Glitter Gal 3D holographic polish in Green

Ok, I did it. I hopped on the Glitter Gal bandwagon. A few weeks back I placed an order on Llarowe for a bunch of holos. The first of which I posted about last week. Today's pick is Glitter Gal 3D holo in Green.

The color is a light green with a very lovely linear holo. Oh, how I love the linear holo. It is dangerous while driving in direct sunlight as one tends to stare at their nails - or maybe that's just me.

This polish definitely shows up better while using a flash, otherwise you just don't get the dancing flashes that you would in real life. Here is a picture in indirect sunlight (because the sun was refusing to help me out today).

Still pretty, though!

The polish was good. It was on the thin side, but not so bad that it runs into your cuticles. I did use three coats and there was still a faint nail line. Again, being that it is a holo - it wasn't enough to deter me from loving this. The brush did have a stray bristle, but a snip of my little scissors remedied that right away. The bottles are smaller than I expected. 9ml, so bigger than the tiny Le Metier de Beaute polishes, but smaller than most that you will find, especially for the price. But, from what I understand, holographic polishes cost a bit more to make, which is why recent holos have been on the pricy side.

This particular color is still available at Llarowe, as well as a few other colors in the holo line.

The return, with holos! HITS No Olimpo Ares

So, I've been away for a bit, but I'm returning with a heck of a polish. I have been seeing the HITS No Olimpo collections make its way through the blogs, and there were so many that I wanted. I settled on the bright red Ares.

In Greek Mythology, Ares is the God of War, son of Zeus and Hera. He represents the brutality of war, so I guess it's fitting that this polish is a bright, blood red. But not only is it a bright red, but a bright red with a LINEAR HOLO. Sorry, I just get excited when I look at the bottle.

With flash

Unfortunately, this polish wreaked havoc on my camera, and Santa sent me a very nice upgraded camera and I still couldn't capture the lovely holo as good as I would have liked. It is definitely linear and actually looks like a silver shimmer, until it gets directly in light, then the colors dance off the nails. The polish smells a bit funny, and I doubt it's 3-free, so keep that in mind if you go to purchase this. Also, I have read that some people have had problems with the brush, however I didn't have any problems. The brush was on the thin side with respect to volume of bristles, but it was a bit wider than most brushes. The polish itself was on the thinner side, but not so thin that it was runny.

I do love a nice red nail, but adding a holo to a red - divine. This polish will most definitely go into high rotation.

In sunlight

I got mine at Llarowe, however it currently looks like Ares is out of stock, but there are other Greek Gods that are in stock that look just as lovely.

I promised this wouldn't turn into a baby blog, but I can't resist - here the reason I've been neglecting this blog:

My Little Miss - notice the lovely big drool spot under her chin, teething sucks!

Now, how can I focus on nail polish that that face staring at me?

Why did I wait so long? Color Club Revvvolution

My love for holos is not undocumented. However, of all the holos that I have, they are predominantly pastels. Now, I am not a pastel person. I would love a deep royal blue holo (and not to pay exorbitant prices on eBay for OPI DS Glamour) or an emerald green holo. A deep charcoal holo is also nice, but OPI My Private Jet - the non-dud version - is also selling for stupid expensive prices on eBay.

So, enter Color Club Revvvolution. The only place I can get this brand near me is at Bed Bath and Beyond, and the one closest to me has been out of stock for months. So the other day I was in a different BB&B and finally saw Revvvolution and it looked like a complete dud - I couldn't detect a holo, just silver-ish glitter. I thought, "Oh, what the hell" and threw it in my basket. Once I paid and took it out in the sunshine - I realized that the sun brings out the subtle holo. All was right with the world again.

Of course I came home and immediately put it on. For a $3.50 bottle of nail polish, the application was pretty nice. It was almost fully opaque in one coat. I put on a second just to even it out. The holo isn't as pronounced as others, but in direct light (sunlight or artificial light) it does produce a nice holo.

I'm glad I took the chance on this one, and wondered why I waited so long!

Nfu-Oh 64

Ahhh, my trusty holos. Whenever I'm bored with my stash (which shouldn't be, considering I have well over 200 polishes) I pull out one of my trusty holos and all is right in the universe.

No flash (and funny orange skin)

With flash to capture the rainbow of colors

Anyone who has read this blog knows my love for holos. I love the way it dances in the light and throws off a rainbow of colors. I do tend to prefer the fine-grained linear holographics, meaning that it forms a line of color along the nail. If you look in the flash picture above, you can see the distinct lines of rainbow colors from the holographic glitter. A scattered holo is just that, it forms a scattered effect. 

The other thing I have noticed about this particular brand is that it does not look very holographic in the bottle. Many of the older OPIs and the China Glaze OMG collections show a very visible linear holo effect while still in the bottle. Looking at the Nfu-Ohs it may seem that they would end up being scattered or *gulp* duds. However, that is absolutely not the case as they form some of the best holos around.

No flash - and freaky orange skin is back

Flash

The Nfu-Oh holos aren't without their problems. They are on the thick side, and application isn't the smoothest. If you're not careful it will form some massive bald spots. Using Nfu-Oh's Aqua Base does help a bit for that. I only used two coats for this one, but I did go slower than usual and really took my time. I actually had to re-do a few nails because my application was horrendous. In the end, it was all worth it. I love looking at my nails out in the sunlight.

OPI Black Shatter with Northern Lights topcoat

Yeah, you knew I had to put a shatter coat on top of it! They look so good on top of holos!

OPI DS coronation

I quickly talked about OPI DS Coronation in my holo comparison post some time back. My holographic love is completely documented here on this blog. So it's no surprise that when I was unsure of what color to paint my nails, holographic polish was right at the top of that list.

This one isn't as linear as some others, but it is quite nice.

Oh, how I love this color, and holographics.

Me + Blue - Justin Bieber collection

Being that there is no 12 year old girl living in this house, I'm not very familiar with Justin Bieber. I know tween girls go nuts over him, and that he actually possesses drumming talent, but other than that - nothing. The spitfire (thankfully) prefers the Ramones thanks to the dearest, so there is no Bieber played in this house. So, when Nicole by OPI came out with the Justin Bieber collection, the first thing I thought was "huh?" then I saw the collection and thought "meh.." But then a little glimmer caught my eye. Was that... a... holographic glimmer?

Why, yes it is! Me + Blue (which I'm guessing is a song of his?) is a bright medium blue with a smattering of holographic glitter in it. I immediately grabbed it. After I got it on my nails, I'm back to "meh".

The formula and application was good, albeit a wee bit chunky, but not annoyingly so. It has the wide brush that I love. But I just wasn't feeling the color.

Then I thought I'd try putting a holographic top coat on top of this color. I grabbed my Nicole by OPI Make a Comet-ment, which is a clear polish jam packed with silver and holographic glitter, and layered two coats over the two coats of Me + Blue that was already on my nails.

That significantly lightened the color and gave it a glittery, silvery hue, while adding more holographic glitter to it.

Just for a comparison, here's a picture of the color with and without the holographic topcoat.

I wanted to like this color. I really did. But, like Justin Bieber himself, I think I'm just too old for this color.

Saw this one coming

I knew it would only be a matter of time before I was putting the shatter on everything. I'll swatch one nail with a new color, or be at the end of a manicure and think, "hmmm... lets try the shatter over it".

A wee bit of a messy shatter application

My L8R G8R manicure was beginning to chip (I guess Orly Ridge Filler isn't that good of a base coat), so I put the shatter on top of it.

The shatter looks really cool over a holographic polish. To test that theory out even further, I tried it over three coats of Nicole by OPI - Make a Comet-ment - with is just pure holographic glitter in a clear base. The polish itself is really grainy, but looks good under the shatter.

The shatter was applied a bit thickly, so it didn't shatter as nicely, but still looks pretty cool.

I'll be sick of the shatters soon, I promise!

St. Patrick's Day Manicure

I don't have a drop of Irish blood in me. My entire family is of Italian heritage, on all sides of my family. The dearest, on the other hand, is half Irish (and half Scottish, which makes the spitfire and spitfire 2.0 quite the mutt). So, being absolutely not Irish doesn't mean I can't wear my green! So, to be absolutely sure I won't forget tomorrow morning, I decided to give myself a St. Patrick's Day manicure.

I picked the color the way I pick nearly all my polish colors - I pulled out every green or greenish polish I had and let the spitfire pick. I gotta tell you, the boy has good taste! He was immediately drawn to China Glaze L8R G8R from the OMG collection. That's my boy!

Oh, boy, how I love this color. I love how the light dances off the very fine holographic glitter making the rainbow lines move all around. I tried to capture the different angles:

Click to enlarge

The formula itself isn't the best. It's very thin and dries *very* quickly. The first coat looks awful. It works best if you get a good amount on the brush and make as few strokes as possible, no more than 4, maybe 5 on the thumb. And do it fast. I used Orly Ridge Filler as a base and Seche Vite as a topcoat.

 

These holos are mesmerizing. I have to make it a point not to stare at my nails in direct sunlight as I'm driving!

Happy St. Patrick's Day - to the Irish and non-Irish alike!

China Glaze Tronica

On my way to go pick up dinner tonight, I stopped into Sally's (which is conveniently on the way!) and finally, I saw the Tronica display. They did have all the colors there, but I settled on three. Here, I have two of them and their counterparts from the OMG collection to show the differences.

The colors in the Tronica collection, so far, exactly match the ones in the OMG collection. The only difference is the way the holographic glitter reflects. Tronica's holographic glitter is more of a very fine scattered holo while the holographic glitter in the OMG collection is a very fine linear holographic effect. While I don't own any of the Kaleidoscope collection from China Glaze, from what I have seen online it also seems more of a linear holographic effect, but the glitter pieces are more chunky than OMG.

So... on to the comparison shots!

First up is Virtual Violet. This one is a dark purple. I do have a weakness for this color. I love purple nail polishes. If you enlarge the picture, you can see that the holographic glitter doesn't make that delineated line that the OMGs make. It's scattered. I do like the effect, although I do like the linear holos a wee bit better. Here's the comparison shot with it's OMG counterpart - LOL:

I have the middle and pinky finger in LOL and the pointer and ring in VV. They are the same color, just how the glitter reflects is different. Here's a closeup:

The next color I tried is Hyper Haute.

It's a magenta polish, and again, you can see the scattered holographic glitter in this one. Here's how it compared to its OMG counterpart - QT:

Honestly, QT is one of the least linear of the OMG collection (GR8, the gold one, being the least),  but you can still see the difference. Here's a closeup:

In reference to the formula, it's typical China Glaze. It's thin, but not watery and goes on nice and opaque. All of the pictures you see here, Tronica and OMG, are all two coats with no base or top coat. I do love China Glaze's formula. It's easy to apply, not gloppy at all.

My suggestion - obviously if you're a collector, you're going to grab these. If you have all or most of the OMG collection, you can easily pass on this one. If you missed out on the OMG collection and don't feel like paying eBay prices, I say go for this collection. It is very nice, but you will not get that linear holographic effect. I bought these two because I wanted a comparison, and these were my favorite colors of the collection. I also bought the silver one because I don't have the OMG counterpart.

So, will you be indulging?

Free Zoya Polish!

So, did everyone take advantage of Zoya's 3 free polishes deal? I took this as an opportunity to not only get 3 free, but to get a few more.

A few weeks ago I took advantage of Zoya's free spoon deal and ordered 6 of them. Of those spoons, I added Crystal and Julieanne to my basket. In addition to those two, I grabbed Tiffany - a glittery peachy pink, Annie - an orange with golden shimmer, and Indigo - a deep, dark blue with blue shimmer and sparse holographic (!) glitter. I swatched them all out, and I have to say I am VERY happy with my purchases (and freebies!)

Zoya Tiffany

Zoya Tiffany closeup

Tiffany - this was a lovely peachy-pink with very dense pink and gold glitter. It is the glitteriest of the 5 that I got. Despite all of the glitter, it went on very easily and dried smoothly. This was 3 coats.

Zoya Annie

Zoya Annie closeup

This was a fantastic orange - and I do love orange - with lots of golden yellow shimmer. This left some subtle brushstrokes, but it wasn't too bad. The coverage on this one was excellent. This picture is 2 coats. I love this one.

Zoya Indigo

Zoya Indigo closeup

Indigo. This was a fantastic color. It was a very deep navy blue with a lighter blue shimmer. There is also a very sparse holographic glitter suspended in it as well. It gives it just the right amount of glitter to give it that little something extra. It was hard to photograph, but it looks awesome. At first I thought it was going to be streaky because the first coat didn't go on very well, but the second coat evened all of it out. This picture is 2 coats.

Zoya Julieanne

Zoya Julieanne closeup

Julieanne. Ok, this one wreaked havoc on my camera. When I took the picture without the flash, it was true to color, but make my skin look a jaundiced yellow. When I used a flash, my skin was the right color, but the polish looked blue, which it absolutely isn't. It's actually a deep purply-black base with dense dark purple and pink glitter suspended in it. It takes on almost a duochrome-like effect. Just to show the craziness with the flash, I have a little comparison.

 

The left side is no flash, but true to polish color, the right side is with a flash and true to skin color. Now, there was no direct sunlight today thanks to snow and cloudy skies, so that's whats making my skin so yellow. But the polish is on target!

Zoya Crystal

Zoya Crystal closeup

Crystal. A lovely medium icy blue with flecks of large gold glitter dispersed through it. Great color, application was less than great. It took three coats to make it look ok, but I was getting some bald spots and cuticle drag. I can get over it for a nice color, though.

When I put this on, I thought it resembled a color I had in my stash - Essence Choose Me. I fetched it out of the draw and made a little comparison

Zoya Crystal on top and Essence Choose Me on bottom

They are both blue polishes with gold glitter, however the essence is a bit more turquoise hued and jelly like. The gold flecks are smaller in Choose Me as well.

Zoya Crystal and Essence Choose Me

They're close, but there's a definite difference in the two. A big enough difference that I don't feel guilty owning both!

So, did anyone else pick up their 3 free Zoya polishes?

Holo Comparisons!

During my trip to the dollar store recently, I picked up some Sally Hansen Prisms at a great discount. When I brought them home I pulled out all the holographic polishes I have and decided to do a little comparison between the different brands. It's no secret that I absolutely love holos, and this is timely with the soon-to-be-released Tronica collection from China Glaze. This is by no means a completely comprehensive list of all holos, just the ones I have. I have separated the polishes into color groups, Silver, Purple, Pink, Peach, Blue and Green. I didn't do gold, because, frankly, I only have 1 and gold does not look good on my skin tone - so I tend not to buy them. The brands included here are Nfu-Oh, OPI Designer Series collection, China Glaze OMG collection, Milani 3D Holographic collection and Sally Hansen Prisms collection.

First up - the silver group.

L-R: Nfu-Oh 61, OPI Designer Series Coronation, Sally Hansen Diamond and Milani HD

Pointer - Nfu-Oh 61, Middle - OPI, Ring - Milani, Pinky - Sally Hansen

L-R: Sally Hansen Diamond, Milani HD, OPI DS Coronation, Nfu-Oh 61

Nfu-Oh 61 makes the most concentrated and linear holographic effect. It looks blue in the nail only photo, but that is only because I needed the flash to show the holo effect. The other two shots are without flash. OPI Designer Series Coronation and Milani HD both have a chunky, scattered holo effect. Sally Hansen Diamond also has a scattered holo effect, but the holographic bits are smaller than OPI and Milani. My favorite of this bunch is the Nfu-Oh 61.

Purples

L-R: Nfu-Oh 64, China Glaze IDK, Milani Hi-Res, Sally Hansen Purple Diamond

Pointer - Nfu-Oh, Middle - China Glaze, Ring - Milani, Pinky - Sally Hansen

L-R: Sally Hansen Purple Diamond, Milani Hi-Res, China Glaze IDK, Nfu-Oh 64

Nfu-Oh 64 and China Glaze IDK both have a great linear holographic effect. The Nfu-Oh's particles seems a bit larger, but both are very eye-catching. The Nfu-Oh is a more pinky-purple while China Glaze is more of a blue purple. The Sally Hansen Purple Diamond has a very subtle linear effect, which only shows in the right light. The Milani Hi-Res is a definite scatter effect. My favorite of this bunch is the China Glaze IDK.

Pinks

L-R: Nfu-Oh 63, China Glaze QT, Milani Digital, Sally Hansen Pink Rose Diamond

Pointer - Nfu-Oh, Middle - China Glaze, Ring - Milani, Pinky - Sally Hansen

L-R: Sally Hansen Pink Rose Diamond, Milani Digital, China Glaze QT, Nfu-Oh 63

For the pinks, the Nfu-Oh 63 and China Glaze QT both have pronounced linear effects, like the purples. The effect of the China Glaze with the deeper color is really nice. It looks subtle until you really look at it, and then the effect is quite pronounced. Sally Hansen Pink Rose Diamond has a subtle linear effect and Milani Digital is scattered. My favorite of this bunch is, again, the China Glaze.

Peaches

L-R: OPI DS Reserve, China Glaze TMI, China Glaze TTYL, Sally Hansen Mandarin Garnet

Pointer - OPI, Middle - CG TMI, Ring - CG TTYL, Pinky - Sally Hansen

L-R: Sally Hansen Mandarin Garnet, China Glaze TTYL, China Glaze TMI, OPI DS Reserve

OPI DS Reserve is very scattered, there isn't any linear effect at all. Both China Glaze colors have the linear effect while the Sally Hansen Mandarin Garnet is very subtle, more so than the silver and pink color. In this bunch, my favorite is the China Glaze TMI.

Blues

R-L: Nfu-Oh 65, OPI DS Sapphire, Milani Cyberspace

Pointer - Nfu-Oh, Middle - OPI, Ring - Milani

L-R: Milani Cyberspace, OPI DS Sapphire, Nfu-Oh 65

Both the Nfu-Oh 65 and OPI Sapphire are linear, with the Nfu-Oh being more so. The Milani Cyberspace is scattered, but with this color, it really works well. My favorite of this much is the Nfu-Oh.

Green

L-R: China Glaze L8R G8R, Milani Hi-Tech

Pointer - China Glaze, Middle - Milani

L-R: Milani Hi-Tech, China Glaze L8R G8R

I only have two green holos, but they are both great. China Glaze L8R G8R has a pronounced linear effect while Milani Hi-Tech has a subtle linear effect. All of the other Milanis have a scattered holographic effect while this one actually shows a subtle linear holo. Of the Milanis, the green is my favorite. I don't think I can pick a favorite of these two, they're both great.

All of the swatches here were done with three coats and no base or top coat. The Nfu-Ohs can really benefit from using the Nfu-Oh Aqua Base, as the formula is quite thick and tends to form bald spots when any other base (or no base) is used. It's a difficult polish to work with, but very rewarding. The Milanis, Sally Hansens and OPIs are all on the thinner side, and really do benefit from 3 coats. The China Glazes are great formulas, great in 2 coats, but I still used three. Of the collections, the China Glaze OMGs are my favorite as a group. Unfortunately, these are getting harder to find (and therefore much more $$$$) on eBay. However, Tronica will be coming out in a month and from the swatches I've seen online - it seems to be a more scattered holo rather than linear and in the same shades. I'll have to wait and go see for myself.

Happy holos, everyone!