NPC Day 4: Frost

Hello polish lovers!

Back with the next challenge of finding a Frost untried in my stash.  I am not a fan of frost finishes as a rule, I tend to find them rather dated.  I did manage to find one in my stash, a Joe Fresh Polish (the brand my local grocery store sells) and besides being a frost finish, the polish is actually called Frost!

Super, super sheer!  This is 3 coats.  Since I hate seeing my own VNL I decided to create a funky french tip using my Art Club by Color Club pastel stripers.  The colours I chose, pink and purple, also happen to have a frost finish.

Sorry it is soo over-exposed but I am not used to having sunlight to take my photos in yet.  Please remember that I am left handed and was using my left hand for this so the lines are not as crisp as they would be if I were painting my right hand.  My poor broken nail on my right hand is getting better, but is not to the length I want yet.

That's all for now,  I will be back soon with my untried Jelly.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

NPC Day 3: Random Untried

Hello polish lovers!

So I am really behind this week on the challenge so I will be posting 3 times today.  First the Random Untried.  I took random to mean a polish that I only had one example of the brand and it is one that I received from a giveaway.  It is even more random in that it does not have a name, although the tag claims it is a limited edition colour.  The brand is Rue Beaute and it came in a skull shaped bottle with a silver cap.

When i took the brush out of this polish I noticed how sheer it was and so started with a base of OPI Alpine Snow.  It took 3 coats of the neon pink polish to get opaque enough that you could not see colour variance streaks.

I can see this working for the LeadLight technique for stamping but it is way too many coats for a base colour for me.  Once this was dry I got out another untried, Kleancolor's Matte Black, for the stamping, using MASH 45(please excuse the mess of my middle finger but matte polish dries very quickly and the entire image did not transfer, so I re-stamped...with not great results).

I think this polish is not going to become a favourite, but I will try it for LeadLight and let you see the results.

Back in a few with Day 4.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

NPC Day 2: Pastel

Hello polish lovers!

Today I have my Pastel mani from the Never-ending Pile Challenge.  I was originally going to to a more intricate design with a gradient of three colours and then my stamping with a fourth but I ended up running out of time and did not wait long enough before the sponging and it removed my white base in spots.  There is nothing to do in this situation except start over, and since we were going to see the new Captain America after dinner, I did not have enough time.  So here is my simplified mani using 2 untrieds from the Formula X line.

I started with a base of 2 coats of Unmistakable, a pastel green-blue(looks more green IRL).

This is a very pretty polish and would not be untried except for the fact that the first time I tried the Formula X line the polish began chipping almost immediately so I avoided it.  This time I did not use a base coat and it adhered to my nail much better.  I will have to experiment with my base coats because I hate not using them, that last thing I want is stained nails.

Once this was dry I added my stamping, using another untried, Formula X Brazen, a pastel blue-toned pink.  If I did this again I would use a brighter polish for the stamping because the tones for Unmistakable and Brazen were too similar and the stamping did not show up as clearly as I like.  The plate is MoYou London Pro Collection 02.

You can see a slight difference in colour in the 2 photo's as one was taken using natural light and the second is in my light box.  The first is more colour accurate.

First ever close up, but I wanted you to see the prettiness of the flowers.

That is all for today, but I will be back on Friday...probably late...with the Day 3 prompt of Random Untried...I have no idea what that will be yet.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Neverending Pile, Day 1: Glitter

Hello polish lovers!

Today I have my first post in the new Challenge I am participating in, called The Neverending Pile Challenge (NPC), which means I need to get into posting more frequently(every Monday, Wednesday and Friday).  It also means my untried pile will finally shrink. Today's prompt is Glitter.

I am not a huge glitter fan, so most of what I have I either bought because I loved it, came as part of a set, or my mother bought them for me.  The one that I chose is one that I got as part of a set.  This is Color Club's Savoy Nights.

Savoy Nights has a thick base that is lightly tinted blue but is totally translucent with tonnes and tonnes of micro and medium silver hex glitter.  Please excuse my messed up pinky, it smudged before I took my first photo.  It took 3 coats to be opaque...it might be better if I did a base first, because the first coat when the glitter was scattered actually looked pretty.

I can see why this was an untried, it is not a win, it looks too messy and all the medium hex glitter seems to have curled.  This may be one that I give to my niece, now that I have tried it.

That is all for today, but I will be back on Wednesday with the next prompt, which is pastel.

Until then, polish happy!

An InLinkz Link-up

Cat vs. Bird Nails

Hello polish lovers!

Sorry to be MIA for so long but I am still waiting for that damaged nail to grow out on my swatching hand and it is taking forever.  Because of this I have really not been motivated to paint the non dominant, to say nothing of my freehand skills with my right hand are atrocious.

Anyway, here is a mani I did a number of weeks ago but just got around to editing the photos.

This is 2 coats of Ciate's Pepperminty, one of my favourite blue-green cremes.  First coat is streaky but evens and becomes opaque with the second coat.  Once this was completely dry I added my stamping.  I used Konad black and MoYou London Kitty Collection 01.

I flipped the image so that you got the story in the correct order.  Bird breaks free of cage, cat sees bird, cat catches bird, bird no more.  I love the cat images from this plate...probably why it is not currently available.

In other news, at my local Marshalls I was able to find 7 LVX polishes...there were a few more I wanted but the first time I was there I had never tried the brand and did not want to go overboard, so I only bought 2...then I was blown away by the formula, application and longevity of the polish and so went back.  Unfortunately 2 of the colours that I wanted to get had been sold, so I could only get the 5 remaining.  I have swatched them all and now need to edit all the photos, so I may have a LVX post for you tomorrow.

Until then, polish happy!

St. Paddy's Mani

Hello polish lovers!  Happy St. Patrick's Day!

So I had a pretty major break in my middle nail of my swatching hand a few weeks ago and I have been nursing it ever since...unfortunately it decided to break all the way back to the start of my free edge and I got fed up and cut it right down.  So you know what that means, awkward photos using my non dominant hand(which means no freehand art) and slightly crappy clean up until my middle nail grows out enough to not be a tiny mini nubbin.  There will also be a few posts of mani's I did weeks ago, so if you see righty making an appearance, that is why.

On to my St. Paddy's day mani.  I started with 3 coats of Sally Hansen Triple Shine, Kelp Out.  If you are interested you can see my original review here.

I then got out my Bundle Monster plates and used BMH04 and BMH05 with Klean Color Metallic Yellow and Konad black for my stamping.

I decided to go with a double accent since I wanted more of the green to show.  I especially love my index finger, the metallic yellow really caught the light and added extra interest.

That is all for today but I will be back soon.

Until then, 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!