Update 1: Project Polish 2018

Hi everyone!

In case you have missed it, I picked three polishes in the beginning of 2018 and marked their current fill line. Now, after four months, it is time for my first update to recap the progress on my project of #unserprojectpolish2018! Actually, I was supposed to post my first update after three months but I was busy handing in my PhD thesis. I read everyone’s progress at the beginning of April and it was so much fun! Now it is time for me to post my own update.

The first thing I did was to re-swatch all three polishes. I will show you the two polishes which I will continue to use. The third polish (China Glaze Oxygen) was very streaky and disappointing on the nails, which is why I will not continue to use it. It was replaced by another polish (see below).

The first polish was P2 Night Out, a beautiful muted dark blue creme polish that I really like wearing. It is perfect to wear on its own, but it is also perfect as a dark base for all kinds of toppers and shifty top coats. This is how I will continue to wear it – that way it will never get boring!

The second polish was also from P2 and is called Charming Secret. It is a cool-toned very light pink shade that is perfect for every day. When I don’t know what to wear on my nails, I will most certainly reach for this one.

Here is the progress I made with the two polishes, (the second black line shows the current fill level). As mentioned above, China Glaze was replaced by another polish, namely Essence Sweet as Candy, which is also a neutral “my nails but better” sheer polish. Swatches of this one will be provided in the next update :).

I will just continue to use these instead of picking new polishes to use until the next update. I think I will be able to finish these in 2018, maybe even before the end of the year, and then choose new “go to” polishes once these are empty. I really love this concept as it makes choosing a polish when in doubt so much easier! The next update will be posted around the beginning of July!

Stay tuned and have a nice day 🙂

 

The mighty quest for Mirror Chrome Pigment Powder – Part two

Hello everyone!

… and welcome to part II of my mighty quest for the epic Mirror Chrome Pigment Powder that you see all over the internet lately. In my first posting about this I shared my first impressions of a powder that was sold to me as chrome powder, but the results were disappointing. Today I will show you two more powders and compare them to the first powder I tried.

These are the chrome pigment powders I tried:

From left to right:

1. Trendnails Chrom Effect Weiß (white) 1,4 grams, 2,85 € per gram
2. Nailland Chrome Mirror Effect Powder for Nails – Silver 2,5 grams, 1,60 € per gram
3. Aliexpress Chrome Mirror Powder from Angel Fashion 10 grams, 0,90 € per gram

Just like last time, I tested all the chrome pigments over a black UV gel nail polish by Trendnails (Lac & Go (A1-02)). I heard that it is important that the UV base you use is a non-wipe gel (you do not want to have a sticky layer after curing the gel).

I made a video of their applications, I recommend watching it as it says more than 1000 words 🙂

Here are the photos of the results:

As you can see, the trendnails powder (on the right) is the weakest with regards to a true mirror effect. It is a pretty effect, but not true chrome. The base colour is much more visible than in the other two colours and the surface is not as reflective. Considering the fact that this pigment is by far the most expensive of the three, I do not recommend it if you are looking for the real metal chrome mirror effect on your nails.

The Nailland powder (in the middle) is my favourite: the pigment spread evenly across the nail and left almost no bald spots. The mirror effect is nice and strong. Plus this pigment comes in a pretty little container, making it easy to handle. Price wise, this pigment is right inbetween the trendnails and Aliexpress powders.

The Aliexpress powder (on the left) is almost as good as the Nailland powder. However, you might be able to spot all the little black dots, making the surface look turbulent and constraining the mirror effect a little bit. First I thought I didn’t use enough product or didn’t work it in carfully enough, but I tried again and got the same results. I feel like the mirroring/shiny effect is really strong with this pigment, but I just couldn’t get it to spread evenly without any black spots. Too bad! Also, when you order this pigment, it comes in a plastic bag, which makes the application a little harder. It is, however, the cheapest option of the three.

I will keep my eyes open for more powders, but I think I found what I was looking for in the Nailland powder. My next lemming is… holographic chrome powder! Love love love that effect. Any recommendations?

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

Catherine 267 Passionfruit swatches and review

PR sample

Hi beauties!

Today I would like to show you 267 Passionfruit from the Catherine Pacific Collection. Passionfruit is a beautiful deep purple shimmer colour that is right up my alley!

The challenge was to show the polish in a summery scene, which was indeed challenging as the weather has not been very summerlike so far. But I caught a little bit of sunlight recently, and it was worth it to show the shimmer of this beauty! And for the even more summerly look, I tried a floral stamping and I actually liked how it turned out!

Application was great, two easy coats was all I needed. The wear was satisfying, I got 3 full days out of it. Removal was easy (no staining). So, I’m very happy with this polish and will definitely wear it again!

The pics below show Passionfruit in two coats with one coat of HK top coat.

I hope that summer will be here soon – I desperately need some sun! Happy weekend to everyone!

Thank you, Catherine, for providing Passionfruit!