Papa Don't Peach

I am living China Glaze's Lite Brite collection this summer. I have already worn two shades, Bite Me and What I Like About Blue, and today I have number three out of the five I picked up, Papa Don't Peach.

 

Papa Don't Peach is a bright neon coral jelly with golden flecks and shimmer. In the bottle it looks bright and summery and in the nail it doesn't disappoint. (The most colour accurate photo is directly below, however, in reality it actually pulls more coral)

I required two coats to build up to full opacity, which I didn't expect. I figured it would take at least three since it was a jelly. It dries to a semi-matte finish with slight texture, due to the flecks and shimmer, however, I layer of Seche Vite was enough to make the final finish glossy. For extra gloss, I'd add a second layer of too coat after 24 hours of the original application.

Glitter Tips

Today I have a quick and easy mani refresh with Zoya's Miley.

I am still loving my French refreshes lately and wanted to try out another Zoya from my untrieds that I thought would be a good companion, Tomoko. Tomoko is a light gold pixie dust glitter that tries to a gritty finish on it's own.

Using my striping tape I marked off each nail and applied a generous coat of Tomoko. I Thought of leaving Tomoko as-is with a textured finish, but decided on adding a glossy topcoat to make the glitter shine.

Oops! Forgot to Post!

Remember the thermal gel I blogged about earlier this year from Madam Glam, What Color is the Dress? The one I wore for a while? To keep from getting bored with one polish on my nails for a month I did some refreshes, one of which I did some stamping!

I felt like a noob, you guys! It has been too long. It took a short time to get the hang of it again and pick the right polish, but in the end I loved the look.

I used Bundle Monster plate BM-604 and Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Brushed Gold To stamp with. I love the clean gold lines over the deep base. When I decided to remove the design I kept the gel on along for at least another week!

Glided Rocks

Happy Friday!

Today I have (about a week late) New Years mani number two, the one I actually wore for New Years Eve.

I recently stumbled upon Milani's new polishes while at the drugstore about a month back. I did a double take as I noticed that the bottles changed. They are actually kind of cool, fully cylindrical with what looks to be a swatch of the shade on the top of the handle. The one that really caught my eye was Glided Rocks a blush pink glitter with a golden shimmer. The swatch on the top of the bottle looked to be different, however, showing both gold and pink glitter.

I decided to layer it over one coat of OPI's I Theodora You. I applied one generous coat over top and sealed it off with a layer of topcoat. I had expected the blush glitter to be more prominent than the glitter from what I originally saw in the bottle, however, it turns out that the golden shimmer was actually a lot brighter on the nail.

Overall I liked this shimmery look, I think this would look great over a deep base as well! 

Stassi's Muse

Happy Friday! Today I have a fun mani refresh of Zoya Stassi with another Zoya from the same collection, Muse. I purchased Muse last summer and I don't know why I didn't pull it out sooner! It has the same iridescent glitter and gold shimmer as Stassi with with a deep, blue base which really helps to reflect all that beautiful glitter!

I was inspired by the photo below from annagorelova.com which I found through Pinterest. To see my other nail related pins, click here.

Originally I was thinking of sponging on the gradient as I had done in the past but realized quickly with a sheer base and thirsty sponge I was getting little to none of the base on the nail. I kind of figured this would happen but wanted to try first. 

In my next attempt I applied a thin layer of Muse about the half point of my nail and upwards toward the tip, trying to blend as much with Stassi as possible. I continued this with three more layers starting closer to the top of the nail with each layer.

In the end I wish it came out slightly more feathered or graduated but I am super happy with this look! Very bright and dramatic for a gradient!

Stassi

Today I have a bright and sparky mani! I have so many summery bright glitters and shimmers but I just had not been up to wearing them yet. I have been sticking to my cremes and have been happy with that. I think it may be the subtle shimmers in the spring China Glaze polishes I have been wearing the last month that have warmed me up to the summer shimmers and glitters.

I decided on wearing a new polish to my collection, Zoya Stassi, purchased apart of their Earth day promo and apart of the summer Bubbly collection from 2013. The polish consists of a bright green jelly base, gold shimmer and iridescent hex glitter. The iridescent glitter is what makes this polish (and the others in this collection). 

The first coat was light and sheer, but it built up nicely on the second, thicker coat. I could have added a lighter third coat but plan on doing something with this polish as the base in a few days and didn't want too many layers of polish on the nail. I topped it off with a generous layer of Seche Vite to smooth everything out and accelerate dry time.

The best lighting to view this polish is definitely in low or overcast light. The iridescent glitter grabs what little light there is, it is just so pretty! 

Zoya Hits and Misses

Happy Friday!

I FINALLY received my Zoya mystery box promo (along with the three polishes I picked out). All I have to say is what a disappointment! I was so excited to find out that Zoya now ships internationally and I could finally participate in their promos without shipping to relatives in the States. Accompanying this news, they announced a "Mystery Mini Trio" promo which included three polishes of your choice, plus three "free" mystery polishes all for $15. Great deal right? Well, they didn't mention that there is an additional fee for shipping internationally, that kind of sucks. On top of that I waited over a month to receive my polishes! And the "mystery minis"... Lets just say they were not worth the wait. I am usually very happy with Zoya, I love their formula, polish selection and formulation (3+free) but this was a disappointment...

End rant..

...probably more to come in a separate post about the polishes I received.

 

Now on to one of the polishes I picked up, NYX. I had been considering picking up some pixi dusts for a while now, but with the increased price (and the low Canadian dollar) I couldn't see my self sending that much. Lucky for me I picked up three pixi dusts for practically half off retail with this promo, definitely a win.

NYX is a cornflower/periwinkle blue textured polish with silver/gold shimmer that changes depening on the lighting source. I love the matte sand finish, it really makes the shimmer sparkle. The formula was a bit on the thinner side, but I usually apply thinner coats of textures polishes anyways, I find the finish it a lot more matte and textured. I used between 2-3 coats for full opacity.

Overall wear was great, it only started chipping on some of my weaker nails (which I find has been the case for all polishes I have been wearing recently). I love that it is an option for a quick and easy mani, not topcoat is needed and it dries pretty quickly compared to regular polishes. It is also easy to touch up should any small chips arise, it blends in well.

I'm excited to try the rest of the polishes I purchased, which I will mention in an upcoming post along with the mystery minis (which were most of the disappointment!).

Minty Fresh

Sinful Colors Mint Apple had been a lemming of mind for a long time. Another one of those polishes I would pick up at the store and put down again before leaving, not sure it it was something I really, REALLY wanted. I finally picked this up at Big Lots in mid-December and was inspired by the cold (snowy) weather to wear it.

Mint Apple is a light and dusty teal creme with a very interesting microshimmer running throughout. This was a factor in me not purchasing it earlier. In online photos I saw this lovely gold shimmer that caught the light, in the bottle, however, the shimmer appeared to be a faint silver. No gold at all! On my nails I am happy to say that the gold shimmer shines. So pretty! It actually reminds me of another Sinful Colors share, Treasure Chest.

The formula was great, very smooth. The first coat went on a little bit thin, but the second coat evened out the opacity perfectly. I will be layering a frosty glitter on top of this miny shade in my next post.

Misted Glitter

Today I have a mani refresh with the last OPI polish I shared, Did Your Ear About Van Gogh? I decided to layer a glitter polish over top to see how well it blended the shade with my skintone. The gold glitter is Orly Lavish Bash.

I have been craving some soft nude polishes with glitter, but due to ongoing breaks in my middle finger nails (both right and left hands) I needed a nude polish with full coverage to hide the false nails I have been wearing over top the broken ones. Did Your Ear about Van Gogh? did the trick for now and Lavish Bash was a great sparkly topper. I applied one coat of the glitter over the base polish.

 

It is not as apparent in the photos, however, the glitter did help to distract from the mismatched tone of the base from my natural skintone. What do you think? Do you have ant suggestions for some good opaque nudes I can try out while I wait for my nails to grow in?

Rolling In Cashmere

Today I have more information on the base polish I used for my New Year's Eve nails, OPI, Rolling in Cashmere. This lovely shade of gold is light and lacks the brassiness of other shades of gold, which I like. 

Application was great, the formula was good. My only comment on these types of frost finish polishes is that brushstrokes may show through. They were not too apparent with my application, and I wasn't very careful. To get even coverage without brushstrokes for these finishes, sponge on a thin layer of polish with a cosmetic sponge as your final coat before adding topcoat.

I heard that this polish dries to a satin/matte finish, but I don't see it. The finish wasn't super glossy either, mind you. Due to the this formula I found that it chipped quicker than normal on me. 

What do you think about this polish? Normally wouldn't purchase a polish like this, however I received it in a gift set from Christmas (Christmas polish gift haul to some after I have caught up on my other posts!). I actually like it more than I thought I would, it is great for layering and nail art. I will need to check how well it is for stamping.

Happy New Year!

Happy 2015! 2014 really flew by for me. So many great things happend last year and I am excited to see what this new year has in store!

To celebrate I have some glittery gold nails to share with a mani refresh of OPI Rolling in Cashmere.

Overtop of Rolling in Cashmere I layed down a coat of China Glaze De-Light. This shiny gold glitter is made up of various sizes of medium gold glitter and thick holo bar glitter. I love the contrast between the lighter gold base and darker gold glitter. 

The photos don't capture how georgous this combo is unfortunately. I feel like I have C3PO on my nails, so glittery and shiny, like melted gold!

What did you have on your nails to ring in 2015?

Fave Halloween Polishes 2014

Halloween is quickly approaching, I just can't wait for Friday! Today I  have a short list of my all time favorite Halloween themed polishes... this year anyways! Every October I go through my stash and go through all the Halloween shades I have. Here are some of the polishes I cannot get enough of in the month of October. For previous swatches of these polishes, click on the polish name in the title.

China Glaze Its Alive

A deep green jelly base saturated with bright lime green glitter in various sizes. The deeper base makes the glitter appear to be darker. Such a great shade, China Glaze has amazing green polishes for Halloween.

Sally Hansen Pumpkin Spice

The perfect Halloween shade must include orange and black! Pumpkin spice is made up of a murky black jelly base and coper orange glitter. At first I didn't see the hype over this polish, but I was in love the first time I wore it. And yes, I have two bottles, it's that awesome! I needs about three thin coats for full opacity, but it is well worth it for the final outcome.

Orly, Monster Mash

A slimy green jelly base jam packed with green and holo glitter of various sizes. This polish is so awesome! My favorite of Orly's Halloween collection from 2012. I actually layered this over It's Alive for Halloween in 2012!

China Glaze Boo-gie Down
This is the newest favorite to my list, I purchase it last year at the end of the Halloween season.
I just recently wore this as an accent in a Halloween themed mani last week. There is a lot going on in the bottle, matte black (various sized hex and bar glitter) and white glitters with a sprinkling of gold and copper hex glitter. Such a great mix for Halloween. I love it over a sheer nude, super classy, and the formula is awesome! Super easy to apply with great coverage as a topper at one coat.

What are your favorite colours and polishes to wear during the month of October?

Boo-gie Bats

Happy Friday! Halloween countdown: 1 week left! There is also only 1 week left to enter my Halloween giveaway here.

I finally pulled out my Bundle Monster holiday plates and created a simple but fun mani with a full nail bat design and Halloween themed glitter!

For this mani I used the following:

Base - Revlon Peach Nectar

Ring and thumb fingers - China Glaze Boo-gie Down

Bundle Monster plate - BM-H08

I applied two coats of Revlon, Peach Nectar over my base coat. Once that was dry I stamped some bats in black polish using Bundle Monster plate BM-H06 on three of my nails. For my ring finger and thumb nails I applied  a generous coat of China Glaze Boo-gie Down, a gorgeous mix of black, white, copper and gold glitters.

Boo-gie down is such an awesome glitter, I love it over the nude base. The colours remind me of sophisticated candy corn with yellow and orange replaced with shiny gold and copper. This is such a subtle and easy mani. I really love bold stamping over a nude base, especially when most nails are stamped, it's not so in your face or tacky.

DONT FORGET TO ENTER MY GIVEAWAY! It runs until the end of the month! You get to pick which set of nails files you like should you prefer a different colour

Glittery Gradient

I decided to apply a slight gradient to a base of bright pink nails, China Glaze Pedal to the Metal. For the sponge gradient I used China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, probably my favourite China Glaze polish! To create the polish on the nail I applied Flip Flop Fantasy to a make-up sponge with pedal to the medal directly below it. I gently dabbed the sponge a few times on the nail (already with a base of Medal to the Medal) to create the gradual fade from one colour to the other.

I continued this process on each nail between one to two times to get the desired look. I then sponged some fine gold holographic glitter on the tips of my nails as well, China Glaze Golden Enchantment. I added a thin top coat over top everything to smooth out the gradient and add a nice gloss.

Wish on a Starfish

Today I have a China Glaze texture polish from one of the many collections they have put out in the last few months, this is Wish On A Starfish.

As you can see it is a light pink texture with golden shimmer throughout. It was a bit sheer on the first coat but built up nicely with three thin coats. I find with these polishes if you add thicker coats the effect looks more like a clumpy mistake than a texture.

I had no issues with application. The polish dried neither quickly or slowly but since it was textured I think it dried pretty well. I love the name! This is totally a starfish pink and the gold shimmer makes it shine like a sparking star!