lacquer//ella

Matted Glitter

Icha — Fri, 18 May 2012 14:48:58 +0000

Here is something I discovered only recently: Matted glitter look!

I’ve seen it done around the net, but didn’t think I would like it as much. Well, one day I happened to be bored and decided, why not? I already had Essie’s Smokin’ Hot and China Glaze’s Techno (Silver glitter) on, so all I had to do was slap on a coat of Matte About You… and voila!

I like the result! It tones down the crazyness of the glitter, yet doesn’t make your nails look just like any other plain ol’ matte nails.

China Glaze Ruby Pump

Icha — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 15:43:36 +0000

I’ve been neglecting this blog, I know. The reason is because I sold my SLR, and pics taken with other cameras just can’t match up to the quality of SLR so I get sad whenever I have new polishes and the pictures just don’t do justice to the prettiness!

But anyway! I bought three new China Glaze polishes this weekend and just had to do a post about this. One of them is China Glaze Ruby Pump, which I had heard so much about but never seen in person before. Well this color is so gorgeous that basically it was just love at first sight. It’s the perfect deep red glass fleck color, ever. I don’t think any picture can do justice of how deeply rich the red is!

I liked it so much I’m already thinking of going back for a second bottle.

Less talk, more pictures. They are about 1000x better in person

China Glaze Ruby Pumps is part of Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection. I layered CG Techno (clear-based silver glitter) over it for a bit of festive look, though I’m about two months too late for that…

Looks a bit bright in this picture. in reality it’s a darker, richer red than this!

I was actually debating between getting Ruby Pumps or Lubu Heels, but feel that Lubu is much too similar to Midnight in Moscow in color (though I’m sure it’s much better since it’s a glass fleck polish)

A video I found on youtube that shows off the Ruby Pumps color better than my pictures

Nude Glitter nails

Icha — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:56:36 +0000

I’ve always adored a glitter nude look. There are a few ways to do this, and here is one of them. I quite like the result :)

I used China Glaze’s Stellar and OPI teenage dream for mine. Stellar is a very pretty nude color with generous amount of silver shimmers. One of the prettiest, girliest polishes I’ve ever seen! It does apply a bit thin though, so you would need at least 3 coats.

Then I layered OPI Teenage dream on top of it, which I have covered here. Really, you can just use any kind of glitter polish you want but make sure the base is transparent. Teenage dream has a pinkish base which is not a problem since it’s still transparent enough to not overpower Stellar underneath.

And there you have it! a nude glitter look!

Another less flashier way is to layer a glitter over nude creme polish, which I have seen done several times before. You can also opt to add the glitters only on the tip of your nails!

Mermaid Nails

Icha — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 00:48:39 +0000

I layered a coat of OPI’s Last Friday Night over Bloom Bianca and ended up with this.

Super pretty :)

Nfu Oh 51

Icha — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 10:26:40 +0000

Nfu Oh 51 had been on my “absolute want” list for awhile now. Sadly i couldn’t find any merchant in Singapore carrying this polish for a reasonable price (I found one for ridiculous price – S$47), so i had to enlist my friend’s help since she lives in US and was going to meet me for our Europe trip.

I got my bottle from FabulouStreet.com for US$12.50. I have no complaints about this seller! They were quick to respond to my email when I had questions.

Back to Nfu Oh 51. This polish is absolute beauty! The base is somewhere between dark blue and purple, and it is jam packed with beautiful multi-colored flakes that changes colors from green, orange and red.

Application was a bit of a disappointment because while there are generous amount of flakes with every layer, the base applies very thin. I would layer this over another color.

If you’re wondering why my swatches looks darker than others, that’s because I layered it over Misa’s A Sin worth comitting, which is a dark blue shimmer polish and is absolutely gorgeous as well. I will do a swatch post for this one soon!

Bloom Bianca

Icha — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:02:44 +0000

Bianca by Bloom is a green shimmer polish with slight blue and gold undertone. The color is vibrant and reminds me a lot of the ocean and mermaids! I’m totally a fan :) I don’t think I have anything close to this in my collection so far.

Application for me was just alright. The polish applies nicely with just two coats, but I feel like brush makes it hard to apply and I tend to miss the sides of my nails. The shimmer also applies a bit streaky, though it’s not too obvious unless you REALLY look for it.

Bloom Adelaide

Icha — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 17:37:47 +0000

From the first time I saw pictures of Bloom’s “Adelaide”, I knew I had to have it. They looked like the perfect red shimmers to me!

But, as soon as I applied them on, I realized they were not quite shimmer polish. Adelaide is actually a vampy red glass fleck polish, which just makes it 1000x better, especially since the color is so deep and vibrant.

The color is mostly dark red but I detect a hint of pink in it. It’s like this polish is the darker cousin of OPI The One That Got Away, and the vampy quality of it makes me think it’s the slightly lighter, pinker version of of Midnight in Moscow.

On the bottle this polish also packs a lot of gold flecks but sadly this doesn’t translate well on the nails. Still very pretty though!

Application was a dream. You literally only need one coat! The formula also applies really well. Basically an all-around star.

OPI Dating a Royal

Icha — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 14:09:59 +0000

If you are looking for a true blue creme polish, look no further! I’m 99% sure OPI’s Dating a Royal is the polish you need.

The formula on this is a bit of a disappointment for me. It’s extremely thin and runny, not what I would generally expect from an OPI creme polish. Because of the runny-ness it was a bit more challenging to apply, and the thinness causes it to require three coats for perfect coverage which in turn makes it long to dry. I find that waiting 5 mins between each coat makes everything easier though.

The good thing is that the color doesn’t disappoint. At all. Dating a Royal is a deep rich royal blue that is neither too bright or too dark. Definitely a unique shade in my collection :)

OPI My Private Jet

Icha — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 14:35:06 +0000

It’s official, I love the Night Brights collection!! Dark, almost black polishes with just a subtle twist of color are the best. I have read countless good reviews of My Private Jet (MPJ) all over the internet, so I finally picked it up!

I have to note that I only managed to get the NEWER version of MPJ, which means the base color is dark chocolate and the shimmers are less holographic than the first version. I’m sure I would have LOVED the original version, but I don’t think they make them anymore :/

Anyway, I’m still excited about the new MPJ. Such a classy color yet not so conservative with the amount of glitter. I think it would make a nice pairing with a little black dress for a semi-formal event :)

Also it’s insanely opaque and applies really well. I honestly only needed one coat on most nails. I put two coats on some to even it out because I missed some spots.

This is how I wore MPJ today – with khaki dress and frilly neutral colored scarf! so matchy matchy :D

OPI Light My Sapphire

Icha — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 08:43:45 +0000

Light My Sapphire is another one of those barely black polishes. I picked it up because I was intrigued by the very fine silver shimmer in this blue black polish.

On the bottle the shimmer gives it a smooth graphite/carbon look, and unlike its cousin OPI Ink from the same Nights Brights collection, LMS is a lot more subtle.

The formula isn’t the best but it was still pretty easy to apply. It’s pretty opaque, but I needed three coats most of the time for an even application.

Color-wise, I love this polish. It makes a nice alternative to the usual black color and a perfect choice for Fall/Winter. However if you’re looking for a dark blue color, this is not it because most of the time (ie: under artificial light) the polish look just.. black.

Also, I feel like it would make a really nice matte polish so next time I’ll try giving it a matte top coat!