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.

Road Trip!

Happy Friday!

I finally received my China Glaze spring polishes in the mail! I decided on the Road Trip Read set, although there are still a few from the Destination Unknown set I would like as well.

From left to right displayed in the packaging is I Brake for Colour, Pinking out the Window, Pack Lightly, Wanderlust, Bohemian Blues and Dashboard Dreamer.

I Brake for Colour is a deeply saturated coral creme. It leans more red in the photos, but in person you can see the orange undertones. One coat is shown on the swatch wheel!

Pinking out the Window is a neutral pink creme. Nothing really exciting, this is two coats on the swatch wheel.

Pack Lightly is a light peachy pink shade. In the bottle there is a slight shimmer, unfortunately it is not really visible on the nail. This is two coats are shown on the nail wheel

Wanderlust is a light lavender/pink shade (it actually appears more colour correct in the photo above, far right beside Pack Lightly). The formula on this one was very thin. It has a gold shimmer throughout, however it is very subtle. Three coats are shown on the nail wheel.

Bohemian Blues is probably my favorite of this collection. It is a bright periwinkle blue creme. This shade is unlike anything I own plus it has a great formula and is long lasting! Two coats are shown on the nail wheel.

Last is Dashboard Dreamer, this was another one that I really wanted. It is a pale blue creme with a pink/orange shimmer, it reminds me of Sinful Colors Cinderella or Cult Nails Princess. Both are along the same lines. I was kind of disappointed with this one since the formula was so thin. I think I needed three to four coats on the nail wheel! It was so sheer. It is pretty though, so I'll have to try it out on the nail before coming to a final conclusion on where I stand on this polish.

So far my favorite is Bohemian Blues and my least favorite is Pinking out the Window based solely on originality of colour.

What do you think about this collection; Which are you favorites?

China Glaze Sets at Costco!

This is kind of late, but I thought it is still worth sharing since your Costco may not have received shipment yet. A few weeks ago I found half of China Glaze's latest spring offering, Peonies and Park Ave. You can see the set below. This six piece full size set includes:

Peonies and Park Ave
Petal To The Metal
Spring In My Step
In A Lilly Bit
Lotus Begin
At Vase Value.

The total cost was $19.99 for 6 polishes, that's works out to about $3.33 per polish, not bad! I wish they had both sets of collections available so you can pick and choose, but I'm glad I got my hads on this set while it was available :)

My China Glaze Picks For Spring

Can you believe how close we are to spring right now? Daylight savings was just this past weekend!  The weather was actually more spring-like, earlier in the week, I got in my first outdoor run of the year! Notice the wet wood on my deck and the last of the snow melting away :)

 

.... Unfortunately we just got MORE snow yesterday and today is absolutely bone chilling! At I enjoyed the weather wihle we had it, plus I have some new China Glaze polish to get me in to the spring mind set.

China Glaze has consistently put out awesome spring collections since I have been collecting, starting with the Up and Away collection. Last year I didn't pick up too many at first, but eventually gave in and got some late last year! I had been waiting for Sally's to put out the spring display, went there the first of March, they day they put them out and they were totally picked over by the time I got there around 4pm! Can you believe it! They were nice enough to check the back for me but they had more of the same that was already on display. Luckily I did pick up four of my faves, I think there are two or three other I will need to hunt down before they vanish!

Here is part one of my picks, from left to right, Don't Honk Your Thorn, Metro Pollen-Tin.

Don't Honk Your Thorn is a light beige neutral with the slightest hint of silvery white shimmer... and a confusing pun of a name lol. I can be kind of a sucker for nudes and neutrals so I knew ahead of time wanted to try this one out.

Metro Pollen-Tin is definitely very unique in my collection, the original swatches I saw looked more mustard/taxicab yellow, while in person it is much more orange based. Think China Glaze Sun Worshiper without being neon. That being said, it is bright and does dry to a matte/satin finish.

Next two are Petal to the Metal and Lotus Begin.

Petal to The Metal is a bright pink with a hint of coral. This is another bright shade that borders on being a neon and dried to a matte/satin finish.

Lotus Begin is my favourite so far out of these four polishes. It also reminds me of another China Glaze neon from this past summer, That's Shore Bright. Side by side you can see Lotus Begin is more blue based and lighter, a more lavender, pastel version. It also highly pigmented and dried to a matte/satin finish.

The others I plan on picking up soon, and hope in include as a follow up to this post, include Grass is Lime Greener, At Vase Value and possibly Spring In My Step. Grass is Lime Greener, another awkward name, was the one I wanted the most in this whole collection, so I hope when I find it, it lives up to the expectations I have for it!

New Spring Collections from Sally Hansen!

Have a look at a preview I received in my inbox this week from Coty:

Sally Hansen introduces new shades, available at mass and drugstores across Canada this spring!

Sally Hansen introduces an array of new shades into its core colour collections. New hues in the Insta Dri, Xtreme Wear, Salon Effects, Salon Gel Polish and Salon Insta Gel Strips franchises, will guarantee to keep your nails on trend this season. Available beginning February 2014.

Insta Dri, $4.95, available in 8 new shades (Chartreuse Chase, Go For Gold, Grease Lightening, In Prompt Blue, Sand Storm, I-Rush Luck, Grape Shifter, Jade Jump)

Chartreuse Chase

Go For Gold

Grease Lightening

In Prompt Blue

Sand Storm

I-Rush Luck

Grape Shifter

Jade Jump

My picks from this line Sand Storm and Gape Shifter. jumping Jade looks lovely too, there are just so many mint greens available... and in my collection.

Xtreme Wear Nail Colour, $3.49, available in 10 new shades (Blue Boom, Bold Gold, Hot Tamale, Jazzy Jade, Pep-Plum, Pink Punk, Pixel Perfect, Pucker Up, Sea-ing Stars, Shine On)

Blue Boom

Bold Gold

Hot Tamale

Jazzy Jade

Pep-Plum

Pink Punk

Pixel Perfect

Pucker Up

Sea-ing Stars

Shine On

OK! So I am super excited to see Blue Bloom, Bold Gold, Sea-ing Stars and Shine on in person, they look awesome in these swatches!

Shine On Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips, $9.95, available in 4 new shades (Disk O-Queen, Horse A-Round, Red My Tulips, Side Swipe)

Disk O-Queen

Horse A-Round

 Red My Tulips

 Side Swipe

Ooh, some fun moon manis!

Salon Gel Polish, $14.95, available in 5 new shades (Blue My Mind, Cherry, Cherry Bang, Bang!, Jaded, Kook A Mango, Red Zin)

Blue My Mind

Cherry, Cherry Bang, Bang!

Jaded

Kook A Mango

Red Zen

Salon Insta Gel Strips, $15.95, available in 4 new shades (Ballet Parfait, Flaunt Your Curves, Good as Gold, Tips Over)

Ballet Parfait

Flaunt Your Curves

Good As Gold

Tips Over

I am loving the Insta gel Strips, very cool French manis!

Gothic Lolita!

Finally, some bright spring colours! And the only color that I picked up out of all the spring collections this year. I must say though, I liked it more in the swatches online than I did on my actual nails. I do however like the colour, it has grown on me.

China Glazes Gothic Lolita is an interesting colour in the bottle, bright purple with a blue/red super fine shimmer. On the nail I see mostly a deep and bright lavender. There is a lot more magenta coming out of this shade too. This is a very unique colour in my colection and I have never seen anything quite like it.

I applied one coat to all my nails and that's all I needed! The consistency of the polish was thick but the overall formula was good. It wasn't goopy or bubbly and it dried pretty quickly! The photos below were taken with the camera flash, you can see the blue shimmer a little better, although the base colour is not as accurate. You can click the photos for a  closer look!

I already have some ideas for nail art so I might have to refresh this mani in a day or two ;)

Don't forget to check out the Bundle Monster nail art contest this week and vote for your favorites :) A big thanks to those who have already voted for my nails. Remember, you are able to vote once a day until May 13.