Pure Ice Black Crackle

The companion to Pure Ice Golden Ticket is this black crackle.  As far as black crackles go, this one was pretty neat.  It was still relatively thin and well, as for the crackling... let me show you.  This is one coat of crackle over my existing manicure.  This crackle does dry matte, so I added Seche Vite to make it shine.

See how lovely it cracks?  This is how a lot of European crackles seem to work (versus OPI here in the States).  I'm happy!

Here in the shade , you can see that the glitter shows up super nicely under the crackle.

And finally indoors with the flash - well... not much else to say here.  Crackle - good deal.


You can purchase this duo for $6 straight from Bari Cosmetics here.  Read more about Bari's Cosmetics including Pure Ice on their Facebook Page and follow them on Twitter.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Mattése Elite Amour De Ma Vie

From the Mattése Elite Mon Amour collection, today I have Amour De Ma Vie, a sparkling rainbow glitter in a dark base.  We've had tons of "Happy Birthday" dupes but this is on the darker end of that.  Unlike deborah lippmann's "Forget You" (which one day I will wear, since I do own it), this is more of a microglitter that gets a bit swallowed by its dark base.  I used a base of Poshe, 2 coats and topped with CND Air Dry.

Sadly here in the sun you see more of the rainbow glitter in the bottle than on the nail.  The nail shows more of a red and silver glitter in a dark grey base...  It's an interesting color for sure.  Also this is a thirsty glitter that does dry bumpy, so either lots of top coat OR Lynnderella Glitter Tamer (if you're able to find it).

Here in the indirect sun, you can really see how bumpy it is - should have used Glitter Tamer.

Here in the shade you can see some of the blue glitter come alive.  Yay blue glitter!  

And finally indoors with the flash...  This polish hates my camera and won't focus.  Grr.


Overall, interesting but too dark for me for spring.

Mattése Elite Carnaval Nail Polish retails for $5.99 and is available for purchase exclusively at Ricky’s NYC store locations and at www.RickysNYC.com

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Dollish Polish Toxic Avenger

2012 has been a big year of frankens, the act of mixing ingredients by a person to make a custom polish.  Some people use eyeshadow, pigments, existing nail polishes, glitter...  I don't even know it all.  My favorite frankener has always been Dr. Frankenpolish but she's been gone for a long time.  :|


When The PolishAHolic posted about Toxic Avenger almost a month ago, I knew I HAD to have it.  Dollish's next batch was going to be ready on 6 February and I actually set a reminder on my phone to wake me up so I could get one.  I believe only 3 bottles were available, all minis, and thanks to the Etsy iPhone website (and PayPal), I was able to buy one of the 3.  When I say mini, I do mean MINI.

It's even smaller than the OPI/SOPI mini bottles, but just barely.  Dollish says that her mini bottles are 1/8 oz (5 ml).  The SOPI minis are 1/8 fl oz but 3.75 ml, but color me confused on sizes.  I really don't know if Dollish was a misprint or if I'm just crazily confused.

From Dollish's page:  "Toxic Avenger" an 80's horror/hero cult classic. Poor nerdy Melvin, mutated after falling into a vat of nuclear waste, becomes the local mutant super hero. This amazing multi-chrome polish flashes from Grey, to Purple to Olive Green, with an intense Spectraflair pigment, most commonly known as holographic pigment which bursts into a rainbow of colors when the light catches it. Don't let this creepy little mutant scare you off. This color is one of the most unique and beautiful polishes I've made to date.
Each MINI bottle is 1/8 oz. (5ml)
Some pigments and glitters may settle to the bottom of each bottle, please shake bottle thoroughly before each use to achieve the correct color. Due to the fluctuating cost of some pigments, some Franken's may be more expensive than others.
This polish is 3-free! This polish does not contain the chemicals Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Formaldehyde and Toluene.

For this manicure I started with a base coat of Poshe, 2 coats of polish on my index and middle fingers, and then I tried CND Blackjack on my ring and pinkie fingers, & then 2 coats of Toxic Avenger.  I topped all nails with CND Air Dry.

I'm determined to get my hands on Spectraflair at some point.  I'd love to have a car colored in it, but until then, it can go on my nails.  I've begged a fellow blogger to let me buy her Spectraflair, but she's not selling.  You can find some sellers on eBay or through other blogs, but as I've not personally purchased from anyone yet, I'm not providing any links at this time.

Back to the polish.  I didn't have strong sun this day (of COURSE) but look what we had anyway!

Here's the olive green and purple being shown!  I really prefer this over black as opposed to the bare nail.

You can barely see the holographic properties here but more of the purple and some green.

The green is more apparent on the bare nail than against black but again I love it over black more.

Indoors with the flash and BIZ-AAAM.  Spectraflair holographic goodness.  My nails were nuts under the light.  Love it to death.

In case you're wondering, this is what it looked like during removal.

Thanks to The PolishAHolic and social media like Pinterest, Dollish Polish has been SLAMMED with orders and her shop is currently closed as she catches up.  Toxic Avenger is offline until further notice, and she is not taking any pre-orders or putting any bottles on reserve.

Dollish Polish [Etsy] [Facebook] [Blog] [NAILS Nail Art Gallery] [YouTube] ranges from $4-$4.25 for a mini bottle and $7.50-$8.25 for a large bottle.  I paid $4.25 for my mini bottle plus ~$2.00 in shipping.  Because I bought 2 items, my shipping was $4 total.

FingerPaints Motley

2012 is the year of the magnetics and the flakies!  I was so excited when FingerPaints announced their flakies collection and was able to purchase all 5 thanks to the lovely ladies of Sally's Beauty Supply's Twitter.  I wasn't sure which one I wanted to try first, so I just grabbed and that's how Motley came to be my first swatched.  I used a base coat of Duri Rejuvacote, then FingerPaints Black Expressionist, then one coat of Motley on my index and ring fingers, and two coats of Motley on my middle and pinkie fingers.  I topped it with CND Air Dry.

Motley has a green and a blue flakie in a slight yellow base.  I talked to a nail tech who said the suspension base that the flakie is floating in has to be used over a darker color because of the yellow in the base, otherwise it can make the base color (black in this instance) look off.  Does that make any sense?  It did when she showed me over a light blue and it made the blue looks weirdest green.  Anyway.


While 1 coat does do wonders, I prefer 2 coats.  2 coats on my middle finger, 1 coat on the ring finger.

See what I mean?

In the shade, you can really see how pretty this is - reminds me of fish food - the colorful stuff, not the round brown pellet stuff.  

Seriously, indoors with the flash just makes this look blah.  Almost glow in the dark though, haha.  Not a good look for flakies - indirect sun/shade is the best way to see these pretties.  If you can still find them in Sally's, go get them!  They are limited edition.


FingerPaints [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Blog] can be found in Sally's Beauty Supplies stores and online for $4.99 USD each.

FingerPaints Black Expressionism

While purchasing the 5 FingerPaint flakies, I also got suckered into getting FingerPaints Black Expressionism, a black creme that dries matte.  Oh yes, matte.  Almost rubbery?  I used a base of Duri Rejuvacote, 2 coats of polish and no top coat.  I wished that had been a one coat black, but it really needed 2 coats to be fully opaque.

Now, the rubber/plastic/matte finish isn't as apparent here, but just give me a moment.  You can't see much because it is black with a black bottle, but yes opaque creme.

Now can you see the texture of this polish?  Kinda rubbery!  I'm calling it plastic, officially.  Anywho - nice creme base but I wish it was more of a one coat black.

Finally indoors with the flash - note how shiny this polish is without a top coat!  That part did make me happy.  :]


FingerPaints [Website] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Blog] can be found in Sally's Beauty Supplies stores and online for $4.99 USD each.

Lynnderella Mercury's Rainbow vs China Glaze Techno

Oh yes, you read right.  Lynnderella's Mercury's Rainbow has a twin... China Glaze Techno.  Techno was originally released in the Glitters & Cremes, also known as the Specialty collection, and was re-released in the 2012 spring TechnoPop collection.  I had both sitting on my desk when I had my OMG moment that these two are definitely related.  Check out this bottle shot.

Both have micro and slightly larger hexagonal rainbow/holographic glitter.  The only difference is that Lynnderella has a slight murky grey base and Techno is in a clear base.  I layered 2 layers of polish over Sephora Black and topped with Glitter Tamer.  (My base coat for all was Duri Rejuvacote.)

Sun doesn't do this polish justice, so here is some indirect light.  Now, there is definitely more microglitter in Techno than in Mercury's Rainbow, but it's just really in how many coats do you put on.  I have loads more pictures in the shade now.

Now, how alike are they?  Yeah, more microglitter in Techno, less medium hexagonal glitter and just the opposite for Mercury's Rainbow.  Am I going to keep both?  Yes.  Do you need both?  I wouldn't.  I'm perfectly happy with just my Techno, to be honest.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

China Glaze Haunting

I went polish diving and pulled out Haunting, the name sake of the Halloween 2011 collection from China Glaze.  This is a black creme with TONS of silver microglitter.  The bottle is a bit deceiving though - there's much more glitter on the bottle than what comes out on the nail.


I used a base coat of Rejuvacote by Duri, 2 coats of polish and a top of CND Air Dry.  The formula was good.

Full sun - see how there's still a good amount of black in there?  It made me feel a lot better about this color, since the bottle looks more grey and not the kind of grey that I like.

Extreme sun!  Love that blue background (which is sky baby!)  

Here in the shade you can again see that the glitter is spread throughout the polish, making it look haunted.  Right?  ;]

Finally indoors with the flash - honestly, this polish just rocks.  I love that it's so different - unlike anything I currently own.  If you can still find it (online, clearance racks), get it.  You won't regret it.

China Glaze can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty, Sally's Beauty Supply as well as TransDesign.  You can like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

nubar Noir

When I first met Noubar Abrahamian, founder of nubar, while at Cosmoprof 2011, my first words were "Hi, I'm Krystal and I've actually never tried your polish before."  Facepalm.  Not the best introduction I've ever done.  I had Katie Cazorla standing next to me and she looked at me and cracked up.  Mr. Abrahamian is a very firm but soft-spoken man and he just turned and started filling a bag up with his polishes and smiled at me.  I think my face was about 10 shades of red.


One of the colors he put in my back was Noir, "one of our basics".  Noir is a basic black that dries to a bit of a rubbery finish.  I'm calling it "plastic" because it looked a lot like the ORLY Plastix collection to me.


For a simple black manicure, I used a base coat of Zoya Get Even and 2 coats of polish.  When I'm layering something on top of Noir, I just use one coat.

Unfortunately, I have nothing but clouds right now.  I'm not sure if you can fully see the plastic type finish (or rubbery) but it's not as shiny as when you'd add a top coat.

I should have held a different bottle to show where my nails end, but as you can see this is a very opaque color.  It's a great black for me since I ran out of my CND Blackjack and haven't made a purchase yet.  I use it for pretty much every layering I do.


nubar can be purchased on their website for about $7.50 a bottle in the US.  They do have international retailers in Russia, Sweden and the UK.  You can like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter although their Twitter has been a bit bare lately.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Lynnderella Connect The Dots

So unless you're a blogger or a frequent blog reader, you may not have heard of Lynnderella before.  She hand mixes custom nail polish creations and when they are available, they are available then only.  This last time that she had a sale, it was $12 a bottle, with a minimum order of 5 bottles.  Gia from Bottles and Bottles of Polish was kind enough to place a large order and ship individually out to each person, so that is how I ended up with this gem - the only one that I knew I HAD TO HAVE.


Connect the Dots is from her Halloween 2010 collection but she brought it back for 2011.  It's a black and white hexagon, square and bar glitter with a slight sparkle in a clear base.


I used the previous day's manicure (China Glaze Rose Tea) and put 2 coats on my pinkie and ring finger, 1 coat on my middle and index finger.  Sealed both with Seche Vite.

I really like the look of just one coat - I tried 2 coats just to see.  On my nail polish stick, I have about 10 coats (I do that) and I just hate the way it looks... with this, less is more.

Shade picture - sometimes the bar glitter wouldn't sit right (as you can see) but you can just push it into place with your brush or a needle.

Finally indoors with the flash.  Very stunning and like Lynnderella has said - it's instant nail art!


For those wondering, this came straight from her blog: 

Lynnderella Lacquers contain cosmetic and other polyester glitters, as well as cosmetic-grade pigments, mica and synthetic mica. There may also be traces of non-B3-free nail polishes used to tint bases. The main ingredient is TKB Glamour Base. Blends may differ from month to month depending on new glitters and ingredients I find for you—they are always evolving and may vary from batch to batch. From the research I have done on glitter, minimum orders from manufacturers are ten pounds per colour and size. If we look at other multi-glitters being sold, it's easy to see that they are less complex than most of the blends offered here. I think that it's unlikely that nail polish manufacturers would be purchasing as many different glitters in ten-pound lots as I am purchasing in smaller amounts from various distributors. Complexity, beauty, colour saturation and luxury are some of the energy ingredients that makes their attitudes unique. Another ingredient is extensive experimentation and research over years. It has been a labour of love that required a significant investment of time and resources. I hope you will all feel that love—and enjoy and luxuriate in it. 


For some amazing Lynnderella swatches, please check out steffel's blog.


Lynnderella is only available through the etailer Llarowe.  Currently, you have to contact Llarowe at the email address lalas.lynn.network@gmail.com in order to get on a shipping list which is sorted in 4 ways, so if you'd like to find out how to order, email that above address.


Lynnderella is available for $15 a bottle.

China Glaze Haunting

Halloween is still a couple of months away, but while I was at Cosmoprof, I was able to snag some upcoming nail wheels for the new China Glaze collections.  While the press release still isn't even out, I wanted to share with you what's coming.


Haunting appears to be the name for this collection and while it's not on this wheel, their displays showed that they will be bringing back their Glow In The Dark polish (I have a bottle in my medicine cabinet).  The colors in this collection are Haunting, a black with tiny silver microglitter; It's Alive, a green microglitter with larger round glitter; Near Dark, a dark green that almost looks squishy jelly like; and Crimson a super dark purple that looks like last year's Naughty or Nice.


For fun, here are some more pictures.

Indoors with natural light

Indoors with the flash

I don't think these have a top coat on the wheels but Haunting has a smooth finish and It's Alive is slightly bumpy.  What do you think of this collection?


When the press release is released, I will let you know when this collection is coming out and where it will be found.