Browsing Category:

Swatch

Glitter, Swatch, Uncategorised

Different Dimension Merry Go Round

25th April 2014

Leave a comment

Different Dimension Merry Go Round Swatch | The Nailasaurus | UK Nail Art Blog

Different Dimension is an indie brand that’s been on my radar for a while. Any time I see a swatch of their polishes, my eyes widen and I spend a little while drinking in the pretty and I’m finally lucky enough to be the proud owner of a few of my own Different Dimensions polishes. You may have spotted Lucky making an appearance in my last blog post and today I have a full swatch of Merry Go Round.

Merry Go Round is a glow in the dark polish. The base is a milky white and it’s packed with bright glitter. I used 3 coats for this swatch topped with HK Girl top coat although you could just use one coat over a white base.

Where to buy…

Different Dimension nail polish is available from Different Dimension on Etsy

Merry Go Round $5.00 / £3.05

Swatch, Uncategorised

piCture pOlish LE Shades: Illusionist, Gravity, Aurora, Solar Flare and Altered State

17th February 2014

Leave a comment

Press Sample

This Thursday, piCture pOlish are releasing a range of limited edition shades and I’ve got a little sneaky peak of the polishes to show you today. There’s a cosmic theme running through the collection and the polishes are all toppers intended to be worn over black creating a dimensional, multichrome look. There are also tiny holographic particles mixed in to 4 of the shades. The shades are Gravity, Altered State, Illusionist, Solar Flare and Aurora (which is super limited edition).

These swatches are one coat of each polish over a base colour of No7 Just Black. These shades look breathtaking in the bottles but it doesn’t even compare to when they’re on the nail. What I find fascinating is how the polish on the brush looks way too sheer – almost clear – to have any impact with just one coat but one coat is all you need to bring out these vibrant colours.

I’m wearing, from thumb to pinky: Illusionist | Gravity | Aurora | Solar Flare | Altered State

My favourite shades are Gravity and Altered State, the blue/teal and purple respectively. I have nothing against the other shades, I’m just a sucker for blues and purples!

There are only 800 bottles of Aurora available and you’re limited to one bottle each if you plan to order from the website to keep things fair for everyone. But if you can’t get your hands on that one, it’s similar in many ways to Illusionist. Illusionist is just lacking in the micro glitter and doesn’t have the same strong multichrome shimmer that shifts from green to purple to pink.

The shades retail at AUD$13.50 (AUD$14.00 for Aurora) and will be available from Thursday February 20th on the piCture pOlish website and soon after from international retailers.

Freehand, Holographic, Stamping, Swatch, Uncategorised

A-England Dancing With Nureyev Swatch

15th December 2013

Leave a comment

Press Sample

A-England has just released their Ballerina Collection. As always the shades are inspired by, and named-for a little piece of history. This time, it’s ballet history. There are four shades in this collection, each one a soft silver holographic with a tint of colour. The shade I have here is Dancing With Nureyev which has a blue tint. I used two coats for this swatch and you’ll also notice it works for stamping, even over the very dark plum base!

My base colour is A-England Dancing With Nureyev and added the ruffian style accents with Barry M Plum.

For the accent nail, I switched up the two colours using Barry M Plum as the base with Dancing With Nureyev to stamp on a slice of the pattern from MoYou plate Suki 08.

It’s all topped with a coat of KBShimmer Clearly on Top.

Glitter, Swatch, Uncategorised

Polish Alcoholic Autumn 2013 Collection Swatches

17th October 2013

Leave a comment

Press Sample

It’s been an age since I swatched any nail polish so today I’m going to show off two polishes from Polish Alcoholic‘s Autumn 2013 Collection which is available to purchase on Etsy now. Both of these polishes are nicely pigmented, slightly shimmery shades with a some subtle glitter in the mix too.

Black Nightshade is a black polish tinted silvery blue with a subtle shimmer finish. As the name suggests, this polish does a great job of imitating the night sky. There’s some very fine glitter particles in here which sparkle holographic if you catch the light just right and it really looks like distant stars!

I used 3 coats for this swatch but for a less intense black, you could use two. It’s topped with one coat of Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat.

Where to buy: Polish Alcoholic on Etsy – $10.49/10ml

Amor Vincit Omnia is a bright fuschia polish, sprinkled with magenta glitter. The glitter in this one isn’t as fine as in Black Nightshade but I was really impressed with how evenly it came out of the bottle and distributed across my nails. As you can see in the pictures, there’s no sign of the glitter accumulating closer to the the tips as you often get with glittery cremes. Again, there’s a very subtle shimmer in here which works well with the glitter.

This swatch s 3 coats with a coat of Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat.

Where to buy: Polish Alcoholic on Etsy – $10.49/10ml

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

Glitter, Studs, Swatch, Uncategorised

Nail Lacquer UK Sticks and Stones Blue

30th August 2013

1 Comment

Not too long ago, AJ from Nail Lacquer UK got in touch to see if I’d be interested in trying out a few of her polishes and I of course jumped at the chance to review some Indies from a UK based maker. There are so many amazing glitters in her store that it took me a while to decide on just a few but I asked if I could try Sticks and Stones Blue and Dog Days. I’m so happy to see a UK indie maker with such an amazing selection. The best part is that I can buy up as many bottles as I want without insane shipping or import costs!

Another sweet little detail I want to mention is that each polish comes with a little handmade charm themed to suit the polish. You can either keep these round the bottle or clip them on to a charm bracelet (or anywhere else you want to wear them) with the lobster clasp. I’m currently rocking on one my purse! How’s that for a loving touch?

Press Sample

Today I have a swatch of Sticks and Stones Blue to share. This polish is a classic black and white, bar and hex glitter with some lavender and blue additions with extra squares. There’s a really good amount of glitter in the bottle – I only had to use one coat for this swatch. I’m really impressed with this polish and I really can’t wait to try Dog Days too. Nail Lacquer UK polishes can be purchased in AJ’s Etsy store. Mini bottles are £3.50 and the full sizes range from £5.50-£7.50.

My base colour is NYC Raindrop and I used one coat of Nail Lacquer UK Sticks and Stones Blue.
For the accent nails I use striping tape to mark off some racing stripes, then painted Barry M Matt White straight down the middle and NYC Lavender Cupcake at the sides. I added a pastel purple stud from Born Pretty Store.

It’s all topped off with 2 coats of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

Holographic, Swatch, Uncategorised

Cirque Bejeweled and Vesuvius Swatches

17th August 2013

Leave a comment

Press Sample

Cirque’s Arcus collection has been sitting on my desk for way too long waiting to be swatched but I’ve been a bad blogger and not given it the attention it deserves. I got a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of swatching a full collection of 12 polishes and kind of shied away from the whole thing which was silly. I’ve decided that it’s best to work my way through it at a reasonable pace so I want to show you guys my favourites over the next few weeks at my own sloth pace!

Today I’ll be showcasing the to holographic polishes in the collection – Bejeweled and Vesuvius. I’m a huge fan of holographic polishes and these two are both welcome additions to my collection. I don’t have anything else similar to these and the blue just makes me go weak at the knees. There’s not too much to say about these polishes except that they’re perfect. They apply like a dream and the colours are stunning but you guys can see that for yourselves!

This is two coats of Bejeweled with a top coat. I also couldn’t resist adding an accent of Queen Majesty!

I would describe Vesuvius as a dark salmon colour. It’s very romantic and dreamy. I don’t have many polishes of this shade in my collection but after wearing this one I think I need more.

These particular polishes retail for $15.00 but most of the other colours in the collection are $13.00.

Cirque nail polish is available on the Cirque Colors website if you’re in the US or Sally Magpies for UK buyers. There’s a full list of stockists on the Cirque website so be sure to check that out if you’re in the rest of the world!

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr

Holographic, Swatch, Uncategorised

Art Deco Accents

9th July 2013

Leave a comment

Press Sample

A-England are back with the Burnes-Jones Dream collection. A collection of holos named after some of the works of Pre-Raphaelite artist Edward Burne-Jones. One of the things I love about getting a new A-England polish is learning a little slice of history along with it. The names are so intriguing that I have to Google them and I always end up spending hours on Wikipedia reading up on English legend!

This beauty is Rose Bower – a deep berry scattered holo. I used two coats here topped with No7 Top Coat. The polish peeking through on my accent fingers is A-England Excalibur from the Mythicals Collection. It’s a silver foil with fine gold flakes running through it – very shiny! Again, two coats was perfect.

You can purchase A-England polishes directly from th website, a-england.co.uk, if you’re in the UK. If you’re overseas click here to see stockists in your country.

For the deco nails I used a base coat of Excalibur then a coat of No7 Stay Perfect Top Coat to make it dry. I followed that by placing on some striping tape in an art deco-esque pattern and painting over it in Rose Bower. There’s a striping tape tutorial here in case the explanation wasn’t too clear!

When it was all dry I topped it with two coats of No7 Top Coat.

Twitter ♥ Bloglovin’ ♥ Tumblr