First post on new(ish) blog, so I thought I'd start with a semi-organised polish haul. Some of these are from years ago, others are ones I've picked up recently. All photos are taken outside in direct sunlight.
CR
Available from most $2+ stores, they're pretty good value for what they are.
Glitters. The only ones with numbers were the purple (108) and green (109).
The yellow has micro glitter which appears to be semi holographic and silver stars.
The orange was gold microglitter and smallish gold, red and blue hex glitter.
Red, purple and green contain micro glitter and small hex glitter.
The blue just contains micros.
Metallics. I couldn't find the other 3 in the same number range, and CR has no website, swatch charts or anything. Really a pain.
Metallic Yellow (16), Red (18) and Green (19).
Would probably stamp OK over white, but I didn't have any success with them over black.
Glow in the dark colours!
The yellow/white and the green glow the same colour.
The pink one is a very very pale pink.
Yellow (117), Pink (118), Green (119)
Pastels from the Mini range. I bought these for one purpose, and one purpose only, but they've become my staple go-to for delicate candy colours. 2 coats required.
Yellow (15), Orange (08), Pink (10), Purple (12), Blue (16), Green (22).
Not sure if these numbers would relate back to the full-sized bottles, but I haven't found the same colours in the larger ones yet. Not all retailers seem to have the same stock, and what stock they do have is largely mixed up or missing number stickers.
Black (57) and White (58). These are pretty good stampers.
Chi Chi
Found these at Farmers, but you could probably find them elsewhere. $30 for a box of 6. I'm all into sets of things, so these were perfect for me.
The magnets are pretty
good, coverage is nice and thick (just what you want for a magnetic
polish, as it has a longer drying time.) and the colours are fantastic.
BYS
Found... everywhere. I grabbed some from Postie Plus ($6 each) and some from Bling ($7 each) and some from the importer ($4.80 each).
That moment when you're missing 4 out of 12 colours to complete the set. And you can't get them in NZ easily. I need to get back in touch with Bling - they were going to order them for me.
Blue (N283), Salmon (N284), Glitter Purple (N285), Glitter Blue (N286), Bright Pink (N287), Bright Purple (N288), Royal Blue (N289), Magenta (N308)
Polishes shown are in the "warm" state, as they were in the sun for a while before this photo was taken. They're usually the darker shade on the lids at room temperature. They look really good on longer nails, because the bed of the nail is warm and the tips are cooler.
Crystal Clear Top Coat (N05), Scented Bright Red (N330 - Strawberry),
Scented Bright Pink (N316 - Bubblegum), Black Quake (N332).
The quake polish is awesome. You almost don't need a top coat because of the formula. Once its dry, its on. Others I've tried you have to topcoat it straight away or else bits of the crackle flake off.
Kleancolor
From $2+ stores, Postie Plus and various other places. Incredible colours. I've paid $3 for a single at a $2+ store, $5 from Postie and $10 for the 6 pack of minis from Postie.
Hardener (02), White (04), Black (05), Charcoal (06), Pearl Silver (07), Cobalt (09) (but mine is Covalt, and I think its a different formula from the current Cobalt, because mine is more purple with a blue shimmer), Angel Red (78).
The Black, White, Charcoal and Pearl Silver stamp OK. The silver is a little too bitzy for some of the finer stamps.
Neon collection.
Neon Yellow (18), Neon Orange (19), Neon Pink (20),
Neon Amethyst (153), Neon Lime (204), Neon Aqua (14).
The Orange, Pink, Lime and Blue are all UV reactive.
Metallic singles and Metallic Mini Collection
Metallic White (152), Metallic Yellow (162), Metallic Brown (207)* , Metallic Red (228), Metallic Pink (153), Metallic Purple (167), Metallic Aqua (164), Metallic Navy (206)*, Metallic Jungle (205)*, Metallic Black (168).
*dis-continued outside of the mini packs
All the metallics except for the metallic white stamp wonderfully.
The Metallic Pink is UV reactive.
Glitters!
Grand Finale (169), 24 Carat (132), Aurora (29), Chunky Holo Candy (228),
V.I.P. (172), Kiss Goodbye (171), Peaceful Heart (32), Blackout (188).
24 Carat, V.I.P., Kiss Goodbye and Blackout are opaque after 3 coats. Grand Finale and Peaceful Heart need to be sorta placed and scooped out. Aurora is a holo chunky glitter with stars and large and small glitters. Holo Chunky Candy is a sheer jelly, and needs a base coat or white or pink to make it really pop. HCC is also UV reactive.
L. A. Colors
Found in a variety of places, I got mine from The Warehouse for $5 each. Postie Plus has started to stock the nail art paints, but not sure on cost.
Art Deco.
Silver (NA912) & Metallic Pink (NA935).
These stamp really really well. I'm loving the foilness of the silver.
Metallic Copper (NP289) and Pink Sizzle (NP351).
I thought that I would see if they would stamp. The copper is alright, but the pink sizzle failed. Its pretty with 3 coats though. Has a orange/rust coloured duochrome.
Color Craze range. These are pretty nifty.
Power Outage (NP407), Current (NP414), Wave Length (NP413),
Radiation (NP416), Seashell (NP425).
Power Outage is a glittery shimmer, Current and Seashell are subtle duochromes, and Wavelength and Radiation are a shimmer. 2 coats ok, 3 coats is optimum.
Jordana
Another $2+ store special, you can get them from anything between $3 and $5 a bottle, depending on where you buy it. Not all stores stock all the colours, and you'll need to hunt around a bit. I've found some stores will have the display rack but more stock than there are display shelves, so it will be all mixed up.
Pop Art paints.
Contemporary White (502), Express In Yellow (505), Creative With Orange (504),
Red Illustration (503), Picture Perfect Pink (519), Purple Impression (517),
Blue Abstract (515), Define In Green (513),
Avant-Garde (524) *NEON UV REACTIVE*, Black Mark (501).
Fine brushes, OK for stamping over white, and yellow, pink, purple, neon green and orange stand out if painted over darker colours.
Everyone should know how I feel about glitter by now!
Pink Hearts (675), Crystal Glitter (210), Purple Glam (965).
Pink Hearts has micro crystal glitter, large pink heart glitter and a subtle shimmer. Its a bit hard to dig the hearts out, so you might have to do a bit of placing if you want one on a nail.
Crystal Glitter is a pretty holo glitter, but its very sparse. 2 coats was OK, but it could use either more glitter or more coats.
Purple glam... looked better in the bottle, because none of the bar glitter comes out on the brush, so you just end up with a purple glittery jelly, which isn't all that bad, just disappointing.
Top and Bottoms.
The Jordana Quick Dry Top Coat (not pictured, its in my room somewhere...) and the Quick Shine top coat are AMAZING. 60 seconds till dry, but it will still need a few minutes to be knock resistant.
Quick Shine is a bit thick, but it covers over a glitter like magic.
I honestly haven't noticed much change using the bases, but the garlic one seemed to work a little, the diamond boost one just made the polish peel off in one sheet, and the nails be long I've only been wearing for a few days, so haven't noticed anything. If nothing else, they stop the colours from staining, and thats better than nothing.
Others From My Stash
Most "quick dry" polishes are decent for stamping. Maybelline Aqua Electric, not so much. This one was a rather sheer glitter, and it took way too many coats to be useful.
Rimmel Movie Star was good. It covered the chunky holo candy really well and held up when stamped. I really need to get me more of that brand. I hear that the other 60 sec polishes are amazing for stamping.
Loreal french tip was OK for stamping. I had no problems with it.
A gorgeous Revlon trio that I got for christmas last year.
Cherries in the snow, Pink Ice, Winter Mist.
After all those photos, I had to take a picture of at least one of them on.
L. A. Colors Color Craze Power Outage with L. A. Colors Art Deco Silver stamped using BM304.
Such a cute colour.
BM 316. Jordana Quick Shine.
While I was taking photos, one of my fur-babies decided to join me.
Meet Poppet. She's my gorgeous Manx.
And a random photo of my grass.
