You're hot and you're cold: BYS Green and Bright Purple

This seems to be the week of early Christmas work events so I don't have the time to edit new photos. However, I did dig out old photos of nail polishes that I really like.

So consider this my temporary entry on the BYS Color Change polishes! I always feel like any of those mood/colour changing jewelery and polishes are probably marketed towards kids, but frankly, I don't care! The nail polishes are too lovely to be worried about maturity! :D

My hands are wet in the first two pictures because I was trying to catch the different colours under different temperatures.

Indoors and warm: BYS Green N305

Indoors and cold: BYS Green N305

I was in a warm room and my body temperature does tend to run warm, so it was difficult to get a photo before the colour started changing again. I'm wearing base coat and top coat, which doesn't affect the polish's ability to detect temperature change.

Outdoors: BYS Green N305

This is how my nails typically looked while I was outside. The weather was similar to the tail end of winter. My nailbeds were warm, which is why it was a green-yellow, and my tips were cooler, so they were a dark mossy green. The colour difference from one temperature to another is spectacular.

These particular two shades together remind me of a Malaysian dessert called pandan kuih lapis. (I don't know the photographer, but it's one of the better pics of the dessert that I can find.) I really felt the urge to lick my nails when I was wearing this. :P  The jelly-ish green just looked so yummy!

What I like about BYS Color Change is how sensitive it is to temperature change. I've confused a few friends and colleagues with these polishes, getting comments like 'I thought this was green just a moment ago??' It also makes washing your hands and coming in from the outside a suddenly much more fun activity. Or maybe I'm just easily entertained...


Okay, here's a glimpse of another of my favourite color changers:

Indoors: BYS Bright Purple N288

Isn't that just stunning? The polish itself has a very faint shimmer, which makes it even prettier when looked at up-close.

I think colour changing polishes tend to look better when the weather is cool (but not freezing). You can really see the difference in colour on the tips of your nails if you have longer nails too.

I'll have more photos once my nails grow out again! :)  That's a promise!

Ladybug Spots, Joker Chequers: Zoya Ivanka, Milani Red Sparkle/Gold Glitz, Color Club Wild At Heart, Nubar Verde

I was meant to do a post on water marbling for nails but I've been ill for three weeks now and had absolutely no inclination to write an in-depth dissection of marbling...

Anyway, in celebration of my sister's birthday last Saturday (HI!), I have dug out an old mani that she remembered and mentioned when I made her look at showed her Plisherrific! As a bonus, there's another one after it too. Both look fancy but are easy to achieve!

So the first one, is a ladybird-themed manicure. Super simple and super adorable.

[Ladybug: Milani Red Sparkle, LA Colors Black Velvet; Others: Zoya Ivanka]

Start with a nice leafy green base on all except the ring finger, here I've used Zoya Ivanka. Paint the ring finger in a nice bright red - a bright red creme would work great but in the interest of shiny, I have used Milani One Coat Glitter in Red Sparkle. Red Sparkle has great depth because it's a combination of bright red glitter plus darker red and black glitter.

Once you've done, that using your polish brush or spotting tool, place black spots on the nail randomly. Finish with a straight-across french tip in black and coat with topcoat. All done!

[Ladybug: Milani Gold Glitz, LA Colors Black Velvet; Others: Zoya Ivanka]

For a bit of variation, I used Milani One Coat Glitter in Gold Glitz on my other hand. Again Gold Glitz has great depth due to a combo of gold and orange glitter. Shiny yellowbugs are cute too! Easy peasy!

Next - a simple chequerboard pattern (plus bling). Excuse the messiness and crap pics; these are quite old.

[Chequers: Color Club Wild At Heart, Nubar Verde, LA Colors Black Velvet, red square rhinestones]

Start by painting fingers in alternating colours. I'm using Color Club Wild At Heart (purple holo) and Nubar Verde (green). I love both these colours and should really swatch them alone! Verde especially is a rich mossy green shot through with gold.

After doing the base, cover the upper half of each nail in tape and do the bottom black square. Remove tape and let dry. You can topcoat, before taping off and doing the upper black section, but I usually just freehand it. Add some bling in the centre to hide any unsightly join-ups!

[With flash: Color Club Wild At Heart, Nubar Verde, LA Colors Black Velvet, red square rhinestones]

Another shot with flash so you can see the lovely purple holo in Wild at Heart. This is again another super easy which still looks fancy!

Hope this inspires! I definitely will get around to posting about marbling sometime!

Matte and Shine: LA Splash Arctic Gleam / Nyx Algae

On today's menu, we have two different nail polishes that I tried a couple weeks ago.

The first is a mish-mash of polishes! I mainly wanted to try my LA Splash Arctic Gleam.

[Close up: LA Splash Arctic Gleam]

I bought LA Splash Arctic Gleam because I was entranced by the pink, purple and blue small flakes in the pale blue jelly base. I knew it would be a sheer colour, but my photo really doesn't capture the pretty iridescence of the purple and blue flakes.

Sadly, I don't think the flakes actually stand out much against the polish, but I am doing something strange with it here.

[Essie Matte About You over three coats LA Splash Arctic Gleam over one coat Savvy Coal]

This is Arctic Gleam layered over Savvy's Coal which is a black polish, and then I matte-fied it all with Essie's Matte About You. As usual, you can click on the pictures for a bigger version to better see the flakes.

[Essie Matte About You over three coats LA Splash Arctic Gleam over one coat Savvy Coal]

There's something sedate, but unusual about the overall look. It looks like dark blue frosted glass, with the addition of random flakes of colour to liven it all up a little. An interesting result, I thought.

[Essie Matte About You over three coats LA Splash Arctic Gleam over one coat Savvy Coal]

The flakes were sparser than I expected, but then again, I do like my flakes big and visible from an arm's length away. :)

Perhaps I'll try Arctic Gleam on its own to see how the flakes will look instead of layered over black and matte-fied. Next time then!


I swatched Nyx's Algae during a long week of rain and barely any sunlight so I didn't take many pictures. These are all indoor photos:

[Indoor: Nyx Algae]

Algae on the nails is pretty true to the colour in the bottle. I really like this shade, and I feel like wearing it again soon just looking at the bottle. Algae is a dusty light green and entirely opaque at two coats. I think you could get away with one coat, depending on the length of your nails.

[Indoor: Nyx Algae]

To me, this shade of green looks elegant, while standing out among regular colours. But then again, I do have a fondness for dusty colours.

As Bright A Blue - China Glaze Blue Sparrow

Random swatch! An older one, but still a fave. =) This is China Glaze Blue Sparrow from the INK collection. It's meant to be a bright blue neon, but with the added microglitter, it doesn't have the usual flat finish that neons tend to end up with.

[Indoors: China Glaze Blue Sparrow]

[Indoors: China Glaze Blue Sparrow]

The formula is great and the finish is really smooth and streak-free, though it needs at least two coats - I've used three here. You can see VNL (visible nail line) in my pics here but I don't think I noticed it on the nail until I looked at the photos later so I don't think it is that obvious.

[Indoors: China Glaze Blue Sparrow]

When I first swatched it, I was a bit disappointed. Where was my bright neon crazy blue??? Oh well... at least it was definitely true to bottle! But once out in direct sunlight, it definitely is an eye-catching bright blue, neon while still being medium blue and with the added dimension of all those glitter flecks! I ended up really liking this one!

Fruity Fizz 4: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Scented Polish

[Revlon Sweetly Seductive: Grapefruit Fizz and Apple-tini Fizz]

So, here we are with our final post featuring the Revlon Sweetly Seductive scented polishes! Today, I'll be reviewing and swatching Grapefruit Fizz and Apple-tini Fizz.

[In the bottle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Grapefruit Fizz]

[Bottle close-up: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Grapefruit Fizz]

Grapefruit Fizz has an almost bubblegum-pink jelly base with irregularly shaped and sized pale gold flakies suspended in it. Depending on the depth of the base, the flakies deepen in colour to almost a golden orange. There's also lots of coordinating pink microglitter as well as a teeny tiny scattering of a deeper pink (almost fuchsia).

[Three coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Grapefruit Fizz]

The top pic is pretty accurate when it comes to the colour of the polish on the nail. Quite a girly colour, I must say! The gold flakes do warm up the slightly cool pink base. It is not very opaque though, at three coats here, VNL is still clearly seen (and this was with a creamy basecoat as well!), so don't expect to get full opacity with this polish! On the other hand, you can stick to just one layer for a wash of colour and shine.

The scent? Hmm...

EV: Grapefruit? What grapefruit? This smells a bit generic candy, if I were to pick something, perhaps strawberry chewy candy? It's not too strong, definitely sweet. I would have loved if it actually smelt tangy grapefruit-like but oh well! 

JME: I swatched this on paper for a sniff, and thought it just smelled sweet and pleasant, but not very much like grapefruit. Perhaps a hint of citrus? I connect grapefruit to a really sour taste, so perhaps it's just me.

And next.... Apple-tini Fizz!

[In the bottle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Apple-tini Fizz]

[Bottle close-up: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Apple-tini Fizz]

Doesn't it look absolutely gorgeous in the bottle! A cheerful apple green with coordinating flakies which flash gold in certain light. Add to that a scattering of blue flakies (yes, blue!) and it looks amaaazing! But....

[Index and middle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Apple-tini Fizz - Four coats]
[Ring: LA Colors Black Velvet; Pinky: China Glaze Emerald Sparkle]

On the nail, goodness me! It pulls extremely yellow, more a lime than an apple shade. In addition, it never turns any more opaque - this is after FOUR coats too. =( If you have short nails, it might look fine since you shouldn't be able to see as much of a difference between the two parts of the nail.

I've also included a swatch of plain creme black (LA Colors Black Velvet) and a shimmery green (China Glaze Emerald Sparkle) to show you what happens when you swatch it over something else......

[Index and middle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Apple-tini Fizz - Four coats]
[Ring: LA Colors Black Velvet + 1 coat Apple-tini Fizz]
[Pinky: China Glaze Emerald Sparkle + 1 coat Apple-tini Fizz]

Wow! It doesn't even look like the same polish! The flakies in Apple-tini Fizz now look like a medium almost-emerald green. The density is pretty good even at just one coat, and the blue flakies are a bit more obvious now.

[Index and middle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Apple-tini Fizz - Four coats]
[Ring: LA Colors Black Velvet + 2 coats Apple-tini Fizz]
[Pinky: China Glaze Emerald Sparkle + 2 coats Apple-tini Fizz]

Density is even better at two coats. I definitely prefer it over the black than the green. Check out the close-ups below!

[Close-up: 2 coats Apple-tini Fizz over black (top) and green (bottom)]

How gorgeous is that! I doubt I'd wear it on it's own, but layered, it looks amazing! It makes me want to test out all the other polishes in this collection over black as well...

But that's not all... how about the scent?

EV: Sweet apple candy! Once again, not fresh fruit but a candy-type smell. For all that it's green in colour, it doesn't smell particularly of green apple either, just a general apple scent. Not too offensive, and not too outstanding either.

JME: It smells rather yummy, like sugar-coated sour apple gummies. I say sugar-coated because it smells sweeter than it is sour. I didn't try these on my nails, but I don't think they would be a hardship at all to have on.

To wrap up our four-part review of the Sweetly Seductive collection, here's a bonus peek at what happens when you layer a matte topcoat over some of them. Matte over flakies always looks pretty good, and these have a pretty muted shimmer when mattified, I think!

[With Essie Matte About You: (clockwise from left)
Orange Fizz, Watermelon Fizz, Grape Fizz, Apple-tini Fizz, Mint Fizz]

[With Essie Matte About You: Orange Fizz, Watermelon Fizz, Grape Fizz, Apple-tini Fizz]

Well, that's all from us then, hope you enjoyed it and thanks for joining us! =)

Fruity Fizz 3: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Scented Polish

[Revlon Sweetly Seductive Orange Fizz and Pineapple Fizz]



Here's the continuation of our Revlon Sweetly Seductive Scented swatches, with Orange Fizz and Pineapple Fizz up next!


[In the bottle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Orange Fizz]

[Bottle close-up: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Orange Fizz]

Orange Fizz looks even more brilliant in person. It's an orange jelly, densely filled with gold and red-gold flakes and microglitters.

[Bottle with swatches: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Orange Fizz]

 The polish when applied on nails are pretty close to what you'll see in the bottle.

 

[Three coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Orange Fizz]

Aaahhh, it really is pretty! It's an eye-catching shade, especially with all that shiny flakes and glitters. I didn't use a fast dry topcoat for these mani.


Three coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Orange Fizz under direct indoor lights]

The flakes and glitter do make for a very shiny look, especially since they're lighter than the orange base so they stand out more.

With these polishes, scent obviously plays an important part too!

JME: I liked this fruity, cytrusy scent when I was applying the polish on my nails. But the longer I could smell them on my nails, the more I was reminded of this horrible orange-flavoured cough syrup I had to take as a child. So as a personal reason, I felt myself disliking the scent until it faded after a couple days to a bearable, light scent.

EV: This is pretty good! It smells like orange-flavoured Tang! I think it's possibly my second favourite scent of the lot? The citrusy kick stops it from being too candy-sweet.




[In the bottle: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Pineapple Fizz]

[Bottle close-up: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Pineapple Fizz]

Hello, hello, delicious yellow jelly filled with yellow and gold-ish flakes and microglitter! Yellow jelly with flakes? Not something you see everyday!

[Bottle with swatches: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Pineapple Fizz]

What you see in the bottle will be pretty close to what you'll get on your nails. I think the density of the flakes made the polish looked a little more lemon yellow than the colour in the bottle, which I quite like actually.

[Four coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Pineapple Fizz]

While the flakes are really dense, the base is definitely still sheer enough that at four coats, the nail tips are visible. But it was what I was expecting, and I don't think it takes away from the pretty that is the polish.

[Four coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Pineapple Fizz]

Yellow flakes everywhere! My indoor picture was too washed out so have a bonus random outdoor photo:

[Four coats: Revlon Sweetly Seductive Pineapple Fizz]

I took this picture while sacrificing my dignity, since a couple people stared at me snapping a photo of my own nails. :P  TOTALLY WORTH IT!

I don't know if it's the novelty of having a yellow polish with yellow flakes, but I really like this colour. It's so shiny and cheerful.

What do our olfactory systems tell us about Pineapple Fizz?

JME: It's not the smell of fresh pineapple of course (none of the collection smell like fresh fruits). It's more like the sweet scent of processed pineapple, and it makes me feel a little peckish for some sugary treat. It's rather nice to have on my nails!

EV: This definitely smells like pineapple! I haven't smelt it on my nails, only a paper swatch so I can only give an opinion on that. To me, it's got a bit of that syrupy scent you get from canned pineapples, but the pineapple tang keeps it from being too sweet. Not bad at all!



Overall, I really like Orange Fizz and Pineapple Fizz. I don't know if it's because I don't have that many orange and yellow polishes, but I think they're interesting, cheery colours to have with flakies.