Max Factor Fantasy Fire Returns

Hi All! It has been an extremely long time since I last blogged but for a very good reason...I'm engaged!! I haven't had much time for nail art since but I have a simple manicure for you today. This is a repeat but I layered it over a different polish to bring out the Fantasy Fire glow even more. The base is Rimmel 60 Seconds in Night Before, very close to the base color of Fantasy Fire with subtle scattered glitter. This is with one coat of Night Before and one coat of Fantasy Fire:

Max Factor Fantasy Fire

Max Factor Fantasy Fire

Max Factor Fantasy Fire

My camera couldn't capture the green duochrome effect that can be seen from certain angles but it is gorgeous nonetheless! It is definitely one of my all time favourites. I'm hoping to catch up with the blogging world this week :) As always, thank you for stopping by and have yourself a great week!

- The Manicurette

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength: Save The Date

I have for you today Save The Date from Sally Hansen's Diamond Strength line. I confess that I never thought much of the Diamond Strength line, probably because I see endless bottles from this line at the Ex every year for less than a dollar a piece. However, I recently saw swatches of Save The Date online and got it during the nail polish sale at Shoppers. 

Sally Hansen Save The Date

Save The Date is very close to Deborah Lippmann's Good Girl Gone Bad, one of my absolute favourites, minus the glitter. It is a dark plum/purple metallic with very fine shimmer. It is easily a one coater; however, I used two to build up the color. I topped it with a coat of Seche Vite and thankfully, no shrinking!

Sally Hansen Save The Date

Sally Hansen Save The Date

I was going to use this as a base for stamping but I think it looks so classic by itself. Do you guys have any other recs from this line? I'm tempted to try some more!

Thanks for checking in :)

- The Manicurette

OPI Euro Centrale: You're Such A BudaPest

Hi All! Today I have for you You're Such A BudaPest from OPI's Euro Centrale collection. I resisted this for so long thinking it's dupable but after not finding a close match in my stash, I had to get it! I'd say this is probably one of the most popular shares from this collection along with Suzi's Hungary Again.

You're Such A BudaPest is a light lavender creme with very subtle shimmer that can only be seen in the bottle. I've done two manicures with it and I used 3 very thin coats each time to combat the patchiness a lot of cremes are prone to. Dry time was great, as with all my OPIs.

OPI You're Such a BudaPest 

OPI You're Such A BudaPest

To glam it up a bit, I layered Revlon Stunning and Deborah Lippmann I Love The Nightlife over it. I love that even after adding loads of glitter, the mani maintained its delicate feel and spring appeal.

Thanks for stopping by!

- The Manicurette

Color Club Halo Hues: Beyond

2 words. Black holo. After the successful Halo Hues collection last year, Color Club has released a second Halo Hues collection for Spring 2013. I have no idea why black is part of a spring collection but I am loving it! 

Beyond is a one-coater, buttery charcoal holographic polish. I used 2 coats for good measure. Dry time was great and the linear holo effect is strong enough to make any holo lover happy. I skipped topcoat for the swatches.

Color Club Beyond

Color Club Beyond 

This was my only pick from this collection, mostly because because I have most of the first Halo Hues collection. I absolutely adore dark holos! Have a great week :)

- The Manicurette

Oops I Did It Again...Butter London Trout Pout Returns

You know you love a polish when you feature it on your blog not once, but twice. I first did a post on Butter London Trout Pout back in November (you can read it here). This time, I used it as a base for a glitter gradient with OPI Sparke De Triomphe, my all-time-favourite glitter. Glitter gradients are one of the quickest and easiest nail art techniques, hence why I chose to do it at eleven at night. So here goes..

Thanks for checking in and Happy Friday!

- The Manicurette

China Glaze Holiday 2012: Winter Holly Swatches

I am devoting this post to a polish that has been sitting on my wishlist for a while. Thanks to a stop at a dusty beauty supply this weekend, I slayed this lemming for $3.50! China Glaze Winter Holly from the Holiday 2012 collection has dark green holo glitter and a little bit of gold non-holo glitter in a clear base. It's not much to look at without undies so I layered it over Zoya Ray to capture is true beauty. You can probably guess by now that scattered holos are my weakness, so naturally Winter Holly did not disappoint! 

China Glaze Winter Holly

I used 2 coats of Winter Holly over 1 coat of Zoya Ray, topped with two coats of Out The Door. This is a pretty hungry glitter so I was pretty generous with the thickness of the top coat.

China Glaze Winter Holly

China Glaze Winter Holly

It feels really good to find lemmings in the wild, let alone for a bargain! Any interesting stories of finding polishes on your wishlist that you'd like to share?

Be safe out there in the storm tomorrow! Until next time :)

- The Manicurette

OPI OZ The Great And Powerful: Lights Of Emerald City

Ah I'm so excited about this post! I got my hands on the OPI 2013 collection based on the movie Oz The Great And Powerful. My first pick is Lights of Emerld City, a truly unique glitter top coat with iridescent small square glitter and large white square glitter. 

OPI Oz 2013: Lights of Emerald City

The real star of this polish, in my opinion, is the iridescent glitter. Depending on what you layer it over, it can look copper (over purple), gold (over green), and light pink (over blue). I swatched the different combinations on swatch sticks and I used the blue combination as inspiration for a manicure. I fished out the white glitter and layered it to on my accent nail to create an argyle pattern.

OPI Oz: Lights of Emerald City

OPI Oz: Lights of Emerald City 

OPI Oz: Lights of Emerald City

 Swatched over dark purple, emerald green (ha!), and sky blue:

There are two more glitters in this collection but I have yet to try them. The creme shades were reminiscent of the Ballet collection. What are your picks? Would you like to see swatches of the other two glitters as well?

Thanks for reading and have a great start to the week!

- The Manicurette