NOTD Orly Androgynie

I have a sort of hit and miss relationship with Orly polishes. They are either amazing, with gorgeous colours, last long and are easy in application, or they barely last a day and are difficult to work with.
So whenever I see an Orly polish that is really gorgeous I really hope that it will be good. And only if it is really truly beautiful will I get it.

With Androgynie I went backwards and forwards whether I like it enough to get it. EventuallyI obviously succumbed :)
At first I was kind of disappointed that all the big hex glitter stuck to the bottle sides and very few made it to the nails. But after wearing it a couple of times I can say that I love how it looks. It is black, but there is enought of golden glitter in to to make it seem brown next to something truly black. Also whenever I use this polish, I shake it quite violently and then put it upside down for about 5-10 minutes. This way I get a sufficient amount of large glitter that I like on the nails. I usually use 2 coats like here, or layer one coat over black.

Flormar Neons

Neons are everywhere this summer. Yet, somehow I cannot get fully on board with this tren. So I'm really happy that I had an opportunity to try a couple of neons, to see what I thought and whether I liked them.
Well, these are two neons from a Turkish company, they are marked #14, the green one and #12, the red/pink one.
These had a fantastic formula, I used two coats for the green one and just one coat for the red one. They dried really quickly and were very shiny.
To be honest, I'm not sold on the green polish. It is a bright highlighter-green in colour. It is certainly a fun colour, but I don't particulary like how it looks with my skin tone.





I prefer this colour to the green one, much more so. It is gorgeous, you can see red, pink, coral and even a hint of orange in it in different light. I'm not sure I would call it neon, though it is very bright. The fact that this intensity is achieved with just one coat doesn't hurt either :)

OPI Holiday Glow

This is possibly the least summer appripriate polish there is. To me is screams autumn, fallen leaves, maybe even winter holidays. But just as I like to listen to Christmas and holiday tunes in the middle of summer, this is what I'm wearing on one of the hottest days. It is difficult to describe how much I like this polish. It is brown with two different glitters. It is awesome. Two coats here.

Barry M Denim

Thank to my friend Sophia, I have a regular and steady supply of Barry M polishes. Today I have Denim to show you. It is a very interesting polish, it dries to a sort of satin finish, and of course looks gorgeous with a top coat on. It is a gorgeous blue, and I am wearing only one coat. I don't think it gets better than that.

And here it is with a top coat on. In person the difference is more noticeable, I think.

Of all the polishes I have, the closest in look and feel is the OPI Russian Navy Suede, although Barry M Denim is less matte without the top coat. Colour-wise Barry M is brighter and more blue, while OPI looks slightly darker and leans more purple.

beautyuk posh polish #6 elfstone

Hey guys, long time, no see! I've been absent for a little bit and there's a really good reason why. I started an internship with one big company, and the past week and a half I only had enough energy after work to get home, eat and crawl into bed to do it all over again. I don't know if I like it yet, but I've had a really cool experience during the get to know the company seminar. Since I work with the computer all day long, the polish doesn't last very well. I've never encountered so much tip wear.
Today for polish I'm wearing BeautyUK posh polish in the shade #6 Elfstone, it is a pale green foil. I certainly don't own any polish like this and I like how this one looks a lot. The formula is nice, I used only two coats, and in many cases only one coat was needed.

My Stash, July 2012

The last time I showed my stash was here at the end of last summer. Since then I have of course acquired a few new polishes, and by a few I should probably say a hundred.

After I graduated last month I got myself a few OPI polishes I've been eying for while, plus they were 20% off. I was actually looking for At Your Quebec and Call which I've seen before in abundance, but on that particular day had to spend ages going through all the shelves to find and along the way found these.
L-R: Significant Other Color, Holiday Glow, Japanese Rose Garden, "Sheer" Your Toys, Sonic Boom, Greece Just Blue Me Away, and At Your Quebec and Call. The last three are black labels.

In terms of storage, at the moment my nail polishes live in one huge drawer where they all [barely] fit. I separate them by brand and not by colour, since I like how it looks more that way. Normally all of them fit into three smaller drawers and all the base coats, nail files etc. are in a separate box.

In terms of brands, OPI dominates. I think I counted 74 polishes plus I have a few double bottles.

China Glaze polishes have increased since last time, a lot! This is my second most numerous brand I think.

I still have few Orly polishes. I don't really know why there aren't more, but when shopping for polishes they are not my first choice. After a lot of deliberation I did purchase Space Cadet and Galaxy Girl when I started liking duochrome polishes more.

Essence and Catrice are next. I like their polishes, they are inexpensive with fun colours. While Essence started appearing in shops here, they are still few and far between, plus we don't get all collections, just some random ones. Catrice are the ones I brought from holiday last year.

Random square bottles. I still only have just one Zoya polish. And I still love Barry M polishes.

Some other random polishes that I have only a few of different brands. Top right corner is a Salvador Dali polish that used to be my mum's. I found it recently and used a ton of thinner on it.

Bourjois 10 Day Nail Polish #16

Hey everyone! I hope you are doing well. I got my diploma at last, yeah! I hoped that this would be the last bit of studying for a while, but the business school I attended keeps tempting me with offers along the lines of your good grades = 50% off and the like, so I'm seriously considering studying for a masters degree.

I'm ashamed that I've had these swatches since the end of last summer and never got round to posting them. This is Bourjois 10 Day nail polish #16, a coral shade with pleasant golden shimmer in it. I got to try it thanks to a friend.

This polish is supposed to last for 10 days and then you can use the brush to touch up the manicure for a further 3 day wear. I shall explore how well that goes at the end of the post.

This range of polishes has the most ridiculous brushes, they are wonky by design. Well, they are slanted. I remember reading that Sally Hansen (?) had this sort of brush for the white polish in a french manicure set. It might work there, but it is so uncomfortable for normal application, astonishingly bad. Why would anyone think that it is a good idea I have no idea.

The polish itself is not that bad, used two fairly thick coats. It dries reasonably fast. The most pleasing aspect of this polish is the colour, a truly coral shade. It also has a slight golden shimmer, which is much more noticeable in the bottle.



I really hate it when make up companies shamelessly promise unrealistic things. The over ten day wear claim for me is just that. While I'm really not bothered by wear time (any polish should last at least 2day without chipping), I decided to see how long this one would last to the point I would not wear it in public.
The verdict - the photo below is after 2 and a half days, and I left it on for longer that I would deem appropriate in chips/tip wear, and this is my left hand. So now apparently I should be able to prolong this experience by putting a little bit of polish on the tips and chips. That would look super! [Sorry for the sarcasm, couldn't help myself].
So overall, I only like the colour which is not that unique, the brush is ridiculous, and you get nowhere near the 10+ days of wear. Oh did I mention that around here Bourjois retails for more that OPI/Orly/China Glaze/SpaRitual? No, no, no, no way.