Coral Colours - Jayd

Sadly I realised I only did one photo of this colour. I was rushing rushing all last week. This is probably a dupe of one of Chanel's hot colours, Riva or something. It has a very slight silvery shimmer through it, which you just cannot see unless you are really dedicated. It is definitely a blue, not a green. In fact, I'd say it was dead on turquoise, just like the stones.

Coral Colours is an Aussie brand stocked in chemists. The formulation is really not so good. Not the absolute pits, but really not quite good. I did 3 coats of this because it was balding in spots. The wear was really good however, so that is one plus. Also it really is an exquisite colour and I was receiving compliments all through the week from random strangers.

It is a real shame about the shimmer. I'm looking for a blue like this where the shimmer is much more apparent. Keep looking!

Missha Crystal - HVL01

Well I can barely tell how many colour flecks there are. I prefer the term crystal over glass fleck. Missha is a Korean brand with its own stores, one in Sydney. www.missha.net

It's not a smooth finish, if you like super smooth you need a top coat. It was very pretty thought, even though even here I had used about 4 coats and you can still see transluscence. I'm not overly convinced, it looks much better in the bottle. I'll use it for layering. The bottle however is beautiful. A warped elongated heart, with graduated pink lid.

The brush however, I love this brush - medium length bristles, nice 2mm thick brush (flat) and the slightest curve. I find this to be a better curve brush than the Cutex.

Bourjois - Soiree a Versailles #61

I totally love these tiny bottles. I don't know much about them except that a few Priceline stores had them in a box. No particular labelling or signs. I didn't even see a price sticker for them. This one is a soft powder pink with a gold shimmer through it. When on the nail it was an absolute pastel manicure. The shimmer was almost impercetible after a top coat though.

The formulation was ok, but got a bit chunky later on - my fault, did not let last coat dry enough.

I saw a dark purple, cherry red and black in the same range. Wore ok, so what can I say...? Not too disappointed by Bourjois products at all. :-)

Beadstreet's Michelle Nail Colour - T72 (chartreuse / metallic yellow)

My friend sent over a bunch of polish from Singapore as a thank you present for sending him a My Little Pony. Hooray! So this polish seems to be made for a store called Beadstreet, located at 8 Grange Road.

The reason I have listed this under two shades is because when you put it on alone, it really is a very fresh, zesty green tinged yellow. I would call this a foil finish, and has that wonderful habit of streak finish like all frosty colours. I did two coats and there was some bald patches, so did another coat later. (the pic with the cup is 3 coats, the others only 2 coats).

Now, the surprise was when I applied Sally Hansen Mega Shine. All the green vanished and it turned a bright yellow instead. You can see on the two hand pic the difference between the colours. Quite different, eh?

I'm quite pleased with the result, but have to say this polish is badly highlighting all my ridges and dents in my nails! Thanks to CJ for my present. :-)

Maybelline Mini Colorama - Baby Doll

Gotta love when there's a run out on fashion colours. Picked up some Coloramas for $1 each. This is a fairly standard shade, the musky pink with shot of blue. In fact, the first time I was a flowergirl in the 80s, all our nails were done in this shade in Cutex. Blast from the past.

I had several comments from people who thought I was wearing nothing but caught a flash of the blue in the light. Invariably they would hold my fingers just to check!

Formula, ok. Colour, a bit too transparent - did about 4 coats with this one. Scratched easily even days later. Hotness of colour was subdued with a top coat. Dontcha hate that. You have good looking colour and it is ruined by a top coat.

I would not have run out to buy this... but it was in the bargain box. And I suppose I would wear this any time I was not supposed to have colour on the nails.

Cutex - 410 Quick Set Coral

I tried the Ice Coffee last time. This is the other colour I liked. I've found them at Priceline and sometimes Coles will have it. Anyway, wow! I love the colour. It's a muted burnt orangey red. Dusky coral. High shine as the packet says? Not really. Hard wearing? Chipped after 2 days. And thick... This was a bit of a pain to put on, plus I got streaks as in 3 D streaks. I've got ridges on my nails! What a shame because this colour really ignited my imagination - love it to bits. I wonder if I can get a dupe in a better product. As for the speed dry... deny deny deny. Huge fail on that part. But probably because of the clunky coat that went on. Also, first coat had patches. So much for their claim to bold colour in one stroke. The brush is wide and rounded and honestly, the round tip is a pain in the butt when it comes to tucking it right in to the edges. I think a good brush really needs at least one sharp edge so I can get some neat, straight lines around the cuticle. Random factoid? This one is made in Spain. I'm so torn over this one... the colour... the COLOUR!!!