OPI - Bond Girls - Live and Let Die

This is a dark, inky green with gold and green densely packed flecks. OPI... I dunno, seems people love it but I tend to get really quick wear and tear. The tip wear shown is only after 1 day.

Still, I totally loved how this looked when I got it but it was a bit less exciting on the nail. This is a two coater. I dunno if you all have the same trouble but in all greens that I own, I find it incredibly difficult to get a good coat. Is there something about green pigments???

Still, the one thing I have to praise OPI with is that it is a very forgiving paint to work with - I was able to shift it about on the nail for 30 seconds and not get visible layering or balding patches. Lordy me though, is OPI ever so $$$.

Loreal, Luxembourg Garden

Has a wide, rounded flat brush. I find these a bit hard to use as the flatness means the polish dries out quicker when applying. To compensate I overload the brush and then swipe off excess after I have covered the whole nail.
Colour is good, very even. A dark slate grey with a soft forest green metallic pigment.
However has chipped easily and tip wear the following day. Used two coats. Sally Hansen megashine over the top. Without it, the Loreal has a soft shine only.

Savvy - Green tea martini

If a green tea martini was this dark I would be worried. It's probably a good copy of British Racing Green by Butter. A very dark, foresty green metallic. Ok formula, easy to paint, but so many coats to make it worthwhile. About 4 to 5 to ensure no more patches showed.

Savvy is from Priceline.

Australis - Sweetpea

This is a creme pastel mint. Or Tiffany blue. Sigh... It was so hard to work with. It was such a thin pigment that I did 5 coats to get rid of the bald spots which has turned my nail looking like a wedding cake with chunky icing.

Annnnnnyway. I adore this colour, but why you so hard to work with?!

And the chunky round cap.. Also hard to use. I give up. There are other colours just like this one out there that has better coverage and easier to grasp. Goodbye Sweetpea!!!

China Glaze ... Outta Bounds

I got this done at American Nails in Hurstville Westfield. $12, but messy, no clean up. Took then 15 minutes. It is a sausage factory. Well otherwise it is a bright Kelly green metallic.

Orly - Meet Me Under the Mistletoe

Oh this is the greatest green ever. It's sparkling, deep, reflective and festive. I suppose the girls call this glass fleck. There is silver glitter, green glitter and soft jelly base to house it all in. I did 3 or 4 coats for each nail. What I found was that it did chip easily after 2 days. I had top coat on one hand and that survived right through to when I took it off, except for tip wear. The other hand, it started chipping off at the cuticle end.

Lots of people commented on this colour. It is just really lovely. I couldn't stop looking at it either.

Scrumptious! Click for bigger!

Arezia shimmery green

zi

Arezia is a 5ml size polish you can get at the Sasa chain stores, which are popular throuhout Asia. They don't bother giving them names but pump out fashion colours at a regular rate. As far as I can see they don't even bother putting code numbers on there.

In the first pic against the kitchen benchtop I've got one coat. In the other photos I've got two coats. I'm not going to bother going on but you can see its quite a sheer thing.

The 2nd photo with the bottle is the most true to life. The other two pics at the bottom are taken indoors.

It's been a few hours now but the surface still feels a bit tacky to touch. What would I call this? Probably a zesty apple geen. It was easy to apply, but had a tendency to dissolve and drag the bottom coat. You need a light touch and a quick application.

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. :-)

Mavala - Aquamarine

Mavala are some small polishes hailing from Switzerland. Their webpage says that this is the ideal size for a fast moving trend base. What I really like is that these are quite sturdy little pots. The cap initially looks a bit tacky, but it is quite a good grip. The brush is quite good as well. I've found Mavala at two independent chemists so there is no real clue where they are stocked. One was in Indooroopilly Westfield, in Brisbane. The other was in the Town Hall station underpass somewhere, Sydney. I think I was heading to QVB.

I have been very fond of this colour. It's a very creamy celadon or jade green and has a very subtle green shimmer. In sunlight this is more apparent. It has also worn quite well. I'm up to day 4 and it only chipped today. But this was due to me scrubbing pots and pans. Formula was good, not "very good".... with some bald patches. I did two coats, but it really needs 3. The paint is a bit thicker in consistency, so maybe this is really a 2 day job. This colour looks much better on squared off nails than round or pointy tips. My poor nails, at the moment, are 1000 different shapes. (ok, ten, I mean).

I have a couple of other Mavalas, so would like to trot those out soon. Price point varied from $7 to 9.

Chi Chi (mini) - Booty-Licious

It's jade with pink, silver and green micro shimmer. Very attractive in the bottle. True to colour for the bottle. But sadly, a little clunky to get on the nail. I've had better experiences with other Chi Chi. Maybe this bottle was old? My right hand is lumpy as I tried to stroke on the colour evenly. Oh yeah, dragging colour and bald patches. Very annoying to apply.

But I have had 3 compliments today and another one the first day I put it on. Wearing is nice, Chi Chi seem to make good, tough polishes. At least, the ones I've had to far. The photo of the bottle is the closest colour match.

B "Edinburgh"

B is the cheaper line of cosmetics by Bloom. Many of the colours in this Target range are just replicas of ones in Bloom. All the current range are city names.

Edinburgh comes across in the bottle as a moody, stormy blue green murk with a frost finish. On the nail however it was more of a myrtle green, could not see the hint of blue anywhere. Disappointed - it was quite enigmatic in the bottle.

The formula was quite good for this one.** Ugh, this stained my nails through a 1 coat base.