Just a reminder. I always paint to opacity and then add one more coat for the macro pics. In other words, when it says I used 3 coats, you can usually achieve "in real life opacity" at 2 coats. In no particular order:
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OPI Alcatraz Rocks - 2 coats
Let's start with a polish on several of my fellow bloggers' lists, the well loved Alcatraz Rocks. This is well loved for good reason. Like most OPI's Liquid Sands (I would say all, but I haven't tried them all :) the application was easy and smooth with only 2 coats needed for full coverage and depth of texture. It is a gorgeous dark sapphire blue, as you can see. What you can't see in my pics is the amazing bits of purple, green and pink mini glitter that flash throughout. It is stunning! Plus it has texture! If you don't have this in your stash, it should be your #1 lemming!
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Mentality Tough - 2 coats
I am crushing hard on Mentality! I have yet to try one of their polishes that I wasn't fully satisfied, if not ecstatic, about. Tough is one of the ecstatic ones! I cannot even begin to describe how this beauty glows! Even in its natural state, matte, it is radioactive! See that bottom pic? That is not Photoshopped, no filter or color adjustment. This is ow it looks in real life....almost UNreal! What about with top coat?
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With top coat, the shimmer shows its glittery side. I must admit I like it matte better, but it is almost as striking with a hard top. If you like neon robin egg blue colors, this is one that MUST be in your collection!
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Mentality Sizzle - 3 coats
On their site, Mentality describes this as "a black crelly holographic with blue fleckies and a green to bluish purple duochrome color shift." The thing that makes this one unique is the blue micro glitters. I don't quite know how to describe this, but with the glitters sandwiched in the black crelly holo, it gives it the sense that all those particles are hovering above the nail, not laying on it. This effect CANNOT be captured. I have tried...and tried...and tried! Believe me, it seams to float and I could not stop examining it all day, trying to figure out how. How 'bout a gif? Sorry 'bout the tip wear!
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Zoya Dream - 3 coats
Yes, this category contains more than one holo! Zoya scattered holos are unlike other holos out there. The particles are like mini shards floating in a gellie finish. Go gorgeous! These pics are without top coat! This brilliant beauty shines all on its own. What more is there to say?
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I Love Nail Polish Birefringence (H) - 2 coats
What is the deal with that name? I had to Google it, of course. Birefringence used to describe anything that has an optical quality that causes light to have a double refraction. At least that is what I understood it to be (tee hee). Lots of scientific jargon out there! Anyways, once I understood what the name meant, it made a whole lot of sense. What else would describe this multichrome that bends through the top of the rainbow, alternately blue, teal and purple, even gold at some extreme angles! And the (H) in the name means that it has added holo particles. This polish makes me speechless! The only thing left to say is....#1 BABY! Oh and, "Got gif?"
So let's talk about honorable mentions. There are three....yes three! I will let you know why each of them made this special list. The number one reason is that I LOVE blue.
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Julep Millie - 2 coats
With my new found love of cremes, I couldn't leave this finish out of the list. However, with all the other amazing finishes in this category, Millie kept slipping down the list. However, I had to show you my favorite dark blue creme. Millie is a greyed navy blue, dusty and divine. Plus, her application is flawless, self leveling and fully opaque at one coat. The only question I have is...maybe she should have been in the top 5? She can be found in nail art HERE.
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Essie Lots of Lux - 2 coats
Lots of Lux didn't make top 5 because...well, because I realized last moment that I didn't have this swatched on its own. If it had unstamped pics, it would have bumped Zoya Dream into the honorable mentions. There are two reasons for my Lots of love for Lux (See what I did there?). The first is that this was the moment that I realized that Essie had stepped out of my mom's world and into mine. I usually think that Essies are a bit uninspired, but the Encrusted Treasures collection was filled with risk takers. Secondly, this baby was highly pigmented, needing two coats ONLY because I wanted more depth to the texture. AND despite being so pigmented, it wasn't a stainer! Welcome to my world Essie! You can find more details about this nail art HERE.
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China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots - 2 coats
Strap On Your Moonboots (SOYMB from here on out :) made my honorable mention list because, in my humble opinion, this polish did not get enough love in the nail polish community. I have to admit that I was unimpressed with most of the others from the Hologlam collection, but this one is lovely! I actually like the subtle holo, giving it a denim finish. I have heard that you should use a ridge filling base under all of the Hologlam polishes, but I had problems with that. I tried my Aqua Base, and no matter how long I let it dry, the base clumped when I applied this polish. Then I tried Orly Ridge Filler. It also clumped, although not as bad as the Aqua Base. The I tried it with OPI Nail Envy. Yes, it showed a bit of ridging on the first coat, but the second coat smoothed it out pretty well with only my major ridges showing. By the way, SOYMB stamps like a dream! You can see it used as a stamping polish HERE and with a flakie HERE.
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Great dark blue favorites!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lisa! Aren't they all beautiful?
DeleteAll of these are stunning!
ReplyDelete