Sunday, July 31, 2011

by Kitties26 on Sunday, July 31, 2011 13 comments

Need a one coat black?

I'm sure you would agree that a good opaque black polish is an absolute must in everyone's collection. I think it's pretty well known for ladies that have access to Wet N Wild nail polish, that their Shine Black Creme is a great one coater for when you layering polish. For those of us without access to Wet N Wild, we need to make do with whatever brand we can find.

I was starting to get a bit jack of my staple black polish when I was doing my Ozotic multichrome swatches. I was using Ulta3 Black Satin, but to get it opaque you have to use two coats. So what do you do in this situation, you franken it!

I had already purchased a Mica sampler pack from TKB Trading. So I had a baggy of black oxide pigment. This stuff is great because it is so pigmented. I added probably about a teaspoon of mica to my bottle of Ulta3 Black Satin, a couple of ballz and shook the bejesus out of it.

Here is a swatch of one coat each of the original Black Satin and my frankened version. Can you tell which is which? Tee hee.

So now I have a perfect black one coater.

The other thing I love about this is that it doesn't stain. I was talking to my mum about this and she was using Ulta3 Midnight as a dark base, but found that it was an absolute beeotch in the staining department. Even just trying to do clean up she had what looked like blue ink everywhere. Mum, I think I might just franken you up a bottle too. :)

Friday, July 29, 2011

by Kitties26 on Friday, July 29, 2011 14 comments

Ozotic 617

Ahhh, the tranquility. Mr Three and Miss Six months are both currently haivng a middle of the day sleep. So a perfect time for a real quick blog post.

The pretty on my nails right now is Ozotic 617. A rich aqua marine blue with large holographic particles.

No base, three coats, no top coat. It really only needs two coats, but I felt better with three cause I didn't have a base on, and it dries so fast that three coats isn't an isue.

Another very sparkly one, especially in the sun, but OK indoors too. Another 8/10 on my holo-a-meter for this.

I'm going to enjoy a quiet day today, as I'm still recovering from working in the yard moving very large piles of mulch (and we have more to do on the weekend). We had a mobile mulcher guy come and mulch up a whole stack of tree prunings as well as two massive pine trees, one of which fell down across our driveway a few weeks back in strong wind storms. How'd ya like this big tree in your driveway when you got home? Luckily our driveway has two entrances.

Gotta love those SES guys who came and chopped it out of the way for us. You guys ROCK!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

by Kitties26 on Thursday, July 28, 2011 8 comments

Ozotic 619

Howdy doodie everyone. Hope your having a good day.

Here is Ozotic 619 which is a darkish coral pink. It almost looks brownish in some lighting too. It's really cool. Three coats, no base or top coat. I rate it 8/10 on my holo-a-meter.

I actually came upon this colour rather by accident. I did an online purchase of some Ozotics from LeBeauty.

I ordered the following Ozotic's from them: 509, 515, 516, 518 and 522, so all 500 series, which as we know are linear holos. What actually arrived was 600, 601, 609, 617 and 619 all 600 series, which are large particle holos. The main problem was that they didn't contact me to tell me they were shipping something different, but instead just sent them with a note saying:

509 is now 609

515 is now 617

516 is now 601

518 is now 600

522 is now 619

As you can imagine, I wrote a rather strong email back saying that they shouldn't have changed my order without at least an email, and all but one of the polishes they sent me I already owned. They explained that they always swap the polishes, because most people choose a polish based on colour, not its number. Well I guess us weirdo nail bloggers just aren't like most people. I specifically wanted those numbers!

Anyway, long story short, they did the right thing by me. I got to keep one polish to cover the postage of the other ones back to them. They have now updated their website to accurately list the colours they have in stock, although I still disagree with which polishes they say replaced the others!

So this is the polish I kept. As it turns out I haven't seen 619 on any other website for sale yet. So Aussie gals, you can get it from Le Beauty for $13.50. International ladies, sorry, you just get to look at the pretty picture because they don't ship internationally :(

This polish actually matched the top I was wearing, totally unintentionally. I must have just been in the right kind of mood for this colour.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

by Kitties26 on Wednesday, July 27, 2011 17 comments

Ozotic 606

Back to our scheduled programming now with more Ozotic 600 series.

This is Ozotic 606 which is a pale lilac. Other swatches I've seen of this make it look rather subdued and very silver looking, so I was very pleasantly surprised when I put this on to see that is was certainly lilac coloured and also very holo.

This was three coats, no base or top coat.

Where on my holo-a-meter? I would say about an 8/10.

Another beautiful large particle linear holo. I know I have been calling these scattered holos, but I think that term better suits that Milani 3D holo polishes. These have a definite rainbow over the nail, so they are linear, but the holo particle size is much larger.

I still have more of these Ozotics to show you. I've been wearing one each day. I hope your not getting sick of seeing them yet?

Monday, July 25, 2011

by Kitties26 on Monday, July 25, 2011 10 comments

piCture pOlish blog fest - Antique

Here it is, early on Monday 25 July 2011 in Australia, which is officially piCture pOlish blog fest day. Over the next 48 hours around the world, I suspect you will be seeing quite a lot of piCture pOlish shades swatched and reviewed. I think this was a genius idea from the girls at piCture pOlish to get their shades swatched and to take over the blogisphere for a day.

I was lucky enough to be selected to showcase one of piCture pOlish's new shades - Antique. For me, while I was very familiar with the girls from piCture pOlish for my many purchases of Oztoic Pro polishes, I had yet to try any of their private label polish.

So without further babble, here it is.

Antique is a dusty violet base packed with tiny square silver glitter. In the sun it is amazingly sparkly and in the shade you can really see the density and depth of the glitter. It applied very nicely and was opaque in two coats. But being a dense glitter it does require a good layer of top coat to smooth out the grittiness (unless you like that sandpaper feel). These pics are two coats plus Seche Vite top coat.

In the picture above it still looks kinda gritty with the sun bouncing off at all different angles, although as you can see below, it was silky smooth.

Here is an indoor macro shot of that glitter.

I first saw this polish on piCture pOlishes facebook page where they had a naming competition for this shade and two others. What is cool is that a fellow Aussie blogger Shatter me Claire won with her name of 'Antique' for this polish - Yay for Claire. Here is the photo they used for the naming competition.

The funny thing is, when I saw this picture on facebook, and then saw this bottle in real life, I was totally surprised because it looked so different to what I thought it would look like. I was expecting it to be more of a metallic shade rather than a glitter. But I'm a glitter hoe, so glitter is great! I also saw Jacie's post about 'Jealously' (the green polish) which compared to that above picture, looks like a totally different polish. Jacie's swatch looks apple green, but above it so much darker and forest like. I guess that just shows that you can't rely on bottle pics to truly select a shade.

The other thing I noticed was that it might be a dupe for another polish in my stash. Ulta 3 Candied Violet.

So of course I swatched them together straight away.

As you can see, the colours indoors are almost identical, but Antique's glitter is much more dense, which does make it pop just that little bit more in the sun. You can see how much more reflective Antique is compared to Candied Violet below.

At this angle in the sun you can see that Antique is more opaque at two coats and leans a more mauve base, whereas Candied Violet appears more pink.

Ulta 3 Candied Violet costs only $2.25, but you have to be prepared to search your entire city or state by going through the Ulta 3 bins at the chemist if you want to find one. I haven't seen a bottle for ages. But if you already have a bottle of Candied Violet, then it's a close enough dupe. Another polish that is a close dupe is Chemistry 133, which Claire did as a comparison.

About these bottles. I love love the shape, I wish all my nail polish was in these bottles as they would be so perfect for storage. But I do wish that the bottles had a size on them. I mean how many mls are these? My guess would be about 12ml, but that really is a guess. PP gals, I think you should get the size printed on the bottle. Also, none of these bottles have the ingredients on them, but they do have the website URL printed on them and their website does have a page that lists all the ingredients.

piCture pOlishes are AUD$9.90, which to ladies in other countries may sound quite expensive. However, in a country where OPI retails for $19.95, China Glaze for $18.95 and Orly for $16.95 any boutique polish under $10 is still pretty good value.

Will I be purchasing piCuture pOlish brand lacquers in the future? I certainly think so. The formula and wear on this one was nice, it's just a shame that I got a shade that was dupy to one already in my stash (but I guess that happens when you have ~500 bottles). Now I just need to check everyone else's swatches to see what colours I like.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

by Kitties26 on Sunday, July 24, 2011 21 comments

Kleancolor metallics skittles

Yesterday I tried to do a water marble using some of my new Kleancolor metallic polishes. I shit you not when I say I had metallic rainbow polish from ear to asshole. Suffice to say, I prompty removed that hideous mess. Water marbling is just a skill I can't master!

As I was removing it, Mr Three came up to me and saw all the bottles open in front of me.

"Do Bay's nails please mummy". So I did. Then I did mine matching his. He still thinks its awesome.

Anyone else with little boys? Please tell me that its not weird for him to want to wear nail polish too. He is such a boyish boy and I thought why the hell not. I can't wait for Miss 6 months to be old enough to do her nails!

Saturday, July 23, 2011

by Kitties26 on Saturday, July 23, 2011 7 comments

Ozotic 624

Yep, you guessed it, another Ozotic holo, and I still have lots more bottles to show you too.

Ozotic 624 is a purple scatter holo. Its holo isn't as strong as the last one I showed but it is still a very pretty rainbow mixed in with a much richer base colour. I would rate this about a six on my holo-a-meter.

This one is certainly more scattered too. While it has the same size holo particles as the others, this one doesn't get the same linear rainbow across the nail. So I know people classify holos as either linear or scattered, but then there is also fine and course particle sizes. Now I have only ever see a fine particles creating linear holo polishes, but there is definitely both scattered and linear course particle holos. Did that dribble make sense?

Ok, I'm off shopping now. We just had our very first Costco open in Canberra yesterday and we are going to check it out. I'm not quite sure what to expect.

Friday, July 22, 2011

by Kitties26 on Friday, July 22, 2011 11 comments

Ozotic 601

Oh My God - will these Ozotic holographics ever stop? No no no, I'm going to continue to smash pretty holoey goodness in your face until you scream "No more holos, I can't take it any longer". And then I'll spam you with more, cause there just isn't such a thing as too much holoey goodness. Alright!

Ozotic 601 is a sheer pale pink holographic. It took three coats to get here, but PWOAR, it's amazing. NO base or top coat and it lasted a solid two days (but then I had to change polish so I have something else to post tomorrow)

I reckon I would give this about a 9/10 on my newly made up 'holo-o-meter'. Sure, Nfu Oh, Gosh and Chanel Holographic would be more holo, but it's really hard to compare true linear holographics to these more scattered, larger particle holos.

I still can't get over how much I love these 600 series Ozotics (I know mum, get over it, right). You see anytime my Mum say's "I can't get over blah blah blah.." I chime in with a "Well get over it, Mum". But seriously, I just can't get over it this time!

And now the special angle shot with the front and rear nails out of focus which shows the rainbow so perfectly.

A polish like this is just so special, it makes you smile. Your smiling now just looking at it, aren't you.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

by Kitties26 on Wednesday, July 20, 2011 7 comments

Ozotic 603

I've been focusing on the warm colours from the Ozotic 600 series recently, so yesterday I wore 603, which is light blue. Again like all the other Ozotic 600 series, this has a scattered holo finish.

This one is super sparkly and was rather sheer. This was three coats with no base or top coat.

I think this may be similar to Kaleidoscope Him Out from the China Glaze Kaleidoscope collection. But unfortunately I only have 6 of the 12 from that collection, and Kaleidoscope Him Out isn't one of them. However, having said that, I actually think some of these ozotics have a more sparkly holo effect when I compare them with the kaleidoscopes that I do have. I used to really want the entire Kaleidoscope collection, but now that I have these ozotics I think I can leave them on ebay for some other poor sucker to pay a bazillion dollars for.

I still can't believe how many polishes I have waiting in my untried pile. Yet here I am wishing July was over so I could buy more nail polish. So far on my wish list for when July is over are:

Chanel Peridot and Graphite (although I don't know whether I should get them off ebay or order them from the Chanel store in Sydney when they are released here in Australia on the 26th of July. Retail price here is $39, but I will still have to pay postage on top of that, so ebay might be cheaper)
Chemistry 509, 515 and 523 (515 as a backup as I only have half a bottle left. 509 and 523 will complete my entire collection of Ozotic/Chemistry 500 series.)

Not a long list which is good, but no doubt I will see other polishes swatched which will make me buy them - I'm looking at you Stef, Carli and Claire!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

by Kitties26 on Tuesday, July 19, 2011 8 comments

Beauty Joint haul of Kleancolor metallics

Here is my haul of Kleancolors I got from Beauty Joint. Thanks to Carli who showed us her haul of kleancolors and specifically some of the metallics in the range, I had to buy them all.

Ok, so this first one here isn't a metallic, its 'Coffee Addict', but I loved the look of the colour and thought it could easily squeeze into the metallic collection. In fact I got it instead of Metallic White, because I just didn't think it would do it for me. These are quick crappy pictures taken with a flash because of the gray watery sky outside. The bottle pics here are over exposed and washed out, but the swatches on my nail sticks are more colour accurate.

Colours above: Coffee Addict, Metallic Pink, Metallic Mango, Metallic Orange, Metallic Red, Metallic Yellow.

Colours below: Metallic Green, Metallic Aqua, Metallic Sapphire, Metallic Fuschia, Metallic Purple, Metallic Black.

I've read about some trouble other bloggers have had with their Beauty Joint orders, specifically where caps were not on tight and the polish leaked and then having issues with getting bottle replaced etc. Maybe they are now making more of an effort to ensure the caps are on nice and tight and suitably packaged, because mine was perfectly wrapped in multiple layers of bubble wrap and all caps on very tight.

I'm still wearing and swatching my new Oztoics/Chemistry's, and I'm determined to try them all before I try these. But I have to say that there really are spectacular and I love that I was able to get every colour in this metallic range at such an affordable price - $1.75 US, which was even cheaper with the Aussie dollar conversion.

The colours are really saturated and bright and some of these were one coaters on my nail sticks. I can see them being ok for stamping and really great for nail art.

We're seeing Kleancolors all over blogs at the moment, I think all because of Beauty Joint. As far as I could see they were the first company to sell Kleancolors that shipped internationally and they are selling them for only $1.75. Their bottle pics on the ordering page is also very good and helps in choosing colours. So, from me, thank you Beauty Joint. I'm very tempted to get some more after No Buy July is over, I just wish their shipping wasn't quite as expensive now.

Monday, July 18, 2011

by Kitties26 on Monday, July 18, 2011 12 comments

Ozotic 600

Continuing with my Oztoic haul swatches with Ozotic 600 today. The 600 series are all scattered holos, some with a more pronounced holo effect than others. I would say the 600 would be somewhere in between the others that I have swatched so far. Not as holo as say 605, but more holo that 621.

600 is a salmon pink colour, and I actually love it on my nails. I usually not a huge fan of pink on my nails (that's the reason I don't wear pink on Wednesday), or as followers might know of red on my nails. And because this was a dark pink, I wasn't sure I was going to like it. But as it turns out, I don't just like it, I love it.

There is a little tip wear showing in this picture, as I photographed it on day two. But I love the wear I have got out of these Ozotic 600 series. I haven't been wearing a base coat (as I'm totally out of my favourite Nail Tek II) and no top coat, as it really does dull these 600 series. But I haven't had any chipping, only gradual tip wear, which doesn't worry me at all.

I just received my Beauty Joint haul in the mail today. Pics tomorrow. Off to play with them now.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

by Kitties26 on Saturday, July 16, 2011 19 comments

Elytra 528 over black

Today I'm revisiting Ozotic Pro Elytra 528. I have previously swatched this over Ozotic 505, which has the same colour shift as the glitter in this polish. Avacka from over at Rainbows and Blues asked to see it over black, so what better reason to slap on this beautiful polish once again.

It's very stormy and grey outside today, so no sun shots, but I actually think you can see the duo chrome glitter shift better in the shade with this polish. Sunshine brings out too much sparkle to capture it with the camera.

This was two coats Elytra 528 over black, Seche Vite top coat.

This is the only Eltrya I have. I bought this one because it appeared to have the best colour shift, and it shifted between two of my very favourite colours. Ladies who have 529 and 530, are they just as good as this one? Should I save or splurge?

Friday, July 15, 2011

by Kitties26 on Friday, July 15, 2011 12 comments

Ozotic 605

I know I commited to wearing red all week, but... I... just..... can't. Sorry. I actually swatched another red, but didn't end up wearing it, and looking at my swatch pictures, they are just far too crappy to put up here.

Instead I've gone back to my new Ozotics from my recent haul. Today I'm wearing 605 and its so much more a 'me' colour. Now I just checked that number again, and yes it is 605. I've had such a shocker lately numbering things incorrectly on here. Luckly I have some eagle eyed followers to pick up my errors.

Anywho, 605 is a pink toned bronzy brown scatterd holo. Seriously, I can't believe I waited so long to get these polishes! They are FREAKING AMAZING!!!!!. Yes, so amazing that I used all caps and multiple exclamation marks.

Time to get my arse off the computer chair and do some work.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

by Kitties26 on Thursday, July 14, 2011 9 comments

Kleancolor Chunky Holo Scarlet

I recently got a swap package from Sam over at The Real Polish Princess (who actually has an amazing giveaway on at the moment with a lot of sort after holo polishes, including some CG Kaleidoscopes, Glitter Gals, Ozotic Pros etc - go on, get over there and enter). She was kind enough to send me all the Kleancolor Chunky Holos, and this one, Chunky Holo Scarlet, jumped right in there with my other favourite red polishes and made its way into my Red Week.

These chunky holos have been all over blogs at the moment. But first, let me just confirm that the use of the word 'holo' in the title of these is totally misleading for anyone that thinks they might be getting a holographic polish. These should be called chunky duochrome glitters.

All these Chunky holos actually have the exact same glitter in them, which shifts yellow to red, but they are all in a different coloured base. If you layered them all over black they are all the same (except holo black because of the different sized glitter). Scarlet is by far the most saturated colour, and possibly the only one that could be worn on its own without layering.

The duochrome glitters in these can actually be seen better indoors or in the shade rather than in full sun.

The other thing that everyone says with these polishes is that they are stinky. And yep, its true, they are smelly. It's the sort of smell I reckon lacquers would have smelt like in the 1950's. Totally worth the smell for the colour. Thanks Sam, I love them. Expect to see them all swatched soon.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

by Kitties26 on Wednesday, July 13, 2011 14 comments

Nubar Fire Sparkle

Red week continues (albeit a little late today) with Nubar Fire Sparkle.

I've had this polish for a while. It's amazingly sparkly, which as any blogger would know, is incredibly hard to capture in photos. These Nubar Sparkles have so much glitter in them that you can almost get away with one coat! This was two coats, with a very generous layer of Seche Vite (to start with).

The above picture was taken indoors, next to the window with natural light. Below taken in the sun.

I have read on someone else's blog, where they called these Nubar sparkles, 'thirsty' polishes. I think that is such a great description for them.

The above photos were all taken very soon after applying my thick layer of Seche Vite, and as you can see below, that top coat is drying fast and being drunk up by the polish. These polishes end up looking rough very quickly.

I tried and tried to get a finished glassy top coat look, I think I ended up with 7 layers of top coat! It just kept soaking it up. It's really weird. I've never experienced this with another glitter polish.

I bought these after seeing amazing swatches and reviews on Scrangie's blog, but I'm sure she must photograph some things while they are still wet. Without that glassy finish they look kinda matte, which is weird too. The sparkle in these is awesome, but like all glitters, a biotch to remove.

Do you have any of the Nubar sparkle polishes? Are yours thirsty too?

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

by Kitties26 on Tuesday, July 12, 2011 15 comments

Ozotic 621

As promised ladies, here is Ozotic 621. This is the scattered red holographic.

This polish is a much bluer red, and certainly more of a true red compared to 518. But it's holographic effect is very scattered and difficult to catch with the camera. In fact it's also a little difficult to catch with the eye. It certainly is very pretty and sparkly, but as far as the holographic rainbow goes, it gets a little lost within the deepness of the red jelly base.

This was three coats, because I noticed a bald spot which only had the jelly base colour and no sparkly bits on it. No top coat.

And just for you Claire - here is a side by side comparison of 521 with 518.

As you can see, 518 (on the left) is more of a strawberry pink red. 521 is a richer squishier red jelly. I personally think the holo effect in 518 can't be beat because you can actually see the rainbow effect.

Sorry Claire, I think you need both in your collection, but not until No buy July is over :)