HARE Bisbee

“Indie” polish, or handmade nail polish, is this year’s big thing, and it’s so much fun to see all the new and exiting stuff people come up with! It seems like new Etsy shops open daily, and business is booming. One of the “veterans” in this game is HARE polish, and I was lucky enough to snag a few bottles of this lovely brand the last time her shop was open.

One of the beauties I bought is HARE Bisbee, a gorgeous turquoise jelly with different sized gold glitter and hexes. Totally unique, I haven’t seen anything like this. Please be aware that I couldn’t capture the true base color, it’s actually a lot brighter and greener in real life.

The formula was excellent, and it’s actually one of the rare indies that doesn’t need to be layered. I’ve used three coats of Bisbee on its own, and the glitters are perfectly dispersed and the base is even and beautifully jelly-squishy. It dries sort of vinyl-y on its own, so I prefer to use a topcoat. To avoid any bumps, I’ve used two coats of Gelous and one coat of Seche Vite, which made this mani smooth and shiny.

EDIT: For updates on availability and upcoming sales, check out HARE polish’s Facebook page.

Nfu-Oh 54 and Zoya Charla

Since I’ve started making nail polish jewelry, I’ve fallen in love with flakies all over again. So after browsing the online store at Viis Ilusalong some months ago, I knew I had to have the beauty that is Nfu-Oh 54. A while later, I managed to get it in a swap, and there were much rejoycing.

54 is from the Nfu-Oh opal series, or “flakies” as we nail polish buffs call them. It has a sheer teal jelly base, and the flakes change from turquoise to electric blue. It’s very similar to Nfu-Oh 50, except for the base color, but the base is very sheer, so it doesn’t really make that much difference which one you choose.

Because of the sheerness, I had to find the perfect “underwear” to showcase this polish. To my horror, I didn’t own a single polish that mimiced the seagreen base color of the Nfu-Oh. But then I figured out what would be perfect, and that was Orly Halley’s Comet. Too bad I had already sold that to a friend of mine. *facepalm* Instead I decided to get the famous dupe that started the frenzy with blue/green “mineral fx”s last year, Zoya Charla from the Sparkle collection.

I know, I know, I hated Halley’s Comet on me when I tried it the last time, but for some stupid reason I love Charla! That’s my wishy-washy brain for ya. Here Charla is on her own.

The formula is ok, but a little bit runny. I’ve used two coats here, but if I’m going to wear it on its own, I’ll  use three coats.

Zoya Charla is a stunning beauty on her own, but when I added two easy coats of Nfu-oh 54, magic happened. This is a match made in nailpolish heaven, the combination turns this mani into a sparklefest of epic proportions! It’s like the prettiest mermaid’s tail you’ve ever seen, a galaxy of glitter and color-changing flakes! My pictures do not do this justice, but still, feast your eyes.

What do you think of this combination? Do you have any other layerings that blow you away?

Franken Turkeys

Isn’t it strange how you can go from hating a color to craving it like crazy? I used to hate turquoise polish on me, and I even sold my Orly Halley’s Comet, but suddenly I found myself desperate for a teal creme! I didn’t even have time to order something online, I had to have it instantly, so of course the answer was frankening.

I mixed nailstation haute voltige, IsaDora Vintage Mint and two drops of IsaDora Hunter Green, and my franken Turkeys was born! (You might wonder why the polish has such a random name, it’s simply because “turkeys” sounds like the Norwegian word for turquoise, turkis. Cheesy, I know, I know…)

Of course this blue/green wants to look blue and only blue in pictures, but it’s actually more green in real life. The perfect medium between blue and green, I’d say. A darker version of China Glaze For Audrey.

Have you ever done a 180 and gone from hating a polish color on you to wanting and loving it, or is it just me?

Orly Halley’s Comet

I’ve been wearing Orly Halley’s Comet for the last few days, this is a polish from the popular Cosmic FX collection with the sparkly effect glitters. Halley is a turquoise/green sparkly shimmer with gold glitter, and it has several dupes, for instance Zoya Charla and OPI Catch Me In Your Net. All of these were big hits this summer, but I’m late to the party as always, and didn’t get around to trying it until now.

I have a feeling that this is the completely wrong time of year to wear this polish, because I don’t really like it on me at all. Or maybe it’s just that I’m still not completely comfortable with greens, because I’ve been wearing a lot of glitters and sparkles lately, and they feel sooo right! I won’t diss this polish just because I’m not hyper about green, because it’s actually really pretty. I think…

This picture looks more turquoise than it looks on me in real life, when I’m looking at it now, it is a lot more green. But I guess that can vary depending on skin coloration?

The formula is nice and easy to work with, I love the bottle and brush handle, so big and sturdy! I needed three coats to get this one opaque. I hope I’ll like this more in the summer, maybe as a pedi? At least my colleague loved it, and I had to write her a note with the name of the polish and the Trans Design url. I think I might have created another polish freak!

I’m sorry about the bad picture and the half-assed blog post, I know I have a lot of other pretties in my untrieds, so hopefully the next one won’t be such a downer!

Thanks for looking anyway!
Love, S.

Nfu-Oh #52

Even though I’m busy, I still found a little time to change my nail polish this weekend. I just had to try Nfu-Oh 52, a so-called flakie from the Nfu-Oh Opal Series.

This is a real chameleon. In the bottle it looks like a royal blue jelly with green flakes, but when you apply it, you see that the base is actually purple, and the flakes change from blue through green to turquoise. On the nail, it changes constantly. Sometimes it’s blurple with turquoise flakes, other times it’s blue with blue or green flakes and everything in between. Very interesting!

The formula is really nice. It’s easy to apply, and the flakes are very well behaved. With two top coats it’s nice and smooth. The base is quite sheer, so if you don’t want to wear it on its own, you can layer it over other colors to create different effects. I wanted to see how it looks on its own, so I used four coats for opacity.

What a beauty!

You can purchase Nfu-Oh polishes at Viis Ilusalong, which ships to a wide range of international destinations.

Thanks for stopping by!
Love, S.