Nire's Desire We Are Alive

To get Nire's Desire Techno Collection finally home was quite a journey. As of late our customs have geared up in checking packages - or my name was getting famous there, or - as a friend of mine suggested - the ladies working at customs like to look at nice nail polish too! To make the long story short, it was quite an exchange of communication and verification to get those pretties over my doorstep and the icing on the cake was that the package was delivered on Monday, I wasn't home, they put a note in my mailbox and I couldn't get round to pick it up until Saturday of course. However, this journey lays now in the past as well and the delightful playtime with my new Nire's Desire beauties could get a roller coaster start:

We Are Alive is a happy, bright fuchsia firmly grounded on bold ground vs neon. It is filled with blue shimmer (maybe I need to wait for bad weather to coax it to the front of the nail stage) and throws a soft rainbow linear holo mostly in red and blueish lilac.

 What a delightful experience to paint my nails with We Are Alive. The formula is highly pigmented - yes to the expense of the holo effect in the sun. But I trade in those higher pigmented, soft holos on nearly any day,  as they maintain the holo rainbow in nearly any light. In my office I sit quite a distance from a window and I frankly ogle my nails quite often while waiting on the one or the other Help(less)line ;-P!!! The consistency is while not creamy wonderful to paint with and easy to control. Dry time is normal and it dries to the shine you see in the pictures.

Final thoughts: I think it might be because it is spring but as of late I am drawn to those bold happy red leaning fuchsias, magentas, pink, whatever you want to call it. We Are Alive is just the first out of my new Nire's Desire polishes, and trust me - the others are not any less captivating, stay tuned!!!

I ordered Nire's Desire We Are Alive on Etsy here.

Thank you for visiting and oh - your comments make me happy!!!
Christine

Colors by Llarowe Smooth Criminal

YAYYY we finally joined daylight saving time!!! I feel only minor regret over loosing one hour of my weekend when I think of the longer enlightened evenings to come!! Above all, I will have a week off and look forward to get my place into spring mood (read spring cleaning). Maybe this is my Swiss gene but I am really exited to get those cleaning utensils out and whirl through my apartment!!! Let's see if I am as exited about it once half way through next week. To top the spring feel, we are in for a gorgeous week full of spring weather, what's more to wish for? NAILPOLISH - of course!!!

Today I have Colors by Llarowe Smooth Criminal for you - an insane periwinkle holographic polish. At least I assume it is periwinkle blue this holo is so mindblowingly strong, that I could hardly concentrate on identifying the base color - LOL!!

and now please sit straight in front of your screen, have both of your feet square in front of you and slowly inhale and exhale before scrolling further down

have you recovered yet from the holo-impact? Once in the shade Smooth Criminal has a lovely periwinkle/lilac color.

I applied two coats of Smooth Criminal over Seche Ridge Filling Base Coat. As with all the Colors by Llarowe holographic polishes Smooth Criminal as well has a flawless formula and a perfect consistency. It actually applies like a cream. Dry time is fast and the above mani is sealed with Glisten&Glow HK Girl Top Coat.

I bet, many of those who read my Blog on a regular basis are aware of my slight (ehem :-S) addiction to holo polishes - let's take a dive into my stash and see what we could compare Smooth Criminal with…

From left:

Colors by Llarowe Papermoon

Colors by Llarowe Smooth Criminal

Emily de Molly Devotion

……and what it turned out on the nails:

I found the differences in color the most visible in the shade:

Pinkie and index: Colors by Llarowe Papermoon

Ring: Emily de Molly Devotion

Middle: Colors by Llarowe Papermoon

all polishes are shown at two coats and with Glisten&Glow HK Girl Top Coat

But I am sure, you all want to see the holorificness of the threesome:

Summary: Colors by Llarowe Smooth Criminal and Emily de Molly are close base color wise, though Smooth Criminal clearly is a periwinkle blue in its base color (I know, it doesn't really show in my pictures - I am afraid, you have to trust me on this one). Holo wise Colors by Llarowe Papermoon is clearly the strongest and the softest with regard to base color in the shade - but then it is also a lilac and has more red in the base of course. What struck me most is that the holo in Emily de Molly's Devotion looked so weak next to the holo explosions of the CbLs.

You can order Colors by Llarowe with Llarowe and with Harlow & Co. Emily de Molly is available with Llarowe and MeiMei Signatures.

I had company while taking those holomanic pictures: 

Nell enjoys the spring weather as much as any of us!!!

I look forward to read your thoughts in the comments section - thank you so much for stopping by <3

Christine

Nire's Desire Jezebel

To get this post up was sort of a nail polish Odyssee. For once the obstacles were not IT related (get my face: colon, dash, o - LOL) but weather and timing wise.  Jezebel is LE POLISH that got me curious and then exited and then seduced into trying Nire's Desire. Fast forward two weeks: Erin, the creative mind behind Nire's Desire has sent me a wonderful package with not only Jezebel and its pals ordered but some mini bottles and her Top Coat. I certainly am the last person to complain about the weather but as of late many weekends were either adorned with misly weather or I was super busy. So my nail polish mind grew impatient followed by annoyed and ending in frustration to never seem to be able to wear Jezebel as NOTD and get pictures AND write a post. Finally I can set this part of my mind to a rest - Bang, Dang, Horray - this is Jezebel:

Nire's Desire Jezebel is a chameleon shade on my nails (winky-wink to somebody that will do a major eye roll here) that shifts from a very very blue red to a very very red leaning magenta depending on the light. It is sprinkled in the most delicate but in any light visible soft holo rainbow in gold and lilac mostly. But we are not yet at the end - in artificial light it has a certain muted, classic quality (please mark this: muted, not dull) and springing to vibrancy once out in the sun. Now this is a chameleon in its own right - you agree?

I applied two absolutely effortless highly pigmented coats of Nire's Desire Jezebel over Seche Ridge Filling Base Coat. The formula, the consistency from whichever angle considered are perfection. Highly pigmented, creamy though easily spread on the nail, self leveling and drying at a fast to normal time. For once I can also say a word or two about wearability: EXCELLENT - as simple as that. I had some pretty nail challenging days and except for some tip wear on both middle finger the mani looked like just slapped on!!!

PLEASE NOTE: the lens of my camera went bonkers over that red and magenta and blurred the colors remarkably on the nail - but what you see in the bottle is what you have IRL on your nails.

Final thoughts: Now what adjective would be suitable? Amazing? Striking? Stunning? All of them? I certainly vote for the last. For those of you who are in the mood to chime into spring with a fantastic not yet so widely known Indie nail polish brand, Nire's Desire is more than a look at worth, but I want to warn you - you might get enthralled ;-)

I order my Nire's Desire polishes with Erin's Etsy shop here.

To end the post - it's been a while since I posted a picture of Nell - here is His Furry Highness . Still very sleepy - after all it is the weekend and why for heaven's sake did his slave (moi) wake him so early???

Thanks for visiting and reading your thoughts and comments will make me happy!!!
Enjoy a wonderful Saturday
Christine

Picture Polish Skittle INCLUDING some excursion into nailart territory

I think it was sometime last week when I stumbled over tiny sponge triangles by Bourjois specifically designed for gradients - now I hear you, why go and spend some hard earned bucks on something you can get snap-snap yourself? But then I did try this and either my sponges were too dense or too fluffy - the gradient ended in either in Blotchmania or color blocks. So me as the epitome of nailart clutz was quite glad to stumble over those triangles that at least promised on the package to be perfect for gradients - let's have a look:

Some of you might have already heard news that Picture Polish will release some new collaboration shades, restock the beautiful multi-chromes, other new colors and what have you on 31 March on their Webite. On top of this, there was a post on Instagram yesterday asking if Aurora and some others should be included in the permanent line - honestely - is this a question? I only saw capital YESSSSS popping up from all around the globe!! You see?  Rescue is near for those who feared will miss out on those shades!!!!  To make the long story short: the part of my mind which is reserved for nailpolish was totally dominated by Picture Polish this week. But enough babble and down to nails: I did a Skittle inspired by the wonderful Martha from ChitChatNails.

I used the following polishes:
Picture Polish Peaches'n Cream
Picture Polish Wisteria
Picture Polish Mardi Gras

I started with two coats of Picture Polish Peaches'n Cream on my pinkie, ring and thumb. And with two coats of Picture Polish Wisteria on my middle and index. I let it dry and sealed it with one coat of Sally Hansen Insta Dry. Then I sponged on the reverse color on my ring respectively my middle. I was quite happy with my ring finger but the middle was rather meh - note to self DON'T DO LIGHT COLORS OVER BOLD OR DARK COLORS!!! Two coats of Mardi Gras on all nails but my index covered up the close to fail well, no? On my index I randomly placed some crystal studs.

You know me - I love my manis matte - here we go:

 

I hope you all enjoyed my little excursion into nail art territory (eeeeks I tried a gradient!!!!)

Thanks for visiting!!!! Oh and don't be shy to leave a comment - I love to read about your thoughts!!!
Christine

Pahlish Cross My Hearts

Pahlish created Cross My Hearts for the beautiful Dr. Who Collection. It is a blackened red base filled with small dark red shimmer particles, that NEARLY has a duo-chrome shine depending on the angle you ogle your nails ;-)

I applied two effortless coats of Pahlish Cross My Hearts over Seche Ridge Filling Base Coat. The application was the usual Pahlish-pleasure. The dry time as well as the finish (smooth though dull) were also the usual excellent Pahlish quality - there is a reason I have so many Pahlish AND that I reach for them most of the time when I need to be really quick with my NOTD. The consistency is slightly thick but if you go for medium thick coats you can paint your nails evenly and smoothly. I finished the look with one coat of Sally Hansen Insta Dry - and no, this is no Top Coat eater - the finish had the same high shine after a day of wear as right after application - just look at my last picture which I took a day after the others - my index shows some tip wear (grrrr) but the shine is still beautiful.

And I gave it a go with Cult Nails Wax That Top Coat and no, this is an visual illusion - the polish did NOT become bumpy or uneven - I haven't the faintest idea why it looks so weird in my pictures :-o!!! But in the below picture you can see what where I detected a tiny winy bit of duo-chrome ;-P!!

 

Final thoughts: You might wonder, why I wiggle a sold-out polish in front of your eyes - well it is because I consider those kinds of shimmers a classic and they are available with many other brands (just don't ask me right now which ones) - oh Dior Midnight is certainly a member of this family. They have a classiness AND a glow to them. They go for many, many opportunities and look equally striking out in the sun or in the evening in subdued light.

 

I ordered Pahlish Cross My Hearts with their own Bigcartel Shop here.

 

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!

Christine

Picture Polish Illusionist

I slowly work my way through my five Picture Polish limited edition multi-chrome polishes. Oh I just can imagine your raised eyebrows - SLOOOOW??????? Well, I want to layer them over anything but black and I usually try it over the one or the other before I do a post.

Today I have Picture Polish Illusionist for ya - and I applied it over Isadora Beetle Green (this has been quite in use lately) - an insane deep emerald shimmer polish that looks blackened around the edges. I think without poking your eyeball out and hefting it to the screen, you can detect the deep green shimmer on my nails - well that's the Beetle Green doing its work in the back...

I applied two thin coats of Picture Polish Illusionist over Isadora Beetle Green. And there is nothing to say about formula or consistency of Illusionist except IT IS BLOODY PERFECT!!! As it is typical for those layering polishes, the consisteny is relatively thin and while they can be worn on their own at multiple coats, I prefer if they are given maximum depth. I finished the mani with one coat of Sally Hansen Insta Dry.

And of course the underwater picture:



Final thoughts: Picture Polish really, really excelled at all of those shade shifters!!! So far I am in love with each and every one of them!!!

Picture Polish will have a restock of all of them on 31 March on their own website. But beware - they only let customers have one bottle per polish as this is a limited edition collection. I truly embrace this trend as it gives the opportunity to those living in different time zones to have a thin chance of getting any of those lemmings too and not just stumble over "sold out" with every polish.

I really am curious of what you think of Illusionist - you love it as much as I do? What would you have layered it on and nope, I don't mean black, I mean anything BUT black!

Thanks for stopping by :-)

Christine

Hare Polish Phat Tuesday

Since Januar I subscribe to Llarowe's Monthly A Box Indied. I usually don't show the polishes here because by the time I have them on my nails all of them have sold-out. But those Mardi Gras themed polishes were just beautiful to not share with you, you see, I risk some levels of popularity here - LOL!!!

So this is Hare Polish Phat Tuesday - a dark sheer purple base filled with all sorts of green, gold, chartreuse, purple glitter in micro, small and "normal" sized glitter in hex and square shape. Some of them give off a holo twinkle, some of them are half matte - never a dull moment with this baby, you see?

I applied ONE coat of Hare Polish Phat Tuesday over Isadora Beetle Green. The formula is perfect and the consistency nice to control - no glitter clubs anywhere on the nails, nor pools, bald patches or any of the other glitter-mares I am no big fan of (nor any of you) like totally uneven spreading from nail to nail. Or having tons of glitter poking over the tip of the nail... Dry time was as with any Hare Polish fantastic and while the surface after one coat was not smooth, the bumpiness was moderate and I could get away with one coat of Sally Hansen Insta Dry.

Final thoughts: now where on Earth did I ever get the idea to layer Hare Polish Phat Tuesday over GREEN??? I mean HELLOOOOOO - the base is PURPLE!!! So while I love the result, I have to redo this mani using a purple base - the photos will be added soon. And please forgive the look of my cuticles. In some pictures they look ok and then you load up another one and you go all screaming. They definitely call for some exfoliation!!!

In case you like the idea of a monthly box of surprises and Indie Polish, this subscriptions certainly calls to you. Llarowe will launch the A Box Indied for April tomorrow - and the best of it: you don't need to register for a full subscription - you can order them month by month as well.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for stopping by!!!

Backvocals - my most used Base and Top Coats

As of late, my life outside the Blog Universe has geared up to a permanent run. And there is no end in sight - at least for the better part of April. Oh well, I will try my best and get a couple of posts up every week. At least there is again some light even after 5 pm and this allows me to show more NOTDs versus swatches only.

For today I wanted to show you my preferred products for Base and Top Coats. I have read from quite a few Bloggers that they are lucky enough to be able to go with neither Base nor Top Coats but my nail chemistry won't tolerate such an easy go. Base Coat - mandatory (my ridges are bad, bad, bad). And without Top Coat my nails look horrid after one day in the office.

Base Coats:

Over  the past year or so I have solely and only used Essence XXL Hardening Nail Base. And out of the blue, that rack remained empty in my local Manor since more than 2 months. I haven't heard or read anything that this product will be taken from the range of products and checking the website, they still list it under their current products - however, none of this is any help to me as the rack remains stubbornly empty. Below you see the last picture showing my last bottle of Essence XXL Hardening Nail Base which I gave a way to a friend who has some serious nail breaking issues as of late. Which nudged me into exploratory mode which lead to acquisition of below Base Coats and lead finally to this post - ugh what a sentence!!!

From left:
Essence XXL Hardening Nail Base: a wonderful Base Coat that comes cheap and not only minimizes my ridges but also the coloring of the nails. The downside (besides its current unavailability) it gets thick after having used half of the bottle and incredibly gloppy after 2/3. I never used up any of their bottles and used to throw them out regularly. Since it is very cheap, it did not really concern me.

Seche Ridge Filling Base Coat: this is my latest addition to the team of Backvocals and after two days of use I am still totally exited. It applies slightly milky and dries to a satin finish and seems to have some  shimmer particles in it. It dries within the blink of an eye and I so far used it as Base Coats under creams, shimmer and a shimmer fleck polish and now yes, a glitter (I am terrified of the amount of elbow grease required tonight). It behaved well with all of the mentioned finishes and I cannot report any misbehaviors, though I haven't tried it for holos yet. As with Essence XXL Hardening Nail Base, it is easier to apply a not too thin first coat of your polish to prevent patchiness. It smoothed my ridges as good as the Essence Base Coat. I also cannot yet report anything on a possible thickening as the bottle is still filled.  I prefer the application of Seche over the one from Essence. The only downside: it is very expensive here in Switzerland, but I was desperate to get a bottle of a decent Ridge Filler and could not wait for an Amazon order to arrive.

Maybelline Express Protective Base Coat: this is your regular, clear Base Coat. No ridge filling and no protection from staining the nails. I wore it under a red polish and my nails turned within a day ORANGE - yyyyyks!!!! I also tried to apply a holo polish over it and while it was manageable, I got used to quite a different paint job with my Essence. Overall: an acceptable emergency solution but no way I will reach for it if I have either of the above handy.

Not in the picture: Nyx Ridge Filling Base Coat - I should have left this back in the store. It did not satisfy me in any aspect: not really ridge filling, slow drying and picky with what kind of polish it likes. Maybe this is due to my nail chemistry and it will work for you. For me it was a fail.

On to my Top Coats:

From left:
Sally Hansen Insta Dry: My daily go-to Top Coat for anything except holos. I could buy a set of three fairly cheap on Amazon. It holds its promise to dry quickly and it leaves the nail with a beautiful high shine. Overall: I love it

Glisten&Glow HK Girl: this is my favorite Top Coat and I would solely go for this one if it would be cheaper - and available in the shop next door. It dries super fast and is perfect to wear over holos - if anything, it deepens the holo effect and completely erases the sometimes flat shine in some of the strong holos. Overall: Another big love of mine ;-)

Cult Nails Wax That: dries to a waxy finish. Dry time evidently is not as fast as with the two before mentioned but it protects the wax finish well and I hardly discovered shiny tips after a day of wear.

Mentality Matte Top Coat: will create a beautiful, completely matte finish. It dries slightly quicker than Cult Nails Wax That but not as fast as the first two. As with all of the matte-matte finishes I wore, I observed shiny tips after a day of wear.

Honorable mention: Cult Nails Wicked Fast - a gorgeous quick drying Top Coat that in my eyes gets beaten by the above by a hairline only. And of course Glitter Gal Gloss Boss (isn't that name hilarious?). Now Gloss Boss is while also quick drying and not diminishing any holo quite different in consistency compared to Sally Hansen and Glisten& Glow - it is remarkable thicker and gel-iish if you know what I mean. What I TOTALLY dislike though is the form of the bottle it comes in - of course the square shape looks cool - but how for nailpolish-sake should I get some of it on my brush once it is is half empty? I can of course dip and bend the bottle - fair enough. Due to the thickness of Gloss Boss though, you might not get enough of it on your brush when you want to seal your bigger nails - with me any nail except the pinkie. So this is why it took a dive into my drawer lately and has not been in use. IMPORTANT: the consistency and/or dry time have not shown any impact despite the half empty bottle - so the product is really good, it just takes its own sweet time to get it out of the bottle once there is a serious dent in it. Oh and another down side, you will use quantity wise a lot more than from Glisten&Glow - given the higher price, I think decision is an easy one here.

Phew, that was a lot of text - and there are some not even listed - they still sit unopened in my drawer and I will do a respective review once I used them.

Thank you very much for bearing with me to the end of this long, long post - and I look forward to reading any comments!!!
Christine

Colors by Llarowe Silver

For the last couple of weeks, we had beautiful sunny weather - during the week. The weekends were more often than not overcast and murky. So you might guess how exited I was when there finally came a bright and sunny Sunday around the corner. You can bet, I hardly have changed my nail polish so quickly to give my nails a special holo-treat. Colors by Llarowe Silver is well, a straight forward silver holo but boy, what a holo that is:

I applied two effortless coats of Colors by Llarowe Silver over Essence Hardening Nail Base. It was relatively quick to the touch but remained sensitive to dents for some time. Using Glisten&Glow HK Girl Top Coat did not diminish the holo effect one bit.

Final thoughts: I so far only had only silver holos that came with an attitude - think Nfu Oh 61 or Fnug Psychedelic. Extraordinaire holo with zero wear. Both of them literally fall off by themselves. Not so Colors by Llarowe Silver - not only it throws breathtaking holo rainbows into your face, you can also wear it for a full day and not experience chips or dents or what have you. And this is by painting it on a regular Base Coat - no Aqua Base Coat needed here!!!

I ordered Colors by Llarowe with Llarowe.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine