Contrary Polish The Islands Trio

Contrary Polish is a new to me brand. The owner Carrie was so nice and sent me a whole bunch to share with you. Today, I have a newer collection from her called The Islands.

The first photo for each polish is taken in the shade. That way, you can see what the shimmer looks like out of direct sun. They're all visible and not at all of the hidden variety.

Aruba. Three coats. Teal blue with green shimmer. The colour is closest to the second photo. The shimmer in this one is the most subtle out of the three, but I think that's mostly because its complementary to the base instead of being contrasting.

Anna Maria. Three coats. Dark blue-teal with gold shimmer. This one was darker and more blue than I expected it to be from the bottle. I love the way it looks though. That gold shimmer is so perfect. I want it in a whole collection!

Santorini. Three coats. Royal blue with flaky shimmer. The shimmer bits are slightly larger than the other two which are much finer. This one is my favourite of the trio. The blue is so, so perfect. I have this on as a pedi right now... the sandals are finally starting to come out for the season ahead!

The formulas on these were all impeccable  Really smooth and free flowing. Almost opaque at two coats but all needed three to be completely even. Full size Contrary Polish is available at Llarowe and minis directly from Contrary Polish.

Pastel rainbow gradient

In case you didn't know, it's Spring here in the southern hemisphere... and today, I'm feeling the season!

This isn't much of a gradient really since the colours don't "blend" into each other. I chose to sponge on the rainbow because I didn't want to mess around with tape and getting straight lines (read: I'm lazy).

What I used:

L to R: OPI What's With the Cattitude, American Apparel L'Esprit, China Glaze Something Sweet, TBN Anna Loves It!, China Glaze Lemon Fizz and China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint. (They look so pretty lined up together!)

All sponged over a coat of Revlon Powder Puff with stars from plate M17.

I'm loving the way it turned out but I kind of wish I'd done the rainbow on the diagonal - I think it would've looked better that way. Still happy though! It's so cheerful :)

Rainbow Honey The Yokai Collection

Rainbow Honey has a trio out for this year's Halloween and I was graciously sent the three to review so... here they are!

The inspiration for the collection is drawn upon Japanese mythological creatures. Not something I am familiar with but it does sound very cool.

Kitsune. Three coats. Camel with heavy gold shimmer and orange, gold and copper glitter. I've seen this one pull quite yellow on others. It almost looks like a nude on me. Not something I'd usually go for but it worked surprisingly well with my skin. On an additional note, a kitsune is a nine-tailed fox... anyone else jump straight to this?

Kawako. Three coats. Deep denim blue with bright blue shimmer and silver flaky-microglitter. There were also large opalescent flakes which I actually did not warm to. I couldn't really spot them on the nail and they made application a little clumpy.

Oni. Three coats. A black base filled with gold flaky-microglitter and red/purple shimmer. Reminiscent of OPI Holiday Glow. I loved that one and I love this one - it's totally up my alley and my favourite of the three. I especially love how heavy those mini gold flakes are.

The Yokai is limited edition for Halloween 2012. Rainbow Honey is available here.