Ice Queen's Nail Parlour

China Glaze Agro: Swatch and Review

2012-03-16T07:00:00.002-06:00

Hello gentle readers.

Say hello to Agro from the China Glaze Colours From the Capital Collection. This polish is a lovely olive green with a gold shimmer that fires in the sun. Agro is warm, rich, metallic and just plain pretty. I applied two coats and top coat for this swatch.

Yum!

China Glaze Agro has a beautiful formula. This polish is thick and velvety and so easy and pleasant to apply and control. Dry time is great, too. I could have got on with my day with this stuff on my nails, as soon as I shot the photographs I took of this one.

Do you own this beautiful polish, yet? What other shades from this collection have you treated yourself to?

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze Smoke and Ashes: Swatch and Review

2012-03-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

Hello gentle readers.

I am going to make this quick. I have the flu, I am ill, whiny, cranky and for the life of me, I can't seem to form a coherent sentence.

Today's swatch is the third of the China Glaze Colours From the Capital polishes I recently picked up. This is Smoke and Ashes; a dark greyed blue base packed with emerald green and blue glass fleck. This polish is gorgeous. It is dark and rich and complex and sparkles like nobody's business out in the sun. I applied two coats for this swatch.

You have to see this one in person to get the full scope of just how truly splendid this polish really is.

The formula on Smoke and Ashes is, like the rest of the polishes I bought from this collection just fantastic. It was smooth and fluid, it flowed off the brush and sat right where I placed it. I had no trouble at all with it wanting to run or pool or drag. There was no bubbling or streaking, either. This polish is, like most deep blues, highly pigmented and it will stain if you neglect to use a good base coat or are careless when removing it. (Ask me how I know these things... ;))

Smoke and Ashes is one of the standouts of the Colours From the Capital Collection, for me. I love this one. Lots and lots.

Did you pick this beauty up, yet? Think that you might like to? The collection is available in stores and from e-tailers, now.

Okay, time for me to go to bed. I hope that I am still sleeping soundly when this posts in the morning and you read it. This flu is kicking my ass. And I am going to kick my husband's ass for giving it to me. Then, I am going to hunt down the person who gave it to him and thrash them, as well. I hate being sick and I hate germbags. Hell, I hate the world, right now. lol

Thank you for popping in and reading and putting up with my whining. I hope that you are all well and flu free. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze Lux and Lush: Swatch and Review

2012-03-14T07:00:00.007-06:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I have the next polish in the China Glaze Colours From the Capital polish that I bought at Sally Beauty Supply. This one is Lux and Lush, a beautiful iridescent shard flakie that shifts gold, green, bronze and even sparks of blue and pink in a slightly milky clear jelly base. This is a topper polish, it couldn't be opaque, unless you were willing to pack and pat on so many coats that it would be an impossible mass on your fingertips. Not an attractive thought. I applied one coat over China Glaze Stone Cold then topped it with Gelous. I like this combo. A lot. The shiny flakies over the dark, cold grey is a fab combo.

I am including one photograph shot in the sun and one in shade. Check it out.

The formula on this polish is about what you would expect for a flakie/shard type of topper. The jelly base is milky in the bottle but applies and dries clear. The flakies apply somewhat unevenly, stroked on with the brush. I had better luck patting them into place. Lux and Lush dries satin matte, if you want shiny, you need a shiny top coat. Dry time is respectable.

There isn't anything groundbreaking or even all that unusual about this polish. There are a lot of the same ilk out there and even in our collections. I didn't really need this one, but I thought that it would be fun to have and I liked the way it looked in the bottle. I may use it from time to time. Meanwhile, it will hang out in my Melmer with it's sisters in this collection.

What say you about Lux and Lush? Think that you might need it? Think that you might just need to collect it? Do tell.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a good one and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze Stone Cold: Swatch and Review

2012-03-13T07:00:00.006-06:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I have one of the six China Glaze Colours From the Capital (Hunger Games) Collection polishes that I picked up the last time I was in Sally's. I thought that I might buy all of them but only six of them really caught my fancy. I have to say, this is an odd collection for Spring. The colours evoke Autumn, to me. Not that I am opposed to wearing strong or dark shades in the warmer months. I don't really let the season dictate my polish colour choices. I will slap on a deep, vampy shade in the middle of the Dog Days and splash on a soft yellow or lavender in the dead of Winter.

I confess, I know next to nothing about The Hunger Games. I haven't read the books (tho I am now intrigued and think that I may just pick them up and give them a read) and won't see the movie until it comes out on PPV. (I don't like to pay to see a movie that I can wait and see for free, a few months later.) I have, of course read this and that about what polish colour goes with what district and so forth but that is the extent of my knowledge so I will be skipping the tie in commentary and just sticking to describing and reviewing the polishes, themselves.

Today's swatch is of Stone Cold, a cool, charcoal grey matte polish with a strong silver shimmer. The shimmer isn't shiny or particularly sparkly but it does fire beautifully in the sun. This polish is sexy, sophisticated and a bit edgy, too. I have read that this polish is a one coat wonder for some. It isn't, for me. My nails are just too imperfect and my polishing technique too inconsistent to get the job done in one swipe, but I did get a lovely finish in two thin coats. I didn't apply top coat, of course.

This photograph was taken out in direct sun.

China Glaze Stone Cold has a lovely formula. For a matte, this polish is surprisingly smooth and pleasant to work with. I have had experience with another brand of matte and I wasn't all that impressed. In fact, it kind of put me off matte polishes but I do believe that my faith has been restored. Stone Cold flowed very nicely off the brush and sat right down where I placed it. I had little cleanup to do. This polish sets up and dries pretty quickly but you do have a few moments to smooth it before it becomes unworkable and drags. Dry time is fast. I have read that wear time isn't great with this, as with most mattes, it chips and wears off quickly. I do wonder if a matte top coat would extend it's life? I need to pick one up and try it.

I like this polish. I am not really big on mattes but there is just something about this one that delights me. If you like the matte look and enjoy a good grey, Stone Cold may really suit you.

Have you picked up this polish, yet? Which polishes from this collection do you think you are going to make a member of your polish family? The China Glaze Colours From the Capital Collection is available now wherever China Glaze polishes are sold.

Thank you for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze Reggae to Riches

2012-03-12T09:30:00.000-06:00

Hello gentle readers.

Happy Monday to you all! No? Shut up? Get Lost? Fuck off? Well, all righty, then. heh heh Guess I was pushing it being so chipper on a Monday morning. I don't know why I am, exactly. I have a migraine and I think that I am coming down with whatever it is that my husband, that incubus of viral plague, has had for the last week. I suspect flu. Bleargh.

All that aside, I have a gorgeous polish to show you this morning. I have been eyeing this beauty for a long time. Every time I would go into Sally's I would consider picking it up, then decide, "Eh... I'll grab it next time I'm in." Then it would be sold out for a bit, then back in and the whole thing would start again. Well, I finally did grab it. Boy am I ever glad I did.

China Glaze Reggae to Riches is a beautiful red/violet jelly packed with blue microchimmer. This polish glows, simply glows, as if lit from within by some otherworldly inner fire that shifts up and down the bottle and up and down the nails. Translucent, squishy, juicy, this polish evokes mental pictures of an alien fruit, plucked from a shimmering vine, ripe and ready to bite, to experience something exquisite.

I applied two coats and topped it with Seche Vite to wear. I could have done three, if I had wanted to totally obliterate the VNL but honestly, it didn't bother me. Most of the time, the shimmer disguised my nail line just fine. If VNL isn't to your personal liking, a third coat should take care of it for you. I just felt that this looked as perfect as it could, at two.

I applied and photographed this polish on a cloudy, flurry filled day, so most photos were taken in my lightbox, lit with my OttLight. Oh, yes... Lots of photos. I couldn't stop snapping when I was shooting this beauty. Just letting you know, now that mere photographs, especially those taken with my camera (ugh!) can't do this polish justice. You are going to have to trust me when I say it is gorgeous.

This photo was taken outdoors in flurries to try to show the translucent squish and juiciness of this beautiful polish. I don't think that I was terribly successful. *sigh* Sorry about that.

The formula on Reggae to Riches is just about as close to perfect as a polish lover could want. This thick, yet fluid jelly polish behaves like a true lady, flowing softly off the brush to sit and stay sweetly where it is placed. There is no running, pooling, dragging or bubbling nonsense. I did little cleanup while applying this polish and the little I did do was just fussbudget refining, because I can't not do that. Dry time, with Seche Vite was a tiny bit slow but not obnoxiously so. I just needed to exercise a little additional caution for a little while longer than normal. Wear time for this polish wasn't stellar. I had to remove it after three days. I don't mind, since I change my polish frequently, but if you are someone who likes a manicure to last at least a week, the short wear time might bug you.

China Glaze Reggae to Riches is part of the China Glaze core line and is available wherever China Glaze is sold. This shade is frequently sold out at my local Sally's which tells me that it is a much loved polish. If you might be interested in this stunner, run, don't walk to your nearest retailer and snap up this baby. You won't be sorry that you did. Especially when you wear it, say... This Summer with a little tan and a sundress on a hot, August night.

Okay, this is long. I am going to get my Colour Series: China Glaze Vintage Vixen Collection polishes ready to run. I also have six of the new China Glaze Colours From the Capital (Hunger Games) polishes to swatch and feature. I also have a ton of the new Sinful Colors Spring and Cast Away Collection polishes to get swatched and ready to go. So, my fingers will be kept very busy, for the next little while.

Thank you so much for popping in. I hope that you all had a great weekend. I did. I didn't spend much time online, and enjoyed my little break and am refreshed and ready to roll, once again. Have a terrific Monday and may your polish never bubble.

And We Have a Winner!

2012-03-09T08:49:00.002-07:00

Congratulations!

I have e-mailed the winner and have received a reply. She will be receiving her goodies, soon. :D

Thank you everyone who entered my giveaway and for your support of my blog. I appreciate each and every one of you and the time you take to swing by and read my natterings. I wish that I that I could offer prizes to each and every one of you. I have my second blog anniversary coming up, later this Spring and I have a little something in mind for that.

Okay, I have a busy day ahead of me so I must run. Have a great day, everyone! <3

Retailer Review: Apothica

2012-03-07T18:07:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I am writing up a review of Apothica, an online shop that specializes in mid tier and higher end cosmetics and beauty products.

I was recently approached by the PR firm that represents Apothica, Skincare Rx and Skinbotanica, a triad of purveyors of beauty, asking me if I would be willing to host a link and logo in exchange for a gift card that I could use to shop on any of their three sites. I thought about it for a little bit. Honestly, I was a tad reluctant, at first as I had never planned to agree to having a sponsor on this blog. I had to give it a good deal of thought. The more I thought about it, I knew that it was something I could be comfortable with. I always want my readers to be able to trust my word and I know, from all of the reviews that I have read that Apothica/Skincare Rx is a good company, they have an excellent track record and I knew that I could feel good about hosting their link so I agreed.

I received my gift code by e-mail and set about perusing Skincare Rx and Apothica. It quickly became apparent to me that I wasn't going to choose skincare. Skincare Rx has a lot of beautiful products to offer but they are, sadly a bit out of my price range (for me, ROC at the drugstore is crazy spendy!) and I didn't want to try something so lovely, decide I can't live without it but have to because I couldn't afford to replace it, once it was gone. So, I decided to amble on over to Apothica and see what was to be had in the makeup and polish arena.

Surfing Apothica is like going on a treasure hunt and a scavenger hunt and a journey of exploration, all rolled into one. Something I loved about the site? Huge selection of many products and brands. Many. many. many products and brands. If there is something you want in mid tier and higher end beauty goodies, chances are good that you can find it there. Perusing the vast selection and making my choices was a hell of a lot of fun and a little frustrating in the very best way as I decided, compared, changed my mind, decided and finally took the plunge and bought my goodies.

Unfortunately, Apothica can be a little tough to navigate. I don't think that it is deliberate on their part, I think that as they expanded their product range and brought in new inventory, they just tacked on more space willy-nilly as they needed it and the result is that navigating around the site is like wandering aimlessly through the Winchester Mystery Mansion. There are a lot of delightful twists and turns and hidden areas to delight your adventurous spirit. Unfortunately, there are also dead ends, doorways to nowhere and staircases that will land you in strange places, scratching your head in puzzlement and looking around hoping that you can find your way back out, again. I don't mind that sort of thing, provided that I have the time to enjoy the journey. But streamlined, in and out shopping, Apothica.com isn't. hee hee Unless you are intimately acquainted with where your goodies of choice live, be ready to spend some time at your shopping.

My registration and ordering experience was smooth and swift. Once my order was placed, I immediately received a confirmation e-mail. A little while later, I received an e-mail letting me know that a couple of my choices were backordered but that the rest of my order would ship, soon. Shipping time was decent. Not lightening fast but I didn't have to wait forever, either. Like I said, decent. When I received my order, my items were well packed in plenty of bubble wrap and those pillow thingies. I also received a few very nice samples. One, a fragrance sample has become something I am going to need in full size. Soon. All of my items were in perfect condition.

One of my items had to ship from a different warehouse so it was a few days behind the rest of my items but it also arrived well packed and in perfect condition. I was concerned about my backordered item and gave them a shout. I got through to a live human being quickly and the customer care person was professional, friendly and accommodating. Customer service means a lot to me. A company can have a fancy-schmancy website with all of the bells and whistles, fab stuff and great prices but if their customer service is crappy, they are not going to get my business, again.

It took a little while to get all of my goodies in my hot little hands. I understand that a couple of items took a little extra time, since they are high demand goodies and I didn't mind all that much. And I did get them. My goodies. So, it is all good and I am happy.

Do I like Apothica and Skincare Rx? You betcha. Will I shop there, again. Oh, yeah. As soon as my budget eases up, me and my debit card are all over that site like a cheap suit. Do I recommend Apothica and Skincare Rx to my gentle readers? Yes, I do. Without reservation.

Oh! You probably want to know what I bought with my gift card. I decided that I would use the opportunity to splurge and buy some much wanted Deborah Lippmann polishes. I have lusted after some of those polishes for a long time but could never justify spending that kind of dough so I just admired from afar. Now, I am the proud owner of four beautiful new Deborah Lippmann polishes and an Essie to round it all out.

*sigh* just looking at those beautiful, heavy square glass bottles makes me inexplicably happy in a I love polish kind of way. From the left we have: Glitter in the Air, Lady Sings the Blues, Happy Birthday and Across the Universe. And, let us not forget Essie Cocktail Bling. I have shown you Cocktail Bling. If you have been reading blogs for any time, no doubt you have seen the Lippmann polishes a million and one times. If you would like to see any of these in action let me know and I'll get on it. I haven't cracked any of them, yet. I just like to look at them and pet them.

Do you shop with Apothica? Like their site? Find it a little confuzzling, like I do, but like it, all the same?

Thank you for popping in and reading my ramblings. I will be in on Friday to announce my giveaway winner. I had hoped to have the winner drawn by now but I was sidetracked by a not well doggie and various and sundry other things, including a rebound migraine. I am going through test driving Imitrex... Don't know if it is going to work, yet. So, yeah. Friday. Then I am off for the weekend. I have a billion things to do and I want to swatch my rotten little fingers off and bank some photographs.

Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

This review is my honest and fair opinion of a shopping website. I was offered a gift card for this site in exchange for hosting a link to the site but my feelings expressed about my experience are real and all mine and in my own words. I had a good experience and told you about it. If it had been not so good, I would have told you that, too. It is important to me that my readers trust my reviews and I won't betray that trust for anything.

So, Do You Like Makeup? Want to Win Some? Read On

2012-03-07T07:54:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

As you probably know, along with polish, I likes me some makeup. And every chance I get to get my hot little hands on some new makeup, I grab it. If you like makeup and want a chance to get your hot little hands on some, click here to enter Valentine Kisses's March Madness Giveaway. She has a great prize that includes something for eyes, lips, nails... Brands that range from E.L.F. to Stila. This giveaway is open through the end of this month.

Take a look at the beauty booty to be had, should you get lucky:

So, what are you waiting for, beauties? Get thee over there and enter.

My Very First China Glaze Polish

2012-03-06T06:00:00.002-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

The other day, Steph at Imperfectly Painted did a Saturday Bottle Spam featuring her first polishes when she got into polish in 2008. I thought that was a great idea and decided to steal her idea and modify it a bit. Rather than showing all of my first this brand or that brand all at once, I am going to make this a now and then feature.

Today I am going to share my very first ever bottle of China Glaze. I think that like many lacquer enthusiasts, I started with the famous and fabulous Ruby Pumps. I read so much about this polish by so many women who just loved it but it took me a long time to break down and finally buy it and try it.

What was I waiting for?!?! China Glaze Ruby Pumps is simply spectacular. I started painting that beauty on and fell deeply, irrevocably in love. I have worn this polish many times since I bought it and it remains one of my all time favourite polishes, ever. I feel a little sentimental about the bottle, too. When the level starts to drop, I buy minis around the holidays and I refill my original bottle with minis. That way, I keep it full and never have to toss out that very first bottle I bought.

I am sorry about this photograph. I had to manipulate the high holy hell out of it to get it to show anywhere close to colour accurate. I don't have or use Photoshop, so I had to do my crude editing in Paint. I am growing increasingly frustrated with my camera. It is showing it's age and driving me absolutely batshit crazy. I should get a nice letup in my budget, later this Spring and I should be able to replace it, then. *crosses fingers* Sorry about that. This isn't a rant about my camera. I just couldn't help venting a little.

So, what was your first China Glaze polish? Or any other brand... Perhaps you can do a post to tell us about it? It would be fun to read about everyone's beloved first polishes.

I am going to post a retailer review tomorrow, then I am taking a few days off. Nothing wrong, or anything. I am out of photographs. I just yesterday swatched and shot all of my China Glaze Vintage Vixen polishes to do a Colour Series but my photographs came out looking like dog vomit. Every. Damned. One. of. Them!!! Gah!!! So I have to re swatch and re shoot them. I also have all of my new Sinfuls to swatch and get ready for posting.

I am nearly ready to draw the winner of my giveaway. I am almost finished verifying the entries. I'll pop back in and post that, the moment I do. I should have that up on Thursday or Friday, Lord willing and the creek don't rise. I have come to the conclusion that Rafflecopter might just become my new best friend. I enjoy doing giveaways but verifying all of the entries and drawing the winner all by hand is a huge undertaking and I am, quite frankly, tired of it. lol I think that I am ready to turn the heavy lifting over to a nice, handy-dandy widget. So this will be my last old school, old fashioned run giveaway!

Okay, I'm out. Thank you so much for popping in. Have a wonderful day and may your polish never bubble.

Pink and Black: The Story of a Manicure Renovation

2012-03-05T06:00:00.007-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I have a mani reno to share with you. I had a doctor's appointment, the other day and no time to change out my chipped polish. I didn't want to just clean off my polish, pile on some base coat and go with "bare" nails, I kind of wanted to extend my Wicked Style for a couple of more days. So, I grabbed Wicked Style, touched up the little chips then added a coat of Wet-N-Wild Tangled in My Web, that fun black glitter polish from last Autumn/Hallowe'en. I topped it with Seche Vite and enjoyed two more days of my manicure until it finally failed, chipped like crazy and had to come off.

This look was a lot of fun to wear, I really enjoyed it and I got a few very nice compliments on it, too. I was kind of sad to have to soak it off. But, alas, all manicures are fleeting. Good thing we have cameras, huh?

Thank you for popping in. Have a terrific day and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze Sea Spray and Revlon Whimsical... A Match Made in Polish Heaven

2012-03-04T06:00:00.003-07:00

Hello gentle readers. How's things?

Today I have a manicure I wore a little bit back. This is a combo of two lovely slightly greyed blue polishes; China Glaze Sea Spray from last Spring's Anchors Away Collection and Revlon Whimsical on my accent nails. Sea Spray is a beautiful, cool greyed blue creme packed with silver-white microshimmer. You don't really see the shimmer indoors, but take your nails out in the sun or under a bright, clean light and whoop, there it is! So pretty So, so, so pretty. I have a serious love for this polish. I lemming'd it for a long time, and was tickeled pink when it was made part of China Glaze's core line.

Revlon Whimsical is a slightly greyed, sheer milky blue jelly with tiny square blue, pink and green glitter, small round silver glitter and large blue and pink hex glitter. The glitter is a tad sparse and I had to place some of the glitter to get a more even application on my nails.

These polishes just look so fabulous together. If I remember correctly, I first saw this combo on another blog but for the life of me I can't remember who's. But I do know that I did not invent this combo. ;) Both of these photos were shot outdoors in the sun.

Just look at Sea Spray! Golly, isn't she pretty?!?!

China Glaze Sea Spray is just a gorgeous formula. I know... I sound like a broken record, don't I? But it's true. So many China Glaze polishes have such perfect formulas and I can't help crowing about them a bit. Application of this polish was dreamy easy, it behaved so beautifully, didn't run or pool or drag or bubble. Dry time was pretty good and, topped with Seche Vite, the wear was good, as well. I wore this mani a full five days before it showed enough tip wear that I felt the need to remove it. That, for me, is almost unprecedented wear!

Revlon Whimsical was a big lemming for me, as well. I searched my local drugstores and finally broke down and ordered if from Ulta. When it arrived, it was missing a bunch of the polish. I should be receiving a replacement bottle very soon. The formula on Whimsical is good, it is fluid and the base is easy to work with and apply smoothly. Unfortunately the glitter doesn't want to cooperate as I feel it should. I really had to go fishing and pat and place most of the larger bits in place, so just four accent nails took me a while to complete. That may have been partly due to the bottle I received... I don't know. I am going to try it, when I receive my replacement bottle and see if that one is any better. I don't mind placing glitter all that much, I kind of expect to have to do it, in fact but it would be nice to not have to work quite so hard for my sparkle. Whimsical dries kind of slowly, my accent nails were a bit thick and were dentable even hours later, even topped with Seche Vite.

Okay, so, do you own these polishes? Wear them together? Please do share.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a good one, everybody and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze Gothic Lolita: Swatch and Review

2012-03-03T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers Today's swatch is the final polish from the China Glaze Electropop Collection for Spring that I own. I am not sure if I am going to purchase more of them, or not. The greedy, I-want-it-all! part of me wants more of these polishes, the cheap-cheap-cheap part of me is asking me what's the point. I am not sure at this point who is going to win. I really, really want Dance Baby and Techno and maybe Aquadelic... Sweet Hook...

Check out the swatch of a truly lovely purple polish from this collection. This is Gothic Lolita. This polish is undeniably beautiful; it is a medium purple crelly with a hidden magenta shimmer that likes to hide in normal, indoor light then fire brilliantly in the sun. There are also sparse hits of blue spark, here and there. This polish borders on the magical. It really is lovely. This swatch is two coats, no top coat. Photographs were shot out in sun.

I wish that my camera had been capable of capturing fully just how splendidly lovely this polish really is.

The formula on this polish is absolutely fabulous. This polish is a crelly, a cross between a creme and a jelly. It is deeply pigmented and has the opacity of a creme and that touch of translucency and juiciness of a jelly. Add the microshimmer and tiny blue glitter sparks that come to life in the sun and you get alchemy.

Application of Gothic Lolita is about as close to perfect as it gets. This polish flows easily and smoothly off the brush and sits it's self sweetly down where it is placed. It doesn't run, pool, drag or bubble. This polish self levels well so, if like me you tend to paint thicker coats and get things a bit uneven at times, you don't have to worry about how it will come out. Dry time is good for this beauty.

Gothic Lolita is part of the China Glaze Spring Electropop Collection and is available now wherever China Glaze polish is sold.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a wonderful day and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze Wicked Style

2012-03-02T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today's swatch of an Electropop polish is Wicked Style. This bright watermelon pink creme is wicked smooth and shiny. I applied two coats and topped it with Seche Vite. I wore this polish as a full mani. It is so bright and fun and very flattering. I kept looking at my nails and smiling.

Photographs shot in setting, cloud filtered late afternoon sun.

Like the rest of the polishes in this collection that I own (I don't have all of them) the formula on this polish is just smashing. Smooth, silky and creamy smooth. This polish behaves beautifully and doesn't give any trouble. No running, pooling, streaking or dragging. I did get some bubbling under the surface but I think that was due to my local weather conditions at the time I applied it. Polish can be a little sensitive to changing weather conditions and we had a swiftly moving Winter storm on it's way out, when I polished my nails. Dry time is pretty good. By the time I got this polish applied, topped with Seche Vite and photographed, it was pretty much good to go.

What do you think of this bright, pretty, fun pink polish? Do you own it? Think that perhaps you might like to? It is in wide release, right now and should be easy to find wherever China Glaze polishes are sold.

Thank you so much for popping in and spending a little time with me. Have a wonderful day and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze Gaga for Green: Swatch and Review

2012-03-01T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Next in line in the China Glaze Electropop polishes that I have is Gaga for Green, a Spring green jelly. This is three coats. I didn't use top coat for this swatch. In fact, it seems that I didn't use top coat for any of the polishes in this collection.

China Glaze Gaga for Green is so lovely and silky smooth. Squishy and translucent, it gets to opaque in three coats.This polish is a little bit of a pain, thin coats are best when applying this polish so that it doesn't streak. This polish applies nicely, otherwise; it doesn't run or pool or drag and there was no bubbling. It set up pretty quickly, by the time I finished photographing this polish, were it a full manicure, I could have gotten on with my day.

What do you think of Gaga for Green? Have you picked this pretty polish up, yet?

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

For My Gentle Readers Who Are Losing GFC

2012-02-29T18:41:00.000-07:00

You can still follow this blog, if you wish through different ways. As you can see, to the right are widgets to help those who will no longer be able to get here through Google Friend Connect still stay up to date on the haps, around here. I am on Facebook, the Twitter, Bloglovin', Pinterest (on and off) and you can follow by e-mail by inputting your e-mail address into the widget in my right hand column.

I need to figure out if I can make a separate Google+ page, just for this blog without mucking up my personal Google+ page and so forth. Anyone happen to know if that is possible? If so, that will help in connecting, I suppose.

I don't know why Google and Blogger have to be so snotty about this and tear the blogging world apart this way. What purpose does it serve, really? Except to make everything more complicated. *pfffft!*

Please don't be a stranger. <3

China Glaze Electric Beat: Swatch and Review

2012-02-29T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

How's your Wednesday? Hope it's going well.

Today I am going to show you China Glaze Electric Beat, a pretty, shiny, periwinkle blue creme. This swatch is two coats and no top coat.

China Glaze Electric Beat is a smooth, silky creme that applies so easily, it flows off the brush and sits where it is placed with no streaking, pooling, dragging or bubbling. Two effortless coats make this fully opaque and just perfect. This dries shiny, but I still suggest top coat.

So what say you? Like this pretty periwinkle? Have it? Think that you might want it? Electric Beat is available, now wherever you buy China Glaze.

Thank you for popping in. Have a terrific day and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze Sunshine Pop: Swatch and Review

2012-02-28T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today's swatch is Sunshine Pop from the Electropop collection. Sunshine Pop is a bright, warm, golden yellow jelly with silver shimmer. This polish is a little more sheer and needed three coats. If I remember correctly, I didn't apply top coat for this swatch.

These photographs were shot in the sun.

China Glaze Sunshine Pop has a nice formula. For a yellow it was amazingly well behaved and applied very smoothly. It is a tad sheer and needs three coats but it applies so nicely with no streaking, bubbling, pooling or dragging that three coats wasn't a big deal. This is seriously bright, shimmery and very pretty. If you are on the hunt for a Summer sunshine polish, you could do a hell of a lot worse than this little beauty.

Do you own Sunshine Pop? What do you think about it? Please do tell.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze Kinetic Candy: Swatch and Review

2012-02-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers. Happy Monday!

Okay. Okay. Stop your grumbling. I guess that was a bit inappropriate, wasn't it? *evil grin*

Here's something entirely appropriate. A swatch of one of the new China Glaze Electropop polishes for Spring. This is Kinetic Candy. A pale blue creme. Shiny pale blue creme. Pretty pale blue creme.

Nice, huh? China Glaze Kinetic Candy has a flawless, smooth formula. This beautiful creme flowed off the brush and sat right down where I placed it. I had little cleanup and there was no dragging, running, pooling or bubbling. This polish is mad shiny all on it's own and this two coat swatch is shown without top coat. Dry time for this polish, even without top coat is pretty danged good. I am looking forward to splashing this all over my nails this Spring and Summer. I have a feeling it is going to be a fave.

China Glaze Kinetic Candy is in release, right now and available wherever you can buy China Glaze polishes, in brick and mortar stores and online from various e-tailers and so forth. So, go forth and get yours, while the getting it is good.

Thank you so very much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Sinful Colors Cinderella

2012-02-26T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Here is one of the new Sinful Colors polish colours that were recently released. This is Cinderella; a beautiful baby blue jelly packed with gold/rose gold shifting baby flakies. This polish is so pretty. It is pale, delicate, squishy and has the shimmer and shift from those tiny flakes. What a beauty. I applied two coats and Seche Vite. I probably could have used a third, there are some thin areas and a little VNL but I didn't really notice it until I saw the photographs so...

Top shot taken in my lightbox, bottom in the fast dying setting sun.

Sinful Colors Cinderella is a milky baby blue jelly packed with the teeny-tiny flakies that shift gold and rose gold. The formula on this one is thick. It can go on streaky if one isn't careful but it isn't gloopy or gluey. I think that I am going to thin this one a bit and see if it is a bit more fluid without losing that milky near opacity. This polish is easy to control and dry time is decent, with Seche Vite.

I like this polish and I may have to obtain a backup. I was thinking about a franken of this and my partial bottle of Revlon Whimsical. I'm going to have to mix a little sample and see what I get.

Did you get this stunner, yet? It is part of Sinful Colors core collection and should be available at your local Walgreen's and anyplace else you can find Sinful Colors.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Essie Cocktail Bling and Orly Twilight

2012-02-25T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I have a lovely polish from Essie. This is part of their Winter 2011 collection. A beautiful, dirty slightly purple toned grey creme polish. This baby is edgy yet so ladylike. It is a shifter and a beguiler. Depending on what light I viewed this polish it was grey or dusty purple. Cocktail Bling looks grey in my photographs, even tones a little blue. I really enjoyed wearing this beauty. And I enjoyed it even more topped with Orly Twilight, a beautiful topper comprised of a barely purple toned clear jelly swimming with silvery microflakies that, in the sun flash and shift blue and pink and silver.

Essie Cocktail Bling

Essie Cocktail Bling and Orly Twilight

And both in the sunshine. Yummmm... Shimmah! Shimmah!

Essie Cocktail Bling is a beautiful formula and applied like a dream. It flows off the brush as it should, self levels and settles where it is placed. I didn't do much cleanup doing this manicure. I applied two coats then topped with with one coat of Orly Twilight, then Seche Vite. Dry time for both were really good and wear time was decent. I did my right ring finger an injustice and chipped my polish on that nail so I had to change it before I really wanted to.

Do you own either of these polishes? Think that you might? They are both loverly and, if you like grey and dusty purple and microflakies and shimmer, you might really enjoy these.

Thank you for coming by. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Essie Cocktail Bling was purchased with a gift card provided by Apothica/Skincare Rx in exchange for hosting their link and logo.

Sinful Colors Boom Boom: Swatch and Review

2012-02-24T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Greetings from the land of pretty pink polish. Today's swatch is Sinful Colors Boom Boom. Bright, raspberry pink jelly. This is so pretty and girlie and just screams Spring. I applied two coats and skipped top coat, since it was so very shiny.

There are some bubbles and so forth, thanks to the brush in this polish. Sadly, this one was bad. Really bad. Sinful Colors usually gives a decent brush but lately I have noticed a drop in quality of the brushes from this brand. I am hoping that this is an anomaly, not the norm. I will be disappointed if it is, as I sincerely like Sinful Colors but I won't waste my money on polish with crappy brushes. Just ask Wet-N-Wild.

Brush aside, the formula of this polish is quite lovely. It was jelly and smooth and dries squishy and yummy. Boom Boom dries to a lovely shiny finish in good time. I may decant this into a spare bottle I have floating around. It is worth the effort, I feel.

Boom Boom is part of a newer collection from Sinful Colors. There are some other new colours that I found and snapped up during the recent ninety-nine cent sale and I will be trotting them out, very soon. Oh! If you are on the hunt for Cinderella, check the core display! That is where I found mine. In fact, I found all of the new shades there.

Thank you so much for dropping in, reading and your kind comments, as always. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze Fifth Avenue: Swatch and Review

2012-02-23T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

I hope that life is treating all of you well. Today I have a pretty polish by the name of China Glaze Fifth Avenue to share with you. This mauve rose creme is very ladylike and workplace appropriate. This is two coats and no top coat.

Photographs shot in my lightbox.

China Glaze Fifth Avenue is a lovely, smooth creme. Easy to apply and work with, the formula is just gorgeous. Thick but not at all gloopy, it flows off the brush and sits right down where it is placed without any argument or difficulty. This polish self levels very nicely and it dries in good time, as well.

China Glaze Fifth Avenue is part of the core line collection and you should be able to pick it up at just about any store that stocks China Glaze.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a terrific day and may your polish never bubble.

OPI Uh-Oh! Roll Down the Window

2012-02-22T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Ever meet a polish that evokes a childhood memory? OPI Uh-Oh! Roll Down the Window is one of those polishes, for me. I won't go into too much graphic detail but I will say that the memory has to do with Black Beauty, my mother's black 1966 Plymouth Belvedere, a road trip, me with the stomach flu and my lunch (which I swore up and down I felt well enough to eat, that day), ending up all over the side of the car in fast moving traffic in downtown Reno.

Happily, Uh-Oh! Roll Down the Window is much nicer than that memory. This polish is a silky, rich Army green crelly. I applied three coats and Seche Vite.

Photos taken in my lightbox.

OPI Uh-Oh! Roll Down the Window is a lovely creamy crelly. I needed three coats to get this fully opaque but it applied so nicely that I didn't mind the process. This polish behaves like a dream, applies so easily, self levels and just sits sweetly down where it is placed. I had very little cleanup while working with it. Dry time is really good, even after three coats. I wore this polish for four days and it held up beautifully.

Do you own this polish? If you are in the mood for it, it is part of last Fall's Touring America Collection and should be pretty readily available just about anywhere you can find OPI polish. I bought mine from Amazon, you should be able to get it from E-Bay, if you like to shop there, as well.

Time is winding down on my giveaway. Have you entered yet? If not, please click here and enter. I have added goodies to the prize that are not pictured in the original image as I reached a couple of milestones. This giveaway is open to followers in the United States.

Okay, time to run along. I need to get a few more entries ready to go. My stupid Internet has been a real pain in my considerably sized ass, lately. Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Finger Paints Laugh My Art Off: Swatch and Review

2012-02-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Gah!!! My Internet! It keeps going down. Usually when I am in the middle of attempting to type a blog entry. It's driving me crazy. If my cable company doesn't fix this node...

Anywhoozle, I am up and running, for the moment so I am firing off a post. Pictured below is Finger Paints Laugh My Art Off. This thick jelly base is packed with fine blue glitter and is so very pretty over Finger Paints Artist's Sapphire, the polish over which I swatched it. This is one coat topping Artist's Sapphire. The top photographs was taken in my lightbox, the bottom out in the sun.

Isn't this pretty?

Finger Paints Laugh My Art Off is typical Finger Paints glittery goodness. Lovely and sparkly and oh-so-pretty. It is also oh-so-thick and definitely benefits from a good thinning and a rousing shakeshakeshake. This glitter dries a little matte so top coat... Lots of top coat is highly recommended.

I like this polish. If you think that you might like to add it to your polish family, you should be able to find it as Sally Beauty Supply or on the Evilest Bay.

Okay, I am going to try to write a few more posts and get them ready to fire so that I don't have a bunch of dead air while my Internet decides whether or not it wants to work.

Gah!!!

Thank you for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Colour Series ~ Neon: Let's Wrap it Up With Pink! And a Giveaway Update

2012-02-18T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Sick of neon? I admit that as much as I enjoy them, I am about ready to move on, now. So, today I am wrapping up this Colour Series with pink.

Color Club Poptastic is the namesake of the Color Club Collection of the same name. This incredibly bright neon pink will make your retinas vibrate in happiness. This colour is pure Summer, girlie style. This lovely crelly is three coats and top coat.

Color Club Lazer Pink. This is a slightly chalky white based neon creme polish This neon is eye popping yet almost pastel. This polish feels very fresh and sweet, even tho it is a real powerhouse neon. I like that. This is three coats and top coat.

Color Club Space Case. I gave you two photographs of this one because it was necessary. The top shot was taken in my lightbox, the bottom out in direct sun. This creme neon pink contains a double threat of shimmer and glitter. This is the most unique neon polish I own and it is truly special. Shimmer, baby fine and soft sits back and gently enhances the glitter in indoor light then when you take your nails out into the sun the shimmer fires into brilliance. The entire surface of the polish dances in sparks of holo, pink, yellow, blue and silver. *sigh*

Poptastic and Lazer Pink, while different finishes apply very much the same. They can be thin and streaky on the first coat and then build into smooth, opaque joy by the third. They both dry matte, as usual so top coat is an absolute must.

Space Case is part of the Starry Temptress Collection from last Spring and it is the beauty of the bunch, for sure. This creme pink neon needed thinning. Big time. Once it was thinned, tho it just slipped softly and smoothly on and was opaque and fabulous in two dreamy coats. No dragging, pooling or other nonsense. I like that. This polish eats top coat for lunch. It requires at least two good coats to get it nice and smooth.

So there it is. Colour Series ~ Neon. I hope that you enjoyed this series. I am planning another Colour Series to come that will feature the China Glaze Vintage Vixen Collection from Autumn 2010. Vintage Vixen is, in my personal opinion one of the prettiest collections I have ever seen and I am looking forward to showing all of the polishes I acquired from that collection.

Thank you so much for popping in and reading. And welcome! to my new readers! I am now at the magical 1000 mark. Wow. Just wow. This means, of course that a couple of additional pretties need to be added to my giveaway prize. If you would like to see what they are, please click here to enter. If you win, you will find out. *evil grin* Want a hint? Those two bottles are true eye candy.

Okay, I'm out. Have a great day everyone and may your polish never bubble.

Colour Series ~ Neon: These Limes Shan't Be Cast Out Into the Snow

2012-02-17T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I am presenting the penultimate Colour Series ~ Neon post. Say hello to these bright, juicy, great with tequila limes.

Color Club Twiggy. Soft, neon lime green creme. This is two coats with top coat. Please to forgive the oopsie on my index finger. Stupid fibers, anyway. Gah!

Color Club The Lime Starts Here. This is a true fluorescent highlighter lime green. This jelly is squishy and silky. I applied three coats, four to my ring and pinkie to cope with my ridges. This polish smells like lime, but the scent seems to be dissipating with time. This polish is a year old. I guess that polish scent has a shelf life. Who knew?

Color Club Glitter Envy. Lime, bordering on emerald green. This jelly has a slight yellow undertone and a strong small square holo glitter presence that my photographs just couldn't adequately show off. This is three coats and top coat.

Twiggy is a chalky, white based neon creme. This polish can be a bit of a prankster. Thickish coats, smoothly and swiftly applied worked best for me for this swatch. The first coat was really streaky. The second made it opaque but still a tad streaky. Top coat melted and smoothed it beautifully. This polish is more neon in person than in photographs.

The Lime Starts Here is so jelly and translucent. Squishy and delicious it needs three coats for opacity. I applied a fourth to my ring and pinkie nails to cope with my ridges. This polish starts out sheer and streaky on the first coat. Subsequent coats gets it opaque and smooth as can be. This polish, like most neons dries matte and needs top coat for maximum shine and to bring out that lovely translucent squish. I don't recommend undies for this one. I think that an undercoat would wreck the effect of this polish. Just my opinion, of course... ;)

Glitter Envy is another jelly. Infused with holo glitter, it is the belle of this ball, for sure. I applied three coats and needed every one of them, as this polish is pretty translucent. This polish also dries matte and benefits from top coat.

So, there you have it, some neon limes. Do you own any of these polishes? They are all pretty easy to find and make a part of your polish family, if they are looking good to you, various e-tailers, random beauty supply stores that carry Color Club, the odd Ross have them and you should be able to find them on Amazon and the Evilest Bay, as well.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Colour Series ~ Neon: Eye Popping Oranges

2012-02-16T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Get out your sunglasses and hang on to your retinas because today, the orange neons are coming out to play.

Color Club Wham! Pow! Pow, is how I describe this bright, fluorescent traffic cone orange. Photographs can't begin to capture the true bright nature of this neon orange polish. This is almost offensively bright and I just love it in the Summer with a bit of a tan. This polish is fantastic for toes, if it is a bit too bright for you to attempt on your fingertips.

Sinful Colors Big Daddy. This orange jelly leans coral, thanks to a bit of red. I think maybe this could be more flattering to those who don't feel that a true, clear orange isn't a good colour for them. I applied two coats of this polish over two coats of OPI Alpine Snow as this is too sheer and jelly to get opaque and pop on it's own. This is shiny without top coat.

Color Club You Got Soul-Ar. Hello bright orange and glittah! Traffic cones covered in sparkle. Girlie road construction gear at it's best. Another beautiful-weird polish from the Starry Temptress collection.

Wham! Pow! applied very nicely. It is more of a creme formula than some other neons I own and needs a little care to avoid those sharp lines of delineation at the edges. Top coat melts those and makes things smoother, but a little care is still needed. For some reason, when I applied this swatch, my ring finger bubbled like mad. I brushed some thinner over the polish and that took the bubbles down and with the last coat, it was pretty nice, then. This stuff dries matte so have the top coat handy. Dry time is really good for this polish, making it perfect for a pedicure, too.

Big Daddy is a sheer jelly that needs to go over a white base to pop and get to opacity. This polish can streak like mad. I learned that the best way to apply it is to go with thicker coats and float the brush gently on the surface of the polish, as pressure causes streaks and troughs to form. Not pretty. :P This was shiny without top coat. I am still debating keeping this one. I have nice orange polishes that are less a pain in my butt.

You Got Soul-Ar is beautiful. I had to thin and shake the stuffing out of it but it got to opaque and perfect in two easy to apply coats. Top Coat was necessary, of course.

All three of these polishes are easy to find and acquire through the usual outlets. They are all fun colours any of them are worth making a part of your polish family. Maybe not Big Daddy? I don't know. I am still on the fence about that one. But my instinct is to let it go. *shrug*

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Who Drank My Nail Polish?

2012-02-15T16:50:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Look what landed on my doorstep, today.

Oopsie! Did someone get thirsty?

I ordered Revlon Whimsical from Ulta, since I can't find it in any of my local stores and it came about one third empty. What? It didn't leak in transit. It was just... drained. It hadn't been used; there was no gunky junk on the neck of the bottle, the polish wasn't thickened, it didn't look used. I jumped on the phone to Ulta and told them about it and they are sending out a replacement bottle, right away. So, kudos to Ulta customer service for their fast and friendly attention to my little problem. Bonus? I get to keep the partially full bottle of Whimsical, since it makes no sense for them to send me a shipping label to return it. :D

Have you ever ordered a polish and had it arrive oddly drained of some of it's contents, as if it had been attacked by some odd polish slurping vampire?

Colour Series ~ Neon: Color Club Ultra Violet and Wink-Wink Twinkle

2012-02-15T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

How'z about some hot violet neon goodness?

Color Club Ultra Violet. Smooth, silky violet neon jelly. Three coats. So squishy, so translucent, so bright and beautiful. This is Spring, Summer and everything fun in a tiny glass bottle.

Color Club Wink-Wink Twinkle. Two coats of hidden glitter glamour in a hot, neon violet base. This is strange and beautiful and oh-so-bright. Can you dig it?

Ultra Violet is a smooth, silky jelly that just glided on in three coats to opaque perfection. This one does dry a bit matte and needs top coat to get to the shiny beauty that it is. Dry time is, like it's sister polishes, very good.

Wink-Wink Twinkle was another one that needed to be thinned, as the formula was a bit too thick and gloppy for my personal taste. After thinning, it applied smoothly and was opaque in two easy-breezy coats. This polish dries quickly and pretty gritty. The more top coat you feel like using, the better.

Ultra Violet and Wink-Wink Twinkle are both available where you can find Color Club, including varied e-tailers, Amazon and, I imagine E-Bay. They also pop up at Ross from time to time along with the rest of the beautiful colours in their collections. They are worth getting, if you ask me.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a terrific day and may your polish never bubble.

Colour Series ~ Neon: Got the Blues for Neon

2012-02-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

Good day, gentle readers. How's things? We have a dusting of snow on the ground and it is 25 degrees. Brrr!

Today's post features three beautiful blue neon polishes.

Color Club Chelsea Girl. I applied three coats of this perfect, silky cerulean blue neon jelly love to get a flawless, opaque finish. This polish behaves like a dream and dries in good time. It is matte, like most neons so have your top coat ready to roll to get this beautiful, shiny, squishy finish.

China Glaze Blue Sparrow Neon. Ahhh... This. Polish. Is. Beautiful. Gentle readers, if you love neon... if you love blue... if you love glitter... if you love a huge, overflowing pot of awesomesauce all over your nails, you would love China Glaze Blue Sparrow Neon. This beautiful, glowing cerulean blue jelly is packed with tiny silvery and blue glitter. The glitter doesn't sit on top and sparkle like a disco ball. It is under the surface. It lurks and peeks and shines and makes you look twice. Three times. It lures you in and makes you fall utterly in love with it and it never lets you go. This is four coats and two coats of top coat.

Color Club Other Worldly. Hello Gorgeous! This bright beauty is part of Color Club's Summer 2011 Starry Temptress Collection. Another cerulean blue (noticing a trend, here?) packed with small square holographic glitter. This is no dupe for Blue Sparrow. This is a creature altogether different from any other. The glitter isn't on top of this polish, it is inside, hiding, then when the light hits it, it fires and socks you in the eye with holo-licious shine and rainbow sparks. Yeah. This is two coats plus top coat.

Application for these polishes does vary a bit. Chelsea Girl is smooth and silky and, like most good jellies, glides on like a dream. This polish has a very decent dry time and in spite of needing three coats, is ready to go in pretty short order. This polish won't keep you sitting around blowing on your tips all day.

Blue Sparrow is a little bit sheer and a bit temperamental. This polish likes to be applied quickly and smoothly. While it dries fast and gritty, it wants a couple of minutes between coats and subsequent coats need to go on with a very light hand; just float the brush through the surface of the polish or it will catch and drag bald patches. This polish dries fast and gritty and needs at least two coats of top coat to be fully smooth. Yes, it is a pain but it is worth it. Trust me! :D

Other Worldly needed some thinning before I did this swatch. The polishes in this collection are really thick and mine benefited from some thinner, a good shake, shake, shake and a little period of rest. This polish then went right on and was perfect in two coats. This beauty dries pretty quickly and needs a couple of coats of top coat to make it perfectly smooth.

All three of these polishes are not hard to find. Chelsea Girl and Other Worldly can be found at various e-tailers, random beauty supply stores that carry Color Club and they pop up in their respective collections at Ross, from time to time. Blue Sparrow is part of China Glaze's core collection and is easy to find anywhere that carries China Glaze. You can also find it on various e-tailer sites and on Amazon and I imagine E-Bay.

Okay. This was long. Shocking, I know. *snort* Do you own any of these beautiful polishes? Think that you might like to? Please share.

Say, have you entered my 900+ follower Giveaway yet? It is open to followers (new followers are welcome!) in the U.S. I know... No fair. Trust me, I feel the same way but shipping regulations make legally shipping polishes out of the U.S. difficult, if not danged near impossible for the average person. Grrr!

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a wonderful day and may your polish never bubble.

Colour Series ~ Neon: Sinful Colors Irish Green

2012-02-13T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

I am typing this up really fast to set it to post while I can. My Internet keeps going down and I don't know how long I will have service or when. Gah!!! I am going to kill my local cable company if they don't fix this node!

Anywhoozle... Sinful Colors Irish Green is a bright, cool, neon emerald green jelly. I applied three coats over a base of OPI Alpine Snow and topped it with top coat to make it all shiny and squish-a licious.

Photograph taken in my lightbox.

This is a swatch and photograph my right hand experiment. I need to work on it. lol

Sinful Colors Irish Green is a pretty decent formula. A tad streaky on the first coat but by the third, it was smooth and pretty uniform and pretty. This polish is well behaved. I didn't have any trouble applying it, it just glided on and didn't drag, run, pool or bubble. I had a lot of coats on my nails and by the time I shot my photographs, it was still pretty wet and smushy.

Okay, I am going to get this lined up to post in the morning while my stupid Internet is still up.

Thank you for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble. Hopefully, by the time you see this, I will be happily surfing steadily running Internet, again.

Colour Series ~ Neon: Sinful Colors Neon Melon

2012-02-12T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

I have decided to resurrect my Colour Series feature and what better kind of polish than neon? Bright, intense, clear and fun. Neon is a great way to perk up and lighten up the Winter Doldrums, especially now that the weather has decided to get really cold and stormy in so many places.

Today's neon is Sinful Colors Neon Melon. This is a true to hue highlighter yellow-green. This polish is very sheer and it must be applied over a white base to reach anything close to opacity and to show it's full colour. I applied two coats of Neon Melon over two coats of OPI Alpine Snow.

Photo taken in my lightbox.

Sinful Colors Neon Melon is a jelly neon polish. It is very sheer and couldn't reach opacity or show it's true colour on it's own if you bribed it. Neon Melon needs a smooth, white base. The formula on this polish is pretty nice. Smooth and not too streaky, which is a problem that some neons have. The first coat was uneven but the second came out smooth and even. This polish dries matte, so a good top coat is necessary if you like your tips nice and shiny.

Sinful Colors Neon Melon is sunglasses worthy and it is part of Sinful Colors Neon collection. You should be able to find it where Sinful Colors polishes are sold, if you are feeling it.

So, I am trying something new with my photographs. I was playing around with my camera and nails the other day and discovered that if I photograph my nails in my lightbox with my fingers curved up and the bottle hanging in them, my polish photographs more colour true and I don't have those annoying streaks of light reflecting off the surface of my nails. I also discovered that by not having the light reflecting directly off my skin, I can boost the saturation on my photographs and not have my fingers look like freaked out deep fried carrots. I am also playing with new watermarks. Please bear with me as I go through my growing pains and my learning process. I am hoping that the tripod I ordered yesterday will make it easier to take my photos than propping my camera on a stack of books. :P

I hope that you enjoy this Colour Series.

Thank you for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro Sunset Orange: Swatch and Review

2012-02-11T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

How's every little thing? Good? Good. :D Today's swatch is a lovely orange jelly polish by the name of Orange Sunset. This Rimmel Lasting Pro polish is bright and warm but not neon. Shiny and squishy, it is perfect for Spring or Summer. I applied three coats and was able to skip top coat for this swatch.

I took these photographs in my lightbox under my OttLight.

Rimmel Lasting Pro Sunset Orange is a very nice formula. Smooth and easy to apply, this polish just whispers off that lovely, wide brush and sits sweetly down where it is placed. It was slightly streaky on the first coat but quickly smoothed out and got opaque by the third coat. I didn't have any trouble with running or pooling, it didn't drag or clot or bubble. It also dried quickly and was about ready to go by the time I fired off a few photographs.

If you are on the lookout for a pretty, wearable orange jelly polish, you could do a heck of a lot worse than this one, for sure. Sunset Orange can be found where you buy Rimmel cosmetics and polish.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a terrific day and may your polish never bubble.

Orly Elspeth's Rose: Swatch and Review

2012-02-10T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I have a swatch of Orly Elspeth's Rose, a soft, ladylike old rose creme polish that has a very, very fine, hidden silver shimmer. I found this polish at CVS on clearance and, since it was 75% off, I thought I might as well grab it as not. This is not an exciting or unusual colour, I suppose that it could be described as "old lady", "granny", outdated or any of the other disparaging descriptions I commonly hear about colours such as this. I prefer to think of it as soft, ladylike, classic. This kind of shade is work or church appropriate or perfect for those times when one is just in the mood for a gentle, quiet polish. I applied two coats to my middle and index and three on my ring and pinkie to deal with my demon ridges and topped it with top coat.

Photographs shot outdoors in sun.

Orly Elspeth's Rose has a very nice formula. It is thick but not gloopy, easy to apply and very well behaved. I didn't have any trouble with running, poling, clotting, dragging or bubbling. Dry time is halfway decent. This is, overall, a very nice polish.

So, what say you? Do you own this polish? Like it? If you are on the lookout for a polish like this one, you might luck across it at CVS on sale and I know that I have seen it at Sally's and on Amazon.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Adding a Little Something to the Pile

2012-02-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

I just took a look at my followers gadget and I am now over 975. Whoop! Whoop!! To celebrate and to say thank you! to all of my new and established readers, I am adding a little something-something to my current giveaway prize. First of all, of course is polish. I tossed in a handful of polishes. I am going to let the exact colours and brands be a surprise to the winner but I will give all of you a couple of hints... Foil. Glitter in creme. Neon. Glitter... That's all I'm saying.

The second part of the something-something is a piece of nail polish jewelry that was sent to me, last year for review. (Sadly, it seems that the seller is no longer in business so I am not going to provide a link.) The necklace is a round cabochon glitter polish gem on a hand strung silver (or silver plate) bead necklace. My screwy body chemistry doesn't allow me to wear silver so this pretty necklace has been languishing in a drawer. I decided to take it out and pass it along to someone who can wear it and will enjoy it. I know that a lot of my gentle readers are silver girls so I thought that this was a great way to re home this pretty piece.

The necklace. The beaded chain is plenty long enough to comfortably and gracefully accommodate a wide range of neck sizes. The cabochon is approximately one inch in diameter.

Close up on the pendant. Isn't it pretty? :D

This necklace is essentially new. I only had it on for a few minutes then was forced to remove it. I have carefully cleaned it with 91% alcohol and a cotton pad.

I hope that the winner of my giveaway will enjoy these additions to the pile. :D

If you haven't entered, yet please clickity-click this link or the picture in the giveaway widget at the top of my column to travel to my giveaway post and enter to win.

Thank you for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Wet-N-Wild Megalast Under Your Spell: Swatch and Review

2012-02-09T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

I took a day off from posting. I spent the day at the headbanger's ball, hiding in the dark and quiet. Blech. I hate days like that. :P

A while ago, I bought this polish on clearance at CVS. It was fifty percent off so it came in at a little less than a dollar. I am thinking that it was only worth about that, to be honest. Under Your Spell is a blackened jelly base with a dark burgundy shimmer that doesn't much show indoors but fires in the sun. I had to apply three coats to try to get the bottle colour onto my nails. This polish is so shiny that I didn't need top coat.

These photographs were shot out in the sun.

Pretty-ish enough, I suppose. Nothing that fires my imagination. The formula of this polish is nice enough. It behaved well tho it was streaky as hell on the first coat, a little better on the second and was opaque and extremely shiny on the third. There was no dragging, clotting or bubbling. Too bad the brush was the usual Wet-N-Wild crap rat chewed brush. I don't much know about dry time, as I got this off the moment I took my photographs. Meh. I think that this is going in the Get Rid of It box.

I know that I have been bagging on Wet-N-Wild polishes, lately. While I am kind of over the moon for their glitters, their nasty brushes don't matter all that much with glitters, I am kind of tired of battling the bad for their cremes, shimmers and jellies. I think that, unless it is a very special glitter, I am going to pass on Wet-N-Wild for a while. I still have a few hanging around in my untrieds that need a whirl so I am not finished with them, quite yet.

Okay, so... I think that is about it, for this one.

Thank you for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Revlon Apple-tini Fizz Swatch and Review and a Huge Thank You! to a Fellow Blogger

2012-02-07T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today is a quick look at a polish that was part of a limited edition collection that Revlon released last Summer. The polishes in that collection were all sheer, jelly like polishes that were packed with beautiful baby flakies and were deliciously scented to match the fruit name given to the colour. As is pretty typical in my poopy-pants one hoss asshole town (I think, in truth that Prescott is considered a large town... whatever... it still sucks big green ones) drugstores and other retailers are extremely inconsistent about ordering and stocking limited edition collections. My usual haunts here in town didn't stock that collection. It wasn't until well after those polishes had pretty much gone the way of the do do that I managed to run across a couple, quite by accident when I made a very, very rare trip to Prescott Valley and popped into Walgreen's to see if they had the Wet-N-Wild On the Prowl Collection.

One of the two yummy, fizzy Summer polishes I got is Apple-tini. A Granny Smith Apple green jelly packed with beautiful green to blue duochrome baby flakies and an amazingly pleasant and refreshing (for nail polish) green apple scent. This polish is very sheer, very jelly and, on the nail very not like it is in the bottle. Not at all like it is in the bottle. *sigh* I applied three coats and it wasn't anywhere near opaque and I knew that to get it there would require so much polish that I wouldn't be able to lift my delicate flower fingers for the weight of the substance on my nails so I just stopped where I was and slapped on some top coat. I was a little disappointed in the colour. In the bottle, Apple-tini is a cool, true Granny Smith Apple green but on the nail it is a washed out, yellowed ghost of the beautiful bottle colour. The flakies, however...

The flakies rescued this polish from the get rid of it box. For now. I think that I need to try this as a topper over other, more opaque jellies and cremes. I suspect that it would be far more successful as a layering polish, rather than trying to be a solo act. As I said earlier, this swatch is three coats and top coat. I shot these photographs in the late afternoon sun. And shade.

See what I mean? Not so fabulous on it's own, is it? But the formula is nice, It is a little thin but it applies nicely and evenly with little streaking only with the first coat. There was no running, pooling, dragging or bubbling. I can't say what dry time is like as I didn't wear it for long.

I suppose that is about all that I really have to say about this polish.

I just want to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to a sharp eyed fellow blogger who alerted me to someone on E-Bay France who had stolen one of my photographs and was using it to sell her nail polish. I messaged the seller and asked her to take my photograph down, as she hadn't asked my permission to use it. Happily, she complied with my request so I didn't have to take it any further. I suppose that, now that my photographs are beginning to show up in places I didn't post them, it is time to print and fax to E-Bay that damned report photo theft form thingy. *sigh*

Why can't people just take and use their own photographs? It takes just a few minutes to take a picture, upload it to your 'puter, edit it and post it. Hell, if I can do it, anyone can! lol Am I crazy or would it be faster and easier to take and post your own photographs than to search for and swipe someone else's? You know, if she had just had the balls and the respect to e-mail me and tell me that she liked my photograph and then asked my permission to use it, I would probably given it to her. I would have watermarked the photograph and e-mailed it to her to post on her listing.

And please, to my photo guardian angel, could you please drop me a comment or an e-mail with your blog link, again? Pretty please? I inadvertently deleted your e-mails in my mad inbox cleanout whirl, yesterday afternoon. I didn't even realize they were gone until I went back to check an e-mail that Apothica had sent to me and I felt like a jerk because I haven't been to visit and follow you, yet. *hangs head*

Okay, this is a wordy, rambling, random mess. If you read all the way through it, you deserve a medal.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze 108 Degrees: Swatch and Review

2012-02-06T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

How's about something warm to thaw your bones on this chilly February day? How about just about one of the prettiest polishes China Glaze released, last Summer? How's about cranking it all the way up to 108 Degrees? Actually, for an Arizona Girl, 108 degrees isn't really that big a deal. But this hot pink jelly packed with duochrome glass fleck shimmer sure is. Oh, yes, siree. China Glaze 108 Degrees is a beautiful, bright, hot pink that glows pink to orange to blue, even a bit of purple, depending on how strong the light is and the angle at which it is viewed. Good golly, this polish is pretty.

This swatch is three coats with top coat and was shot in my lightbox and out in the sun.

In my lightbox under my OttLight.

In direct sun.

China Glaze 108 Degrees has a lovely formula. Lovely? Dare I say nearly perfect? Painting this polish on was a pure pleasure. I barely touched my cleanup brush. I did need a full three coats for opacity, as this little stunner is very jelly and the glass fleck doesn't add much opacity. Not that I mind. If a polish is easy to handle a third coat isn't that big an imposition and I am becoming more tolerant of polishes that need a third coat. Now those that need four or five? Yeah. We are going to have to talk about that.

Dry time for this polish is pretty decent. By the time I got this stuff on, my cuticles oiled and fired off a ton of photographs, this stuff would have been ready to roll, had I been wearing it. Would I buy this polish again, should I run out? In a hot minute. Do I recommend it to my gentle readers? Definitely! This polish was part of the 2011 Summer collection and was sold out for quite a while but China Glaze recently made it a part of their core collection so if you are craving a little hot-cha-cha in the middle of the cold and snowy season, just get yourself to anywhere that sells China Glaze and you should be able to lay your hands on this baby.

Do you own 108 Degrees? Think that you might have to, now? Am I the only one who is reaching for sunglasses when they look at those photographs?

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a fantabulous day and may your polish never bubble.

Sinful Colors Hottie: Swatch and Review

2012-02-05T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I have a quick look at a glitter that I purchased back in 2010 and am just now swatching and showing too you. This is Sinful Colors Hottie. A super thick pale blue jelly base with tiny silver and small hex and round glitters in blue, pink, orange, green. I applied one coat of this glitter over Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear in Pacific Blue. I had to use Gelous then a regular top coat over this glitter for this swatch.

This swatch was shot in my lightbox under my OttLight.

Probably should have done two coats but had I done so, my nails would have been really, really, really thick. You see, Sinful Hottie has just about the thickest, gloopiest jelly base I have ever met. It is just about as thick as Finger Paints Psychedelic Sunshine. In spite of dumping thinner in the bottle until it nearly overflowed and shaking it until my poor wrist bid fair to snap, this stuff is still like troweling on concrete. Pretty, sparkly boue concrete, but concrete, all the same. I didn't wear this long enough to see how long it would take it to dry. But it must have top coat as it is quite textured and sets to a satin matte finish on it's own.

Do I regret buying Sinful Colors Hottie? Nope. Would I suggest that you do so? Sure. If you are on the lookout for a pretty multi glitter that is predominately blue and you don't mind working with a thick base, this is a nice glitter polish to add to your lineup. At just under two clams and easily acquired anywhere you can buy Sinful Colors, it is worth making your own.

Have you entered my giveaway? Please click the link or the picture at the top of my column to travel to my giveaway post, if you are interested.

Thank you for coming in on this Sunday. Have yourself a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Zoya Shawn: Swatch and Review

2012-02-04T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I have Zoya Shawn for you. I bought this polish last March during Zoya's St. Patrick's Day promo and for some reason I never got around to swatching it until now. Zoya Shawn is a murky, yellow based green crelly polish. Shiny and somewhat squishy, it reads more jelly than creme. This polish is a tad bit sheer, I needed a full three coats for full opacity. This swatch is shown minus top coat. Yepper. It's that shiny and lovely.

Photographs were shot outdoors in sun and shade.

I used to henna my hair and this colour reminds me of the colour of freshly mixed pure henna paste.

Zoya Shawn has a lovely formula. It is very smooth and silky and, like most of my favourite polishes, just whispers onto the nail. The viscosity is just about perfect, thick enough to be easily controlled and to sit sweetly down where placed but not so thick that it clumps or clots or drags. This polish is not as intensely pigmented as the colour might suggest; the first coat was pretty sheer and slightly streaky but two more coats built it up to opaque, smooth perfection. This polish dries in nice time and is mad shiny. As I mentioned earlier in this post, this is without top coat.

How much fabulous can Zoya cram into a tiny glass bottle, I ask you. A lot, judging from this rich green beauty. Zoya Shawn is a beautiful polish, both to look at and to work with. I am glad that I bought this polish and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is on the hunt for a great slightly murky green polish.

Do you own Zoya Shawn? Love it? Please do tell.

Thank you all so much for popping in. Have a terrific weekend and may your polish never bubble.

New Wet-N-Wild Megalast: Swatches and Review

2012-02-03T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Happy Friday to each and every one of you. Today I have some swatches and a review of the new reworked Wet-N-Wild Megalast polish line. I spotted these new polishes in their pretty, new bottles at my local Walgreen's in a display by the beauty counter. They were priced to move at $1.99 each and were on special; Buy two get one free. How can I pass up a deal like that? I almost did. I am a little hesitant when it comes to Wet-N-Wild polishes and quite frankly, I wasn't all that excited about this "new" line.

I looked over the polishes in the display and noticed, emblazoned on the top of each cap the proclamation that these new polishes have a Mani-Curve Pro Brush. What? What? Was it possible? Had Wet-N-Wild heard the cries of polish lovers? Had they finally addressed the bad brush issue? Dare I hope? Drawn in by the promise of a new Mani-Curve Pro Brush, I chose three polishes to buy and try. I thought about buying one of each of the whole line but something held me back. I am a little gun shy, I guess. I was also not all that inspired by the rather pedestrian colour selection. I finally chose Wet Cement, a soft grey-taupe, Disturbia (is that fab Rhianna song now running through your head?) a deep eggplant with a hidden purple shimmer and I Need a Refresh-Mint, a soft, pastel mint green.

Let us begin the photographs portion of this post with a couple of bottle shots, shall we? All photographs were taken in my lightbox, under my OttLight.

Wet-N-Wild Megalast polish in Wet Cement, Disturbia (I love that name), and I Need a Refresh-Mint.

The pretty new bottle shape. Rounded off square at the top that tapers down to a heavy, narrow round base . Wet-N-Wild is etched down two sides of the bottle. The cap is longer and more slender than the old Megalast design, it is black with a silver tone band and is slightly tapered with a domed top.

Wet Cement. A soft, greyed taupe crelly that leans a little to purple, on me. This is two coats and top coat. Wet Cement is not an unusual or all that exciting a colour but it is very nice. It is shiny, smooth and opaque in two coats.

Disturbia is an eggplant jelly with a hidden purple shimmer that fires in bright light in the bottle but doesn't so much on the nails. This is three coats and no top coat. I shot this photograph in the sun, hoping to bring out that very hidden shimmer but alas, it remained largely elusive, even in direct, bright sun. I had hoped that this polish could have lived up to it's terrific name. This polish was glued shut when I was ready to swatch it. I had to hold it under hot, running water to get it open then clean the neck of the bottle with acetone. It had obviously been swatched by someone in the store. Yuk!

I Need a Refresh-Mint is a pretty pastel mint green crelly. Smooth, silky and slightly squishy, this is my favourite of the three both in colour and formula. This is two coats, three on my pinkie to cover my ridges on that nail, with top coat.

The formula of these polishes is pretty decent, overall. They are thick enough to handle nicely and not run or pool on the cuticles but not so thick that they feel gloopy or would want to drag or clot. Dry time on all three of these polishes is pretty good. Wet-N-Wild Megalast polishes are pretty nice polishes, especially for the price. Unfortunately they have one huge drawback that is, for me, a deal breaker.

The brush. All of my hopes for a good brush. A better brush were dashed upon the rocks the moment I began to swatch the first of the three polishes. The brush wand is very similar to the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polish brush; it is wide and flat, nearly reaching across the entire opening of the bottle. The brush, it's self is also very wide and flat and is curved at the bottom edge. Unfortunately, the curved bottom edge is very badly trimmed. Like most Wet-N-Wild brushes it is choppy, rat chewed and just plain horrible.

It was difficult, with all three of these brushes to get a smooth, even finish and a neat gap curve was nearly impossible. I had to use my cleanup brush like crazy to neaten up after those nasty brushes as they slopped polish all over the place, including my cuticles and the skin on the sides of my nails. The brush in Wet Cement was so awful that it left trails of bubbles in it's wake on every stroke. What a mess. What a massive fail, once again.

I want to like these polishes but I can't. I can forgive a lot from a pretty polish but these brushes are, in my opinion, unforgivable. I will be returning these polishes and I can't, in good conscience recommend them. I would say, if you see these polishes in your local drugstore, steer clear. There are plenty of really nice, affordable polishes out there to be had. Polishes with nice formulas, pretty colours and much better brushes.

Do you own any of these polishes? What has been your own experience with them? Do you like them? Dislike them? I would like to hear your input, if you would like to share.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Valentine's Glamour Giveaway at Apothica

2012-02-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

I wanted to pop in really quickly and tell you about the Valentine's Glamour Giveaway being hosted by Apothica. They bundled some of their best selling products together in one lovely prize. This giveaway is open through 2/13. The winner will be announced on 2/14. You can enter here on their Facebook page. Just scroll down on the left hand nav bar until you find the Valentine's Glamour Giveaway direction. Click there and follow the simple steps to be entered.

Check out the goodies:

Be sure to head over and give them a Like and enter to win this beautiful package.

Images in this post are the property of Apothica/their PR, were sent to me and were used by permission.

Wet-N-Wild Wild Shine Blaze: Swatch and Review

2012-02-02T11:34:00.002-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I have a quick swatch to show you. This is Wet-N-Wild Wild Shine in Blaze. This is a juicy, squishy, translucent orange jelly that leans ever so slightly coral. I applied three coats for this swatch, hoping to get it fully opaque and streak free. It was largely opaque but still a tad streaky. The streaks showed better in person than in my photograph. This swatch is shown without top coat. Yes, this polish is mad shiny.

This photograph was shot in my lightbox under my OttLight.

Wet-N-Wild Wild Shine in Blaze is pretty easy to control upon application; it is slightly thick without being gloopy, if feels silky and sits down nicely where it is placed. The first coat was very sheer and streaky, the next two coats made the finish opaque but there were still some streaks. I didn't have any trouble with bubbling and the brush, which is one of the older clear plastic round brushes was evenly trimmed and far more pleasant to work with than any of the newer brushes that Wet-N-Wild puts in their polishes, now.

Wet-N-Wild Blaze is just okay. I have seen this colour done better, with finer formulas and much nicer brushes. This one isn't really worth hunting down. I don't recommend it and I am not going to wear it again or allow it to continue to take up space in my Melmer that can better be utilized by better polish. Polish that I will actually like and use.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Essie Mint Candy Apple Swatch and Review

2012-02-01T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I have yet another pretty polish that has languished for forever and a day in my untried polishes stash. This is Essie Mint Candy Apple from their Winter 2009 Collection. I lemming'd this polish so hard for so long. Then I finally acquired it and let it sit all this time. Part of the reason why was that I was a little spooked by some of the reviews I read and my experiences with similar pastel milk paint like creme polishes that came out at that time and were so huge through 2010. Essie Mint Candy Apple is one of those polishes. A soft, pastel mint green creme that was smooth and opaque in three coats. Top coat helped finish it perfectly. I took the photographs of this beauty in sun and shade.

Essie Mint Candy Apple is a surprisingly smooth and silky creme polish with just a hint of jelly that helps prevent this from being a chalky, difficult mess. It applies fairly smoothly; the first coat was a bit streaky but the second went on very nicely. By the time I had the third coat on, it was almost impeccably smooth and was fully opaque. Top coat melted and finished this polish off, perfectly.

Essie Mint Candy Apple is pretty easy to find. I bough my bottle on Amazon. You can find it at most e-tailers and brick and mortar stores and salons that sell Essie.

Do you own this pretty little mint? What think you of it?

Thank you so much for popping in and reading. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Swatchity-Swatch: Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamonds

2012-01-31T06:00:00.003-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Tuesday. Okay. Now I have that Moody Blues song running through my head. And if you say, "Who are the Moody Blues?" I am going to hurt you. Bad. With a stick.

Perhaps gentler persuasion? Turn on your speakers and click the vid. :D

Anywhoozle, Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in Diamonds. Yeah. Nice topper type stuff. This is a silver/white baby flakie shifter that also flashes lavender, pink, blue in the sun. Pretty. I like it. I had a bottle of this polish a while back. Wrecked it putting extra ballz in it. They had zinc. I have learned my lesson. No more zinc plated balls are going in my polish anymore. But, why the extra ballz? You might ask. I dunno. I just went through an extra ballz phase. Had to toss them in all of my polishes. That phase is over.

Yes. I am odd.

I accept that.

I'm good with it.

Where was I? Oh yes. Sally Hansen Diamonds. After I tossed my wrecked bottle's ass, I found a new one at CVS. On clearance. For 75% off. Yesss! Score! Especially since I had just been looking at the new Sally Hansen Diamond Strength polishes. You know the ones... In the new faceted bottles. With the new, higher price point? Now, I don't know about you but almost seven clams for Sally Hansen? Really? Pretty soon, OPI is going to be cheaper. But I digress.

I seem to be doing that a bit, in this entry.

So, as I was saying, I found the Sally Hansen Diamond Strength in Diamonds in the old, smooth, curvy bottle for 75% off and grabbed it and tossed it in my basket. Then I went back to the new Sally Hansen Diamond Strength display and sure enough. There it was. Diamonds. Same stuff. For a lot more money. Just imagine. Buying the same polish for so. much. less. money. Kinda blew my mind. And made me wonder what kind of evil genius is in charge at Sally Hansen.

Me and my blown mind swatched this lovely little topper over a coat of Wet-n-Wild Black Creme then topped it with top coat. Buckle up and ready thyself for lots of photographs of this baby. These are in sun and in shade. I am confident that you can figure out which is where.

Unfortunately the different colours eluded my camera's eye. Trust me, they are there.

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Diamonds is a pretty, easy going topper. It applies smoothly, distributes the baby flakies evenly and dries in good time. I dig it. You can get it at most drugstores and big box retailers that carry Sally Hansen. Check for clearance stickers at CVS and Walgreen's. You might score one on sale.

Do you own this polish? Like it? Think it is crap? Want more Moody Blues vids?

Thank you for popping in and not running when you realized that I am in a really strange mood. You are friends, indeed. :D Have a lovely day and may your polish never bubble.

Hey, have you entered my giveaway?

A Tale of Four Flakies

2012-01-30T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

As you are no doubt aware, one can't go anywhere without hearing about and seeing them. Flakies. Shiny, shifting, dancing, flashing. Flakies. Flakies. Flakies. Flakies in jelly, flakies mattified, flakies on top, flakies sandwiched. Flakies in clear, flakies in colours. Flakies that flash gold and green, flakies that fire the colours of opals and the sea. Ahhh... Flakies.

Today I am going to show you four flakies. These are the copper/gold/green flakies. The elusive and coveted Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure, the lovely Finger Paints Flashy, the luscious and luxe Essie Shine of the Times and the ever beautiful Nubar 2010.

I decided to do this comparison on a nail wheel, as it was easier to get the angles I wanted to show the full play of the colour shift and the nails on the wheel were nice and long. These are all one coat of flaky polish over one coat of Wet-N-Wild Black Creme and topped with two coats of top coat. I shot these photographs under my OttLight in my lightbox.

As you can see, while these all look largely alike, there are differences. Hidden treasure has the larger flakes and distributes lots of flakes onto the nail in one coat. The flakies in Flashy are smaller and less densely packed, giving a more scattered effect. 2010 seems to be about the middle of the two and Shine of the times has small flakies that are, to my eye the most dense.

Colour wise, these are nearly perfectly identical. They all are copper/gold/green shifters that swim in slightly milky jelly bases that apply and dry clear. They all dry slightly satin and benefit from top coat. These flakies also look fabulous with a matte top coat. Any one or all four are definitely worth owning and adding to your collection. Of the four, Essie Shine of the Times and Nubar 2010 are the most easily acquired. Both run about $8.00 US. Flashy is still available in some Sally Beauty Supply stores and I imagine that it is floating around on E-Bay, as well. Flashy is about six dollars at Sally's. Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure is rare and very hard to find. I have no clue where one could even find a bottle of it, now. I can't even imagine what one would cost, if you could find it.

I hope that this was helpful. If you have any questions or would like to share your feelings about these polishes, please do. :)

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

A Little Redecorating and a Question For You

2012-01-28T13:56:00.002-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

As you can probably see, I have been doing a little redecorating. I decided to change up the look of my blog a bit; lose the cutsie backgrounds (nothing wrong with them, I just think that I am finally over them), install a cleaner, more neutral header and widen my page, overall. I think that my blog looks cleaner, brighter and, in spite of the fact that I have a lot of shit going on, it looks less cluttered and busy. I also like that the wider format makes my posts look a little less wordy and loooong. heh heh

I also started making all of my photographs larger, to fit the new layout. Question, if I may? What say you about the larger photographs? Just right? Too large? Do they feel overpowering to look at as you read? I am good with this size but this is also about my readers and what they like to see so I would really value your honest opinion on photo size in my posts. I am going to hold off changing more until I hear what you all have to say. I have a lot of posts and while I doubt that I will change every one of them, I do plan to go back a little way. I don't want to go to all of that work, tho if the larger shots drive my readers cray-cray. lol

Okay, I can't just leave without posting a picture of something. Bare, just word posts don't feel right, here. :D

(Image Source) This is totally my husband and me.

Thank you for dropping in and for your answer to my question. I really appreciate your input. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble

Swatching Blue: Sinful Colors Ciao Bella

2012-01-28T06:00:00.003-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Yay! It's Saturday! I hope that you all are having a great weekend. To start off Saturday, let's see a pretty blue polish, shall we? This is Sinful Colors Ciao Bella. A cobalt blue jelly base packed with teeny-tiny micro flakies that shift from silver to flash magenta, depending on how the light hits it. My only real complaint about this polish is the fact that the beautiful magenta flash almost completely disappears when you apply this to the nails and it utterly eluded my camera. I shot this polish in my lightbox, outdoors in the sun, in the shade. I tried different angles, I even changed a couple of settings on my camera. Something I never do. No dice. That magenta flash remained elusive.

This swatch is three coats and top coat. The top two photographs were shot in my lightbox, the bottom two in full sun.

Sinful Colors Ciao Bella is a decent enough sort, formula wise. It applied pretty easily. I did have a little trouble with it wanting to run on me but I soon got the hang of working with it. Like many jellies, this one was a tad oogly on the first coat... A bit streaky and uneven but the second and then third coats made it opaque and smooth and shiny and just lovely. I can't attest to dry time, I didn't wear this long enough to really judge that, tho by the time I oiled my cuticles and shot off enough photographs to make my memory card consider going on strike, this stuff was pretty well set and on it's way to dry.

Oh! This polish has that stiff-ish plastic-y brush that some Sinful Colors polishes have. I am not overly nuts about those brushes but they aren't all that bad. They certainly aren't deal breakers. I am sad that the beautiful duochrome shift that you can see in the bottle doesn't translate to the nails and won't show in photographs. I wish that Sinful Colors would pack more of the pretty stuff into their bottles so that what you see in the bottle, you get to wear and enjoy. And take pictures of.

Ciao Bella is part of the core line, if I am not mistaken and if you are interested in it, you should be able to find it anywhere Sinful Colors is sold.

Thank you so much for coming by and spending a little of your Saturday with me. Have a wonderful day and may your polish never bubble.

A Magnetic Giveaway

2012-01-27T08:53:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

The lovely Sirena Sparklestar is holding a giveaway to celebrate 500+ followers. She is offering two of the new China Glaze Magnetix polishes; Attraction and Instant Chemistry as well as a three pattern magnet so that you can have fun with all of the designs. If you would like to enter, please click here to travel to Sirena's blog post and enter.

Check out the goodies:

Nice, huh? What are you waiting for? Getcha butt over there! :D

Swatchity-Swatch: OPI Tangerine Scene

2012-01-27T06:00:00.002-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Friday, at last. I am kind of looking forward to the weekend. Time to have a little fun, do some shopping, maybe pick up some polish and so forth... Get out and enjoy this unseasonably nice weather we are having.

To celebrate March temps in January, I have orange. Bright, clear, almost neon orange. This is OPI Tangerine Scene. This is a creme that thinks it wants to be a jelly. It is very shiny and smooth. I applied three coats and top coat.

Photographs were taken in my lightbox under my OttLight.

OPI Tangerine Scene has a very nice formula. Smooth and easy, it applies like a little bit of a dream with that fab brush that OPI does so very well. There was no running, pooling, dragging or bubbling. The first coat was a touch thin and streaky but subsequent coats took care of all of that, just fine. I don't really know about dry time as I didn't wear this one for very long.

Do you own Tangerine Scene? What do you think about this bright, warm orange polish? I don't know what collection this polish is from but I do believe that it is still pretty easy to locate and purchase. I have seen it here and there.

Thank you so much for coming by. Have a great Friday and may your polish never bubble.

Swatchity-Swatch: Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear Pacific Blue

2012-01-26T06:00:00.002-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Ho's your Thursday going? Well, I hope. Today I have yet another blue polish for you. This is Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear in Pacific Blue. This is one beautiful little pain in the ass of a polish. Beautiful because it is that rich, cool, cerulean blue that just makes my little heart go pitter-pat. My photographs show it a little lighter than it is in person. I tried to boost the saturation but this stuff just doesn't play fair with my camera. It is a pain in the ass because it separates like crazy. I had to shake the shit out of this polish, turn it upside down for a day or two, shake the shit out of it, again then let it settle overnight, shake it again, let it settle for a while, then apply it.

Whew! I am tired just thinking about it. lol Part of the problem may be that I purchased this polish a long time ago and it has sat, untouched for all that time. *shrug* Whatever the reason, it gave me a workout. I will say, tho... It seems to have been worth it. I mean, just look at it. This is a crelly, I needed three coats to get an opaque and smooth finish on my nails. My smoother nails were good in two but my demon ridges made a third coat of this necessary. If you don't have ridges like I do, you can probably just do two. This is, if I remember correctly sans top coat. Yep. This stuff is stupid shiny. Kinda squishy, too. I dig it.

Photographs taken in my lightbox, under my OttLight.

Carrot fingers courtesy of my basic photo editing software. I tried to boost the saturation to get this polish to show more colour true and ended up with only a slight improvement and some mighty fonky looking digits.

The colour is a little closer to true in this shot. A little.

Pacific Blue has a very nice formula. Smooth and easy and a pleasure to paint on. I had a some trouble controlling it only because it has a very long brush wand and I am accustomed to shorter ones. Other than that, it;s very nice. This polish applies a bit streaky on the first coat but then it gets nice and opaque and levels out and is just loverly in two to three coats, depending on what your own nails need. As I said earlier, I needed three. This polish doesn't run or pool or drag or bubble. It dries in decent time. It was already set to the gentle touch by the time I oiled my cuticles and fired off my photographs. When I wear this, I will definitely use top coat.

I think that Pacific Blue is still part of the Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear core line. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Pink Wednesday: Revlon Starry Pink... Plus: Some News About This Polish

2012-01-25T06:00:00.004-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Two Pink Wednesdays in a row!?!? Whoulda thunk it? :D Today I have for you a round the blogs favourite. Revlon Starry Pink. I picked this polish up last Fall and I am just getting around to wearing it. Revlon Starry Pink is a lovely, soft milky pink jelly that can lean just a tiny bit lilac. It is full of tiny silver square glitter and larger silver hex glitter. I applied two coats. I have the tiniest bit of VNL (yay! my nails are long enough to have VNL, again!) and probably could have done three but I don't mind a little VNL with some polishes and it isn't terribly obvious, in any case.

I like this polish. It is soft, delicate, very girlie and has that beautiful squish that a good jelly gives you. Revlon Starry Pink looks like a most delicious glitter sandwich without having to do the work for it. Gotta like that on a lazy day, hey? I topped this with a coat of Seche Vite and now that it has "settled" over the last few hours, it could probably use a second coat of Seche, as I now feel some texture. It isn't gritty but it does have texture.

I am going to show you photographs shot in sun, shade and my lightbox so that you get a good idea of how this polish looks in different lighting.

Sun

Shade

Lightbox

Revlon Starry Pink has an easy, pleasant formula. It was a dream to apply; being neither too thick nor too thin. This polish is easy to control, it lays down where it is placed and it doesn't run, drag, pool or bubble. It is a tad bit streaky but levels out pretty nicely. If you look carefully, you might see a little streakyness but it isn't too obvious so I didn't worry about it. The glitter distributes very easily and I didn't really have to pat or place the glitter, it just fell into place on it's own. Dry time is a tiny bit on the slow side, Seche Vite was a definite help.

Revlon Starry Pink was part of a limited Edition collection. You might still find it floating around, here and there. Check out of the way drugstores and the like and you might stumble upon it. It is definitely worth trying to find, if you like pink, jelly and glitter, preferably all mixed up together in one lovely polish.

Edited to add: It appears that Revlon Starry Pink is now Revlon Popular. If you have been searching for Starry Pink, check the new freestanding stair-step Revlon displays for Popular. Revlon has been re releasing their more popular LE shades under different names.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a wonderful day and may your polish never bubble.

Can I just tell you that trying to type and insert photographs and so forth for a blog post is a pain in the ass when you have both your lappie and your cat on you, at the same time? :P

Swatchity-Swatch: Chelsea Kelidoscope

2012-01-24T10:14:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Want to know the worst thing about duochrome and multichrome polishes? They drive my inner perfectionist utterly insane. You see, in person, they do such fabulous things with colour that I have so much difficulty with my very limited camera and photographic skills capturing all of the beauty.

One of those multi chrome polishes is Chelsea Kelidoscope. I received this polish as part of a giveaway prize, a long time ago. I have had this floating around, languishing unswatched because in the bottle, just looking at it, it wasn't that interesting to me. It wasn't until I decided to swatch everything and just get my backlog done up that I got this one on my nails.

Why did I wait so long, I ask myself. This stuff is really lovely. It is a mad shifter, giving purple, green, bronze (which, for some reason my camera didn't capture), even grey and in flashes, navy. I applied two coats and topped it with Color Club top coat. These photographs were shot in my lightbox under my OttLight.

Chelsea Kelidoscope. That misspelling is absolutely making me mental! People who name cosmetics, buy a frakking dictionary, already! In case you don't know, a dictionary is a big, fat book just chock full of words. Back on topic. This polish is a dark teal jelly base packed with multichromatic shimmer particles. The formula is thin but not runny or difficult. It applies easily and smoothly; there is no running, pooling, dragging or bubbling. There is some brushstroke action, something that can be expected with this kind of polish but it isn't obnoxious enough to scare me off. Dry time is quick with this stuff. Really quick. I don't know about wear time, as I merely swatched this one. If this polish has the usual wear time of most duochromes I own, I would expect this one to live for a day or two.

I have absolutely no clue where to find Chelsea polish. I have never seen it in any store in my town and I have never really searched for it, online. But it must be available, somewhere so if you are in love with the idea of this stuff, Google would probably be your best friend.

So, what say you about Chelsea Kelidoscope?

Thank you so much for popping in and reading. Have a terrific day and may your polish never bubble.

Oh! Say... Have you entered my giveaway?

A Comparison

2012-01-23T09:06:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Please to forgive me but this is a phone it in fly-by and then I am out of here. I am headbanging hard, today and I need to go hide.

I recently had a gentle reader ask if Color Club Ms. Socialite and China Glaze Traffic Jam were matches. (I really need to remember to write down the reader's name along with the polish comparison requests so that I can mention them, properly. Not doing so isn't acceptable.) So I painted up a comparison on a nail wheel. I applied two coats of both polishes and top coat. The photograph was shot in my lightbox under my OttLight.

On the left: Color Club Ms. Socialite and on the right, China Glaze Traffic Jam. While both of these polishes do lean to the berry, they are not matches, at all. Color Club Ms. Socialite is more purple and darker in overall shade. China Glaze Traffic Jam is lighter in tone, brighter overall and what I would call a true raspberry. Distant cousins. Not twins, or even sisters.

Both of these polishes are beautiful, have fabulous formulas and are different enough that if you aren't into owning dupes, but like this colour family are definitely worth owning.

I hope that this was helpful. If you have any questions or anything that you would like to say, please drop me a comment. I love hearing from my readers. :D

Okay, I must run. The glow from my monitor is about to cause my brain to implode. And, since I need my brain, lame as it is, I don't want that to happen. heh heh

Thank you for popping in. Have a lovely day and may your polish never bubble.

Swatchity-Swatch: Essie Lapis of Luxury

2012-01-22T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today's swatch is Essie Lapis of Luxury. A sweet, soft blue crelly. A sweet, soft blue crelly that is lovely but badly named. Lapis is dark blue. Cobalt. Deep, mysterious and mesmerizing. Essie Lapis of Luxury is Spring. It is more periwinkle or forget-me-not than lapis. Don't worry. I'm not going to rant. You know I don't do that. :P I will say that people who name polishes need to do a tad bit of research. :D

I like this polish. It looks like the Summer sky and warm days and birdies singing. This polish is silky and shiny and somewhat squishy. I applied three coats for this swatch and topped it with top coat. These photographs were taken outdoors in sun and shade.

Essie Lapis of Luxury has a decent crelly formula. Smooth and silky it goes on a little sheer and streaky on the first coat. The second is much better and the third results in a perfect, smooth, opaque finish. This polish applies very nicely. It flows easily off of the Essie skinny brush (which I find less and less annoying as time goes on) and sits nicely down where it is placed. It doesn't run, drag, pool or flood my cuticles. It didn't bubble and I had very little cleanup. Dry time is... I dunno. I didn't wear it long enough to really find out. But I imagine that it is pretty much average for a polish of this kind. My other Essie crellies dry in decent time. I imagine that this one does, too.

Is it my imagination or am I showing a shit load of blue polishes, lately? Yeah. That's what I thought. Well, I have more in the pipeline so I hope that you don't mind.

Do you own this polish? Like it? Please do tell.

Thank you for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Swatchity-Swatch: OPI Save Me

2012-01-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I have a look at the only one of the OPI Nicki Minage Collection polishes I purchased. I know... I said that I was glittered out.

I lied.

I saw OPI Save Me and I just had to have it. I wasn't really all that interested in any of the other polishes in this new collection. To me they just feel... Meh. Seen it. Don't really want to do it. To be perfectly honest, I am kind of burned out on the whole celebrity/nail polish collection tie in concept. It is beginning to feel a bit overdone and forced, to me. And it is too many, too close together. One really special collaboration once in a rare great while might be a nice thing but this is happening too often, if you ask me.

OPI Save me is a multi glitter polish comprised of teeny-tiny silver square glitter and bar glitter that is holo and duochrome-ish in nature. The bars glint pink, yellow, purple, blue and holo sparkle. Yippie! Fun stuff, Maynard. I likee. And I am glad that I bought this one, for sure.

I applied one coat over Sinful Colors Fly Away and topped it with top coat, as this one does dry a bit satin. For maximum sparkle and shine, you have to use top coat. I took photographs out in the sunshine. I don't know what it is, but I have had the worst time of it photographing glitters and flakies in the sun, recently. I am thinking that it has something to do with the angle of the sun, this time of year. Whatever it is, it isn't making me all that happy. But this stuff had to be shot in the sun. My OttLight just didn't cut it.

Click these bad boys. That way you can get a real eyeful of the sparkle and all of the pretty colours.

OPI Save Me has that beautiful OPI glitter formula. Fluid and easy to apply. The glitter goes on in plenty and is amazingly easy to get evenly up and all over the nail. You don't have to fight with this one to make it behave. Dry time for this polish is fairly swift but it needs top coat, as it will dry a bit satin-matte. This polish, like many OPI glitters is amazingly smooth, even before top coat is applied and this stuff doesn't eat top coat. One good coat is all that is needed.

I feel that this is best worn as a layering polish with a coordinating or contrasting background polish. I have seen photographs of this polish built up to an opaque finish and the effect wasn't pleasing. It is so, so much prettier just sprinkled on top of another polish, there to wink and sparkle and delight the eye. But that is just my humble opinion. ;)

Did you pick up this sparkly stunner? Any of the other polishes in this collection? What did you think about this collection?

Thank you so much for coming by. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Swatchity-Swatch: Sinful Colors Fly Away

2012-01-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello Gentle readers.

Today's swatch is a lovely little charmer by Sinful Colors. Please give a warm welcome to Fly Away. This is a rich, bright cerulean blue crelly. Shiny and a little squishy. This swatch is three coats. It is shiny and beautiful without top coat.

These photographs were taken in sunshine.

Geeze! Look at that big-assed ridge poking up out on the polish on my pinkie. Blech!

The formula of this polish is pretty damned nice. It isn't terribly opaque. I needed a full three coats for complete coverage. The first coat was very thin and streaky. The second was a little better, the third made it all smooth and opaque. Sinful Colors Fly Away applied very easily. It was a dream to control and paint on my nails. There was no dragging, pooling, running or bubbling. The brush was a tad stiff, it almost felt plastic-y. But it wasn't a nightmare. Just a different feeling than most polish brushes. Dry time for this polish is pretty much average.

Do you own this pretty blue polish? It is, I believe still available at drugstores that carry Sinful Colors. I think. I haven't been perusing the Sinful displays, much lately because they just aren't releasing any new colours. Or, when they do release the rare few new ones, they sure as hell don't make it to my neck of the woods! I missed out on Adventure Island (booo!!! ) and the couple of new Winter shades. I like Sinful Colors. It is surprisingly lovely polish at a bargain basement price. But I am more than ready to see new colours.

Thank you for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Comparisons

2012-01-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today's post is three comparisons of recently featured polishes. I received requests for two of these comparisons and I just decided to do one of them on impulse, for the hell of it. I got to do these on nail wheels rather than on my nails. I have to say, comparisons on the wheels is easier and faster. I can be doing other swatches and painting and letting my nail wheel swatches dry, at the same time.

First is a comparison of Revlon Fashionista and Orly Sapphire Silk. I also tossed in Finger Paints To-Tealy Chic just for shits and giggles.

From the left: Finger Paints To-Tealy Chic, Revlon Fashionista and Orly Sapphire Silk. All three are two coats. No top coat. Photographs shot in my lightbox. I tried sun and shade and this is where I got the best shot.

From the left: Finger Paints To-Tealy Chic, Revlon Fashionista and Orly Sapphire Silk. All three are two coats. No top coat. Photographs shot in my lightbox. I tried sun and shade and this is where I got the best shot. Of the three, Revlon Fashionista (middle) is the darkest. To-Tealy Chic and Sapphire Silk are closer to each other than either to Fashionista. All three are darker, blue leaning teals. Sapphire Silk is actually blue, not green or teal.

Next I did a quick comparison of Essie Mint Candy Apple and a couple of other minty green polishes in my stash. While I was swatching Mint Candy Apple (swatches to be seen, soon) I wondered if it was anything close to Orly Gumdrop. Then, I decided to invite Orly Ancient Jade to the party.

From the left we have: Essie Mint Candy Apple, Orly Gumdrop and Orly Ancient Jade. No dupes, here. Mint Candy Apple is the lightest, creamiest colour. Gumdrop is a little darker, leans a little blue. Ancient Jade is a jade green. Not really mint, after all.

And, last but least, we have the Essie Lilacism comparison. I used Essie Lilacism, Revlon Lily and Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear Lacy Lilac.

From the left: Revlon Lily, Essie Lilacism and Sally Hansen X-Treme Wear Lacy Lilac. As you can see (sorry for the low contrast, these actually look very, very different in person) the Essie Lilacism, in the middle is the lightest, most delicate of the three lilac polishes shown. Lily, on the left is slightly more blue and a little darker and Sally Hansen Lacy Lilac is the darkest of the three. All are pretty lilac polishes and while not dupes, any of these three are lovely to own and to wear.

I hope that this was helpful and clear. Sometimes, I get things a little convoluted. lol If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask. I'll answer as best I can. If you see a polish swatched or featured as a Manicure of the Moment and would like to see comparisons, don't hesitate to ask. If I have the polishes (or something very similar) you want to see I am more than happy to do it. :)

Thank you so much for popping in. Your company and comments are always welcome. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Time To Celebrate 900+ Followers!

2012-01-18T20:28:00.004-07:00

This giveaway is now closed. Thank you for your entries!

Hello gentle readers.

I reached another blog milestone, recently. 900 followers! When I started this blog in May of 2010 I never thought that so many people would be interested in my blog, much less want to click that Follow button and become one of my gentle readers.

In appreciation for each and every one of you who pop in, read and support my blog by following and commenting I am holding a little giveaway. I wish that I could afford the extravaganza that I honestly feel that you all deserve, but I hope that this will do. :)

I wanted to include a little of everything: Holo, flakies, duochrome, creme, shimmer, glitter, pearle... Old (in age... these polishes are brand new and sealed in their package!), new, even a little LE action. There is the Sally Hansen Nail Prisms five pack that includes Ruby Diamond, a beautiful rose/magenta linear holographic, two scattered holos, a pearle and a lovely duochrome. Two Finger Paints Special Effects LE polishes in Twisted and Motley, then in front we have: China Glaze Skyscraper, China Glaze Blue Iguana, a mysterious Color Club creme, a mysterious Color Club purple with some amazing shimmer, Revlon Purplex (the original LE Purplex, not the renamed re-promote) And China Glaze Holly Day, one of the prettiest green polishes to be released in a long time.

All of these polishes were purchased by me, with my own money. They are all new. Some were purchased individually, some are from sets.

Time for the stupid old booger butt rules:

First, this giveaway is open to legal residents of the United States, only. Believe me, I am so sorry that I have to make this restriction. I feel like a jerk for having to do this but shipping polish out of the US in a legal manner is increasingly regulated and difficult. I don't have the proper permissions to do it legally and I can't afford the fines that I might incur if I get busted trying to sneak it by. *hangs head*

You must be eighteen or older or have permission from your parents or legal guardian. I am not kidding about this one. I do not want to be put in the position of having some angry mom or dad contacting me and demanding to know why some random broad their kid met online has their address and is sending stuff to their child.

This giveaway will close on February 29th at 11:59 PM MST. I will then compile all entries and, I may try using Random.org to draw the winner, this time around. I should use Rafflecopter or something... But it kind of freaks me out. I think that I'll just tiptoe slowly into this brave, new world of gadget run giveaways.

Okay, here is how to earn entries:

Please leave your entries in a comment on this post, only. I would appreciate it if you would put all entries in one entry but if you need to break them up, I'll do my best to be sure that you get all of the entries to which you are entitled.

Please be a public follower of Ice Queen's Nail Parlour. If you are not a follower, it is painless, I promise. Just find the Followers gadget in my right hand column and click the Follow button. If, for some reason you can't go through GFC let me know, in your entry comment that you are a regular reader and just fulfill some of the other entry qualifiers. I know that the whole GFC thing is a thing right now so I'll work with you. :) (If you can follow, tho, you are required to do so. ;)) Please be sure to leave your e-mail address so that I can contact you, should you win. If you would like, you can break it up to keep spambots at bay. Just make sure I can read it and put it back together, mmmkaaay? 2 Entries

Blog about this giveaway or put an item in your sidebar with a link back and please use the photograph in this post. Please include a link to your blog post or blog. 2 Entries

Is Ice Queen's Nail Parlour on your blogroll? If so, please include your blog link and enjoy an additional 2 Entries.

Like Ice Queen's Nail Parlour on Facebook. Please let me know your Facebook name. 2 Entries

Tweet this giveaway. Please provide a link to your tweet, if you would be so kind. 2 Entries

That is Ten chances, total to win. Ten!

Please remember that this giveaway closes at 11:59 MST on February 28th. I will announce the winner once one is drawn and immediately contact them by e-mail. I will also post something here, on my blog. The winner will have 48 hours to get back to me. If I don't hear from the winner after 48 hours, I will draw a new winner.

Okay, this giveaway is officially open!

Edited to Add: If you have any trouble posting a comment on this blog post for any reason, shoot me an e-mail (you can find my e-mail address in my Contact tab) detailing your entries and I'll make sure that you get your entries in. :)

Pink Wednesday

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today is Wednesday. And I am wearing pink. Imagine that. :) Today I have Revlon Temptress, a coral pink creme with a beautiful hidden silver shimmer that fires in the sun. I applied two coats of Temptress and topped it with Seche Vite.

These were taken in the sun. Please click to enlarge and see the shimmah.

Revlon Temptress is that strange, weirdly "grainy" type of creme. It is almost... I don't know... Dry? It reminds me of OPI Flower to Flower in consistency. It is a tad thick and gloopy and, while it gets opaque in two coats, it is a little uneven. Happily, Seche Vite melts and smooths it perfectly. It is like OPI Flower to Flower in that respect, also. This polish is okay. Not stellar. Not bad. Just... Okay. Dry time is a tad slow-ish with this stuff.

See that divot in the bottle? It was lurking under the clearance price sticker. It came out to play when I removed the sticker. I need to remember to handle this bottle carefully. One good knock and I could have polish all over the joint. lol

After I applied this polish and took pictures, I decided to haul out Sally Hansen Princess Cut, a pink jelly sister of Sally Hansen Glass Slipper. I lemming'd this topper so hard. I mean, I would search and search the Sally Hansen displays like crazy every time I went into Walgreen's or CVS, looking for it. I finally found it.

Here it is over Revlon Temptress and topped with a final coat of Seche Vite.

Yeah. Not a good layering choice. Princess Cut just disappeared when I applied it to this pink. It is more visible in person than it is in photographs. I'll give this a go over darker colours. I think that silvery flakies just don't do well over light tones. They need some contrast to fire and spark back to the eye.

Do you own either of these polishes? Tried them together? Like them?

Thank you for stopping in. Have a great Wednesday and may your polish never bubble.

Color Club Ms. Socialite

2012-01-17T06:00:00.002-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Here is a pretty purple polish that I have been wearing the last few days. Color Club Ms. Socialite from the Color Club Rebel Debutant collection. This lovely crelly is a slightly dusty purple. I applied two coats and topped it with some of the Color Club top coat that I received with one of my Ross collections. I think it was Back to Boho. I usually use Seche Vite but I thought that it would be fun to give top coat that I normally only use for swatching a test drive as a wear it long term top coat. I have to say, I am not overly impressed. The top coat dried a little more quickly than normal, non quick dry top coat but it wasn't as fast as Seche Vite.

Wear isn't all that impressive. After two days, I had considerable tip wear and some tiny chips. This polish is coming off, today and I am going back to my Seche Vite.

I can't wait until my nails are long enough to easily wrap my tips, again. I think that leaving my tips bare is contributing to my short polish wear and tip wear and chipping so soon. Blech.

As I mentioned, this was two coats and tip coat. I took these photos under my OttLight.

The formula of Color Club Ms. Socialite is lovely. Smooth and silky and easy-peasy to apply. The brush is nice and is easy to use and control. This polish was a tad thin and streaky on the first coat then smooth, opaque and perfect on the second. There was no running, pooling, dragging or bubbling. Dry time is good. Even with the less than stellar top coat that I used, with this manicure.

I like this polish and will no doubt wear it, again. It isn't the most long lived polish on the planet but since I change my polish frequently that isn't really a problem for me.

I have a couple of comparisons to do. I bought some nail wheels at Sally's yesterday. I thought that they would come in handy for doing comparisons and quick swatches and so forth. I may start collecting a nice big pile of them and start swatching all of my polishes on the nail wheels. Maybe. We'll see. :D

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Oh! I have a little something-something coming up, in the next couple of days. Please keep your eyes peeled. :D

Swatchity-Swatch: Essie Lilacism

2012-01-16T06:00:00.002-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Another week begins. And in the dark, cold of Winter comes a breath of Spring in the form of Essie Lilacism. This polish has been lurking in my untrieds for... Nearly a year. How lovely is this polish, I ask you. Essie Lilacism is a beautiful lilac crelly. This swatch is four coats. Yes. Four. This polish is a little thin and the pigmentation isn't stellar and it had a hard time handling my demon ridges. I am going to give this another go with underwear and see if it goes a little better. Because I want this stuff to work. That colour is simply divine. Classic Essie... Soft, gentle, ladylike and just downright pretty.

Sunshine photographs for your perusal.

The formula of Essie Lilacism is pretty translucent, for all it's appearance of it being a creme. I had to paint on four coats to get it opaque and smooth. The first coat was thin, streaky and uneven. The second was a little better, started to even out nicely but damn! My ridges! Third coat, even better. Had my nails been nice and smooth, I could probably have stopped there but this polish and my ridges don't look well together. Some polishes, I can ignore them showing a little, not with this one. So, the fourth coat got everything covered and smooth. Finally. lol If you have smoother nails three coats, at the most should do you very nicely. This polish is worth the three coats. Trust me.

Application, it's self was easy. This polish is nice to work with and easy to control. I had very little cleanup. there was no pooling, dragging, clotting or being chalky and difficult, as some Essie cremes can be. Dry time was pretty good, even with four coats, by the time I finished taking photographs, this stuff was dry to a gentle touch and would have dried faster, had I used Seche Vite. I like this polish, in spite of having to work with it a bit to make it work for me and it will be on my nails, come Spring.

So, what say you? Like this polish? Think that you might be craving it? If I am not mistaken, Lilacism is part of Essie's core collection and available just about anywhere you can find Essie polish.

Thank you for stopping by and reading. Have a wonderful Monday and may your polish never bubble.

Swatch It Sunday: Sally Hansen Glass Slipper

2012-01-15T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

'Tis Sunday. A day of rest. A day to post polish swatches. Today's swatch is The much talked about and much sought after by me for a while, now Sally Hansen Glass Slipper. This sparkling topper is a mix of different size icy silver flakies floating in a slightly milky clear jelly base. I applied one coat over Color Club Resort to Red then a top coat. This is so pretty, in person but it kind of hangs back in photographs. It just doesn't show up as it does when you are looking directly at it.

I took a lot of photographs of this in my lightbox, in the sun and in shade. The best ones were in shade and under my OttLight. Sunlight kind of ate the flakies and those photos weren't worth showing. Weird, huh?

Shade

Lightbox

Sally Hansen Glass Slipper is a nicely behaved topper polish. Smooth jelly base and plenty of flakies. This polish applies smoothly and the flakies are easy to work with. They go on a tad unevenly but it isn't a major deal and easy enough to even out. This topper dries quickly and needs top coat to make it utterly shiny and sparkly.

How'z about that faceted bottle, kids? I'm kind of liking it. It's kitschy and fun. Especially with the sparkly fakealoo diamond embedded in the bottle. Yepper. I kinda like stuff like that. :D

So, do you have this pretty sparkler? Like it? Want it? Don't fear the photos, it really is pretty stuff. And it is available in drugstores and other retailers that carry Sally Hansen. It runs between six and seven dollars a bottle. A little steep, for Sally Hansen, if you ask me. But, whateves... I don't regret buying it.

Thank you for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Happy Saturday!

2012-01-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

It's the weekend. And I am up far too early and gulping coffee and trying to clear the cobwebs from my brain. So, I figured it is time to write a post here. Because brain fog and blogging go hand in hand, you know.

Today's swatch (I am wearing just clear base coat, at the moment) is Color Club Resort to Red from their Fall 2010 Untamed Luxury Collection. This is a beautiful dark red jelly base packed with micro shimmer. It is similar to OPI An Affair in Red Square in concept and colour, but Resort to Red is deeper in tone and shades a bit more burgundy. This polish is lovely and rich and velvety in look and feel. I dig it.

Photos were shot in my lightbox under my OttLight.

Color Club Resort to Red has a lovely formula. It is well behaved, complies with all requests to sit down where placed and is smooth and dreamy. I may have used my cleanup brush once when applying this swatch. Gotta love that! This polish self levels very nicely. It is a tad brushstroke-y. 'Tis the nature of the beast with a polish of this ilk but careful application and a good top coat minimizes that effect very nicely. Dry time is a tiny bit slow but not slow enough to make you late for the opera.

Would I have purchased this polish were it standing alone on a shelf? Probably not. Not because it isn't lovely, it is just that I have several very similar polishes in my collection, already. If you are looking for a beautiful, rich shimmering red polish, this one could be a lovely addition to your polish family. It is available at various e-tailers and you can probably find it in beauty supplies that carry Color Club and on sites like Amazon and E-Bay.

Thank you so much for popping in and spending a little of your Saturday here with me. Have yourself a terrific weekend and may your polish never bubble.

Swatch on the Run: Color Club Ms. Hautie

2012-01-13T10:57:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Ever see a bottle of polish that just makes you go, "Oooo! Pretty!" Gazing at the fluid behind the glass you see the promise; the rich, glistening, slightly metallic grey creme, the beautiful shimmer that shifts it inexplicably into magenta then the tiny, silver holo glints from baby glitter. Combined, these elements create magic.

In the bottle. Sadly, this polish falls far short of the promise on the nails, then it just dies in photographs. Color Club Ms. Hautie is from the Fall 2010 Untamed Luxury Collection and it is one of the most disappointing polishes I have ever owned and applied to my nails. I applied two coats and was so let down that I just wanted to lob the bottle across the room. My nails were not slightly metallic grey shimmering with magenta and firing holographic sparks back to my eyes. They. Were. Just. Grey.

I like grey polish. One of my faves of 2011 was China Glaze Concrete Catwalk. Love that polish. But I love it for what it is and what it promises. A silken, grey creme. Color Club Ms. Hautie promises so much in the bottle then utterly disappoints when applied. And when I pointed my camera at it, it just died where it was. Even the bottle shots were terrible, not coming close to showing what the bottle gives, in person.

Bummer.

Photos were shot in sun and shade in a vain attempt to make this polish do something. Anything.

If you click this photograph to enlarge it, you can see a hint of what I am talking about when I describe this polish in the bottle. Just a hint.

I will hand it to Color Club Ms. Hautie, the formula is just about as flawless as it gets. This polish flowed onto my nails and sat sweetly where I placed it. I didn't pick up my cleanup brush even once. There was no running, no pooling, no flooding, no streaking or dragging. It just whispers into place. I think that this needs a little time before receiving top coat as it seemed to crinkle a tiny bit as I applied top coat. But that was my only concern about the application process. Dry time for this polish is good.

I am just so disappointed in how this polish looks on as opposed to how it looks in the bottle. Color Club really dropped the ball on this one.

Do you own this polish? Were you as disappointed by it as I am?

Thank you for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

A Little Sunshine in the Middle of Winter

2012-01-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today is yellow day. I have two yellow polishes to share. The first is Sinful Colors Unicorn. A soft, light, brand new fluffy baby chick yellow. Precisely the kind of yellow I love the best. This is five coats and top coat. Yepper. I said five. Coats. Should have put on underwear. Definitely. *sigh* Why is it that colours I love best are so difficult and silly?

Sunshine shots!

Sinful Colors Unicorn is undeniably gorgeous. I all in adoration of this polish's colour. The jelly formula is not beloved of me, tho. It went on incredibly sheer, somewhat streaky and just made me crazy. I had to apply five coats to get it opaque and smooth and as much as I love a polish, I am not willing to sit and apply five coats then try to endure the incredibly long, long, long dry and cure time. I am going to attempt this one over underwear before I write it off because I really do want to love it and wear it. Guh! This colour!

Unicorn does apply very nicely. It is easy to control, is silky and smooth and glides on without running and pooling on the cuticles. This polish self levels like a dream and it dries shiny and glossy and perfect. It is just so. Tragically. Sheer.

I don't know. I'll have to work with it a bit. Tho I must say, a part of me is kind of pissed that I have to work so damned hard to make a polish do it's job. Know what I mean?

Next is Finger Paints Psychedelic Sunshine over the aforementioned Sinful Colors Unicorn. This polish was a member of Finger Paint's Summer Collection for 2011. I missed out on most of the polishes from that collection, but I did snag this one.

Psychedelic Sunshine is a very warm, bright, sunshine yellow jelly base with yellow, multicolored sparking fine glitter. This is definitely a layering polish, in my not so humble opinion. I applied one coat over Unicorn and used top coat. Dude, my nails were so thick in this swatch! I doubt, had this been a manicure I wanted to wear that it would have never, ever, in a million years dried. lol

Top shot under my OttLight and the bottom in sunshine.

Finger Paints Psychedelic Sunshine is pretty stuff. Too bad I can't say the same for the formula. This polish is incredibly thick. Semi hardened concrete is smoother and more pliant. Using this polish is like trying to paint one's nails with Jello. I dumped a ton of thinner into the bottle. Enough that this shit should be running like water from a faucet. And it is still gloop city. *sigh* I am going to keep thinning it and see if I can get it to be a bit more biddable because I want to use this polish this Spring and Summer. I think that it could be fun over yellows, oranges, even red to make interesting oranges... If I can get it to be more biddable.

Okay, so. Two polishes that I want to love but need a little more time with to see if this relationship is going to work. Do you own either of these? Has our experience been similar to mine? Did they work better for you? I am interested to hear.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Swatchity-Swatch: Revlon Fashionista

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Ever have those days when you could happily ace everyone living in the house and just rock the solo life? My husband and son are driving. me. in. sane. *sigh* A beach, a tall frosty cocktail, a tanned cabana boy are sounding really good, right about now.

Since I can't have that, I'll show you a polish swatch, instead. This is Revlon Fashionista. A rich, dusty peacock blue crelly. I applied two coats and this swatch is with top coat. Photographs taken in my lightbox. Obviously this swatch was done before my nail disaster and nubbinization. lol

I like this one. Lots and lots. The formula is lovely. It's a little thin but not hard to work with. The first coat is a tad thin and uneven but the second coat makes it all smooth, opaque and stupid shiny. Dry time is pretty decent.

Revlon Fashionista is out and available in drugstores and other mass retailers that sell Revlon. Look for the stand alone display that has a lot of good old friends with not so good old new names. If I am not mistaken, Purplex is now Naughty. Really, Revlon? *rolling my eyes*

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Manicure of the Moment

2012-01-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

After my lovely Color Club Get a Clue started showing it's age, I needed a change of polish. A polish that would work with my shorties. A polish that was nothing like the polish I was wearing. I wanted red. Opposite of the soft, girlie, sweet pink, I was in the mood for a classic bad girl red. Revlon Devil's Candy is just that kind of red. A red that, early in the last century delighted those who dared to wear it and scandalized those who saw it being worn.

Revlon Devil's Candy is a clean, clear, bright orange red jelly. Translucent, squishy and hot, hot, hot. I applied two coats and topped it with Seche Vite.

These photographs were shot outdoors in overcast filtered sun.

Revlon Devil's Candy's formula is loverly. So smooth, silky and easy-peasy to apply. So easy that I had little cleanup. Just a tiny bit of fussbudget refining, here and there. This polish is jelly and translucent and, were my nails longer, I would have had to apply more than the two coats shown here. Nice thing about shorties... No VNL to worry about. Dry time is good. Tho this pretty dries shiny all on it's own, top coat makes it even better.

What do you think of Devil's Candy? Did you pick it up when it was for sale last Fall? Are you as tickled with it as I am?

Thank you so much for popping in and reading and your comments. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Swatchity-Swatch: Finger Paints Artist's Sapphire

2012-01-09T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

How is everyone, today? Who else is still having freakishly warm weather for the time of the year? *raises hand* As long as it isn't snowing. :P

Today's offering is another lovely Finger Paints polish called Artist's Sapphire. I love this for a few different reasons. It's dark blue. It has a beautiful, fine shimmer and it is named for my favourite gemstone. Artist's Sapphire looks like it's namesake. It is a dark, yet brilliant blue. There is a beautiful, deep glow that is courtesy of the super fine shimmer. That depth and glow is very much like an actual sapphire. I found this beauty at my local Sally's on clearance plus fifty percent off. I paid ninety-nine cents.

This swatch is two coats and top coat. I snapped these photographs in my lightbox under my OttLight.

The formula of this polish is just lovely. Thick but not gloopy or sticky, it just glides onto the nails and settles sweetly into place. I had to only cleanup a couple of spots and those were due to my shaky, over caffeinated hand slipping. This polish is extremely pigmented so keep it off of your cuticles and if it does hit skin, get at it with your cleanup brush at once as this stuff will stain your skin if you don't. Dry time is a tad slower, but not obnoxiously so.

What do you think of my bargain basement beauty? :D

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a wonderful day and may your polish never bubble.

My Untrieds

2012-01-08T19:52:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Are you like me? Do you have a rather large number of untried polishes? Do you have the guts to post a photograph? I am going to do it. I am going to show you my untrieds shelf. :D

From the left: Finger Paints (now swatched! yay me!) Sally Hansen, China Glaze, Revlon, one Pure Ice, Color Club, Wet-N-Wild, Sinful Colors, a Milani, behind the Milani is two Confettis, Essie, OPI, Orly, Rimmel and a Zoya. Way in back is a cluster of random one-offs including a Borghese, a Maybelline, a Victoria's Secret... A few others.

I double dog dare you to show us your untried polishes. :D

Swatchity-Swatch: Finger Paints Special Effects

2012-01-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I am showing the Finger Paints Special Effects flakie toppers that are available now at Sally Beauty Supply. This collection is five different flakie toppers made up of flakies of different colours in a milky clear jelly like base. The flakies range from the classic copper/gold/green to various colour combinations including green, blue, pink and even purple.

Almost all of the lovely swatches of these polishes I have seen, so far have been shown with black polish. I thought that it would be fun to swatch them over some different colours, too. So, I did one over black and the rest over blue, green and plum. I like some of my selections. One, I am not all that nuts about but I think that it works. Sorta... ;)

All photographs were shot in my lightbox, under my OttLight. For some reason, my sun shots didn't come out very well. I think it had something to do with the time of day and the angle of the sun. It was getting a little lower and it just didn't fire the flakies as I had hoped it would.

Asylum over Wet-N-Wild Black Creme. Copper, gold, blue and purple flakie flash. This looks like a black opal. :D

Flecked over Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Thinking of Blue. This is what Sinful Colors Green Ocean could'a would'a should'a been. Beautiful sea green flakies.

Motley over Orly Plum Noir. Flakies that shift green, blue and purple. The purple was lost against the plum base. Duh!

Twisted over Revlon Fashionista. All kinds of flakie colours all mixed together. Yay! Love!

Flashy over Sinful Colors Last Chance. This is the classic Hidden Treasure/Nubar 2010 type flakie. Copper/gold/bronze to green shifter.

Check out that shift! But please ignore the fact that this angle made my fingers look like blown up Snausages. Blech! Stoopid camera!

Finger Paints Special Effects polishes are pretty toppers. The formula is nice, not too thick and the flakies are easy to evenly distribute all over your nails. I do think that Finger Paints got a little bit chintzy with the goodies. They could have dumped more flakies in the bottles, knowwhatImean? But that is a minor gripe. I really do like these toppers and I feel that they are well worth the money.

Do you own these pretties? What think you of them?

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a terrific day and may your polish never bubble.

Swatchity-Swatch: Finger Paints Vintage Velvet

2012-01-07T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today's swatch fun is courtesy of Finger Paints Vintage Velvet. Another of the lovely Fall creme polishes, this one is just like her sister, Cordu-Orange. Rich, shiny and creamy-licious. This one is a dirty teal green; great for Fall. Great for any time of the year! I kind of extremely *heart* it. This swatch is two coats and top coat.

Photographs were taken in my lightbox under my OttLight.

Finger Paints Vintage Velvet has a gorgeous formula. It is thick and smooth and silky. It applies like a dream and I didn't have to fuss with the cleanup brush all that much. Just like I like it. Dry time is a little slowish but not so much that it is a problem. This polish is plagued with the same problem as it's fellow Fall cremes. Separation and grey pigment streaks but they don't seem to hurt the overall colour or performance on the nail. I just shake it well, let it settle a bit to de-bubble then slap it on.

This polish, just like the other Fall Finger Paints polishes is definitely worth owning, if you can still find it.

Do you own this polish? How is it for you? Love it? Not so much?

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a good one, my fellow polish addict and may your polish never bubble.

Swatchity-Swatch: Finger Paints Codur-Orange

2012-01-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

I have a swatch to share with you, today. Finger Paints Cordu-Orange (this name is a pain in the butt to type! lol) is a lovely dirty, slightly rusty orange creme from their Fall 2011 Collection. I didn't pick this up until Winter was setting in and it was on clearance at my local Sally's. Had I known how full of win this polish is, I would have grabbed it, sooner. Much sooner. Finger Paints Cordu-Orange is Autumn in a bottle. But that doesn't mean that I won't wear it before next Fall. I applied two coats for this swatch and used top coat. Photos were shot in my lightbox.

Yummy. Rich, warm, dirty and creamy orange goodness. Thick but not gloopy and easy to control. Two coats gave me smooth, opaque perfection. Dry time is good. Look how sick shiny this baby is! I never thought that I could love a colour like this so. much. Mmmm...

Finger Paints polishes are a little hit and miss, for me. When they do it right, they do it soooo right. And when they don't I just want to run in the opposite direction and never pick up another one, again. I don't know why I feel so damned passionately about this brand, I just do. lol I bought several of the Fall 2011 Finger Paints cremes and one thing I have noticed is that they are not well mixed. These polishes separate badly and fast and have to be shaken like crazy to get them back together. And even after mad shaking, they still have greyed pigment streaks running through them. But that doesn't seem to interfere with the beauty on the nails. When I want to wear any of these cremes, I make sure to shake the shit out of them then let them sit and settle for a while to de-bubble before I apply.

Do you own this polish? Love it? Get crazy when you see pigment streaks running through it? Please do share, I'd love to hear your impressions.

Thank you so much for popping in and hanging out for a bit. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Color Club Snakeskin

2012-01-05T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I have a beauty of a polish to share with you. A while, while back, I found at Ross the shimmer/glitter half of the Color Club Untamed Luxury Collection from Fall 2010. One of the polishes in that collection is Snakeskin. Why the hell did this one live for so long in my untried polishes area? Why did I wait so long to wear this beauty?

Color Club Snakeskin is a cool, sexy, sophisticated polish. This charmer is a grey to dark olive green shifter that is shot through with the finest gold shimmer that dances in and out of view on it's own whim. Indoors and under artificial light, it is a smoky dark olive green that shows the gold shimmer. Outdoors, it turns gunmetal grey that fires with tiny gold sparks. The finish is unusual. I can't really describe it. It has a matte/shiny feel (I know that is totally contradictory, but there it is) there is a sense of the metallic and almost a leather/tanned skin feel. I need to pick up a new bottle of matte top coat and try this mattified. I think that it would be really fab, that way, too. I applied two coats and topped it with Seche Vite.

There are lots of photographs of this one. I needed to show this in all lights, OttLight, sun and shade.

OttLight

Sun

Shade

Color Club Snakeskin has a fairly fabulous formula. It is smooth, thick-ish without being at all gloopy. This polish is a delight to paint on my nails; it flows off the brush and sits down where it is placed. It doesn't run or pool or drag. I didn't have to do much cleanup when I applied it, just a little fussbudget refining. Dry time is really good. I didn't have to wait around all day waiting to get on with my life. Gotta love that. :D

I do have two small complaints about this polish. One, it is a little brushstroke-y. I am not overly fond of brushstroke-y polish but this one isn't so bad that it turns me off. I am just aware of it. The biggest downside of this polish is it's wear time. I wore this for two days and at the end of that time, I had some pretty impressive tip wear on some of my nails and a few tiny chips. This is a short wear polish. I don't mind that so much, as I change my polish pretty frequently, anyway but if you are the wear your polish a long time kinda girl, this one may not be for you. In spite if it's small shortcomings, I heartily recommend this polish. It is beautiful, sexy, fabulous and in spite of it being unusual and dark, I can see this being completely work appropriate.

Okay. Enough gushing. lol Wordy, I am. :P

Do you won this polish? Think that you might like to? It is available from various e-tailers, beauty supplies, I think I saw it on Amazon and I am sure that it is floating around E-Bay, as well. (Don't quote me on that last one... I almost never go there.) While it isn't the latest thing, it is not rare or hard to find so don't let anyone try to rook you on the price. There is no reason to pay an inflated amount for this polish.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have yourself a fantastic day and may your polish never bubble.

Pink Wednesday in Shortie Town

2012-01-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

You want to know what sucks big, fat, green donkey dicks about beautiful weather in January? You want to open your window and enjoy the fresh, clean, warm breeze and air out your acetone infested sanctuary and relax while you swatch flakies and listen to music. Until your prick-ass next door neighbour goes out on the balcony of a non fucking smoking condo and smokes. And blows it towards your unit and right into your sanctuary and it smells more like a casino than acetone. Or fresh, clean breezes.

So, I had a hissy fit. I went to slam my window shut and snapity-snap! Irreparable breaks. Two nails. Trashed. *sigh* Out came the file and down to nubbins went the rest of my nails. I hate that guy. So. Much. If he wants to smoke, why don't he and his girlfriend move somewhere that smoking isn't prohibited. Yes, I grok that what people choose to do outside and in their own time is their own business. It is his right to smoke and destroy his lungs.

It is my right to get pissed to the gills when he fills my home with nasty, stinky, noxious smoke. Don't my rights matter? We moved into this condo specifically because these are non smoking units. Yet this is our second neighbour that thinks that it is perfectly okay to smoke outside their own unit and fill mine with their stank. And I am so. fucking. sick. of it. I can't wait until April. Just four months and we can get out of here! And I won't have to breathe smoke, get pissed, slam windows and break my nails.

Okay. Meltdown over.

Since it is Wednesday and since I no longer have any nails and since I am pissed and need to calm down before I go next door and rip his nails out, one by one with pliers, I decided to apply a soft, pale colour to my fresh, new nubbins. I chose Color Club Get a Clue from their Alter Ego Collection. This is a pretty, delicate lilac-y pink crelly. I applied three coats and topped it with Seche Vite.

I took these photos in late afternoon setting sun.

Color Club Get a Clue has a somewhat difficult formula. Not as snotty as Essie French Affair, which it strongly resembles, colour wise, but difficult enough. It is streaky and took a full three coats and Seche Vite to really smooth out and be fully opaque and lovely. I don't know what I am going to do with this stuff. If I'll keep it. Re home it. Lob it at my cigarette smoking neighbour's head. We'll see.

Do you own this polish? Is it as streaky for you as it is for me?

Thank you for popping in. Have a great evening and may your polish never bubble.

Comparison: OPI It's My Year and Orly Oui

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I have a comparison post for you. I have somehow managed to acquire both OPI It's My Year and Orly Oui. When I showed them, I realized that the two looked awfully similar so I dug them both out and swatched and shot a comparison.

Both polishes are a purple jelly base shot through with a slightly duochrome gold glass fleck. I applied three coats of both polishes and used top coat. Seen separately, in photographs, one might think that they are dupes. Turns out, they are very similar but they are not identical. Orly Oui has a darker purple base. Both polishes are quite sheer, both need a minimum of three coats for full opacity. Both, even after three coats are still slightly sheer and a tiny bit uneven. This isn't noticeable until you get them out in the sun, as you will see.

The formula is gorgeous on both. Smooth, so very easy to apply. Both are lovely to work with; they don't run, pull, drag or otherwise drive one nuts. Both have decent dry times. I have only swatched them so I can't attest to actual wear time.

Here we have the two shot under my OttLight in my lightbox. Orly Oui on my index and ring, OPI It's My Year on middle and pinkie. You can clearly see the difference in tone between the two. Sorry about my ring nail; I still don't know how I managed to goober it up. But since I was just doing a comparison shot, I decided to leave it as is.

In direct sun, the difference is even more obvious. You can also see that they are a teeny bit streaky and prone to little bald spots.

Here they are in shade. I took this shot to show the amazing gold glass fleck, in which, by the way, I could see absolutely no difference, in person and on my nails. Seems both OPI and Orly sourced the same golden goodness for their nail pretties. Even in shade, there is a discernible difference in overall tone, between the two polishes.

Not dupes, as you can clearly see. But they are similar enough that, unless you are a collector and must have everything, one or the other should do you very nicely.

I hope that this was helpful. I realize that both of these polishes have been out and about a while. I don't usually acquire polishes very early so I just have to show what I can, when I can. lol

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a wonderful day and may your polish never bubble.

Just a Quickie, Today

2012-01-03T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello Gentle Readers.

Today I have a quick little swatch post. This is a swatch I was originally going to include in my recent retrospective then I realized that I never have featured this polish on this blog (duh!!!) so I left it out. I decided to go ahead and show it, today.

This is OPI Simmer &Shimmer. A beautiful fine glitter mix of blue, gold, silver and pink. This is so pretty and sparkles like absolute insanity in the sun. This swatch is one coat of Simmer &Shimmer over China Glaze Blue Year's Eve and topped with Gelous.

This photograph was taken in the sun. On a warm, almost seventy degree day. Freakish weather we are having this year, lemme tell you.

The formula of this is nice. Like many glitters, it isn't going to apply like a jelly or creme, but it smooths on very nicely and paves the nail in tiny square glittery goodness. This polish will build up, in several coats to opaque but it looks equally fabulous, in my opinion as shown, here.

Do you own this lovely? If it is on your wish list, it is available here and there. But watch out for jacked up prices and fakealoos.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Swatchity-Swatch: OPI It's My Year

2012-01-02T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

I hope that your New Year is off to a fine start and that you are all having a great day. Say... How's it going with those resolutions? I learned years ago not to make them. When I do, I inevitably set myself up for epic failure so I just don't go there, anymore. :D

Today, I have a pretty, pretty polish to share with you. This is OPI It's My Year from their Summer Miss Universe Collection. This lovely purple jelly polish is shot clear through with gold glass fleck shimmer. This stuff is rich, shiny, shifty and just full of gorgeous. I applied three coats and topped it with top coat.

These photographs were taken out in the sun.

The formula is awesome. Smooth and jelly and lovely to apply. This just flows off of that fabulous brush, sits right down where it is placed and doesn't run or pool or smear. I didn't wear this long enough to see how fast it dries, tho it was dry to the gentle touch, by the time I oiled my cuticles and fired off these photographs.

This polish reminds me of Orly Oui. Hmmm... Perhaps a comparison is in order? If anyone would like to see that, let me know and I will get to it.

I must run along, now. Thank you so much for popping in. Have a terrific day and may your polish never bubble.

Ugly New Year Nails

2012-01-01T06:00:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year, gentle readers!

Who's hung over? Not I. :D We did our usual wild and crazy NYE festivities. Dinner, soda, popcorn, TV, various ball/shoe/whateverthehelltheyaredropping celebrations on the tube. Early-ish to bed, snoring while everyone else is still out getting soused and stumbling home and puking on their front porch.

Yepper. We are a couple of raving party animals, fo shizz.

I did New Year's Eve nails. I used China Glaze Champagne Bubbles and some pretty AB crystals on my ring finger nails. Yuk. Blech. Ew. Your Queen isn't happy. I knew that I should have listened to my instincts and not bought Champagne Bubbles. I passed it by when I bought all of my other Let It Snow polishes. I didn't like it in the bottle, I didn't like it in swatch photographs. I just didn't like it, Sam I Am. But it was on clearance, recently and I am a raging polish ho.

Reformed. This polish got worn, once. Never to grace my tips, again. I applied two coats of this green around the gills, brushstroke-y, too metallic in an unpleasant way gold goo filled with scattered tiny square silver glitter, added my crystals, topped them with too much top coat, thus making them look all dull and goopy. But I am going to keep this mani on for a couple of days because my nails are going to get a little abuse in the next couple of days and this nasty, thick, ugly paint job will protect them.

From what, you might ask. I'll show you in a bit. Let's get this whole nasty polish business done, first, shall we? These photographs were shot in sun and in the shade of my garage. It was another perfect polish photographing day. Mid sixties, sunny, gentle breeze. Freaky assed weather, my friends. Freaky assed weather and I am not complaining. :D

Ew!

Yuk!

Gross!

Nasty!

Do. Not. Like. China Glaze Champagne Bubbles is a good formula, for what it is. It flows nicely off the brush and sits very nicely down where it is placed. It is a little thin and uneven on the first coat but the second makes it all nice and opaque and smooth. Dry time is extremely respectable. The finish is glowey, not shiny-shiny. The little silver glittery bits do kind of remind me of champagne bubbles.

All that said, I still don't like it. It's just not something that appeals to me. But I gave it a chance. I'll most likely re home it, at some point. I want to clean it off, but as I said earlier, I am keeping it on for protective reasons. Because, my widdle fingers will be busy assembling:

These!

Husband person bought my polishes a little New Year's pressie. Melmers are 40% off at Michael's, right now. So, two of these babies came home with me, today. I almost bought three... But I decided to wait and see if I really need a third. Hubbie is amenable to acquiring a third for me, if need be. :D

I took a quick look at the instructions and these shouldn't be too bad to assemble. The directions say that it takes about fifteen minutes. Ha!!! They obviously know absolutely nothing about the two of us. lolol Neither one of us are terribly mechanically inclined. I am figuring the first one to take a good hour, the second one a little less time.

I can't wait to get these babies put together and my polishes all sorted and organized and tucked happily in their very own labeled little drawers. Oh! I also went to Big Lots and picked up some rolls of that rubbery drawer liner stuff to line the drawers so that my babies will not slide around all over the place, fall down and break.

It is going to be soooooooooo nice to have all of my polishes organized. Having them all piled haphazardly in those hatboxes has been driving me absolutely insane. Do you know how frakking hard it is to find a particular polish in all that chaos? It was nearly impossible. And I just know that one day, regardless of how careful I am when moving those damned things around, the bottom is going to drop out of one of those boxes and all of the polishes contained within are going to hit the floor in a crashing heap of glass and viscous goo that would be impossible to clean up. Not to mention the carnage of all of those little bottles shattering all over the place. Definitely time for better storage.

Okay. This is a novel. You could read War and Peace in the time it will take to read this post so I will wrap it up. Thank you for popping in, have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Anyone in need of a little hair of the dog? My Aussie is blowing her coat, right now. Plenty of hair to go around. *evil grin*

Polishes That Rocked my Socks in 2011... Concluded

2011-12-31T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Sick of my retrospective, yet? lol Well, take heart. This is the last page. Promise. I wanted to narrow this selection down to just the best ten or twenty but I just couldn't. Then, I tried to rank them by number. Again, epic fail. I am just no damned good at that sort of thing. I know what I like but I hate categorizing. Pigeonholing. It just isn't me. So, this crazy, long, drawn out raggle baggle you see is what you get.

For these swatches, I took some of the photographs in my lightbox and some out in the sun. I fully intended to shoot all of them in my lightbox but a lot of these polishes in this post have to go out in the sun to show them off at their best. I can rest my knee, tomorrow. lol

Okay, so... Gird your loins, this is the really sparkly section of the program. One thing I grok about my taste in polish, after choosing all of the polishes for this retrospective is I like it dark and I like it sparkly. Soft shades and pastels are also well liked but I seem to be really drawn to the darkness and the sparkle.

Before we begin, let me show you something that kinda freaked me out. Today, while swatching my polishes, I was in capris, a short sleeved lightweight knit top and barefoot. The temp was almost seventy, the sun shining brightly. I had several windows open and was airing out my house. On this date, last year, we had this nasty shit all over the place:

The view out front, down the drive.

Snow sucks.

I am going to stop mucking about, now. Promise. On to the polishes. As with the previous two posts, clicking the polish name will take you on a magical mystery tour to the original swatch/Manicure of the Moment post.

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia

Glitter Gal Dark Purple Holographic

Cult Nails Let Me Fly

China Glaze Blue Year's Eve

Orly Rock-It

China Glaze Concrete Catwalk

(I don't know what happened... I think I applied too thick and hurried it up a bit too much. :P)

China Glaze Skyscraper

OPI Meep Meep Meep

Orly Stone Cold

And, last but most certainly not least, we have... Drumroll, please...

OPI Designer Series Original

I decided to include three photos of this bad boy because it is just dripping in awsomesauce. :D

So, there it is. My way too many, in no particular order, interspersed with way too much random bullshit nattering Polishes That Rocked My Socks in 2011.

Thank you all so very much for stopping by, reading, commenting, following and supporting my blog. 2011 was a lot of fun, around here and that was largely due to all of you. <3 I hope that you all have a happy, healthy, safe and polish filled 2012. Have a terrific day, my friends and may your polish never bubble.

Polishes That Rocked My Socks in 2011... Continued

2011-12-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

How'z about some more of the polishes I fell for, this last year?

Orly Emberstone

Revlon Purplex

Zoya Crystal

China Glaze Poinsettia

Revlon Mistletoe

Glitter Gal Red Holographic

China Glaze It's Alive

Orly Royal Navy

OPI Designer Series Signature

I still have a lot of polishes to swatch, photograph and show for this feature. I added a few to the pile, took a few out but I am no nearer the end. lol I am going to have to do some of them under my OttLight, tomorrow. My poor knee is hamburger from dashing up and down the stairs overandoverandoverandover for two days. So, I'll save sun shots for those polishes that really need it and do the rest in my lightbox. I would love to do all of them in the sun, as I think that sunshine is the best light to fire polish and make it look it's very best but I have to ease back on my poor knee.

Okay, 'nuff whining. Thank you so much for popping in. Have a terrific day and may your polish never bubble.

Polishes That Rocked my Socks in 2011

2011-12-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

This is the first time I have done this. A best of this year in polishes post. These are polishes that kind of rocked my socks in 2011. Obviously, not all of these polishes were released in 2011. I acquired or first swatched/wore them this year. There are quite a few polishes in this feature. And these aren't all of them... Just the ones that I really, really loved and wanted to feature. I tried to choose a varied selection of shades, tones, colours and finishes and brands. There are reds, blues, pinks, greens, glitters, shimmers, jellies and holos. Most are swatched with base and top coat.

This feature is going to broken up into several posts so that they aren't too long and all polishes are shown in no particular order. Unless stated otherwise, all photographs were shot in direct sun. The polish names are links; click on them to travel to the swatch/review/Manicure of the Moment post in which they were originally featured.

Ready? Okay, let's get started.

Essie Demure Vixen

Orly Butterflies

Color Club New Bohemian

Orly Sapphire Silk

Nubar 2010 over Orly Sapphire Silk

China Glaze Glittering Garland

Sinful Colors Social Ladder

OPI Alpine Snow

Revlon Royal over OPI Alpine Snow (This one was posted on 12/29/10. Not really 2011 but hey. I love this polish and it was close enough to 2011 to qualify. Besides, this is my blog and I'll post what I want, when I want. Neener-neener!)

OPI What's Dune over Revlon Royal

Cult Nails Quench

China Glaze Twinkle Lights

Orly Fowl Play

Ozotic Elytra #530 over Wet-N-Wild Black Creme

Nubar Reclaim

Color Club Pucci-Licious

OPI Sparkle-Icious over Pucci-Licious

Have you any clue how long it takes to go back and find all of those old posts? lol Good thing I have tags to click or I would have never been able to find all of those polishes. lol And may I just say... Why the hell didn't I start sharpening up photographs a long time ago? The difference between my photos then and now. Woof! They are so much clearer now that I know how to use that little feature. :D

I hope that you are enjoying this series. I'll have the next bunch up as soon as I get them swatched and photographed.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a terrific day and may your polish never bubble.

Swatch and Review: Three China Glaze Eye Candy Polishes

2011-12-28T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers

I have swatches of the final three Eye Candy glitters from China Glaze. I have to admit, I am not as tickled with these as I thought I would be. There isn't anything wrong with them. They are pretty but I think that I am getting a little glittered out. Yepper. I think it finally happened. I hit the sparkle wall. Maybe I'll love these better, when I come down off this current overload.

All Photos taken in sun. I think.

Marry A Millionaire. This is purple and green and gold tiny glitter and little bar glitter swimming in a clear base. Three coats went on fairly easily and smoothly. This dries in good time and is surprisingly smooth, for a glitter. I topped this with Gelous for this photograph.

Material Girl. Rosy pink glitter with a coppery edge. This is the same formula as the fabulous and famous It's Alive and Tinsel Town and Ring in the Red from the Hallowe'en and Christmas/Holiday collections this year. It applied great, just like it's sisters, is opaque in two easy coats and dries matte and a tad gritty but a little top coat makes it all smoooth, shiny and happy. This feels more Spring than Winter, to me. I'll probably hit this when the days start to get longer and the weather a little warmer.

Some Like it Haute. If this looks familiar, it is because this is a dupe for Wet-N-Wild Diamond in the rough from the LE Ice Baby Color Icon Collection from Fall. This is a charcoal grey jelly with tiny grey, silver glitter with some tiny holo silver sparks and large silver holo sequins. This polish applies easily, a little thin on the first coat, then the second coat makes it all perfectly opaque. This polish isn't super smooth. It reminds me of a river stone, lovely but irregular. This polish dries fast. Really fast and very gritty. Gelous, two coats made it presentable.

Here is Wet-N-Wild Diamond in the Rough on my middle and pinkie. Take a close look. Dupes. They apply the same, look the same, both dry scary fast and gritty and drink top coat like a parched man crawling through the desert drinks water. There is a slight difference; the Wet-N-Wild needs three coats, China Glaze Some Like it Haute only needs two. If you have one of these, you don't need the other, unless you are a hard core collector and need to own both.

I wasn't aware that some outlets were selling this collection with black caps and some with silver caps. I have four with black and two with silver caps, now. Weird, huh? It doesn't matter, I just thought it was strange.

Okay, so there you have it. Swatches of the last three Eye Candy polishes. Did you pick any of these up? What do you think of them? Love? Need? You can find these just about anywhere you can find China Glaze polish.

I am in the throes of swatching my Faves for 2011. I have a few done and have a lot more to go. I haven't counted how many... I kind of want to wait until I am finished so that I don't freak out and start crying like a baby at how many I have to go. lol I have a nice mix of cremes, jellies, holos, glitters, (moar glitter... gulp) and so forth. These are not all polishes that were released this year. These are polishes that I acquired or first wore this year. They may have been released years ago. But they were all new to me. I need to remember to dig out a couple more...

I will be getting back to Pink Wednesday posts after the first of the year and all of the craziness is done. I am also going to make the first part of 2012 Operation Swatch Fest. I have so. many. untried polishes. A shameful number of them and I have to get them all swatched and up. Seriously. I am feeling a little guilty when I pick up a new polish, right now.

And I don't like feeling guilty. So, swatch like a madwoman, I must. Better get more cotton rounds and remover...

Okay, shutting up, now. Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Oh. Yes, I know that I am behind on responding to comments. I'll do them, sometime today. I am reading all of them, as always. I just need a few minutes to sit and type out responses. :D

Essie Luxe Effects As Gold As it Gets

2011-12-27T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Essie recently released a line of beautiful topper polishes called Luxe Effects. They are glitters and flakies and shimmers that are meant to layer over other polishes. I saw the line in my local Walgreen's and picked up two of them. This is As Gold As it Gets. I wore it over China Glaze Winter Berry and I adored the combination.

Essie As Gold As it Gets is fine gold flakes suspended in a thick jelly base. The flakes look like the gold flakes you will see at the bottom of a gold pan; they are various sizes and spark with an occasional holo like flash. They look very realistic and pretty over any dark polish. I'll have to try this over lighter polishes, too. And maybe with matte, some time. After I buy a new bottle of matte top coat. I wrecked mine. Idiot that I am. lol

This is one coat of Essie As Gold As it Gets over two coats of China Glaze Winter Berry and topped with Seche Vite. These photographs were taken in a mix of indirect sun and OttLight. I really struggled with getting very clear shots that showed the flakes of gold as they really were.

The formula of Essie Luxe Effects As Gold As it Gets is fairly thick but easy enough to work with; the flakes distribute smoothly and easily on the nails. This topper dries fairly quickly to a satin matte. Top Coat is needed to make it smooth and as shiny as one would want it to be. I really need to try this mattified. Yepper.

Have you picked up any of these Luxe Effects toppers? I found them at Walgreen's and they are available anywhere you can buy Essie polishes. Even in drugstores. (Yes, that was intended to sound as bitchy as it did.)

Thank you for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Boxing Day Nails

2011-12-26T06:00:00.002-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

I wish that we had Boxing Day here in the United States. I have always loved the idea of a holiday day after Christmas. Kind of a wind down with more fun. I think that we need to band together and adopt Boxing Day. Really, I do. We have embraced Cinco De Mayo... Why not Boxing Day? :D

Today's mani is one I wore recently and just loved. When I was in Sally's recently I went ahead and picked up one more of the Let it Snow polishes. Winter Berry is a beautiful wine red jelly polish. Rich, intensely pigmented and perfectly opaque in two dreamy coats. This is gorgeous stuff, my friends. Shiny, shiny, shiny. Squishy and just marvelous. Seche Vite just added to the yumminess.

These photos were shot under my OttLight.

China Glaze Winter Berry is a beautiful formula. Smooth, silky and translucent like a fabulous jelly should be. This stuff just whispered on, self leveled like a dream and dried in good time. One thing to watch out for is staining. This stuff is very pigmented and will grab on to dry skin or cuticles so keep a cleanup brush and acetone at the ready while applying to swish away any boo boos. I found that a few extra swipes with remover were required to get everything all cleaned off.

Did you pick up this pretty red polish? Love it? Think that you might need it? It is available wherever China Glaze is sold.

Thank you for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Merry Christmas Nails

2011-12-25T06:00:00.006-07:00

Merry Christmas to all of my gentle readers who celebrate. :D

Today's nail look is simple and Christmas-y. A nail art look even I can't mess up, thanks to water decals. These were sent to me by Born Pretty Store back before last Christmas. I started this mani off with China Glaze Emerald Sparkle and Ruby Pumps. This is the first time I have ever worn Emerald Sparkle in a full nail look and I must say... I love it. It is a sister polish to Ruby Pumps; that same clear, intensely pigmented jelly packed with fine square glitter that glows and dances with joy all over the nails. I applied Ruby Pumps to my accent nails, Emerald Sparkle to the rest. Then I applied a coat of Gelous, topped with Seche Vite.

May I just say, really quick, that whoever came up with with the idea to use Gelous over glitter under Seche Vite (or whatever top coat you love and use) is a frakking genius and deserves a Nobel Prize. Seriously. It works so fabulously. And is one of the best hints I have learned on these here nail blogs.

Photos taken outdoors in late afternoon sun.

This is three coats of both Emerald Sparkle and Ruby Pumps. I wish that my camera could capture the amazing that these two classic China Glaze glitters are.

After I applied my polish, I kind of went back and forth over whether or not I was going to attempt nail art. I considered stamping but wasn't really in the mood for it. I thought about freehand. Yeah... No. Then I remembered that I had some Christmas water decals. I really like these water decals. They are easy to use and the film on which they are printed is super thin and doesn't cause me trouble like decals or stickers on thicker plastic film. I cut out the decals I wanted to use and grabbed my gold striper and a few clear crystals and set to work. The water decals went on, then I applied a clear crystal to the tops of the Christmas trees on my ring finger nails and the end of Santa Moon's cap on my thumb nails. I tipped all of my nails with my gold striper then topped the whole works with more Seche Vite.

I think that overall, it is pretty successful. I had a blonde moment (not trashing blondes, I am a natural blonde who darkened over time and am planning to go light again, soon) and put a decal with a lot of red on red nails, (oopsie!) and the decals, themselves are a little washed out against such dark polish. I think it works, tho. And looks a hell of a lot better than my earlier efforts. :D

These photographs were shot in setting sun, sorry about the really yellow light. Probably should have used my OttLight. Boosting the saturation a little to really show the polish and decals in true colour gave me carrot fingers in that light. *hangs head*

Okay yes, I know that I trimmed away some of the white accent snowflakes on the bells decals. I couldn't see them against the white background and didn't realize it had happened until they were already on my nails. *sigh* Stoopid white background, anyway.

Okay, this was long. If you read all the way through, I salute you and you deserve fudge. Too bad I didn't make any. :P

Thank you so much for stopping by. Have a wonderful day and a very Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday of your heart. Stay warm and may your polish never bubble.

The water decals used in this post were sent to me for consideration and review by the company/PR.

Swatch This: China Glaze Blonde Bombshell

2011-12-24T06:00:00.001-07:00

Happy Christmas Eve, gentle readers. (To those of you who celebrate. ;))

Today's swatch is another polish from the Eye Candy collection from China Glaze. This is the oh-so-fabulous Blonde Bombshell. This gold glitter is very much like other glitter polishes that China Glaze has done so very well, this Fall and Winter. There is a mix of tiny square and medium round gold glitters that are a true, sparkling gold. There is a little surprise to this one; teeny-tiny bar glitter that flashes bronze and red when the light hits it just right. Yowza. This shit is sick. I applied three coats to pave my nails in shining, glittering gold. Photos were taken under my OttLight.

The formula is lovely. The glitter behaves really well and the three coats required to get this opaque were an easy pleasure to paint on. Dry time, like with the other polishes in this collection is pretty good and it dries smooth and quite shiny, for a glitter. Top coat makes it even better.

What do you think of Blonde Bombshell? Is she a bombshell? Or just a bomb?

Thank you so much for coming by and spending some time with me. Have a terrific day and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze Lorelei's Tiara

2011-12-23T06:00:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Are you in full holiday freak out mode? Things here are all smooth and under control. I just have some grocery shopping and a little last minute present buying to finish up and it's all good.

Today I have a lovely polish from the China Glaze Eye Candy collection. This is Lorelei's Tiara. What a stunner this little bottle of sparkly stuff is. A clear base enfolds densely packed tiny silver square glitter and medium sized blue round glitter sequins. This is a sparkling, dancing treat on my nails. Another silver with which I have fallen in love. I am liking silver polish so much thatf I am not careful, I am going to start buying and wearing white metal jewelry. This swatch is two coats. There is three on my middle, since I banged and dented that one right before I took photos and one coat over Wet-N-Wild Black Creme on my index. All topped with top coat. I took these photos under my OttLight.

This is lovely, smooth and so. easy. to get a perfect, opaque finish in two coats. This polish dries quickly and is surprisingly smooth, even before top coat. I am really happy with this polish.

Did you grab any of these polishes? Are you on glitter overload?

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a great day and may your polish never bubble.

Comparison: OPI An Affair in Red Square and Pure Ice Scarlet

2011-12-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Recently, I featured a Pure Ice polish called Scarlet. I thought, when I was applying it that it seemed similar to OPI An Affair in Red Square and mantioned that in my post. Well, I offered to do a comparison if anyone was interested. Someone was so, here it is. :D (Sorry it took me a while.)

What we have here are two red shimmer polishes. On my index and ring finger nails is OPI An Affair in Red Square and on my middle and pinkie finger nails is Pure Ice Scarlet. These photographs were taken under my OttLight.

OPI An Affair in Red Square is a brilliant, cool red with gold shimmer and an ever so slight blackened quality that gives it depth and a beautiful complexity. There is a feeling, when looking at this polish in person that one is looking down, deep into the polish. This is a classic for a reason. It is stunning.

Pure Ice Scarlet is a bright, true red with a silver shimmer and a hint of a magenta shift that almost feels duochrome. This polish is a bit more shallow, it lacks the depth and complexity of the OPI. It is a brighter, clearer red. It feels almost metallic, in person.

The formula of these polishes is very different. OPI has that classic, perfect formula, slightly thinner, smooth as silk and easy to control as it flows off that oh-so-fabulous Pro Wide brush. The shimmer is evenly distributed throughout the polish and as it is stroked onto the nail, there is no pooling or clumping of the shimmer, causing streaks. This polish is ever so slightly brushstroke-y. With a polish of this nature, it is simply unavoidable.

Pure Ice Scarlet is a bit thicker, it is slightly less biddable than it's friend but it isn't a bad formula. I had little trouble with it, very little trouble, in fact. The shimmer can clump together in this polish and cause streaks, dark spots. This isn't the case in this swatch, but the last time I wore this polish, I had a couple of such spots. It isn't a deal breaker for me. But it can happen with this polish. That inevitable brushstroke-y quality is a bit more apparent in this polish but not obvious or obnoxious.

So, there you have it. Two pretty red shimmer polishes. There are differences. These are not dead on dupes, by any means but either one should make just about any red shimmer lover pretty happy. It basically comes down to price. OPI An Affair in Red Square runs about eight clams, Pure Ice Scarlet, about two. My personal choice would have to be OPI An Affair in Red Square. I have owned this polish for a long time and am firmly in love with it.

I hope that this comparison was useful to you. If you have any questions or suggestions, please don't hesitate to drop me a comment and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a wonderful day and may your polish never bubble.

China Glaze Love Marilyn

2011-12-21T10:35:00.001-07:00

Hello gentle readers.

Today I have swatched for you one of the Eye Candy Collection glitters from China Glaze. I bought three of these polishes at Sally's then I decided, after swatching them that I wanted the other three so I went ahead and ordered them from Amazon. My Sally's, oddly, only carry four of the six. Why they do that, I have no idea. Too bad. I would have bough the rest there, but they don't sell them so, they missed out.

This is Love Marilyn. A beautiful combination of fine red glitter and medium silver round glitter suspended in a clear base that kinda blows my socks off. Now, I am usually a gold girl and I prefer red with gold but I have to say, I like this one a lot. The silver gives it an iciness that evokes that cool quality that Marilyn possessed. I applied three coats to my pinkie, ring and middle finger nails and on my index finger, one coat over China Glaze Poinsettia. I love this layered.

These photographs were taken under my OttLight. ('Twas a cloudy day, folks.)

This was a teensy bit of a pain to apply. It wanted a little coaxing to get all smooth and opaque. It certainly isn't difficult enough to banish it to "I Am Not Wearing That Shit Again!" land. It dries in nice time and it is fairly shiny and surprisingly smooth. It felt so lovely to the touch, even before top coat. One coat of Seche Vite was all I needed to top this perfectly.

If you are craving this pretty pretty polish, China Glaze Love Marilyn (I want to put a comma in there, soooooooo bad!) is available wherever China Glaze polishes are sold.

Thank you so much for popping in. Have a wonderful day and may your polish never bubble.