Spotted Havana

This is the mani I wore for my godson's birthday party (most un-birthday-y mani ever ;-)  ) and I let my boyfriend pick the polishes. I just told him it should match my skirt, and this is what he chose:





I started with Catrice Havana Drum (Cucuba Limited Edition), a caramel/nougat brown creme. Havana Drum was pretty sheer, I used three coats and probably could have gone for a fourth.





On top of Havana Drum I added one coat of Elixir Lacquers Spotted & Splotched, a clear base with brown microglitter (they look like brown sugar in my eyes) and medium white hexes.Spotted & Splotched is part of Elixir Lacquer's Lov-a Bully Collection, so 10% of the prize of each sold bottle will be donated to the Atlanta Bully Rescue. I'm honestly not really into bullies (the dogs, can't stand the human kind), but as I love dogs in general, I love the idea of supporting an animal shelter by buying polish.





Elixir Lacquers uses a base a little thinner than I like, so spreading the glitters can be a little difficult. The glitters tend to glide to the sides of the nails like you can see on my index finger. The white hexes tend to sink down at the bottle ground, but I stored the bottle upside-down for about half an hour before using it, so they came out quite easy.Spotted & Splotched dieed quite smooth, so I only used one coat of Essence Better Than Gel Nails Top Sealer for a glassy finish.

Elixir Lacquers are available on their homepage.

Elixiversary

Today I have another blue mani for you. I hope I'm not boring you with all these blues ;-)





I started with OPI Russian Navy, a navy blue (duh) polish with a gorgeous purple shimmer I was absolutely unable to capture with my purple-hating camera. The shimmer is really visible in the bottle, where it looks full on purple. But even on the nails it's clearly visible (I just can't prove it). After a couple of dissapointing formulas, this one is an OPI polish with great application. It's very opaque, almost a one coater. I used two, because... well, just because.





On top of Russian Navy I added Elixir Lacquers Elixiversary, a limited edition polish to celebrate the one year anniversary of Elixir Laqcuers. Elixiversary is " a limited edition clear coat glitter bomb that is loaded with multi-sized diamonds, squares, hexes, and dots in mattes, satins, holographics, and iridescents galore, and a spectrum of color that simply dazzles!!"
(Source: Elixir Lacquers)








 

 To be honest, I don't really know what to think of this polish. It's a true beauty, no doubt. But application was... let's say challenging. I dabbed one coat of Elixiversary over my base color, and had only a few glitters on my nails. It took quite some fishing for glitters to get a good amount of them on the nails, everything larger than the tiny iridescents, the small hexes and dots didn't come out willingly. When I had enought glitter on my nails, I also had a lot of the clear base on them, and the glitters started to slide to the sides of the nails (like you can see on my index finger). I really love the look of Elixiversary, but befor I use it again I'll have to think of a new application technique...


There will be two more restocks of Elixiversary, 50 bottles each, on february 16th and march 16th here.

Flushed Wynter Wonders

I hope you all arrived savely in the new year and had a great New Years Eve. I have two more indies to show you today: Cult Nails Flushed and Elixir Lacqers Wynter Wonders.





I started with three coats of Cult Nails Flushed, a "true "Blurple" (blue/purple) buildable sheer with an intense purple/pink shimmer effect that appears to glow through the polish"
(Source: Cult Nails)





The pink shimmer is really intense, even if it seems pretty subtle in the pictures. Flushed is pretty sheer, but with three coats it's completely opaque.


 

 


On top of Flushed I layered one coat of Elixir Lacquers Wynter Wonders (Holiday Trio), " a clear coat loaded with holographic micro glitter, silver holographic squares, satin ice blue squares, and matte lavender hexes. You'll shimmer like the snow in this icy mix!!"
(Source: Elixir Lacquers)

 

  Wynter Wonders needed a good shake and careful application for a good mix of holographic base and  glitters (on my first try I only got holographic base on my nail). It's absolutely managable if you're used to applying glitter polishes, but I wouldn't recommend this one for first time glitter users. 

 

 

A out-of-focus sunshine picture to show you all the holographic sparklyness

 


 















 




Wynter Wonders isn't too gritty, one thick coat of Essie Good to Go was enough to provide a smooth finish.


Elixir Lacquers are available on their homepage.

Cult Nails polishes are available on their website and at Overall Beauty.