Having had my nails completely ruined approx a week ago when hubby and I got down and turned the entire flat upside down, scrubbing and cleaning like maniacs – yes, I completely forgot to put on some rubber gloves. Nails were pretty much a non-existent noun ever since so I'm beyond excited to feature a nail polish/nail art type of post at the blog. Things have been a tad boring due to this cleaning mishap and I've mostly been rocking bare nails under a layer of OPI Nail Envy Maintenance (bless the inventor's heart!) and I've been aching to inject some color! Remember when I reviewed the stunning nail beauty that was Sheen Merlot? That was my last nail polish love I can remember and I knew I have another nail polish from the brand so I've decided to give it a go although I have worn it a few times before but it hasn't made a lasting impression on me. Now, I know lots of people prefer red nail polish on longer nails but ever since I can remember (from high-school days even) I know I was always on the short nail team. I think the color red doesn't look too provoking if worn on short nails. However, if your wish is to provoke – let out some steam and more power to you! In my case, I like bold nails but still adjustable to various make-up looks. That's how my heart settled for Max Factor Glossfinity Gel Shine Lacquer in Patent Poppy (25) in combo with my cobalt cool blue sweater. I love the contrast – color blocking at its finest!
Nakon sto sam u potpunosti unistila nokte prije cca sedam dana dok smo muz i ja prevrnuli cijeli stan naglavacke i ocistili ga opsesivno detaljno – shvatila sam da uopste nisam nosila zastitne gumene rukavice (lekcija naucena). Nokti su od tada nepostojeca imenica tako da sam vise nego uzbudjena sto nakon duzeg vremena na blogu imam post upravo o manikiru. Jos od epizode sa ciscenjem stvari su bile dosta dosadne sto se tice izgleda noktiju – vecinom su bili u fazi oporavljanja pod slojem OPI Nail Envy Maintenance tretmana (nikada se necu moci dovoljno zahvaliti njegovom tvorcu). Naravno da sam poslije svega pozeljela unijeti malo boje u njihov zivot. Sjecate se recenzije prekrasnog srcolomca koji je Sheen Merlot? Upravo taj lak je bio moja posljednja lakoholicarska ljubav no potom sam se sjetila da u kolekciji imam jos jedan lak od istog brenda te sam ga odlucila prosetati na nokticima (iako sam ga vec nosila par puta ranije no nije me narocito dojmio). Ovaj put je zaista zablistao te je zasluzio mjesto na blogu. Inace, znam da dosta ljudi preferira crveni lak za nokte na duzim noktima. No, jos otkako se sjecam prvih iskustava sa crvenim lakom (od davnih srednjoskolskih dana), znam da sam oduvijek ga nosila na kracim noktima. Iz nekog razloga, cinilo mi se da crveni lak nije isuvise provokativan ako ga kraca duzina ‘umiri’. Ako je pak vasa zelja da budete provokativni, onda odlicno – nosite svoj crveni lak prema svom raspolozenju jer ne treba odstupati od svojih zelja i ukusa. U mom slucaju, primjetna crvena na noktima je uvijek u mirnijoj izvedbi kako bi bila prilagodljiva razlicitom make-upu. Zato se moje srce smirlio kraj Max Factor Glossfinity Gel Shine laka za nokte u nijansi Patent Poppy 25 (11,95KM) koji sam kombinirala sa kobaltno plavim dzemperom. Zaista mi se dopada kontrast – color blocking u najboljem izdanju!
As the name suggests, this nail polish range features a gel kinda effect formulation which has its own upsides and downsides and it's all up to your preference if you'll include such nail polishes in your own collections. I do like how glossy these nail polishes are, they dry really fast but you need to take care not to apply an overly thick layer. You also don't need more than two coats for full opacity as I'm sporting on photos and such formulations tend to last pretty well on my nails. Downsides would include the manipulation of the thickness of your layers. Gel-like nail polishes sometimes make the nail plate look chubby if you're not careful and that doesn't look good (especially on short nails). I think I did fairly well, not applying too much and with only two coats I've achieved a stunningly glossy effect. Patent Poppy (25) is a beautiful, timeless orange/red with a very, very subtle pinky shimmer that is so fine it gets lost if you apply a top coat over. It's not a wintry red per se but it has such a vibrant, happy vibe and I think its name suits it perfectly – it does look like a happy red poppy in a field and stands out. I've decided to spice things a bit and I've added some accent white nail jewels in the form of white dots. I do like how everything turned out even though it's all so simple (as usual). I think that there is something special about simplicity and I cannot not appreciate it.
Kao sto naziv i sugerise, ova linija lakova za nokte je specificna po tome sto ima formulaciju koja imitira efekat geliranih noktiju. Prema vlastitom iskustvu mogu reci kako ova vrsta lakova za nokte ima, kako prednosti, tako i mane. Dopada mi se visoki sjaj koji pruzaju, suse se jako brzo ali samo ako ste dovoljno spretne da ne nanesete previs gust sloj preko nokatne ploce. Takodjer vam sa njima nije potrebno dosta slojeva vec su jedan do dva sasvim dovoljna za potpunu prekrivnost (kao sto mozete vidjeti na fotografijama). Uopsteno ovakve formulacije na mojim noktima imaju solidnu trajnost tako da sam i ovim zadovoljna (cca 3-4 dana a do 5 sa bazom i nadlakom). Mana bi bila upravo ta manipulacija debljinom nanesenog sloja. Ako lakove koji imitiraju efekat geliranih noktiju nanesete u previse debelom sloju, ciniti ce da nokatna ploca djeluje debeljuskasto (nesto sto ne izgleda dobro niti na jednom a pogotovo ne na kratkim noktima). Cini mi se da sam se pristojno snasla za ovaj put i zaista mi se dopada kako sam sa samo dva sloja postigla potpunu prekrivnost i visoki sjaj. Patent Poppy (25) je prekrasna, bezvremenska narandzasto/crvena nijansa koja sadrzi izuzetno, izuzetno sitan shimmer blago ruzicastog odsjaja a koji se u potpunosti gubi ako preko ovog laka nanesete nadlak po zelji. Ne bih rekla da je ova nijansa bas stvorena za zimske dane no posjeduje tako veseo ton i naziv je ovoj nijansi savrseno dodijenjen – stvarno me podsjeca na slike u kojima na polju jedan zarko crveni cvijet maka stoji ponosno. Odlucila sam i da dodam par sitnih nail art ukrasnih kamencica u obliku bijelih tackica. Dopada mi se kako sve djeluje na kraju iako je vise nego jednostavno (znate me vec do sada, uvijek preferiram jednostavnost).
*Some of these products may have been sent to me for review. For more information, see my disclaimer.
