Zoya Caitlin with OPI Sugarplum Yum

Zoya Caitlin - 2 coats with no top coat

This is not the first time I have worn Zoya Caitlin, and that says something about this polish, considered my rather large stash of untrieds!

Caitlin is actually the first Zoya I owned, I fell in love with it as soon as I saw the swatches. It is a dusty periwinkle creme, with a strong grey undertone to give it a muted look.   The application is an easy two coater, and it dries on the quick side.

Since my bf is taking me to a very nice place for dinner to celebrate my birthday tonight, I decided to glam up my mani with a coat of OPI Sugarplum Yum. Sugarplum Yum is a clear holo glitter top coat, and it makes my nails sparkle with rainbow dots. Sugarplum Yum reminds me a lot of China Glaze Fairy Dust, I might do a comparison later if I get the chance to.

Caitlyn topped with Sugarplum Yum

Nails gone wild with Octa Gone Wild

Octa Gone Wild - 2 coats with top coat (artificial light)

Here I present you Octa Gone Wild from China Glaze, one of my biggest lemmings. Not surprisingly, it is another holo from the discontinued Kaleidoscope collection.

I remember this polish as a soft purple holo when I was looking at swatch photos online, therefore I am a bit surprised when it is actually a periwinkle blueish purple (i.e. bluple). I don't mind though, because bluple is my favorite polish shade!

Like other polishes from the Kaleidoscope collection, Octa Gone Wild is packed with large scattered holo particles, which also gives a medium linear effect. How awesome is that! A polish with both scattered and linear holo! I'm in love...

The formula however, is somewhat tricky. This is the first time I have experienced bald spots with holo polish,  and it took me 3-4 coats to even the layers out. Luckily the dry time is relatively quick, so at least the application process is less painful.

Octa Gone Wild is almost the strong holo version of Catrice Dirty Berry, another favorite polish of mine (can't you tell I love periwinkle?). Unfortunately though, both could be HTFs if you don't have access to Catrice, which is a European drugstore brand. I will be swatching more untried Catrices from my stash, so watch this space!

Catrice I Sea You! + Stamping

Catrice I Sea You! - 2 coats with no base/topcoat (pardon my very dry cuticles)

Catrice I Sea You! is a nice change of color after wearing darkish purple on my nails in the past week. The name of this polish says it all really, it is a teal green that reminds me of the sea in Sanya. It is a perfect summer color without going OTT; the blue tone gives this polish a nice dusky feel that I like!

I then decided to add a little something to my nails, so I pull out my Fauxad plates and stamped a lacy pattern using Color Club Wild At Heart (WaH is my go-to stamping polish, it works great!). My apologies for my wonky stamping skills, I find it is more difficult to stamp a large pattern than a small one. I guess I'll have to practice more!

A First with Ozotic Pro - 624 Grape Holo

Ozotic Pro - 624 (color appears slightly darker than in real life)

It is unfortunate that I learned about this Aussie polish brand after I left Australia. Fortunately though, I managed to get my hand on 624 via MUA!

Since Ozotic Pro only uses codes for its polishes, I have taken the liberty and named it Grape Holo (not very original I know, but still it is better than just number). It is really pretty obvious why I called it Grape Holo, because it is grape purple packed with chunky holo glitters. This polish has a scattered holo effect, but it is more blingy than say the Milanis or Nubar Prisms holos because the glitter pieces are bigger.

Again, slightly darker than actual color

The formula of the polish is a tiny bit on the thick side, and I came across a couple of bald spots, but nothing another coat cannot rectify.

Yay! Finally a color accurate photo

Overall I am quite pleased by Grape Holo, and I will definitely be getting more Ozotic Pro when I go back to Aussie Land next month, I can't wait!

Another Holo Beauty - BK Dusty Purple Holo #17 (picture heavy)

BK #17 - dusty purple holo, two coats (no base or top coat)

Today I have for you a dusty, mauve purple (almost lavender like) from BK polish. As you can see from the photo, it has a medium linear holo effect, which makes this polish that much more special!

I will let the photos speak for the polish itself. The only thing I want to add is the formula of the polish. Unlike some holo polish which could be quite runny, this one applies like a dream, and is fully opaque after 2 coats. Can you tell I absolutely adore this polish?

I want to roll inside the rainbow goodness all day!

I hope you lovlies are not sick of my holo swatches yet, because I still have quite a few untrieds to show you!

Oh how I love thee - Zoya Kelly

Zoya Kelly 

It took me awhile before I finally caved and got the famous Zoya Kelly via a swap, simply because I thought it is a very close dupe to Misa Office Polish-tics, which I already own. But am I glad I gave in to my weakness!

Kelly is a greyish, smokey dark blue with a creme finish, it looks amazing against my warm skin tone. This polish looks so classy it kind of reminds of Grace Kelly (pardon my lameness) :P

2 coats of Kelly with top and base coat

I might do a comparison swatch between Kelly and Office Polish-tics later, so watch this space!

Zoya Tiffany + China Glaze Oxidized Aqua

Zoya Tiffany (artificial light)

Today I have Zoya Tiffany for you. Tiffany is a lovely pink foil polish with shimmery gold, and I love that it has a smooth finish. I have no problem with the application, but unfortunately it started to chip after just one day.

Tiffany + Oxidized Aqua (artificial light)

Therefore I decided to layer it with Oxidized Aqua, a metallic aqua crackle polish from the China Glaze  Metallic Crackles collection (I just received this collection + more from the lovely Jeanie, more lemmings killed!). Unlike the creme crackles from CG, Oxidized Aqua shattered beautifully. One simple coat and I got my desired effect. I cannot wait to try out the other crackles from this collection!

I Scream Peach! by Catrice

Base: Catrice I Scream Peach!, Stamp: Essence Stampy Black Polish

There are a few colors I don't wear - yellows, most greens, most reds, and oranges. Even coral is pushing it. So I Scream Peach! by Catrice is definitely an "out of the box" color for me.

I am glad I tried this color on. I am surprised how much I like it on me. I Scream Peach! is a peachy coral creme that applies very nicely. I am loving all my Catrices so far!

To jazz up my mani, I used my m64 Fauxad plate and Essence Stampy Black Polish. My stamping skill is still a bit of a hit or miss, but I am still quite happy with the final look.

What do you think of this mani? Do you like it as much as I do?

I Scream Peach! on its own, two coats

Christmas Come Early - China Glaze Crystal Ball

China Glaze Crystal Ball (artificial light)

China Glaze Crystal Ball has long been discontinued and is considered as a HTF (hard to find), so I was quite surprised to find it in a local shop in HK! After some consideration, I decided I need to get this brand new baby!

Crystal Ball is wine red/burgundy with tiny holo and silver glitters. It reminds me a lot of Christmas with its base color and sparkles. I believe this polish is before the "Big-3 free" days, because it has the old black label on the bottom, and also the awful strong smell that non Big-3 free polishes have. But aside from that, I have no problem with the application.

I am glad to add this to my HTF China Glaze collection besides OMG! and Kaleidoscope. I now have my eyes on Grape Crush. These lemmings just keep popping up, when would I be able to kill them all?

A Very Pretty Holo - Etude House PP007

Etude House PP007 (artificial light)

After seeing swatch of Etude House PP007, I have been searching it everywhere online like a mad woman. Finally my luck has paid off, and I scored two bottles from a random seller.

For those of you who have not heard of Etude House before, it is a Korean skin care and cosmetic brand. PP007 is not a polish from a holo collection, rather it is a random polish that happens to have scattered holo glitters with a smooth finish.

The heart-shaped bottle is gorgeous!

I am really surprised how much I like this polish. It is a lovely mauve purple with an easy to apply formula. The brush reminds me a bit of OPI pro-wide brush, making application a breeze. I could easily get away with 1 coat but I did two just because I could :P

Have you tried any Etude House polish before? Do you like them or hate them?

Just a little extra

So if you don't know already, I have a fetish with all things ribbon and bow. I guess that is the little girl in me that will never die :P

To increase the longevity of my current mani, I simply stamped bows on all my nails. I want the print to be subtle so I chose a not-so contrasting color to my base one. I used China Glaze Bogie for stamping. The pattern is the little bow on my Fauxad plate 59.

My first encounter with Catrice - Dirty Berry + Epic Nail Mail!

After almost three weeks, my nail mail from Austria has finally arrived! I was getting really worried, because it would have been one hell of an expensive package to get lost in the mail!

So much thanks to Caroline for get all these Catrice and Essence polishes for me. I would have never been able to get them otherwise (I can't even find these on Evil Bay!). I have included photos of my epic nail mail below, get drooling!

Catrice - Dirty Berry (artificial light)

Of all the polishes I have ordered, Catrice Dirty Berry is the one I want the most, so much so I ordered two bottles! Dirty Berry is a blueish muted purple (my favorite polish shade) with tiny silver holo shimmers. It is just absolutely gorgeous, see for yourself!

I have had difficulties trying to capture the holos, but finally I was able to do so under my kitchen lights lol

Can you see the holo goodness?

Here are some photos of the goodies I received from Austria. I think my bf almost fainted when he saw how many polishes I got from this package...

Top L to R: Catrice Dirty Berry x 2, I Scream Peach!, I Sea You!
Bottom L to R: I Wear Sunglasses At Night, Back to Black, Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans, Sir! Yes Sir!, Lost in Mud

Essence 50's Girls Reloaded (Limited Edition)

L to R: Essence Mystic Wish!, Magic Wand! (both from the Magnetics collection), White, Silver & Black stampy polish, Quick Dry Spray

L to R: Essence Julia, Troy, Hello Holo, Circus Confetti, It's Purplelicious

Caroline is so sweet to include some yummies from Austria! ♥ 

Rest assured I'd be slowly swatching through all my new polishes!Until then my lovely readers, g'nite!