Feelin' Yacht, Yacht, Yacht!

Spring is finally feeling like it's here and the lovely weather has put me in the mood for some brighter shades.

Today I have China Glaze, Too Yacht to Handle. I must say that this is much closer to a "Tiffany" blue than a lot of others out there, Too Yacht To Handle is a bright robin blue with just a hint of green that makes this colour unique in my collection. The polish is bright but not yet a neon, although it sure is close!

The formula the second time around (first post on this, here) was improved. The first coat was a little streaky but the second evened everything out. In applying the polish you have to work in thin, quick stokes. I must have added thinner to the bottle the first time I wore it because I remember that time around the formula being thicker.

Wear improved as well, the first time around it chipped fairly quickly and easily. This time I got some slight tip wear over the course of the 5 days, but nothing really noticeable. 

My Way Or The Highway!

Today I have a shade from the China Glaze Road Trip collection released this past Spring that reminds me of the early 2000's...

I had to lol, I'm totally listening to this while I'm composing this post! This is China Glaze My Way or The Highway, A beautiful blue leaning teal crelly.

The formula was awesome and applied really well to the nail. The first coat was a little bit thin, but the second coat built up to full coverage easily. It was a welcome pallet cleanser to my bright neons and complements my tan well.

To be honest, I picked up this polish 50% based off the name alone with the intent of wearing it for good luck on my road test. Last year I wore Petal To The Metal and had a great test, this is the last test before I get my full license and it's on the highway... I just had to buy it and wear it for my test!

Under The Sea

Happy Friday! I was totally inspired by a polish name for this mani. When I found a cool glitter polish at Five Below while I was cross boarder shopping last month, it looked interesting. I turned it over to see the name, Sea Glass, that's totally what it was! The different shapes and colours were the perfect representation of sea glass and I knew I needed to add this polish to my collection. I could already envision the polish combos I could create with this glitter topper

I decided to layer Sea Glass within Zoya, Freda, the lone polish I had not used yet which is apart of the 2012 Gloss collection. I found it was the sheerest of the bunch, but it is buildable and easy to work with. I applied one coat of Freda and followed it with a coat of Sea Glass. The glitter applied easily with a good ratio of glitter to base polish. I let that dry a bit before applying another two coats over top the glitter.

 

I could have added another coat to help build up Freda further, however I liked the overall look and didn't want to add too many layers of polish. Including topcoat (I applied another base of Bio Seaweed UV gel previously) I used a total of 5 layers of polish! The photos show visibility of my nail line more so than in real life.

The photo below most accurately depicts how the polish looks on my nails in reality. Freda is a great jelly polish, it applies smoothly, is self leveling and did not bubble with multiple layers.

Overall I love the glossy, squishy look of this glitter sandwich. My only regret is not getting more of the purple and green glitters on the nail. I love how they reflect throughout the murky teal jelly like bubbles of water floating up to the oceans surface.

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.

Mint Blizzard!

I saw Funky Fingers Elsa online late last year and knew I wanted it! Not for the movie reference, I have got to be the only person who has NOT seen Frozen at this point lol. Elsa is a pretty and delicate glitter made up of various shapes and sizes of matte white glitter and baby blue glitter with some white snowflake glitter scattered throughout. My mani was not lucky enough to get some of those snowflake glitters :(

I applied one generous coat to each nail trying my best to get the most glitter on each nail. I love the look but think I would get the specific effect I was going for had I layered it over a pale blue shade. Either way, the white glitter pieces are very blizzard like on nail.

Due to recent snowfalls last week I have been inspired for snowy and frosty nails. I am a little behind (again). I am hoping to have my Valentines themed mani up soon!

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!

Naughty Nautical

I can decide if it feels like summer yet over the weekend totally but the weather is up and down, super hot some days and cool on others with a mix of rain and thunderstorms. I just want full out summer weather now that it's July!

An awesome summer shade I picked up in late winter was an Essie polish I had been wanting for a while, Naughty Nautical. This teal cream has a slight sprinkling of white/silver flecks that reflect beautifully in the bottle. Once the on the nail it is not really visible unless you look really, really close.

The formula was great, thinner than I expected for a creme, but very pigmented. I only required two coats for full opacity. I absolutely adore the colour. This is the time of the year where pretty much anything goes polish wise. cant wait for the sum to really shine, then I will bring out some neons!

Sea Horsin' Around

I have a lovely textured polish to share with you today! It is apart of China Glaze's Sea Goddess collection that was out very early this spring.

Sea Horsin' Around is a blue leaning teal with golden shimmer and a textured finish. This is so pretty in it's textured state, I wonder how it looks with a topcoat! The gold shimmer reflects strongly in the light and really makes this polish something special.

The formula was thick but easy to apply, only two coats were needed. Unfortunately wear time was not great. I don't know what is going on but my China Glaze's are not wearing well on me at all lately! Usually textured polishes tend to latest a bit longer because they really adhere to the nail bed, this was the case for my OPI and Finger Paints textured polishes anyways.

The worst part? The staining! Yup, my nails are yellow/green and yucky. Other then chipping and staining it really is such a pretty polish, what a shame :(

What a Treasure!

My last green polish for March! Can you believe that March is a few days away from being over? Kind of hard to believe since it literally just snowed only two days ago... Nothing really accumulated but it is still depressing! Moving on the topic of things that make me happy, today I have a bright spring coloured polish, Sinful Colors Treasure Chest.

Treasure Chest is a bright green based teal textured polish with a gold textured shimmer! This is apart of the Crushed Gems collection (Which also included this purple beauty). So much more lovely on the nail and in person than in the bottle. This colour screams spring! It's bright, and shimmery and pretty!

The formula was fantastic! This could have easily been a one coater if I used a thick coat, but I opted for two thinner coats. The texture is perfect, not too over the top gritty, and the sparkle really makes it look sand-like. An awesome textured polish for a great price! I wish these more were readily available in Canada.

U.S Hauling

So I went cross boarder shopping over the weekend and spotted a few gems... Ok, so I did more than just spot most of them, I just had to bring some of these home with me! First up, Sunful Colors from Rite Aid, Treasure Chest and Purple Gleam.

Treasure Chest is a teal blue textured polish with gold shimmer. This week I have purchased 5 texture polishes, the first ones of my collection. This looks to be a mix of the China Glaze and Zoya textures from what I saw seen in regards to texture.

natural sunlight

Purple Gleam is a medium purple base with gold shimmer, same texture/formula as Treasure Chest. My swatches show one coat, great formula!

lamp lighting

I was super excited to find the Christmas collections out at Sally's, it sounds a bit nutso but I'm glad to get my hands on the polishes I want early so I don't have to search for them later. I picked up four China Glaze polishes,

This Is Tree-Mendous and All Wrapped Up.

Tremendous is a grass/gold green glitter, it appears to be in a clear base. This glitter applied well, two coats are shown in my swatches with no topcoat. 

All Wrapped Up is a purple based blue glitter in a slightly tinted base of the same shade. This glitter also applied well, two coats without topcoat are shown in my swatches below.

Bells Will Be Blinging and Your Present Required.

Bells Will Be Blinging was my favorite out of the whole collection when I first saw the press photos. It is comprised of various sized/shaped blue, shiver gold and holo glitter in a clear base. I had anticipated it to be a brighter blue, however it is still very pretty. Two thick coats with no topcoat is shown.

Your Present Required is a glitterbomb! Another very unique polish, is is comprised of hex glitter in various sizes of mainly purple, blue, gold, copper, silver and matte white. I also see a few specks of green hidden in the bottle. The matte white glitter remindes me of snow :) One coat is shown, I liked this one a lot more than I thought I would. I can't wait to try some jelly sandwiches with this one!

I picked out one Orly, my first since the redesign, Lavish Bash. This is another glitter, big surprise right? It is made up of gold, silver and holo glitter of various shapes and sizes including bar, hex and micro. Very Sparkly! Two coats is shown in my swatch with no topcoat.

Next stop, The Christmas Tree Store. This place has the most random grouping of items, but I was lucky enough to find a long sought after Milani and Sally Hansen Magnetic.

Milani Cyberspace , is a sky blue scattered holo. I picked this up for $1! Three swatches are shown below, the formula is thin but buildable.

Sally Hansen Silver Elements, I'm not a huge fan of  magnetic polishes in general, I can never seem to get them to work properly lol. I did like the shade of the polish in the bottle on its own. It appears to be a blue/pink duochrome with duochrome glitter in a silver, chrome-like base. My swatch shows two coats, with no magnetic effect. I picked this up for $2!

Last stop, Marshalls. I spotted a few double packs of OPI's, mostly from the first Mariah Carry collaboration. My pack was Get Your Number and Can't Let Go. I seriously love these! I'm actually surprised I did. This particular pack looked to come with a gift of some sort, but I isn't realize until I got home that it was removed or stolen. For $7.99 you still cannot go wrong! If you know what gift came with this pack, let me know :)

Get Your Number is a jelly blue polish with loads of holo glitter. When dry this reminds me of some sort of blue raspberry sour candy! Super awesome. Two coats are shown in my swatch.

Can't Let Go is a purple "liquid sand" polish with some hex glitter thrown in the mix. No holo, sparkly glitter in this one, two coats are shown in my swatches.

So that wraps it up! Lots of polish for me this last month, I have another huge haul post coming up soon from Cherry Cultures 40% off sale.

Nail Mail + A Dollarama Find

NAIL MAIL!!

Cult Nails has been having some really good promos lately, I took part in the buy 3 polishes, get one free deal last month, my pics included;

Be Loco - a bright, orange leaning coral creme

Blazed - a orange coper glitter in a clear base

Riot - a bright teal creme

Flushed - a medium purple with a duochrome shimmer which flashes from magenta to green

Be Loco and Riot were only one coat in my swatches! Blazed and Flushed required two coats for full opacity. Super awesome new additions to my collection :) As always the formula is flawless.

Another random polish I purchased recently is from Dollarama is Nicole by OPI, Brilliant Idea.

2 coats for swatch above

This glitterbomb is packed with bright swampy green minro and hex glitter. It reminds me of a lighter version of China Glaze It's Alive from their 2011 Haunting Halloween collection. I immediately needed this polish to make a glitter gradient :) hopefully I will get to it before October is over!

Illusions

So I wanted a quick and easy update to my current mani of Nabi Hologram Teal and I decided, as usual, to do some stamping. I pulled out my Red Angel plates and decided on an abstract full nail graphic from plate RA-114.

I stamped with Sally Hansen 10 Day No Chip in Blackberry and sealed with Ask Cosmetics topcoat, which I am loving lately! Short and sweet post today. I think my manis going forward will start to be halloween themed, I am so pumped for October this year :)