Long Overdue LVX First Impressions and Review

Hello polish lovers!

Sorry for the long absence but I was involved in some pretty intense renovations...they kind of tried to destroy my nails so they are shorter than I like them.

As the title says, this is a long overdue first impressions and review of LVX polishes.  I was at Marshalls one day and found some of these polishes, all from last year's Spring and Summer lines.  At first I only bought 2 because I had never found the brand to buy in store before and I didn't know what the quality was like.  I also don't think I could pay $16 for a single polish....it would have to be pretty damn amazing and last more than a week with no chipping for me to even think about it.  Fortunately the ones I found at Marshalls were only $7 which is much more do-able for me.  The first 2 I got were Celeste and Viridian.  (WARNING:  These photo's were taken months ago when my dominant hand was not usable so the clean up is not as good as normal, also please excuse the awkward hand position...really difficult for me to photograph my left hand.)

Celeste is a gorgeous soft grey'd out light blue...opaque in 2 coats and lasted on me for 4 days before it began to chip.  This was the first I tried and made me go back to Marshalls for as many other colours I could find.

Viridian, sorry the sunshine kind of washed it out and made it much brighter than it is IRL, this is a gorgeous medium toned green, the kind that my camera kind of looks at and cries about, could not get a colour accurate photo to save my life.  This was also opaque in 2 coats.

On my next trip to Marshalls I found Modena, Citrine, Azalea, Chambord and Indigo Bleu.

Azalea, pretty pink based lilac, similar to Pantone's Radiant Orchid colour of the year.  This had the best formula of the great formula's and was opaque in 1 coat.

Chambord is a deep raspberry colour, opaque in 2 coats and very pigmented.

Citrine is the only one of the bunch with a weak formula but it is a yellow...a mustard-y yellow but yellow none the less.  This was 3 coats to become opaque but applied smoothly like all the other colours.

Indigo Bleu was just as pigmented as the other colours but stained quite badly on removal.  You have to make sure not to re-use your cotton round or you will never get it off your cuticles.  The gorgeous purple/blue depending on lighting is totally work the extra mess though.  This is also 2 coats.

Modena is the last swatch I have for you.  An amazing bright poppy red.  2 coats, clean up was difficult, this one stains worse than Indigo Bleu, and not just your cuticles but nails too.  Definitely need to double up on base coat before I use this one again, but sooo pretty, and I am not a lover of reds.

I was later able to find Fantom, a white, and Cerulean, a royal blue at Winners, but have not swatched these yet.

Overall I was incredibly impressed with the quality and pigmentation of these polishes and hope that I manage to find more on other outings.

That is all for today.

Until next time, polish happy!

China Glaze City Flourish and Sea Goddess Collections, First Impressions and Review

Hello polish lovers!

Sorry I have been absent for a while but I think the last challenge had me on posting overload so I took a bit of a vacation when it was over.

Today I have 4 polishes from China Glaze Spring Collection City Flourish and 1 polish from the Sea Goddess Collection.

I will start with the City Flourish collection.

So I finally got around to creating a light box so I am hoping that will help with how uneven my lighting has been.
I purchased these colours when Sally Beauty had China Glaze on their 1 day sale in February, and have used them in mani's since but have not yet told you what I thought of them.

First up is In a Lily Bit.

In a Lily Bit is a lilac cream polish with a strong pink undertone.  The formula is thin but not overly difficult to work with and requiring minimal clean up, the first coat is streaky but is opaque on the second coat.  The polish is one of those neon pastels and does dry matte so it does require top coat.  This is 2 coats topped with Seche Vite.  I normally avoid this shade but the brightness stops the lobster fingers.

Second is What a Pansy.

What a Pansy is definitely my favourite name of the collection, although it is not my favourite polish.  What a Pansy is a mid-tone purple with strong blue under-tone.  The formula is thicker than In a Lily Bit and would be a 1 coat-er if the application was not slightly patchy, fully opaque in 2 coats.  This one does not dry matte and the above picture is 2 coats with no clean up and no top coat.

Third is At Vase Value.

At Vase Value is a light blue that shares its value range with For Audrey, and shows slightly more green IRL.  The 1st coat is streaky but is opaque in 2.  This dries with the same matte finish as In a Lily Bit and this photo is 2 coats with Seche Vite.

Last is Grass is Lime Greener.

Colour-wise, Grass is Lime Greener is my favourite of the collection...but of course it has the worst formula.  It is both patchy and streaky and uneven with 2 fingers requiring a third coat.  It is the most neon pastel of the collection and I do not have anything comparable by other brands.  It dries with the same matte finish and this is 2-3 coats(depending on the finger) topped with Seche Vite.

Next I will show you the 1 polish I purchased from the Sea Goddess Collection: Wish on a Starfish.

Cute name and a very pretty polish.  The Sea Goddess collection is the first China Glaze has released that is all texture containing glitter or shimmer.

Wish on a Starfish is a pink texture polish with a ton of gold shimmer.  This polish has a great formula, in that it stays exactly where you put it and requires no clean up.  Unfortunately it requires 3 coats to be fully opaque and not show VNL.  Drying time is on par with other texture polishes that I own(which I think is way too long and part of the reason I seldom use them).  It would be interesting to put 1 coat over a pink base and top coat, just to see how much the gold shimmer really shows.

Overall I really like the China Glaze polishes for Spring.  The colours are totally appropriate in their Easter Pastels, but bright enough to not look washed out.  I know I will be using them all spring and a few into the summer too.

That's all for today, I will be back probably on Friday for my next post.

Until then, polish happy!