NOTD: Liquid Sky Lacquer It's Wine O'Clock Somewhere and Zoya Arlo

And since I'm on fire this evening, here's my current mani, Liquid Sky Lacquer It's Wine O'Clock Somewhere and Zoya Arlo. It's Wine O'clock Somewehere is a slightly dusky reddish purple holo, which really compliments Arlo, the glittery Zoya Pixie Dust polish. I also added some nail stickers that I got in Superdrug the other day.

NOTD: KBShimmer Run! It's The Coppers!

A little while ago I showed you my picks from KBShimmer's summer collection and Run! It's The Coppers! was one of them.

Run! It's The Coppers! is a beautiful copper holographic polish. It took 2 coats to build up opacity. The best things about this polish (other than its gorgeous colour and bright holographic rainbow) is the nice wide brush that makes application very easy. It's not too wide to worry those with thin nails, but wide enough to only need a couple of strokes to cover the nail. The formula was really nice and easy too. I ended up with a chip on my index finger, but you can see in the pictures that it's very uneven at the tip due to peeling, so that might have been a contributing factor. All in all I'm very happy with it.

I bought my KBShimmer polishes from Harlow & Co who ship worldwide at a very good price. KBShimmer doesn't ship outside the US.

See more pictures after the jump!

My Picks From KBShimmer's Summer Collections and a Lipstick Too!

My order from Harlow & Co came the other day, so I thought I'd show you which polishes I chose from the two KBShimmer summer collections (there was an early summer collection and a late summer collection - although I'm still considering this time of year to be early summer, but anyway). I only chose three polishes, not becasue I didn't like the rest, but because I now have over 2000 polishes and have completely run out of space to store them in. So I try to look for polishes that are a bit unusual or colours that I don't own yet.

I picked up Red, White & Blue-tiful from the late summer collection, a glitter topper with lots of red, blue and silver stars as well as red, blue and silver glitter and holographic micro glitter. Obviously it is for 4th July, the American Independence Day, but since the UK flag has the same colours, I thought it would be a very apt polish for the summer. Or just any time really.

From the early summer collection I got Run! It's The Coppers!, a copper holographic polish, and Let's Not Coral, a coral pink creme polish. Both are gorgeous and not similar to anything I own. (Which makes you wonder, how can someone have over 2000 polishes and still not own every colour possible?!)

I also ordered a lipstick which is a very rare occurrence for me nowadays (you might remember I went on a lip product no-buy when I was still blogging last year) as I now have so many lipsticks and lipglosses. I only buy some very special colours nowadays (mostly just Guerlain Rouge G's and Mac lipsticks), but I saw a swatch of Lime Crime Geradium Opaque Lipstick and just had to have it. I will review the lipstick in the coming days, but for now, here's a sneak peek.

Come back soon for a full review of this gorgeousness!

NOTD: Enchanted Polish Electric Feel

Today I have a gorgeous duochrome holo polish from Enchanted Polish to show you. I'm a big fan of Enchanted Polish, she makes the most gorgeous, complex polishes, but unfortunately they are extremely hard to come by. The restocks are few and far between and the polishes sell out in seconds. I count myself lucky to own as many Enchanted Polishes as I do. Nowadays it's easier to order them as she holds a pre-order every month or two for her monthly released mystery polishes (you don't know what it looks like until you receive it), but they are usually not duochrome which makes them less interesting to me.

Anyway, what I have here today is Electric Feel that was released as part of the Time To Pretend collection about a year ago. The collection is still available from time to time, Mei Mei Signatures and Pshiiit Boutique both had restocks fairly recently. Electric Feel is a duochrome holographic polish, it's light sage green with a golden sheen and it also has a dusky light blue duochrome to it and of course lots of holo. Very pretty.

Application was very easy, it took 2 coats for full coverage and dried quickly. I can't comment on how long it lasts as I only applied it last night. I usually get 2 days wear without chipping from Enchanted Polishes (and most polishes in general).

Do you own any Enchanted Polishes? Do you like duochrome holo polishes? They are definitely my favourites.

See more pictures after the jump!

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: Picture Polish Solar Flame

I'm an absolute sucker for multichrome polishes and if they have some holo added to them, that's even better. So when I first heard about the release of Picture Polish Solar Flame (and the other gorgeous multichrome polishes in that collection, of which Borealis and Aurora are now sadly completely sold out as they were released in very limited quantities) I knew I had to have them all.

The first polish I've tried is Solar Flare which is a bronzy brown shade that shifts to khaki and gold and it also has scattered holo added to it. The holo isn't your regular holo, the particles seem to stand out and almost glow like stars. Absolutely gorgeous. I used it over a black base as it is very sheer, but this way two coats gave the perfect coverage. You could build it up on its own, but it would never be this bright and would take at least 4 coats.

Please excuse the messy paintwork, try to focus on the beauty of the polish instead. It is a stunner, right?

Picture Polish nail polishes can be purchased from their own website as well as many other international retailers. I normally buy mine from Rainbow Connection or Sally Magpies (they're both in the UK).

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: Minty Green and Icy Silver

Today's mani is featuring a lovely nail polish from last year's Dior summer collection (no. 402 from the Samba mini polish duo) as well as GOSH Holographic Hero and Black Cat Lacquer Cancer, a glitter topper with matte white and grey glitter as well as small holographic glitter.

All 3 polishes were easy to apply, although the GOSH one you have to be careful with as it can pull a bit, but with 3 coats, everything was even. I used 2 coats of the glitter topper for added sparkle. The mani lasted well for 2 days, I removed it at the end of the second day. Removal was okay, I always use the foil method if I wear glitter.

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: Butter London Trustafarian

Just a quick mani post tonight as I've had a very busy and tiring weekend. Not too bad though, my younger daughter and I went to see One Direction at Wembley Stadium on Friday night and we were out shopping today. :)

Anyway, this is Butter London Trustafarian, a greenish gold nail polish with subtle holo. I used 3 coats for full coverage, the formula was good, and it is a very nice polish.

It costs £12 for 11 ml and you can buy it from the Butter London website or for 10% less from Lookfantastic.

Do you like Butter London polishes? What about holographic polishes? Is this a shade that you would wear? Goodnight!

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?

NOTD: Sally Hansen Nail Prisms in Ruby Diamond (Holographic)

Although school has now started, I've still been very busy trying to sort out my house, but it's all done now, so finally I will have some time to take pictures and swatch my new purchases (although there aren't that many actually), and also go shopping this week. But for now, I have a quick nail polish post for you.

Oh and don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY, it ends at midnight (UK time) tonight!

So this is Sally Hansen Nail Prisms nail polish in Ruby Diamond which is a bright fuchsia pink holographic polish. It took 3 coats for this coverage, the polish was very runny and also slow drying. I used a top coat between the second and third coat not to dull the holo effect, but still try and make it last longer. I had a tiny chip in the first 24 hours and a few more chips the following day. Still, it was very pretty while it lasted.

I believe Sally Hansen Nail Prisms aren't available in the shops anymore, in fact in the UK they never were, but there are quite a lot of them on eBay which is where I got all mine from. The prices vary depending on the shades, but I managed to grab mine for around £6-7 each.

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots Holographic Polish

It's been a long and horrible day, so I only have the energy for a quick post, but I wanted to share this with you as it's so pretty. Strap On Your Moonboots is the first shade from the China Glaze Hologlam collection that I've tried on my fingers. This was the one that arrived broken, so I decided to quickly use it while I could. I now have a new bottle and managed to save most of the broken one, so all's good.

The formula was a little thick, but it could've been due to the fact that the polish hadn't been in a sealed bottle for a few days. After adding a few drops of thinner it was fine and easy to work with. I used 2 coats, but frankly, one would've been pretty much enough. It dried quickly which was just as well as I didn't use a topcoat. The holo effect isn't as strong as some others (Color Club, Glitter Gal, Layla), but it is very smooth and looks very classy. The colour is gorgeous, it's a smokey denim blue colour, again rather classy and unique (for me anyway). I was pleasantly surprised to find that it lasted relatively well too, I'd heard horror stories about the China Glaze OMG holos. It didn't chip at all for the first 24 hours and still looked good on the second day.

All in all, I really like this polish, even though the holo effect isn't nearly as strong as I had hoped. I ordered mine from Nail Polish Direct and they cost £8.95 for 14 ml each. I have seen these on BeautyBay for £16 each which is a joke though, I'm sorry, but these are never worth that much!

See more pictures after the jump!

Topshop Holographic Nail Polish Swatches

I have been on a MASSIVE nail polish kick (especially holographic nail polish!) lately, even though I shouldn't be buying any more, so expect to see a few more nail polish posts here on the blog.

I picked up these holo beauties on a recent trip to Topshop as I'd seen them on their website. I was a bit worried they might not turn out very holographic, but to my surprise these are actually pretty good. The holo effect isn't as smooth as the China Glaze Hologlam polishes, the holo particles are bigger in the Topshop ones. The effect is more similar to the Color Club Halo Hues polishes (maybe I should swatch all 12 of those too), but less strong.

The colours are nice, but nothing special, you get a silver one, a pale blue one and a pink one. I hope they come out with more colours as these are really nice polishes and at £6 for 8 ml each. I've yet to wear them, but they swatched really nicely and dried quickly and you can see for yourself how pretty they are. Now if only Urban outfitters sold their holo polishes in the UK...

See more pictures after the jump!

China Glaze Hologlam Collection Haul and Swatches

My China Glaze Hologlam collection holographic nail polishes arrived today! I was so excited, I had to take pictures and swatch them all. Unfortunately one of them (Strap On Your Moonboots) broke in transit, so there is quite a bit of polish on some of the other bottles, but I just quickly wanted to take some pictures while it was sunny. Luckily the bottle didn't smash completely, only the top broke off, so I could still swatch the polish (there's about 2/3 left in the bottle as it remained standing).

I haven't worn any of them yet, so can't comment on wear time. The swatches show just one coat, I'd probably do two for a better coverage, but they are nicely pigmented. The holo effect isn't as strong as some other (namely Color Club and Glitter Gal), but it's not too bad, it's still linear and perfectly visible. The pictures were taken in strong sunlight, so they are as good as they get. All the pictures were taken without flash.

The colours are nice, not massively unique, but pretty anyway. OMG A UFO looks rather yellow/gold in the pictures, it's actually more khaki than yellow in real life. Don't Be A Lunatic and Sci-Fly By are very close, Sci-Fly By is a little bit darker, but hardly noticable. Get Out Of My Space and Astro Hot look quite similar in the pictures, but Get Out Of My Space is definitely more purple in real life.

While the holo effect isn't as strong as I hoped, these polishes are really nice and I'm glad I got them all. I ordered mine from Nail Polish Direct and they cost £8.95 for 14 ml each.

See lots more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: A-England Ascalon

I have A-England Ascalon to show you today, a steel grey polish with a touch of lavender and subtle holographic shimmer. It's part of A-England's The Legend collection.

It took 3 coats to achieve the colour seen in the pictures. The formula was nice and easy to apply. I always do the last coat on top of the top coat (Seche Vite in this case) to seal it better and also not to dull the holo effect. Although with this polish I don't think it makes much of a difference as it has very subtle holo anyway.

The formula was nice and it lasted on me for 2 days with very minimal chipping (I wore it for 4 days in the end). That's a little better than average for me.

A-England polishes cost £9 each and you get 13 ml. Available to order from the A-England website.

See more pictures after the jump!

Festive Nails Part 5 - Holographic Silver

Holographic silver nail polishes always remind me of wrapping paper, don't they? This one is 17's new holo polish which I actually won in a giveaway from the lovely Liloo. (Check her fantastic blog out here.) As I'm a sucker for holographic polishes, I had to try this out asap!

The holo effect on this one isn't the strongest I've seen, it's probably up there with the GOSH holographic polish, maybe a little weeker. It's very pretty though and the formula was very nice. Application was a bit messy, but that's probably my fault. I did 2 coats then top coat then an extra coat to make sure the top coat didn't dull the holo effect. The only thing I didn't like about it, which I've not experienced with any other holo polish before, is how it faded by day 3 and was very dull at the end of my fingers. It lasted pretty well though, with only a few small chips by the end of day 2.

I like 17 nail polishes, they're cheap, but qood quality. You get 10 ml for £3.99 and at the moment there's a buy one get one half price offer on selected 17 cosmetics at Boots.

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: Milani 3D Holographic Nail Polish in Cyberspace

As I said the other day, I might not be able to muster up anything other than nail polish posts for the next few days due to chronic time shortage. Thankfully I have plenty of pretty polish to show you, so hope you will enjoy them. Here's the first one, Milani 3D Holographic Nail Polish in Cyberspace.

Taken without flash in direct sunlight

I have already showed you another one of these polishes, 3D, a yellow subtle holo.Cyberspace is a light blue polish with a stronger holo effect than 3D, It looked especially pretty in the sunshine. I did 2 coats for this full coverage you see in the pictures. I added another coat on top of the topcoat to see if the holo effect got any stronger, but it didn't seem to matter. The formula was nice and quick drying. It started chipping on me on the first day, but actually then lasted really well even through scrubbing the oven! So I was pretty happy with it.

I bought this nail polish from Cherry Culture and it cost $3.99. You get 13.2 ml which is great. Their shipping is also very reasonable and they often have 20% off sales, so it's worth registering with them.

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: Enchanted Polish Once Upon A Time

Time for another NOTD post. This time it's Enchanted Polish Once Upon A Time. Enchanted Polish is quickly becoming one of my favourite nail polish brands, their polishes are really gorgeous and quite different to everything I own. Although having said that, Once Upon A Time did actually remind me of China Glaze Liquid Crystal, only better.

Taken without flash in direct sunlight

The glitter particles in this polish are smaller than in Liquid Crystal, making the whole effect smoother, and this also has subtle holo, something I love in Enchanted Polish nail polishes. This was the polish I wore in my Nail Polish Stash And Storage Video if you want to see it "in action".

I used 2 coats for the coverage you see in the pictures,which is pretty opaque. I had a tiny chip after about 24 hours and managed to chip another nail quite badly the next day, but after patching it up I wore it for the total of 4 days. So all in all, a good little nail polish. I bought mine from Llarowe, it cost $15 for 15 ml, although sadly it's not available anymore. The only downside of this brand is its very limited availability. She only makes them in very small batches and once they're gone, they're gone. If you like this though, check out China Glaze Liquid Crystal for a similar effect.

See more pictures after the jump!

Update On My No-Buy 2 Months On

In case you're not a regular reader of my blog (and why not?), to fill you in, 2 months ago I went on a no-buy for lipsticks, lipglosses and nail polishes (you can also read my original post by clicking here). Well, an intended no-buy anyway. I have been doing well in some areas (lips) and not so well in other areas (nails).

Firstly, the positives. I haven't bought any new lipsticks this month, so that's a definite well done to me. I have bought 6 lipglosses, but those were still (just about) within my limit, and now I've reached that, I'm not going to allow myself any more.

Secondly, I can't stop buying nail polish. I did better than last month (not hard), but still bought far too many. The picture below shows a small portion of my nail polish haul. I have to say, 9 of them came from my wishlist (those gorgeous holographic Color Club polishes on the front and left of the picture and the Enchanted Polishes on the right), and one was sent to me by the lovely Liloo as a prize (the other gorgeous holo by 17 on the right), so surely that doesn't count, right?

The trouble is, there are just too many pretty, glittery, holo polishes out there, and I'm too weak. But I'm trying. I have quite a long wishlist now and I have been better about not just buying things when I see them on a blog or in a shop, so hopefully it's a start. However, feel free to give me a kick up the bum and tell me to stop buying them since I already have enough nail polishes to last me 20 years or so!

NOTD: A-England Lady Of The Lake

Today I have Lady Of The Lake from A-England to show you, a dark greyish purple polish with subtle holo. This is the second shade I've tried out, if you want to see Princess Tears in action, click here.

Taken without flash in direct sunlight

I did 2 coats with Seche Vite on top, then the following day I added an extra coat on top to see if it made any difference with the holo (top coats sometimes dim the holo effect), but I couldn't see a difference. The holographic effect is quite subtle, not as linear as Layla or Glitter Gal polishes, but it's still pretty.

The formula was nice and it lasted on me for 2 days with minimal chipping (I wore it for 3 days). That's average for me.

A-England polishes cost £9 each and you get 13 ml. Available to order from the A-England website.

See more pictures after the jump!

NOTD: Enchanted Polish Across The Universe - Duochrome With Holo, The Ultimate Gorgeousness?

I don't remember where I first came across Enchanted Polish, probably on one of those pesky nail blogs that make me want to buy every sparkly nail polish in the world.

Taken without flash in direct sunlight

I'm glad I did though as all the polishes I own from Enchanted Polish are gorgeous. Across The Universe is part of their Beatles collection and is extremely hard to get hold of. I'm currently after a couple of other polishes from their newer releases: I Am The Walrus and Magical Mystery Tour.

But let's talk about this one for now. Across The Universe has everything I love in nail polish: it is duochrome multichrome AND holographic! W00t! It's blue and purple, but also pink and orange at certain angles and has subtle linear holo. I couldn't stop staring at my fingers when I was wearing it, just so beautiful. My pictures don't do justice to it, the colours and the holo are more vibrant. (Also, sorry about my nails in the pictures, I had just broken my middle finger nail right down to the flesh, ouch!)

It's also amazingly opaque, only took 2 coats for the coverage you see in the pictures, didn't need to layer it over black polish or anything like that. It lasted well, for 2 days without much chipping, and I actually wore it to the swimming pool which usually makes my nail polish come off. So all in all I was very pleased with it.

My only problem with Enchanted Polish is that it's really hard to come by. They seem to be released in very small quantities and sell out within minutes. Seeing that I order from the US, I try to buy more than one at a time to save on postage, but it's almost impossible to find them all in stock at the same time. Sigh.

I bought Across The Universe from Llarowe, it cost $13 and shipping was pretty reasonable. It's a 3-free polish and you get 15 ml for your money.

See more pictures after the jump!