China Glaze Hologlam Strap On Your Moonboots - swatch and review

China Glaze Hologlam Strap on Your Moonboots

This is such a wonderful colour! As I'm sitting here, typing in a darkish room with an overhead light, the colours are quite mesmerising as my fingers are moving around.

I used two coats of China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots over Nfu.oh Aquabase. No top coat. If you've not used an aquabase before, it's a basecoat which dries to a super-shiny finish and is a recommended base for more difficult holo polishes. When I swatched When Stars Collide and Infra Red I just applied the polishes to my bare nails and I was perfectly happy with the results, but a reader asked me if I thought they needed an aquabase so I'm using it this time round. It makes application really smooth and if you have an aquabase to hand (and time for it to dry - aquabase takes about 20 minutes to dry properly) I'd say go ahead and use it. But if you don't have one, you can certainly use these polishes without.

These first pictures are taken near a window, with an overhead light in the background. We don't have anything like full sun here today, but I guess this is the sort of effect you'd get in full sun. I'm really looking forward to wearing this polish in the summer!

China Glaze Hologlam Strap on Your Moonboots 

The base colour is a dark, slightly teal-leaning blue, but the holographic flare seems to range from greenish to a very dark purple.  Here are some pictures in indirect light, just showing the base colour. This is how the polish would look on an overcast day; the I like the base colour a lot and it is something I'd choose to wear in it's own right, quite apart from the holo awesomeness! There is no streakiness at all in this, the finish looks soft and velvety.

China Glaze Hologlam Strap on Your Moonboots - Low light

Finally, just because I could, I took a few pictures in direct light, to show how striking the colour shifts in this holo can be! Obviously, don't expect the polish to look like this all the time. But when you catch the light like this, it's amazing!

China Glaze Hologlam Strap on Your Moonboots - Direct Light

I guess the question in everybody's mind when there is a new dark blue holo is 'but how does it compare to OPI DS Glamour?'  Well, the two polishes are a different style of holo; Strap On Your Moonboots is a very fine linear holo, while DS Glamour is a scattered holo, with much bigger particles. The base colours are slightly different too - DS Glamour is more of  a straight-up blue where Strap On Your Moonboots leans slightly teal. In low light the don't look *that* much different - you can see the tonal differences in the base colour and OPI DS Glamour has a sparkly feel where China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots is more of a velvety metallic finish.

China Glaze Hologlam Strap on Your Moonboots  / OPI DS Glamour - Low light

Move into strong light and the differences between the linear and scattered holo become more pronounced -

China Glaze Hologlam Strap on Your Moonboots  / OPI DS Glamour - Direct Light 

To be honest, I don't know which I prefer! I'm very fond of OPI DS Glamour, so I didn't expect there to any contest but I'm surprised how much I like Strap On Your Moonboots. I think they are different enough to justify owning both :)

I purchased China Glaze Strap On Your Moonboots from Faith Cosmetics at Amazon.co.uk. OPI DS Glamour is long discontinued I'm afraid, although it occasionally turns up on ebay, or you might be lucky enough to find a bottle lurking on a back shelf at a shop or salon.

Cirque Dark Horse - the first textured polish???

Cirque Dark Horse without topcoat

I've been enjoying this season's new textured polishes and out of the blue I remembered this beauty! Cirque Dark Horse! It's one of the hungriest glitter polishes I know. But it looks fantastic WITHOUT topcoat!

Cirque Dark Horse is a clear base packed with tiny microglitters - mostly black ones, but with other glitters in a whole rainbow of colours which give it a stunning multi-coloured shimmer effect. In the bottle, and from a distance on the nail, it looks like it might be a black polish with multi-coloured glitters, but it's much more complex and beautiful than that.

Cirque Dark Horse without topcoat

You can almost feel the texture from the pictures! I've included a couple with the nails increasingly blurry to show the coloured sparkles - under a lamp the polish really sparks different colours. The finish is very smooth and even, without any shininess like the rather doubtful Nails Inc Concrete collection, and I probably prefer it to the Barry M Texture Effects polishes, which I think are great. I've not tried any of the OPI Liquid Sands - none of the colours appeal to me enough to want to buy one - and although I'm very interested in the Zoya Pixie Dust collection, Zoya polishes are quite hard to track down in the UK.

The pictures above are three coats of Cirque Dark Horse, with basecoat. As you can see if you look closely, my edges are a bit messy, and there's no way I can wrap my tips with the glitter, so next time I wear this I'll probably use either Manglaze Matte is Murder or Fuggen Ugly as a base so I can be a bit neater. I still love the mani though!

Of course the Dark Horse is stunning shiny as well - here it is with two coats of Gelous and a thick coat of Seche Vite:

Cirque Dark Horse with topcoat

You can see how the coloured glitters sparkle, and it's more obvious in the glossy version that the whole thing is a suspension of glitter rather than a few coloured glitters in a black base. In case anybody is wondering, I think Cirque Dark Horse knocks the socks off the superficially similar Butter London The Black Knight - which is a suspension of  various coloured microglitter in a black jelly base. Just for completeness, here's a pic of The Black Knight from last summer, my nails were a bit longer then - that's the shape I'm aiming for now :)

Butter London The Black Knight

One final thing I want to say about Cirque Dark Horse is that when I was applying the polish, I noticed it smelled really nice - almost like lavender, and that smell stayed on my nails for hours afterwards. When I had a look at Cirque's website, lo and behold, their polishes contain natural lavender and clary sage oils! Normally I'd only buy a scented polish if I really like the colour - here I'm thinking about Anna Sui and Peripera, which I can just about tolerate the smell of. I remember buying a Revlon scented polish a couple of years ago that stank so foul I wasn't comfortable even giving it away! But the natural oils in Cirque polishes seem like a great addition.

I received my Dark Horse in a swap, but you can purchase Dark Horse direct from Cirque's website, or in the UK Sally Magpies stocks Cirque polishes.

Butter London Fruit Machine - swatch and review

Butter London Fruit Machine

I have to admit a weakness for pastel, bubble gum pinks! They remind me of the pink sugar mice we used to make at junior school!  When I saw Butter London Fruit Machine in swatches, I thought it was very pretty, but I convinced myself there was no need to buy it as I've already got plenty pink polishes - but once I saw it in person I couldn't resist so here we are.........

Pictures are taken in natural light, but it's quite gloomy here as usual. I used two coats of Fruit Machine, a coat of Seche Vite, then another coat of Fruit Machine followed by a final coat of Seche Vite. I always use this method of application for pastel creams - it seems to avoid any streaking and give me a smooth, glassy finish every time. The Butter London Formula is great; the polish is a good consistency and the brush is small and easy to handle. Here are a couple of photographs from slightly different angles

Butter London Fruit Machine

I have several similar colours to this one, but I think Fruit Machine is lighter and brighter than anything else in my collection in this colour group, so I'm happy I bought it. I was also tempted by Kerfuffle, which was incredibly pretty in the bottle, but when I held it in my hand it seemed to clash awfully with my skin..........still thinking about that one!

I did do a comparison to two of the *nearest* pinks I pulled out of my helmer - Essie Cascade Cool and Pixi Paradise Pink (at least I think it's Paradise Pink, it's lost its label). Here are a couple of comparison pics at different angles and slightly different light conditions. Butter London Fruit Machine is definitely the lightest of the three; Essie Cascade Cool is darker and slightly more cool toned; the Pixi polish is darker but also brighter than both the others. OK, the differences are subtle, but they are different!

Here are swatches of the Essie and the Pixi, I wanted to see how they looked as a full hand. First Essie Cascade Cool

Essie Cascade Cool

Distinctly more lavender leaning. And the quality of the pigment is quite different to the Butter London; whilst the Butter London is dense and chalky, the Essie is sheerer and rather luminous. The application is the same as above, two coats of polish, one coat of SV, another coat of polish and a final coat of SV. Essie Cascade Cool applies nicely, like all Essies do, but this one has a massive brush! I've seen a few Essies with big brushes recently, I don't know if there is any reasoning why some colours get them. Whenever I get a polish with a huge brush, it always reminds me of a teacher I had at art school - he was always encouraging us to use a bigger brush, and honestly, it does make painting easier. With this whopping brush I was able to paint my pinkies in one stroke and my other nails in two, all very neatly, as the brush has a rounded end that seems to fit the shape of my cuticle nicely. I've seen others complaining about the big Essie brushes, but I'm all for them!

My final pink is Pixi Paradise (?) Pink

Pixi Paradise Pink

This is stronger and darker than Butter London Fruit Machine, and brighter and warmer than Essie Cascade Cool. It's a dense, chalky sort of pigment, and the formula on this one isn't as good as the other two - its a bit gloppy and has a distinct tendency to streak. I used the same application regime as before, and this time I felt that without the SV between the second and third coats the end result would have been a streaky mess.

I don't really know very much about the Pixi brand; I only own one other colour besides this one. I've had both for several years. Both times I bought on the basis of colour, and in both cases the formula was 'meh'.

Butter London Fruit Machine is part of the Spring 2013 Catwalk Pastels Collection, and is readily available. I bought my bottle at John Lewis. Essie Cascade Cool was one of the summer 2012 colours - I suspect these might have been discontinued because they are turning up in discount retailers in the UK - I've seen them in sets in TKMaxx but I bought this particular bottle on a market stall a couple of weeks ago for about £2. I bought the Pixi polish from Boots several years ago, can't remember exactly when, but my local Boots doesn't stock them any more. Pixi has a sales website.

Has anyone pale tried Butter London Kerfuffle? Does it work with your skintone?

Textured effects - Nails Inc London Wall + Barry M Atlantic Road

I had to try these! I *think* I like them, but I'm still deciding! I bought one colour from the Nails Inc Concrete range (London Wall), and one from the Barry M Textured Nail Effect range (Atlantic Road). Whatever the trick in the formula is, both are very similar, and distinctly weird! The polish goes on smooth, then as it dries, it starts to bubble and create the textured effect

First the Nails Inc. - I struggled with this; these pictures are my second attempt at application, and it's still not right. The first coat went on fine, but then the second sort of dragged and clumped into horrible lumps. I decided the polish was too thick, so I added a couple of drops of thinner. I also noticed that London Wall is exactly the same shade as Porchester Square, so I used one coat of Porchester Square as a base. My result with the second attempt at application was better, but I'm still not entirely convinced I like it very much. The main problem I have is that the finish is rather shiny - I wanted it to be matt. I wore it for 24 hours, and I have to admit it was growing on me.

Then I tried the Barry M. The formula on this is MUCH better, it went on more smoothly; it's thinner so I used three coats but there was no clumping. It also dried almost matt. The bubbled texture seems much denser and finer on this one than on the Nails Inc., which I much prefer. I love the colour too. Also, it's about a third of the price of the Nails Inc!

And finally, an accent nail of Nails Inc London Wall with Barry M Atlantic Road. Three coats of London Wall; I think I'm getting the hang of applying the Nails Inc now. But it's still shinier than the Barry M and the bubble texture effect is less even.

In this closer shot you can see that even with three coats of London Wall, it still has a more open and less matt finish that Atlantic Road.

I think Barry M is the clear winner here. I'll probably get the pink and maybe the green Barry M textured effect polishes too, but I doubt I'll buy any more of the Nails Inc Concrete range.

I purchased Nails Inc London Wall from the Nails Inc counter in an independent UK department store, and Barry M Atlantic Road from Superdrug.

China Glaze Hologlam - When Stars Collide - Swatch and review

I couldn't resist trying one now that the China Glaze Hologlam collection is available in the UK! Even though holographic isn't my favourite finish, I loved the China Glaze OMG collection from a few years ago, so I couldn't resist ordering a shade from the new collection to try. We've seen recently how brands that released awesome holos a few years ago have been coming out with much less pronounced holos, so I was a little nervous how this one would stand up to comparison with the OMG collection.

I went for When Stars Collide, a plummy-maroon shade. I like my holos dark, and I don't have a colour quite like this in my collection so this seemed a perfect choice.

Here is When Stars Collide - three coats, no basecoat, no topcoat. This is how I normally wear the finer holograpic polishes such as China Glaze OMGs, Layla etc. In the past I've tried to wear holos with various basecoats but usually end up with dragging or bald spots; I just get on better without. Topcoats are notorious for dulling the holo effect too - so again I conclude better just go without!

China Glaze When Stars Collide

China Glaze When Stars Collide

Pictures were taken indoors, near a lamp but not in direct light. I couldn't wait for a sunny day to swatch these - this is February in the UK after all! As you can see the holo 'flame ' effect is very distinct. The polish is also a great colour. The only holo I can think of which might be similar in colour is Layla Misty Blush, which I don't own to compare. The Layla holos I do own however, are rather a different texture to this - I think I prefer the smooth, velvety holo of China Glaze.

Then I decided to compare When Stars Collide to the purple colours in the OMG collection - IDK and LOL. My first impression is that When Stars Collide is a thicker consistency than both IDK and LOL. It's possible that the older colours may have just thinned over time, but whatever, When Stars Collide was a bit easier to apply than my OMG colours, which tend to drip and dribble a bit if you're not careful.

LOL and IDK are both more holo than When Stars Collide - the flame is longer and brighter. However, this isn't a big difference and overall I really like When Stars Collide. These pictures are taken at different angles and with different lighting to try to show how the holo effects vary between the three colours.

Comparison - China Glaze When Stars Collide, IDK and LOL

I purchased China Glaze LOL from Faith Cosmetics on Amazon.co.uk. I've bought from this seller several times and been very happy every time. My order was shipped the day I ordered and postage was just £1. China Glaze LOL and IDK were limited edition polishes several years ago.

I also reviewed Infra Red from the China Glaze Collection recently.

Elevation Polish Pic de Subenuix

I like everything about Elevation Polish. An indie brand that's not just about glitter..........that's so refreshing! The colours are exactly what I like - browns, greens, purples, blues. And best of all, I love the inspiration behind the polishes - they're mostly based on mountains. Given my love of the outdoors in general and my specific love of running up hills and in wild places, this brand presses all my buttons. But the polishes themselves are great............

This is Elevation Polish Pic de Subenuix. It's sort of a jelly-ish violet purple with a strong green iridescent shimmer. First some pictures from slightly different angles to show off the shimmer....

Elevation Polish Pic de Subeniux

I used three coats here, with Seche Vite top coat. Application is easy, although the polish is quite thick it spreads nicely over the nail and cleans up easily. I've noticed this slight thickness with most of the Elevation polishes I've tried, and I have to say I rather like it.

I've seen mentioned before that Pic de Subenuix is reminiscent of Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie, so I couldn't resit doing a comparison. Here are the bottles together - you can see straight away that Pic de Subenuix has a violet base whilst Scrangie's is more magenta. The other difference is the shimmer itself - in Pic de Subenuix it's fine and dense, but in Scrangie it's sparser and blingier.

On the nail the differences are evident. I think to be honest Scrangie,although it looks great in the bottle, disappoints a bit on the nail, as the shimmer doesn't really stand out as much as the bottle leads one to expect.

Comparison - Elevation Polish Pic de Subeniux and Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie

Comparison - Elevation Polish Pic de Subeniux and Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie

I purchased Pic de Subenuix from Elevation Polish website here  http://elevationpolish.bigcartel.com/. The site includes swatches of all the colours and information about the places that inspired them. Lulu restocks her shop twice a month. She also has a blog http://lovebrownnailpolish.wordpress.com/ where she updates on new colours, restocks and other general news. She ships internationally and her shipping prices are very fair.

Rescue Beauty Lounge Scrangie was a limited edition polish that's now sold out. Here's the information about it on RBL's site http://www.rescuebeauty.com/nail-polish/83824700180.html.