Fra-gee-lay!

Today I have my Christmas eve/day mani to share with you. The last few days have flown by in a blur! I have been wanting to pull out I new Christmas glitter from last year, Funky Fingers Fra-gee-lay all of December but wanted to get the most out of a gel mani I was wearing. Once I decided what I wanted to layer beneath it I rushed to get it on my nails!

Fra-gee-lay is a glitter topper made in a clear base with shiny red and gold hexes of a few sizes and white matte hex glitter. I wanted to get all the glitter pieces to be visible on whatever base I used. I originally thought a plain would be a nice base but then the matte while glitter pieces would blend in. I then remembered a favorite holiday polish of mine, China Glaze, Frosty!

I layered one coat of Frosty over a thin layer of a standard white creme polish (Sally Hansen, Ghost) and then layered one coat of Fra-gee-lay overtop. It worked out perfectly! Frosty has a glassflecky shimmer and a slight ivory base which gave the subtle contrast to the matte white glitter I was looking for.

This was a super festive mani that I will now be removing today in favor of something a little more sparkly for New Years Eve!

Son of a Nutcracker!

Merry Christmas Eve! This is easily my favorite new glitter topper for Christmas, Funky Fingers, Son of a Nutcracker! Not only is the name awesome, but the glitter, like the other Funky Fingers I own, is awesome!

Son of a Nutcracker is a glitter topper made up of various sized hex glitter in matte red, pink, green white and silver. I decided I wanted a clean look with this glitter so I layered it over one coat of OPI I Theadora You. Such a great sheer crelly with the perfect hint of pink to tint the nails. IT leveled out great.

I thin applied one coat of Son of a Nutcracker over I Theadora You. The formula on Son of a Nutcracker was good. I had the bottle standing on it's top to maximize the amount of glitter on the brush. I applied swiping the nail as usual and also some blotting and manipulated some glitter to space it out to my liking.

I applied a top coat of Seche Vite to seal in the glitter and add high shine and I was done!

December to Remember

Today I have a polish I have been dying to wear, but was waiting for December to wear it, well... because it's a holiday polish with special mention of December lol. This is China Glaze December to Remember.

December to Remember is a very interesting shade, unlike anything I own in my collection. It's a medium metallic blue base with a superfine shimmer of irregular shaped flecks that had a slight duochrome. The duochrome in the shimmer shifts from pink to green to yellow/gold.

Since I didn't have time to remove my previous gel mani (check that out here), I layered this shade over top. The formula was good, thin at first but it built up nicely in two coats. I would assume maybe three would be needed for full opacity on it's own.

I definitely want to try this one again on it's own or layered over a black or deep navy to see if it changes the overall look of the polish. It wore well over the gel for just under a week before I switched it up and removed everything completely. I experienced no wear or chipping while wearing this polish!... Although, I feel that the fact it was layered over a gel helped with longevity.

Pop Goes My Heart! Madam Glam Review - Part Two

Today I have part two of my Madam Glam Chameleon Gel polish review. First to wear and test out is Pop Goes My Heart! I just CANNOT get enough of this polish! So much Fun to wear!

As I stated in part 1, I just received the four gels to try, no base or top coats. For this review I wanted to note that I used my own personal base and top coats, both Bio Seaweed Gel. I started off with a layer of basecoat which was cured for one minute and proceeded to add a coat of Pop Goes My Heart. On the nail wheel when I did my initial swatches I found the formula thick. On the nail I found it to actually apply a little better, although still thick. It was easier to manipulate which I think is due to the slightly sticky residue left from the basecoat. I tried to make my layers as thin as I possibly could.

After the first coat was cured I added a second which build up the opacity well. the fun thing about curing is the colour changes almost instantaneously due to the warmth of the light. Once the second layer was done curing I added a final layer of top coat which cured without any wiping.

A cool thing about these chameleon gels is that they dry to a matte finish should you decide not to add a top coat, you just need to be sure to wipe each nail with (99%) alcohol to remove the tacky layer after curing.

I am loving this gel, I am having too much fun with it! When it is cold it is a deep purple and at it's warmest it is a light blue. Depending on my body temperature (or the temperature or things I am touching or interacting with) the shade can be anywhere from a mix of the two shades or an in between colour (if changed to a deep blue from purple before changing to the light blue). It reminds me of space with the white pieces of glitter.

Day one - All above photos taken right after application

Wear: I wore this polish for two full weeks and it wore fantastically! Still as shiny and glossy as the first day I applied it with no visible wear or chips, not even in the usual spots! The growth is the only giveaway of the amount of time the gel has been on my nails. Check out the photo below and compare the amount of space between my cuticle and the gel.

 

After two full weeks of wear!

It is just too cool and my photos unfortunately do not to it justice. Most show with both warm and cold patches, with the exception of the last photo above which is 100% cold! I can't wait to try out the rest of the ones I received!

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

Sparkle in the Sky

What to do when you are super busy and have no time to do your nails, but you are in MAJOR need to do your nails and have under 10 mins?

TEXTURED POLISH!

I literally took of my previous many on Monday night, applied base coat on Tuesday at some point and FINALLY had the 8 minutes or so to paint my nails on Wednesday. Crazy, right?

Textured polish has saved me many of times and Finger Paints Sparkle in the Sky was the perfect shade to wear given the holiday season! plus it adds just enough sparkly to be a little something extra.

Sparkle in the sky is apart of Finger Paints 2013 Enchanted Winter collection and it was my must have polish that season, and I only decided to wear it now! The base is an inky indigo and the "glittery" texture is made up of what looks like pink and gold shimmer. it really is a stunner.

Application was good, the polish wasn't overly thick like some textured polishes can be. I applied two coats to each nail and touched up about 4 days in for a family event I was headed to (again, no time to do a new, full mani). That is another plus of textured polishes, usually they wear like iron, however should they chip they are super easy to touch up and dry in a snap.

I really hope textures don't go away any time soon! The only negative I can say about this polish in general, is from what I recall this collection was not marketed as a textured collection, meaning there was no indication that they would dry to a matte and textured finish. I only found out online, I can't quite remember if there were swatches in store. Even though I knew, I would appreciate a clear indicator the next time.

Titanium

Today I have a very unique shade I didn't think I would like originally. I forget exactly when this OPI Designer Series polish (Titanium) was released, however, I do recall not thinking much of it. Flash forward a few years and I see it on sale and it looks interesting so I decide to take a chance on it.

Titanium is an interesting shade, it has a jelly grey base with various shapes and sizes of iridescent glitter jam packed in there. I believe I used two to three coats for full opacity. I remember the first coat looking really sheer, however, it did build up nicely.

I love that there is a slight tint of grey in the base, it helps with overall coverage of the polish. And the iridescent glitter flashes all the colours of the rainbow depending on the slight.

Madam Glam Chameleon Gels - Swatches and Review

Hello friends! I cannot believe how this month has been speeding by!

Today I have a new to me brand I will be reviewing, Madam Glam. They were kind enough to send me some of their polishes to try out, the coolest part is that they are thermals. Gel and thermals?! Whaaat! To say I was eager to try these out was an understatement!

I received four Madam Glam Chameleon Gel polishes to review:

Chocolate With Nuts 
Sweet Illusion
Pop Goes My heart
What Colour is the Dress?

Chocolate With Nuts:
Cold: a rich chocolaty brown creme base with white pearl hex and regular glitter
Warm: a peach leaning white creme base with white pearl hex and regular glitter
Application: a little on the thick side, probably due to the glitter, however manageable

Sweet Illusion:
Cold: a darker greyed out blue with a hint of sparse silver glitter
Warm: a lighter greyed out blue with a hint of sparse silver glitter
Application: good, applied well
 
Pop Goes My Heart:
Cold: purple creme base with white pearl hex and regular glitter
Warm: blue creme base with white pearl hex and regular glitter
Application: a little on the thick side, probably due to the glitter, however manageable

What Color is the Dress?
Cold: Rich burgundy creme with a sprinkling of silver glitter
Warm: night sky blue with a sprinkling of silver glitter
Application: good, applied well

Swatches below, from left to right, COLD Chocolate with Nuts, Sweet Illusion, Pop Goes My Heart and What Color is the Dress?

Swatches below, from left to right, WARM Chocolate with Nuts, Sweet Illusion, Pop Goes My Heart and What Color is the Dress? 

Overall Opinion:
They applied and cured similar to other gels I have tried, however I found them to smell different. I should also mention that these are 5-free and cruelty free so that is a plus.

I noticed on their regular gels they have a colour swatch on the top handle and these did not, however the names are clearly marked (on a sparkly sticker!) at the bottom of each bottle. The Chameleon bottles are slightly smaller than the regular gels (only by 5 ml), not a big deal but worth mentioning.

The bottles I received did not contain any instructions, which was fine by me because I've done this before, and even if I didn't there is the internet! The one thing that confused me was that after curing my swatches in the light they were still a little sticky, which is usually to be expected. Usually when swatching I don't normally apply a top coat, so I wiped each swatch with alcohol to clean the sticky bit off. However, I noticed some pigment on the cotton pad after wiping and noticed that each swatch dried to a matte finish. At fist I was confused, I thought I did something wrong! But now I actually think it's kind of cool, I've never seen a matte gel polish before. The awesome thing is you can add a gel top coat to finish it off and it's glossy again!

Case ans point a sneak peek at part two of this post below, Pop Goes My Heat! I used my own personal no wipe gel topcoat.

The last thing I need to mention is the colour changing abilities. They reacted really well to hot and cold with clear differences in colour. I am truly impressed with these gels and in part two of this review I will be sharing with you how they wear. Let's just say these guys are a major distraction, I am always looking at my nails!

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

U.S Haulin' - Holiday Edition

I crossed the boarder in early November and have been so busy that I am only finding the time now, a month alter, to post about it! Let me just say that with the changing dollar that U.S shopping is starting to cost more than it would be to just buy certain things in Canada,which is a bummer. I enjoy my little cross-boarder trips. However, when you are spending 30% more plus the boarder guard decides to stop you to pay double taxes on the converted USD to CAD, it's a bit painful. Anyways, on to the better side of things, I picked up some cool polish!

At Marshall's I picked up China Glaze, I Love Your Guts - A pink/red foil with small black glitter scattered throughout.

Next Stop, Five Below. I was lucky, I only realized after leaving the store that the cashier charged me 3 for $5 instead of 2 (glow-in-the dark) for $5 and whatever the cost of the regular price would be, win!

Funky Fingers, Gourdgeous - Another glow in the dark shade, this time with a sheer, light pumpkin orange base and yellow and orange hex glitters of various sizes.

Funky Fingers, R U Afraid of the Dark? - A sheer blue leaning grey base with matte black and lime green hex glitter of various sizes. This is a glow in the dark shade and produces a decent glow considering how dark the base is.

Funky Finger, Son of a Nutcracker - my first Christmas themed polish purchase of the year! It is made up of light red, pink, green, white and silver glitter of various shapes and sizes in a clear base.

Swatches for the China Glaze and Funky Fingers are below:

Last Stop, CosmoProf, I picked up both these shades on sale, under $3 each.

 

OPI, DS Titanium - This is the first Designer Series polish I have purchased in a while. The ones I own are old and discontinued, I'm sure. The sparkle of this one intrigued me in store and it helped that it was on sale! It looks to have a jelly grey base with various shapes and sizes of iridescent glitter jam packed in there.

OPI I Sing in Color - A deep maroon creme. Although the handle of the brush boasts, "Creme Gloss" it was not a super high gloss polish. If anything it dried a little flat! That being said, a high gloss topcoat adds the perfect amount of shine.

The swatch for Titanium is below, you can see the full post  and swatching on I Sing in Color, here.

That's all folks!

Singin' in December!

Happy December! Today I have a rich burgundy creme from the first collaboration Gwen Stefani did with OPI, I Sing In Color. I recently purchased this shade and was craving something neutral and vampy to wear.

 What you see on the nail is two coats with a top coat. I found on it's own it wasn't super glossy, Seche Vite added a nice shine. In most lighting it looks pretty dark, I knew I wasn't wearing a black and didn't ever consider it a black while I was wearing it but I did get comments that it looked black.

 

Overall application was good and removal wasn't messy. I find rich pigmented shades to be messy and even stain during removal but this was not the case.