Nail Polish Collection Part 2

To tell the truth, posting about nail polishes is really no fun compared to doing my nails or buying polishes. Who would've thought?! Duh!! However, I was forbidden to buy a few new ones I've set my eyes on until I posted this one, so here I am. :P 

Meanwhile, I've been spending a lot of time ogling at sexy the Joestar family members for my next art project, specifically Jonathan, Joseph and Jotaro. They are from my favourite manga (now made into anime), JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and are the men of my dreams! ~Swoooooon & Drooooool~ They are super tall (all above 195 cm), super shredded (massive and crazy muscle definition), pretty funny, always able to turn things around when in a pinch, and just absolutely fabulously sexy! If you're interested in my artworks, please come back for them when they're done. I've side tracked way too much here, so I'll get straight into the photos of the rest of my polishes.

Part 2: Non-colour shifting Polishes

This category includes everything that doesn't contain colour-shifting components, which is everything else that you can think of. I don't have a lot of special effect polishes, such as magnetic, soft/velvet finish, sand/sugar finish, and etc., so you won't be seeing any here. Solar and Thermo-active polishes don't really belong to my two categories, they change from one solid colour to another solid colour upon exposure to UV and temperature changes. As I mentioned before, they are chemically and physically different to the optical colour-shifting materials in the previous post, and since I don't have any, I'm not going to worry about them. 

Brand acronyms (recap):

AE - A England

CC - Color Club

CG - China Glaze

DD - Different Dimensions

EL - Estee Lauder

FF - Femme Fetale (Polish)

HP - Hit Polish

LSL - Liquid Sky Lacqure

PP - Picture Polish

1. Smooth Metallics

Needless to say, these polishes have a metallic shine to the finish, which contain a mixture of metal pigments and mica (they are not the same). The silver metallic colour usually comes from Aluminium powder, while Titanium oxide and mica (Silicate) give a pearlescent shine. Due to the low metal content, the finish of the metallic polishes will never be the same as a piece of polished metal, but resembles more of a mineral ore. 

This is when I'd like to emphasize the difference between metallic and chrome finishes. As you can tell from its name, the conventional Chrome finish requires plating of the Chromium metal onto a surface to create a smooth mirror-like surface. This is unachievable for nail polishes as chroming is a chemical process and has health and environmental issues. Therefore, all the so-called *chrome* polishes are not true chrome because they can't reproduce a perfect reflective mirror finish. If you want the REAL chrome effect, go with stickers or acrylics. The closest to a true mirror finish is probably the Layla Mirror Effect polishes. It's still very hard to achieve a smooth finish with these polishes. You'll need to really prep your nails and use a good smoothing base coat. The polishes also tend to drag, so additional coats and top coats are probably desirable if you're not skilled.

AE - Perceval, Chanel - Taboo, EL - Chrome Violet, Chanel - Bel Argus, Australis - Bun of Steel, OPI - Moonraker, Layla - Mirror Effect Metal Chrome, OPI - Birthday Babe, and EL - Brushed Gold.

Kitties26 of More Nail Polish has a very informative blog entry on this, if you'd like some visual assistant to my explanation. Now that is a TRUE nail polish blog, compared to my mishmash of random things.

One more thing, Chanel Taboo isn't really metallic, but has copper/gold metallic flakes. Bel Argus is weird, it has a blue to purple colour-shift but is definitely more metallic than the plain colour-shifting polishes, yet the pigment is fine unlike the colour-shifting metal flakes. They're in the metallic just because they're fancy but whatever.

2. Mesh Metallics

Correct me if I'm wrong, I think Picture Polish is probably the first who coined this term for their range of nail polishes. I also think it's a rather accurate description for the appearance, which consists a relatively homogeneous mix of two or more fine metallic glitter (or flakes) suspended in a tinted base. The ones I bought have a smooth finish, but some can dry to a gritty texture, so a nice thick top coat would help. I have added some 0.008" gold and holo gold glitters to Glitzerland; therefore, giving it a more mesh-like finish. I like my version way better! <3

OPI - Glitzerland*, AE - Excalibur (new), Arezia (Sasa HK) - 3rd to last.

The polishes I bought from my HK trip don't have any names because they are cheap and generic, they were less than 1 AUD for a mini 5 mL bottle! :D Haven't worn them yet, but the colour payoff and the formula are not too shabby.

3. Holographics

Or I call it, Rainbow Wonderland! I absolutely love love love these, not just because how shiny and colourful they are, but also the complex chemistry and physics behind it all! I mean light wavefront interference and diffraction, short wavelength X-ray lasers, synchrotrons, metalised PET (polyethylene terephthalate), phase and amplitude modulations are probably scientific terminology you either have never heard of or are just uninterested in, but I thrive on these theories and ideas and fancy equipment, and probably lived with (and for!) during the Ph.D years...

Getting too excited here, lol, all I'm going to say that makes more sense here is that you have two types of final visual effects: linear and scattered. For example, in Futuristica and 2NITE, the glitters are different in size but they all reflect and refract light in the same direction; hence, appearing as one big rainbow. The Oztoic chrome shatters and the OPI designer series (DS) are examples of the scattered effects, where the holographic particles are irregular in size and the light bounces off in all different directions. 

Most linear effect holographic polishes are made with SpectraFlair® pigment, which is an industraial trademark material. The particle sizes (14, 20 and 35 microns) are much smaller than the finest holographic metal flakes (50 microns, or 1/500"). You can still create a linear-ish finish with the metal flakes, it just won't be as smooth and satin-like as the SpectraFlair®, which is expensive and hard to source.

CG - FYI, CC - Harp On It, DD - Black Dahlia, FNUG - Futuristica, CG - 2NITE, Ozotic - Chrome Shatter 914, CG - LOL, OPI - DS Amethyst, Ozotic - 607,  OPI - DS Reserve, and AE - Briar Rose.

4. Glitters

OMG, I need to shut up because this post is getting way too long and boring for some! Anyways, endless combinations of fun and excitement can be created with glitters of all different sizes and finishes. I'll just let the pictures do the talking, which is what I'm supposed to be doing all along...

Medium to Large Glitters: Innisfree - Pro91 and Pro93, HP - Pixie Dust, Peacock Plumage, Lily Pad, Mardi Gras, Light Show, and Funfetti.

OPI - The Living Daylights, FF - Evening Tide, OPI - Pink Yet Lavender, FF - Lucent Ametrine, Suspended Starlight, Galactic Shards, and CG - Techno (over purple base).

Fine Glitters: CG - Glistening Snow, Kleancolor - Holo Blue, Holo Chrome, Midnight Seduction, Kiss Goodbye, and Chi Chi -  Glitterati Purple.

5. Creams & Shimmers

Boring, but you can't live without them. The base of everything and anything, or just something subtle and cute for the lesser attention seekers. For OPI - Gargantuan Green Grape, it was really similar to CG - Refresh-ment but on the thinner and yellower side. I really didn't like it, so I just mixed in a whole bunch of different pigments to get a muted blue-green colour of no name. For Essie - Like To Be Bad, I added a tiny bit of 0.008" Silver holo and Red glitters for extra cuteness.

Revlon - Midnigt Affair, CG - Up All Night, Essence - Forget-Me-Not, Nubar - Faded Jeans, Essie - Barbados Blue, PP - Sky, OPI - Gargantuan Green Grape*, CG - Refresh-Mint, Marcia (Sasa HK), CG - Light As Air, OPI - The Color To Watch, PP - Wisteria, Kleancolor - Cobalt, and b collection by Bloom (Kmart).

CG - Merry Berry, EL - Red Cherry, Inglot - 931, CG - Something Sweet, Essie - Like To Be Bad*, OPI - Princesses Rule!, Inglot - 866, CC - Sun N' Fun, LSL - Cosmic Dust, OPI - Will You Mari-achi Me?, Essie - Rock Candy, PP - Beige, and OPI - Cosmo-Not Tonight Honey.

The extras:

A closer shot of the Korean nail polishes I was raving about, the Innisfree polishes also have an interested and not off-putting fruity smell. Excuse my nails, I can't stand them being long and have crappy cuticles. The pink and blue glitters are slightly on the neon side, but I really enjoy their mix of colour, size and shapes. Way more interesting than OPI has ever offered! Yes OPI is overrated imo, formula is a hit and miss and the colour range can be redundant, so meh meh meh compared to these cuties!

Korean Polishes: Innisfree Eco Color Pro: 93, 91, 69, 72, 73, and A'pieu Aurora VL02.

Pro93 over Cosmic Dust = Super cute! <3

The Storage Unit:

Another contribution from my husband, this is a Magic: the Gathering card storage box. I know, WTF is this nerdy card game! It's made from strong corrugated cardboard and is conveniently sized and segmented for my nail polishes. ;) It's weight tested for 200 lb and the dimensions are 15" (L) x 13" (W) x 4" (H). If you can ever bring yourself to go into one of those nerdy gaming shops, they're cheap and worth your money, only if. LOL!!! Of course mine has been covered by pretty fabrics, so it doesn't look as nerdy as it really is. ^^ 

Where they sleep, day and night, away from sunlight, like a vampire's coffin. :P

Next Post: I might stay away from nail polishes for a while, but I still have some Franken polish stuff to post. There might be some reviews of makeup and skincare products instead, or more of my obsessions with manga and anime and their characters. I have two art projects planned, just can't wait to draw sexy buff men! :P

Nail Polish Collection Part 1

Apparently, the prioritisation of my posts hasn't sat well with my lovely lady friends. To make up for this, these posts are ALL about nail polishes and ALL the pictures of nail polishes that I own. I'm warning you, it's going to be picture heavy and brand-name heavy! Don't blame me if you get headaches from the sparkles, Chemistry kitty is ALL about the sparkles after all! <3

First things first, abbreviations of the brand names if they are too long to type out:

CA - Coco Allure

CG - China Glaze

EP - Enchanted Polish

FF - Femme Fetale (Polish)

HP - Hit Polish

HS - Hits Speciallità

MF - Max Factor

PI - Pure Ice

PP - Picture Polish

PS - Pretty Serious (Polish)

SH - Sally Hansen

I try to not buy polishes that are too similar to each other, so there won't be many dupes in here. However, the nude pink colours appeared to be very similar in the photo but actually have different highlights. If you're interested in those I can make another post as a request.

Moving on, I try to categorise my collection (self-diagnosed OCD) by type and then order by colour. There are a few polishes that don't like to conform to only one category, I have outcasted them as loners!

Photo information: All photos were taken indoor but under natural sunlight (on my dining table next to the window, FYI), they have only been cropped to appropriate size but not edited to enhance colours or finish. I was lucky that the white balance was consistent throughout the photos. Again, if you'd like to see particular polishes under different lighting or the complete colour-shift, just throw me a kibble. ;) 

The Colour-Shifting Multichromes:

1. Opaques

The majority of this set consists of the Hits Speciallità Mari Moon Multigirl Modern (HM) and Unique (HU) sets. They do not have a holographic finish, so I have added a bit of silver holographic metal flakes (1/250" and 1/500") for some additional sparkle effects. Most other polishes were swatches as originals. the altered ones will be denoted with an *, and the alternation will be explained in the description.

Left to right: Unconventional (HU), Dreamer (HM), Artsy (HU), Pupa - Iridescent P157, Cutie Pie (HM), Darling (HU), Chameleon (HM), Cool (HM), Trendy (HU), and EP - I Am The Walrus,
Top row: Swatched on its own with 2-3 coats,
Second row: Swatched 1-2 coats over CG - Black Leather,
Extra (bottom): EP Octopus's Garden - dupe of Dreamer.

Colour-shift effect 

Personally, I prefer these polishes over a dark polish, as it really brings out the colour-shifting effects of the pigment. I also prefer the formula of the Hits polishes, they spread better and smoother than my Enchanted polishes and are cheaper. EP does have a better colour selection and a better holographic finish. That's just my experience with the ones I have, it'll probably differ with batches.

2. Flakies 

This type of colour-shifting polishes have relatively large and irregular particle size. Particle size explains the physical light-reflecting properties of these materials, i.e. larger particle size = more sparkly and smaller particle size = more shimmery. The coating (thermal, UV colour-changing types) also affects the colour and reflectivity of the particles, but that's a different and more complicated story. The 2 left ones in the photo below are more like iridescent glitter but who cares, but they look right at home next to the flakies. :p 

HP - Irisation, CG - Snow Globe, PP - Festival, SH - Hidden Treasure (old), Inglot - 205, HS - Jazz (matte top coat), HS - Valsa, Innisfree - Pro69, and Inglot - 204 (matte top coat).

Since most flakies are duochrome but not multichrome, I really like to mixed up ALL the colours to get a unicorn vomit (like PPs Festival but MORE)! =D 

3. Glitters

Colour-shifting glitters have a much more limited colour range compared to the pigments and flakies. So far, I've only seen four opaque metallic multichrome glitters, and the rest are actually clear/iridescent. I don't have all of them, and don't think I will, they always look prettier in photos and the bottle than in real life. 

Ozotic - 529, HS - Seapunk Mermaid, CA - Jupiter Aurora, PI - Heart Breaker*, Glam Nails (from Target), Marcia (Sasa HK), Kleancolor - Chunky Holo Bluebell, and MF - Fantasy Fire.

Ozotic doesn't make the multichrome glitter polishes anymore, but FF stocks an indie brand (Indigo Bananas) that has all four colours, if you're in Australia. Seapunk Mermaid is actually a mix between Jupiter Aurora and Ozotic 529, but Jupiter Aurora has the highest glitter density among them. Heart Breaker is a very fine green to blue duochrome shimmer, so I added some 0.008" green to blue shifting glitter to jazz it up again.

4. Glass Flakes

These ultra-thin particles are called glass flakes because they are made from borosilicate. Due to their thinness (didn't think it's real word, but it's in the dictionary), the application of the polishes is extremely smooth and the desired opacity is easy to achieve by additional coats. The flakes themselves are again transparent, but they are much more sparkly than  the other types of colour-shifting materials.

A'pieu - Aurora VL02, Ozotic - Sugar 903, Ozotic - Beam 905, TKB Starbite pigments*: Marinda Star,  Cherika Moon, Sharina Sun, Innisfree - Pro72 and Pro 73.

Covergirl - Midnight Magic, Maybelline - Brocades, PS - Galaxy Invader and Phantom Planet on its own and over black.

As you can see, the polishes in the bottom photo have smaller flakes than the ones in the photos above; therefore, creating a smoother, more metallic shimmer. I thought the Maybelline one was colour-shifting, but it's NOT. Oh well, it only cost 2 bux!

Sorry I didn't swatch the Innisfree polishes over black, I know it makes the colour-shift hard to see, but you won't be able to see the cute mixture of glitters if I did. I'm really impressed with the quality of these Korean nail polishes, they are also reasonably priced! I'll definitely be making another post just for them! <3

I have to stop here because my husband warned me that I'm screwing myself out of writing material. I think this is enough nail polishes in one post. I know there seemed to be a few pop ups of polish alterations of my own; again, I'll make a different post for  those and 'Franken' polish supplies.

I'm going to watch Supernatural now! It's finally back after the break! xoxoxo

RX-0 Unicorn Gundam Model Building

Ok I lied, the first real post is not about nail polishes but a model of my beloved RX-0 Unicorn Gundam. :3 (I need a cat face emoticon!) I guess this is what you'd call a Review of the product, with some average looking photos of the actual model. 

This post is for all the Otaku-tachi, which apparently I am one according to my students. The Mobile Suit Gundam universe is by far my all time favourite anime/manga series amongst the mecha genre. The movie-length anime series of Gundam Unicorn is in my opinion the most epic and well executed of them all. The animation and soundtrack are top notch, and the story line is not ridiculous (a lot of them are out there). Anyway, there's no need for me to rave on about it, since the post is about the model. Let's get into it.

The Package:

Maker: Bandai (Uh duh)

Product No. 0162053

RX-0 Unicorn Gundam Full Psycho-frame Prototype Mobile Suit

Master Grade (MG) 1/100 scale

Box front, didn't want to peel the price tag off in case it rips the paper underneath it. The artwork is always so pretty!

The box is 39 cm  x 31 cm  x 9 cm in dimensions, and it doesn't weigh much. If this is of any importance, e.g. shipping cost, luggage space, etc.

Side of the box with some action pictures of the completed Unicorn mode (top) and Destroyer mode (bottom).

It has the Unicorn mode, which needs to be made first. This then transforms into the Destroyer mode (full psycho-frame has pretty red pieces showing through), and some of the additional pieces need to be made separately and swapped out with the original pieces.

It comes with an instruction/illustrations booklet, which is in Japanese. Not that it matters, because the diagrams are pretty detailed and self-explanatory. There are also little warning signs you need to take extra notes before you cut out the pieces. There was one little nob on a piece that we accidentally cut off, and luckily it wasn't affecting the assembly at all. The moral of the story: Be Patient and Careful! Following the steps and don't jump ahead, or things can be mixed up.

The Making Process:

Overall the assembly of the parts is pretty straight forward. The parts are made with joints that click into one another; therefore, no glue is needed to hold them together. Again, be careful so you don't clip off the joints, lol. All the joints are pretty sturdy, so you don't need to worry about it falling apart at all!

My manicure and jewelry making tools had become unexpectedly useful in this occasion. We used the 1/4" half flush wire cutter for clipping the parts off the stencil. A 400 grit nail board for filing off the jagged edges from the cut, and a 1200 grit board for smoothing and removing obvious outlines. There was quite a bit of plastic dust from the filing, so not breathing that in would be a good advice. :p

The good thing about filing is that the model is predominantly white, so it doesn't affect the finish of the plastic. The clear plastic parts on the other hand, tend to leave an opaque mark as a result of being compressed while they are being cut. Not sure how you can avoid that and filing doesn't help much. The metallic finish parts are also tricky, as filing with the 1200 grit would dull the metallic shine. I managed to polish it back to almost the same finish with a satin finish buffing and shine nail board. I'm sure there are more appropriate and manlier tools for this job, but mine did a more than satisfactory job! :3

Pictures: Unicorn mode

We decided to finish the Unicorn mode with its full set of weapons first. I actually prefer the Unicorn mode because it's white. :) The photos have been slightly digitally enhanced to show the details of the model, only a little on the brightness, contrast and level since I'm a photoshop noob and don't know how to use other functions... I blame this on my really old shitty point and shoot, a good SLR would be nice to have for any occasion.

Trying to make poses with this thing is pretty damn hard, the joints are really rigid and without much movement freedom. It also can't hold ALL of the weapons (okay, only 4 and a shield), so you have to pick and choose what you want it to hold for the photos. There is also noooo bloody way for you to make awesome action poses like those in the box pictures without a stand and a lot of tweaking, so it's not going to happen here.

Full weapon set: 2 Beam Sabers (outer), 1 Hyper Bazooka (2nd from the left), 1 Beam Magnum (2nd from the right, comes with 2 clips but 11 rounds? o_O), and the shield (middle).

Size comparison between the 'Crouching Unicorn' and the Teeny weeny 'Honey, I shrunk the kids'-sized Pilot! <3

A functionally unfeasible but cool-looking pose, I'm sure you need both hands to fire the Bazooka. :p

If you want full-on epicness, the Full Armour version is surely drool-worthy. It won't cost you an arm or a leg, just a lot of spare time. Here is a link to someone else's master work, the workmanship and photography skills are nothing short of professional.

Extras:

Cost: 3180 Yen before tax (~ 35 AUD after tax), a total bargain! We also had a look on the internet, and it was selling at around 80 AUD. Apparently the model is classified as semi-vintage, meaning it's no longer being produced. We had to dig around quite a bit in Akihabara for this one as well, because I don't particularly like the newer versions. I'd say it was the best find from our japan trip!!

It's not much of a toy, so hubby is trying hard to give it some character - by pointing the gun at his wife!

I will update this post with more pictures of the Destroyer mode once it's complete, so hope you enjoyed your Unicorn as much as we did. Ciao!