Flakey skittles (OMD challenge day 5: Skittles)

Dear readers,

Are you as surprised as I am to see me posting every day? Don't get used to it though, I'm sure I won't be able to keep this pace up when things get busier again. But in the meantime, let's celebrate my renewed blogging energy with a mani!

As I said the other day, I've decided I can't just go and buy polish and then just show it to you in haul posts, so I've set an additional challenge for myself: All manis for the OMD Rather Awesome Challenge will include an indie and/or recently purchased polish. 

That way I'll be able to get to know my new treasures and they won't just disappear into my stash to only be unearthed in a few months. I think it might also lead to a few outside-the-box manis (okay, more out there than usually) as I'm inspired or challenged by the polishes.

Today's OMD mani - skittles - isn't very unusual, but you get two for the price of one and a review to boot. 

I ordered two flakies from the models' own summer collection, despite the rather mediocre reviews. The reviews were right, the texture is quite goopy and Aqua Splash has an almost colourless base that requires three or more layers to get any sort of colour beyond a sickly green. Red Sea is better, its base is quite red and opaque in two coats.

Then last week at the drugstore I saw their store brand s-he has a flaky special edition as well and picked up three of them. Unfortunately, they're just as pallid and goopy as the others, but you have to do even more fishing to get a few flakies on your nail.  

Top row: s-he 121/285, Catrice Dark Knight, iQ gloss effect Pink Lady, LOOK unknown red, L'Oreal Lush Tangerine - Bottom row: models' own Aqua Splash, s-he 122/008, s-he 122/005, models' own Red Sea, s-he 122/006

That said, if you fish and dab carefully and use them as a topper, they look quite pretty, as you can see on the pictures. In fact, they make the perfect skittle! I really like the golden glow of the orange polish and the large turquoise flakes of the purple. My main concern is the bubbling that all of these polishes seem to generate - could that be caused by fishing for flakes?

The other mani is over just a base coat - two coats for the red, four for the others.  The red one is actually really pretty on its own, like strawberry jam. And I don't know why, but somehow I ended up liking this one better, with its subtle pastels.(Overall, though, these definitely aren't my favourite manis ever.)

Have you tried these or other flakies? Can you recommend any?

And now let's see what the others have come up with today!

The flaky nail newbie

5. Skittles :

 

Note: Any links to external blogs or stores are pure link love - no advertising or affiliate linking going on here. I paid for everything,but luckily it wasn't much.