Flakie Love!

So, while Kas isn't a flakie fan, I most DEFINITELY am.  I love the interesting looks one can create by layering them with different things.  I snap up almost every nice flakie I come across, and I eas lucky enough to get my hands on a bottle of Cult Nails Clairvoyant, which I'm extremely careful with.  But far and away, my favourite flakie is Finger Paints Twisted.  It's such a crazy rainbow of colours that looks good with just about any base.  I'm in heaven!  I have a backup because I'm already about 1/4 of the way through my first bottle.  I don't know what I'll do if I run out!

So today I have for you the manicure I put on once we returned from out trip, which is two THIN coats of Finger Paints Twisted layered over one coat of OPI Pompeii Purple and one coat of OPI Too Hot Pink To Hold Em. The two underneath made a really squishy, gorgeous pink base, and the flakies really popped on top.  Even my mom, who usually rolls her eyes at my nails, noticed and said how pretty it looked.


(And yes, I cut my nails again!  I managed to break them on my luggage twice so I'm giving them the chance to grow again.  Also I apologise for the state of my hands.  YUCK, right?  Don't worry, I did a little blurring to cancel out my gnarly cutlicles)


Check it out!

Blurred so you can see the COLOURS! 

Essie Fiji + Nubar 2010 = Probably the girliest thing I've ever had on my nails!

So I was in a stanky mood the other day(I think Kas and I are mentally connected or something because I find our bad days coincide far too often) and I decided to cheer myself up by doing a nice treatment on my hair and putting some pretty, girly, pink polish on my nails.  I reached into the Untrieds bin and found Essie Fiji, the much discussed pink I had bought but never actually gotten around to putting on.  I put two thin coats of Nubar 2010 on top to add a little punch and voila!

It's a beautiful pink, to be sure, but I don't think it's stealing the title of my favourite light pink away from Pink Friday just yet. The formula leaves a LOT to be desired.  At three coats it still wasn't perfect, but since I was layering I didn't bother with a fourth.  I think I could get away with 3 VERY CAREFUL coats, but 4 would be the norm.  It's also a little thick, but not unmanageable.  It gives me a little bit of lobster hands and unless I was going to high tea, I probably wouldn't reach for it again on a normal day unless I was layering it again.  But, that said, I still like this.  It's a very pretty, simple look.  I'll keep it on until it chips.  Going on three days now!

Look at that sparkle!

What's your favourite pale pink? 

And what's your take on flakies? Kas and I are split, weigh in!

Ebony and Ivory Swatch China Glazes Hunger Games Collection - Part 2

So just a little recap.  We will now sometimes post together! And the titles will not always start with "Ebony and Ivory...".  So let's move on to the final 3 polishes in out possession.

Electrify (District 5 - Power)

Electrify is a clear base full of gold and slightly larger red glitter.  We used 3 coats for complete opacity.

 

Kas: I like this but I would never buy it for myself.  This is a accent ring kind of polish for me. Even if it's not for me it's quite the dazzling colour. Oui?

George: This one is obviously my favourite of the collection. How could it not be? Two of my favourite colours, gold and red, together in a stunning glitter with two sizes. I love the contrast between the colours and how they look like sparks. I bought two bottles of this one, and I am almost afraid to wear it because I don't want to ever run out, haha. I am in love. I think this is about as close to the perfect glitter as you could ever get for me. JUST LOOK AT IT :D

 

Luxe and Lush (District 1 - Luxury)

Luxe and Lush is another clear base full of different sizes of lilac/pink/blue flakies that flash an assortment of colours depending on what your base colour is. This is definitely meant to be worn as a top coat. We used 2 coats on most of our fingers. And looking at the photos now I think George used 1 on her naked nails.  And each of us swatched it over a plain black cream.

 

George: This one that I love just because it's unique and weird and very me. I love the shapes, I love the pretty flashes of different colours(Blue! Green! Gold! Peach!) and how it just dances in the light. I can't wait to try this layered over things. I want to see it over a blood red.

Kas: Again this is a polish I really like but it's not for me (I'm VERY picky when it comes to polish if you haven't already figured that out). I LOVE how the flakies can have such a dramatic change of colour depending on what you layer it over.  Looking back we should have swatched it over a lighter colour too. Maybe one day George will do that and show us :P

 

Stone Cold (District 2 - Masonry)

China Glaze Stone Cold on Index and middle fingers.  Orly Iron Butterfly is on the ring and pinky fingers.

Stone Cold is a black matte/suede with silver shimmer.  We used 2 thin coats but if you really wanted to you could get away with one slightly thicker coat.

Kas:  This is my favorite out of the collection.  I LOVE mattes with shimmer (None of that glorified wall paint stuff).  I have one in almost every colour.  They are my go to when I'm in a rush.  And they look great with top coat.  Anyhoo the minute I saw I swatch of this I knew I loved it and I knew I did NOT need it because I was pretty sure I had Orly's Iron butterfly.  Iron butterfly is SLIGHTLY darker in person.  So if you have iron butterfly (or any black matte shimmer for that matter) you really don't need this.

George: Ahh, the lone matte! This one satisfied my need to own Orly's Iron Butterfly(see our dupe photo) as it's almost identical. I go back and forth on dark mattes, but this one is really interesting and I'm so glad I own it. I love that the shimmer only really comes to life in the right light. It just kind of pops out at you. Really nice colour, though I do wish it were a bit more unique.

Well that's all for today folks!  I'm sleepy.

Ebony and Ivory Swatch China Glazes Hunger Games Collection - Part 1

So first off you should know that we're going to try and do combined posts too.  This is something we've been wanting to do for a while.  We thought it would be nice to be able to come to one place and see how something might look on darker and lighter skin or on different nail shapes. And not only that but taste wise we're pretty opposite. George leans towards brighter colours and glitter where I (Kas) lean towards warmer, and vampy colours, and prefer shimmer. But that doesn't mean we don't deviate.  Also we don't read each others reviews before posting them so it's fun to see when we have two wildly different opinions on things (See Smoke & Ashes :P). Anyways let's get this wheel of cheese rolling!

Quick intro! George is a big Hunger Games fan and I read the first book and I thought it was ok. She was excited for this collection.  I was neutral.  George is tall. I am average height. George bought 6 bottles from the collection.  I bought none.

Riveting (District 3 - Technology)

George

Kas

Kas: In the sun

Riveting is and Orange jelly with golden flecks.  We used 3 coats.

George: I love this colour. It's just so bright and shimmery and I love that it doesn't clash with my skin. It has a lot of depth and just seems to glow. This is definitely one of my must-have picks for this collection!

Kas: I really liked this colour in the bottle but I already knew I wouldn't like it on me.  I find most oranges look horrific on my skin tone. But the colour is by no means ugly.  It's beautiful and if you can work it.... work it :P Also it reminds me of a magical tangerine (because I see them all the time).

Dress Me Up (District 8 - Textiles)

Kas

George

Kas

George

Dress Me Up is a dusty pink cream.  We  both used 2 coats. But you may need 3 depending on how thick you do each coat.

Kas: I was unsure of this colour (as I always am at first of most pinks) but I was hopeful because it was a dusty pink and those are generally the types of pinks I like. I'm happy to say that I really liked it.  And the formula was flawless in my opinion.  This is also a great work safe polish.

George: Well, you already saw this on me in my Pirouette My Whistle post, but here it is again. Let me just say: I LOVE THIS. You all know my feelings about neutrals, but for some reason this one just won me over. I think it's because it's dusty and sophisticated while also being just plain pretty. I mean, look at it! Talk about the perfect neutral.

Smoke & Ashes (District 12 - Mining)

George

George: Sunlight

Kas: Sunlight

Kas: Sunlight

Smoke & Ashes is a black based polish with blue-green micro flecks.  We used 2 coats in the pictures.

George:  A lot of bloggers were disappointed with this colour, which is shocking to me, because I think it's amazing. The blue and green shimmer just come alive in almost any light, and the blackened base gives it versatility. I wore this with a flakie topcoat and the result was absolutely incredible. I just don't understand how anyone couldn't love this.

Kas: Now to be honest I wasn't too crazy over this collection.  But from the initial photos I thought this would be the one I bought. But after swatching it this was quite the disappointment. The flecks don't pop enough. The black om noms too much of it.  Now I love polishes with hidden secrets but the key is the secret can't be hidden forever. In theory this polish was a good idea. But it was executed poorly.

Well that's all for now.  Tomorrow we shall have the final 3 that we own up. 

Ciao!

Nubar 2010

So sorry that some of these pictures are a bit messy.  I had originally put this mani on because I just didn't want naked nails so I didn't clean up what I had been wearing perviously properly.  Anyways I ended up taking some crazy pics and decide no, this needs to be shared.

As you all probably know Nubar 2010 is a flakey polish.  It has a clear base and depending on the light I can flash green, yellow or orange and kind of look like embers. Oh and did I mention when you take pics of it underwater it looks like you were picking a clowns nose. And who doesn't want that look? Who? I layered it over OPI's Black Onyx.

While there's lots of flakies that look like this now a days. I actually prefer this over one's like Essie's Shine of The Times. Mainly because the flakies aren't as dense. I prefer being able to build.  Anyways, check out this amazing pic spam!

RAINBOW!!!!!!!!!