ORLY Cosmic FX - Space Cadet: Sci-Fi on your Nails

Normally I would save the best for last, but I'm so infatuated with this polish I just had to show it first. Space Cadet belongs to ORLY's latest 6 piece collection for fall: Cosmic FX.

According to ORLY

ORLY introduces its latest addition to its portfolio of textured finishes with Cosmic FX. The new, limited-edition collection delivers multi-dimensional flashes of intense shimmering shine that is so electrifying your nails will explode with color! This lighting phenomenon is achieved by ORLY’s exclusive MINERAL FX technology.
The innovation infuses natural rock minerals, crystals, and glass to give nails a special optical effect with extreme luster, rich pearlescence, and a smooth, sparkling spectrum of concentrated color.

Space Cadet

Wow, is all I can say. Since I started blogging I've seen so many different colors and finishes, oversaturation is inevitable. It takes a lot to leave me stunned like this.
Space Cadet is a very sparkly foily multichrome. It flashes an incredible array of colors, there is purple, orange, golden green and mauve all chucked together in a teal-ish base. In times like these I'd wish I had a video camera to capture the beauty of this polish. I think it's safe to say Space Cadet already made it to my favorites of all time. Damn baby.

scary macro shot

Application

Application was fine, 3 thin coats, which surprised me, somehow I expected I wouldn't be able to wear this polish on its own. The drying time was another surprise, it dried in a ZzZap! The wear was pretty good as well, stayed on for about five days with minor tipwear.

I will write about every single polish in this collection eventually, I could have made one post about all six of them, but I have more fun when I'm writing about them separately - if that makes any sense.

ORLY polishes from the Cosmix FX collection cost 10 USD each. You can get Space Cadet from eBay, TransDesign, Head2ToeBeauty etc.

Misa Winter Collection 2010/2011: Spark My Interest - swatches & review

Misa Spark My Interest

"Whether you’re hitting the clubs in South Beach or sipping martinis in a Manhattan high-rise, you’ll need nails that glimmer as bright as the surrounding lights. Misa Cosmetics’ latest collection, Spark My Interest, pays homage to the glitz and glamour of nightlife and romantic intrigue—because nighttime nails should never fade into the background. The six brilliant hues are saturated with shine, thanks to the thousands of glittering particles packed into each polish, guaranteeing that nails remain the center of attention all summer long."

Hi guys! Today I have a review for you on Misa's latest 6-piece collection for winter called Spark My Interest. With polish names including a lot of "spark", "bling" and "glitz", I suspected a lot of shimmer and glitter, but were my high expectations met? Read on to find out!

Date Nights to the Twilight

Let's kick this off with my favorite of the collection, I really do love purple and it's the least conventional color in this collection. Date Nights to the Twilight is a foily shimmery medium purple, not too blue, not too red, somewhere in the middle. Very pretty.

Red Pumps at the Nordstrom

A metallic red. My camera didn't really pick up the detail in this polish, because it's a lot more interesting in real life. I threw in a macro shot so you'll get the idea. I don't really like metallic reds, especially in this particular shade. According to the press release this would be a sparkly ruby red, and it isn't. I hate to say it.. but this one looks a bit.. cheap?

Wink, Blink, Let's get a Drink

Wink, Blink, Let's get a Drink is a very pretty dark berry, plum-y color that does remind me of a good wine. I love the shimmer in this one, it's not as flat looking, not as glowy as I wished it would be, but still pretty nice and very fit for a sophisticated look.

Glitz, Glamour, Smile for the Camera

Just like Date Nights to the Twilight, this is more of a foil than anything. The press release said glam glitter, but hmmmm. This one is a pretty fuchsia, quite a fun color, and probably flattering to a lot of skintones! Foils tend to have great application so that's a huge plus.

Spark My Heart, that's a Start

This isn't just a pink, Spark My Heart, That's a Start, is more of a coral pink with a pink flash. This one is where a foil meats the metallic finish I think. I'd say pretty interesting for a pink. Somehow I can't remember the name of this polish correctly, in my head I keep naming it "Kickstart My Heart" like the Mötley Crüe song, ha!

Pink Bling On My Ring

According to the press release Pink Bling On My Ring is a shocking hot-pink glitter. And again... it's not. It's not very shocking, definitely not a glitter either. I wish it was though, because this almost looks a bit frosty? Definitely a nice shade of pink though, not too boring.

Overall

This is a difficult review for me, I absolutely love Misa, I fell madly in love with their latest fall collection, Toxic Seduction is one of my all time favorites! I love their bottles and their awesome application. And all of these polishes are no exception to this rule, they're all top notch quality. ALL of these were near one-coaters. I applied two layers for the pictures though, but if you're careful enough you can get away with one. They apply so well. They glide on, dry fast and smooth, it's really bordering perfection.

But! I don't know if it's just me, this doesn't look much like winter. Have you noticed this line in the press release: "remain the center of attention all summer long.". All summer long? ....Mhmm. These do look pretty to me, especially Date Nights to the Twilight and Wink, Blink, Let's get a Drink, but they indeed look like fun, playful summer colors.
After Misa's fall collection - What I Like About You - everyone's expectations immediately sky rocketed. For winter I would have expected more drama, more glitter, more depth, more variety. Winter/Holiday collections are often the most extravagant show stoppers of the year. If colors like these are your thing, I'd definitely buy these, they're pure quality. But for me, this isn't really cutting it..

Boozyshop

The products in this post were provided to me for review by Boozyshop. Boozyshop is an awesome Dutch webshop, that sells a lot of great brands like Diamond Cosmetics, Cheeky Monkey Cosmetics, Misa, Color Club, Orly and a whole lot more! (makeup too). They carry the entire Misa line and they cost 6.95 EUR each for a bottle of 15ml. Boozyshop ships throughout most of Europe, if you're not sure they ship to your country, don't hesitate to contact the owner Maaike, because she's incredibly helpful! Misa is also available on eBay and other etailers like TD or Head2Toe.

OPI DS Signature

Hi everyone! Is everyone enjoying the summer and celebrating the sunny weather with a fair share of holographics? I know I am! OPI Signature from the Designer Series is actually a polish I used up, yes, to the last drop! I got it back in 2008, paid full retail price of 20 euros and didn't even regret it. So I was pretty bummed when I used it up. I usually wore this on my toes, it's so much fun in summer! And yes I've posted about it before, but I figured it deserved somewhat better swatches.

Reunited again

Michelle from TheLacquerFiles was incredibly sweet to fill that OPI DS Signature void in my heart and gave me hers, since it wasn't her color. And guess what...

...I still love it! The formula of this polish is perfect, it glides on smoothly without being runny. It does need 3 coats, but they dry fast and you can easily apply thin ones. I didn't even use a top coat, see how shiny it is on its own. The mauve/pinkish color is a bit conservative maybe, but the holo effect gives a nice twist to a decent color.

This holo is more of the scattered type, and in the shade it looks like in the picture below. The holographic effect is definitely toned down but it left a pretty depth anyway.

Well dear readers, this was it for today! Thanks for stopping by and have the best weekend!
- Michèle

Nfu Oh #64

Hi everyone! Hope everyone is having a great day. Today's a holiday here in The Netherlands, so everyone is wearing orange, since that's our national color. I absolutely hate orange 90% of the time so I decided on this very festive polish: Nfu Oh (pronounced En Foo Ooh), number 64. #64 is a not very subtle mauve-ish holographic polish. I showed you #65 a while ago, and this one is pretty much the same. Application is a bit patchy, so it could take up to 3 coats for complete opacity. The finish is very smooth though, so 3 coats won't leave you with big chunky nails, thankfully! The best thing about Nfu Oh's holographics is that they're still enjoyable as hell when you're not lounging around in the sun. Very cool. I once said I liked subtle holos better than these, but I find myself liking these blingtastic ones more and more, they just never cease to amaze me. The fact that even guys turn their heads to get a glimpse of my nails when I'm wearing this, isn't an influence at all! ;-). This is too good to be true, you might think. What's the catch? Well, there is one and that's the wear. After 2 days you'll already notice major tip wear and spots where the polish already has worn off. Nfu Oh has a special base coat for their holographic polishes though, namely the Acqua base coat. Unfortunately I don't have it, but perhaps it could make all the difference! Another thing, I think it's good to know that these holos dry somewhat matte, I used top coat once (David top coat) and the holo effect definitely got duller! Thanks so much for reading, take care! -Michèle

Comparison: Art de Lautrec

Daph wilde graag weten hoe Art de Lautrec #25 was vergeleken met Essie Angora Cardi dus ik heb een snelle vergelijking gemaakt. Sorry voor de toestand van mijn nagelriemen, ik was aan het swatchen en aceton droogt behoorlijk uit.

Daph wanted to know how Art de Lautrec #25 compared to Essie Angora Cardi so I made a quick comparison. Sorry about the state of my cuticles, I was swatching and acetone is pretty drying.

Van links naar rechts:

From left to right:

Misa Runway Diva, Essence Spot On, Art de Lautrec #25, Essie Angora Cardi.

Op mijn nagels in dezelfde volgorde, allemaal met drie laagjes en een topcoat:

On my nails in the same order, all with three coats and a topcoat:




Zoals je kunt zien is Angora Cardi donkerder en meer paars en Misa Runway Diva is rozer en wat meer helder maar Essence Spot On komt wel heel dicht in de buurt!
Spot On heeft iets meer grijs en is wat stoffiger maar ze liggen zo dicht bij elkaar dat je ze naar mijn mening niet beide hoeft te hebben als je niet heel erg van dit soort kleuren houdt.

As you can see Angora Cardi is darker and more purple and Misa Runway is more pink and a bit brighter but Essence Spot on is really close! Spot On has a bit more grey and is a little more dusty but they are so close I don't think you need both unless you really lose these colours.




Beide zijn goed dekkend in drie dunne laagjes maar de Essence lakt toch net iets prettiger vind ik zelf. Daarnaast is prijs natuurlijk ook belangrijk. Art de Lautrec is met €3,05 absoluut niet duur maar Essence is toch nog flink goedkoper en bovendien komen er geen bezorgkosten overheen. Bij twijfel tussen deze twee zou ik dus voor de Essence gaan.
Nog een foto van de flesjes naast elkaar om het verschil te laten zien:

Both are opaque in three thin coats but the Essence applies just a little bit better in my opinion. The price is also an issue of course. Art de Lautrec isn't expensive at €3,05 but Essence still is a lot cheaper and you don't have to pay for shipping. So if you are thinking of getting one I would go for the Essence.
Another side by side bottle pic to show the difference:


That's it, I hope this helps someone!

Edit: Somehow my pics get cropped in a weird way. Sorry about that! I'll try to fix it but I'm not really sure what the problem is. In the meantime you can click the pics to get a better look.

More Art de Lautrec!

Heeft iedereen een leuke Valentijnsdag gehad? Wij hebben al moeite genoeg om de datum te onthouden dat we elkaar hebben leren kennen dus aan dit soort feestdagen beginnen we al helemaal niet. (Serieus, we zijn nu bijna 10 jaar samen en we hebben het nog NOOIT op de jusite dag gevierd. We denken er altijd pas een week of twee later aan.)
We hebben lekker zoals elke zondag wat series gekeken en zijn het bos in geweest met de honden. Ik heb ook eindelijk de RRS feed rechtsboven gefixt dus als je The Dutch Nail Blog liever op die manier volgt kan dat!

Did everyone have a good Valentines Day? We have trouble enough remembering our own anniversary so we're not even bothering with this type of holliday. (Seriously, we've been together for almost 10 years now and we have NEVER remembered to celebrate it at the right date. We always think about it a week or two later.)
We've spent this day like every other sunday. Catching up on shows we watch and going to the woods with our dogs. I've also finally fixed the RRS feed on the top right so if you'd rather follow The Dutch Nail Blog that way you can!




Dit zijn nog twee van de Art de Lautrec lakjes die ik van Alice And Jo's Havesentials heb gekregen voor review.

These are two more of the Art de Lautrec polishes Alice And Jo's Havesentials sent me for review.




#25 is een mooie en een beetje stoffige oudroze/mauve. Ook deze gaf geen problemen met lakken en was na drie laagjes dekkend. Ik vind het mooi maar op zich is een mauve creme natuurlijk niet zo heel bijzonder dus ik heb er een laagje #10B overheen gedaan, een doorzichtige lak met een holografisch glittertje.

#25 is a pretty and a bit dusty mauve. This one also didn't give me any trouble with the application and was opaque after three coats. I like it but a mauve creme isn't very special so I added a coat of #10B, a clear with a holographic glitter.


Mooi delicaat glittertje hè? Ik ben al heel lang op zoek naar een glitter die ik over konad kan gebruiken en dit kon het wel eens zijn. Er moet wel een laagje topcoat overheen want ze is een beetje korrelig maar niet heel erg dus een laagje is voldoende.

Pretty and delicate glitter isn't it? I've been looking for a glitter I could use over Konad and this could be it. It does need a topcoat because it dries a bit grainy but not very much so one coat is enough.



Ik heb nog een Art de Lautrec lak om te laten zien deze week en verder heb ik nog wat Essence en P2 in de planning en een giveaway! Ik verklap nog niet wat je kunt winnen maar ik ga proberen om het voor donderdag te posten. Hopelijk is mijn pakje op tijd hier!

I have another Art de Lautrec polish to show you this week and I'm planning on showing some Essence and P2 and a giveaway! I won't tell you what it is yet but I'll try to post it before Thursday. I hope my package get's here in time!