If there's one thing I've been faithful to this year on my blog it's definitely my Monthly Manicures series. Every month I put up a complete roundup of manicures that I have done during a given month. The purpose of this series isn't to show off some sort of talent that I have for nail art, but rather to talk about new polishes and techniques I get to try out.
Without further ado, let me show you what kinds of manicures I had in August!
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* Most of the photos in this post were taken indoors with either flash/no flash. *
*Click on the photos to enlarge them.*
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As promised way back when, I have finally come around to swatching Kelsey & Lissa! There's something really aesthetically pleasing about this duo of powder peach and turquoise.
For my accent nail I went with something simply yet funky.
I didn't have any problems with the fomula of either polish. They seemed like fairly average Julep polishes - not totally liquidy but not too thick either. I did have to shake the bottles every so often for better application. I did two coats of each colour for most of the nails.
Ugh, the colour of both polishes - especially Lissa - is incredibly difficult to capture on camera (common theme in this post). My pictures make the colours seem either too dark or way too light.
Just know that Lissa falls somewhere in between the shade you see above and the one you see below.
During a nail polish haul at Rexall a couple of months ago, I became mesmerized by the Revlon Parfumerie Collection. Part of my interest had to do with the gorgeous bottles, which look like they could actually be delicate perfume bottles (the cap makes all the difference), and also with the variety of basic colours. The polishes were on sale and I decided to pick one up to try out. I settled on Surf Spray - a gorgeous aqua blue shade.
It takes a few coats to build up Surf Spray's opacity. Here's what the polish looks like with one coat:
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| Way too sheer! |
The formula is liquidy but I liked working with it and I'm happy that it leveled out on its own.
After applying two more coats of Surf Spray (so, three in total at this point) I got the colour that I wanted. I knew I would only be using this as a base since Essie's On a Silver Platter would somehow be incorporated on top.
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| (3 coats) L - without flash (lamp lighting) | R - with flash |
From what I understand, the polishes from the Parfumerie Collection are supposed to have a scent when completely dry.
I...um...forgot to smell my nails after they dried, so I can't tell you whether that's baloney or not. Do the polishes have a uniform scent or are they all different? Is it a pleasant scent or is it terrible? Hmm...the mysteries. I picked up another polish from the same collection last month, so I'll have to wait until I try it out to answer those questions. Feel free to throw in your two cents if you've tried anything from the Parfumerie Collection!
I can't remember how I came across On a Silver Platter, but I'm so happy I did! The formula is that of a typical polish that's packed with glitter - it's thick, but possible to work with especially if you shake the bottle every so often.
Ugh, I'm terribly in love with this polish! Typically I would be terrified of using it because it's glitter and removing it would make me cry, but since I've got the Peel-Off Base Coat in my arsenal, maybe - just maybe - I'll try a full manicure one day.
It's also my desire to recreate this manicure one day, so hopefully I'll have some successful results in the future (haven't yet, but trying!).
Mani #3
Harp On It (Color Club)
I've never really tried a full-on holographic nail polish before, but I have always wanted to. There all kind of shades of holographic nail polish out there, but I chose Harp On It as a good basic to start with.
The holo is powerful and soo beautiful in the sunlight! Indoors/in the shade the polish does look a bit dull greyish.
The formula was a dream to work with: liquidy, self-leveling, and quite forgiving if you made a mistake and had to go over certain areas.
Mani #4
Sand in My Shoe (Nicole by OPI)
Lavender (Nicka K New York)
On the same shopping trip to Rexall at which I picked up Surf Spray, I also picked up Sand In My Shoe from OPI's Roughles (pronounced"Ruffles" - think chips!) Collection, which is a clever play on words that indicates the rough texture of the polishes.
The texture is actually really cool! I did two coats of SIMS out of habit, but you probably can get away with putting on one thick coat.
I also tried a Nicka K polish in Lavender for my accent nail. It went on pretty smoothly and dried pretty fast. I put the line of SIMS through it because in my mind the design looked a lot better than how it actually turned out. Oh well. Live and learn, I guess!
Mani #5
Belugaria (Essie)
A while ago I was reading a review of Belugaria and a blogger whose swatches I was checking out referred to it as the "world's ugliest nail polish." I complete disagree with that! Belugaria may be unusual and it may sound too close like "beluga whale," which may have some sort of negative connotations for certain people (who knows why), but this is certainly not an ugly polish.
I don't have a great picture for you today (had to snap these with my phone at work), but I love everything about Belugaria! The texture is bumpy and the polish itself is packed with glitter, so you can expect the formula to be on the thicker side, but it's certainly not overly difficult to work with. In fact I had no problems with the application at all. Shake the bottle a bit every so often and you're good to go. You'll probably see Belugaria at least once more before the year is over - after all, I do have the Peel-Off base coat now!
Avni is a polish from Julep's Wanderlust Collection, which I have yet to review. This polish caught my eye right away because it's a gorgeous, gorgeous shade of purple!
Unfortunately, my camera couldn't pick up the violet tint, so Avni looks more blue in all of my photos than it actually is:
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| Ugh...why so blue?? |
...unless I used flash. With flash you can see a bit of the purple:
The formula was pretty typical for a Julep polish and the application was not too bad.
I really hope that the Wanderlust Collection will be brought back soon. The colours are magnificent!
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Have you tried any of these nail polishes? Let me know in the comments below!
Thank you kindly for reading!
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