silver - Lucy's Stash

Hello everybody!

Today I will show you the whole Barielle Gemstone Earth Collection for spring 2012. It consists of five shades with creme and metallic finish. I couldn't find any official press release but as you can see, colours are inspired by Earth so it contains natural shades.

L-R: Back To Nature, Pink Quartz, Amber Sparkler, Granite Glitter, Green Opal

Amber Sparkler - metallic brown with silver pearl shimmer. As you can see, the colour is quite streaky so I had to pay a lot of attention to application. The pigmentation is great, the colour was very good in one coat but I've applied two to get deeper shade and better control over the 'streaks'. Whenever I have streaky polish I automatically apply two coats because the second coat allows me to control the brushstrokes better. Polish also dries fast and removal is without problems.

Back To Nature - neutral peach creme shade. This is quite good shade for me; I wore it for a business conference and felt really good in it. Firstly I applied just one coat which was enough for full coverage and for the second day of wearing I applied second coat just for taking the pictures as the topcoat was scratched a bit. Very nicely pigmented shade which applies nicely and dries reasonably fast.

Granite Glitter - metallic charcoal silver with just a hint of green (and no glitter). I like this shade very much, it is not classic cold charcoal silver but it has olive undertone in it. The application was good, the finish is a little streaky but not as much as Amber Sparkler. This is two coats and drying time was average.

Green Opal - metallic olive green with gold shimmer. This is a very nice shade and quite unique. At least I didn't notice many golden olive shades recently. It applied very nicely with again a little streaky formula...but I think that with this shade the streaks are not that visible. Pigmentation was good again, I'm wearing two coats.

Pink Quartz - baby pink creme. I had to apply the polish twice because I've experienced quite a few problems. On the first try the colour created bald spots in the first two coats so I applied third coat. That seemed to even the polish out BUT after the colour started to dry, lots of bubbles under the polish appeared. I couldn't possibly take pictures with lots of bubbles in the polish so I removed it. On the second try I changed basecoat from Trind to OPI basecoat it was much better. I'm wearing two thicker coats. I don't know if it was just the topcoat's fault or if it's the formula of the polish however I didn't like having such problems at all.

Overall, the collection has very nice colours with quite good formula with exception of the Pink Quartz. The metallic colours were somewhat streaky but the formula was generally good. I like the colour palette and finishes and will definitely be trying more Barielle shades.

I'm really glad that the Barielle brand is still going and recently produced 90 new colours. That's a major boost! To be honest I'd prefer putting those new shades into collections throughout a year, which would be much easier to market and promote and also refer to.

Barielle polishes can be purchased at www.barielle.com and www.barielle.co.uk

*These polishes were provided to me for a review

Hi everybody!

I'm back with the second part of OPI Holland collection, this time I'll show you 7 shimmers. If you've missed Part 1, read it here.

Dutch ‘Ya Just Love OPI? - grape purple with subtle gold and pink shimmer. This is one of my favourite polishes from the whole collection, it's definitely a keep-me :) The formula is really great - it applied smoothly and pigmentation is very good. I've used two coats but one was almost enough.

Gouda Gouda Two Shoes -light brown with peach undertones with copper shimmer. It's a very pretty and elegant colour, another one I thought I won't like...but I do :) It applied smoothly and pigmentation is excellent. I'm wearing one thick coat and no topcoat. It also dried quite fast.

I Don’t Give A Rotterdam - a dusty slate blue with silver glass fleck. There is a bit of gold fleck as well just a tiny bit. It's very cool-toned which might not suit everybody. The formula was less pigmented that with previous polishes. I'm wearing two thick coats but if you apply thin coats, you will need three.

Pedal Faster Suzi!- cool-toned light pink packed with silver glass flecks. The polish is really sparkly thanks to the flecks but because of them it dries a bit gritty. It applied nicely but this is another polish that is quite sheer. I have two thick coats and I'd still rather have three. No topcoat.

Just a quick note - when I was removing it I struggled a bit with lots of silver flecks stuck to my cuticles.

Vampsterdam - dark eggplant colour with fine silver shimmer. When I saw previews of this collection, this instantly became my favourite colour. I love vampy shades! BUT I don't love it :( The formula is a bit sheer, little watery and streaky. Not what I'm used to from OPI. I'm wearing two thicker coats, no topcoat.

Wooden Shoe Like To Know? - darkish brown with fine copper/gold shimmer. It applied very well and pigmentation is excellent. It was almost one coater but I'm wearing two coats for a perfect coverage. No topcoat

I Have A Herring Problem - dusty blue with silver and gold glass flecks. It's very similar colour to I Don’t Give A Rotterdam but it has a bit of green or teal in it and it has warmer undertones. I prefer this one to I Don’t Give A Rotterdam just because it's warmer. But if I'm honest I don't know what OPI was thinking when putting so similar shades into one collection. I Have A Herring Problem has the same sheerer formula as I Don't Give A Rotterdam and Pedal Faster Suzi!. I've applied two thicker coats which were enough but if you apply thin coats, you might need three.

The whole collection i a very good mix of cremes, pastels, shimmers and glass flecks which I really appreciate. The formulas are really good, especially with creme shades which are well pigmented and dry fast. Shimmer part is not that excellent as Vampsterdam is a bit watery and streaky and I Have A Herring Problem, I Don't Give A Rotterdam and Pedal Faster Suzi! have a bit sheerer formula. As always I love the names :) They are creative and topical, really memorable. So what do you think?