outer space

Orly - Out of This World

So I guess you guys know that I am absolutely in love with Orly's Mineral FX Collection. And yes I do have the whole set. Today I'll feature Out of This World.

Out of This World is a deep violet jelly-based polish, dense with mini duochrome flakies (or glass flecks, I can't decide) whose colours shift from purple to gold.

Well okay I'm not too sure about the colours of the flakies, they do confuse me. Pictured is 3 thin coats of Out of This World on my nails (sorry for the mess on the ring finger, I was in a rush!) And the duochrome reveals mostly purple shimmer. I'm looking at my nails right now and I honestly cannot detect any obvious gold shimmer, only slivers of it in indirect sunlight. I'm pretty sure the flakes are duochrome, though I considered the possibility that it's just gold mini flakies whose sheen got drowned out by the deep purple base.

Either way, I still felt cheated that from the bottle, Out of This World looked so amazing - just check out the picture of the bottle I've included below. See all that gold shimmer shining through the side of the bottle? Beautiful isn't it! Now compare that to the pictures of my nails. Tell me - just where the hell is that gold shimmer!? :-(

I guess I can see it. If your nails are really curved you would see them along the sides of your nails. But I do wish it was more obvious anyways. Perhaps it seems this way because I didn't apply my Seche topcoat like I usually do. But anyhow, I think the lack of gold impact really steals away from the whole galaxy theme Orly was aiming for. It just loses its oomph. Perhaps I should try this colour on with Seche Vite next time.

Anyways besides the confusion with the shimmer, I realised that 3 coats is ideal for application because of the jelly base which runs slightly thin, like jelly bases usually do. But the surprising thing is that the reflectiveness from the crazy amount of shimmer flecks actually give the illusion of opacity at 2 coats, which is nice.

Anyways though I was pretty disappointed by this polish (I was expecting to be blown away, like the rest of the colours did for me. ESPECIALLY Galaxy Girl!!!!) but, its being less flashy does qualify it a very wearable polish, like the kind of polish which will be your one and only, most cherished polish. So purple lovers, this will be your baby! :-)

Well, Out of This World's vampy look (it actually looks like a vampy OPI Ink) does flatter me! I look good in dark, vampy shades. I guess this one's a keeper for me.

I also realised that this polish looks very similar to OPI DS Mystery, and hence will do a comparison between these two sometime. :-)

Till next time!

x, Ish

totally joining the cult

Cult Nails - Clairvoyant

OPI - OPI Ink

This has got to be my favourite polish, ever!!! (Possibly until I finally wear Deborah Lippmann's Across the Universe... I do love my glitters. Especially Deborah Lippmann's signature style of glitters suspended in jelly bases.) Okay anyhoos...

Clairvoyant (aka Unicorn Puke) consists of rainbow-coloured flakies suspended in a very sheer purple jelly base, designed to be used as a layering polish. I saw Swatchandlearn's swatch which featured Clairvoyant layered over OPI Ink, and was immediately head over heels in love with the combination of the flakies and the deep and shimmering purple. I think that the shimmer peeks out so nicely from between the varying sizes of flakies and are sort of ''muses'' to ''back up'' the real stars of the show - the multi-coloured flakies!!! Do you get what I mean!?? Like the muses singing back-up vocals in the Disney version of Hercules:



Hehe I love the muses!!!

Anyways back to Clairvoyant. The coverage on the OPI Ink base was excellent. As comparisons from various renowned nail bloggers have revealed, Clairvoyant is the most jammed packed with rainbow-coloured flakes out of all the ones offered by other various brands, namely Picture Polish's Festival, Finger Paints' Twisted, etc. (Oh I'm not sure about Ludurana though... I've not tried them but they have a wonderful collection of flakies which btw is going to be discontinued, as reminded by the sweet girls over at Inky Polisholicious; do proceed to their blog to find out how you may purchase Ludurana polishes!)

However, I am a little bothered by the purple-tinted base of Clairvoyant, because this limits the kind of base colour shades to be paired with the flakies. For instance any hopes of pairing it with a light colour would be tarnished (not destroyed, at least) by the altered look of the base after the application of Clairvoyant. In their defence, though, flakies are best shown off on a dark base as a dark shade can create a sharp contrast between flakes and base and hence, draw one's eye's immediately to the shiny flakes! The tinted Clairvoyant wouldn't cause any (or much, if there is) any changes to the colour of the base polish.

On a side note, the flakies in Clairvoyant look like fish food:



Oh my gosh, isn't that hilarious!?

Okay anyways to wrap up this review: dry time was excellent (it is a little fast though, considering we have to even out the flakies), OPI Ink was of course gorgeous even on its own, and the look is amazing. However, because the flakies aren't evenly shaped and sized, some flakies are thicker and hence do not permit a perfectly smooth surface to the touch after drying - unlike what I had expected. This did not bother me much though, Seche Vite always saves the day. ;-)

If you are interested in purchasing Clairvoyant, it can be purchased directly from Cult Nails' website, but only after it's been re-stocked!!! It sold out in an instant (despite being produced in larger quantities unlike its debut as Unicorn Puke where only something like 285 bottles were produced?) so I suggest you keep your eyes peeled for that coveted polish!!! ;-)

Oh Clairvoyant, thou art beautiful :'')

x, Ish