Smooth Serpent - Glam Polish Dreamscape

Oh dear, I found these in my files... this mani is already 3 years old!

[Bottle to nail: Glam Polish Dreamscape]

This is Glam Polish Dreamscape, a duochrome flakie polish that shifts from green-to-gold with lots of extra flakie colours scattered throughout. 

[Glam Polish Dreamscape]

Unfortunately it was so long ago that I don't remember too much about formula and finish...

[Glam Polish Dreamscape]

Hope you enjoyed the photos anyway! =p

Midnight Bloom - Born Pretty plate BP-X52, Chameleon Pearl stamping polish BPU06 The Milky Way

I couldn't resist trying out the butterfly-themed Born Pretty plate BP-X52 again...

[Night Garden]

...with another duochrome stamping polish! Look at all the different colours!

[Born Pretty stamping plate BP-X52]

Once again, this is plate BP-X52 which has lots of gorgeous butterfly designs. I previously used the design on the bottom left. This time I'm using the one on the top left.

[Born Pretty Chameleon Pearl Stamping Polish BPU06 The Milky Way]

The duochrome stamping polish I am testing today is also from Born Pretty. This one is called Chameleon Pearl Stamping Polish in BPU06 The Milky Way. At first glance it looks like a reddish bronze shimmer, but it's full of a purple-green colour shift shimmer.

[Bottle to nail: Born Pretty Chameleon Stamping Polish BPU06 The Milky Way;
Base: Milani Spellbound; Plate: Born Pretty BP-X52]

Being a bit silly, I decided to stamp over Milani Spellbound, a black jelly with red microglitter. For some reason, I forgot (even after choosing this shade for review!) that it would stamp purple-green rather than bronzey-green.

[Plate to nail: Born Pretty BP-X52; Base: Milani Spellbound;
Stamping: Born Pretty Chameleon Stamping Polish BPU06 The Milky Way]

So instead, we get a lovely mish-mash of purple-green and red microglitter peeking through. Quite an interesting colour combination! Formula-wise, this was a lot thinner and you need a gentle hand with scraping when stamping.

[Base: Milani Spellbound; Plate: Born Pretty BP-X52;
Stamping: Born Pretty Chameleon Stamping Polish BPU06 The Milky Way]

The fine designs on the butterfly wings picked up beautifully, but was possibly not overly obvious on the base shade that I had picked.

[Base: Milani Spellbound; Plate: Born Pretty BP-X52;
Stamping: Born Pretty Chameleon Stamping Polish BPU06 The Milky Way]

It was pretty cool though, to see all the different colour shifts in different lighting. I'd love to test this stamping polish out on different base colours!

You can find the butterfly floral plate here, and the chameleon stamping polish here at Born Pretty! As usual, our code above can be used for a little extra boost when shopping~

Butterfly Garden - Born Pretty stamping plate BP-X52, Chameleon Stamping Polish BPU02 Galactic Center

I've got a double review for you today, with some awesome stamping goodies courtesy of the folks at Born Pretty.

[Shifty goodness]

Oooh yeah, check that out! That is one amazing duochrome stamping polish! But before I get into that, let me introduce the plate that I'll be using today.

[Born Pretty Stamping Plate BP-X52]

This is Born Pretty stamping plate BP-X52, which as you can guess is butterfly-themed. So many lovely intricate patterns to choose from. As usual, it comes in a cardboard sleeve with a protective blue film (removed in this photo) to prevent scratches during delivery.

[Born Pretty Chameleon Stamping Polish BPU02 Galactic Center]

.. and the star is this gorgeous polish - Born Pretty Chameleon stamping polish in BPU02 Galactic Center. Galactic Center, as you can see, is a duochrome foil that shifts from golden green to blue. So does it work?

[Base: Inglot AMC 544; Stamping: Born Pretty BPU02 Galactic Center, BP-X52]

You betcha it does! This is definitely an image heavy post as I had so many nice photos to choose from. Apologies for the slight blurriness, but the duochrome shift was best in these photos.

[Plate to nail: Born Pretty Stamping Plate BP-X52;
Base: Inglot AMC 544; Stamping: Born Pretty BPU02 Galactic Center]

As you can tell, I stamped over a dark base shade. In this case, I used Inglot AMC 544, a black jelly polish with hidden blue shimemr which I may review at another time. No issues at all using the plate and the stamping polish - the entire pattern picked up beautifully and I was even able to stamp 2 nails with each swipe.

[Bottle to nail: Born Pretty BPU02 Galactic Center;
Base: Inglot AMC 544; Plate: Born Pretty stamping plate BP-X52]

I just love how different this polish looks under different lighting and at different angles. If you're interested in checking it out, there are another 2 duochrome shades in this series! The stamping plate is also great quality and value as usual, so take a look here!

As usual, feel free to use our code above for a little bit of a discount when you shop at Born Pretty!

Deluxe Teal - Sinful Colors Rise and Shine, Finger Paints Flecked, LA Splash Jade

I was digging through my folders and came across this layering experiment that I did almost 2 years ago! I think I was playing around with similar shades and whatever was on my desk at the time probably...

[All aboard!]

Obviously the theme here is blue-green so let's see what went into this!

[In the bottle: Sinful Colors Rise and Shine]

The base shade was Sinful Colors Rise and Shine (at least I think so! I also own Mint Apple and I think that one is very similar but a shade lighter). I've worn Rise and Shine as a full mani a bit more recently so check out that post here.

[2 coats: Sinful Colors Rise and Shine]

The ring finger there is my old habit of testing out layering on one finger before proceeding (also, forgetting to take photos before said testing!)

[Base: Sinful Colors Rise and Shine (2 coats); Flakies: Finger Paints Flecked (1 coat)]

I then followed it up with a layer of Finger Paints Flecked, a green to blue flakie polish in a translucent base. I've used Flecked previously in a couple different combinations as well. Nothing like a good flakie to mix and remix.

[Base: Sinful Colors Rise and Shine (2 coats); Flakies: Finger Paints Flecked (1 coat)
Glitter: LA Splash Jade (1 coat)]

 ... and finally, I topped it off with a layer of LA Splash Jade! I suspect trying out this polish was the point of all this messing around, hehe. Jade is a beautiful glitter topper that also shifts from blue to green. Super mermaid-y but rather subtle (as you can tell) despite its flashiness in the bottle.

Another one in the "not quite sure if it worked" bin! I'll need to revisit Jade and work out a nice base for it!

Galactic Gleam - Dance Legend Milky Way

It was my birthday a couple weeks ago and I got some gorgeous gorgeous birthday pressies from Jme! Here's one of them!

[Bottle to nail: Dance Legend Milky Way (3 coats)]

This is Dance Legend Milky Way, an amazing multichrome shimmer with a generous dash of holo glitter to boot! As you can see in the bottle, this is mainly a purple to aqua duochrome but you do get a hint of bronze at extreme angles. Now, multichromes are usually a bit of a disappointment on the nails, but check it out on mine!

[3 coats: Dance Legend Milky Way]

The aqua flash is actually a lot more green-leaning in real life but no less stunning. The purple edges are also completely visible all of the time! No contortionist acts required to find any hint of colour shift...

[3 coats: Dance Legend Milky Way]

 Here's another photo showing the purple-aqua colour shift at different angles. But wait, there's more!

[3 coats: Dance Legend Milky Way]

Yep, there's that bronzey green on my index finger right there. Again, this shift is perfectly visible to the eye - now that's what I call a multichrome!

Formula-wise, this was a thin formula, slightly prone to flooding but easy to work with nevertheless. I used three thin coats for this mani. You could get away with two, but three really deepens up the shade beautifully. Dry time was pretty fast and this polish dries glossy as well, although I did use a topcoat in the pics above.

The holo glitter really contributes to the "galaxy" theme! Note though that the holo flash is not too strong, but that suits me perfectly because the star (ha!) here is the amazing multichrome. This one's a winner!

Sea Change - Missha Crystal Nail Polish HGR01

I've swatched today's polish before, but only as a skittle comparing it with other duochromes. However, check out that post if you'd like to see a gif showing the duochrome-y goodness! Otherwise, keep reading to have a look at a full mani!

[Bottle to nail: Missha Crystal Nail Polish HGR01 (2 coats)]

This is Missha Crystal Nail Polish in HGR01, a beautiful blue-to-green duochrome with a foil/metallic finish. You do have to be a bit careful not to end up with streak lines with this polish, but it's not overly difficult to work with.

[2 coats: Missha Crystal Nail Polish HGR01]

The duochrome is fairly obvious, from an ocean blue to a golden green, and the polish is opaque in two coats.

[2 coats: Missha Crystal Nail Polish HGR01]

I do like foil finish duochromes despite them frequently having streaking problems. I also love blue and green polish, so this one's a winner overall!

AmaZing - Revlon PeachZing, MangoZing

Happy Long Weekend Monday, wooooo~! Seeing Jme's post on Revlon VioletZing last week reminded me that I had unposted Zing comparison photos taken a while ago. Like Jme, most of my old-school Revlons were found bin-diving - gotta love it!

[Bottle to nail: Revlon MangoZing (middle and ring); Index and pinky: Revlon PeachZing]

Today I've got photos of Revlon MangoZing in the bottle and on the nail, with some comparison to PeachZing. =) On my middle and ring fingers, I have MangoZing, with PeachZing on the index and pinky. You can immediately tell that MangoZing is a deeper shade, but they are both quite similar.

[Middle and ring: Revlon MangoZing (2 coats); Index and pinky: Revlon PeachZing (2 coats)]

MangoZing is a bright orange which deepens to vermillion with a slightly purplish tinge at the edges. Very interesting! PeachZing is a bit more subtle with gold fading to orange. Both had decent formulas with opacity reached in two coats.

[Middle and ring: Revlon MangoZing (2 coats); Index and pinky: Revlon PeachZing (2 coats)]

With these polishes, I'm never quite sure if it's a genuine duochrome effect or not. I noticed that with MangoZing, it's almost like the pooling of pigments deepens the shade on the sides of the nail. Either way, these are definitely of the oldy-goody variety!

Tea Rose - Revlon Violet Zing

Hello all! This features yet another oldie but goodie! :D

I found this in the randomest manner. I was waiting for my parents and I just wandered over to a big box of nail polishes, and this was sitting right at the top. Wow!

[Two coats: Revlon VioletZing]

This is Revlon VioletZing, which is a duochrome, changing from peach colour to pink. It's not super obvious, but it's definitely noticeable. You can see a little of the change in colour in the first photo, where it's peachy near the cuticles and pink nearer to the nail tips. In the second photo, the colour difference on each nail is noticeable.

For such an old polish, the quality is rather good. No streaking and it's easy to apply.

[Two coats: Revlon VioletZing]

Taken under bright sunlight and sharp shadows, the nail polish does look a little different.

Any of you have any Revlon Zings and willing to share your thoughts on? :D

Camera-Shy - China Glaze Optical Illusion

A quick mid-week post! This is an old mani using China Glaze Optical Illusion from the Prismatic collection. The entire collection has a very unique look with a mixture of glitter colours and a overarching shimmer that brings each shade together. 

[Bottle to nail: China Glaze Optical Illusion]

With Optical Illusion, the dominant shimmer is a bright teal blue. The glitter is super dense and easy to apply (or so I remember! It's been a while...).

[2-3 coats(?): China Glaze Optical Illusion]

I took this photo to show the different glitter colours present in the mix. However, on the nail, you don't see each shade, it just all comes together into a silvery blue finish.

[2-3 coats(?): China Glaze Optical Illusion]

What's fun about these though, is that the shimmer is duochrome! In this case a teal to purple shift, not very clear in this photo, but you can see it in the bottle shot at the top of the post!

Like many other bloggers, I had the problem where this polish just doesn't photograph well! It looks so much better in person - a very complex and unique collection of polishes!

Galactic Party - Orly Galaxy Girl, Wet n Wild Party of Five Glitters

Here's a layering combo I wore a few months ago combining a duochrome with a glitter topper.

[Base: Orly Galaxy Girl; Glitter: Wet n Wild Party of Five]

This is Orly Galaxy Girl from the Cosmic FX collection, topped with a layer of Wet n Wild Party of Five Glitters.

[Bottle to nail: Orly Galaxy Girl (3 coats)]

All the polishes from the Cosmic FX collection are absolutely gorgeous! Although some may be a bit sheer, they build up really well to opacity in thin even coats.

[3 coats: Orly Galaxy Girl]

Galaxy Girl has a plummy red-brown base with very strong teal shimmer which shifts to a bright pink at an angle. The two photos above compare the shimmer in diffuse and direct lighting.

[3 coats: Orly Galaxy Girl]

Some people have commented that it looks a bit bruise-like! I do like how the blue shimmer brightens up an otherwise dark vampy shade. I also particularly like how it's big particle shimmer (glass-fleck style) as it adds to the bling!

[Base: Orly Galaxy Girl; Glitter: Wet n Wild Party of Five]

Of course, being a bling-addict, I popped on a layer of Wet n Wild Party of Five Glitters which went unexpectedly well with Galaxy Girl! I think this level of glitter density and size variance is just perfect for a topper. =)

Also, compared to NYX Carnival and Milani Gems, WnW Party of Five Glitters is a combination of cooler colours compared to the warmer shades present in Carnival (lots of gold) and Gems (includes gold and orange). I really should get around to swatch comparisons of all the party glitter combinations I have.... =p