#TGPNPC The Ugly Duckling in the Set: Day 43 of The Neverending Pile Challenge

Pin It

Hi lovelies,

I finally finally FINALLY come to the end of my epic The Glittah Pirates Never Ending Pile Challenge. And the prompt is The Ugly Duckling in the Set. I rarely buy the entire set, and it is rarer for me to buy something I do not like. But I did goof up when I bought Colorbar Exclusive 07.

This is a burnt maroonish brown colour. I liked how it looked on the bottle. But on my nails, BLEH!

Of all the Colorbar polishes I own (And, they are quite a sizeable number), this is the only one I did not like in the least bit. I plan to use it as the base for some nail art.

Here's a closer look. The bubbles were the fault of my topcoat which was acting funny. And please forgive the ugly cuticles. I had injured my nails and couldn't touch them with enduring a lot of pain. But all's okay now :)
So, for once, I managed to complete an entire challenge, even if it took me months! But then again, in my defence, there never was a time limit to this challenge. I am just glad I stuck out till the end :) 

Pin It

#TGPNPC Dupes! Match Untried with Tried: Day 42 of The Neverending Pile Challenge

Pin It

Hi lovelies,

Rolling towards the almost end of this challenge, we have a dupe match untried with tried challenge. And I present to you Zoya Veruschka (swoon!) v/s Faces Green versus Matte.

Here's a shot with the bottles included. I used Veruschka on the two middle fingers and Faces on the pointer and pinky.  After Picture Polish Kryptonite, Zoya Veruschka was one polish I had my heart set on. Unfortunately, it came out nearly 2 years before I got addicted to polish and there was no way I could lay my hands on it. Evil Bay was out of the question. So, I prayed (yes, I tend to do that for polish) and God heard (Thank you!) :) Zoya relaunched its Matte collection and I added Veruschka, a backup (as if I was ever going to finish 1 bottle), Savita (purple), and Posh (red) to my small collection of Zoya Mitzi (chartreuse green) and Harlow (magenta).

But there was a time in between that I decided to get hold of Faces Green versus Matte to satisfy my lemming. And I need to thank my dear friend Dhara from The Happi Therapy for being an enabler. She got me most of the Faces Matte range. This was before Faces launched a counter in Ahmedabad. 

As you can see, while Faces is a beautiful polish but it cannot match Veruschka's gorgeousness. Veruschka is darker than Faces. Veruschka is pretty opaque in one coat. I used two for perfection. Faces need three to four coats to be opaque. And the biggest bummer: It STAINED! Through two coats of nail polish! Now, that is something I can do without. 
I then layered both polishes with L A Girl Crowd Surfing, a sheer apple green polish with fine green glitter and green/orange flakies 
So, what did you think of this comparison? Don't forget to write your thoughts below.
Thanks :)
 
 

Pin It

#TGPNPC Polish You Got For Free: Day 40 of The Neverending Pile Challenge

Pin It

Hi lovelies,

Continuing where I left off earlier, the free polish I've got recently was Dance Legend Phobos. I got it from the company when I ordered some polishes from their site for the first time. Be ready to be dazzled by a multitude of photographs (which of course I took after stamping on it!).

Yep, it is a flakie polish in a duochrome base. It flashes iridescent emerald green to turquoise to purple and fuschia and has scattered holographic glitter, too! This beauty is from the Galaxy collection consisting of eight shades including two limited editions (Mars and Phobos). It comes in a mini bottle like the Holodays and Chameleon collections.

These are three coats of the polish on its own with an SV top coat. Those who want to save up on it can layer it over black.

Add caption

I just love its superstrong colour shift! Isn't that a emerald colour dazzling? The flakies lie
flat on the nail. It is not as hard at China Glaze Luxe and Lush. Rather, these flakies are
quite soft.

I stamped on it using China Glaze Passion, a gold chrome, and flowers from Konad M24 plate. I experienced no hassles stamping on this.

  
A close up of my thumb so you can see the flakes, glitter, shimmer and multichrome going on in this polish.

 Colour shift, YAY!

Yet, another colour shift!

And, how can flakies not be mattified? If you reached the end of this post, congratulations. In all fairness, I did warn you that I went click crazy ;)
Hope you liked this post. Don't forget to leave a comment!

PRODUCT

Name: Phobos

Brand: Dance Legend

Collection/Range:  Galaxy
Colour: Multichrome base with flakies shifting from teal to emerald to purple and pink.
Finish: Slightly bumpy
Qty: 7 ml
Price/Availability: $8 (Can be ordered through Dance Legend)

STAMPING
Polish: China Glaze Passion (antique gold)
Plate: Konad M24 (flowers)  

Pin It

#TGPNPC Discontinued: Day 18 of the Neverending Pile Challenge

Pin It

Hi lovelies,

I consider myself still new to the nail polish world, so I do not own branded discontinued polishes. Though I do have an indie, which was a limited edition polish, and one of the two polishes that pushed me into buying indies. Presenting: Different Dimension (bir)Earthday!

Different Dimension (bir)Earthday

Missi Barry, the creator, described (bir)earthday as a navy jelly base with loads of glitter in different shapes and sizes! There are green and blue huge circular holographic glitters, big blue holographic squares and lots of other random glitters - all in the colors of the earth!

Different Dimension (bir)Earthday

Missi had put out just 50 bottles on sale. And she named it (bir)eathday to celebrate her birthday (4/22) which happens to fall on Earth Day! This is three coats of the polish, with Seche Vite top coat. Though it is still sheer, I love the jelly effect. Next time maybe, I'll layer it over another polish.

Different Dimension (bir)Earthday

Check out its bling factor! I loooove this polish. What about you? Do not forget to leave a comment.

Check out the other participants here:

An InLinkz Link-up

Pin It

31DC2013: Day 18 Half Moon

Pin It

Hi lovelies,

I have never done a half-moon manicure before so Day 18 was a challenge. I was in no mood to remove my splendor-ous glitter manicure from the day before, so I worked out something to my satisfaction.
And here it is:

Ain't it festive? I had none of the half moon stickers that people usually use for nail art. And then I got an idea from Wackly Laki's post here. Blogger Anutka used a stamp to create a half-moon. This was better as there was more detailing compared to a simple half-moon. And ta-da!
Anutka at Wacky Laki and Melissa at the DailyNail are two bloggers who have some amazing and amusing half-moon manicures :)
So, if you liked this manicure, do leave a comment below.

Colours used:

Base: Color Club Holiday Splendor

For stamping:
Polish: China Glaze Passion (antique gold)

Plates: Mash 47 (abstract flowery circle) 

 P.S. Connect with me.

Instagram: http://instagram.com/indianlacquerade#
Bloglovin: http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/3701687/indian-lacquerade
Google+ Circle: https://plus.google.com/u/0/113117093379493032774/posts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IndianLacquerad
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Indianlacquerade

Pin It

31DC2013: Day 17 Glitter

Pin It

Hi lovelies,

Day 17 is a glitterific challenge. There are very few among us nail art lovers who do not like glitter. Even those with a nude polish fetish love some bling.
My favourite glitter collection among branded polishes remains Color Club 2011 Christmas offering. And in this, my favourites are Sugarplum Fairy (here) and Holiday Splendor.

Isn't it GORGEOUS!!! It has been aptly named Holiday Splendor. This is green and holographic glitter in a squishy green jelly. I love jelly glitters!!! Frankly, this picture does not do justice to how awesome this polish is. Everyone is gaga about China Glaze Atlantis (an aqua jelly glitter), but this beats it hollow in colour and glitterness (is there such a word?).
The opacity is good for a jelly polish. This is just two coats. Since it is loaded with small and micro hex glitters, it dries slightly gritty. Nothing a top coat cannot fix though. Removal is tough like all glitter polishes. I get away by layering it on a peel-off base.
What's most wonderful about it is that it is still available online at many stores .  

Product: Holiday Splendor 

Brand: Color Club

Collection/Range:  Beyond the Mistletoe 2011
Colour: Vibrant green jelly
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) 

Pin It

31DC2013 Day 1: Red

Pin It

Hello lovelies,

Today is the first day of the 31 day challenge. The theme is red. If you have been following my blog, you'll know I do not like red much. But I cannot get away from the fact that this colour does look good on me.
Well, for those who do love the colour, here's a treat.

This is a basic red polish, layered with NFU-Oh 44, an orange jelly packed with gold-orange-green flakies. I am keeping this post short as my internet issues haven't been sorted out yet. 
I already posted this manicure on my Instagram account @indianlacquerade so that I am still in the challenge.
If my net acts up, I shall upload the posts whenever it is working. But do follow me on Instagram to check my progress :)
Here's another picture so you can see how squishy this beauty is

Check out other participants on Instagram under #31dc2013. Cheers!

Pin It

My favourite pink

Pin It

Hi lovelies,

I have entered a new challenge, the Girly Girl Challenge, thrown up by a member of the Indian Lacquer Lovers group on Facebook. And I have taken this up as a joke because anyone who knows me personally would never ever EVER associate the word 'girly' with me. I think I'd take it as an insult, too. But my love for polish has made me very tolerant... sigh. So, here goes...

What's this you ask? The first challenge is to 'Think Pink' and wear my favourite pink polish with nail art. And this is my favourite. Inglot 517, a gorgeous creamy matte pink. 
Isn't it the most elegant colour you've ever seen?!
As much as I use glitter, I have to say I love mattes. Maybe because it satisfies the impatient me. Mattes are polish-and-go polishes. They dry as soon as you apply and there... you're done. Thankfully, this one did not dry as fast as the Zoya, which meant I could apply it more carefully and avoid lumpy streaks.

You would think that glitters and nail art would catch people's eye. But you have no idea the amazing number of compliments I got for sporting this colour! This is such a work-appropriate choice for places that frown on loud nail colours. 
This is two coats. One coat is a bit streaky.
This looks lovely even with topcoat. But since I love the matte look, I kept it as it is.  Which means chipping, a problem with most mattes. 

Sorry for that picture... Just had to put it up to show how I made this manicure last for 10 days.

Yep. Glitter to the rescue. This one is Blonde Bombshell from China Glaze 3D collection. The uneven application is because I thought I could just paint the gradient on than sponge it over. Never again. 
But I love this combination. Do you? Don't forget to leave a comment and do check out the other participants. 

Pin It

Rainbows on my tips

Pin It

Hi!

Today, I have the most awesome polish to share with you. It's called Orly Sunglasses at Night and here's the reason why!

It looks as if the rainbows have settled on my fingernails. Sunglasses at Night is holographic bar glitter in a very sheer navy blue base. I used three coats here. These bar glitters are not thick and in your face. They are quite thin, like strings.

  It didn't seem as I if would get it opaque even with four coats of the polish, so I layered it over Colorbar Pro Phantom, a deep dark shimmering blue.  

 Interestingly, the polish also contains micro black matte glitter as you can see in this photograph. It is slightly gritty but not irritatingly so. The glitter is holographic, not in your face. But, oh lord, is it MESMERISING!

I just could not take my eyes off the magic going on, on my fingertips. The photographs has just not been able to do justice to the beauty of this polish. So, I decided to make a video. My first amateurish attempt, so please excuse the flaws and just check out the polish :)

I need to try it on another colour base to see if it has more potential. But I do love, love, love the way it already is. What about you? Don't forget to leave a comment. And please do check out other nail art fanatics from the Indian Lacquer Lovers group on Facebook.

Product: Sunglasses at Night

Brand: Orly

Collection/Range:  Glam FX  

Colour: Navy blue jelly with holo bar and micro black matte glitters  

Finish: gritty   

Qty: 18 ml    

Price/Availability: $4.25. Available on transdesign.com and other US online nail supply stores

Pin It

Enchanted nails

Pin It

Hi lovelies,

I apologise for being AWOL. If you've been following my blog, you will know about my finicky internet connection. I decided to take another recourse so I would not lose you guys. I am blogging from another computer.
My blogger friend Dimpal Rathore from Crazy Polishes started a new Facebook group called Indian Lacquer Lovers. The nail art posted by some members are so ah-mazing, you have to see it to believe it. To cut a long story short, Dimpal came up with the idea of having a regular Friday feature for ILL. So, here goes...

Isn't this a beauty? Green jelly gorgeousness. 

And squishy holo-ey gorgeousness. 

If you haven't guessed till now, this beauty is NYX Enchanted Forest twice layered over Revlon Forest Green. 

 Enchanted Forest has tiny, medium and large holographic glitters in a thick, light green jelly base. Application was easy though you might have to fish out the large glitters. The thick base ensures that the glitters look suspended instead of sitting flat on your nails. 
The Revlon Forest Green is a green forest green creme. It dries darker than the shade in the bottle. It is not a one coater. Two thick coats should do the trick. WARNING: It stains like a biatch. I loved this combination but the Revlon stained my nails YELLOW through two coats of peel-off polish! UGHH!
Oh, btw, if you are looking to buy the NYX, there are two versions out there with this same name. Be sure you are getting the chunky glitter and not the fine glitter polish. 

Product: Enchanted Forest
Brand: NYX Girls

Collection/Range:  Regular
Colour: Large, medium, tiny green holo glitters in light green base
Finish: Jelly, smooth
Qty: 12 ml
Price/Availability: $2.25 (Rs 125 approx). It is not available in India. Can be ordered through beautyjoint.com and cherryculture.com

Product: Forest Green
Brand: Revlon

Collection/Range:  Regular
Colour: Dark forest green 
Finish: creme, smooth
Qty: 12 ml
Price/Availability: Rs 140. Easily available at any store selling Revlon or shop online. 

Pin It

Sparkly Diwali nails

Pin It

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 

Pin It

Swatch: Color Club Sugarplum Fairy

Pin It

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) 

Pin It

Blinding neons

Pin It

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)  

Pin It