Sparkles By Julie: Lost in Space & Strawberry Licorice

*knock knock* Anybody around? I'm truly truly sorry for disappearing for a week. Life has gotten a little busier this week - I am always heading out and hardly have the time to take a breather! xP Although I am quite free during work but I don't quite dare to work on my blog in the office. Heh.

I know that I have yet to complete the last instalment of the round-up series but I thought I would put up some newer swatches first before working on the last round-up post. Don't worry, I have not forgotten about the giveaway! It is officially over and I will be working on verifying the entries and picking the lucky winners asap! :$

So let's move on to the pretties that I have to show you today, shall we?

Lost in Space. 3 coats.
A sheer black filled with metallic blue, silver and holographic glitters of various sizes. Insanely sparkly and I can really get lost in the depth of all the glitters. You can of course layer this over black but I prefer to build up the color for the depth. The black base is slightly unusual though - it is filled with very fine black specks that somewhat resemble noise. I don't quite know how to describe it but it is pretty obvious on the first coat. It is no longer that noticeable thereafter but I thought it was pretty cool nonetheless. You can try spotting some of the specks on the glitters in the closeup on the left.

Strawberry Licorice. 3 thin coats.
A silver foil accented with pink, purple and silver holographic glitters. The glitters are very sparkly and I love how they go extremely well with the silver base. I am also pleasantly surprised that this is not as brushstroke-y as I thought it would be! I did not experience any difficulty during application and did not have to make any extra effort to do my nails carefully. *double thumbs-up!*




As with my previous experience with the other polishes by Sparkles by Julie, I had no problems with the formula - the consistency was just right and application was a breeze. The glitters are also well-distributed and I did not have to fish around for them. I should add that I've tried her full-sized bottles this time round and the brush is not unlike other indie labels (eg. HARE polish) - they fan out nicely and are easy to control.

So what do you think of these colors?
If you wish to get some Sparkles by Julie, you can hop over to her Etsy store or check out Mei Mei's Signature (the exclusive stockist in Singapore)!

xoxo,
mich

**Products provided for our honest review. Please see our disclosure page for more information.**

Gosh: Holographic

Back when I was a polish noob, I never understood the hype behind holographic polishes.
Then, as time passes, I started to understand the rainbow craze... or so I thought.
It was only when I finally slapped on Gosh Holographic that I truly understand why nail-aholics are obsessed with having rainbows on their nails:

Holy holo!!

Holographic. 2 coats without base or top coat.
A silver polish that explodes into a hella-mighty linear rainbow on your nails under the light. The holo is so intense that I was really speechless for a few minutes. Well, not really... I just kept saying "wow" over and over again. And I will say it again: W.O.W. :rainbow

The holo effect is so strong that it is also evident under indirect light:

A bottle shot under direct light because the rainbow is so pretty:

As you might have already heard, application is really tricky.
Out of curiosity, I tried applying it over my regular base coat and it was a complete nightmare. The formula is thin and bald patches appear each time I go over the spot with the brush. It was really frustrating.
Having satisfied my curiosity, I decided to apply it over my bare nails directly and it was much easier this time. I wouldn't say it applied like butter but application was smoother and there weren't any bald patches. I also didn't need any clean up. I took two coats to reach opacity.

As with most fantastic holo-s, wear time wasn't that fantastic. I think I will try the topcoat sandwich next time.

Despite the tricky application and horrible wear time, I will not hesitate to wear it again because it's just so mind-blowingly awesome:

Lusting after rainbows yet?
Unfortunately, Gosh Holographic was discontinued a long time. I was lucky enough to have won this from The Nailasaurus' giveaway a while ago. While Gosh has re-released it under the name "Holographic Hero", it appears that the holo effect is not as strong as the original.
Nevertheless, the new FNUG holo-s are strong contenders for the title of the holo-est holos so you might want to check them out!

xoxo,
mich