Orly High on Hope

Orly High on Hope is a gorgeous dusty light navy blue with pink shimmer from the new collection for spring 2013.  Unfortunately, the weather forecasters weren't completely accurate (surprise!) and the sun didn't come out to play until late in the day when the lighting was poor, so most of these pics are taken under cloudy skies or a combination of indirect sun and overhead incandescent.  Application was pretty good - I had a little drag at the cuticles line, but it leveled out nicely and was completely opaque at 3 coats.  It dries a little dull, so I used a coat of Gelous and then Poshe and didn't notice any problems with dry time.  So far wear has been very good, and I'm very happy with this one.  The color is definitely unique (in my stash at least), and I noticed actually looks best under indoor direct incandescent or indirect cloudy sun!  That's when the pink sparkles show up best - to my eye - and they tend to get washed out in direct sun, as you can see in the last few pics.  I hope you are able to pick this one up - it's worth it!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

Chanel Taboo

Chanel Taboo is a new release for spring 2013.  It's a beautiful deep purple with blue and red sparkles that are stunning in the bottle and almost as much so in direct sunlight on the nail.  Chanel tends to have beautiful in-bottle shimmers that all but disappear when applied, but this one does tend to stick around!  Even in indirect light there is a residual textured appearance to the sparkles that gives it a little interest.  Application was great, and if you are careful you could even get away with one coat, but I used 2 here.  I wish my camera was able to capture the detail of the shimmer as seen in real life, but it seems the best I can do is show the colors of the sparkle.  Wear time is good (especially to the Hologlam I wore yesterday...) as I haven experienced any tip wear or chipping at all.  I used Orly Nailtrition as a base, and Gelous and Poshe as topcoats.  I took these pics after living in it for a while, so the finish is a bit more dulled than I'd like, but I still think it is beautiful!  Enjoy -     >^..^<

ETA:  The first few pics are taken after I added more TC.  :)

China Glaze Infra-Red

ChG Infra-Red is another from the recently released Hologlam collection.  This is more of a fuchsia than a true red, as it has a strong pink undertone.  The holo in this one is more mild and less noticeable than some others in this collection (I've worn Moonboots and When Stars Collide and both of them seemed to have a stronger holo).  There must be something about red pigment and holo, as my OPI DS Ruby has a weaker holo than some of the other shades.  Anyway - I used Bonder as a base for this one (with Poshe tc), and application was ok at best - not too streaky but did leave some bald spots near the cuticle, and needed 2 coats for adequate coverage (but still much better application than I got with my HG base Orly Nailtrition).  Unfortunately it chipped terribly - I paint my nails at night, and when I woke up in the morning I had a chip within an hour... that never happens.  Tip wear was very obvious during the day, so I'll have to experiment with different tc/bc combos for these.  I enjoyed this one - the pink was exactly what I was in the mood for! Enjoy -     >^..^<