Layla Hologram comparions swatches

As promised, here are the comparison swatches I have prepared for the Layla hologram polishes #9-16.  Just to recap for any few visitors, you can find swatches of all the Layla Holos in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4, as well as swatch comparisons of holos #1-9.

Layla Gold Idol compares very closely colour wise to China Glaze L8R G8R, although the holo effect in the China Glaze polishes is so much smoother and finer.

Layla Emerald Divine is most close to Nubar Reclaim.  Emerald Divine is lighter and bluer and has a much stronger holo.

Layla Purple Illusion is really close to China Glaze QT.  The holo effect in Purple Illusion is much stronger and because of the rainbow fire it makes it look more blue.

Layla Shock Pink is like a flasher sister of China Glaze TMI.

Finally, I was requested by a few ladies to swatch Ozotic 518 next to Layla Red Taboo.  I though I would throw in HITS Ares too seems I was comparing Red Holos.  Now you can easily see why I say Red Taboo is just not a red!

I hope you find these comparisons helpful.

Layla Hologram Effect - Part 4

Here is part four, of quite honestly, the best collection of holographic nail polishes currently available.  Sure I have a huge crush on my Ozotic 500 holos, but as they are now discontinued, the 16 polishes that make up the Layla Hologram Effect line are simply the biggest and best collection of holos currently available.

All these swatches are two coats with no base or top coat.  My nails were lightly buffed to a shine as recommended by Layla.  I actually work Cloudy Violet as a full mani today, just like this with no base or top coat.  After a full 24 hours I'm happy with the wear I have got.  I have a few little chips off on the free edge, but considering there is no base or top coat, it has held up pretty well.  

Purple Illusion -  This one is really quite similar to Red Taboo.  The difference is that Purple Illusion is just a little bluer.  But it's really not that blue that it look purple.  So again, I think the name on this is a little misleading.  Purple Illusion is not really purple at all.

Cloudy Violet - Ok, now this name seems a much better match.  The 'cloudy' part describes this polish perfectly because this polish has a dusty look, rather than a crisp clear colour.  This one is really gorgeous.  In fact what I love about the last three colours in this collection (numbers 14, 15 and 16) is that because they are darker, dustier, murkier colours, they really feel like winter colours.  Usually I associate holos with summer, cause you need lots of light to best show of holo polishes.  But you see winter here in Australia is generally really sunny (at least it is here in Canberra) Cold, but sunny.  So these polishes are just the most perfect winter holos!!

Misty Blush - Another nicely matched name.  You can see how this is another dusty colour.  The colour is kind of a purple brown colour.  Which given it's position in the collection between a dusty purple and a dusty brown, it fits in perfectly.  I really unique and interesting holo!

Coffee Love - Yep, Coffee. Love!  This one is another dusty, murky colour.  The overall feel is brown, but its a greyish brown.  Beautiful.

Wow Layla, you will did bring it with this collection.  It's so lovely to see them step out of the usual colour palette and come up with some really unique holo colours.

Layla Hologram Effect - Part 3

As some of you would know, I'm currently in the process of coordinating a Layla group order for Aussies.  Because of the number of girls who wanted some Layla polishes, I had to split the order into three separate orders so as to avoid paying customs duty.  

Naturally I ordered the holo polishes I wanted in the first order which arrived last week (and the FedEx tracking says the second order is in Sydney already).  Ladies in the third order, I'll email you your totals soon.  But in the mean time, check out part 3 of my Layla Hologram Effect polishes.

All of these swatches are two coats with no base coat and no top coat.  I did do a light nail buff to gloss up my nails as recommended by Layla.  It's best to use a non quick dry top coat, as a quick dry top coat will dull the effect slightly.

Gold Idol - this one really is a lime yellow.  Calling it gold is a bit of a stretch for me. I've done a comparison of this against China Glaze L8R G8R and their colour is pretty similar.  I will post comparisons soon.

Emerald Divine - this one is a mid toned green with a very similar colour to Nubar Reclaim.  Comparison swatch coming soon.  Again, calling this on emerald is a bit of a stretch. For me, emerald is much darker and a richer colour.  Still this is a stunning green and has good pigmentation.

Shock Pink  - is an orange toned coral pink holo.  Again, not a completely unique colour (yes, yes comparison swatch coming soon), as it is very similar in colour to China Glaze TMI.

Red Taboo - Come on, red?  Nope this is definitely not red.  Ever tried adding spectraflair to a rick dark red polish and end up with a sure pretty dark pink holo?  Yep me too.  That's what this colour reminds me of.  Strong and vibrant and gorgeous, but certainly not red.  But interestingly, I didn't find a dupe for this one amongst my rather extensive holo stash. I wonder how similar it is to OPI DS Exclusive?

Part 4 tomorrow and then some comparison swatches against other holos.

Golden brown holo gradient and stamping kit winners

Thank you so much to everyone that commented on my previous post about Lufee.  I can't tell you how much it means to me to receive so many lovely comments from people that love (and many who have lost) their fur babies too.  Thank you.

Today's nails are actually ones that were inspired by Lufee.  I put these on last Thursday as way to keep her close to me when she was having her surgery on Friday.  I didn't take these off until she passed.

The golden holo to brown made me think of Lufee's cream fur and darker points on her nose, tail and feet.

The base was Chemistry 514, the middle colour is the stunning OPI DS Desire and the darkest tip colour is a brown franken.

As promised, now it's time to announce the winners of the three Salon Express Nail Art Stamping Kits.  You can read all the entries in the comments of this post. All I can say is, I wish I could find a manufacturer that would make a large set of plates for me so I could use all your ideas on it.  There were so many fun ideas that I could really see myself using (if they just existed!).  The three winners I have chosen are:

Gloss n Sparkle - for her idea of optical illusion patterns.  I LOVE this idea.  I can just imagine some full nail designs - just google image search 'optical illusions' to see what I mean.

Rebecca Lavender-Roberts - for her idea of a circuit board blueprint.  I too can just image the image she linked to stamped in gold over green. We could totally geek out together wearing these!  I'm sorry to Alvin Smith who also said circuit board, but unfortunately your entry was past the closing date.

Stacey - for her idea of putting her kids names on it.  Now I totally read this as putting my kids name on it, and I love this idea. How cool would that be to have your kids names (or pets names) on a personalised plate!

In my current state of mind I also want to offer out special mentions to Jme and Crystal who both suggested plates with kitties on them, and to quote Crystal "so when I looked at my nail it would remind me of my little one".  Wow, the timing of that comment was incredible. But, did you know that the DRK A plate has a full nail design with lots of kitties and one with paw prints (I just got it last week)

Congratulations ladies, please send me an email so I can get your stamping kit off to you.

Lufee

I've not been around on my blog lately and I will post the winner of the stamping sets soon, but sometimes things in life take over, and blogging or nail polish are no longer important.

Two weeks ago our dear littlest kitty Lufee became suddenly very sick.  She spent a few days at the Canberra Vet Hospital, before we took her up to the Small Animal Specialist Hospital in Sydney.  If you live in or around Sydney, it is the place to take your sick fur baby. The vets there are amazing, so incredibly professional but also empathic and so loving and caring to our little Lufee.

We discovered she had pancreatic cancer, which like in humans is very aggressive and can be very painful.

The amazing vets at Sash did everything they could for her and we were able to bring her home on Saturday night for a few days of loves and cuddles.  She slept in our bed each night, beneath the covers snuggled against my body.  She was cuddled in our arms or curled on our laps for every moment she was home - purring and loving every minute of it.

Sadly today, it was time to say our final goodbyes. 

I made this video of her on Sunday while she curled on my lap at the computer.



Our dear little Lufee - I miss you already.

Ozotic 757 duochrome

Here is a candy pink duo-chrome polish to warm up your cold winter's day.  Or for you ladies in the northern hemisphere enjoying summer, a nice bright summery duo-chrome.

Ozotic 757 is a bright pink polish with a gorgeous golden duo-chrome shift.  It has good opacity at two coats and covers the nail perfectly.  It's not frosty but has a really pretty bright silvery blue shimmer.  It's the blue shimmer that shifts to gold.

While it is opaque on it's own at two coats, it's still can be worn over black to bring out a darker pink shimmer and stronger gold shift.  This is two coats over black.

Layered over white, this pink polish nearly becomes a neon.  I love a verstile polish that can be worn multiple ways. Glitter polishes are like that, but I love it when you can find a shimmer polish that can look very different depending on what you layer it over.

I'm not a huge pink polish fan, but this is a fun colour and will definitely make a comeback for me in spring.  I can just imagine stamping on this already.