VERNIS classique by CHERIMOYA - Red Velvet

This must be the forth or fifth red I have tried. When I finished this last one, I came to the conclusion that red is definitely my favorite nail polish color. Anything with dark undertones and bright shimmers will always get me. From a candy apple red to a deep dark burgundy, reds suit my skin tone much better than any other color I have tried until now. Even purples that I thought did not go well on me, I have tried and liked, it must be deep dark undertones.

Although not all colors are created equal, and the quality of the polish and applying brush varies greatly from manufacturer to manufacturer, If you prep the nail and apply it well, It should not matter what brand it is, It will last. Of course, prepping the nail is of outmost importance, you have to file, brush, clean and prime first, than, base coat them before applying at least two coats of nail polish, if your polish is too thin, go for three coats. Personally, I always, regardless, apply three coats. Finish it of with a quality top coat, and you can enjoy your nails like they were gelish.

This polish is not of great quality, it is very thick and tricky to apply. Fast drying nail polishes are a two bladed sword, they can be very good, or very bad depending on your point of view. This polish is definitely fast drying, but it works against it because you need to work nail by nail coat after coat. Even though I could have added some acetone remover to thin it out a bit, I decided to stick with the original formula to see how it applied of the bottle. The brush is also not professional quality and a bit difficult to work with. Putting all that aside, the color is just wonderful. I absolutely loved this red, but I am a sucker for reds, so I may be biased. 

Like blacks, reds can be dressed up or dressed down, and even though this is not the best quality, it is a very classy color shade. Like the name suggests “Red Velvet” is definitely  “velvety”.

This definitely lights up under direct sunlight. If you look closely under certain sunlight conditions, you can appreciate the orange sparkle shimmer. Under certain conditions, this red seems a bit on the orange side more than red, and that is the kind of surprise I like to have when trying new colors.   Under normal ambient light, the color does not get confused with any other dark colors, it still looks like red.

If you like reds like me, and don't get tired of trying new shades of red, I do recommend trying this out, I think you will like it.  

If I had to rate this, because of the quality of the brush and thickness of the polish I would give it a 2 bottle rating, but with the color being so strikingly beautiful, I will give it 3 bottles. Also, YOU MUST WEAR 2 COATS OF BASE COAT WITH THIS POLISH. I applied 1 coat myself and the color permeated all the way to the nail to stain it. I  don’t have a big problem with that, but if you do, consider it.

Happy Polishing!

China Glaze - Black Diamond

Every now and then, I like to unleash my inner rock-star.
I received a comment from a fellow nail polish wearer named CJ from Texas who is a professional drummer, his post is right there at the poll page so you can read it. 

Anyway, because of that and to pay him homage for leaving his comment, I decided to wear black this time. I also played some drums a while back, although not as a pro, so we have something else in common besides loving to wear nail polish. Sometimes, specially during the winter, I like to wear some leather jackets in black, as well as biker boots. I also have some leather trousers that I wear on special occasion parties. But in winter times, I just expose my fingernails, rarely my toes.

 
Anyway, it is still summer weather here where I live, so I will be wearing black with sandals instead of boots. I love summer and fall because I can wear sandals and short sleeves, it is more my style, I wear bead and chain bracelets and big rings with a big watch, so in the winter they are put away  because they can be cumbersome wearing jackets or sweaters. 

So, having said that, I picked a black that is not a pitch black color. Although I do have some black blacks like China Glaze’s own “Vinyl”, but this time I went with China Glaze’s “Black Diamond”. This is a very good dark black with silver shimmer. As you can see on the photographs, when the sun hits it, is reflects the light quite nicely. As with some other dark colors, this black, being shimmery and not metallic, it is the kind of black you can dress up or dress down. It is not matte, although it kind of looks a bit like it is. I applied Seché Vite Top Coat over 3 layers of the color. It applied very thin at first, so it is definitely a three coat. China Glaze makes wonderful colors, and even though black is the absence of color, this black really stands out with it’s silver shimmer. Depending on your attire, it can look elegant and chic, or It can look edgy, either way, it’s going to look awesome. 

I am looking for a dark green shimmer for my next post, kind of dark olive green with some shimmer, leaning for BB Couture’s “Posse” or something along those lines. If you have some suggestions along those lines, please let me know.

Happy Polishing!