This is Tree-Mendous!!

Wow, down to a few days left until Christmas, today is Christmas Eve, Eve! The weather here the last few days has been crazy, power outages, frozen rainstorms and icy roads. I really hope everything gets back to normal soon and in time for Christmas.

Today I have a great Christmas/holiday themed polish from China Glaze, Tree-Mendous, loving the cheasy name! This is a total Christmas tree glitter bomb, It is made up of medium and light green glitter with a sparkle or yellow/gold in a clear base. I wish the other glitters in this collection with the same formula had a slight tint of base colour to give it that little bit of depth. That being said it built up nicely to opacity with three thin coats.

It is super duper sparkly and glittery, but it has a naturally dull/matte finish without a topcoat. You may have to apply a second layer of topcoat for super glossy nails, I used one and was happy with the look.

My only complaint with these types of glitters are staying power, they always chip on me too early. Tree-Mendous was no exception unfortunately :( Me being me and not wanting to remove it after only one day, I just full in the missing pieces with some more glitter :) so far it has helped, it blends in well with the polish already on the nail, but it is still chippy.

Nude Nails

I have a lovely Zoya nude to share with you today, Lulu. I actually forgot I had purchased this one! It somehow appeared on my desk the other day and I realized I had never worn it before, so here we are. I would describe this as a Patrick the starfish (Spongebob) peach. I think this is why I originally purchased it, I heard it was a close dupe for Starfish Patrick by Rescue Beauty Lounge. From the swatches I have seen online, Starfish Patrick  appears to be more opaque and brighter in case you were wondering.

I applied two coats to my nail, as you can see this polish is sheer. I would probably require one last thick coat for an opaque look, but I liked it at two coats. It cleaned up the look of my nail beds. Wanna know what else? I didn't add a top coat, didn't need to! It dried pretty quick and to a glossy shine, very impressive.

Now to find something to layer over it :)

Candy Cane Crush!

They should totally make a holiday themed candy crush, unless they already have and I am out if the loop, that would be awesome! Today I have an eligantly festive mani, it includes use of a sheer nude and a mixed finish glitter! I have really been loving the look of nudes topped with glitter, it is defiantly a grown up way of rocking glitter! Makes me want to try out some new nudes too!

For my base I applied two coats of Zoya Lula which is a sheer peach nude. After two coats it was not opaque but gave my nails a nice foundation for the glitter, I just wanted to even out the colour of the nail and blend the free edge in to the pink nail bed.

Once I added my glitter polish on top it also helped with blending the nail bed and free edge of my nail together beneith. I used Finger Paints Kiss By The Tree, which is like candy canes crushed up in a bottle, applied in a dabbing motion to apply the glitter over the nude base. The clear base of the polish can be a little thick and goopy, I had to fish around the bottle a bit to saturate the brush with the right amount and type of glitter I wanted for each nail. The good news is that in doing this I got the perfect coverage for each nail, yay! The bad news? Bubbling :( lucky for me it is hardly  noticable due to all the smaller glitter pieces. Another pro about this glitter is the finish, I find a lot of glitter topcoats have a satin finish, this one is all gloss and I love it! I didn't need a top coat and it dried pretty fast, especially considering I applied a thick layer.

I love this look and will be wearing it to a Christmas party this weekend. 

Bobbles

I had every intention of participating this year in Nail Polish Canada's second annual Christmas nail art contest. It's basically three weeks of holiday themed nail art challenges with the chance to win some amazing polish prizes. I totally dropped the ball on this one! I barley made it on time for submission for the first week, snow themed, and totally missed the deadline for the second week, holiday decorations. I did however make an attempt, and here it is! A refresh of Zoya's Payton with son festive bobbles! I had this idea of an eligant cascade of various Christmas tree ornaments in gold over Payton's sparkly purple base. I found this nifty little design, not sure what it is actually supposed to be, in Bundle Monsters first collection of plates, this is BM-006. I used Sally Hansen Strong as Nails Brushed gold to stamp with, this is a discontinued gold foil/chrome.

My original intention was to have this design running straight down the middle of the nail, however when I accidentally applied the stamp more to one side I decided to stick with it for the rest of the nails, definitely more interesting.

So this was my attempt for submission, simple and eligant, not over the top. There were some wonderful submissions for all three weeks that range from simple stamping to intricate hand painted original designs. Good luck to all who entered!

Zoya Payton

Happy Friday!! Last year Zoya came out with a rockin' holiday collection! I was good last year and only picked out two from the collection of six polishes, of those were these lovely jelly polishes spelled with holo glitter flecks! It was at that point I hoped Zoya would create a collection in an array of shades with the same finish and glitter. Although that has not happened yet, they did release a few more colours with the same finish for this years holiday collection. I showed of Dream in my cross boarder haul, and today I have a full swatch of it's grape sister, Payton.

Payton is an inky purple jelly, think of a melting grape Popsicle on a hot day, that is this polish! It is vampy without being black and is peppered with irregularly shaped pieces of holo glitter. The glitter sandwiches between the jelly adds great depth and texture to the super glossy polish.

Application was good, I added a tiny bit of thinner for smoother application. I painted on one thin coat and a second thicker one achieving full coverage easily. This shade is so perfect for the holidays without being so in your face. In an office setting it is a good dark neutral, while in brighter lighting you get a dramatic effect due to the glowing holo particles.

China Glaze Dash Of Dazzle Set - Part Two

Today I have part two of my Nail Polish Canada review of the China Glaze holiday set, Dash of Dazzle. The polish I am wearing from this set today is So Blue Without You.

natural lamp light

The shade of this polish is a bright medium blue with a foil finish. At first glance it reminded me of Orly's Sweet Peacock from their Birds of a Feather holiday collection released a few years back. When I did a quick comparison of the two in the bottle, Sweet Peacock appeared to be slightly deeper in colour and darkness. I also feel as if So Blue Without You has a teeny tiny bit of green in it. On the nail is just glows as you can see from the many photos in this post, I took several photos in different lighting.

led lighting

Application wise I had no issues with the formula, it was sooth and not too thick or thin. Two coats built up to opacity perfectly. The foil finish adds a lot of  shine to the colour and gives the appearance of slightly blackened edges at the sides of the nail. I love this!

camera flash

In terms of wear time it lasted pretty well with regular daily tasks such as washing dishes, preparing food and showering. The only issue I had was on my thumb where I encountered a huge chip on the second day of wear, however, this is likely due to the polish I used as a base. You see i get crazy breaking on my thumb nails in the colder months and use a polish that helps to repair the nail, it is the worst as a basecoat though, this is the second time this has happened this month, only on the thumbs!

camera flash

Overall I really enjoyed wearing this shade, It's not only perfect for holiday gatherings and parties but the cold winter months ahead of us.

China Glaze Dash Of Dazzle Set - Part One

I received a wonderful holiday set of China Glaze polishes for review from NailPolishCanada.com just in time for December! China Glaze usually puts out some a good array of gift sets for the holidays and this year was no exception. I received the Dash of Dazzle set for review, it contains three polishes which compliment each other quite well, Mingle With Kringle, So Blue Without You and Bells Will Be Blinging.

Mingle With Kringle is a bold gold foil polish. The formula on this one is great, no issues to report on application and it was not streaky at all. My swatch below is two coats. I have read this is a close dupe for Zoya, Ziv, apat of their 2012 holiday/winter Ornate collection which I hope is true because I love that shade and was not able to get my hands on it! Check out The PolishAholic swatches for  Ziv here, its all the way at the end of the post.

Next up is So Blue Without You, another foil, this time in a medium blue shade. I really love this colour, so much prettier on the nail than in the bottle. It has that blackened look at the edges of the nail that gives it more dimension than your average foil. My swatch below shows two coats.

Last but not least is Bells Will Be Blinging, a must have from this collection in my opinion! I love glitter around the holidays and this one is nothing like I have seen before from China Glaze. Various sized blue and silver holo glitter make up this fun topper. This would looks great layered over either of the fist two polishes.

The set as a whole is love for me, I got to choose between this and the Touch of Twinkle set (mostly red/pink shades) and this one is totally me. Not only is is great around the holidays on its own or in nail art, but also in the months after December. This is definitely a winner for me :)

indirect lighting

natural lighting

Stay tuned tomorrow for part two of my review which includes wear of the polish and more swatches.

*This product was sent to me for an honest review, all views expressed are my own honest option.

Doppelgängers! Featuring China Glaze Howl You Doin?, OPI Merry Midnight and Orly Fowl Play

Today I have a trifecta of a comparison! China Glaze Howl You Doin? is going up against OPI, Merry Midnight and Orly Fowl Play, pretty festive for the month of December ;) Although the colour and sparkle may appear the same at first glance there are some differences between all three polishes, lets start with a short description of Howl You Doing?

China Glaze Howl You Doing?
- deep purple base
- jelly/crelly texture base
- opaque jelly/crelly
- jam packed with blue/purple glitter
- copper orange flakies
- dull finish
- two regular coats for opacity

sunlight

shade

OPI Merry Midnight
- red based purple base
- jelly texture base
- translucent jelly
- opalescent flakies, colour change
- fine blue micro shimmer/glitter
- glossy finish
- four thin coats for opacity

sunlight

shade

Orly Fowl Play
- deep blue based purple base
- jelly texture
- translucent jelly

- opalescent flakies, colour change

- fine micro shimmer/glitter

- glossy finish

- three regular coats for opacity

sunlight

shade

Merry Midnight and Fowl Play are closer to each glitter/flakie wise, where Howl You Doing and Fowl Play are closer base colour wise! I do not consider any of these dupes, but you definitely don't need all three. For an in depth comparison between Fowl Play and Merry Midnight refer to this Doppelgängers post. I personally would be happy with the OPI and China Glaze only since they are different enough, but I do think Fowl Play is a good substitute for Merry Midnight should you be unavailable to find it.

Last Cross-Boarder Haul of 2013!

Today I have a great haul from a few weeks back. It includes polishes I specifically wanted and others I didn't even know existed! Let's start off simple with Rite Aid!

Daddy's Girl is one of the first Sinful Colors I just had to have! I don't know if I couldn't find it and lost interest or just forgot about it, but I picked it up for $1, plus I got Wellness points, which I still don't fully get lol. If someone could please help me understand that would be awesome! This polish is a deep dark purple jelly with duochromatic glitter that shifts from orange to green, but shows prominently red/pink.

Next stop, Sally's! They had a great promo on China Glaze if you got three, however I only needed one... There's Snow One Like You. I had to try this one, I have seen so many bad representations of this texture polish but the concept is so cool, snow on your nails! It has the same finish as my favourite China Glaze Texture polish, Bump in the Night with added medium hex glitter to add to the snowy texture.

My swatch shows two thin coats. I think the trick to getting this not looking like cottage cheese is to apply thin coats and allow to dry time before applying the next coat.

shade

sun light

Next up are some Finger Paints from one of their Holiday collections. I haven't heard much about this one except for the fact that is it called the Holiday Love Affair. Not to be confused with A Pair Affair from Fall or Enchanted Winter which is their textured holiday collection.

Sugar Cookies for Two is a glitter topper made up of gold, white cold and black bar (hair) glitter in a clear base. I love this one so much more than I thought I would. I tried to layer this one to opacity and it is so blingy and pretty! The colour combo is perfect, I can see myself layering this over a gold foil or a sheer nude for the holidays!

Frolic in the Snow is a glitter topper made up of matte white bar (hair) glitter in a clear base with prismatic shimmer predominately pink. I don't know how I feel about this one yet. In the bottle I love it, it has the texture of snowflake pieces or ice crystals when water is freezing. I didn't notice the shimmer at first, I kind of wish it was blue instead of pink. I will be trying out some layering with other shades and see if I come up with any good combos.

Kiss by the Tree is a glitter topper made up of various shaped red and white glitter including hex, bar and circle glitter in a clear base. I would prefer if this was called peppermint bark, or candy cane or soemthing. I love this combo of glitter but am not getting the name lol. I had seen this polish advertised in the sally flyer and email promos they were sending me but I could not find it on their site or any information about this whole collection anywhere! So Happy I stumbled upon this one when I had the chance!

Since I purchased three Finger Paints I received a cute clutch free! I also received a Sally's reusable bag and a 10% discount on top of everything! Woo coupons! below are swatches in the shade. I did some dabbing of glitter for the first two and one regular coat for Kiss by the TRee on the right.

Speaking of coupons, I used my get $3.50 off a $10+ purchase in conjunction with the Zoya promo they had of buy two get one free, score!!  I picked up Dream, Payton and Maria Louisa.

Zoya,Dream is a beautiful royal blue jelly jam packed with holographic glitter particles. I was drooling over this one when I first sw the promo pics! I love my blues and this one is just so cool! Ulta didn't have any eft in the display, I kind of started panicing because it was the only one missing and I needed it! The nice sales lady had a look in the back for me, but lucky for me I would it mixed in with the core colours section! woo hoo, last one!

Next I picked up Dreams sister, Payton. This is a gorgeous deep grape jelly has the same formula and holo glitter paricles as dream. I just love these polishes, I wish they came in ever colour! 

Last but not least is Zoya Maria Louisa, a irregularly shaped gold flakie top coat. I actually thought it was glitter when I picked it up. Once I realized it was flakies I decided maybe I should exchange it for another polish, I have a few gold flakies in my collection, However think it is starting to grow on me, it is a nice gold topper.

Last Stop, Marshalls. In the past I was never able to really find anything good polish wise but this time they had a lot to offer. Lots of Orly sets with random couplings of polishes. I also found some great Sephora by OPI full size gift sets. I stuck with one of the Orly dul sets, for $5.99, you can't go wrong! What's even better, these are from the Flash Glam FX collection which I have seen for as much as $11 regular price.

Orly Go Deeper is a teal holo glitter in various sizes and shapes with regular mini teal glitter suspended in a jelly teal base. I can see this one being easily built up to opacity. It reminds me of a mermaid tail and I love it! I wanted this polish when it was first release but was not willing to pay the higher price, glad I waited!

The second polish apart of this set is Can't Be Tamed, a purple and gunmetal glitter of various sizes suspended in a clear base. This definitely a glitter topper and apart of Orly's Flash Glam FX line

Swatches of both below,Go Deeper is two coats and Can't Be Tamed is one coat.