Red Week - Holo-Lot of Dots!

Hi Goddesses

It's Day 3 and I'm finally cracking the nail art out lol.  Sorry, it's been a hectic week, but let's just say you might end up with more than 5 posts to make up for it :)

This is one of my favourite style of dotticures - the dot within the dot, and despite how it looks, this is ridiculously easy.

The base for this mani was the holo comparison you saw yesterday (here).  I then added dots using Zoya Farah in various sizes - super large and small.  The super large ones were done by wiggling the largest dotter around, to make the dot larger - that's why some of them are a little wonky. It wasn't til after I'd started that I wondered why I hadn't used the end of a pencil, which is what I usually use for my large dots!

I then took a medium dotter, and once the large dots were dry, added a dot inside them using Ozotic 621.  

There's no great science to this mani, but I love how they turn out!  Have you given this one a try yet?

Enjoy xx :)

Red Week - Red Holo Comparison

Hi Goddesses

One of the things I've been meaning to do for a LONG time is a red holo comparison.  It's one of my holy polish grails, and I've amassed quite a few on my search.  6 in fact.  Each time I buy a new one, it's because another blogger has pronounced it "the perfect red holo" and used words like "finally" or "at long last".  So, let's find out shall we ?

Of the 6 polishes I've got, I decided not to swatch Glitter Gal Red Sparkle, mainly because it's pretty much a spot on dupe for Ozotic 621.   Of the 5 you're going to see, one is a coarse grain holo, and the other 4 are as smooth as a baby's bottom.  Our contenders are -

* Ozotic 621 and 518

* Jade Vermelho Surreal (the latest kid on the blog)

* Glitter Gal Red

* HITS Ares

Now, I'm going to do something different.  I'm not going to tell you which polish is on which finger, as I'm a big believer that this sort of information can skew our senses.  Instead we're going to call them 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, with 1 being the thumb, 2 the index finger, all the way round to 5 for the pinkie.  With me ?  Let's go ....

The first thing to notice is that Number 1 (the thumb) is the odd one out.  This one is the course grain holo, so has a totally different appearance to the other 4.  For me, it's also the truest red.  This is the one that is spectacular.  It may not be the smoothest holo, but wow does it pack a punch.

The next thing for me is that 4 and 5 (ring and little) are almost dupes.  They share the same slightly pink-tinged red tone and have the same holographic distribution.  Tip - you only need to own 1 of these.

The next difference for me is 3,the middle finger.  It has by far the widest holographic bend, and has a less scattered appearance than the others.  This holographic intensity also gives it a more muted hue - that extra bit of dazzle dust just knocks some cherry out of the red, and in comparison to the others, it has a warmer tone.

Then there's 2, the index finger.  Probably the subtlest of all of them, this has the most scattered holo distribution.  Again, it's not a "pure" red, but it is less pink than 4 and 5.  For me, this is a poppy red, and just as delicate.

So which one is which and which one is the best?  Well, I personally would recommend 1 coarse and 1 fine holo.  The coarse one in this photo is Ozotic 621 which I posted here - the light was PERFECT that day, and it's possibly still my single finest polish photograph.

4 and 5 are Aussie cousins - 4 is Ozotic 518, and 5 is Glitter Gal Red.   You only need one of these.  Just like their coarse counterparts, these 2 brands are dead on dupes of each other.

So that leaves 2 and 3.  One of them is the Jade, the other is HITS Ares.  Are you ready to guess which is which ?  The middle finger is the Jade, and Ares is on my index finger.    I wore Jade the other day and could not get enough of it, but here, side by side, I'm also liking the subtlety of Ares.  I'm pretty confident I can justify owning both :)

There is one more red holo that I've owned that isn't here - OPI DS Ruby.  It's swatched on the blog if you want to search for it, but it was a MAJOR disappointment.  Very insipid, barely red at all - avoid.

So, which ones do you own ?  And which is your favourite ?

Enjoy xx :)

Red Mosaic

Hi Goddesses

You may have seen my guest post yesterday for Gnarly Nails which featured a teal mosaic.  I loved it (you can see it here and here) and was entranced by how simple it was and also how striking and glorious.

So guess what I did?  Yup, did one in every single colour lol. So you've got 1 a day coming up for the next week, in red, blue, green, pink, purple and mono.  I am in love with them, and I hope you'll like them too.

The design is pure simplicity and there is no such thing as "going wrong" - this is a random pattern.   Here are some handy hints if you fancy doing this yourself -

* use your lightest or plainest colour as the base.  It's much easier to build darkness or intensity than take it away

* try to pick polishes with different finishes for added pow wow.  I usually pick a dark, a light, a holo, a glitter and then 2 others

* usually I use 6 polishes

* after you've painted your nails the base colour, draw your mosiac with a black striper.   I use China Glaze Ink, but use any of your preference

* pick your first polish that you're going to "colour in" with.  I prefer to colour in with a dotting tool, but of course you can use a brush if you prefer

* always pick your most dramatic colour first - so I usually pick the darkest - it's much easier to see the pattern build if you start with contrast

* try to rotate where the same colour will go on each nail - I try to make sure each colour goes once on the base, the tip, the side, the middle and then 1 other place

* if you wanted to, you could re-draw your black lines at the end for more emphasis

* you'll see in the next couple of days that I experimented with different coloured lines - trust me, the black works best, although white did give an interesting effect

So, what polishes did we have on the go for the red version - 

base - Zoya Sooki

Deborah Lippmann - Just Walk Away Renee - blackened red

Ozotic 621 - holo red

Milani Red Sparkle - glitter

Wet n Wild Rockin Rubies - the glitter with the speck of sugar in it

Nivea Brilliant Passion - the lightest red, with a hint of gold shimmer

Zoya Poshe - matte red

Stupidly, I thought the matte would be great .... and then had a classic Joey moment of nodding my head when I realised I was still going to have to top coat the whole thing.  Duh.

I loved this red one.  I wore this to work for 3 days and for the first time ever, I got GASPS when I showed my mani to people.

Interestingly, this is a super easy mani when you only do one hand.  It's much HARDER when you do both, partly because of trying to do your mosaic lines with the wrong hand - hellooooo disaster - and also it takes MORE than twice as long.  Go figure, lol.

Anyway, hope you liked this version - tomorrow will be the blue :)

Enjoy xx :)

Ozotic 621 - Red Holo Wonderness

Ozotic - 621

Hi Goddesses

Oh boy.  Oh boy oh boy oh boy.  Something as pretty as this should not be let loose in the universe without a warning! Oh My God, This Is 621.

Ozotic 621 – man I hate it when they give a polish a number.  It’s VERY hard to remember, and this is why SOME Crumpets, accidentally order a polish twice.  Because it’s a number.  A polish should have a name.  Ideally a witty OPI-styleee name, but even a plain-as-you-like Barry M style name would be nice.

So let me rename thee – Ohzotic Red Wonderbomb.  How much sexier is that, right ??!!  Oh yeh, and I stuck a H in Ozotic cos they make me go Oh.  Oh-zotics.

Lol.  Enough.  I have wanted 621 ever since I first set my greedy little eyes on her, which I think was on the blog of More Nail Polish , which features a lot of Australian stuff.  Usually, I buy my Ozotics from Leah Ann Rowe but she was out of stock of the Eleytra I wanted, so I accidentally ended up in another eBay store (Dusk To Dawn) and oh my.  They had LOTS of naughty pretties.

So USD200 lighter, I came away with this and some other gorges, but my oh my, 621.   Also, thank you sunshine gods.  I wore this over Christmas, and on Boxing Day, sunshine was POURING into the nail room - how AWESOME are some of these photos ?  No credit it to me, just total credit to the heavenly marriage of holo + sunshine :)

621 is a deep red holo.  The holo is wild and luminescent, and this polish looks lit from within.  It *seems* very similar to Glitter Gal Red Holo Sparkle, and as soon as *another* red holo (I know, me very bad) arrives, I am going to do a comparison post.

The holo particle size in this is very similar to the Milani size, like flecks of sugar, but nothing has ever glowed like this polish.  It’s like wearing molten lava on your nails – amazing.

Redwise, it is RED, with no blue tones and no brown tones either, but because of its obnoxious level of sparkle, it goes on a little bit less ruby than it looks in the bottle.

This is an absolute BELTER of a polish, just utterly utterly gorgeous, and it’s one of those polishes you also cannot stop staring at (good job I can touch type lol).

This applied like a dream and has been hard-wearing.  I’m not ready to take it off, but I have to because I have 1 mani left to do for the Christmas Challenge.

So bye-bye sweet Red Wonderbomb.  I love you.  I lust you.  I am going to be wearing you often.  I love you.

Enjoy xx J

xx

J

Top Tip – if you’re ever unsure what a nail colour looks like, go to Google images, which will give you plenty of contrasts and compares.