shimmer - Lucy's Stash

Hi everybody!

Yesterday I've reviewed the first part of Zoya Beach & Surf collection for Summer 2012. You can see the review of the Beach collection here. I was completely in love with the beach collection but I must say that there are some real gems in the Surf collection too!

Kimber - raspberry pink with gold glass flecks. In real life this colour is leaning more towards pink undertones, like raspberry shades. It reminds me China Glaze Strawberry Fields a lot. One coat was almost enough but in the end I needed the second coats for perfect coverage. I had one problem with this polish - it stained my nails quite a lot. I would recommend to use two coats of base coat or thicker base coat, something like OPI Ridge Filler, Essie Protein base coat and similar. Otherwise the formula was good, easy to apply and polish dried quite fast.

Rory - lotus pink foil metallic. Really great shade if you like pinks. It has quite cool undertones. The 'metallic foil' effect is quite visible on Rory and it looks good! It's shiny and it's sparkly! It has really good formula - it applied easily and I didn't experience any problems. I've applied two coats but one was almost enough for a full coverage.

Carly - deep metallic foil purple. I want my name to be Carly just so I can have this gem named after me!!! I absolutely adore this colour and it's my absolute favourite from the whole summer collection. I know it is not particularly spring or summer shade but I just love dark purples! I'm wearing one coat! The pigmentation is really great and Carly did not stain my nails. It also applied flawlessly..it was just love at first sight

Myrta - coral orange foil metallic. Myrta is in real life a bit more red, it is not as orange as it came out in the pictures. It also has great pigmentation, I'm wearing two coats but the first coat was almost fully opaque. It applied easily and dried reasonably fast.

Meg - mermaid green foil metallic. This is very sparkly foil green, almost like the pistachio Tracie from the Beach collection. I think I like Meg better just because it's so sparkly :) It is also very well pigmented, I'm wearing two coats but one coat was almost enough for full coverage. Meg also dried fast :)

Zuza - aquamarine foil metallic. Now this is the second polish in the collection that stands out for me straight after Carly. Beautiful sparkly blue with great formula! One coat was almost enough but I've applied two for full opacity. Zuza stained my nails a little bit so next time I'll use thicker base coat or two coats of base coat.

Surf collection has metallic foil finish as opposed to the creme Beach collection and really like it! But what is more important is the formula - absolutely flawless to apply across all the shades! The pigmentation is exceptional as well with all shades being almost one-coaters. If you have very short nails you can do with one thicker coat but if your nails are longer like min you will probably need two cats to hide the nail line. I've experienced staining with Kimber and Zuza so use thicker base coat to prevent it. Also when I was removing these polishes I had tiny foil particles stuck on my cuticles and skin so in the end I did something like foil method to prevent it - just hold cotton pad with nail polish remover on your nail for few minutes and then wipe of the polish with one stroke. Worked like magic :)

I love both Beach & Surf collection and I think that if you like colours, you'll be more than happy with these little gems.

*These were provided for a review

Hello everybody :)

It looks like the nail polish brands are still creating new variations of crackling polishes and Nicole by OPI is not an exception. Today I'll review four new Texture Coats by Nicole by OPI. I'll review some more soon.

Nicole by OPI says: "Nicole by OPI announces the launch of four new limited edition Texture Coat hues: Opal, Quartz, Amethyst and Aquamarine. This line of graffiti-style nail art products offers a simple way to create an edgy, two-texture effect on nails with quick, at-home application.

In addition to the two-texture element, these four new line additions feature high-shine finishes. Opal Texture is a metallic, mother-of-pearl shade with chameleon-like properties that takes on a different look depending on the color over which it’s applied. Quartz Texture has a unique taupe/pink metallic hue, while Amethyst Texture and Aquamarine Texture are packed with sparkle – purple and blue respectively – for an added glittery effect."

Amethyst Texture - amethyst/lavender glitter crackling polish. This glittery crackle polish is a very nice addition to the Texture coat line as the glitter coats look much nicer IMO than the creme ones. It applies nicely and doesn't dry rapidly as you apply it. Colour reminds me of China Glaze Luminious Lavender crackling polish which is very similar. Overall lovely colour and I like the glitter crackles much more!

Aquamarine Texture - aquamarine/sky blue crackling glitter. Another fresh glitter texture coat, the colour looks delicate over white and stands out over black as you can see on the nail wheel above. It also applied very nicely and didn't dry too fast. Also I haven't experienced any 'gloopiness' around the neck of the bottle. Aquamarine Texture coat applied over OPI Barre My Soul from NYC Ballet Collection.

Opal Texture - duochrome changing from orange-ish and pink to purple. This is my favourite texture coat out of these four. It is actual duochrome with what looks like glass flecks and it creates very unique effect. I had to apply little faster than with glitters but it still didn't dry rapidly. Removal was slightly easier than with glitters.

Quartz Texture - metallic pinkish purple crackle. Another very interesting Texture coat - it is metallic, it is sparkly and shiny. It also stands out the best over black polish but it looks very feminine and delicate over pink. I've applied it over Nicole by OPI Up & Kim-ing Pink. When removing I've experienced a little bit of sparkly particles left behind on my skin but nothing too annoying.

All the newly introduced Texture Coats are interesting, I'm happy to see something different from creme crackles however I'm not sure whether the 'crackle' trend did not pass already. You know with all the magnetic polishes emerging past few months and 'caviar on nails' style and so on.

Being said that, these new Texture Coats have much better formula than for example the first OPI creme Shatters or China Glaze Crackle polishes. They don't dry too fast so you don't have to rush the application but they still dry fast enough that you can apply topcoat very soon. The different textures and glitters look very nice and it is something slightly different from what we've seen before.