Graphite

Although this polish isn’t so summery, I wanted to continue wearing more long-standing untrieds. Chanel Graphite (llusions d’Ombres de Chanel, Fall 2011) is a silvery gunmetal foil with flecks of gold microglitter:

Picture taken in sunlight. This applied well, though I needed three coats for full coverage. The base is not that pigmented, but is loaded with microglitter, which shines through nicely. Any brushstrokes are totally covered up by the microglitter. This has shot straight to the top of my list of favorite metallics. I already love it for being incredibly sparkly, but it’s also a unique chameleon of a polish. Sometimes I look at it and it seems like a cool, dark gunmetal, other times it looks lighter and more silvery, other times it looks warm-toned, with a greenish-gold cast to it. The microglitter also gives this great, foily texture to the finish that you can see even out of bright light. Overall, it’s simply gorgeous, with such interesting depth and dimension. I paired this with MAC Seriously Hip on my toes.

<3sarah

Pizzazz

After weeks of mostly cremes, I wanted to throw in one glitter before getting into another row of cremes. China Glaze Pizzazz (Holiday Joy, Holiday 2012) is a mainly silver multicolored blend of small and large hex glitter in a clear base:

Picture taken in sunlight. This is really a polish that’s meant to be layered, as it’s not that dense of a glitter, but with some work it can be opaque on its own. I didn’t really paint this on like a normal polish; I put a lot of glitter on the nail then spread it around, then let that initial “coat” dry a little, then filled in any empty spots with more glitter. I also moved the glitter around with a cuticle stick to get nice, even lines. When you look at this close up, you can see all the different colors of glitter: silver, fuchsia, sky blue, green, orange, yellow. But from a distance, the silver really dominates. Next time I use this I’ll probably put it over black to make all those colors pop, but I just wanted to see what this sort of “party in a bottle” glitter would look like on its own. I paired this with OPI Metallic 4 Life on my toes.

<3sarah

Polarized

I realized I had this entire collection sitting in my Helmers, untried, so I’m starting off the year by trying the whole thing straight through. I’m starting with China Glaze Polarized (Prismatic Chroma Glitters, Spring 2012), a silver glitter sprinkled with multicolored small hex glitter:

Picture taken in weak sunlight. (Pardon the tip pull, I had to take this on the second day of wear.) The formula was not too thick and applied well in three coats. Just one coat of topcoat leaves it relatively smooth. (Not totally glassy smooth, but definitely not rough.) While pretty, plain silver glitters tend to look the same after you try a couple, so I love the addition of the multicolored glitter. It’s slightly larger and different-shaped, so it really pops against the silver. I don’t normally think of putting cold, silver glitter with cute, sweet multicolored glitter, but it totally works. “Futuristic birthday cake” comes to mind. 🙂 I paired this with Sally Hansen Opulent Cloud (HD) on my toes.

<3sarah

Beyond Cozy

While I have mostly reds and greens on my list to try this month, I’ve picked out a couple of other different colors, one of which is Essie Beyond Cozy (Winter 2012), a fine, silver and champagne glitter packed in a clear base:

Picture taken in sunlight. This applied well, pretty smoothly for a glitter, but it does tend to thicken up as you work with it, as is usually the case with clear-based glitters.  Since the glitter is very fine and absolutely loaded into the base, I got full coverage in just two coats.  It dries a little flat, so topcoat really brings out the depth of finish. I think one coat is enough to get a relatively smooth surface. The sunlight brings out the champagne color, but in low light it pretty much just looks silver.  And of course, it sparkles like crazy!  I catch myself staring at my nails because it glitters with every move. It truly does look like I’m wearing crushed-up diamonds! It’s very glitzy and glamorous. I paired this with China Glaze First Class Ticket on my toes.

<3sarah

Metallic 4 Life

Though I’m not really in a festive mood, I went ahead with a Halloween-themed mani/pedi for today. OPI Metallic 4 Life (Nicki Minaj Collection) is a black base loaded with different-sized silver hex and square glitter:

Picture taken in natural light. Considering the type of formula, this was pretty easy to work with. The first coat went on a bit sheer so I ended up needing three for full coverage. Surprisingly the mani doesn’t look super-thick. The finish looks a bit dull on its own but topcoat remedies that. A single coat should be fine to set it and make  the finish less rough, though you’d need to add more if you’re after that glassy-smooth feel. The sparkle factor is high; the black base is absolutely loaded with high-contrast silver glitter. I see three types in there: medium and small hex glitter, and tiny square glitter. It’s not a unique color combo but it does work so well. The use of “metallic” in the name is misleading; I’m glad this is a lovely glitter as opposed to a frosty metallic. I paired this with OPI Hot & Spicy on my toes.

<3sarah

Designer…De Better!

Because of yesterday’s rainy weather I was put off wearing the dark, sparkly polish I was going to try since I knew I wouldn’t have gotten a good photo of it. Instead I shifted to a type of polish that I knew would still look like new when I went to photograph it on this second day of wear. OPI Designer…De Better! (The Muppets, Holiday 2011) is a bright silver foil peppered with copper microglitter:

Picture taken in sunlight. This applied well, though due to its slight sheerness I needed three coats for full opacity. The finish is incredibly reflective; I had a hard time getting a shot without too much glare! The shade of silver is so light and bright that it practically has a white-hot glow. The copper microglitter is definitely visible, but probably not at a quick glance. It breaks up the monotony of the silver and gives some warmth to the overall tone. I love the finish! The sparkle is delicate because the microglitter particles are tiny, but really intense since the base is loaded with them. I paired this with Barielle Falling Star on my toes.

<3sarah

CG in the City

I’m posting this a little late but this is my NOTD from a couple of days ago. I had originally planned to wear this last weekend, before I got sidetracked by this. China Glaze CG in the City (Metro, Fall 2011) is a mix of smoky purple, gunmetal and silver glitter in a clear base:

Picture taken in natural light. (There was absolutely no good sunlight that day, but this looks amazing in the sun.)  The first coat goes on pretty sheer, but it definitely builds to opacity.  The formula gets thicker as you continue to work with it. I used three coats with some minor touchups.  Since the glitter is fine, one coat of topcoat leaves the surface very smooth. I love this interesting mix! It doesn’t look the same all the time; in low light it seems like more of a straight-up gunmetal grey, but in bright light the purple tones are very apparent. The silver adds a nice contrast to the darkness of the gunmetal-purple. I can definitely call this unique in my collection! I paired this with Milani Dot Com on my toes.

<3sarah

Sparkling Personality

After a whole row of cremes I definitely wanted something glittery. This one surprised me in a very good way. Sephora by OPI Sparkling Personality (Betsey Johnson Collection) is a silver glitter peppered with fuchsia glitter:

Picture taken in sunlight. (The silver may look darker here than in real life, but I just had to pick a photo with the least amount of glare. And view this in full size!) The glitter is relatively fine for a glitterbomb, so the formula actually went on really smoothly. I was expecting to do three coats like usual but I was able to get away with just two, since the glitter is dense. I was both surprised and glad for that since I avoided having to do a really thick mani. Even though I don’t usually wear polishes for more than three days, I can imagine this would hold up well since it’s a relatively thin glitter mani. With a single coat of Poshe the surface doesn’t turn out completely glassy smooth, but far from rough or bumpy. This is predominantly silver and the fuchsia is just barely sprinkled in there, but even in such a small amount it really pops. It does wonders to break up what would be a plain silver finish. I may have been imagining things as I applied this but I thought I saw a little bit of turquoise glitter in there too. Despite the polish being all-glitter, the sparkle factor is delicate; it looks amazing in the sun. I paired this with Sephora by OPI Just a Little Dangerous on my toes.

<3sarah

Millennium

The last of the polishes I had to try from this great metallic collection was China Glaze Millennium (Khrome, Winter 2009), a pure silver metallic shimmer:

Picture taken in natural light. (Click to see it less blurry in full-size.) The formula was smooth and pigmented; I got full, even coverage in two coats, over two coats of basecoat. Although it doesn’t necessarily go with my skintone, I really like silver nail polish; often times I prefer it over gold. I love this shade; true silver can look so bright! This has a really futuristic vibe to it. At a quick glance this does look like molten silver on the nail. I hardly wear any jewelry so with this type of polish on I kind of feel like I am. I’m glad to have finally tried this collection! Since the formula shows every flaw on the nail, I wanted to wait for my nails to be free of any ridges and dents. I wasn’t too keen on the formula at first, but after finding the right techniques to make it work without excessive bubbles and brushstrokes, I totally came around. I particularly love the last three I tried. I still prefer the foil-type metallics, for the sparkly factor, but it’s great how the very fine shimmer in this keeps the finish from looking frosty, while still preserving the look of a “regular” metallic finish. I paired this with OPI Russian Navy Suede with topcoat on my toes.

<3sarah

Sci-Fi

For the second half of the Olympics I have the second half of this metallic collection, starting with China Glaze Sci-Fi (Khrome, Winter 2009), a lavender-tinted silver metallic shimmer:

Picture taken in sunlight. The formula was smooth and pigmented, giving full coverage in two coats. The double-layered basecoat method I’ve been using seems to be doing the trick; I get less bubbles with each polish I try from this collection. Any visible bubbles I get now are from the topcoat. I don’t like topcoat bubbles either, but I can tolerate them much more than bubbles from the polish itself (plus, topcoat makes polish bubbles disappear :)). This doesn’t look purple enough for me to call it lavender; it still falls under the silver category. At a quick glance this may look like a plain silver, but when compared side-by-side to a true silver you can clearly see it’s not. This is also a shade darker than your standard silver. I think the lavender tint may come from the shimmer. I love it; whenever I see a metallic polish that’s lavendery and silver I just automatically think “spacey.” It kind of reminds me of that silvery purple/green duochrome color combination. I paired this with Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede with topcoat on my toes.

<3sarah