Sparkly Diwali nails

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Hi Lovelies,

A belated Happy Diwali and a very prosperous New Year to you all. I am not fond of red (very un-Indian, I know) but when it comes to Diwali, I always associate it with red and gold  -- two colours considered auspicious not just by the Chinese but by Indians, too.
It was a given what colour I would sport on my nails. But it had to be sparkly to match the festive mood. So, ta da....

This is Maybelline Express Finish in Red Seduction, a creme, layered with Kleancolor Chunky Holo Bluebell for an extra sparkle. 

As you can see  Bluebell is not a holographic polish but tiny multichromatic glitter in a light blue base. You could wear it on it's own but it doesn't build very well. Though I have seen bloggers layering this over a blue/purple base, I thought to try it out on a red. And it worked perfectly! 

Another bottle shot...

The jelly base was too light to change the colour of the creme polish. The formula is thick but not hard to work with. Layered over red, the glitters went from red, orange, to yellow and then a golden green. I love this polish! I will try it over other colours to see if the colour range shifts. 

The glitter is very easy to remove. And if you have one of the Chunky Holos (Candy, Poppy, Fuchsia, Scarlett, Clover, Teal, Purple and Bluebell) you do not need another. Unless it is Chunky Holo Black, which is truer to its name than the others considering it has chunky glitters. Swatch coming soon!

Product: Bluebell
Brand: Kleancolor

Collection/Range:  Chunky Holo 
Colour: Multichrome glitter in light blue base
Finish: smooth
Qty: 15 ml
Price/Availability: $1.75 (Rs 96 approx). It is not available in India. Can be ordered through Amazon.com, ebay.com and beautyjoint.com 

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China Glaze releases Cirque Du Soleil Worlds Away Collection

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Hi lovelies,

I have been seeing photos of the new Cirque du Soleil Worlds Away 3D collection from China Glaze in blogland. These polishes are so unique it is understandable what the excitement is all about. 

China Glaze Cirque Du Soleil collection

See, what I am talking about. The third, fourth and sixth polish could have easily been from an independent polish maker's stable. It is amazing how 'indie' productions are changing the way bigger brands are looking at polish.

ChG Cirque Du Soleil display

For this collection, China Glaze has teamed up Cirque Du Soleil to release 12 polishes inspired by the upcoming movie 'World's Away' which also features the artistic troupe.

Whirled Away seems to be a mix of matte white hexagons, matte black hexagons and matte black bar glitters. China Glaze sure seems to have caught on the 'indie' trend of black and white glitters. Considering how pricey indie polishes are, a bigger company making such unique beauties is always welcome.

Get Carried Away seems to be a glittery black nail polish with black and silver micro glitter mixed with larger hexes in red and silver. It seems sheer enough to be layered.

It's A Trap-eze (love the name!) is multi-glitter, kind of like Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday, NYX Carnival and OPI Rainbow Connection) in a white milky base. This is for those like me who love jelly sandwiches but don't want to bother with the hassle of layering on two-three colours. I did create something similar here.

Running in Circles is very fine glitter in a green base

Water You Waiting For is a mix of green and blue glitter in a sheer blue base. It seems to have a mix of fine and medium sized glitter. 

That is it with the glitters in this collection. Now for the cremes/shimmers.

Creative Fantasy is a dark bright purple.

Bend Over Backwards is a shimmery red polish.

Hanging in the Balance is a bright blue creme.

Surreal Appeal is a pink beauty.

Igniting Love is bright red creme.

Def Defying is a chartreuse green creme.

Escaping Reality is a hot pink mama.

Interestingly, the China Glaze Facebook page says the collection will be out on December 1. But they are already available on several online sites including transdesign.com.
I am most exciting about checking out the glitters in this collection. What about you? Don't forget to leave a comment.

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Drag marbling? Not really

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Hi lovelies,

I showed you Color Club Sugarplum Fairy here. The polish is awesomeness. But after a couple of days, I had this insatiable urge to stamp over it. And this is what I did.

Konad plate M78

I used Colorbar Exclusive 76 (black creme) to stamp this full nail design from Konad image plate M78.

Konad M78

The tipwear is visible in this macro shot, but not in real life. Pretty, ain't it? Do tell me how you like it :)


Base: Color Club Sugarplum Fairy
Stamping plate: M78
Stamping colour: Colorbar Exclusive 76

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Swatch: Color Club Sugarplum Fairy

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Hi lovelies,

After the bright and neony post, here's a glittering one. 

CC Sugarplum Fairy

This beauty is Sugarplum Fairy from Color Club's Beyond the Mistletoe Collection of 2011. The collection has six colorful and holographic glitters. This one is a lavender holographic duo-chromey glitter. 

CC Sugarplum Fairy

  
You can see here how the colour went from a beautiful lavender to a bluish purple. I love this glitter not just for the name (Who cannot love something called Sugarplum Fairy?) but for its strong holographic effect. The base is colourless unlike a couple of other glitters from this collection. The polish contains micro and hexagonal glitters.

CC Sugarplum Fairy

Check out the rainbows!!! As expected of glitters, and one as loaded as this, the formula was thick. They also dry gritty. I used a coat of Seche Vite, and all was well with the world ;) 

CC Sugarplum Fairy

It dries pretty fast. Removal is not an issue if you layered it over glue/Fevicol like I did. 

CC Sugarplum Fairy one coat

This is just one coat of the polish. If you look carefully, you can see the Fevicol layered beneath. I used just two coats of Sugarplum Fairy for  full coverage. Isn't this glorious?

CC Sugarplum Fairy

I wore this polish to church. And the woman sitting next to me just could not take her eyes off my nails. She just could not figure out how I got the rainbows on my nails. She was probably dying to ask me what it was, but being in church stopped her from doing so. I had fun watching her trying to catch a glimpse of my nails from the corner of her eye ;) 

Has such a thing ever happened to you? Do tell me about it.

How do you like this polish? Do leave me a comment below :)

Product: Sugarplum Fairy
Brand: Color Club

Collection/Range:  Beyond the Mistletoe 2011
Colour: Duochrome, from silvery lavender to light purple
Finish: gritty
Qty: 17 ml
Price/Availability: $3.10 but can be bought for a discount at certain websites (Not available in India. Can be ordered through Amazon and transdesign) 

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Neon tips

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Hi lovelies,

I am keeping this post short. You've already seen the colorful and bright Colorbar polishes that adorned my nails here. And this is what I had in mind when I painted each of my nails a separate colour. 

L to R: Colorbar Bubbly, Pina Colada, Twisted Peach and Lime Margarita

I taped off the tips and used Colorbar Exclusive 76 (black creme) to cover the rest of my nails (Yes, I did tape off a bit too much on my pinkie). The result is an easy but funky manicure. The best part: You can keep this manicure for a week if you paint them in colours that dominate your wardrobe :)
You can also try this if you are not confident of carrying off such bright colours. My friends loved it, what about you? Don't forget to leave me a comment below!

Product: 76
Brand: Colorbar
Range: Exclusive 
Colour: Black
Finish: Creme
Qty: 9 ml
Price/Availability: Rs 150 (Available at Colorbar stores, local stores selling Colobar brand and online stores like Urbantouch.com, violetbag.com, purplle.com, snapdeal.com, myntra.com, flipkart.com and others)  

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Blinding neons

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Hi lovelies,I have shown you dark and light polishes, simple and glittery polishes. Now it is time for some brights! Neons, to be precise. These are from Colorbar's 'Cocktail Brights' Collection. I got it from the Colorbar store at AlphaOne Mall in Ahmedabad. Damn! Living close to a mall does no good to the pocket ;)

L to R: Colorbar Bubbly, Pina Colada, Twisted Peach and Lime Margarita

The product description is interesting:Colorbar introduces an intoxicating line of Bright Neon Nail Paints, an intoxicating collection of nail-paint hues inspired by cocktail colours. Adding additional sizzle to the drizzle season, Cocktail Brights include plush plum and envy green, with bursts of bright pink, cheeky yellow, orange and blingy red.



So find your favourite lacquer from Pina Colada (neon yellow), Lime Margarita (neon green), Bloody Mary (neon magenta), Plum Grenadine (neon purple), Tangerine Mojito (neon orange), and Pink Lady (neon pink). It is long lasting and its toluene free formulation protects your nails from turning yellow. With extreme gloss it is guaranteed to brighten up the dullest of days.

Colorbar collection: Bubbly, Pina Colada, Twisted Peach, Lime Margarita, Bloody Mary 

I bought Pina Colada, Lime Margarita and Bloody Mary thinking I had Colorbar dupes of the remaining three. But I was wrong. The ones I left behind were way brighter (of course!). The bottles are pretty sturdy with a silver cap. Interestingly, this collection has stickers in the same colour affixed to the top. 

Bubbly, Pina Colada, Twisted Peach

Second shot:

Twisted Peach, Lime Margarita, Bloody Mary

I had a simple but colourful manicure in mind, so I swatched them each on a finger. To fill the gap I used Bubbly (bright pink) on my pinkie and Twisted Peach (coral) on the middle finger from Colorbar's quick finish range.

Bottle: Bloody Mary

Bloody Mary on my thumb. It looks blood red in the bottle. On the nail, it is a different story... erm... colour.

The polish dries fast and does not chip easily. True to neons, these colours are sheer. It can be called a crelly because it is not a true jelly. The trick is to layer them on white to bring out its full effect. You can use these on their own, but it might take you 3-4 coats for an even finish.
The brush is just right,  neither  thin as in the Quick Finish bottles nor thick like the Pro range. These are such perfect summery shades! Though I wish they had introduced a blue, too. But even these polishes  can brighten up any winter day (My excuse to splurge). Bring out the sunglasses! 

I am a fan of Colorbar simply for the amount of colour it has introduced for our tips.
So do you like neon colours? What do you think about this range? Don't forget to leave me a comment :)


Product: Lime Margarita, Pina Colada, Bloody Mary
Brand: Colorbar
Colour: Neon green, neon yellow, neon magenta
Finish: Shiny, Crelly
Qty: 9 ml
Price/Availability: Rs 150 (Available at Colorbar stores, local stores selling Colobar brand and Violetbag.com for those who shop online)  

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I'm a Cheeky chick

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Hi!

I am doing the *happy dance* My Cheeky plates are here! 

I had ordered the new collection on September 21. I was a little worried about its arrival as I had never ordered anything from the website earlier. Also, it offers tracking only for US residents. AND the delivery time was expected to be a month. 
So imagine my surprise when I returned from a break and found a yellow cover peeking from my voluminous bag. This was Monday, October 8. My colleague had tucked the package into my bag to ensure I did not misplace it. 

Curious, I picked it up and saw it was from China Post. My heart started beating a little faster. Should I open it in office, should I not? I resisted for a while. I swear I did. But then I could not help it any longer. Tear........  

Out came a thick bubble wrapped box. The unwrapping revealed....

A greeting card. Isn't that sweet?! And with it....

Another cover through which slid out....

The Cheeky stamping nail art image plates collection of summer 2012. Their cover design is very girly, very blondish and very unlike me, my friends would say :D 

The inside is  very thoughtfully done. A story of how this effort came about, a nail artist licence which warns: Beautiful manis can cause heart attack. And a hollowed out section which would keep the plates without sliding around. I loved the slight indentation that allows you to side your finger through to pick out the plates. 

A closer view of the licence which could double as a scraper.  Actually, I would strongly recommend you use this or an expired credit card as a scraper instead of the Konad metal-tipped one. It will keep your metal plates from scratching. 

Isn't that a cute story? Now, for the plates....

My colleague was curious about the blue covering. It is to protect the plates. Many amateurs have unknowingly  use the plates without removing this cover and give up nail art. 

There are 26 plates in this collection offering 161 small and full nail designs.

The pink backing keeps your fingers from being sliced by the metal plates and keeps it from slipping around while scraping. 

And these are the designs the set contains. Click on the picture to enlarge and see the details. So, how did you like my latest acquisition and which design interests you the most? Don't forget to leave me a comment. Love you!


Product: 2012 summer collection (stamping plates)
Brand: Cheeky 
Price: $24.99 (approx Rs 1,300... way cheaper than Konad plates) 
Shipping: Currently free  (though I have heard they plan to charge $5-7 very soon. So grab it while you can)

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