little problem deciding what kind of color Suzi takes the wheel from OPIs fall collection Touring America really is. Is it a light, light green (kind of an avocado gone bad) or a smudgy grey? It is different depending on the light, sometimes it is more green, sometimes it is more grey.

But I like it. It is a cool color. Sophisticated on its own, but fun to maybe layer and do a gradient with some glitter on.

It is darker on the nail than in the bottle, as you can see.

The formula though was a bit thin and runny. I had some trouble controlling it and it was a little streaky (not really visible on the photo, but I see it). Two coats was enough though to get full opacity.

Holiday collection from Isadora

I am home being sick and I am so bored. How fun then that a package with nail polish landed in my mail box. This time it was more news from Isadora, their holiday collection that is called Red Rush consisting of three polishes (and lots of other make up but here I concentrate on nail polish).

Black Galaxy. Deep black with lots and lots of tiny silver and holo glitter. I am in love. This looks beautiful.
Merry red. Being named Red rush of course there is a red in there. A beautiful red foil with a hint of orange and gold.
Gold Sparkles. A soft frosty foil gold with some micro glitter.

To be seen on my nails soon...

H&M Manhunter

This is a polish that I bought during the summer. I needed a black. And Manhunter from H&M is black, as black as it gets. And I think black looks really good on really short nails, so I had this on a while ago when one of my nails broke and I shortened all my nails.

The formula was good. Easy to apply (although I don't like these kind of caps but I have learned to work it) and I needed two coats for full opacity.

Isadora Brick red

Another polish from Swedish make up brand Isadora. They have a great fall collection this year, there are a lot of stars among the polishes. Brick red is a true fall color. It looks a bit more red on the photo than it is in real life, but it is brick red, like a reddish brown. usually I am not a fan of brown colors but the red in this one makes me like it.

The formula was superb with this creme. It covers well with just one coat, but I use another coat. It is very seldom I just paint one coat. The polish is also very smooth and easy to work with.

OPI I eat mainely lobster

I eat mainely lobster is one of the more bright colors from OPIs fall collection Touring America. For me this is more of a summer color, I can see it looking good on my toes next summer. Now though, it is on my nails, and I do like it now too.

This is a shimmering coral toned polish. It has a subtle gold shimmer that gives the polish a depth. I like it. Not all coral tones works with my pale skin tone, but this does.

The formula though needed a bit of work. It is thin so I needed three coats, but that was also because I got a lot of cuticle drag, maybe you can see it in my photo. I don't like that, cuticle drag is a no-no.

OPI Gone gonzo!

Oops. I just discovered that I had one more polish to try from OPIs Muppets collection. How could I forget? So, lets try Gone Gonzo on.

Gone gonzo is a turqouise glitter in a clear base. It has small round turqoise glitters and bigger silver hexagon shaped glitters that ends up here and there on the nail.

This sure sparkles, but it is sheer. The most sheer from this collection I think. On the photo below I used four (!) coats and it is far from opaque. To build up this to opacity would take forever. This is definetely a polish that is best for layering.

Gone gonzo! layered over Depend 255. A great combination.

Delivery from the US

I am lucky. I have a friend who has moved to the US for three years, but she keeps coming back home to Sweden now and then. And then she is bringing polishes for me!

This time I got three bottles from two brands I haven't tried before. The colors Saved by the blue and How I met your Magenta from Wet n wild and Among the stars from Piggy polish. Lovely!

To be seen on my nails soon!

Essie Very structured

I got another polish from Essies fall collection to show you. It is still fall right? Here in Sweden it is still warm anyway, much warmer than usual.

Well, the polish is Very structured, a creme polish that is a kind of mix between chocolate brown and brick red. Follow me? This collection was inspired by bags and I can see where Essie got her inspiration, a brown leather bag.
This kind of color is not my cup of tea. I have no clothes to match them with and I am way too pale for them. But I know a lot of you love this kind of colors.

The formula was good though, like all the Essies I have tried this fall, smooth and went on easily. Two coats is enough for opacity.

Depend 255

I got a really nice color to show you, number 255 from the Swedish make up brand Depend. This is a turqoise kind of teal. Saturated but still bold and intense. It gives me a wow-feeling when I look at my nails.

In the bottle it has a silver shimmer, but it doesn't really show on the nail. Instead it dries with a matte-rubbery feeling. If you want it shiny, use a top coat (which I always do).

It is very well pigmented and is almost a onecoater, but I use two. I think though that Depends brushes are too soft, a little bit harder would be good.

Isadora Glitter graffiti nails

Well, I guess people must love this crackle-shatter trend because the make up brands keeps producing them. Swedish make up brand Isadora, who started the trend here in Sweden this time around (yes, I say this time around because I did test this trend about 17 years ago for the first time), is now coming with glitter crackle polishes. Isadora call their version of crackle polishes for Graffiti nails.

The glitter graffiti nails comes in four versions a gold, a silver, a pink and a blue. I like the pink the most, when I see them in their bottles.

And yes, I was kind of tired of the crackle trend, it never really caught me. But I am a glitter girl, I do love when my nails sparkle. So I will try these. Of course, who could resist?  

News from OPI

Yeah, I know. It is just November and you are shopping polishes from the fall- and winter collections. But lets look a little bit in to the future. Who can resist when OPI presents their news for next year?

In January it is time for their next celebrity collaboration, this time with Nicki Minaj. This collection has glitter, a shatter and bright colors. What do you think? I think all the colors look interesting, especially the glitters, will be fun to see them IRL.

And then, the spring collection, this time called Holland. And when you say Holland to me I think about tulips (although Sweden is the country buying most tulips in the world, we are nuts about tulips) and I think some of the colors in the spring collection gives me a tulip vibe. When I look at this pr-photo I fall for the purple and the blue. How about you?

Special delivery from Cult nails

Look at this beauty. I didn't plan to order it, but I did. I was lucky to get one of 275 bottles, lucky because they sold out in no time. And I am so glad I did order it. Unicorn puke from Cult nails looks wonderful with its flakies. It landed in my mailbox the other day and I was jumping up and down.

For those of you who don't know, Unicorn puke is a special edition polish from the Amercian brand Cult nails. The same color will come out under the name Clairvoyant later, but for now Unicorn puke is sold out.

But I have my bottle. And I am loving it, being numbered and all.
Because, yes, I am a nerd. And proud of it.

Essie Size matters

This last weekend my man took me away on a romantic weekend in Stockholm filled with art museums, theater, hotel and tasty food. Of course I had to wear red then on my nails, it is the only color he likes on nails (again, what is it with men and red nails?). Lucky I love red as well.

And the polish on my nails was Size matters from Essies new collection Coctail bling. This is a ruby red creme, very beutiful. And the name, as Essie said when I met her in Stockholm two weeks ago, refers to the sixe of diamonds, nothing else... Well I don't have any diamonds (yet) to match it with, but it works very well anyway. It looks the best in daylight, at night some of the lustre disapears and it becomes more winered.

The formula was very good, very smooth and two coats were enough to get full opacity. As a top coat I used Essies Good to go, a fast dry top coat. I have used it for a month or so now and I think it works very good. It does not dry as fast as Seche vite, but it doesn't schrink the polishes as much as Seche vite can do.