Tag Archives: turquoise

Nicole By Opi Diva Into The Pool nail polish review

Posted on July 15, 2011 | 8 comments

Believe it or not, I have been wearing nail polishes other than coral this summer. My next pick has instantly become one of my favourite polishes full stop, summer or otherwise – Nicole By OPI’s Diva Into The Pool.

Nothing’s as bad as a pun that doesn’t quite work right?! Even Diva In The Pool would make more sense. But don’t let that put you off. Anyone with a weakness for turquoises – see my responses to Zoya’s Charla and Essie’s Turquoise & Caicos to see which camp I’m in – will definitely want to dive headlong into this colour. It’s a shimmering tropical aqua, as cool and refreshing as dip in the water.

It’s a little green-leaning but has an immaculate crystal-clear finish, with a finely-milled glitter that’s similar to Zoya’s trademark foil effect. I was initially worried at the extremely sheer first coat, but you get a gorgeous wash of colour after just two coats, although you could go for three for extra opacity if you wish. The polish was a nice consistency, extremely easy to work with, and I have to say I prefer Nicole By OPI’s flatter brush to OPI proper’s fat one – I’d say it’s most similar to China Glaze’s brush, though Nicole’s seemed to fan out even more nicely.

As my first Nicole By Opi, I do have to rant about the bottle shape though. Whoever designed this is clearly not a person with a make-up stash! One bottle of polish taking up the space of two – madness! As anyone with nail polish bulging out of their drawers will tell you!

I just love how clear, clean and crystalline Diva Into The Pool looks – as beautiful as the tropical oceans you always see on holiday programmes and heavily-photoshopped brochures. It’s a glowing aqua that got me tons of compliments; you can see how exquisite that fine-shimmer finish is even in close-up.

Sparkling without being a show-off and in such a stunning shade of turquoise too… is it any wonder I was won over by Diva Into The Pool? And after these pictures, I fully expect you to be too!

Looks good with: summer, swimming pools, sunglasses
Drying time: 7 mins
Coats required: 2-3
Chips: 3 days

Nicole by OPI Diva Into The Pool nail polish, $75, selected Sasas

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Tagged aqua, Beauty, beauty spot, best glittery nail polishes, best turquoise nail polish, cosmetics, Diva Into The Pool, glitter, make-up, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, Nicole By OPI, review, shimmer, summer, swatch, turquoise

China Glaze Passion In The Pacific nail polish review

Posted on May 18, 2011 | Leave a comment

Whilst I was desperately seeking Turned Up Turquoise, I ended up buying a bottle of China Glaze’s Passion In The Pacific to fill the tropical turquoise void in my life. Well, you know, the one that hadn’t already been filled by Essie’s Turquoise & Caicos.

I initially thought Passion In The Pacific would be a shimmery zingy emerald to Turned Up Turquoise’s true turquoise hue – but in fact, they ended up as much closer cousins than I would have imagined. Just like Turned Up Turquoise, Passion In The Pacific becomes a lush jewel-toned turquoise in the brightest artificial white light and just like Turned Up Turquoise, it’s a standard summery palm tree green practically any time otherwise.

The main difference is the finish. Whilst Turned Up Turquoise has that trademark semi-matte finish of most neons, Passion In The Pacific is a definite ocean-in-the-sunlight shimmer. I’d even be tempted to call it a frost, if it didn’t seem utterly strange calling a colour evocative of beaches, summer and sarongs something so cold, stark and wintry.

I had all kinds of problems with it though. I don’t know if this is because Passion In The Pacific is an older polish so has a different formula than the China Glazes I know and love or if I just got a dodgy bottle, but it was dishearteningly difficult to work with. Extremely thin, watery and streaky, prone to air bubbles, looooong drying time and brush-strokey finish when dry. I hated it. As usual with polishes I hate, that meant it decided to stay with a vengeance – I managed a full week chip-free before I finally caved in and ditched those mocking air bubbles.

Under bright artificial light (plus flash)

The colour pay-off is a nice summer bright but probably not that unique – if I’d have known that it was so similar to Turned Up Turquoise, indeed if I’d have known I’d find Turned Up Turquoise in the first place, I probably wouldn’t have bothered. After all, there are enough top coats in the world that could probably recreate that oceanic shimmer, except without all the application problems and maybe look even better.

In short, Passion In The Pacific is a great summer colour – but only if you can’t find any other similar alternatives! Looks like he’ll be enjoying his beach-side cocktail on his own!

Looks good with: tropical brights, bikinis, cocktails with umbrellas in
Drying time: 10 mins
Coats required: 3-4
Chips: +7 days

China Glaze Passion In The Pacific nail polish, Spring/Summer 2006 Fiji Fling Collection, $60, Cher2

China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise nail polish review

Posted on May 11, 2011 | Leave a comment

Have you cottoned onto the fact that I like turquoise – a lot – yet? It should come as no surprise then that, after seeing pictures of China Glaze’s Turned Up Turquoise on some blogs, I just knew I had to claim that turquoise for my own too!

Part of the Summer 2008 Ink Collection, which were somewhat bizarrely based on the hues of tattoos, it proved pretty difficult to track down – but as you know with me, the journey is half of the fun… or something like that (see tracking down Gosh Cosmetics, flakies and even Waterball Bay for further evidence!). The whole collection is made up of bright buzzing neons that practically jolt you to attention and Turned Up Turquoise is no exception. It’s an intense saturated turquoise colour that floods the senses with its zing. So far, so amazing.

But unlike Essie’s Turquoise & Caicos, I don’t think I can describe this as true turquoise. It’s simply not content to be just one colour! Turned Up Turquoise is a bit of a tropical chameleon in a way that I don’t think most Internet swatches have shown. Sometimes, it really would look like the perfect turquoise adrenaline rush; other times, it leaned massively towards a mouth-watering candy-coated green. All the pictures on this page were taken in daylight (apart from one I’ll mention later), with only minor adjustments to hand positions and the natural variations of sunlight and shade to blame for how differently they all turned out!

The greenest shades remind me of the most vibrant green of cartoon palm trees whilst the most truly turquoise make me think of the clearest, jewel-like tropical oceans. Either way, they’re all violently vivid, although some seem to have had a heftier dose of lime juice than others. As you may guess, my favourite hue is the most traditionally turquoise one… but to guarantee that colour, you have to stay in the brightest sunlight or the whitest lighting possible at all times!

Like many neons, Turned Up Turquoise dries to a semi-matte finish. I think it might look even more awesome glossy, but the matte effect is stopped from falling flat by a slight shimmer that’s been thrown into the mix too. It proves somewhat elusive to catch in photos; the slightly blurry one below taken under artificial light comes closest to capturing the subtle glow that stops it from looking chalky and dull.

Application-wise, I found it a little difficult to work with simply because, like many mattes, it dries quickly. Unlike all those OPI Suedes that I’ve loved, Turned Up Turquoise seems to have a thicker consistency that meant it was difficult to make perfect, without visible brush-strokes, in the short time before the lacquer started setting. Even though the colour was so strikingly strong and intensely-pigmented to only require one coat for opaque coverage in a colour that looked exactly like it did in the bottle, you might need to go for two just to try and clean things up a bit. But like the other matte finishes I’ve tried, this didn’t wear too well, with chips appearing after just one or two days.

Turned Up Turquoise does have its faults, but for that extreme rich colour pay-off, it’s definitely worth it. When it does decide to give you a glimpse of its turquoise side, it’s a turquoise so eye-poppingly amped up to the max that you’re shocked into submission, yet without appearing garishly fluorescent. And hey, those green shades aren’t too shabby either, right?

Looks good with: neons, high contrast, high NRG
Drying time: <2 mins
Coats required: 1-2
Chips: 1-2 days

China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise nail polish, Summer 2008 Ink Collection, $160, Nails From The Heart, Admiralty Centre

Zoya Charla nail polish review

Posted on November 24, 2010 | 1 comment

What could be better than a true turquoise nail varnish? Why, a sparkly turquoise nail varnish, of course!

Zoya’s Charla is an entirely different kettle of fish from Essie’s Turquoise & Caic os though. Whilst Turquoise & Caicos conjured up images of sun-kissed summer beaches enjoyed with an exotically-coloured cocktail in hand, Charla dazzles from the ocean’s depth. It’s pure mermaid’s tail, which has always been one of my ultimate favourite colours.

Sparklier than a star-strewn night sky, this is the definition of iridescence in a bottle. It’s the perfect balance between shimmering blue and glittering green, giving that exact shade of fantasy fish scales that’s straight out of fairy tales.

As ever with Zoya, the brush was a pleasure to work with, ensuring smooth even coverage with just a few strokes (so far, Zoya has a 100% hit rate in leaving no air bubbles). Glittery nail polishes tend to be quite sheer but it built to an intense opacity after three coats, or two wetter-than-normal ones. Similarly, although I find glittery nail polishes also tend to chip easier, Charla was in it for the long haul – staying put with as much longevity as Gaga on the charts. Normally, glitters reserve their non-budge properties for when you’re trying to remove them and although Charla did require a little more elbow grease, I was pleased that a colour as strong as this didn’t stain my nails or fingers afterwards.

This is definitely a colour for nights out, partying and bringing out your inner sparkle. However, I adore the mermaid shade Charla makes in the daytime so it would be criminal to waste it on the midnight hours alone (incidentally, it becomes much more of a forest green under artificial light, as I’ve tried to show with the photo on above – as always, click for enlargements).

Dazzling, enchanting and just that little bit magical, Charla is everything a glittery nail polish should be. Just don’t tell the mermaids you stole their mojo, Zoya!

Looks great with: bright colours, black, smile set to stun
Drying time: 3 mins
Coats required: 2-3
Chips: +5 days

Zoya Charla nail polish, Summer 2010 Sparkle Collection, $80, Cher2

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Tagged Beauty, best glitter nail polishes, Charla, cosmetics, glittery, make-up, mermaid colour, nail lacquer, nail polish, nail varnish, review, Sparkle Collection, sparkly, swatch, teal, turquoise, where to buy zoya in hong kong, Zoya, Zoya Charla

Essie Turquoise & Caicos nail polish review

Posted on October 8, 2010 | Leave a comment

OK, so the taupe nail polish didn’t last long. But if I said I was so in love with OPI’s Over The Taupe, then I’m at a loss as to what superlatives to use for Essie’s Turquoise & Caicos. It’s pure love in a nail polish.

Lusting after someone else’s aqua nails was what set me off on the nail varnish road of discovery in the first place, so it was inevitable that sooner or later, I’d be turning my talons turquoise. And Essie’s Turquoise & Caicos is the truest tropical turquoise you could hope to find.

(Don’t be fooled by Essie’s own photo of Turquoise & Caicos, above, which makes it look dull, muddy and green. It’s none of above.)

Putting it on makes me feel like Malibu Beach Barbie. It gives an instant feeling of sun, sea and summer – especially great since now autumn is breezing in, I’m desperately trying to prolong that summer feeling. It’s a bright colour that never fails to pop whatever shades you pair it with, but does so without feeling too bold and brash. It’s cute, like a My Little Pony or a mint choc chip sundae, and fun, like a summer beach party. But it’s also surprisingly versatile and doesn’t instantly scream pre-school, like so many of the other ice-cream colours that were marketed this season. And it’s very very pretty.

As for the nail polish itself, I have to profess myself a greater fan of Essie than OPI. The dinky square-shaped bottle, with ‘essie’ embossed on the glass and the white cap with trademark ‘e’ on top, is a lot more aesthetically pleasing than OPI’s chunkier container. Similarly, Essie’s brush is smaller and thinner, which I found a lot easier to work with, and it dried a whole lot quicker and chipped a whole less sooner than OPI too.

However, the consistency of Turquoise & Caicos lets Essie down – the first application is thin, watery and streaky. The second application basically does what the first application should have, whilst a third application is necessary if you want a really consistent, even finish. Nevertheless, I was impressed with the creamy final finish, which was smoother and more self-levelling than OPI’s, even if it took a few more coats to get there. And the overall effect more than makes up for it – lushly gorgeous, it was like I’d dipped my fingers into a particularly beautiful ocean.

[One trick that works is if you don’t wipe much polish off the brush for the first application, so the initial coat is very wet and thick. This means that the colour is strong enough to get away with just two coats, although there can be a slight issue with air bubbles – but these get painted over effectively with the second application.]

If anyone had Crayola’s colouring pencils when they were little (I know my entire class seemed to!), it’s as if someone distilled the shade labelled simply ‘Turquoise’ into a bottle. And I have a feeling I’ll still be trying to re-capture that summer spirit by wearing Turquoise & Caicos well into winter. So meet me at the cocktail bar… I’ll be the one with the turquoise nails!