Cloud 9

Orange isn't really my colour.  I own no orange clothes, or orange shoes.  No orange jewellry.  And up until last week I didn't own any orange nail polish either.

Sinful Colors Cloud 9 is a sweet mandarin with a gold shimmer.  It goes on quite sheer and I still had a visible nail line after three thick coats.  I didn't really like this for the week I wore it but now that I look at the photos I kind of love it.  Maybe I should give orange a chance!

This is one coat of OPI Matte Envy topped with three coats of Sinful Colors Cloud 9.  No top coat because I had a feeling I'd end up removing this mani pretty quickly.

Because I found the this mani so boldt and strange on me I only lasted two days before I topped it with something.  And I absolutely loved the result!

This is two coats of Nail It! with one coat of Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat to smooth everything out. Gorgeous.

DS Glow

OPI's DS collections are always a safe bet when you want a bit of bling but nothing that'll blind you forever if you happen to catch a glimpse of it out of the corner of your eye.

This is one coat of OPI Matte Nail Envy, three coats of OPI DS Glow, and two coats of Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat to smooth it all out.

Pretty.

Spectrum

It's an old colour but, boy, is it eye catching!

One coat of OPI Matte Nail Envy and two coats of OPI Ridge Filler for a smooth base, topped with three coats of Sally Hansen HD Spectrum, and finished with one coat of Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat.

And now I'm going to continue staring at my awesome nails.

Khaleesi

I'll admit it.  I bought this polish because of the name.  Well, that, and how interesting it looked on the website.  It's a silvery white mesh with a gold shimmer, both in the bottle and on the suppliers website.

On the nail, however, it becomes a hideously streaky, bubbly mess with no visible gold shimmer but an extremely visible nail line.  It looks like one of those frosted nail polishes from the 80s.  I hated it.

This is one coat of OPI Matte Nail Envy, two coats of OPI Ridge Filler, two coats of Hello Darling Khaleesi, and one coat of Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat.

I wore it for 24 hours to see if it would grow on me because I really wanted to like it, but I just found it more objectionable every time I looked at my nails!  To hide the bubbling and add interest I threw on two coats of China Glaze Snow Globe and finished with a coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Anti-Chip Top Coat.  Tacky as hell, but at least the bubbles and streaks are hidden!

Henley Regatta

I got this Butter London polish about 6 months ago but didn't want to waste such a glorious colour on my stumpy stumps.  But now that my nails are finally starting to gain some strength and length I decided to take it for a spin.  Totally the right decision!

The last time I used a Butter London glitter I loved it in the bottle but thought it was a little thin on the nail so, after the usual base coat of OPI Matte Nail Envy, I used two coats of a similar coloured cream MUD Paradise Valley to give it a bit of depth.  This is two coats of Butter London Henley Regatta, topped with two coats of Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat.

There is both blue and green micro glitter in this blue base and the shimmer is just gorgeous.  I adored this mani and its sexy eye-catching glitz.

Royal Rajah Ruby

I love love love OPI Royal Rajah Ruby!  The formula is smooth and easy to work with, the coverage is great, and that colour is a vampy delight.  It's a very dark red with a red shimmer that catches the light beautifully but never veers into glittery or cheap.

This is two coats of Royal Rajah Ruby over one coat of OPI Matte Nail Envy and topped with one coat of Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat.

Posh Pink

Revlon Posh Pink looks like it should come in the same box as a Barbie doll.  Definitely not my colour!  But since the whole mani was already as girly as girly can be I dumped some Nyx Pink Glitter on the accent nail.

Two coats of colour over one coat of OPI Matte Nail Envy, two coats of glitter on the ring fingers, and the whole shebang topped with one coat of Revlon Quick Dry Top Coat.

Fiddlesticks

Butter London Fiddlesticks is a bright, bold magenta glitter which looks fantastic in the bottle but, sadly,  didn't live up to my expectations on the nail.  The colour itself is a knockout but the glitter coverage is not as dense as I'd like.  I used two coats and applied it in dim lighting conditions so I'll definitely try three coats next time.

The colour was applied over two coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy and finished with two coats of Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat.

All Tied Up

Essie All Tied Up is a muted brownish pink with a very subtle gold shimmer.  It's a nice, work-friendly colour which goes on smoothly with Essie's small brush.  Like a lot of Essie's polishes, this one dries a couple of shades darker than the polish in the bottle.

I've used two coats of colour over two coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy and topped the whole shebang with Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat.

Do You Wanna See My... Peacock?

Ooh, primping and strutting! This is one coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue It with two coats of Picture Polish  Do You Wanna See My... Peacock over the top - a fine bottle green glitter in a fairly sheer navy base.

I topped the whole thing off with a Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat, as usual, but the result wasn't as smooth and glossy as I like so I finished up with one coat of Sally Hansen No Chip Acrylic Top Coat.

Star Struck

One coat of Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in Tyin' the Knot! followed by two coats of Colour by TBN in Star Struck - a tawny/bronzy micro glitter. Is there such a thing as a neutral glitter? If so, this is it.