NOTD: Gold Holo Goodness - Layla Hologram Effect Nail Polish Gold Idol

I have another gorgeous holographic polish from Layla to show you, this time it's a gold one, aptly named Gold Idol.  

As with other Layla polishes, the formula was lovely, and the holo is very strong. I experimented to see if the holo would be stronger or weaker by using Nfu Oh Aqua Base under the polish on all fingers except for my little finger, and I didn't apply topcoat on my thumb to see if it would make a difference to the strength of the holo. The answer is no. This is just a bloody good holo polish that works without a holo basecoat and still looks as strong with a topcoat. Easy.

Weartime was little disappointing, I had some tiny chips after a day's wear and some bigger ones after two, but that's quite normal when it comes to holographic polishes. All in all I was very happy with this polish, there's a reason why I own all 16 polishes in the Layla holographic range.

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: Layla Hologram Effect Nail Polish Cloudy Violet

I have another mani to show you, this time a holographic prettiness. This is Layla Cloudy Violet, a gorgeous dark burgundy-purple. Layla holographic polishes are have very strong rainbows, they are one of the strongest ones I have tried and for a while were one of the very few brands I'd owned. Now there are so many brands producing high quality holo polishes, I feel that these have become a bit more neglected in my stash, but I still love them.

In case you are wondering, my nails are shorter than in yesterday's post because this picture is over a year old. I'd already had a back up before I'd stopped blogging last summer, so I'm using those up as well as showing you my newer manis.

Here's a bottle shot for you as well. It's a pretty colour anyway, but it really comes alive in sunlight.

Do you like holographic polishes? Have you tried Layla? What are your favourite brands for holo polish?

2012 Favourites - Part 4: Nails

2012 was definitely the year of the nail polish for me. I bought over 550 nail polishes (I know, crazy!) and discovered some amazing brands. (Check out my stash video and pictures here.) Until 2 years ago I'd hardy heard of any nail polish brands that couldn't be bought in Boots or Superdrug (and back then there weren't a lot of glittery, shimmery, duochrome polish around, or at least I didn't notice them). As well as continuing to buy from mainstream brands like China Glaze, OPI, Orly and the likes, I discovered some very unique and interesting brands and nail polishes. My favourite polishes are holos and duochromes, or preferably both together in one product, and I'm also rather partial to glitter.

The picture above shows a few of my recent purchases including the new Color Club holographic polishes that I regret to say I haven't tried yet as well as Topshop glitter polishes and Enchanted Polish duo(multi)chrome polishes.

My favourite newly discovered brands in 2012 were Topshop, Enchanted Polish, Layla and Glitter Gal. Out of the four I'd say Enchanted Polish is my definite favourite, the only thing I don't like is how difficult it is to come by as the polishes are only made in very small quantities and the shades are limited edition. Nevertheless I have managed to get my hands on a few of them and here are some:

These are from the Beatles collection (I Am The Walrus and Magical Mystery Tour) and from the Falloween collection (Witchful Thinking). The new holiday collection came in a new style, fancier, more professional looking bottle:

Green Peace on Earth, Dance Of The Sugar Plum, Bruised Nutcracker, Olive The Other Reindeer

Enchanted Polish nail polishes are absolutely gorgeous, duo- or rather multichrome with scattered holo, straight forward holographic or glittery. I have showed you Across The Universe here if you want to take a peek.

Find out what other nail polishes and nail care products I loved in 2012 after the jump!

NOTD: Layla Hologram Effect Nail Polish in Ultra Violet

Here's the second Layla Hologram Effect Nail Polish I got from Simply Occasions. If you missed out on Mermaid Spell, you can check it out here.Ultra Violet is a beautiful violet shade (doh!) with gorgeous holographic shimmer. This is slightly more holo than Mermaid Spell, you can properly see the rainbows there.

With flash

Once again, I used 3 coats, 2 below and one above the Seche Vite topcoat to make the polish longer lasting and more vibrant. Unfortunately it's not long lasting at all, chipped on me very quickly. You can already see some chipping in the photos and they were taken the day after I painted my nails. Sadly this seems to be one of the characteristics of holographic nail polishes.

This cost £11.25 and can be ordered from Simply Occasions. You get free shipping if you order over £21, otherwise it's a very reasonable £2.50. Each polish is 10 ml which makes them rather expensive, but it is hard to find holo polishes this pretty, so that's my excuse anyway!

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: Layla Hologram Effect Nail Polish Mermaid Spell

As I said before, I'm always on the hunt for good holographic nail polishes, so when I saw Charlotte blog about these polishes, I knew I had to pick some up myself. I ordered 4 of them including a beautiful purple that I'll be showing you later, but for now here's another one: Mermaid Spell.

The picture above was taken in indirect sunlight, so the holographic effect isn't that strong, but even so, it is way more noticable than the Color Club polish I showed you the other day. It really comes to life in direct sunlight or under a strong indoor light, which you will see towards the end of this post. The colour is a really pretty light blue/turquoise. The consistency itself was fine, I think I did 3 coats, two below and one over the Seche Vite topcoat (to prolong wear and make sure the topcoat doesn't dull the holo effect). It chipped on me fairly quickly (day 2), but it's so pretty, I can forgive it.

I bought mine from Simply Occasions and they cost £11.25 each (so not cheap), and you get 10 ml for your money. Postage is free on orders over £21 (so that's two bottles of this). Well worth checking out if you like holographic polishes.

See more pictures aftre the jump!