Mavala Violet Diamond

I decided to give a chance to the glitter! This is one of the Mavala autumn shades, there are six pure glitters in clear base available. The shades are quite beautiful, I took this mauve and another, flesh toned pink one for test drive. Unfortunately the glitter is not too dense in these, this is four coats and could use one more. On the other hand that property makes them very usable in layering - and the application is not too difficult, you just can't see small mistakes in this kind of polish. The surface is bit bumpy, but nothing that one coat of Seche could not handle. Removing - total PITA.

But the glitter is extremely sparkly, it reflects light insanely. I will definitely use these for some special occassions.

Second take on Frenchies: Opi Pink Before You Leap (plus some additional bling)

After my first French manicure I decided to take a look to my small polish stash, surely there had to be at least one white to try out in tips. An oh yes, several years old but still in decent condition: Mavala Izmir. This is quite soft and sheer white and I certainly would prefer slightly more distinct tips. But it applied really well, perhaps I should try other Mavala whites, too.

On top I used Opi Pink Before Leap. Not the most typical choice for French manicure, but I think that it actually works beautifully with my skintone. And although the sheer dusty rose base shade is quite dark, the white and crystal microglitter makes the tips look quite crisp.


I refreshed the look on next day with Orly Groupie, a sheer gold shimmer with randomly scattered larger holo particles.

A perfect pearl: Mavala Infinity

Mavala Infinity is a pearl finish light gray polish with a slight tinge of lavender in it and I really like it - I can't say that from many pastel pearl polishes. You see two layers here with no base or topcoat, but you can't see a single stripe or pearly blob, bubble or other imperfection so typical to pearl finish. The color is from spring 2009 Harmony collection, a small but nice range of slightly unconventional pastels. This color is quite bland in the bottle, but surprisingly nice and crisp on the nail.

Mavala has small 5 ml bottles, perfect for adventurous finger painter. I have somewhat mixed experiences about the quality, it ranges from excellent to quite hard to work with. But the basic collection and seasonal shades are readily available in virtually all local supermarkets and the nail care product range is good.