Wheel Q9: Magnetics from Layla and Others

I'll get back to displays later this week, but right now I want to get back into the routine of Nail Wheel Wednesday with some magnetics. As with most things polish-related, I went a little overboard when they were popular a while back. I did at least wait to buy most of the pricey Laylas until they went on clearance—I had to peel off the stickers before I photographed the bottles for this blog post.




(all two coats, with magnet applied after 2nd one for 10 to 15 seconds; as usual when doing magnetics on these wheels, it was a challenge to work with the magnets in the close, curved spaces but you can get the idea)

1. Layla Mangeffect Changing Lilac
2. Layla Mangeffect Velvet Groove
3. Layla Mangeffect Purple Galaxy [such a lovely shade]
4. Layla Mangeffect Golden Bronze
5. Layla Mangeffect Brown Sugar
6. Layla Mangeffect Golden Nugget [I might have called this one Cocktail Olive, as I see a lot of green tones here]
7. Layla Mangeffect Turquoise Wave
8. Layla Mangeffect Metallic Sky
9. Layla Mangeffect Blue Grey Flow
10. Layla Mangeffect Gun Metal
11. Layla Mangeffect Silver Galaxy [love the sparkles in this, and they lie nice and flat]
12. Layla Mangeffect Black Metal
13. Sally Hansen Magnetic Pink Force [hint of sparkle here is pleasing]
14. Sally Hansen Magnetic Marble Foil [purple marble? okay, I'd be into it]
15. Sally Hansen Magnetic Cosmic Blue
16. Sally Hansen Magnetic Slate Spark [very much like the blue microglitter in this one]
17. Sally Hansen Magnetic Atomic Alloy
18. Essence Nail Art Magnetics Witch You Were Here [used Layla magnet on this because I couldn't find my Essence one; having it separate from the cap makes it easier to manipulate but way easier to misplace]
19. Urban Outfitters Magnetic Sphere [the glitter in this and #20 does not lie flat, so I added topcoat and they still looked bumpy; it was also hard to get much magnetic effect out of them. I do like how the glitter pops in direct light, though]
20. Urban Outfitters Magnetic Planet


Bottles 1 through 6:



7 through 12:


12 through 17:



12 through 17, after cap overwrap removed:



18 through 20:

Wheel T8: Holos from Layla and Glitter Gal

It's Nail Wheel Wednesday once again. Today I have holographic polishes from Layla and Glitter Gal. Two full wheel pics for this one, both in the lightbox and in the sun coming in through the window of my studio.






1. Layla Hologram Effect Retro Pink (2 coats)
2. Layla Hologram Effect Shock Pink (2)
3. Layla Hologram Effect Red Taboo (2)
4. Layla Hologram Effect Purple Illusion (2)
5. Layla Hologram Effect Ultra Violet (3)
6. Layla Hologram Effect Cloudy Violet (3)
7. Layla Hologram Effect Misty Blush (3)
8. Layla Hologram Effect Coffee Love (3)
9. Layla Hologram Effect Flash Black (3)
10. Layla Hologram Effect Mercury Twilight (2)
11. Layla Hologram Effect Mermaid Spell (2)
12. Layla Hologram Effect Ocean Rush (2)
13. Layla Hologram Effect Jade Groove (2)
14. Layla Hologram Effect Emerald Divine (2)
15. Layla Hologram Effect Gold Idol (2)
16. Layla Hologram Effect Coral Glam (2)
17. Glitter Gal Suede (2) [looks plenty holo in the bottle, not so much out of it; not sure what that's about]
18. Glitter Gal Silver (2)
19. Glitter Gal 10 to Midnight (2)
20. Glitter Gal Dark Purple (2)


Bottles 1 through 4:



5 through 8:


9 through 12:



13 through 16:



16 through 20:


















Above detail shots were all in the indirect illumination of the lightbox; here are the Glitter Gals in direct sun:



And some of the Laylas in direct sun:



Destash notes: None of these are going anywhere anytime soon.

Fing'rs Get Spotted Swatches and Comparisons

One of the things I grabbed from the big Fing'rs display that was at WalMart a while back was the Get Spotted topcoat kit, which has a full size (.45 fl. oz.) bottle of black spotted effect polish and two mini bottles of regular polish in hot pink and blue.



The side of the box has the simple instructions (and here you get a peek at the state of my hand during swatching sessions, with four bare nails and a thumb with whatever mani I was wearing last): let base color dry completely, apply the spotted topper, let dry then add clear topcoat.



The directions say to use a thick coat of Get Spoted for "less and larger" spots or a thin coat for "more smaller" spots. In the swatch below, I went thick on my index finger (top) and tried to go thinner as I moved toward my pinky. It made a difference, but not much of one. I never managed to get a truly thin coat or all that many spots. (The base color here is Sally Hansen Hide 'n' Pink topped with Costume Jewelry.)





You know I had to do a comparison, so I rounded up OPI Black Spotted (which I don't believe I've used since last year) and Layla Bubbly Effect Black Forest (which I got thanks to Sparkled Beauty, who grabbed me some in Canada; this line never made it to my Ulta here in the states and Ulta's the only place I've ever seen Layla to buy in person).



Left to right below (over Sally Hansen Guess Blue): OPI (thick coat), Fing'rs, OPI (thinner coat), Layla. I think the Layla wins this comparison, though perhaps if I thinned the OPI and Fing'rs they'd do better. As you can see, none of them are especially easy to clean up.



I wasn't too happy with how the Fing'rs behaved up to this point, so I gave it another chance, with one finger of OPI Spotted for comparison's sake. Left to right below: 3 fingers of the Fing'rs with OPI on my pinky. The OPI is easier to work with. (Base color is Sally Hansen M-asked to Dance topped with Myst-ique Pink.)



Of these three, the Layla is my favorite. The Fing'rs was definitely the most affordable, though, and who knows maybe I'll like it better if I try thinning it. But as long as I've got the Layla I don't have to mess with that.

Holographic Comparisons Featuring FNUG

I would have posted this entry at lunchtime today but I did something I fortunately don't do very often: lost my first draft when I failed to save it at any point between when I started typing it and when I accidently closed the document window thinking it was a different window entirely. I guess I have to do dumb stuff like that every so often to remind myself why I hate doing dumb stuff like that. At least I didn't lose the photos this time; those are not so easy to replace as the words. Ah Well, onward to the comparisons I mentioned when I posted the swatches of the FNUG holographics. All of the swatches today are two coats of color over a base coat (Aqua Base for FNUG and Layla, Instant Artificials for all others, no top coat.

Let's start with the silvers. To compare to FNUG Psychedelic, I grabbed GOSH Holographic Hero (which like the FNUGs is in my stash thanks to mrsrexy), Dance Legend T-1000, and Color Club Harp on It.



Here they are on the nail, indoors, in the same order as the bottles above:



And here they are in the sunshine:



The slightly blurrier photo below highlights the differences I saw among these. The GOSH is the least holo (this newer version does not live up to the original GOSH Holographic). The FNUG has the smoothest most complex rainbow, while the Dance Legend is a bit less refined and the Color Club a bit less than that. Still, the Color Club holds up well against its expensive cousins from overseas.



I'll finish off the silvers section with a couple different angles taken in the sun:





Moving along to the light green category, I have FNUG Fantastica, Layla Jade Groove, Urban Outfitters Green Holo, and Color Club Angel Kiss.



On the nail, the differences in the base colors shows up more than it did in the bottles. The FNUG is most yellow-leaning, and the Color Club is nearly blue. Here they are indoors (again in same order as the bottles):



In the sun, all of them have rainbows; I think the FNUG wins, though, as its rainbow seems to have more colors. The Layla takes second place.



The greens in the sun from a different persepctive:





Wrapping up with the light blues, FNUG Futuristica took on Layla Mermaid Spell, Color Club Blue Heaven, and China Glaze Sci Fly By.



On the nail, indoors, the first three show hints of rainbows while the China Glaze (from this past springs Hologram collection) just looks like a metallic-leaning shimmer.



In the sun, the disparity continues. The FNUG busts out the most beautiful rainbow, with the Layla not far behind and the Color Club not far behind that. The China Glaze does look more colorful than it did indoors, but compared to the other three, it's not at all eye catching. The OMG collection proved China Glaze can do great linear holos; they just haven't their last two tries.



The blurry shot below was as holo as I could get the China Glaze to look:



I'll finish up today with a few more shots of the blue rainbows in the sun:







I haven't done the math so I can't prove it, but I believe the Color Club ones win in the dollars per rainbow category. FNUG wins in colors per fingertip.