Catrice IcoNails 36 Ready to Grape Off!

Nov petak, nova tema za manikir i nov razlog da napišem koju na blogu. Danas mažemo poslednji lak koji nam je ušao u kolekciju. Poslednji put sam lak kupila u martu 2018. godine, ali sam dobila nekoliko na poklon u međuvremenu od prijatelja i kolega te je tako i ovaj lakić našao put do mene. Firma za koju radim već nekoliko godina organizuje Secret Santa i mene je zimus izvukao kolega sa kojim nisam blisko sarađivala tako da se konsultovao sa koleginicom koja mu je lepo rekla da ja volim nenormalne karmine. Kolega je mislio da ga zeza (muško je pa nije registrovao da sam zaista na posao dolazila sa plavim, zelenim i sivim karminima, ali želim da mislim da oni zapravo na meni izgledaju normalno te da možda zato niko ne zapaža ništa neobično) te mi je uzeo savršeno normalan crveni karmin (skoro djup za jedan od mojih omiljenih ruževa koji se više ne proizvodi) i podjednako normalan vampičan lak. Pun pogodak po obe stavke, ali moram da dodam da, ako tokom čitanja teksta budete imali utisak da ga je pisao Valdorf ili Stetler, to je samo zato što je Catrice uspeo da udari na nekoliko stvari koje me iritiraju. I zato što postajem sve starija.

Another Friday, another theme for a mani and another reason to put a word or two out on the blog. Today we are wearing the latest additions to our nail polish collections. Now, I last bought a polish in march 2018. but I did get some as gifts from friends and colleagues. Okay, just one colleague. The company I work for has been organizing Secret Santa for several years now and my Secret Santa was a coworker I haven't worked with particularly closely so he consulted another coworker who, quite rightly, told him I love crazy lipsticks. My Secret Santa thought she was pulling his leg (he's a guy so naturally he wouldn't notice that I was coming to work with green, blue or grey lips, although I like to think they look normal on me so that is why he didn't think it strange) so he got me a perfectly normal red lipstick (almost an exact dupe for one of my favourite discontinued lippies) and equally normal vampy polish. He hit bulls eye on both accounts, but I need to stress that, if you feel like this post was written by Waldorf or Statler, that is only because Catrice managed to trigger a couple of my peeves. And because I am getting older.

Catrice IcoNails 36 Ready to Grape Off! je jedan od lakova iz originalne postavke kada je Catrice 2017. godine izmenio celu ponudu lakova, brending i ambalažu i još uvek je u ponudi. Hajde za početak da kažem nešto o ambalaži. Stare cilindrične bočice su zamenjene kvadrima i, mada je oblik bočice uglavnom pitanje li;nog ukusa, nema spora da su nove bočice zgodnije za slaganje i troše manje prostora. No sam oblik bočice nije važna stvar već poklopac. Da bi se bočica otvorila, treba skinuti nepotrebno veliki poklopac kako biste došli do drške četkice. Ovo nije ništa novo za lakove i nervira me kod skupih lakova isto koliko i kod jeftinih. Catrice na sajtu tvrdi da je poklopac napravljen od 90% reciklirane plastike, ali taj je poklopac sasvim nepotreban. Osim estetskog doživljaja ne služi nikakvoj svrsi, tako da pokušaj da se predstave kao ekološki osvešćeni u potpunosti propada.

Catrice IcoNails 36 Ready to Grape Off! is one of the originla lineup from 2017. when Catrice replaced their entire nail polish line, branding and packaging, and it is still part of their line. Let's say something about the packaging. The old cylindrical bottles have been changed into cuboids and, while the bottle shape is for the most part a matter of personal taste, there is no question that the new ones are more convenient to store and they waste less space. However, the bottle shape is not important, but the cap is. To open the bottle, you need to remove unnecessarily large plastic cap to get to the brush handle. This is nothing new in nail polishes and it annoys me as much in high end polishes as in the drugstore brands. On their website, Catrice claims that the cap is made of 90% recicled plastic, but that cap is entirely unnecessary. It serves no purpose so their attemt to present themselves as environment friendly is a fail in this case.

Hajde da napišem koju i o samom laku. Nisam ranije probala IcoNails lakove te nisam znala šta da očekujem. Posebno od nečega što se predstavlja kao gel lak (zapamtite, ako se ne suši u lampi, nije gel). DakleM, ovo je lak sa efektom gela (šta god to značilo) koji na ambalaži tvrdi da je postojan do 7 dana. Ako im gel znači da je čudne konzistencije, ni redak ni gust, ali ne taman kako treba i da tokom mazanja četkica ostavlja tragove, ovo je gelasto. Ako im znači da se i pored toga sam izravnava i ima prilično visok sjaj, i to je tačno u ovom slučaju. Zaista sam isprva bila razočarana time kako se maže, ali sam se prijatno iznenadila kada sam videla da se sam iznivelisao, tako da se spremite na malo nezgodnu formulu, ali veoma zadovoljavajuć krajnji rezultat. Ready to Grape Off! je prava vamp purpurna bordo krema. Zbog visokog sjaja na slikama izgleda svetlije nego što zaista jeste, ali nije toliko taman da deluje crno umesto bordo. Lak je uživo tamniji nego što deluje u bočici jer tamni kako se suši. Dva sloja su potrebna za punu boju i pokrivanje.

Let's say a word or two about the polish itself. I haven't tried IcoNails polishes before so I had no idea what to expect. Especially from something that is marketed as gel polish (remember, if you are not curing it in a lamp, it is not gel). Anyhow, this is a gel effect polish (whatever that means), that claims on the bottle that it lasts up to 7 days. If gel means that it has an odd formula that is not thick, not thin and not right either and that brush will leave ridges as you paint your nails, this is gel. If, on the other hand, it means that despite what I just wrote it will self-level and have a high gloss, that is true as well. I have really been disappointed by application, but I was pleasantly surprised when it self-leveled so be prepared for a bit tricky formula, but a satisfactory end result. In terms of colour, Ready to Grape Off! is a vampy burgundy creme. Because of aforementioned high gloss, it looks lighter in photos than in real life, but it is not that dark in person that it looks black. It is also lighter in the bottle than on nails because it dries darker. It takes two coats for full colour and even coverage.

Sve slike su snimljene na dnevnom svetlu. Imam dva sloja laka i nemam nadlak. All photos were taken in natural light. I have two coats of polish and no top coat.