A Week of China Glaze

I wore some China Glazes this week. First up is Twilight. This one is an oldie. I found it dustying. It has an older white label, but I was unable to find out when it was released. It is still fairly to easy to find for retail price on Ebay. 

Twilight is a berry-colored shimmer. It doesn't really fit the name Twilight for me. My mind immediately things of dark colors, or even the Twilight franchise. 

For it being an older formula, it applied very nicely in two smooth coats and didn't take long to dry at all. The formula definitely smelled like it wasn't 3-free.

Here's a picture taken indoors without the flash

And one taken with the flash.

Next is I'm With the Lifeguard. This one was a more recent release as it was part of last summer's Summer Neons collection.

I'm With the Lifeguard is a super vibrant neon green! I'm a huge fan of greens, and I was excited to get my hands on this one.

I'm With the Lifeguard has a subtle shimmer effect to it. It's somewhat difficult so see just because the bright green almost blinds you.

Application was pretty nice for a neon. This took three coats and dried to a satin-finish.

I just had to take a picture of it indoors with the flash because the flash does magical things to neon polishes.

This combo is China Glaze- Techno layered over Wet n Wild- Wet Cement.

Techno was originally released in the 2009 Speciality Colors collection but then re-promoted in the Spring 2012 Electropop collection. This is when I picked my bottle up.

It is filled with medium pieces of prismatic silver holographic glitter, and also has some tiny pieces of glitter.

Application was very simple and it only required one coat.

I used Wet n Wild- Wet Cement as the base color. It is a nice muddy-slate colored creme. It is part of the current Megalast line and it is easily accessible in drugstores. I was blown away with the application of this. The Megalast bottles come with a large brush, and it surprisingly conforms to the shape of my nails pretty well. Two thin coats of Wet Cement was all that I needed for a flawless finish.

Here's Wet Cement with the flash.

Last is China Glaze- Cast a Spell. This one was released for last year's Wicked Halloween collection.

Cast a Spell is a dark green shimmer- almost like a dark olive.

The shimmer in this is gorgeous because it's almost like a golden green. This is what I would consider a "vampy" green.

Indoors without the flash, you can see the golden green shimmer more. It only required two coats.

Here's a picture with the flash.

Revlon- Girly and China Glaze- Fast Track

First I have Revlon-Girly. This is a recent release that has been popping up amongst displays at Rite Aid lately.

Girly definitely lives up to it's name: various shades and sizes of pink and purple glitter suspended in a sheer jelly-pink base!

Although it doesn't look like it in the bottle, Girly is quite sheer. It took three coats to build up to opacity. I absolutely loved the final result!

I used the glue base coat for this, so it peeled right off with ease. I recommend using a regular basecoat if you'd like to wear this longer.

Next up is China Glaze- Fast Track. I also chopped down all of my nails and I'm enjoying how this looks on nubs. Fast Track was released in last spring's Hunger Games collection.

I always thought Fast Track was underwhelming in the bottle, but on the nails I really liked it! It is a tan/taupe color and it is filled with gold shimmer particles!

Indoors without the flash, you can see the gold shimmer. I was very impressed with the formula on this. Smooth application, fast-drying, and it only needed two thin coats.

Indoors with the flash, you can see what the gold shimmer particles look like against the tan/taupe. This is a great neutral shade and it would even be great for a job interview.

Valentine's Nails!

This was my mani before Valentine's day. It was Candy Lacquer- Pinkie Pie layered over OPI- Orange Curacao

Pinkie Pie is a gorgeous red and pink mix of glitters suspended in a clear base. The hexes are medium sized- and there is a mix of colors.

This mani almost looks like a jelly sandwich, but it's actually just the red glitter layered on top of Orange Curacao.

Pinkie Pie was packed with glitter and it only required one coat.

OPI- Orange Curacao is an old gem. It's a black label and I couldn't even find any information about which collection it was from. It is in one of the older OPI bottles. I was very impressed with this! The formula was very thin, but it was practically a one-coater! I added a second coat out of habit. It's very shiny, but too opaque for a jelly. I believe it would be categorized as a crelly. I took this picture without the flash.

Indoors with the flash. It looks much more red than orange to me, but I can kind of see it being a red orange.

I got one new polish this week! A friend of mine traveled to the Philippines, and he brought me back a red crackle. I never heard of this brand!

On Valentine's day, I had an opportunity to go to a Pittsburgh Penguins practice, so I wore Pittsburgh colors! This is Candy Lacquer- Honey Bee layered over NYC- Enchanted. 

Honey Bee is loaded with glitter! It has various sizes of black hexes, black bar glitter, medium yellow hexes, and giant flower-shaped yellow glitter!

I wore this mani for three days because it didn't chip that much, and I didn't want to take it off!

NYC Enchanted is a unique polish! This picture was taken without the flash. This was released sometime around Halloween of last year. It is a champagne frost- leaning white filled with gold glitter! Application was a little bit streaky and it required 3 coats, but that's the nature of frosts. I didn't mind as much since it was being layered.

With the flash, you can see the distribution of gold glitter. The gold glitter looked amazing combined with Honey Bee! This wore very well also.

Mardi Gras Nails

I did an exciting and festive mani for Mardi Gras this year. I layered Candy Lacquer- Apple Jack over Funky Fingers- Prince Charming. This turned out spectacular!

Apple Jack is filled primarily with yellow glitter in various sizes of hex sizes. There are smaller sizes of green hexes and giant red hexes!

I used two coats of Apple Jack and application was fairly easy. I did have to place the glitter evenly a little bit. Candy Lacquer can be purchase via the Big Cartel shop. Currently the shop is closed, but it will be reopening this Friday February 15th.

Funky Fingers- Prince Charming is a shimmery purple. This was taken without the flash indoors.  It was on the sheer side, and while I was putting on the first two coats, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it. I was surprised! It ended up looking very nice. It was durable also.

Here is Prince Charming taken with the flash. You can slightly see tiny blue shimmer particles, but the base is more red-toned. I've seen this one at Five Below stores fairly recently. Funky Fingers retail for $2 each or 3 for $5. They have a great formula and range of colors for the price!

Recent Manis and a Glorious Haul

I have a few more recent manis as well as some new polishes that I've purchased.

First up is Amy's Nail Boutique- Cherry Blossom layered over OPI- Pooltime Lime. 

Cherry Blossom is packed with various sizes of matte hexes in hot pink, light pink, and white. The glitter was so densely packed, that I only needed one coat. I dabbed it around a little bit.

The sun was out when I took these pictures! I really like how the glitter in Cherry Blossom ends up arranging and laying on top of other particles. With the green, this reminds me of cherry blossoms and bamboo.

I took a picture indoors without the flash so that the sun wouldn't be as blinding. 

Amy's Nail Boutique polishes can be purchased through Amy's Etsy Shop.

Here is OPI- Pooltime Lime by itself taken indoors without the flash. This one is a black label oldie from 2004's Summer Splash Collection. Although I really liked the color, it was a streaky brushstrokey mess. I needed three coats and you can see that there are some bare spots. It dried to a shimmery, frosty finish. It's a yellow-leaning green.

Here it is without the flash. The dry time on this took very long. It was denting/smudging hours after I painted my nails. I still love OPI black labels and greens though!

Next is F4 Polish- Granite is just gorgeous. Just a disclaimer that these pictures do not do it justice. When I did my nails with Galaxy, I was in a bit of a hurry. 

Granite is a gorgeous dark blue/gray shimmer filled with various colors and sizes of glitter.

I used three coats of this just because the base was a little bit thin, but it built up to opaque coverage. I used the Elmer's glue base coat with this, so it was a breeze to remove. F4 Polish can be purchased in the Etsy Shop.

Here's a combination that I absolutely love! This is Utopia Polish- Paint Splatter layered over Etude House- Dear Darling Nails 43.

I just love the way these transparent neon glitters look. Unlike it's sister, which is Utopia Polish- Gumdrops, Paint Splatter has various sizes of the transparent glitters minus the blue and green. 

This combination reminds me of funfetti! Paint Splatter was so packed with glitter that it only needed one coat dabbed around.

This is Etude House- Dear Darling Nails 43 taken indoors without the flash. I purchased this one in a blog sale a while ago and I don't know much about the brand Etude House, just that it's foreign. Dear Darling Nails 43 is a white shimmer filled with pink shimmer particles.

Here it is with the flash. Dear Darling Nails 43 was a little bit on the sheer side and needed three coats to be opaque. It was still slightly streaky, but Paint Splatter hid that well.

Now on to new polish!

My order from my Zoya New Year's promo finally came in. It took a while because I wanted to wait until the Pixie Dusts were available to ship. The three free shades I chose were Jo, Suvi, and Indigo. The Pixie Dust collection includes: Dahlia, Chyna, Godiva, Vespa, Nyx, and London.

Nubar- Indigo Illusion, OPI- DS Shimmer, Cult Nails- Coveted and Flushed

Sally's Haul! I purchased the new China Glaze Glitz Bitz n Pieces collection. I got Bling it On, Mosaic Madness, Graffiti Glitter, Glitz N Pieces, Razzle Me Dazzle Me, and Scattered & Tattered. I also got a free ORLY- Wild Wisteria because my Sally's was trying to clear out of their old ORLY bottles.

My very first Nfuohs! I got 51, 52, and 59