Kester Black Review & Swatches (part 1)

My all time favourite nail polish brand Kester Black is FINALLY offering international shipping! Kester Black is an Australia indie brand and I fell in love with them when I was living in Melbourne. But when I moved back to the UK, I was unable to purchase any of the new collections and it was sad. Plus I didn't want to use any of my Kester Blacks because I was worried of wasting them or finishing them and never being able to buy new ones. It was sad.

Last week they posted online that they are offering international shipping so I instantly placed an order. I received my polishes within a week! Incredible. Anyway that haul is coming up soon, but first I wanted to do a little (long) brand review.

I swatched 12 colours. I wanted to start off with 5... then 7... then 10... and then I decided I wanted a bit of every collection so it ended up coming to 12.... I am actually planning on swatching all of my Kester Black nail polishes in the same way, so I'm sure they'll be a part 2 (or part 10) coming up soon!

Kester Black is a Non Toxic, 5 free, Vegan, Cruelty Free brand that's proudly Australian made and committed to supporting local businesses. They use sustainable production methods including using recycled materials. The colours are high shine and chip resistant. Does that not sound like the best brand ever?!

Since I started collecting Kester Black nail polishes the brand has slightly changed. The front of the bottles has changed: The red colour is the old bottle design and Blush is the new bottle design. The brushes have also changed. They started off with very skinny round brushes like the US Essie's, and now they have very wide brushes like the European Essie's. The flat wide brushes cover my nail in 1-2 brush strokes so it really is an easy application.

More info and swatches after the jump!

Kester Black Milky Way

Kester Black Milky Way

Just a quick warning, this post is going to have the most photos of the same nail polish out of all of my posts....

I love Kester Black and wanted to swatch every single colour I own. To view all the other Kester Black Related posts click here!

This nail polish is incredible. This is Milky Way - a holographic micro glitter. In the shade it looks like a silver glitter, but as soon as light hits it (sunlight or artificial) it goes crazy! I'm so happy I ended up buying this one!!

Kester Black Milky Way

I layered it over Kester Blacks Lilac for these photos. I'm sure it'll look great over tons of colours but this post is already going to have a ton of photos so I thought I'd just stick to one colour.

Anyway! Like I mentioned before, in the shade this nail polish looks like a silver glitter. Still a very pretty silver glitter, but as soon as you step into any kind of light it flashes every colour of the rainbow!

Kester Black Milky Way

It's very hard to capture the holo so I blurred the photo. Look at all that colour! It's so vibrant and you can literally see every single colour of the rainbow.

Kester Black Milky Way

Kester Black Milky Way

Kester Black Milky Way

Kester Black Milky Way

Kester Black Milky Way

Kester Black Silverbirch

Kester Black is my favourite brand. I say it allll the time! So I decided to swatch all of my Kester Black nail polishes on my blog!

Kester Black Silverbirch

Today I've got Silverbirch to show you. Silverbirch is part of Kester Black's winter collection and is a warm toned grey. In the bottle I feel like it looks a little more brown and I was worried it would be similar to buttercream, but when applied to the nails it's definitely more grey.

Kester Black Silverbirch

Silverbirch is a one coater! Out of all the Kester Blacks I own, I'd say this one probably has the best formula. The swatch to the right only has one coat and it's completely 100% opaque and super glossy. It's amazing!

As I was applying the polish it looked slightly streaky, but that completely evened itself out.

It's a beautiful neutral coloured nail polish. It's definitely a grey, but because it's got such a warm tone to it, it makes it very unique.

Kester Black Silverbirch

Kester Black Ice Cream Soda

Kester Black Ice Cream Soda

The final nail polish from my haul is Ice Cream Soda. I actually got this as a freebie from the amazingly sweet Anna (creater of Kester Black nail polishes) but you can read that story here.

Ice Cream Soda is a light lime green yellowy polish. That a great description!! Unlike all the other polishes, this has a lot of silver shimmer, that changes to a darker green as you twist the bottle, creating a frosty effect. It's such a unique colour and really reminds me of spring.

Kester Black Ice Cream Soda

This polish applied a little more sheer than the creme finishes, but regardless of that it was still opaque in two coats. It's has a very subtle colour pay off, so when it's on your nail it doesn't look too bright, more of a muted pastel type of colour.

The formula is really glossy and because of the silver shimmer it looks even more shiny. You can see the brush strokes, but that doesn't really bother me since the polish is so smooth.

This is one of those unique shades where you can't help but look at your nails.

Kester Black Ice Cream Soda

Kester Black Lilac

Kester Black Lilac

Lilac is one of the newest colours by Kester Black. It's only recently come out in the Winter Collection along with two other polishes. I only picked up Lilac because I love purples.

Lilac is like Fairy Floss's purple sister. They're pretty much identical, but lilac is slightly more purple toned and fairy floss slightly more pink. Lilac is a little more pink toned, however, than other pale purples. I feel like Rumple's Wiggin by OPI and Lilac Bloom by Ulta3 are slightly more blue toned.

Kester Black Lilac & Fairy Floss Comparison

Kester Black Lilac

The formula is fantastic. For such a light pale colour you'd expect it to be very streaky, but it looks perfect with just two coats! The thick brush makes the nail polish so easy to apply, I only need one brush stroke for an entire nail! It's a super pale purple, and I don't think any colour in my collection is quite as pale and pink toned as this purple.

Kester Black Lilac

Kester Black Fairy Floss

Kester Black Fairy Floss

This nail polish is so much more beautiful than I thought it would be. The third nail polish from my recent haul is Fairy Floss by Kester Black. I never really cared too much about pale pink shades, until I bought Pink Friday by OPI and now I can't get enough of these kinds of colours! Pink Friday and Fairy Floss are nothing alike though.

Fairy Floss is a gorgeous baby pink. It's a really light warm toned pastel pink. It's different from other pale pinks because I feel like they lean more blue toned.

Kester Black Fairy Floss

The application was incredibly easy. This nail polish comes with the thick nail polish brush mentioned in a previous post so I can get away with applying the colour with just one stroke. This way it's a very even streak free application without any chance of getting bald spots. It dries incredibly quick and for the second coat I, again, only applied one brush stroke. The colour is fully opaque in just two coats, which is amazing for such a light pastel colour. I also didn't apply a top coat, it's shiny all on its own.

Kester Black Fairy Floss

I always felt like pale pinks would be too girly and barbie-like but this isn't like that at all. It's pretty but not too girly and it's great for the spring and summer!

Kester Black Alimony

Kester Black Alimony

Another nail polish from Kester Black that I've wanted for ages is Alimony, part of the collaboration with Trophy Wife. They released two nail polishes together, Alimony and Gold Digger. I bought Gold Digger when it came out, and now I finally have Alimony.

On the Kester Black website this is described to be a bright mint green. I feel like it leans a bit more turquoise, but either way it's beautiful.

Kester Black Alimony

Like all Kester Blacks, the formula was amazing. I used two super easy coats for full opacity. There was no streakiness and it dried super quick. I didn't add a topcoat so all that gloss it from the polish itself. It's another unique colour in my collection. I make it sound like I don't have many nail polishes since everything is always unique, but I have over 100 at the moment. Half with me in Australia and the other half in the UK. I can't wait to be reunited with all my polishes!

Anyway, the colour is beautiful, super opaque and glossy! What more can you ask for??

Kester Black Alimony

Kester Black Blueberry Tart

Kester Black Blueberry Tart

The whole reason for my Kester Black haul was to get Blueberry Tart. I have been looking for the perfect light sky blue. Something that isn't as light as a baby blue, but isn't as bright or neon like Kester Black's NOW from the Architecture in Helsinki collection. I couldn't find the perfect blue anywhere. I originally loved a blue from Nail It at Sportsgirl, but when I went back to buy it, it was gone! I went to quite a few different stores, but it was no where to be found. Then I started looking What's With The Cattitude by OPI. I feel like everyone has this colour and everyone talks about this colour. Unfortunately it came out years ago and is impossible to find. I think I found it on an american eBay once but it was between $30-$40 (US)! No way. I was about to give up... until I started looking around for Kester Black swatches. And there it was. Blueberry Tart. Right there. So I had to have it. That's a long introduction to this colour!!

Kester Black Blueberry Tart

Anyway, back to the point. Blueberry Tart is the most perfect light pastel sky blue. It's darker than a baby blue, and much lighter than a traditional sky blue. I don't have any colours like this in my collection.

For the swatch I used two coats and no top coat. It's super glossy on its own. The formula was slightly more tricky than I'm used to with Kester Black. It was a little streaky but the second coat easily covered that up. I'm so in love with the colour! I'm so happy its finally part of my collection, and I'm happy that I got it from Kester Black rather than OPI or Nail It by Sportsgirl!

Kester Black Blueberry Tart

Kester Black Haul

Kester Black Tropicana Launch Party

If you've read my blog before you'll know that I absolutely love Kester Black. It's a 5 free, cruelty free, vegan Australian nail polish brand created by Anna Ross. I was first introduced to the brand on Instagram and soon after I was able to review her new Tropicana Spring/Summer collection. I was invited to their nail polish launch party, which was both for the Tropicana collection as well as the Kester Black and Trophy Wife collaboration. The photo to the right shows the two collaboration nail polishes: Gold Digger and Alimony.

Ever since then I've been loving the brand. The nail polishes are such high quality and extremely pigmented. There is a fantastic colour range from cremes in every colour of the rainbow, to rainbow holographic glitters!

Now on to the haul... I ordered 4 nail polishes from Kester Black. At the moment she's got a special Mothers Day offer where you can order 3 nail polishes for $45 instead of $17 each. I also bought a fourth nail polish because I love them so much! I placed my order on Easter sunday and received it Wednesday. Super quick shipping especially with the bank holiday on Monday!

Kester Black Packaging

The packaging is great, it was all wrapped in cute holographic paper and in special Kester Black boxes. I was shocked when I received 5 nail polishes!!! I emailed Anna a few days before about a colour she used to have in her shop called Ice Cream Soda, she told me she might have a couple left and she might put them on her website. Unfortunately I had to place my order before she had put it on her website because I'm leaving in less than a week! When I opened the boxes... there it was!! I had been searching for the colour the day before in Melbourne CBD and South Melbourne but couldn't find it anywhere. I'm so incredibly thankful, Anna is the sweetest!

Fairy Floss, Blueberry Tart, Alimony, Ice Cream Soda, Lilac

The other nail polishes I ordered were Fairy Floss, Blueberry Tart, Alimony and Lilac. It looks very spring doesn't it? The whole reason for the order was to buy Blueberry Tart. It's such a gorgeous light blue, not quite baby blue. I've also always wanted Alimony (part of the Trophy Wife Collection) as I bought Gold Digger at the launch party. I'm obsessed with purples and own every other purple by Kester Black so when Lilac came out for the winter collection I knew I had to have that too! And finally fairy floss because I'd seen the most beautiful swatches of that colour!

Fairy Floss, Blueberry Tart, Alimony, Ice Cream Soda, Lilac by Kester Black

I'm really excited to try these all out! I don't know where to start!!

Furless Cosmetics Nail Polish Review

A little while ago I received some beautiful nail polishes from the Australian brand Furless Cosmetics. Furless is a cruelty free and vegan make up brand and their nail polishes are long wearing, fade resistant and is free from toluene, formaldehyde, carmine, and dibutyl phthalate. It's a fantastic brand and I was very excited to review for them.

Furless Cosmetics Nail Polish

The four nail polishes I received are Clouded and Blah from the Discrete Collection and Baby Cakes and Attention Seeker from the Fun Times Collection.

First of all, let's have a look at how beautiful and unique the bottles are. They're amazing! I think they look very expensive and high end, even though the nail polish only retails for $12! Very clever packaging.

Furless Cosmetics Baby Cakes

Baby Cakes is this bright sky blue and part of the Fun Times Collection.  It's such a vibrant nail polish that's perfect for bright sunny days. It looks like such a fun colour and this is my perfect shade of blue. I used two coats for the swatch and the formula is very easy to work with, it just glides onto my nail.

Furless Cosmetics Attention Seeker

Attention seeker is the second polish part of the Fun Times Collection. The whole collection consists of 5 colours: a blue, purple, pink, green and red. This is a pink toned purple, leaning more magenta. In the photos they look more pink than in real life. It's another incredibly bright in your face colour. I used 2 coats for this swatch, and although you can see my nail line in the photo, I couldn't see it in real life. The formula, again, was amazing.

Furless Cosmetics Blah

The first one from the Discrete collection is Blah.  I love the discrete collection. Nude or "Discrete" shades are my favourite to wear all year round. Although I love my brights, I'm more likely to grab a subtle shade. I think Blah is the perfect name for this polish, it is a bit blah! I feel like it's an ugly pretty colour. It's a very pale green khaki type of colour. A year ago I would have hated these types of shades, but I can't get enough of it!

Again, I used 2 coats of this polish, it's a little bit more opaque than Baby Cakes and Attention Seeker. It's very unique in my collection but it reminds me of OPI's Stranger Tides, which I don't own.

Furless Cosmetics Clouded

Finally is my favourite: Clouded. I think I have fallen in love! I don't own many greys and I have no idea why not! This is beautiful! When I wore it I couldn't stop looking at my nails. Who knew a grey could do that?!

I used three coats for the swatch, but with careful application you could get away with two. The formula was just as great as the other.











I love the colours I was sent, they're so gorgeous!! And look at the bottles. It's such a unique bottle, it'll stand out in any collection. The nail polishes retail for only $12, which is very cheap here in Australia. And the quality you get is fantastic. I definitely recommend this brand, not only because of the great nail polishes, but also because they're cruelty free and Australian made.

Kester Black Architecture in Helsinki 2

This is part two of the Kester Black limited addition nail polish where I'll be showing you 4EVA. The collection is a collaboration with the band Architecture in Helsinki. Their new CD is called NOW & 4EVA, and that's what the two limited addition nail polishes are called. If you want to see swatches of NOW, click here.

4EVA is a beautiful bright pink colour, not quite neon, but almost there. Like I mentioned in the previous post, the new Kester Black nail polishes have a new wide brush, which makes application very easy. However, the formula of this nail polish wasn't as fantastic as NOW. With NOW I could easily get away with just applying one coat. It had great opacity and wasn't streaky at all. For 4EVA I ended up applying three coats, and even though the nail polish was very smooth and even, it wasn't as opaque. After three coats I could still see my nail line, which was slightly disappointing. It wasn't very obvious, and the super easy application kind of makes up for it.

The colour isn't as unique as NOW either, the photo above compares it to Kester Blacks Dragonfruit. They look identical. Sometimes I feel like Dragonfruit looks slightly darker, but that could just be me trying so hard to see a difference I just make something up. The brush is different though. Dragonfruit has the original brush, and 4EVA has the new thick brush.

Kester Black Architecture in Helsinki 1

Kester Black is my favourite brand (tied with OPI). The unique thing about Kester Black nail polishes is that they're 100% Australian made! Not only that but they are also 5 free, cruelty free and vegan. All in all an amazing brand. They retail for $17 each and are definitely worth the price. All the polishes I have tried - I own 16 - are extremely opaque and have great colour pay off.

In this post I will be discussing the first new limited addition polishes for Architecture In Helsinki. This collection contains two nail polishes: NOW and 4EVA, the title of Architecture In Helsinki's new cd. They're an Australian indie pop band, and the only band my boyfriend and I BOTH like. That doesn't happen too often!

NOW is a vibrant medium sky blue. It's such a beautiful colour and very unique in my collection. The only similar looking colour I own is OPI No Room For The Blues but that's a little darker and much more muted true blue, whereas NOW leans more towards cyan. The photo doesn't show the difference is colour as well as I'd like.

The new Kester Black nail polishes have a new type of brush. It's a thick flat brush so it makes application very easy. For the swatch to the right I used two coats. As I applied the first coat I noticed quite a bit of streakiness, but as it dried that evened out nicely. With careful application you can easily get away with applying one coat, I decided to add a second coat anyway. The result is beautiful, I took the photo when the nail polish was completely dry and didn't use a top coat. You can see how shiny it is!!

I would say this is more of a spring/summer colour and seeing as it's autumn in Australia right now I won't wear it as often. That being said, I am super excited about this colour and because of the easily application it'll be a great colour for my travels!