Holothon #00: What’s holothon? (official & my rules)

I’m proud to announce that I’m going to attend the exciting nail challenge for this October, named as “Holothon”!

...So Holothon = Holographics + Marathon. This challenge is created by Inkyinkgirls from Inky Polisholicious, to “go Holo for the month of October posting swatches”. As others I’m also big fan of holo, so…why not attend? :D

Though official rule is “one holo a day”, I personally decided to add other rule just for fun; that, who’s going to chose daily holo color is MY LOVELY HUBBY. He understands me very well, even on the context of nail polish, and he is HUGE holo fan - even than me - so I felt it’ll be fun if I can let him chose the colors everyday for me! :D

Now this is the pile I gave to him. I skipped some polishes, which I’ve already swatched/painted on WHOLE NAILS (such as Depend/Kiko holos I swatched recently). Which means these are untried/partly used polishes, which is worth introducing alone. New comers can be added time by time, but anyway all of them could be never-swatched-alone-itself polishes!

Sooooooooo…month for holos. Only for holos. Hope you all will enjoy!! :D
(This post is posted at 3rd of October. Sorry for delay!!)

えーHolothonなるチャレンジ企画に参加することにしました。ルールはただひとつ、玉虫強化月間＝玉虫あるいは偏光ラメポリをひたすら使いまくること！……なのですが、それだけでは面白くないのでダンナを巻き込むことにしますた（＾ω＾）
理由は簡単でうちのダンナが下手したら私以上の物凄い玉虫スキーだからです。ヤツが「これ塗ろうよー」と持って来るポリは100％玉虫です。他のシマー・ラメ系ポリだとあまり似ていなくても同系色だというだけで「同じようなの持ってんじゃん」いうのに玉虫に関してはボトルカラーや色合いがほんのちょっとでも違うと「これもいいじゃん、買いなよー」になります。ちょっと高いしなーと嫁が躊躇してるというのに、です。何でそんな大好きだ。おまいフツーの日本人男性並みのネイル許容量しか無かったんじゃないのか。
ともかくそんななので毎日塗る玉虫を選ばせることにしますた。選ぶ観点が違ういうのはそれはそれで面白くなるんじゃないかなあと思いつつ、とりあえず毎日更新を目指します(｀・ω・´)
（↑とかいいつつ今日の記事自体が既に遅刻状態な件orz）

#070: Autumn-y warm duochromes

essence carry me home! (Ready For Boarding LE)
Accessorize Pink Spice (index & ring, 3 coats)
Models Own Pinky Brown (middle & pinky, 3 coats)
essence better than gel nails top sealer

Summer is over, fall is here!! Yes I know it’s already middle of September which means it’s definitely “fall” now, but to hear Japan is still super hot, my mind was not like that…however here it’s getting pretty cold, I can’t wear T-shirts and shorts anymore, say hello again to long sleeves…and also to nice, rich, “fall” color :)

So today’s color is combination of two warm duochromes. Before applying I was thinking these two can be dupe each other, but I was wrong; Pink Spice was much pink and Pinky Brown went much purplish, as you can see.

Anyway…I think these pink-purple/bronze-brown duochrome polishes are really the autumn color. The color shift of both color is nicely robust and beautiful. It really gives me good impression for fall, so I couldn’t stand to paint some “autumn objects (= dragonflies & maple leaves)” for me…

...as this. Well, how do you think? ;)

どうにも偏光系好き過ぎるせいでポリ収納内で圧倒的な存在感を放ちまくっている数々の偏光ポリですが、今回の2本はその中でも若干異色なピンク系偏光です。キレイなんだからもっと出てくれたらいいのになーと思うのですがあまり目にしないのは何故ですかね。カブるからっつーなら主要各社から1本ずつ、結果として全体では凄まじい数出ているペリドットもどきはどーなるのかっつー話になるんですけれども。

ともあれ秋にぴったりな偏光ゆえ秋モチーフとして蜻蛉と紅葉をペイントしてみたり。……って今見たら紅葉が　マ　リ　フ　ァ　ナ　にしか見えないのは何故でしょうかorz　練習して描いて、描き上げたときは結構いい出来！とか思ってたんですけどねー……中を塗りつぶしたらもう少し違っていたんだろうか。そんな反省点を残しつつ、懲りずにまた何か描けたらいいなあと思っている今日この頃です。

#069: Black ‘n’ Red (never disappoints me)

essence carry me home! (Ready For Boarding LE)
essene colour & go! black is back (1 coat)
Spoiled Ants in My Pants (2 coats)
essence better than gel nails top sealer

Again this is from Diana@Nails by Diana. I’ve got so many from her and I really need to try all of them, that’s why most of materials I’m using for these day’s mani are from her!! :D Anyway, this is one of my first Spoiled polish, which totally caught my eyes when I’ve heard about it from Diana.

I don’t wear black so much, but the combination of red and black is the exception!! I know I love this combination too much, but when I feel to wear black color, I always put red automatically. Also I think black color is good with short nail, and as you see, my nail now is pretty short…so WHY NOT. :)

Though density of glitter is pretty good, it was a bit hard to apply hex glitters evenly. But of course this can happen for any other glitter polishes with middle/large hex glitters, so I didn’t get surprised or upset. I’m pretty happy with this unique glitter, and now I feel I need more glitter as this, even I wasn’t interested in glitters :D

アメリカのWet 'n' Wildというブランドの姉妹ブランド、Spoiledからの1本です。こういう1色だけ大粒ラメポリってあんまり興味無かったんですが、その気分を一新してくれたカラーです。というか黒地に赤ラメって取り合わせとしては最強カッコイイと信じ込んでいるのですが如何でしょうか(｀・ω・´)ｷﾘｯ
しかし真紅の大粒ラメかわいいよ大粒ラメ！思っていたよりも簡単に爪に乗ってくれたので満足です。多少粒ラメが寄る部分がありますがご愛嬌。ちゃんとぺったんこに張り付くためトップコート2回重ねでちゃんとつるりんとなって正直ちょっと美味しそうだとさえ思っています（馬鹿）。意外と和装に合いそうな爪になった気もする！短い爪に濃い色、はきりっとした和装にばっちり合う気がするのですー( ´ω｀)

#068: Nude; Mauve-beige with hidden shimmer

essence carry me home! (Ready For Boarding LE)
essence Wild Craft LE Tree Hugging (2 coats)
essence better than gel nails top sealer

Normally I don’t wear nude…or even don’t buy nude. I own several nude polishes, and I feel that’s already enough for my whole life. But just sometime, very rarely, I get them, when they showed me an interesting bottle color…and this one is such a kind of nude shade, that I’ve bought recently.

Tree hugging is mauve-ish beige creme with pink/skyblue shimmers. Shimmers are really fine and creme base are pretty rich, unfortunately shimmers just shows up its color on the bottle but not on the nail :( Also formula is pretty thick and a bit streaky, so better to give a drop of thinner before using.

BUT drying time and coverage is AWESOME. Actually it dries super-fast, which means formula goes very thick during the application, so I also can say this is a bit tricky polish; but it dries hard very quickly and opacity is really good as almost a one-coater, so I think it’ll be a good choice for busy day when it’s not able to take a long time for nail painting :)

ワケ解らん色ばかり見境無く買い続け、既に400本以上（！）を数えているわたくしのポリコレクションですが、物の見事にいわゆる「肌なじみのいいヌード系ポリ」はほっとんど所持しておりません。多分両の手で足りるくらいの本数ではないでしょうか。一時OPIのクリーム系ヌードカラー買おうかと画策した時もあるのですが、テスター塗ってあまりに「自分っぽくない」のに衝撃を受けて以来食指は全く動かず今に到ります。
そんな中で珍しく「面白そうなボトルカラーしてるなー」という理由だけで買ったヌードベージュが今回の色、essenceのWild Craft LEからTree Huggingであります。

……とはいえ写真じゃ何が面白いのかさっぱりですな。フツーのシマー入りヌードベージュに見えるこの残念っぷり。ボトルカラーは本当にキレイだったんですよベージュにピンクや水色のマルチカラーシマーが入っていて！ボトルカラーそのまま出れば本当に面白いキレイカラーなのに、ベースのクリームがこってり過ぎてぜーんぶ沈んでしまったというorz　加えてほんっとにこってりもったりした液質で超塗りづらかった！
でも乾きが超早いので忙し過ぎて塗れない待てない！というときにはぴったりな気がします。少なくとも私の中では時間無いときのお助けレスキューポリ化確定です。当たり障りの無い色だけど、だからこそ使いやすいというところもありますし。……ただ次回使うときは確実に薄め液併用しないとなーと思っています(´・ω・`)

Review: essence peel off basecoat; only for peeling off?

Essence is definitely one of my favorite German brand. It’s not only they’re very cheap and super easy for access, but also because of it’s pretty innovative (and often fun) ideas. Peeling basecoat is one of such a fun product - even it’s same as similar to the PVA craft glue - which definitely help the easy removal of glitter polishes, for example.

(Photo taken from essence’s website)

I’ve seen many reviews for this basecoat already, so I won’t go for the “normal” review…Yes it helps easy removal of glitters, it peels off easily, but is that it for this unique basecoat’s purpose? My answer is, actually, NO. I’d like to add another use of peel-off basecoat, that this also can be used when you wear the hard-to-apply holo polishes, just as the aqua base!!

So today I’d like to show how it does work. Here, I’ve got ready for four different basecoats I commonly use. Jessica’s aqua base (Retro revival, which was combined with Jessica’s holo), Orly’s Nail defence as clear basecoat, essence’s peel-off basecoat (I used LE ver, but for sure it’s same as core line ver), and essence’s 24/7 nail base as ridge-filling basecoat.

This is how I applied to the each finger. As you can see, peel-off basecoat added white color on the nail, but it got clear when it’s completely dry. Aqua base and clear base (Orly) dried clear and smooth as well, while 24/7 base dried matte and velvety, just as normal ridge filler. Now after all the basecoats have been dried, I applied just ONE single coat of Jessica’s holo (Disco Diva)…

...And this is it. It’s very thin one coat, but as you can see here on small pic, there’s clear difference. But now let’s go a bit more closer;

The best result came up by use of it’s exclusive basecoat (index), but at least I think I still can say peel-off basecoat (ring) is working clearly BETTER than other two. Other two, I mean normal basecoats, did not hold the polish at all and made terrible bald spots/patches, whereas it did not appear on peel-off basecoat.
And this difference went even stronger when I applied second coat;

...May I say poor middle and pinky fingers? :P They look so ripped off!! But not for index and ring, they are holding holo shade very well, keeping even and full coverage.

So I think I can conclude as “essence’s peel-off basecoat can be used as aqua basecoat for holos”. Actually this is not a surprise at all, that both aqua basecoat and peel-off basecoat is water-based emulsion basecoat. I must check INCI to get detailed ingredients, but well…at least peel-off basecoat works as well as aqua base (which may suggest that PVA glue can works as that too *hehehe* :P), and can be a cheaper & easy option to wear hard-to-apply polishes!! :D

#067: Whimsical; self-made glitter sandwich

essence carry me home! (Ready For Boarding LE)
Revlon Whimsical (7 coats)
essence better than gel nails top sealer

7 coats. No joke. Seven coats. When I try new polish, I always try to build up the color by itself (except clear-base color), and this happened. 7 coats, super-duper thick, but still free-edge is a bit visible…Revlon Whimsical is such a super-sheer color.

So I got this again from Diana@Nails by Diana. As EU Revlon doesn’t sell this, she had been great help for me to get this very-well-known glitter-jelly polish. As bottle color is pretty opaque, even I’ve heard this polish is pretty sheer, I really didn’t believe that seriously…until I went several coats.

Yep, even after few coats, free-edge was clearly visible, which I’ve never imagined. But I’ve already applied few coats = took certain time, and also Whimsical is very fast drying polish (fortunately!!), I’ve decided to build up by itself until my nail will be fully covered; so final need was 7 coats, and went as thick as gel nail :P

Honestly, even though my nail went super thick, I’m satisfied with the result. I didn’t like the initial color - it was pale gray -  but finally it reached to cute pale dusty mint green, and also number of coats gave the depth to the finish. I’m sure I’ll apply background color next time, otherwise I’ll lose too much drops, but…at least for first time, why not like this? ;)

アメリカ限定かと思いきや日本でも発売されましたねーのRevlon Whimsicalです。いっやー大変だった！ボトルカラーからは判断つかないくらいのシアーさでどれだけ重ねても透けっ放し、そんなこんなで途中で投げ出しそうになりつつどうにか意地で頑張った結果が　7　回　重　ね　。どう考えてもやり過ぎです本当に（ｒｙ
ただまあどうあがいても透けるということに気づいたときにはもう4回くらい重ねた後で後には引けなかったということで。

そんなワケで7回重ねた結果ジェルかと見紛うばかりのごん太爪になってしまったのですが、まあ見た目的には悪くないかなーと正直思っています。塗り始めはどんより曇ったグレーな感じだったのが、ネイルベッドが透けなくなった頃からボトルカラーのミントグリーンっぽい色がぱきっと出て来るという。結局肌の色が透けるとグレーになってしまうようで、それさえ対策できれば黄色人種の肌をキレイに見せてくれる優秀な色なんじゃないかなーと思います。……問題はその「対策」に使う色を相当選ばないと絶対にヘンになるというところですがorz　いやほんと、何色を下敷きにすればいいんですかねえ……(´・ω・`)

#066: Scattering? No, SPARKLING green holo

essence studio nails 24/7 nail base
Milani Hi-Tech (3 coats)
essence better than gel nails top sealer

Milani’s 3D effect was another long-time lemming which has been killed by lovely artistic girl, Diana from Nails by Diana! (BTW if you don’t know her blog, YOU SHOULD GO. She’s really awesome artist!!). I wanted to try them all the time, and now I decided to start with Hi-Tech…as I’m a green sucker :P

So Milani Hi-Tech is light green with holographic sparkles. In my stash I have several green holos, but I really don’t own such a sparkly - or even glittery - holo!! Very first coat was just like normal yellow-green glitter, but by coating again and again…clear color shift came up which is very, very sparkly and of course super pretty.

It’s not rainbow-y holo, but also not like duochrome/multichrome; I think I still can say this is holo. Good coverage, good application and great color…of course I can’t dislike it!! Also it’s topcoat friendly, and importantly, holographic effect is very clear even under dim light/cloudy day. WHY CAN I HATE IT. Now I really must try all other colors too!! :D

緑玉虫いくつか所持していますがその中でもちょっと毛色が違うのがこのMilaniの玉虫です。ひと塗りだけだと到って普通の（ちょっと密度高めな）黄緑ラメポリという感じなのですが、重ねて行くと見事に光の帯が現れます。多分使われているピグメント自体がちょっと他とは違うんじゃないかな。いわゆる玉虫ピグメントが凄く光を要求する上トップコートで死にやすいのに対して、これは虹が強く出ることは無いものの光をほとんど要求しません。弱めの光でも全く持って自重することなくぎらんぎらんしてくれるので超楽しい(;ﾟ∀ﾟ)=3
ただ他のいわゆる玉虫ポリに比べて評判が低めなのが(´・ω・`) 強烈な虹色の帯は確かに出ないけど、コレはコレで凄ーくキレイだと思うんだけどなー。ラメポリの1種としてもカウントできると思うので、例えばこれでラメグラデとかやったら楽しそうだと思っています。かなり発色いいので薄め液必須ですが。あと玉虫系って意外と光らない＝ペディにしても楽しくないことも多い中、これはかなりぎらりんと行くのでペディにもぴったりじゃないかなと思いつつ。
実はこれポリ交換で頂いたシロモノなのですが、他の色も一緒に頂いているので試すのが非常に楽しみです(｀・ω・´)

#065: Blurple duochrome sparkles

essence studio nails 24/7 nail base
Models Owns Purple Blue (3 coat)
essence better than gel nails top sealer

As I’m a sucker of multichromes, super well-known Models Own’s Beetlejuice was my long-time-lemming…and happily it’s recently killed by lovely Sharon from Behind Green Eyes!! Today’s mani is one of them, which caught my eyes while I was checking all the bottles, Purple Blue.

So the name tells everything straight forward. Purple-and-blue duochrome. Entire Beetlejuice collection contains several kind of finish, and this one is something I often call “flecked-duochrome” because of its large glass fleck shimmers. Actually I like this finish than metallic finish which we can see much commonly ;)

And sometimes these flecked duochrome doesn’t show good color shift, but THIS IS OK!! Formula was pretty good, easy application, and easy to see the dynamic color shift; I really can recommend this one if you love duochromes :D

相変わらず偏光大好きなワケですが、今回のは何故今まで手を出していなかったのか、なModels OwnのBeetlejuiceです。まああれですな、知名度高すぎますよな、何を今更という感じですが、だって買う機会がなかなか無かったもんですから(´・ω・`)
ともあれ名前がそのまま過ぎますPurple Blue。もう少し捻る気は無かったのか。いや無かったからこれなんですね。一応Beetlejuiceは初代と2代目があるんですが、大体捻ってない名前だと初代です。2代目はさすがにあかんと思ったのかそれなりに考えたのであろう名前がついています。扱いの差が素晴らしいですが個人的には初代の方がいい色揃ってると思うんだよなー。色作りに神経を割くあまり名前にまで気が回らなかったということなのでしょうか。
ともあれ非常にうつくしー1本です。トップコートでつるっとさせると奥行きが出て素敵。刷毛の質も悪くなかったし液質も滑らかで塗りやすかったし、他のポリもそのうち欲しいなーと思う今日この頃です。

Liebster Award: Q & A from another nomination

I’ve got ANOTHER nomination for Liebster Award DIRECTLY from lovely Radha from Polish Owl! Actually I’ve got it before, and also THANK YOU SO MUCH TO ALL that my follower is over 200 now (!!) …but I thought her questions are pretty fun, so why not answering to introduce myself…a bit more? :D

1. What is your holy grail hand/cuticle care product? Hmm…I’m still seeking for the product which fits well to me. Though one thing, I’m not a Lush Lemony Flutter lover; I much prefer Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter :)
2. What is a nail polish color you most often reach for? GREEEEEEEN. Especially if they contain glitter/shimmer.
3. How often do you change your nail polish?? Min: every two days, Max: once a week. Yes, I keep my mani for a week quite often! 
4. Do you prefer short or long nails for photos? May I say middle length? :D 
5. Do you have any special tips or tricks for healthier/longer nails? I’d like to ask that to someone else :P Well, dropping the oil between the nail and finger is something I often do to keep whole nail moisten. 
6. What are some colors/finishes you’re afraid to try? Afraid to fall in love? :P At least I know I’m a bit hesitating for chunky glitters... 
7. What is your favorite type of Coffee? I’m a decaf drinker ;) 
8. What is your signature scent? Elisabeth Arden’s Green tea.
9. What is your favorite smell in the world? Japanese citrus, like Yuzu, Kabosu, Sudachi… 
10. How often do you change your toe nail polish? Pedi is always sticking for at least A MONTH!! My toe nail grow sooooooo slow :( 
11. How many polishes do you own? 400. It seriously has been QUADRUPLED in this half a year and pretty sure it’ll grow MORE :P

Well, Sorry for no-pic post but hope you all enjoy!! AND let me thank again for all the followers, and sorry not holding anything now, but FOR SURE I’ll plan to do something to celebrate it…especially when it went over 250, I definitely will host something...GIVEAWAY :P
Let me shout here, I’M READY FOR IT!! :D

#064: Geometric mani day!!

essence studio nails 24/7 nail base
Index, middle & pinky;
China Glaze Love Letters (1 coat)
Essie blanc (cross french, 2 coats)
a-England Lady of The Lake (cross french, 3 coats)
Ring;
Essie blanc (3 coats)
a-England Lady of The Lake (freehand pattern + 2 coats)
essence better than gel nails top sealer

Now my 3rd participation to the Polish Day by Polly Polish, present theme is “Geometric”! Actually this was pretty easy theme for me, because I had one geometric pattern which I wanted to do on my nail since looooong time; and that’s what I did on my ring finger today.

It’s the one of traditional Japanese tribal pattern called “Asa-no-ha (麻の葉)”, which means hemp leaves. It’s very commonly used as textile pattern, as you can see below;

Sorry for blur pic, but I think you can see the pattern on the backdrop here; actually it’s my “obi (kimono’s belt)”. Though it’s very traditional and common, and really Japanesque at least for me, I feel it’s also very modern pattern :)

I drew the pattern by freehand because it seemed to be too complicated for taping. Also initially I was planning to draw the pattern to all finger, at the french part, but I left without pattern; actually I’m happy with this finish, I think probably it went too noisy if I’ve added the pattern to all fingers.

Anyway even though I went simpler, it was a big work for me to draw all the pattern because I used the polish. You know, drawing with polish is much, much harder than drawing by acrylics…but I wanted to use same color as others. It didn’t go so crisp as acrylics, but I’m still happy that I could build up this complicated pattern by polish :D

Oh and let me add few words for the color I’ve used, a-England Lady of The Lake; It’s another color I’ve got with Tristam, nice purple holo with hint of gray. I’M IN LOVE. I think a-England’s color fits perfectly to Japanese pattern…for me, they are much Japanesque color rather than typical western color. Hoping to get others soon, as NEW COLLECTION IS COMING SOOOOOOOOOON!!!!! XD

3度目まして海外版ネイル部ことPolish Days！今回のお題はGeometric＝幾何学模様……となると1つしか思いつきませんでした、ということで麻の葉模様に挑戦！であります。いや麻の葉模様って前からやってみたかったんですよ、日本の伝統文様の中でも好きな文様なのと、あとわたくしのお仕事にちょっとだけ縁のあるネタでもあるので、どうにかできないかなあ、と。最初はテープでライン引きしようと思ってたのですが、ラインテープってどれだけ細くても1mmと結構太いのと、何より意外と模様が煩雑＝テープきれいに剥がせる自信が全く無い、ということで決死のフリーハンド決行となりました(｀・ω・´)

……のですがポリでフリーハンドって無茶苦茶難しいですな。伸びないわ乾くわかすれるわで軽く死にそうでした。どうラインブラシを使っても凄く長い線を引くか凄く短い線を引くかしか出来ないので、ある程度大きくパターンの骨子を作ったら後はひたすらちまちま短い線を描き込むことでどうにか形にでき……たかな？という感じです。よく見たらカスレとか線のヨレとか酷いことになってるのですが遠目で見たら解らない！ので気にしなーい！といいつつ凄いアップですけどねコレorz　でも和装に合いそうなネイルにはなったかなあと思います。今度和装するときはこれで行こうかな、と思ったりー。

#063: Multichromic shimmery blue gray

Orly Nail Defense
BeYu 330 (3 coats)
essence better than gel nails top sealer

Honestly BeYu polishes are bit pricy for me so I don’t own so much, but when I saw the swatch by Rie from Nails and Noms, I couldn’t stop myself to get it, as I’m really a sucker of unique multichrome polishes; and luckily I could snatch the very last bottle from Douglas.de!

So sadly it’s already discontinued - unlike well-known Brilliant Shiraz, it didn’t go to new line - but I can’t understand why it’s discontinued. This is THAT beautiful and unique. Shimmery light blue gray with purple/blue/green glass fleck. I’ve never seen such a color anywhere.

Cool, sexy and unique looking but not too strong, so I even think this will be still accepted for office. It seems to match perfectly to black pants suits; at least I think when I’ll wear suits next time, I’ll definitely wear this color. Love it, and hope I can get backup…though it’s super hard to find now :(

BeYuのポリってちょっと高いのでほとんど所持していないのですが、数少ない手持ちのうちの1つがコレです。あるサイトで見かけて一目惚れしたときには既にほぼ廃番、オンラインで運よく買えた1本は在庫ラスト1本でした、というシロモノです。いやー運が良かった。複数欲しいなと思って2本買おうとしたら2本も無いよと表示が出たときの衝撃といったら。危ねー危ねー。無事家に来たときには小躍りしつつ開けたもんです。
いうことでBeYu 330です。ベースがパールきつめのブルーグレーで、故に光が反射しまくっていて解り辛いのですが、紫・青・緑に光る大粒シマーがぎっしり入っていて角度によって見え方が変わるいわゆる偏光系ポリです。偏光系でこういうクールカラーって正直珍しい気が。単調なグレーでは無いのがいいのか、一見凄く派手な色に見えて実のところ非常に上品な指先になるクール美人系カラーです。黒いパンツスーツなんかに凄く合いそう。というか自分が次回スーツ着るときの指はコレだよなーと今から決め込んでいます。
……惜しむらくはとっくに廃番で、なおかつ販売国が非常に限定されているためスペアを買おうにも何処にも無いこと。何でこれを廃番にしたんだBeYu……(´・ω・`)