Manic.Monday: Ember Red

A few weeks ago I showed the first out the two Models Own Artistix Duo (£6) that I bought at the beginning of the year. It's a really fun nail art range in the same style as Revlon's Moon candy and there are twelve amazing duos to choose from. The first one I showed was Terra Crystal which is a lovely combination of coffee brown with pink crystal top coat that creates a really interesting and gritty textured concrete glam effect. Today's duo called Ember Red is a very different look, but equally lovely. The base shade Hot Red is a warm dark red, almost maroon shade and it's paired with the Ember Glow top coat, which is a glorious glitter polish with golden red, orange and bronze particles.

I've tried several nail polishes from Models Own before and I've always been very happy with the formula - it's not watery, it's quick drying, it's richly pigmented with a lovely glossy finish and it comes with a decent brush. Since Hot Lava is fairly dark, you only need one coat for a lovely rich coverage although as usual I've added a second coat for a truly opaque look. It's definitely a classic dark red shade and it looks very stylish and sophisticated on its own, you really don't need the amazing top coat, but since it is a duo product it would almost be rude not to use it - and we don't want to be accused of that now do we?

The formula of the top coat is a bit more thick than the base shade and it also takes a few mins longer to dry. Even though the brush isn't particularly wide you still get quite an even distribution of the glitter particles over the nail, although as always with glitters you may need to move some of the particles around on the nail before they set to get the look you're after. Ember Glow is an amazing glitter coat. I absolutely love the combination of the bronze golden glitters and it's not a color mix that you see very often. It's a perfect match with the dark red base shade and it really brings out the brightness of the orange and gold glitter but I would imagine that Ember Glow also would be a lovely combination with e.g. green, white or even a purple, so I'll definitely continue to experiment with it.

Since we all prefer different amount of glitter on our nails I've done exactly as I did with Terra Crystal, i.e. I'm showing you how the look changes depending on how many coats of Ember Glow you apply. With one coat only, you'll get a subtle and alluring look but it's still eye catching and interesting. Should you apply another coat you get a richer and more opulent look, that is perhaps more suitable for a party and with a third coat, you've definitely amped up the glitter but the coverage is so dense that you almost can't see the base shade.

From left to right (in natural light):

  Hot Red (2 coats)

Hot Red + 1 coat of Ember Glow

  Hot Red+ 2 coats of Ember Glow

Hot Red + 3 coats of Ember Glow

I'm not usually one to go for the minimal look when it comes to glitter, on the contrary I tend to shamelessly bling it on but in this case I actually prefer the look where I've only used one coat of Ember Glow since I think the base shade is so lovely on its own that it's a shame to cover it completely with glitter, and one coat gives just the right lovely balance of the smouldering golden glitter glow against the dark, warm background. Using one or two coats of Ember Glow will give you about 4 days of wear before it starts to chip, and if you go for a denser glitter look, I would say it lasts about 2-3 days so wear is shorter, although it's also easier to remove without having to use acetone.