Caty Perry-Winkle - Above the Curve

This polish is a prize I won, from Above the Curve.

This and other polishes found here:
http://abovethecurve.bigcartel.com


From the website:
Caty Perry-winkle is a cream holographic periwinkle polish.

It definitely is a gorgeous periwinkle blue. I LOVE IT. It's nearly the exact shade as Essie - Lapiz of Luxury, which is my favorite Essie polish (I own four).

The holographic... I suppose. It's not as holographic as Adriel, or really any other holographic polish I have seen. I suppose that's what they used to make it, but it comes across as more a shimmer. If you look incredibly close, it does look like its comprised of multiple colors. But if you're thinking you want a typical holographic effect, it's not that.

But actually I love it this way. It's a subtle shimmer in the bright light and it's very soft and classy, in my opinion.

If anyone is looking for gift ideas for me, I need a full size bottle of this. Haha.

My manicure is two coats if ATC Caty Perry-Winkle, with a few Essie - Lapiz of Luxury dots to show you their similarity. This is nearly opaque in one coat, but definitely no issue in two!

Photos are in direct sunlight, evening light, and indoor lightbulb.

Adriel - Above the Curve

Today, I will show you a polish I won from Fridays at ATC on Facebook.

It's called "Adriel" and is by Above the Curve. I reviewed another polish by them weeks ago, and as I mentioned then, one dollar from every polish sold goes to Shriner's Children's Hospitals.

http://abovethecurve.bigcartel.com

I'm going to be completely honest and admit that I when I put the color on last night, I didn't really like it. But, the longer I left it on, the more it grew on me.

I would describe Adriel as a mauve holographic polish. It was basically opaque after one coat, but I used two for good measure.

The formula is excellent. Dry time was quick!

I'm not a mauve kinda mommy. I told Desi via text that it reminded me of a color my grandma would wear. I loved my grandma to bits, and have nothing against maybe on others, but it's not a color I would reach for. Too feminine, maybe?

But, as I said, the longer I left it on, the more I liked it. I think it goes well with my skin tone, and it seemed prettier in lighting other than that of my kitchen at night. I still don't know that I would be inclined to purchase it, but it is really pretty and I am sure I will wear it again. I just had to get over the shock. In no way does my lack of love for mauve say ANYTHING negative about this polish. I have no negative criticism at all toward it.

If you like pinks or holo polishes, you should grab this one up. The holo is obvious in bright light and low light but it's not crazy over-the-top. It's a nice feminine, spunky polish. You'll love it for sure!

I didn't get many photos because we are in a snow storm AGAIN and it was interfering with photographing.

Warrior

Today I'm featuring a polish that was a free gift with purchase! It is "Warrior" by Daring Digits.

www.ddpolish.com

It's currently sold out, but not listed in the retiring polishes so I think it will be back!

When I saw the name, I must admit, I started singing "shooting at the walls of heartache, bang! Bang! I am the warrior!"

And... When I was polishing my nails, still singing it... And now I can't get it out of my head. Thanks, Patty Smyth.

The polish, however, is from her World of Warcraft collection and unrelated to the song in my head. I don't, nor have I ever, play that game.

On the site it's described as a gunmetal gray holographic base with silver glitters. I'm glad I read the description because at first glance, I didn't see the holo. That gave me the perfect excuse to sneak outside really quick and check it in the sunlight, and it is indeed holographic!

I used two coats. It's not opaque, but it's close. Three or four would have done it. Goes on easy and evenly. Normal dry time. Glossy!

Here are my photos! Enjoy!

Hello, Holo! Part I

I have a topcoat I am very excited to share with you all. In fact, I am so excited about it that I became crazy indecisive about what to wear it over to show ya'll.

So indecisive, that I am going to show it to you in three parts.

So indecisive, I narrowed it down to... 30 color samples.

Did I mention I was excitedly indecisive.

What strikes me as a bit funny is that beyond this indecisiveness was the original inability to decide if I wanted to invest money in this type of polish to begin with.

I couldn't commit to purchasing holographic polishes. They're pretty popular, but I just couldn't do it. Partially because I was unsure they were my style, and partly because if I did like them s lot... I would want to splurge and get many colors, because, lets face it, I wouldn't be able to pick just one or two.

Remember, I had to narrow it down to 30.

Yeah. Problem.

Enter Mentality. Another indie brand by another husband/wife team (I love hearing that).

Mentality nail polish can be purchased here:
http://www.mentalitynailpolish.bigcartel.com/

A few things I love about this line: they INCLUDE shipping in the price and their labels are transparent. (I should note Chirality's are too and I love that!) I think transparent labels look classier and more professional.

Okay, much of Mentality's line is holographic colors.

But, they have a wicked awesome topcoat for the indecisive folk (or unsure about holographic folk) like me.

Unfortunately, the weather has been cold and dreary here so lighting stinks these last few days. The photos I took slightly show the holographic effect. The fact I took them with a phone probably doesn't help. But trust me, the holo effect is awesome. It's pretty intense when the lift hits it correctly. The closest photos I could get to demonstrating are under a light bulb and even they aren't the best.

I chose to show ten colors this post. I will do ten each in the next two as well. I did them diagonal with the top coat on the tips so you could see the difference between full color and with the slight silvering effect Holo has over the colors. I find that it silvers darker colors more than lighter colors, but you can totally tell either way what your base color is.

Again, the photos have a weird effect and so I must note that in real life, they are not quite this dramatically contrasted.

Well, that and I have never tried this half nail top coat technique and a few times I got it on a little too thick.

I didn't do clean up because it was nearly time to get Spencer lunch. I also marred the surface of a few nails due to my own impatience, and I didn't deal the entire manicure with top coat because I knew I would be taking it off shortly... for the other 20 colors I am going to try.

Left hand, thumb to pinky:
Sinful Colors - Folly
Zoya - Asia
Sinful Colors - Boogie Nights
Zoya - Arizona
Sinful Colors - Pull Over

Right hand, thumb to pinky:
Sinful Colors - Dream On
Wet N Wild - On a Trip
OPI - Tomorrow Never Dies
Sally Hansen - Pronto Purple
Revlon - Lily

I took the photos from multiple light sources in search of the most accurate photos. Stupid cloudy winter weather.