I was really excited when I saw the promo video for the new Layla Mirror Effect polishes. I knew I had to get them all because I'm a real sucker for anything shiny. And boy, are these polishes shiny.
Today I'm showing the first four polishes in the collection. Formula and application on all of these was the same so I will put all that info together at the bottom.
I feel my photos don't do these justice. It didn't seem to matter if I photographed in the shade or the sun, I just couldn't make them look as reflective as they do in person. I think it might be because the photos are so up close. I did take one of Metal Chrome a bit further away and I think it shows the shine the best to how they look in real life.
Metal Chrome - Silver, uber shiny metallic chrome.
Cosmo Lilac - light mauve pink, reflective metallic chrome.
Iron Pink - Light pink metallic chrome
Titanium Sky - Blue metallic chrome.
All these swatches show two coats, with no base coat or top. You could get away with one careful thicker coat, but two thin coats worked better for me. I also buffed my nails using the Layla buffing file.
I did try one nail without buffing and these polishes REALLY show every single bump, dot, indent, ridge or imperfection on your nail. I also tried these using both Aqua base and Seche Vite as a base coat because they both have a very smooth finish. Both worked well and I 100% recommend wearing either Aqua base coat, or a very shiny top coat as your base if you are not going to buff your nails. But because I was swatching, I didn't want to waste time doing base coats for each one, so I just buffed to a shine and painted naked nails.
Application of these polishes reminded me of the Layla holographics, in that when you first apply the polish it looks dull and rather matte finish. In fact after my first few nails I was like "what is this crap chrome". But then as they dry you can actually see the chrome effect shine coming in.
For me these are very different to other chromes I own such as China Glaze 2030 and some Revlon and Sally Hanson ones. Those polishes appear chrome from the moment you apply them and you can still see slight brush marks, but these ones dried to a shiny, smooth, brush free finish.
I also applied Seche Vite top coat when I was doing my initial test. I applied just a half nail of top coat to compare and see if it dulled the effect. I did find it made the mirror effect less mirror like and a little fuzzy, so I swatched without top coat.
I have yet to wear any of these as a mani, but I'm about to put one on now to wear this weekend. So I will report back as to what the wear is like.
I've also tried them for stamping, but I will save that for another post.
First impression. EPIC WIN. Outstanding job from Layla to release another awesome collection back to back with the recent awesome holographics.
