Catherine Arley - Holo Goodness

Catherine Arley polishes are inexpensive and fun. They take a good while to receive as they come from, get this, Eastern Europe. But they're Turkish. And the labels are in Cyrillic...but who cares? That's what the global economy is all about. Inexplicable acquisition of stuff from far away lands. Which is also pretty! I believe they are also cruelty free, so that falls in my area. I do the best I can. I slip...but I try.

I believe this one is 673. I wish they had names but they don't. So I choose to call this Grape Holo Goodness. Because it's grape, and holo, and good.

This swatch REALLY shows off the holo, I was so pleased with it. Look at all those little shimmery particles! Yummy.

I love the color of this, it's sort of muted but the sparkle makes it so special.

Kinda blurry but this is very much like what you would see in just normal life. But in focus. I hope. Or you need glasses. Whichever. But the holo isn't crazy in your face, it's pretty, it's an added dimension of shimmer and pop without the impossible to remove so you end up looking like a Vegas showgirl glitter.

And look at those cuticles, would ya? I'm not that good. This polish is, though.

Nice creamy application, gorgeous color, bunny safe (or so I'm given to understand from other bloggers), so what's not to love? Certainly not the price tag, which was something like $3.50 US when I bought mine? I think? It's been awhile.

I really love this. Look at the pretty jelly base coat with all those silver pink, blue, purple effects happening. Unless you're a straight up creme girl, and I know you're out there, you have to really like this. Or at least appreciate it.

The parting shot and it's a good one. These pictures were not taken in natural light, this was my desk lamp, for the record.

You can see some minimal wear. If past experience can be relied on, these wear quite well anyways, but I wore this with Gelous. I've been working with that, trying stuff out with it. The next mani I have to show you lasted a full 6 days before a glitter particle caught on my sweater and cause a chip. This wore probably 5 but I did a little different. I'm still experimenting. To all you who have gone before and suggested Gelous then a top coat I thank you. I was pretty unimpressed until I tried that and while I did try it before I read it, I was happy to have it confirmed by other nail experimentiosi that it was the way to go. I wasn't a flawless experiment but it yielded good results.

So the mechanics of this:

Growth Spurt (by Cosmetics Design Group who make Gelous, they are cruelty free, it was confirmed by Kelly at Kell's DIY Nails. Check her blog here: http://kellsdiynails.blogspot.com Where Kell talks about her email and while you're at it, read her blog, she's great!)

K, starting over because I get sidetracked easier than a sidewinder.

1 coat Growth Spurt
2 Coats Catherine Arley 673
1 Coat Gelous (Which never appears to really dry)
1 coat Seche Vite (Which does)

It wore so well. It's true. You guys have been singing the praises of Gelous and you're right. My Sally was sold out when I caved and decided to buy some but my next trip they had it and I bought two plus Growth Spurt, which I had hoped would help with my little peeling problem, that Deborah Lippmann's Coat of Arms didn't help. Not so far, but I'm sure I have some growing out to do, too. My nails do seem some stronger, though so we'll see. It takes a good while for anything to work, even vitamins, which I take for my nails pretty religiously, so time will tell.

I hope you like it! I think you can still get it. You could when I checked a little while ago, meaning a couple weeks.

Happy Talons!