Max Factor Red Carpet Glam

Get your glasses because we have a bright on today! Today I have Max Factor Red Carpet Glam from their MaxEffect mini polishes collection. I swatched this collection previous here and even then I was wowed by how bright this is!

I used one coat of Sally Hansen Triple Strong base coat and two coats Red Carpet Glam. This was very opaque with one coat but I'm a habitual two coater :) There was the smallest bit of VNL in real life but you can hardly see it in the pictures or from a distance. I finished it off with Revlon Colorstay top coat.


It's good that I chose such a bright polish because there was no sunshine for these photos :(

Max Factor Red Carpet Glam in Artificial Light

Max Factor Red Carpet Glam in the Shade

OMG!!! The entire time this was on my nails I was constantly looking at them because it was just so BRIGHT!! I actually put this on because I thought I haven't worn a red for ages and I wanted something that really shouted - I think I chose well :) What do you think?

China Glaze Poinsettia

I haven't worn a red for some time so I chose China Glaze Poinsettia from the Let It Snow collection. Poinsettia is a gorgeous bright red jelly that fits in very well with the Christmas collection it's from.

I used Sally Hansen Tripe Strong for my base coat. Then I applied two coats of Poinsettia which applied like butter! Since it's a jelly after two coats there was still VNL but it actually didn't seem to bother me which is strange since I usually hate it. I finished off with a coat of Sally Hansen Mega Shine top coat.

Now for the photos. As I said there is definite VNL that you can see in the photos.

China Glaze Poinsettia in Artificial Light

China Glaze Poinsettia in Natural Light

China Glaze Poinsettia in the Shade

I can't believe it took me this long to try Poinsettia! Since I had almost forgot about it the jelly formula was a pleasant surprise! I actually can't wait to use this with one of the new Spoiled glitters that I received from Sarah :) Jelly sandwich here I come!

Orly Galaxy Girl (Pic Heavy!!)

I haven't yet tried Orly nail polish so I figured now was as good a time as any :) With that in mind I grabbed Orly Galaxy Girl from the Cosmic FX collection. Galaxy Girl is a gorgeous duochrome that shifts from a burgundy/mahogany colours to a rich teal blue. the colour is primarily a deep rich burgundy that has a teal blue shimmer. In certain lights thought it becomes a duochrome and it shifts to the teal blue colour.

I applied a coat of Revlon Calcium Gel Nail Hardener followed by three coats of Galaxy Girl. Galaxy Girl is very thin and I found it a bit difficult to work with since it was watery. It wasn't possible to use thick coats since the formula was so watery so I used three very thin coats. Since this was my first time using Orly I found the brush took some getting use to and it was also more difficult because it was watery.

These photo's were taken in artificial light that night.

Orly Galaxy Girl in Artificial Light

Orly Galaxy Girl in Artificial Light

Orly Galaxy Girl in Artificial Light

 Galaxy Girl shifts between the reddish burgundy above and a teal blue that I couldn't photograph .

Orly Galaxy Girl in Artificial Light

 The tips of my fingers kin of show the teal blue that it shifts to .

Orly Galaxy Girl in Artificial Light

The following morning I took these photo's in natural light.

Orly Galaxy Girl in Natural Light

Orly Galaxy Girl in Natural Light

Orly Galaxy Girl in Natural Light

Look at that gorgeous burgundy shiny goodness!

Orly Galaxy Girl in Natural Light

Orly Galaxy Girl in Natural Light

I did the best to capture the duochrome shift to the teal blue :(

Orly Galaxy Girl in Natural Light

The majority of the time Galaxy Girl was the mahogany/burgundy colour with a teal blue shimmer which was easy to capture. However, the colour would shift to this amazing teal blue that wouldn't be captured >.<. When I first put this on I wasn't a fan, the dark burgundy colour just didn't suit me but the gorgeous blue shimmer and duochrome saved this nail polish for me.

Maybelline Racy Red

I wanted to paint my nails a vibrant red and was in a bit of a hurry so I chose Maybelline Racy Red from the Express Finish Collection. To begin with I applied a coat of Revlon Calcium Gel Nail Hardener followed by two thin coats of Racy Red. This is a great colour to grab because you only need two thin coats for it to be completely opaque. So since I was in a rush the thin coats dried really quickly and then on went a coat of Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. Some Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Drops to help it dry - are you getting that I was in a hurry :)!

These photo's were taken in artificial light the night I painted my nails. Racy Red is actually a bit darker than these photo's but it didn't seem to want to photograph darker!

Maybelline Racy Red in Artificial Light

Maybelline Racy Red in Artificial Light

The following day I took these photo's in the bright sunshine and 36°C heat. I was actually worried I wouldn't get any photo's in the sunlight because we had thunderstorms that night. I've never been so happy to be wrong -lots and lots of sunshine! Racy Red takes on an almost orange coral colour in direct sunlight.

Maybelline Racy Red in Natural Light

Maybelline Racy Red in Natural Light
 

This is one of my favourite red cremes. The formula is almost perfect so application was an absolute breeze. Each coat of Racy Red dried very quickly. The express Express Finish collection claims the nail colour dries in 50 seconds and I was putting on my second coat about 2 minutes after my first. So that's Maybelline Racy Red, my go-to red for a quick manicure!

China Glaze Velvet Bow

As Christmas is quickly approaching I thought it was time I started picking Christmas colours for my nails. Since I recently placed an order with head2toebeauty as a pre-Christmas treat for myself I decided to go with Velvet Bow from China Glaze's Let It Snow Collection their Christmas release. I used head2toebeauty's 5% saving coupon DEC05 which is valid until 31/12/2011 for anyone interested!

I just have to say how happy I was with my order. I ordered almost forty polishes and they were packaged in sets of 3 in China Glaze boxes with a few bits packaging material inside each box.

 

Then all the boxes were bubble-wrapped together and placed in a shipping box surrounded by more of that packaging material. I had read from others who had ordered from head2toebeauty that they had nail polishes arrive broken (which were later replaced when the customer emailed them) but I am overjoyed that all of mine arrived in perfect condition. So not only were they packaged beautifully but my packaged arrived about 9 days after placing my order! Traveling from the US to Australia, that's pretty impressive, considering the usual snail pace for mail.
 

Anyway now that I've finished gushing over my order on to the nail polish!I used Revlon Quick Dry Base Coat, my go-to base coat since I'm so impatient and it dries so quickly that I can start painting my nails in no time. I applied two coats of Velvet Bow, left it to dry then applied a top coat of Seche Vite Top Coat. As I'm impatient and one of those people who the moment they finish painting their nails manages to knock them against everything I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Speed Dry Drops to quickly set my manicure. I am absolutely in love with these drops! Not only does my nail polish dry extremely quickly but within minutes I don't have to worry about denting or scraping my nail polish as the surface has dried. Thankfully these drops don't seem to cause shrinkage from the tips of my nails like other dry drops do. I took the pictures the next day and unfortunately it's been rather overcast so this was the best lighting I could get.

Velvet Bow is a dark wine jelly colour that I absolutely adore! I  must admit I have quite a fondness for these gorgeous burgundy colours and I had no problems with the application, the formula on this was great.

So that was China Glaze's Velvet Bow from their Let It Snow Collection, my first nail polish to start me off into the spirit of Christmas!