Daiso Pearl Heart

1 coat.


5 coats.

Note: This polish doesn't have a name, so I called it Pearl Heart.

This is a sheer polish in a white base, with a green flash. I'm not exactly sure whether it's buildable or not, but here it is with 5 coats. If you do decide to wear this as a sheer, the creamy base will make your nail bed look pinkier and the green flash may also distract attention, if your nails are yellowish. It's a very peek-a-boo effect at 5 coats. At some angles, it looks more opaque white, from other angles, all you can see is the bright green flash, and at other angles still, you can see your nailbed and nail line very clearly.

Daiso is a Japanese chain of stores. I'm not exactly sure what to call it, because it sells everything from paper cutters to kitchen sponges to laptop cases and to the containers in which I store my nail polish. And yeap, they do have nail polishes too. The label's all in Japanese so I can't really read it. The best thing about this awesome place is that everything, every item in it is a standard fixed price of S$2. Including this nail polish, of course.

My experience with the nail polishes in Daiso is that - it's actually not bad quality for something so cheap! Quite value for money, though I've never actually bought any of their solid colours or chunky glitters. Only their layering microshimmers like this one, and two others, I have. Nothing to complain about, perhaps I shall layer this over Black Onyx and see how it turns out!

Duping OPI Ink

Index: OPI Ink (2 coats)

Middle: OPI Black Onyx (2 coats), CND Sapphire Sparkles (2 coats)

Ring: OPI Black Onyx (2 coats), Daiso Blue Glitter (3 Coats)

Pinkie: OPI Ink (2 coats)

You know what. I actually prefer my middle finger combination over the original OPI Ink. I should never have underestimated the epic-ness of CND Sapphire Sparkles. Look at that amazing glitter! When it shines purple (which is, by the way, the exact same shade of purple in OPI Ink), it's of a very slightly larger glitter than that in Ink, and it's helluva lot more bling. The good thing about CND Sapphire Sparkles is that it also flashes blue at another angle, because it's a duochrome glitter and because it's awesome like that.

OPI Black Onyx + CND Sapphire Sparkles is definitely something like a value-added OPI Ink. I foresee myself wearing this way more often in the future. On a side note, I finally got a really good coverage of OPI Black Onyx for the first time. Previously, it's always seemed rather watery and obstinate, like I needed a few coats before it really showed the black, but this was just 2 and it came out very glossy and solid. Of course, you need to wait for a while before you can layer on the CND Sapphire Sparkles.

As for the Daiso one, the sparkles is definitely more sparse than the CND (duh, Daiso was only S$2!). Unlike Sapphire Sparkles which shines a mixture of purple and blue, Daiso flashes blue most of the time. Only at some angles can you see a hint of purple in those sparkles. Also, the blackness of the base still comes through strongly, so from afar, you're more likely to see black rather than a dark purple, as is the case for OPI Ink and CND. However, if you're one that loves black or very dark polish, and like the blue sparkles in this one, then go for it. Though more sparse than CND, the sparkliness can definitely compare.

I'm not sure if this was a fair comparison, seeing as OPI Ink was meant to be a microshimmer whereas CND and Daiso are almost foil-like glitters, but I'm glad I found the CND Sapphire Sparkles combination! Maybe I'll do a full swatch with it soon! (: