Nerd Lacquer All of Time and Space

Nerd Lacquer All of Time and Space is a sheer mint turquoise with silver and bright fuchsia glitter. It’s quite a “naughty” one to photograph; pictures do not reveal the entire gorgeousness of it.

Zoya Jules

I got this nail polish from the lovely lady KristinaJ This is my first swap! I loved everything I have received from her J I hope you will love goodies I sent you as well.

I also updated the format of the photos. I made them bigger. So, tell me whether you like previous size of the photos or this one better. Thanks...

Zoya Jules is champagne shimmer with golden dust. Although I’m not a huge fan of shimmers, I really liked Jules. It also has slight taupe and grey undertones that make it unique. It is a timeless creation suitable for work or going out.

Alessandro 513 Street Wear - International Nail Polish

I’m a huge fan of Alessandro hand care – hand creams, serums and 2-phase peeling are beyond amazing! However, I this was the first time I tried Alessandro nail polish.

Street Wear is a violet gold shimmer with pink undertones. It’s very classy and absolutely stunning. I was impressed with the formula: the application was smooth and dry time is less than a minute.

Alessandro is a German brand. Unfortunately it is not available in US (cries...), but is widely accessible in Europe and Asia. It can also be found in one Quebec. I rarely recommend nail and hand care products, because the preferences are different. But, seriously, if you come across this brand anywhere, try their Hands Up! Line. It is amazing.

OPI I Don’t Give a Rotterdam!

Here we go…OPI did it again!

Initially, I thought that I will not be attracted to any polishes from Holland collection. Don’t get me wrong – they are all lovely, but when you have more than 300 nail polishes it becomes harder and harder to find something amazing.

This spring I was excited about several collections from China Glaze, especially Hunger Games. But when I saw swatches, I understood that I won’t probably get anything, may. On the other hand, there are a lot of amazing indie-brands and talented franken bloggers on Etsy that surprise with creativity and amazing nail polishes.

OPI played it safe last year. A lot of the shades were quickly duped by competitors. Some might think that Holland collection is also trivial…and in some ways it is. But it has couple of gems that shine and definitely should be in a nail closet of every polish junkie

Personally, my gem from this collection is I Don’t Give a Rotterdam!. Being a huge fan of blues and having a lot of them in different finishes, I still find this little wonder very unique.

On the one hand, I Don’t Give a Rotterdam! Is a lovely subtle baby blue with silver shimmer that is very easy to wear on every occasion. On the other hand, it is a very non-trivial blue, maybe because of the shimmer in it. I get a little bit of Chanel vibe from it…very graceful.
The coverage is superb; the formula is on the thinner side. 2-3 coats are enough for the full opacity.

Natural afternoon light:)

OPI Rally Pretty Pink

OPI Rally Pretty Pink is a truly royal pink with tons of golden shimmer. It has so much shimmer in it that it gives a duochrome effect to the nail polish. I wouldn’t say that this polish is a duochrome by itself though.

Rally Pretty Pink is a part of Serena Williams for OPI Slam Glam collection. It was supposed to be a base for the red shatter. For me, it didn’t work at all. Somehow, I thought that these 2 were not complimenting each other at all. Plus, I didn’t like red shatter idea.

International Nail Polish: PUPA 402, 800, 905 swatches

PUPA nail polish is something that you can’t find in US. At least I haven’t seen it in Massachusetts. It is a really cool Italian brand that is famous for their fancy colorful all-in-one make up palettes. They also have a nail polish line. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find a lot of colors that I don’t already have, but I got 3 shimmery glitters. All 3 polishes have the same small silver glitter dust, but the base colors are different.

The formula is super pigmented and 1 coat is enough for the full opacity. It is also very shiny and long-lasting. At first, I thought that I had mini versions of the nail polishes, but I guess all of their polishes are so small (only 5ml). These polishes are on a thicker side, so they are perfect for stamping.

If you see PUPA somewhere, I would definitely recommend trying it out. You won’t regret.
Unfortunately, PUPA nail polishes don’t have names, so I will name it by their numbers.


402-Purple shimmer with silver dust. It's a deep purple shimmer with slight burgundy undertones.

800-Navy blue shimmer with silver dust. This polish is my favorite of 3. It is a pretty close dupe to my long wished Chanel Nuit De Russie that is impossible to find anymore.

905- Black/Brown shimmer with silver dust glitter. The finish is very similar to the L’oreal Night Owl. The only difference is the color of the glitter.

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Lavender Marquis

Happy Pink Wednesday everyone!

Sally Hansen Lavender Marquis is one of those shades that are extremely easy to wear. This nail polish is appropriate for almost any occasion…ok, maybe except of the Goth parties. It is also a perfect choice for the French manicure.

Lavender Marquis is a light shimmery pink-lilac duochrome. The formula is very smooth and it dries very fast without the top coat. 

Orly Plum Delicious

Orly Plum Delicious is a lovely light lilac shimmer with a hint of duochrome finish. I only have seen this polish in a mini version of Orly.
The formula is quite thin, but it’s easy to apply and wear. Unlike most of the brushes in mini polishes, the Orly’s brush is a little bigger that makes the application easier.

Without flash in daylight

Chanel Tulipe Noire

Tulipe Noire is one of those classic Chanel shades that you just can’t pass by. It’s a rich blackened burgundy with gold shimmer. It has a slight metallic touch to it, but not too much. Tulipe Noire is one of the rare burgundy polishes I really like, but it’s more of a fall/winter polish.

The nail polish is very pigmented and one coat gives an opaque coverage. I used 2 coats, just in case:) It is also very glossy. The formula is smooth and easy to apply.

For me, Tulipe Noire has one significant downside: During the removal process it leaves red streaks and colors the cuticles. It’s not a big problem, because the streaks are easily removed with a clean cotton pad. It is still annoying.

OPI Play 'til Midnight

I was rearranging my polishes and found OPI Play 'til Midnight. I think this is one of the shades that every dark nail polish lover should have:)

OPI Play 'til Midnight is a dark ink with purple shimmer.It's not exactly a duochrome, but the color changes depending on the light from almost black to shimmery blue.
To me it is very close to OPI Ink and OPI Russian Navy.
The formula is standard for OPI polishes, it's on the thinner side. 2 coats are enough for the full opacity.

Pink Wednesday: OPI Peach-A-Boo over Sparrow Me Drama

Hi All,

This Wednesday I’m wearing gentle pink creme Sparrow me Drama with one coat of Peach-A-Boo for some shimmery finish.

I really like the way it turned out: shimmer top coat gives a nice flirty sparkle for a very classic subtle pink.

This is Sparrow Me Drama without the shimmer top coat.

China Glaze Metro Collection Fall 2011. Part 2 –Midtown Magic swatches and comparison with Color Club With Abandon

When I saw Midtown Magic I completely fell in love with it…but Opps, after bringing it home I realized that I had something similar already. It turned out that With Abandon (you can see full post about it here) by Color Club is almost 100% similar to Midtown Magic nail polish.

But swatches first…. MM is a brown-black shade with golden and copper shimmer particles. I have a thing for dark nail polishes with a little shimmer…and this one is just that perfect piece of shiny dark chocolate. Metro Collection polishes have a little thinner formula, so most of them, including Midtown Magic require 3 coats for full opacity.

After discovering that I already have similar nail polish I decided to compare how similar are they? It turns out that it’s very hard to see the difference between Midtown Magic and With Abandon in artificial light or direct sunlight. The only difference I could notice is that CC With Abandon has only golden shimmer particles and China Glaze one has also some copper particles that make nail polish a little bit more colorful. Again …it is almost unnoticeable if you will not stare at your nails for 5 minutes.  

China Glaze Metro Collection Fall 2011. Part 1 – Shimmer: Trendsetter

Finally, my long waited China Glaze Metro Collection is out! I got only 5 nail polishes that I absolutely love. I decided to pass on other ones since OPI Touring America will be out very soon…

Let’s start from the one, that I think is a gem of the whole Metro collection.

Trendsetter is a shimmery mustard with a little bit of green. It is definitely a very unique color. Trendsetter brings the yellow nail polish trend to the whole new level. In my opinion, it is muted enough to wear it to the office and at the same time it is original to stand out and get noticedJ What can I say, I’m completely in love with it.

Trendsetter has gold and green particles and is very easy to apply. Unlike dark shades from this collection, only 2 coats are needed for opaque effect.