Dusty Vintage - Born Pretty Matte Polish 015

I remember when matte topcoats became a thing... I was so impressed! I thought, wow, the possibilities! But years later, I still collect matte polishes....No regrets...!

[Bottle to nail: Born Pretty Matte Polish 015 (2 coats)]

So today I'm reviewing a matte polish generously provided for review from Born Pretty. You can purchase this here, and there are 9 different shades available, all in a nice dusty vintage sort of look. Also, they are currently on sale for only USD1.99, bargain!

[In the bottle: Born Pretty Matte Polish 015]

The one I have for you today is 015, a slightly pinky dusty lavender shade. The photos on the nail are more true-to-shade than the bottle pic above. This polish also comes in a cardboard box with a circular cutout so you can see the shade inside.

[2 coats: Born Pretty Matte Polish 015]

This polish has a thick creamy formula that dries quickly as most matte polishes do. The first coat tended to be uneven and needed careful application to get a level finish. The second coat will not level it out! It actually enhances any uneven finish, so make sure to get your first coat right!

[2 coats: Born Pretty Matte Polish 015]

I found the thick formula a bit harder to work with and you need to take a bit more care with application. It's probably not toooo obvious to the eye, but I'm a bit fussy about an even finish.

I really love this colour though, so if you want to check out this collection, head over to Born Pretty! This is already super discounted, but if there are other full-priced products catching your eye, our 10% off code above will help you out!

Scattered Blooms - Liquid Sky Lacquer 24 Karat Rose, Maybelline Color Show Bouquet

Again with the layering!

[Bliss]

Remember, everything is better with sparkle...

[Bottle to nail: Liquid Sky Lacquer 24 Karat Rose (2 coats)]

My base shade was my somewhat-thermal 24 Karat Rose from Liquid Sky Lacquer, a soft gold when warm shifting to a peachy pink (in my case!) when cold.

[Bottle to nail: Maybelline Color Show Bouquet (1 coat);
Base: Liquid Sky Lacquer 24 Karat Rose (2 coats)]

I have had this lovely polish from the Maybelline Color Show range for ages but could not find a nice base to go with. This is called Bouquet, and is a clear base with three different sizes of hex glitter in gold foil, white matte and pink matte. Such a lovely colour combination!

[Topper: Maybelline Color Show Bouquet (1 coat);
Base: Liquid Sky Lacquer 24 Karat Rose (2 coats)]

This is one coat of Bouquet over 24 Karat Rose - I think it goes together quite well! Perhaps I should've put a matte topcoat over the top, that would make for a really nice soft finish too. =)

Glass Waves - Dance Legend Mini Velvet 12

I'm surprised that I haven't swatched this yet! This is Dance Legend's Velvet Mini 12.

[Number Twelve]

This is #12 from Dance Legend's Velvet Mini collection and it's gorgeous! It's this dusty duochrome blue-green velvet matte foil which I just love.

[Dance Legend's Velvet Mini 12]

The duochrome-y is subtle, not very in your face, but I think it suits the overall dusty colour. As usual, it was a smooth application. It dries a velvet matte pretty quickly. If you do apply a topcoat, it would be super shiny.

Sheer Petal - Liquid Sky Lacquer 24 Karat Rose

Ah, here's a polish that I've had for ages but just could never get to work for me!

[Bottle to nail: Liquid Sky Lacquer 24 Karat Rose (2 coats)]

This is Liquid Sky Lacquer 24 Karat Rose, a sheer shimmer thermal polish which is meant to shift from gold when warm to a rose red shade when cold.

[2 coats: Liquid Sky Lacquer 24 Karat Rose]

This was two coats, in the warm gold shade. As you can see, it is sheer enough that there is still a visible nail line. However, it's quite a nice soft shimmer finish. I think it would be quite nice for a subtle worksafe manicure.

[2 coats: Liquid Sky Lacquer 24 Karat Rose]

Now I literally hung on to a bag of frozen peas for a few minutes, with the nail tips pressed up against the cold, but I just cannot get it to shift further than a soft peachy pink shade!

[2 coats: Liquid Sky Lacquer 24 Karat Rose]

I've googled around and people are getting this amazingly bright rose red shade but I am coming nowhere close, oh dear... I guess I'll just have to manage with a soft blush rather than raging rose.. =p

Are you feeling lucky - Mckfresh LD 62

I'm surprised that I haven't posted swatches of this yet! I got this at the Aussie Indie Con 2017, which was Australia's indie nail polish convention held this June.

[Mckfresh LD 62]

I got this lucky dip nail polish from Mckfresh. Mckfresh's LD 62 has a very pale mint green creme base and matte glitter in green, blue, black, white, purple and yellow, and in shapes of triangles, circles, hexagonals, and bars. The variety of shapes and colours somehow really go well together.

[Mckfresh LD 62]

The sprinkling of matte black microglitter and near invisible white glitter just completes the layered look. LD 62 applied smoothly and had an abundance of glitter which made application easy and pretty. No fishing for glitter required.

Undersea Speckle - Dance Legend Caviar Polish Zebrasoma

Last week's polish made the perfect base for another untried, so I went ahead and painted over it!

[Bottle to nail: Dance Legend Caviar Zebrasoma (1 coat);
Base: Dance Legend HammeRing Creep (1 coat)]

Here's another Dance Legend polish, this time from the Caviar collection - this is Zebrasoma. As you can guess, this is a jelly-based polish with tiny white and black unfoiled glitter pieces. It took a lot of squinting but it appears to me that it's the blue base that gives the illusion of many different shades of blue speckles (it's actually the white glitter seen through different depths of the jelly base).

[Topper: Dance Legend Caviar Zebrasoma (1 coat);
Base: Dance Legend HammeRing Creep (1 coat)]

I had to use quite a thick coat to get this density of glitter, and intensity of base. The effect is gorgeous, really glossy and excellent depth. However, this polish is quite runny and takes a while to dry with the thicker coats I was using, so it would run to one side of the nail or spill over if I wasn't careful about keeping my nails level while it was drying!

[Topper: Dance Legend Caviar Zebrasoma (1 coat);
Base: Dance Legend HammeRing Creep (1 coat)]

Still a nice effect, if you can deal with carefully drying your nails, or maybe doing multiple thin coats instead. I was definitely being a bit impatient! =p

Starry Blue Skies - Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!, Sally Hansen: Sea-ing Stars

Time to be lazy but still glam it up a little!

[Blue the Stars across the Seas]

[Base: Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!
Glitter: Sally Hansen: Sea-ing Stars]

These are out of my untried stash. I used Sally Hansen's Blue Me Away! as the base coat. Blue Me Away! is an opaque creme blue, and I admit I bought the polish partially for the name. :P I went over the middle-to-tips of the nails with Sally Hansen's Sea-ing Stars. Another great name! Sea-ing Stars has blue-green leaning clear holo glitter in a teal jelly base. The colour of Sea-ing Stars' base doesn't show up against Blue Me Away, but the glitter comes through well. The glitter is shiny but subtle enough that it isn't too in your face.

[Base: Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!
Glitter: Sally Hansen: Sea-ing Stars]

Overall, a satisfactory result for an easy to produce mani.