Nail Diary 06 : Etude House X Disney XOXO Minnie Collection (Minnie in the Nails #5 Minnie Silver Ribbon)+Anna Sui 411

4:30:00 PM

Hellow hellow!!!

First review of 2014 is here! Probably one of the best things about new year, a fresh whole lotta "firsts" hahaha... Continuing from the last nail entry, second part of my four-parter Etude X Disney's Minnie in the Nails series, it's #5's turn Minnie Silver Ribbon!

And here's the final result on top of Anna Sui vibrant red nail polish that you might already seen in this post (because it was sometime before Christmas and of course i had to go with Christmas appropriate color, rite...)

Before i got that Anna Sui nail polish from Lola Box, i only had this lone Anna Sui polish in my collection, it was given to me by my sister (or she might gave it to our mom who in turn gave it to me? I can't remember anymore, it was so long ago) who got it for free from buying LOADS of stuffs there (i remember she used to spend millions every time she went to Anna Sui's counter, but i think she moved on to even more expensive stuffs now *LOL*), she doesn't use loud colored nail polishes (in fact, she's so boring that she only wear several very selected shades. It comes to a point that she has to bring her own bottle to nail salons because they don't always have the shade and she'd have to cancel the appointment if she forgot to bring them-that's how un-flexible she is FYI).

It was my very first high end (or even slightly expensive) nail polish, i used to wear strictly non-branded or cheaper drugstore brands (mostly Revlon and ones that you could find it Stroberi hahahah) only before this and didn't know that nail polishes can be so even, easy to apply and pretty *LOL* (my old ones always took forever to dry and i always, ALWAYS ruined them before they fully dried! So i stopped using any for a long period of time because they were such hassle and i couldn't be bothered :P. Those days were long gone of course, especially now that i've discovered cheap and high quality nail polishes like those Korean brands and Elianto!).

This nail polish was also the very first bright and bold color i've ever had (i used to stick to pearly, pastel colors only!), so this Anna Sui nail color holds a lot of nostalgic quality for me! It's one of my all time favorite nail polish (despite it having a few flaws that i will elaborate later)-and definitely one of that i've used the most *less than half the bottle's left now*! My OCD prevents me from using new nail polish that i've never used before under any glittery/flake top coats because i feel like every polish needs their moment to be the sole point of attractions at least once (freak alert, EEEE!), and since i wanted to wear bright red polish this time round under Minnie Silver Ribbon, this one's the first (and the only one actually) that popped into my mind.

Anna Sui Nail Color 411

1 Coat of Revlon Top Speed and 1 Coat of Anna Sui 411

Now, the let's count the great things about this polish : It's super easy to apply (but not neatly, oh no... I mean it glides on smoothly and effortlessly), only needs one coat to make it perfectly opaque (like the picture above), and it smells like roses! The good kind! I am obsessed with scented nail polishes, and Anna Sui not only have the best smelling one, but also lasts the longest (but i honestly only ever try Revlon's other than this hahaha).

The consistency was quite runny (definitely not gloopy or thick) so it's pretty amazing that it's so opaque with one layer, but i suspect the runny consistency was the culprit behind its poor staying power (it chips very fast, especially tip wears. As fast as two days after application! And that's after i put on top coat) which brings us to not so good points about it. Aside from its weak staying power, it's also real messy to apply! As you can see from the photos, i managed to paint my cuticles as well as my nails *LOL*. When it might come down to wearer's fault, i don't usually make THAT much mess with any other nail polishes. But every time i use this, i never NOT make a mess.

Now, let's meet the star of this post : Minnie Silver Ribbon :

Remember in that last post i said i think every variant in this series has Minnie heads? Errr... LOL. That's INCORRECT!

Instead this one has silver ribbons/bows, small-medium-big flakes (as in non-glittery and non-shiny) in white and baby pink (the baby pink was so pale so at some point i thought they were all white haha) and some little glitters (not much, i think, so sparse and even when i managed to catch a bit of them, they were not very noticeable at all. In some nails i got probably like, 5 microscopic dots of glitters *LOL*)

I got super lucky and managed to "catch" ribbons for every single fingers on my left hand. As usual i did my right hand first (i always tackle the harder things first so i can get it out of the way-you know, in general not just nail polish related haha) and i only managed to catch ONE single bow for the entire hand (i stupidly forgot to take pictures of my right fingers! It was not super sparse though because i caught quite a bit of the bigger flakes for my right hand!). It's always been the case with these Minnie in the Nails (i have used 3 out of 4 by now), first try's always the hardest so if you're super OCD this might drive you a bit insane. Thankfully this did not bother me somehow

So sorry for the super messy application, always struggle with messiness whenever i'm using this particular Anna Sui nail polish, i'm gonna give the new glittery green one a try soon and see if it's as messy as this one

I actually managed to catch two ribbons on my point finger, but i decided it's be nicer on my thumb so i scooped it back up immediately and plopped it into my thumb :p

Final result : after being sealed with Revlon Top Speed

The silver ribbons were so shiny and pretty, it was totally attention grabbing and stunning! I am extremely attracted to shiny, glittery things (yeah, like a cat. Or a magpie :p) so i kept on being mesmerized with my own nails when i was using this :p. The silver ribbons were stunning against bright red base, but the giltters were absolutely non-visible (i doubt they will be very visible on top of pale colors anyway).

The ribbons have sort of poky edges, so i was very worried of them peeling off or getting snagged on stuffs (it was more poky and sharp feeling compared to the Minnie head from the #6), but i really shouldn't have! I guess Etude House used a very good gelly-like base for this line and it managed to hold the ribbons firmly on its place for the LONGEST time. The ribbons actually stayed intact and perfect looking way longer than the Minnie heads, surprise surprise!

Not only that, the gelly like clear polish also works wonderfully as a top coat (again, same case with the #6), like i mentioned earlier-the red Anna Sui polish doesn't have the best staying power, but with Minnie Silver Ribbon on top of them, they lasts at least three times as long! It began to chip on the 6th (!!!) day, and even then the ribbons and the flakes (which were flat and quite smooth feeling) stayed perfect! It let them be until they became (the red base) really really ugly (it was more than 10 days!!!) and i couldn't stand them anymore! All of the ribbons and flakes were still there (perfect than ever) until i take them off. Furthermore, when i tried to remove them with nail varnish remover, they refused to budge -____- until i had to use a little force, so there's really no need to worry about the ribbons falling off/peeling off! Oh yeah, just like #6 (and #4 for that matter), it dried on a decent speed.

All and all, i love love love these Minnie in the Nails, the next was always better than the previous! I guess the color combination (with the base) also become a major part to determine the final result, but so far my favorite would be a toss between this one and my New Year nails (#4 Minnie Pink Ribbon) which i will be reviewing next! Highly recommended, even my not-so-girly cousin L asked me where i bought my Minnie Mouse nail polishes (she's obvi attracted to the #6)!

Do you have any of these Minnie in the Nails? Or if you don't, did i succeed in making you want one?