Line After Lime

Happy Friday! Yet another shade from the China Glaze Lite Brite summer collection. Today a pastel boarder ing on being a neon, Lime After Lime.

Lime After Lime is a yellow based green creme polish. It is bright like a neon, yet soft like a pastel. Although the brightness factor just missed the mark for giving that neon glow, in lower light setting ing it does have that glow-in-the-dark look to it.

 

I used two coats for full opacity and found the formula good to work with, not too thick or thin. I got a few comments on this shade from strangers, that's how you know it's good! However, I purchased this with the anticipation of it being a bright neon. That being said, although there was slight dissapoint when I applied this shade to my nails, having worn it for a week, it has grown on me!

It wore well with slight tip wear towards the end of the week, and little cracks here and there, although, from a distance they cannot be seen.

At Vase Value

I have a beaut today from China Glaze's 2014 Spring Collection, City Flourish. I picked out At Vase Value to wear for my engagement photos! I wanted something that was a little edgy without being too flashy or tacky. It's safe to say that neons, glitter and nail art of any kind were out, I didn't want too much of a distraction in the photos, and I wanted it to match the venue, outfits, etc seamlessly.

I knew I wanted a soft blue, I think I had the "something blue" tradition in my head. Blue is edgy without being over the top when you pick a pastel or lighter shade. In the end is came down to this or Color Club's Meet Me At Your Chateau.

I chose At Vase Value in the end due to the brighter shade with a hint of green making it more turquoise.

Application was okay, a little streaky on the first coat. As long as you swipe the polish quickly on the nail, it will even it's self out. I'm pretty sure I applied three coats total, the last coat being very thin.

I love this shade and I'm glad I chose it for my photos!

Wanderlust

Another beautiful spring day, another beautiful spring polish! I have another one from the China Glaze Road Trip collection to be exact. I am really enjoying these a lot more than I initially did first swatching them. Today's polish is Wanderlust.

Wanderlust is a pale pink-leaning lavender creme with a faint gold/pink micro shimmer. When I first swatched this on my nail wheel I found it to apply quite sheer, however, on the nail it applied well and built up to opacity in two easy coats. The formula was great to work with and evened it's self out.

The shimmer is mostly hidden, like the others in this collection, but it really shines in direct lighting and outdoors on a sunny day. Considering this was one of the first I "had to have" from the collection I am happy it did not disappoint.

Dashboard Dreamer

Happy Friday! I love spring colours. I typically look forward to spring collections, China Glaze specifically, in late winter. You may have seen the Road Trip polishes I picked up this year, and to be honest, at first swatch they were a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, in the bottles they look awesome but the formula seemed thin and the magical shimmer in some of the shades were nonexistent on the nail.

 

So far I have worn three shades, Boho Blues, Pack Lightly  and now, Dashboard Dreamer. I am definitely feeling better about this collection now! Dashboard Dreamer is a soft, pale blue creme with a faint pink shimmer. The shimmer is pretty much non-existent on the nail, however it adds to the overall hue of the polish.

I applied two regular coats, the first was a bit streaky and the second evened everything out nicely. I decided to add a thin third coat for full, even coverage.

So far I am really loving this shade and the wear is fantastic, hardly any tip wear on day four.

Pack Lightly

I totally goofed up and forgot to snap photos of this polish while I was wearing it :( It's such a pretty colour, so I still want to talk about it. It's another China Glaze from the spring Road Trip collection. I have been feeling bright nails lately with the weather skipping over spring and diving right in to summer with warm and sunny days.

Although a pastel, and spring appropriate, Pack Lightly has a bit of pop to it, I can picture it looking even brighter with a nice tan in a month or so, pending the weather of course! It is a soft pink based coral with a (mostly hidden) warm shimmer. I think it's the shimmer that helps this polish toe the like of pink and coral.

The formula was on the sheer side but I was able to build it up in three easy coats. Wear is good, I am about three days in now with very minor tip wear.

The only photo I have of Pack Lightly, third to the right.

I may try to squeeze in a few more of these pastels in the next month, but I am really feeling brights and neons right now. I've got to get my hands on some of the Summer polishes from China Glaze's recent collections ASAP!

Color Club Pardon My French

I have another lovely spring polish today, I just love spring polishes! This is another Color Club polish, Pardon My French, which is a baby pink creme with just a slight hint of yellow which makes it a slight coral pastel.

The formula was just okay. The first coat was streaky, the second coat was a little less streaky, but also not 100% opaque either. For the third and final coat I decided to add some thinner to the bottle of polish to add one last thin layer to even out any remaining streaks. This is common for me to do so I don't have loads of polish on the nail which can lead to bubbling or premature wear/peeling.

Three coats still did not produce 100% coverage, however, once I added a good coat of Seche Vite it helped to even mostly everything else out. I would say the final mani looks about 95% opaque, the camera, however, does not appear to show the polishes flaws. From a distance it looks great, so it works for me!

Mint Sorbet

Has anyone ever heard of or tried a real life mint sorbet... I can picture it in my head, but the flavour that comes to mind it lime or lemon. Either that or mint chocolate chip ice cream, which I guess would make more sense because the flavour would be more minty. I actually did a Pinterest search and found recipes for mint sorbets that were mostly lime or lemon based, funny! Random thoughts.

Sally Hansen, Mint Sorbet was a polish I picked up during my first trip to Target's closing extravaganza... hardly! Not yet anyways. I had been considering this polish for a while, but know I own probably a handful of mint polishes already. I purchased it anyways lol. This rich mint creme pastel glided on the nail effortlessly.

Two to three quick swipes of each nail was blended together perfectly. I could have gotten away with one thick coat, but I find cremes tend to show wear faster with only one, so I added a thin second coat to top it off. Clean up (what little there was of it) was a breeze and Seche Vite added a high gloss shine and aided in quick drying. I must be getting in the mood for spring with this bright and airy colour. Too bad the weather is still in the negatives and snowy :(

Last of Summer

Happy Friday! and Long Weekend! WOOO!

This will probably be my last summer pedi this season :( Where has the summer gone!! I can't believe September is a few short days away. This is a shade I have worn on my fingernails before, China Glaze At Vase Value.

I am happy to report that it wore surprisingly well on my toes when compared to my fingers. Such a lovely shade of baby blue with a hint of green. Three coats were applied by an awesome nail teck.

I am so happy with this look, I was originally going to choose a pink pastel but wanted to match something closer to what I was wearing on my fingernails (Orly, Dive Deeper). So happy I chose this! It held up well on my toes so far, about a week. I am on my feet a lot and work out vigorously 5-6 times a day and no chips!

Nuclear Sunrise

I need to find me some more Fresh Paint polishes! I just recently discovered them in late June and I am so impressed. Not only do they have some awesome colours, but the wear is fantastic. I can only comment on the two neon cremes I have purchased, Guava and Honeydew, but if you know neons, you know they chip FAST, and Guava and Honeydew lasted

I wore Honeydew for almost a full week with no chips and only slight tip wear, that is fantastic for a neon. Honeydew is a pastel mint neon creme. Although the first coat was a bit streaky, the second coat evened everything out nicely so I didn't require a third. It dried to a slight shine but as always I added a coat of Seche Vite.

Unfortunately.... I have misplaced my photos for this mani, so sad! I  do have photos of it with a refresh I did. To update this mani I used China Glaze Shore Enough, Bundle Monster Plate 402 and a cosmetic sponge.

I started by stamping Shore Enough on the tips of my nails and blending downward in to Honeydew. On the second coat I added Honeydew to the sponge with Shore enough to blend the colours further.

Once that had dried, I stamped with the centre top full image pattern on Bundle Monster plate BM-204. On the plate the design looks abstract and asymetrical. I'm not sure what drew me to it initially but once stamped in black over the gradient it looked like an abstract sunset. The bold lines representing the rays from the sun, the circle. The green base makes the whole idea even more abstract!

Plate BM 402 is apart of the Create Your Own collection and it stamped perfectly with no issues. One tip I would give should you use this design or any similar (with bold lines), try to scrape in the general direction of the lines to avoid any weird bald spots in the design once on the stamper.

My only regret is not lining up the "rays" perfectly with each nail, other than than I am happy with the final look.

Small Rant + Grass is Lime Greener

Happy Friday!
I am not one to go pay to get a manicure done. Although not trained professionally I feel that I know enough to give myself a pretty good looking mani, minus the hand massage and all that fancy stuff! Prior to my recent experience, which I will be sharing shortly, my first ever manicure experience wasn't the greatest. It wasn't horrible, but I figured I'd rather do it myself than pay someone when I can do it to my personal preference.

Start Rant...

My latest experience was at a beauty school. Now I have had many experiences with beauty schools, and I get it, they are still learning and practicing their skills, but shouldn't they really be practicing what they are specializing in for a profession? I have had many pedicures from collages with amazing results, but this manicure was by far the worst, and I think it has turned me off from getting another one in the future.

Knowing I was going to a school (of learning students) I prepared my nails to my liking before the appointment, this including trimming and filing my nails to the length and shape I am most comfortable with. I made it clear from the start, please do not cut, shape or file my nails, I am happy with how they are. Se said okay and proceeded. After removal if polish and soaking she decided a few nails needed to be evened out, I said fine, in my head reminding myself that this is her job and she knows what she is doing.

Wrong! Not only did she reshape my nails, but she also used the harshest grit for a "light" file! I was dying in the inside, but she would fix it, right? It was at this point she mentioned that she came to this school to specialize more in, laser hair removal, microdermabrasion, etc. and tht she doesn't like doing nails. Now I start to panic... She starts to apply the polish and I am dying I the inside! To shorted the story a bit, let's just sayit was bad, a bad, streaky messy situation. I had to show the nail tek how to apply the polish... In not even joking. She kept pushing the brush firmly on the nail and sliding it slowly up the nail. This was with a China Glaze neon polish. Ugh! Just thinking about it makes me nervous! After the second or third streaky, uneven and ununiform (some nails had polish starting a cm above the cuticle) coats, I asked her to stop. Not only did I not get the full treatment (adiquate cuticle softening, removal and massage) but I just wasted a time and money for something I could have done in about 10 mins!

A thoroughly frustrating experience overall. On my way out I switched all of my previously scheduled manicures for anther service (I have a package wth them and have enjoyed other services jncluding massages and pedicures). I was filing my nails while waiting (the rough grit did not leave my nails smooth at all) and the receptionist asked why, and I said that it was done incorrectly. I was then given an excuse that the polish I chose was difficult to work with, that why it didn't turn out right... Right.

As soon as I got home I wet to work on clean up and evening out the polish on the nail. I then applied one more coat if polish to even out the streaks (and texture) caused earlier and finished with a top coat and slight clean up. Ta-da! Good as new. I fixed the shape of my nails as best I could, and am happy with the final look. I wish I had a before photo to share with you but I couldn't stand to look at my nails from the moment she started to apply the polish!

Ahhh, that feels so much better, END RANT, now more about China Glaze The Grass is Lime Greener.

This is a lovely pastel neon green shade. The formula is a tad difficult to work with, however, what I told the nail tek, and what I will tell you is that as long as you work with a light and quick hand and an adiquate amount of polish on the nail, it will even out. I would estimate two coats max. My photos show three coats.

It does dry to a satin/matte finish so a topcoat is needed. I have been wearing this mani for about three days now and surprisingly it hasn't chipped all over the place. Although beautiful, I find the China Glaze spring collection to be particularly fussy, either with application or wear or both!

I love this shade, it was originally my top colour to purchase from this while collection, just perfect for summer. It literally just glows on the nail when outdoors. So glad I was able to salvage it :)

In A Lilly Bit!

I ranted a few days ago about an unhappy experience I recieved at a local spa which offers practice to beauty school students. Today I have a much happier experience with my spa pedicure.

I dread giving myself pedicures, to much bending and stretching and overall work, even for me! And I am pretty flexible. It's always nicer to have someone else do it for you, so I typically get a few done in the summer time. I brought along my own polish shade, however I ended up using their bottle since they had the same shade. 

China Glaze In A Lilly Bit is a soft lavender pastel creme. Although pastel, this shade is bright! I can't comment on application since I did not apply it but I am pretty sure only two coats were needed for full coverage.

I love this light shade on my toes, it is very delicate and can be combined with one of the deeper lavenders or pink form the same collection on my hands!

At Vase Value

China Glaze has confused me with their latest summer and spring collections, I feel like maybe their spring collection was supposed to be their summer collection and vise versa? Although Peonies in the Park (spring collection) has some lovely pastels, I find that they are brighter (including a few neons) and more appropriate for summer, where as the summer collection hardly has any neons!

I dont know how to classify At Vase Value, apart of the Peonies and Park collection. Sure, it may look like your standard "Tiffany" or baby blue, but I think it is different from the similar shades I own. First off, I would not consider it a neon polish, however it must be the brightest pastel blue I own. Secondly, it has a hint of yellow in there which makes it shift slightly teal while still being a blue. Basically it is a bright neon leaning pastel blue... LOVE!

I wish I could say the same about application, but to be honest I was actually expecting worse! This whole collection seems to be infamous for application issues and horrible wear. I can't comment on wear time just yet since I just applied the polish last night, but application wasn't the easiest. The first coat was a bit streaky, this occurred when over lapping layers. To avoid balding work quickly with three swift swipes. The second coat applied much easier, but to get full opacity I found I needed between 3-4 coats. It varied from finger to finger for me, and this is because I was painting in a dimly lit room watching Chopped (Sooooo hooked on this!), so, my fault. I would say in better lighting and atmosphere, 3 coats total should do it. The fourth coat was mostly just spot touch-ups with thinned out polish.

The natural finish of At Vase Value is a satiny matte. It did appear thick and uneven on the nail. I even thought I saw some bubbling on a few nails, but one coat of Seche Vite evened everything out fairly nice. Overall I am very happy with the final look, colour and finish. I felt even thought I needed between 3-4 coats It wasn't really a lot of extra work or as messy as the other polishes I have tried from this collection. I just hope it lasts me a few days without chips!

Let's Go to the Park!

I picked up a set of seven Color Club polishes and am having a heard time finding the collection name! luckily the bottoms of the bottles were labeled so that helped out, looked to me a mix and match set. I located the collection for two of the shades, East Austin and Wicker PArk are apart of the Girl About a Town collection, which looks to be an interesting collection. One would think it would be a spring collection full of pastels but it is actually mostly darker, fall shades made up of many different finishes and textures.

I chose to wear Wicker Park, a lovely magenta leaning lavender pastel. It is bright and cheery and I LOVE it! It is a welcome change from the China Glaze pastel I wore last, Spring In My Step. The formula was fantastic, I only needed two coats for full opacity and it was easy to control. The finish also impressed me, it appears to have a slight neon pigmentation, similar to Spring In My Step, however it dried quickly to a shiny finish. It was even more glossy with the addition of Seche Vite on top.

I can't wait to wear the other neon/pastel shades I picked up in this set. The wear so far has been great, no chips 3 days in! In a day or two I will probably do a mani refresh, something I have not been able to do in a long time since polish has been chipping so quick on me.

Spring in My Step

I'd like to say Spring is finally here but it is such a slowpoke this year, teasing us with a few warm days then freezing up again. The forecast looks good for the upcoming week and I can't wait for some sunny spring days.

Today I have a pretty pink apart of China Glaze's current spring collection, City Flourish. Spring in My Step is is a pastel pink with slight orange/coral undertones depending on the lighting. Indoors I find it to be a light pastel, but outdoors whoa! it has a slight neon brightness to it and makes my pale skin (thanks winter) appear to be tanned.

I had some application issues, the first coat was really weird, it was like I had oil on my nails, that is the only way I can think to describe the way this polish applied. It was streaky and weird. I did the best I could and found it was best to move quickly. The second coat was easier to apply, however it was still not 100% streak-free. After the third coat it was still not fully opaque, but I could live with it. The streaking is not as evident in the photos and from afar.

The polish dries to a semi-matte/satin finish, it must have neon pigment in it. Seche Vite Helped to add a perfect gloss and even out any streaking imperfections. After almost a full day of wear I was happy that I had no issues with chipping!... An hour later and after cooking dinner/prepping my lunch for work the next day I was all chips. Too good to be true, right?! I love neon polishes in general, but dread how short the wear time is.

Overall I love this colour, but the formula and wear kind of suck. It's so disappointing because there are so many neon shades I put off wearing because I know they will only last me a day or two before chipping. My hands are usually wet or busy daily, due to typing at the computer, cooking, showering etc. Do you have any tips for getting neon polish to wear longer?

Oh, It's Real Alright!

Today I have a quick and easy mani refresh with one of my newly acquired (and discontinued) Sephora by OPI top coats. Surprisingly I almost left this polish behind, and it's the first once I choose to wear! Of course, right? My base is China Glaze Kinetic Candy, a lovely, dusty blue pastel. And the topper of choice is Sephora by OPI It's Real 18K Gold Top Coat.

In my photos below I used two coats of the fold flakie top coat, which is made up of real gold fragments. You may also notice that it is very subtle, the gold pieces are very tiny for the most part. I really like the contrast between the soft, diluted blue and bright shiny gold. I''m not really a huge fan of yellow gold, but in small amounts, it works!

I do wish the gold flakies were a bit more dense so that I could achieve the look of two coats in one. Other than that, I am really a fan of this polish. That means a lot considering I had intentions of gifting or selling this polish. Super happy I purchased it an tried it out :) That being said, I would probably not pick it up if it was sold at original price due to the low density of gold pieces per coat of polish.