Showing posts with label Adorned Nails. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adorned Nails. Show all posts

Adorned Nails: Catrice Looking Sunkissed



Be still my fluttering heart.

Calling this red polish gorgeous would be such an understatement (and it's not even a flakie polish!). Looking Sunkissed by Catrice is a metallic polish with depth and character. It glows from within. Away from the sun, it looks like red satin ribbon.

I have to say that it's even more awesome a red than Teeez Femme Fatale, for example, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are other similar reds by other brands.

I have two coats on. The formula was perfect and application with its broad brush was excellent.


You would no doubt have noticed the pretty paisley print on the bottle cap. Ummm, can this bottle of polish get any prettier?!


Looking Sunkissed was released some weeks ago by Catrice under the Limited Edition (gotta love hate that phrase - we all know it's a psychological trick, right?) Bohemia collection. I'm far from being done with this collection and Catrice has already released yet another collection called Big City Life and yes, it's limited edition. Catrice, you've got to slow down with your releases. It's driving us nuts!

I actually swooped up all four polishes from this collection (not something I usually do). Looking Sunkissed here is probably the best-looking of the lot. I think.

As you can see, it is a very photogenic polish too.





More information:
Catrice Limited Edition Bohemia collection


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Adorned Nails: Skin Food Nail Vita VI408 Violet Stone


Here’s another brand from the Far East. Skin Food is one of many (and I do mean, many) South Korean cosmetics brands targeted at the budget-conscious. It’s got a slew of products covering makeup, skin care, body care and hair care. The products are usually housed in classy-cute (could it possibly be anything else?!) packaging and have catchy names to reflect the star ingredient in each product.

Here’s what I mean: Salmon Brightening Eye Cream, Gold Caviar Nutrition Mask, Seaweed Cleansing Gel, Eggplant Waterproof Mascara Remover, Agava Cactus Toner. Get the idea?

This is what Skin Food says: We believe in beauty within food. It takes a long time for us to produce products from cultivating the ingredients to making them into actual cosmetics, but our products manifest effects for a longer time.

Interesting philosophy. I was intrigued by it all. It's a pity that the brand suffered a blow to its reputation recently. You see, in a test carried out by the Hong Kong Consumer Council on some samples of nail polishes from various brands, it was found that two of Skin Food’s nail products contained benzene and methanol. Ouch!

One report said that Skin Food has refuted such claims while another said that Skin Food Hong Kong announced that they would offer full refunds to anyone who had purchased the two products. If anyone’s interested, the two products in question were the Jojoba Pure Nail PK004 and the Milk Creamy Nail Base Coat (from that cute range that girls have been cooing over – their bottles are shaped like baby milk bottles). Read more about it here.

Right, let’s move on. This polish I'm featuring today comes from Skin Food’s Nail Vita range (its bottle design is surprisingly plain, no?). It’s actually called only VI408 on the bottle and I found out its other name, Violet Stone, from Skin Food’s website. The Nail Vita range is supposed to contain vitamin and keratin nutrients.

Uhm, Skin Food, you've neglected to tell us which vitamin??

I tried looking for its list of ingredients but couldn’t find it anywhere, not on the bottle and not on the website. So, I really have no idea if it’s 3-free. I suspect not, as the report about the random testing mentioned above also stated that the two offending products contain toluene (but they were below the limit set in the EU’s Cosmetic Directive). I wouldn’t know if the same may apply to this Nail Vita range. [shrug]


The formula was on the thick side. I skipped the brush-draining step and applied with the brush drenched with polish. If I didn't do that, I found that the brush got too dry and getting the nail tips coated with polish was a problem.

Oh, did I tell you that this polish stinks? I have a pretty good tolerance for nail polish smells but this one is [gag] for the initial few minutes.


The colour is....oh, how should I put it.....spellbinding. Yes, the name says it’s violet but I think there’s a very fine line between violet and blue when looking at Violet Stone. To top it off, its shimmers are stupefyingly pretty. Violet Stone is like a violet night sky densely filled with faraway pink, red, blue and aqua stars.




Being the party pooper that I am in this post, I have one more gripe. This polish, gorgeous as it is, started chipping a bit within 12 hours. It’s Day Two today and the chipping has progressed. Sigh, I suppose this is what one sometimes gets with a €2 bottle of nail polish. And gosh, you know what? I have two other Nail Vita shades in my drawer!

Curious? Have a look at the website of Skin Food, even if it's just to coo over the baby milk bottles!


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Adorned Nails: KOH Eat Purely


Finally! KOH Eat Purely, the last of the six polishes in the KOH Balance Winter Colours 2011 collection.


I should first show you the case in which each bottle of KOH polish comes. I admit, I often get carried away with the nail polish itself and tend to forget to feature the case. Again, a reminder for those ladies who purchase KOH polishes from physical retail stores, be it in the Netherlands or in other countries: Make sure that you are given the accompanying case. If the sales assistant forgets or is ignorant about it (it has happened to me before in a couple of parfumerie stores in the past), don't be shy to remind them about it.


The case is really an oversized lipstick case. I've mentioned before that KOH changes the design of the casing every now and then. Some versions have mirrors and some others have two elastic bands (to hold your mini nail file). This one shown here is what they've been issuing this year - black or white faux patent leather with a black & white interior. This version tends to attract finger marks but okay, okay, I know, it's good to have design variety.


For those who are new to KOH, I'll give you an idea of how the case design has changed in the last two years plus. Have a look at the photos in these old posts:

KOH Rain Forest
KOH Purplelicious
KOH Hot Pink
KOH Meditate



As for the polish today, KOH Eat Purely is an easy super-glossy creme. It's a muddy medium brown. You could call it a khaki brown. This one applied very, very well. It was pretty much opaque with one fairly thick coat but I did two to intensify the colour.


That's it with the KOH Balance series. Many thanks to KOH Cosmetics for providing me with this collection.

Stay tuned for more on KOH.


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Adorned Nails: KOH Love Passionately



KOH Love Passionately is the fifth shade from the KOH Balance Winter Colours 2011 collection.

Red may symbolise passion but Love Passionately isn't quite as amorous a red as what the name suggests. To me, it's a weeee-happy! red, a kind of upbeat coral cherry red with a tiny bit of blue undertone.

It's a crème and this polish applied just like how Rest Fully and Laugh Limitless (-ly?) did, i.e. nice and smooth. I applied two coats on all nails except this pinky, which has three.

Indoors

In sunshine

This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Next KOH polish: KOH Eat Purely


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Adorned Nails: KOH Neon Roze



You probably think you’ve seen this before. You’re quite right. I did show you something very similar back in June: KOH Hot Pink.

Both Neon Roze and Hot Pink are crèmes. At a glance, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Neon Roze (bottle on the left) is a tad lighter and brighter. Hot Pink (bottle on the right) has just that bit more red in the mix.

I bought each of these at different times this year, not realising that they are so similar. Yeah, I know, where was my brain?

Lost somewhere in Foggyville, I'm sure.

Well, I’m done kicking myself and so, here I am showing you KOH Neon Roze. Psst, I feel like Barbie with this colour on.

What you see here is with two coats (but I had to do three on my thumbs – my nail tips were more obvious there). The formula was on the thicker side. I had difficulty getting a nice, even, second coat on some nails. It required re-doing and re-doing and re-doing. Not fun. I don’t know if it might have had something to do with the dryness indoors.



The stamping image this time around is from the Essence Nail Art Stampy Design Plate: 01 Have Fun. It’s big and not subtle. Psst, for some reason, I suddenly feel like Hello Kitty! And, yes, I know that's a flower and not a bow.

The weather here has been insanely erratic but I managed to take some photos of BarHelKit basking in sunlight. Within three minutes, the sun disappeared again behind the clouds.



Stay tuned for more. I'm not done yet with my story about Neon Roze.


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Adorned Nails: KOH Laugh Limitless


Here's the fourth shade in the lineup of six KOH Balance polishes.


KOH Laugh Limitless [sic] is an appropriately bright, happy orange crème. There is nothing too complicated about this one.

Outdoors or by a window, it is a mildly milky orange (images below). Indoors with low lighting, I see something close to a neon orange (image above). I have on the standard two coats here. The nail line can be seen if looked at closely in real life but under most circumstances, it is not visible. Three coats would be better if you want total, absolute coverage.



This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Next KOH polish: KOH Love Passionately


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Adorned Nails: KOH Play Daily


In this third part in the KOH Balance series, we will look at the darkest polish of the lot, KOH Play Daily.


The lighthearted name belies its true nature. Play Daily is really a quiet, broody and mysterious super dark midnight green with fine shimmers. At a glance and in low lighting, it is one of those shades which are so dark that it's almost black (photo below).


You would notice the dark green if you took a closer look or if you viewed it in sunshine (as seen here in the first photo and in the photos below). I've always had a thing for dark broody shades, so this polish fits this wretched soul perfectly.

I love how Play Daily applied. With two coats, the end result was opaque, smooth and even.

KOH polishes retail for €14.95 per bottle (10ml).



Thanks to KOH for providing me with this polish.


Next KOH polish: KOH Laugh Limitless


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Adorned Nails: SpaRitual Epicurean



Rich, broody, vampy. That’s SpaRitual Epicurean for you.



Red wine, burgundy, ordinary. Ahh, that’s also quite true.

Epicurean has a shimmer finish. While I do see its general shimmer, the individual shimmer particles that give it an inner glow aren’t so easy to discern. Unless, of course, you viewed it with flash. It’s ordinary because well, it’s no special burgundy, but still, I think it’s beautiful. I’ve always had a soft spot for burgundies.

Just like all other SpaRitual nail polishes that I’ve tried, Epicurean went on beautifully – no streaks, no fuss. Just two coats. Lovely.

I thought I’d do a bottle comparison (sorry, ladies, I’m simply too lazy to do a comparison on my nails) showing the difference in the shades of three SpaRitual colours.



L-R:
Drop Dead Gorgeous is daring, a fuschia with shimmer .
Epicurean is vampy, a burgundy with shimmer.
I Feel The Earth Move is somber, a crème blackish maroon-brown.

I thought I’d spice things up a bit with some stamping. Epicurean.....doesn’t that also mean lavish, luxurious? I must seem audacious for calling Epicurean ordinary (oops, another oxymoron!), but never mind. I’ve paired it up with a gold nail polish from SpaRitual, appropriately named Gold Digger. For the image, I’ve used the only full-nail image I’ve got, one of a viney plant. It’s from a Fauxnad plate, H28.





Well! I think Epicurean looks most suitably epicurean now!


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Adorned Nails: KOH Rest Fully


This is the second part of the KOH Balance series. As mentioned the other day, there are altogether six polishes and each will get its own feature here.


I've been told that since the release of the KOH Balance collection a few weeks ago, this polish, KOH Rest Fully, has been particularly popular among the customers of the KOH Experience Shop in Amsterdam. Well, I can understand why.

I like Rest Fully. It's charmingly grungy and murky. Truth be told, it's the army green that I've been looking for for months. There was a similar one that I had been eyeing from Pieces but it proved to be an elusive one.


Basically, Rest Fully is a khaki green crème but once in a while, in certain lighting, your eyes may be tricked into thinking it's a khaki brown. Rest Fully is a bit on the thicker side but it applied beautifully. You're looking at two coats here.

I can see Rest Fully coming in handy the next time I give military camouflage nails another go.


This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Next KOH polish: KOH Play Daily


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Adorned Nails: KOH Breathe Deeply



KOH Breathe Deeply is the first colour I'm featuring from the KOH Balance collection, KOH's set of winter colours for 2011.

In the bottle, there is a certain faint pearlescence but that can hardly be seen when applied. Just like many of the KOH polishes I've tried, Breathe Deeply has a thick formula. I had some application issues with this one as it was streaky. I have two coats on here and I think you can notice the streaks in the photos. I suspect it has something to do with the brush, which is strange. I don't recall ever having any such problems with KOH brushes. Or, perhaps I got the odd defective bottle.


Still, it's worth mentioning that Breathe Deeply is more than just a white. I would describe it as a white with a tinge of grey/taupe. The nuances of taupe add some warmth to what would otherwise be a stark white.


This polish was kindly provided by KOH Cosmetics.

Next KOH polish: KOH Rest Fully


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Adorned Nails: Essence Time For Romance



I'm wearing one of the new-ish nail polises from Essence. If I remember correctly, I got it the same time I got some of those Catrice polishes that you've seen, such as Rusty But Sexy and Khaki Perry.

I'll keep this short. Essence Time For Romance: glitter-ful with also hexagonal glitter flakes in a burgundy/dusty rose jelly. If you love blings, you would love this. I've got four coats on here and application was all right.

The following photos were taken in sunshine.






More information:
Essence website


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Adorned Nails: Catrice Iron Mermaiden



You won't be mistaken if you think you've seen this one here before. Remember Essence Where Is The Party?? As far as I can tell, Iron Mermaiden is a twin but with a much funkier name. Where Is The Party? sounds so teenybopper. Iron Mermaiden, definitely hardcore.

I will describe Iron Mermaiden much like how I had described Where Is The Party?. It's a metallic duochrome (or trichrome?) of dark green and purple/silvery lilac on the nails. In the bottle, you can catch flashes of aqua.



There is however a difference in application. The formula for Where Is The Party? is thicker and it works as a one-coater. Iron Mermaiden, on the other hand, has a thinner consistency and needs at least three coats for opacity. For both polishes, you will get the same results in the end. I'll let you do the math.

Where Is The Party? - €1.29 for 5ml

Iron Mermaiden - €2.49 for 10ml


I doubt you would have noticed but you're looking at one coat of Where Is The Party? on the little finger. All the other fingers have three coats of Iron Mermaiden on. It's hard to tell the difference.

Let's see how Iron Mermaiden looks with some stamping. I've used the gaudy purple of Catrice Forget-Me-Not and one of the Essence Nail Art Stamping Design Plates with the so-called full nail designs.


I have two things to say about the plate:

1. It's pointless telling you the name of the plate because Essence has a ridiculous way of naming them. Essence has issued about five or six rectangular plates to-date but each of them has either the name 01 have fun! or 02 style it up!. It appears to be a case of packaging material overstock, I think.

2. They are supposed to be full-nail designs but they can't fill a whole nail. Ironic. It doesn't work for the thumb and it won't work if you have long-ish nails. The designs are really made for little girls, not for senior citizens like moi.

I've chosen the circle design with retro vibes. Due to the small size of the design, I had to stamp twice on the thumbs. It wasn't easy connecting the two stamps. Then, I added a thick French tip with the same polish.





It's hardcore gone retro.


My previous features on:
Where Is The Party?
Catrice Forget-Me-Not


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