Sio's polish

China Glaze ~ Bohemian: Almost all the rest

2012-08-22T12:31:00.000+02:00

As I forgot to order Rare & Radiant, that one will have to wait another week or two (depending on how fast my parcel can paddle across the Atlantic). However here are the other 4 remaining polishes in the Bohemian collection. All polishes are three coats, no topcoat.

Deviantly Daring:

Nice green-to-teal metallic duochrome. I must admit I didn't notice the duochrome too well when I first applied it, but as I wore it over a couple of days it became more noticeable.

Want my Bawdy:

Another one without a hugely obvious duochrome. There seems to be slightly more purple to blue in som angles, otherwise a nice blurple.

Swanky Silk:

Champagne-pink duochrome with a slight green flash here and there.

No Plain Jane:

Purple-gold duochrome. I see others have had problems seeing the colour shift in this one but as you can see, mine showed up pretty well. Of the colours that aren't usually my regular style I think this one is my favourite.

So there you have them. Hopefully I'll get Rare & Radiant in the not-so-distant future too. Do you own any? All? Any of them that scream out "Buy Me!"?

China Glaze ~ Unpredictable

2012-08-19T12:09:00.000+02:00

Yay, we're back up to speed. This one is from the recently released Bohemian collection and described as luster chrome finish. In my world this translates to shiny duochrome so Iæm a happy camper.

Two coats:

It has a teal base with a duochrome that flashes from gold straight on until almost a sapphire blue in some light at extreme angles. Bummer enough there was a massive overcast here when I photographed it (what else is new right?) but I wore it out yesterday and even a couple of guys grabbed my hand and exclaimed "Freaky!!". (I guess that's guy-talk for truly awesome nailpolish.)

Formula and application was good. I did get a tiny bit of bubbling, so a trick might be not to be as impatient as I am. Two coats were enough for me, but I can see it's pretty sheer in the tip departement, so if your nails are long you'd very possibly want a third coat.

Love it!

China Glaze ~ Fast Track and Fois Gras

2012-08-18T11:56:00.000+02:00

These are the last two regular polishes (I didn't get Mahogany Magic, Not a big fan of brown polishes.)

Fast Track:

Dusty champagne with lots of gold shimmer. Here is another bottleshot to show off a bit more of the gold:

Pretty enough polish if you need one for the office. Thankfully I rarely meet with outsiders at work and can revel in the more fun colours :-p

Fois Gras:

Another one for the office. Dusty dark taupe/purple-ish color.

China Glaze ~ Smoke and Ashes

2012-08-16T11:50:00.000+02:00

Another really unique polish here.

It's a really dark/black base with a lot of blue and green glitter. Here is a bottleshot to show the glitter a little blit better:

Some of the glitter also has a bit of a gold flash in some angles, but it was more visible in the bottle. Another hit in my book!

China Glaze ~ Riveting

2012-08-16T11:43:00.000+02:00

Here is what's probably my absolute favourite of the collection. (Possibly tied with Stone Cold, but they're so different it's OK).

My nails were on fire with this one. Great orange jelly base with masses of gold shimmer. I wore this to a club meeting, and even a couple of the guys noticed it!

China Glaze ~ Electrify

2012-08-15T11:40:00.001+02:00

I just realised that I let the blog go into hibernation in April. Bad enough. I also did it in the middle of the Hunger Games collection. Worse!

So here is the next one - Electrify:

I think this was 3 coats. Red and gold glitter. Almost looks like chunky fire in a bottle. Very good party bling.

China Glaze ~ Harvest Moon

2012-04-25T12:31:00.000+02:00

After a couple of days with the rather neutral shades, I have a stunner today:

This is two coats of the most gorgeous copper shimmer shade I've ever seen. It's very shiny and almost looks a bit like a foil. This one makes the magpie inside of me sit up and squawk WANTS! NEEDS! And I can happily smile to myself in the knowledge that it's safely tucked away in my helmer.

China Glaze ~ Dress me up

2012-04-24T12:27:00.000+02:00

This one is one of the more neutral shades of the collection. Prepare for picture spam.

Two coats, no topcoat:

The pictures do come out a bit more brown than it really is. It's a dusty, pink creme. Application was very good and as you can see it dries very glossy even without a tc.

I also have this one with Luxe and Lush:

Color Club Summer 2012 Preview

2012-04-24T10:15:00.000+02:00

I was browsing my fave online polish-pusher yesterday, and noticed this:

(Picture from Nailsupplies.us)

I have to have these!!!!Living where I live I'm sick to death with drab, dreary, 5C weather, so bright summer polishes is just what the doctor ordered.

I'm going away this weekend for my granddad's burial, but hopefully these will be waiting for me when I return :-)

I think my personal forerunners are the green (quelle surprise), magenta and teal. Which one do you prefer?

China Glaze ~ Hook and Line + Luxe and Lush

2012-04-23T16:06:00.000+02:00

Another from the Hunger Game collection. Hook and Line. It is a pearly, shimmery, "tin-like" silver. Sadly it is also a streaky, frosty mess.

Two coats, no topcoat.

Apparently adding topcoat can help with fixing some of the streakyness, but I had other plans. In this collection there is also an effect polish called Luxe and Lush. Here is one coat L&L over 2 coats H&L:

And a bottleshot to show you the golden, flakie, prettyness:

Just too bad that even though I was swatching nailpolish for literally three hours or so, there was not even a faint glimmer of sun :-(

China Glaze ~ Stone Cold

2012-04-23T09:32:00.000+02:00

This was the second of the Hunger Game polishes that arrived in my mailbox.

Behold, two coats without any topcoat:

Oh man was I surprised when I realised this one is a matte! And an awesome, slate grey, silver shimmery matte to boot. As I was going to wear this to a homebrewfestival the same evening I decided to add a glossy topcoat to one finger and HM Matte topcoat to the other 4:

Imho it turned out really well. As this is a matte dry time is extremely fast. Application was also good. However, removal was a major pita. First the charcoal base came off, and dying most of my hand grey, and then I had to do the real heavy work getting rid of the silver glitter. It also seemed to dry really brittle and even though it seemed quite good for wearability, I managed to "crack" the polish on two of my nails, which the turned to chipping from the middle of the nail. Not pretty.

But all in all I'm in love!

China Glaze ~ Agro

2012-04-21T15:34:00.000+02:00

I have finally gotten my greedy paws on almost the full Hunger Game collection (still missing Mahogany Magic) and over the next week or so they'll arrive here. I have to admit I've neither read the books, nor seen the movie, but when there is awesome nailpolish to be had who am I to nitpick?

First up is Agro: Two coats, no top coat

Very pretty forest/olive green with a golden shimmer. I've worn this in the sun but sadly no decent pics, (Desire sucks as a camera), and sunshine really makes the shimmer stand out. I think this one will turn into one of my go-to polishes.

China Glaze ~ Sweet Hook

2012-03-28T12:00:00.000+02:00

This is the last of the Electropop polishes I've gotten so far. I'll need to get the rest of them ASAP really.

Where Sunshine Pop was loud and made you wake up, here we're a bit more into pastel territory. Pale, lavendel, purple-y creme. Reminds me of the first, sheer lilacs of spring. Very beautiful. Only sad thing is it makes me long for the bright greenery of spring. And it's still a month or so away here where I live.

OPI Fall 2012 collection revealed

2012-03-26T19:52:00.001+02:00

Just saw this on OPI's Facebook page. It appears that after Netherland we're off east towards Germany:

From top left: My Very First Knockwurst, Don't Pretzel My Buttons, Berlin There Done That, Dont Talk Bach to Me, Nein! Nein! Nein! OK Fine!, Schnapps Out of It, Suzi & The 7 Dusseldorfs, Every Month is Oktoberfest, Unfor-greta-bly Blue, Deutche You Want Me Baby, Danke-Shiny Red & German-icure

Bottom left three have some potential, but we'll see. Not a massiv OPI-gal, but I do get one every now and then. :-)

See any you like? Need?

China Glaze ~ Sunshine Pop

2012-03-26T12:00:00.001+02:00

Another from this springs Electropop collection. And does it ever pop.

Two coats, no base- or topcoat, nor any sun but still really vibrant.

There is some silver microshimmer visible in the bottle, but it doesn't really translate to the nail. Very bright and vibrant. Application was pretty much flawless. I see a lot of people in general finding yellows troublesome, but this one was neither sheer, chalky, streaky or any other nasties. Great polish for my hometown tbh, I can carry sunshine with me even when the sun refuses to show itself :-)

Helmer, sorting, cathegorizing and Oh dear Lord!!

2012-03-25T15:39:00.000+02:00

So. Slow sunday and Project Helmer gets started:

All the part:

Manual and tool:

And Voila! The finished product:

Disclaimer: NO nails were hurt or damage in the assembly of this Helmer. So now over to the slightly scary part. Ferreting out all my various polish bottles and get them stuffed into the different drawers. Nothing really brings the point "you own a LOT of polish" home better than this cathartic project.

My untrieds:

Konad, dotting tools, treatments, base-/topcoats and special polished (ie metallic and crackles)

The massive glitterbombs that are better suited for layering (or else prepare for 2hours of removal):

My greens, blues, grey, black etc:

My red, yellow, orange, pink, purple and browns:

I'm pretty sure there will be atleast 2-3 more rearrangements before I'll be completely happy about my sorting system. But I think primary goal for now will be 1: Getting my google spreadsheet up-to-date and 2: Get that untried drawer greatly minimized.

May the gods of nailpolish help me...

Helmer incoming!

2012-03-24T14:23:00.000+01:00

Wooohooo. Out in my car at this precise moment there is a flatpacked Helmer just itching for assembly and storage of all my lovely polishes.

Stay tuned for cursing, chipped polish and broken nails. It's been 4.5 years since I worked at Ikea, should be interesting to see what I remember.....

Color Club magnetics ~ Sci-Fi

2012-03-24T12:10:00.000+01:00

Second of the lot. Didn't remember to get a bottleshot, but I do have a picture of the first coat (sans magnet)

Really pretty golden/olive with some golden shimmer. Heck, I'd wear this one alone (though I'd add a second coat).

And with the second coat and magnet applied.

So sorry about grody papercut on pinkie btw. And practice really does help with these. I didn't get polish stuck on the magnet once with this one. Where the magnet really only darkened Hipnotic, here it draws some wonderful golden glitter/shimmer/flakes to the top. You can somewhat see it in the last shot. (All the other attempts of getting a good picture of it sort of failed miserably). I really wish there would be some sun today, cause I have a feeling this would benefit greatly, but it's still really gorgeous.

I have also ordered the China Glaze Magnetix. Sadly the magnet is STILL out of stock, so I'll have to live with this one. But I can hardly wait!!!

China Glaze ~ Re-fresh mint

2012-03-22T13:00:00.002+01:00

Here's a quick swatch of a golden oldie from the Up and away collection. Pretty, mint creme. Very spring-like, and aparently mint is in this season. (I never have a clue what's in before it's been out for a good while)

I think (from memory) that this one is a fair bit lighter that OPI's Mermaid's tears, which I absolutely adore. I need to do a comparison of those one day. Application was fine, opaque in two coats, very pretty colour when you want something slightly more unusual than the regular pink/red fare, but still plenty discrete.

Color Club magnetics ~ Hipnotic

2012-03-14T18:15:00.000+01:00

I have now finally tried magnetic nailpolish for the very first time, and I love it! Sadly all the China Glaze ones, plus their magnet was sold out when I ordered but I got Color Club's collection instead. So here is the first if the five polishes:

This is two coats, and application was great. The magnet sits on top of the cap and the cap is detachable for ease of use. All the polishes have the same magnet pattern, classical wave style, so I definitely will get the China Glaze magnet when it returns to stock and pay day rolls around ;-) The magnet isn't hard to use at all, but I do see it will need a bit of practice getting it really even etc. The base color is an absolutely gorgeous dark raspberry pink. There is quite a lot of silver shimmer visible in the bottle, but I couldn't really see any of it on the nail. Possibly if you didn't use the magnet it might show up.

Over all I really liked the color of this one, and I am so looking forward to trying the other four polishes I got. Though I do see from this promo pic (from Nailsupplies) that there is one I'm missing (Steel of the night).

Any preferences as to next swatch?

A return is looming

2012-02-23T14:26:00.000+01:00

Hello everyone.

No, I have not forgotten about this place. Nor have I abandoned my project. However, as I do live almost next door to santa (or Alice... :-p ) it is just plain too drab and dreary 3-4 months of the year to bother wearing a lot of polish, never mind trying to photograph it. I'm just not interested enough in the photo bit to bother installing lightboxes etc. So when the sun rises at 9am and sets around 2pm I just can't be bothered.

-but now the sunlight is slowly returning. I'm ordering my very first magnetics as we speak and I have big plans of buying a helmer next time I'm at Ikea. It's just too messy with a gazillion polish bottles spread all over the apartement.

So hopefully I'll see you all soon :-)

Essie ~ Wild thing and Color Club ~ Platinum record

2011-10-22T12:00:00.000+02:00

Here's another random Essie (I do love the half price for Essie when signed in at Nailsupplies). This time Wild thing.

Dark raspberry shimmer with sparse holo glitter. I kept the really blurry one to show off these little (almost) hidden gems a bit better. Consistency was really runny and dry time was long, so it'll probably stay in a drawer for a while, but it really is pretty.

Due to the longish dry time I managed to completely mangle both my thumbs. So instead of re-applying the same one I wanted to try out Platinum record from Color Club.

For some reason I keep calling this one Platinum pieces, probably as that's what it looks like. It's really sparkly large silver hex pieces with some smaller silver and grey glitters inbetween. I do think it probably will look a lot better layered over a black or similar.

And for the full hand

So, what do you think?

Color Club ~ Wicked sweet

2011-10-21T12:00:00.001+02:00

This is one of the scented polishes Color Club released last summer.

The colour is awesome. Aqua blue with a slight golden shimmer. Very pretty. I was very curious about the scent. It smells of fake bubblegum/tutti frutti to me. Perhaps it should be renamed sickly sweet? I really want to try one of the lime or lemon scented ones, but as for this one, nomatter how pretty a clour I think it may get donated to someone a lot younger than me. Around 5 or so...

Have you tried scented polishes? What di you think of the whole concept?

IsaDora ~ Pink lemonade and All city brown graffiti

2011-10-20T17:40:00.000+02:00

Here are two more of the Isadora polishes I got from Kia:

Two coats. Application was good, and dry time absolutely decent. The pictures are taken on day 3 so wear was pretty good aswell. In the bottle (and by name) this one looks really pink, however, atleast on my nails it looks more coral. In Norwegian we call what this one looks like "salmon pink" and that fits the bill pretty well imo. This was also my first experience with the IsaDora crackle polishes. It looked very unevern and "weird" when I applied it but as it dried it evened out nicely.

The crackle (or graffiti-) polish actually cracked a lot nicer on my right hand so here is a better pic

That is what i call a perfect crackle pattern. Pretty evenly distributed in both directions. I definately need more of these graffiti polishes.

Which crakle is your favourite?

IsaDora City Khaki

2011-10-13T12:00:00.000+02:00

I was so lucky to win the giveaway hosted by Kia at NailsN'cupcakes earlier this fall, and a lovely package arrived a few days ago. One of the items in it was IsaDora's City khaki. This is a polish I've actually ogled for a while, but as I usually shop online, I rarely remember it when I'm actually IN a store, plus i still haven't really managed to justify the price when there are still so many pretty polishes I need (yes, i need them :-p who cost a fraction, even with shipping. But now the wait is over:

It's a rather neutral grey-beige with a silver shimmer (pretty well visible in the second picture). Two coats, nice formula. The dry time was absolutely dreadful. Even with Fast forward it dented and nicked half an hour after application :-( But for the colour, I can live with it.

An apologies for indoor lighting. Daylight is getting to be a rare commodity here now, and being at work pretty much means darkness after I get home, fix dinner etc. So sunlit shots will have to be a weekend item until we reach March or so.