TiNS The Neptune and China Glaze Lightening Bolt Crackle

TiNS makes the most incredible glitterbombs. Alas they are fairly expensive and rare in the US so I have to rely on... well, an MUAer by the name of TerribleTerra. She gets tons of polishes from Asia, sells the ones she doesn't want... and over the years, I must've purchased around 100 polishes from her. Nearly all my Asian polishes -- with the exception of the ones I purchased this year from Taipei -- are from her.

TiNS The Neptune

Cobalt blue jelly, chunky (but not in a dull and icky way) with different sizes of holo glitter. This was two coats and on the third day of wear (as you can see from the tipwear/shrinkage). Most TiNS glitter polishes sparkle without the benefit of actual sunlight. I. just. love.

Close-up of The Neptune

ALL sorts of holo glitter: larger hex glitter, smaller round glitter, square glitter... glitter galore!

TiNS The Neptune with China Glaze Lightening Bolt on top

This didn't turn out as well as I hoped it would. Part of it is that the white crackle never quite looks as opaque as one feels like it should. Part of it was that the contrast wasn't striking enough.

BUT! Take a peek at this pic. I wish all the nails turned out like my ring finger:

Crackle polishes were made for macro mode, don't you think?

TiNS Something Blue

Those familiar with the Asian brand TiNS are generally better acquainted with the glitterbombs that are their glittery nail polishes. I recently tried out a few of their non-glitter polishes and have found them very satisfying. I just wish these were easier to get ahold of in the US! And cheaper.

TiNS Something Blue

This is the coolest light blue frost ever. It's almost icy cold in appearance. But it flashes magenta! Usually, a flash becomes obvious when it's in sunlight. Not so with this polish: I swear, it flashes magenta more when it's in the shade. It looks kinda eerie: an icy blue with this floating aura of pink. It applied so smoothly and was opaque in two coats. My only complaint is that it's brushstroke city. But it doesn't really detract from the look of the polish, imo.

Old NOTD: Estissimo TiNS The Foxy Lady

And yes, this is one foxy lady...

TiNS The Foxy Lady

These photos don't even BEGIN to show the amazing holo glittery goodness that is The Foxy Lady. I mean, WOW. It's awesome in the sunlight because it is so chock full of holo, it's like a some sort of psychedelic party on your nails. It's great indoors too because even though the holo mostly disappears, it's still this enormously blingy polish. From a distance, it's this lovely bright silver glitter in a rose jelly. Up close, you can still see the holo effect. It's made up of a bunch of different glitters: square holo glitter, holo microglitter, silver microglitter, silver glitter. Just terribly cheerful and festive. It took four coats to get bottle color but it would make a nice topcoat at just one or two coats.

Close-up of The Foxy Lady

Video of The Foxy Lady

This is definitely a video you have to check out: the holo is just so shy when it comes to still photos. :)

Re: the brand. I have absolutely no idea whether I should be referring to it as Estissimo, TiNS or, oddly, SNiL... the "TiNS" part looks like it could be "SNiL". But since I've seen it referred to as "TiNS" on several websites, I'm going to go with that. I happened to get this one off of an NBer off of nbmarketplace at an absolute steal but it's been impossible trying to track it down otherwise. It's a Japanese brand and I can't find anyone in the US who carries it, except for maybe one place that sells it for $20 a pop (plus shipping). I've since been able to locate a website (blog?) that carries them for $15 each... with very expensive shipping. Ridiculously expensive shipping. ...I'll just track 'em down slowly, I guess.

I'm in a mood to do a really huge purge of my collection. Probably because I have a lot of work to do and I want to do something else to distract my attention... but seriously, the weight of my collection has been a bit overwhelming lately. Untrieds everywhere. Scores of polishes worn once and filed away neatly... probably never to see the light of day again. Why am I such a packrat?? There are so many polishes that I like enough to keep... but do I like them enough to wear again? China Glaze For Audrey is a good example of this: I didn't really like the color on me, I didn't really like the formula of it either... I don't really want it. But I feel compelled to keep it because it's For Audrey and because I love the name of it. Yet every time I start a purge, it's always one of the first ones I think to toss on the swap/sell pile. That and the original holo OPI My Private Jet. It's too sheer for my taste. But who knows if I'll ever find it again. But who cares if I'll ever find it again if I doubt I'll ever want to wear it?? Maybe I'll decant a mini bottles of the polishes that I want to have around but don't really want to wear, just to ease my mind that if one day, I wanted to wear FA or MPJ, I could. (Realistically, I won't.) It'll be worth less in terms of selling on nbmarketplace or swapping on MUA but if this is the only way it'll be out of my collection, then I think that's a good idea for me.

(I always feel really guilty for not just giving away my polish when I talk of purging and stuff but I do spend a lot of money on polish; I need a bit of money cycling in once in awhile. And for those cynics out there -- I'd be one of you, too -- no, I don't sell the polishes I get free from companies; I do not intend to generate profit from those.)