What is your favorite China Glaze collection? Here is a polish from my favorite:
Did you guess the polish? Here's another pic:
Well? No? Ok let me spill the beans: it's Sky High Top from the Kicks collection. A perfect blue shimmer with tons of depth. I do not have all the shades from the Kicks collection but so far, I'm loving them.
*UPDATE: I think Kicks is my second favorite ChG collection.... Rodeo Diva has to be #1! Thanks for making my realize that Jobreck!*
What's your favourite shade from Kicks? And what's your favorite China Glaze collection ever?
This came out in the Khrome collection. Sci Fi is light blue and has a chrome finish. It goes on as liquid metal. Once applied it is highly reflective. Kinda like a mirror. Ok, I couldn't pluck my eyebrows using my nails as a mirror, but you get the point.
My favorite of the Khrome collection is Milennium, a true silver polish. I love it so much that I have 2 back ups. Many people like to use these polishes from the Khrome collection as a stamping polish for Konad, I like it best just applied on it's own as a manicure. It looks so hot with a tan!
The downside to this amazing chrome finish is that it shows all flaws. I applied 2 thick coats of Gelous as a basecoat to achieve a smooth surface.
Have you come across chrome-like polishes other then China Glazes'? I think a hot pink chrome would be awesome :-D
Have you already entered my Black Shatter giveaway? Here's your chance!
Did you guess it was a suede? I bet you did. I never thought I would like this finish by swatches I've seen. Untill I was finally able to get hold of a bottle myself, just to try. I LOVED it! OPI's suede polishes are matte but contain tons of shimmer.
The sad part is... OPI discontinued their suedes.... So far I own Ink suede and Here Today, Aragon Tomorrow suede. I'd love to own all of them.
Do you like suedes, and which ones do you like best? And, even more important, do you know if they are still sold online somewhere?
My taste in nail polish is pretty broad. But I'm a sucker for color's that would be considered outrageous to most non-Lacqueristas. The more glitter, holo or *ugly* the better. I would literally DREAM about funky collaberations in the nail polish world. My wishlist: Lady Gaga, Bjork, Nelly Furtado, Lilly Allen, Kat von D, MIA, Ivy Queen, Macy Grey but most of all Katy Perry. And that last one just came true!
Katy Perry for OPI was released on January 1st, the collection exists of 4 different shades and one black shatter topcoat. All four shades can be topped off with the Black Shatter to create an unique leopard pattern.
Teenage Dream
A transparent mellow pink shade with shimmer and holographic particles. In the bottle it looks like the polish is pink but it's actually a clear base packed with pink shimmer particles. That's what makes it look pink. On the nail you don't really get the pink. It applies VERY sheer. Teenage Dream would make a great topcoat!
Besides the fine pink shimmer, this polish is also loaded with small perfectly round holographic particles. These look like tiny mirrors that make the finish extremely vivid in the right light.
Teenage Dream in daylight
Teenage Dream in sunlight
Teenage Dream with Black Shatter, no topcoat
Teenage Dream with Black Shatter and topcoat
Here's a video I made of Teenage Dream. Incredibly vivid glittah and holo! And in the video I didn't even have sun, so imagine what the sun would do...
Last Friday Night
In the bottle this looks like a vibrant blue with lots of glitters. A closer look tells us this is in fact a clear polish with the slightest touch of blue, with sparse blue micro shimmer and small turqoise and silver round particles. I'm not sure if these silver particles have a holographic quality to them. So far, I do not think so.
Last Friday Night applies the sheerest of sheer. After four thick coats there is finally some blue visible. The glitters are also very sparse, it does not even come close to Teenage Dream (that is packed with these goodies). I experienced a strange change in color when I was taking pictures of Last Friday Night; in some light setting the polish appears more pinkish then blue-ish...
Last Friday Night, daylight
Last Friday Night with Black Shatter, no topcoat
The One That Got Away
OPI describes this as a deep berry pink. I would say they might be right :-) On some websites I have read that The One That Got Away is considered a multi-chrome (Showing different colors depending on angle/light). In the bottle I do see a golden duo chrome going on, but once applied on the nail I was not able to catch that again.
Either way, this is a pretty and flattering pink although it's not unique. In the formula you find tiny glitter.The finish and formula falls somewhere between Let Me Entertain You and Teas-y Does It. I did a comparison with LMEY and they don't come close.
The One That Got Away, sunlight
The One That Got Away with Black Shatter
(look at how ugly the shatter pattern turned out. This is what happens when you are impatient! Have a look at my tips n tricks at the bottem of this post ;-)
Not Like The Movies
My favorite of this Katy Perry Collection. A multi chrome with a dominant grey base color. Once applied the pink becomes more dominant and depending on the angle you will catch green, pink, purple, grey. The color shifting is not bold but subtle and that makes this polish stand out. It is elegant, office appropiate yet funky baby. There's also some speckles of micro glitter in the formula. Awesome!
Not Like The Movies in day light. Check out the (subtle) color shifting
Another one, just because I can
Artificial light
Not Like The Movies with Black Shatter, no topcoat
Overview
Katy Perry for OPI is a fun collection with some funky shades. The formulas of Not Like The Movies and The One That Got Away are excellent. The formulas of Teenage Dream and Last Friday Night are very thick, gel-like but still manageable. Overall I found that the four polishes dried quicker then usual. The concept of a crackle polish is not new but I think OPI is the first big high end brand to release a crackling polish.
Tips and Tricks
Working with the Black Shatter, a so called crackle polish is something you have to get the hang of. Here are some tips I want to share with you:
Make sure your colored polish is completely dry before you apply the Black Shatter. If you apply the Shatter on a semi-dry polish, you will not get that nice *leopard* look but ugly thick streaks (like in my picture of The One That Got Away
Experiment with the amount of Shatter polish on your brush when you apply. When you apply a thin layer you will get a fragile fine craquelé look. On the other hand, when you apply too much, the Shatter will "break" into huge pieces. Personally I like to apply the Shatter like this: I take the brush out of the bottle but I don't swipe away the excess
When you apply the Shatter, don't worry about how tidy you do that. You won't see smudges or missed spots after all
After the Shatter has crackled, I like to be precise with my clean up. The crackle look is funky and can crackle all it wants on the nail, but because it is so out there it can easliy end up looking trashy. So I make sure my cuticles are clean. I use a thin brush dipped in acetone to achieve this, have a look at my Tutorial how you can learn this too
The Black Shatter dries up matte. I do like the contrast of the sparly, shiny base color peeking trough the matte crackle but you can also apply a regular topcoat on top to add shine. This will also deepen the black of the Shatter itself.
Experience with different base colors
Skittles of Katy Perry by OPI
Here's a lil bonus for yous! Interesting to see how the extra layer of topcoat intensified the color of the Black Shatter...
All three coats, exept for LFN (4 coats)
Same order as above, with Black Shatter, without topcoat
Same order as above, With Black Shatter and a layer of topcoat
Well dear readers, that was a quite an article. I have not posted in months, due to professional and personal occupations but I certainly didn't lose my love for polish! I hope you guys enjoyed my review and pictures. I'd love to hear from whatever remarks or questions you have.
My questions for you: What is your favorite shade of this collection, and how with what nail polish would you combine the crackle polish?
