Illamasqua Serenity

With topcoat

And a few weeks later!

Man, I love Illamasqua polishes more than I probably should so it's no surprise that I was happy as hell when I finally found Noble on the Sephora shelves. It's one of their rubber finish polishes, which are semi-matte when dry. I like to use topcoat to give them shine though.

Creamy formula, basically a 1 coater, dries fast, it evens very nicely, which is a surprise for matte polishes. There's no need to go over with a topcoat, then a matte topcoat since there is no lumps when this polish dries - best matte I have tried in a while.

PS: this is actually as long as my nails got EVER! I had to cut them down after this mani - they started getting stuck in the mouse scroll wheel :( Goodbye, claws

Dear RUS LAD556 mood polish

Normal look

In cold water

Dear RUS LAD556 is a color changing polish from peach to pink with a satin texture. It dries matte just like the other Dear RUS polishes I've had the pleasure of using: 560 - blue to seafoam green and 554 - auburn to purple with gold shimmer. The only difference from the others is the color shift - it's much less dramatic compared to other polishes. I was looking forward to this polish for a while, but I'm a little disappointed with it in that regard. Formula wise, it applies a bit thick, has the same consistency as OPI Suede polishes and is prone to bald spots on longer nails. When applying it, the first coat is going to be very patchy, but it evens out with 2-3 coats. Dries lightning fast, shimmer looks very nice with a topcoat! 

I gotta admit, even though the color doesn't change much, it's a super cute peachy pink and it goes well with my skintone - I like it!

Dear RUS discoloration 560

Normal look

Cold

Index finger: hot

Long time no see! I've actually finally got around to swatching and trying Dear RUS Discoloration 560, a part of a haul I got last year! (oh my gaawd it's been that long?)

560 is a dusty blue when cold (like in the bottle) and a seafoam green when heated up (on the nail). If your nails are long enough, it makes for a "funky french" effect and it changes color through the day! My hands tend to get pretty cold sometimes, so it's really neat to see it change and I have people asking "I thought you were wearing blue? How did you change it so fast?", which makes me feel like a magician.

The formula is a little prone for bald spots, so 3 coats is the optimum coverage for me. Shorter nails will not have this problem. The polish dries matte with a shimmer, which gives it a suede finish and with a topcoat, it's a very pretty color! Drying time is awesome, as with most matte polishes; wear is decent, I got 3 days of wear without chipping and some tipwear. In conclusion, I do love color changing polish and it's hard to find one with a very big difference between the 2 colors - this polish is just right! Dear RUS can be ordered through Tadukhipa over at The Cutest Makeup

Porcelain nail art with Illamasqua Load

For this manicure, I really wanted to create a teacup kind of look, so I went with Illamasqua Load as the base and went crazy with dotting tools and the GOSH Matte Topcoat.

I started with the leaves first, by dragging a drop of green polish over the base color. After it dried, I made the petals, then the muddles with a peach color. After they tried, I covered them with Seche Vite, a fastdry topcoat. I really like how it evens out all imperfections...with a perfectly smooth set of nails, I appied the matte topcoat and voila! 

Perfectly smooth matte porcelain nails! 

Do you have a favorite tea/coffee mug? If so, have you tried to recreate it on your nails?

SH blue me away with DL Stairway to Heaven mattified! GOSH Matte Effect Top Coat

I was craving a matte topcoat and I grabbed the GOSH matte top coat to sate my hunger! I was wearing Sally Hansen Blue Me Away! (My favouritest blue creme ever) with Deborah Lippmann Stairway to Heaven on top. I liked it shiny, but I felt like the sparkle was too much. When I used the matte topcoat, it looked to beautiful and iridescent ... sort of like fish scales. This topcoat actually impressed me - I still don't have access to Essie Matte About You but from what I remember, it doesn't stay matte for very long (totally matte for a day, then starts looking shinier). This matte topcoat is wonderful! Went on nice, dried fast, I did not have any issues with it turning solid white and the best part is that it stayed totally matte for 3 days! I started noticing a change in surface finish after 3 days of washing, cleaning and typing. Nice. 

I want to do a comparison later on with Essie MAB, but so far I give it a giant thumbs up! It was only 6$ dollars compared to Essie MAB at 12$ as well, so big points for GOSH!

Dear RUS discolouration - 0554

So I got around to swatching the purple pictured here! clicky click

There was a label on the purple one and it said:

Discoloration 0554

Pretty drastic change from the bottle, eh?

normal warm hands

My hands got cold...

With topcoat on, the GLORIOUS golden shimmer comes out a little more. This polish is beautiful matte and even prettier when shiny!

Shiny warm hands!

I'm in love with this polish! Subtle shimmer, dramatic color change (compared to most mood polishes)... 2-coater formula, fast dry time. Unique color combination is also a big plus. These are a giant win if you can get your hands on them (I know I will try to find more!)

Dear RUS: introducing Korean mood polish!

I had the pleasure of buying polish from the lovely Tadukhipa over at http://thecutestmakeup.blogspot.com/

She shipped 2 bottles of very interesting color changing polish all the way from S. Korea!

Today I will be showing you quick swatches of the 2 side by side.

They both contain very fine shimmer and they dry MATTE. This means they end up looking like suede polishes from OPI! Purple contains beautiful golden shimmer, while blue has a light blue shimmer.

When they are cold, they look like they do in the bottle...but when warmed up, purple turns to a warm auburn and blue turns into a seafoam green! Here is some mood polish action:

Cold

warm

The color change is so rapid, even the tiniest droplets of water change it.

soft gradient

How cool is that? Both are matte (suede) and the color change is so dramatic....awesome! I want more!

Lioele - Sparkling Red Wine matte polish

Sparkling red wine is another matte Lioele polish I picked up in Vancouver. This is very similar to Lioele Pearl Plum Purple (shown here) This one is a dark red "suede", so it's a shimmery polish with a matte finish, so it has a nice texture. One coater, dries fast, chips easy. Once more, very similar to OPI suede polishes in texture and wear. I like it a lot!

ELF Innocent vs Nude comparison

These have matte topcoat on, read on for glossy pics

I really wanted to try mannequin hands, so I ordered both Innocent and Nude from ELF to see which fits me better! It seems like Nude wins, but they are both very nice polishes, very cheap as well... Two dollars!

Both have great formula and apply very nicely.

Keep reading for individual reviews and glossy pics

Lioele - Pearl Plum Purple

I've owned Lioele cremes before and they were a little thick and goopy, but usable. When I saw these matte colors though, I just had to give them a go. I grabbed both the Pearl Plum Purple and Merry Pink Wine. Today, I will be reviewing the purple!