Today is the 5th and final collection of my Nfu-Oh swatch fest and as usual I have saved the best til last, bringing you some gorgeous polishes from the holo collection!
CRUSH COSMETICS also kindly sent me a bottle of the Nfu-Oh Aqua Base to review with the holo's as it's reported to improve application, finish and quality of the holo effect when worn as a base under holo polishes.
The Aqua Base is not like other base coats I have seen, it has a milky consistency and looks and smells a lot like hair conditioner!
Despite it's differences from other base coats it applied normally and easily, and was really fast drying. The difference it makes to the holo polishes is quite subtle I have to be honest, but the difference is more noticeable to the naked eye and not as easy to catch on camera.
Lets move onto the polish pictures where I have done comparisons with and without the base coat. The next 3 images were all taken outdoors in direct sunlight, the index and ring
fingers have one coat of the Aqua base, and the middle and little
fingers have no base coat at all. All nails have 2 coats of the actual polish.
This first polish is Nfu - Oh number 61, a very bright silver holo which almost appears blue due to the holo effect.
This is Nfu - Oh number 62, I've seen it described elsewhere as a coral pink, but I personally found it be a very neutral colour on my hands with just a warm hint of coral.
So as a reminder, in all these pictures the index and ring fingers have the Aqua Base, the middle and little fingers don't, can you see the difference? As I said it quite subtle though more noticeable in real life, the main difference you can pick up in these photos is in the holo effect itself. The colours appear stronger, there is a larger band of each colour visible on the nail, and a better variety of colours on a single nail with the Aqua Base. All in all it gives the holo effect a nice pop.
There are also a couple of other things that the Aqua Base does that are not visible in the photos at all. The holo polish dries almost with a matt finish, and during my experimentation I discovered that non of my top coats work well with this polish and they diminish the holo effect quite considerably (which is quite normal for holo polishes and foils too). The Aqua Base was great for 2 reasons, the first being that it gave a much glossier effect to the polish and so giving the holo effect a bit of extra shine, the second reason being that it gave this polish much more durability and a longer lasting mani even without a top coat.
Overall I would say the visible differences are subtle but still nice, and the fact that the base provides a better finish and durability which means I get the most out of my expensive holo polishes, makes it a clear winner to me!
Moving on from the Aqua Base to the Nfu-Oh holo polish itself, I only have good things to say about this stuff! I thought it had a really nice smooth formula and was nice and easy to apply with fantastic opacity in just one coat. The bottle can be misleading as it doesn't seem to be a holo polish at all, and it's the same when you apply it to the nail, only once this polish has fully dried does it reveal the magic of the holo! The holo effect has great strength, colour and vibrance even in artificial light, and I'm going to prove it with the next 3 photos, which were all taken indoors in artificial light, one coat of Aqua Base and 2 coats of the polish...
61:
62:
66:
I am really impressed with the colour variety of the holo effect even in artificial light, this is not something I have been able to enjoy with my spectraflair which is only really visible in sunlight.
I want to talk for a moment about something I read online somwhere about the Nfu - Oh holo polishes being notorious for their patchy and difficult application, you may have read or heard this also. It has to be said that this was not my experience at all, but during my experimentation I realised why someone might come to that conclusion!
The holographic pigments in holo nail polishes are actually tiny particles of aluminium, so these polishes are made from a good dose of powdered metal which dictates the consistency of the polish. I don't have other holo polishes to compare Nfu - Oh to directly yet, but from what I have seen of other holos, and my experiences with other Nfu - Oh collections, I believe that the Nfu - Oh are quite densly and heavily packed with this metal powder. I would bet that there is a much larger portion of metal powder than there is of actual lacquer base in these polishes, and I think that much is obvious in the application - most polishes as they dry out become sticky and tacky, but instead this polish becomes more like a powdery paste.
Essentially my disovery was that this polish is just like any other, in that the smooth application of it is drectly related to the ambiental temperature. For my pictures in artificial light, I applied the polish indoors on an evening when it was quite cold inside, and the polish applied smooth as silk. For the pictures in direct sunlight I was sat on my outside patio on a warm sunny lunchtime, (bearing in mind that we're in the Australian winter and even though it may be sunny it's only slightly warm) and I did notice that the polish had a slightly pastier consistency to it and if I took my time applying the polish it would go on a bit streaky or patchy. As I said it wasn't that warm a day and the streaking was absolutely minimal, but I can imagine what a nightmare I would end up with if I'd tried to apply this polish out on my patio on a steaming hot Aussie summers day!
In conclusion I would like to debunk the myth about the Nfu - Oh holo's patchy application. In my experience it was just the same as any other polish, it only seems different because the main ingredient gives a completely different consistency. If you apply a normal polish when its too warm, or there is a breeze coming through the window, or you have a fan on near by, you are going to get a thick, lumpy, sticky and streaky application on the nail, and it's exactly the same with these polishes, you just get patches and streaks instead because it has less lacquer and more powder. In the right ambiental temperatures these polishes really do apply perfectly, and because of the powdery consistency they also dry really really quickly, thick coats dry like thin coats, it never has a chunky appearance on the nail and it never feels tacky. These are possibly the best and fastest drying polishes I have ever seen! You can literally do an entire mani with base coat and 3 coats of polish and it will be fully dry in 10 - 15 minutes without having to worry about knocking your nails until it's fully cured.
I also discovered that these polishes are perfect for nail stamping! If you come back and visit my blog over the weekend I will be doing 2 days of nail art that I did using exclusively the Nfu - Oh polishes, that way you can see what else these polishes can do and what great effects you can get from mixing collections, and in the nail art features you will see a couple of great stamped mani's using these fantastic holo's!
If you don't have these holo's in your collection yet, I really do reccomend them, I think they are great, quality polishes, so if you want your own stash head on over to CRUSH COSMETICS where they have the full collection available.
I'll see you tomorrow for some inspiring Nfu - Oh nail art!
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