Illamasqua Nomad and Stance Swatches + Water Marble

Helloooo! I found myself once again at the Illamasqua counter...like a moth to a flame, every single time. The staff are always so friendly and wearing stunning make-up which draws me to it even more. I picked up Nomad and Stance, the two new polishes from the 2012 Human Fundamentalism collection. 

First up is Nomad. I would say this is perhaps a tiny bit lighter than my picture suggests, but only ever so slightly. I, unlike a lot of people, am a huge fan of green shades, especially ones like this. I would describe it as minty jade. Is that a colour? It is now. 

Lovely, easy to work with formula, as you would expect from Illamasqua. Dries to a nice glossy creme finish. I used two coats plus topcoat in my pictures.

Click the jump for Stance and a water marble!

Models Own Indian Ocean and Models Own Black Swirl

I picked up Indian Ocean by Models Own yesterday, from the Beetlejuice collection. It looks gorgeous in the bottle, but the formula is very very sheer and even after 4 coats I still had severe VNL. So, I decided to put it over something instead.

Here it is over Black Swirl, also from Models Own. The dark colour really made it fun! 

Multichrome mix of gold, pink, brown...maybe more.

It also has a nice shimmery finish to it. Both polishes have very smooth, easy to manage formulas.

I'd definitely say it was a layering polish, and there's so many things you could try it with.

Finally here's my mini-haul from this week - 

Illamasqua Nomad and Stance, Models Own Purple Blue, Tropical Sun and Indian Ocean, Barry M Raspberry. 

Models Own Bubblegum - Swatches

In honour of the beautiful sunny weather in England, I'm busting out the neons! It never seems right to post these on dull days!

This is Bubblegum from Models Own. It does not get much brighter than this.

Neon barbie pink! Totally not to everyone's taste, but I most definitely will go there with these colours. If my fingers look a bit of a weird colour, it's because I had to play with the white balance for colour accuracy...neons do not like being photographed very much. 

Direct sunlight:

Good god, get those sunnies out. 

The formula of this polish is lovely, very smooth application and a one-coater if you're not messy like me. It dries to a nice matte finish.

I swear my fingers are not that wrinkly. Thanks, camera.

I hope this weather lasts! Or I'll have neon-pink nails in the rain.

Calvin Klein Navy Sparkle Swatches

I have a haul of Calvin Klein polishes that I got for cheap, because their make-up line is apparently discontinued. I think I got 10 bottles for about £14! 

This is Navy Sparkle. Admittedly it looks more exciting in the bottle than it does on my nails. It's a deep navy blue base with blue-green shimmer through it.

Nice, but not as fun as the bottle suggests. BUT! It takes on new life in the sunlight!

So THERE is the sparkle that the name promised. I knew it was in there somewhere. It actually looks really nice and has a very glassy finish. 

If at first you don't succeed, shove your hand into direct sunlight.

China Glaze White Cap and Marks and Spencer Bright Aqua

More layering today. White Cap was a polish sent to me by Mel and I love it. It's a very sheer white jelly, full of tiny gold shimmery flakes. 

I layered it over Bright Aqua from Marks and Spencer, which is a turquoise base with turquoise shimmer. It's quite sheer, I needed three coats to cover up my nail line, and even then it's still a bit visible.

It all made for a very shimmery finish and makes me want to jump in a pool!