Stash Swap, Part II: China Glaze Glittering Garland

Remember back in December when I showed you guys Orly Meet Me Under the Mistletoe?  I wasn't too thrilled with it, because for me it leaned a little too blue.  I thought China Glaze Glittering Garland may have been a better choice, but I never had the opportunity to pick up a bottle to try.  Rach to the rescue!!  She just so happened to have Glittering Garland and offered it to me for our stash swap.  WIN!

Glittering Garland is super similar to Meet Me Under the Mistletoe.  It's a green that falls somewhere between foil and glass-fleck.  Probably closer to glass-fleck.  This one's less of a pine green and more of an evergreen...green.  It's much more yellow, so it's more flattering for warm-toned girls like me.  The major difference though is the formula.  Glittering Garland is WAY more pigmented, and it only took me two coats (compared to three) to reach full opacity.  The application was fantastic, and it went on like a breeze. 

 (click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

YESSSSSSSSSSSS!  Much much better!  This is exactly what I wanted Meet Me Under the Mistletoe to be!  Don't get me wrong, it was lovely, but this one is just much more flattering for my skin tone.  And the depth is just amazing.  A huge thanks to Rach for having just exactly what I needed!  :-)

I'm such a doofus.  I totally meant to take my own comparison shots of these two polishes on the nail before I removed it.  I don't know what happened.  Too many episodes of Stark Trek:  The Next Generation or something.  I completely forgot.  Forgive me!  But here's a side-by-side comparison of the two.  Glittering Garland on the left, Meet Me Under the Mistletoe on the right.

SO glad I got to try this one!  Definitely satisfied my craving!  Again, a HUGE thank you to Rach for (again) letting me play in her stash and keep her polishes for a couple of weeks!  You're awesome!  It's always a blast! 

You guys KNOW we've already started to plan Round 3, right?  ;-)  Can't wait!!

Lynnderella Gotta Love Brains

As promised!!!!!  Lynnderella's Gotta Love Brains!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Man this is beautiful.  My only regret is I didn't do more coats.  Gotta Love Brains is a whole slew of glitter suspended in a sheer milky grey base.  These glitters are awesome, it's like Deborah Lippmann's Glitter in the Air on crack :).  Let's see, we've got circles, squares, bars and hexagons in shades of blue, pink, purple, and holographic silver.  To top it all off, there is this amazing pink shimmer.

I have to say one thing, these pictures are pretty horrible.  First off, we got an SLR camera, and boy does it show ever mistake I make in my manicures.  Second, I'm still trying to learn how to appropriately focus on glitter polishes.  Finally, whether it was the lighting, or me, or the camera - this is so much more beautiful in real life.  It is subtle and interesting and unique.  This is one you have to see in real life.  If you loved Glitter in the Air, or were disappointed by it - you need Gotta Love Brains.  Please get it the first chance you get.  I swear you'll be happy you did.

So I put two coats of this over China Glaze Sea Spray.  Turned out to be a really great combination, but I still want to try it over Raindrops.  I will also use more coats of Gotta Love Brains.  Hopefully I can wear this again soon and do it the justice it so deserves.  There are some really great pictures of this polish out there though.  Like here and here and here.

Lynnderella Gotta Love Brains over China Glaze Sea Spray

Lynnderella Gotta Love Brains over China Glaze Sea Spray

Lynnderella Gotta Love Brains over China Glaze Sea Spray

Here are a few bottle shots.  Zoom in to see glitter and shimmer.

Lynnderella Gotta Love Brains

Lynnderella Gotta Love Brains

 One more beautiful semi close up of my new love!!!

Lynnderella Gotta Love Brains over China Glaze Sea Spray

You can get Lynnderella's about once a month from her site.  It's pretty tricky to catch it open though and she's got a minimum 5 bottle order.  Another great place to get your Gotta Love Brains is from Llarowe's website.  She sells for $15 a bottle.  Gotta Love Brains is currently out of stock, but is expected to return back to stock soon!

Another Look: China Glaze Sea Spray

The one good thing about blogging every day this month is I'm pulling out polishes I haven't worn in forever. Courtney's post of Raindrops yesterday made me want to wear Lynnderella's Gotta Love Brains.  I had planned on using Raindrops as my "underwear" because that what I saw over at the TraceFace Philes and I fell in love.  However since I wore Raindrops not that long ago, and Courtney wore it yesterday, I'd figure I'd give something else a go.  So after a few finger swatches I settled on Sea Spray.  And don't worry, Gotta Love Brains will be tomorrow's post.

Sea Spray came out in Spring 2011 as part of the Anchors Away collection.  It's a beautiful pale grey-tinged baby blue with some secret shimmer.  Courtney showed it to us back in February of last year.  She had formula issues and needed to thin it.  I didn't, but odds are very good that I could have thinned it after the first time I used it.  Whatever the case it went on easy in two coats.  I'm not sure why I don't wear this more often.  I actually think this would look awesome under the Essie Luxe Effect I just bought, Pure Pearlfection!

I really love this, but this mani only lasted 30 minutes before I slapped on Gotta Love Brains (I was just too excited to use it).  If you don't have Sea Spray yet or one of it's dupes, I think it's worth tracking down.  Essie Sag Harbor and OPI I Vant to be A-lone Star could easily satisfy your craving for this.  Sag Harbor is hard to find, but I Van to be A-lone Star should be easier.  There isn't a reason why you can't just get Sea Spray though.  Especially because you can get China Glaze polishes online pretty easily for half price.  You may still be able to find this at salons.  Retail on this one should be around $7.00.  You can get it today off of Sallybeauty.com for $6!

Christmas Mani 1: China Glaze Party Hearty over butter LONDON British Racing Green

It's been 23 days since I posted :(.  Epic Fail.

They say the guide to successful change is to set a goal and then go public.  So I'm setting a goal today, and I'm going public so ya'll can hold me accountable.  I will post every day in January.  I have so many untrieds no, changing my mani everyday will be necessary just to get caught up.  Plus I really need to start making an effort to take better care of my nails and cuticles; I've really fallen off the band wagon!

So what better way to usher out 2011 by sharing with you my 1st Christmas mani, which I wore a few weeks ago in NYC for SantaCon.  For those of you that don't know what SantaCon in, thousands (I think) of people dress up as Santa and parade around NYC to different meeting points.  I decided this year to go as a Christmas Tree, complete with lights.  The costume was particularly a big hit once it got darker out and lots of children said "She looks like a Christmas Tree!", which led us to promptly give out my candy cane decorations.  We had a ball, and my manicure was just the icing on the cake.

Blending in with the kin!

I'm a Christmas Tree at SantaCon!

For this manicure, I started off with butter LONDON's British Racing Green, which Courtney reviewed here.  I'd have to say, Courtney did a great job showcasing this polish.  Its a beautiful forest green with shimmer.  I was really really happy with this polish, especially since it's been sitting in my untrieds since St. Patrick's Day!  I also thought it made a really stellar backdrop for China Glaze's Party Hearty, which Courtney just wore as well.  And while you may feel the need to skip on a $14 bottle of green polish when there are so many others out there, skipping out on Party Hearty would be very sad indeed!  Like Courtney mentioned, while it is discontinued, you can still find it.  And I urge you to look :)!

China Glaze Party Hearty over butter LONDON British Racing Green

China Glaze Party Hearty over butter LONDON British Racing Green

I'm a big fan of this.  I think British Racing Green is just the right shade for this combo.  I do like it better than Courtney's swatch of it over China Glaze's Jolly Holly.  British Racing Green can be bought at Ulta or off the butter LONDON website.  Party Hearty will take more work - heed Courtney's advice and snag this one off of Ebay!

BEST. CHRISTMAS. POLISH. EVER - China Glaze Party Hearty

ONE MORE DAY!  So exciting!! The hubby and I actually exchanged gifts this morning, since we'll be  with family tomorrow AND since I got him an iPhone (HUGE upgrade from our crappy Blackberries).  I wanted him to be able to get it activated and set up before the big Christmas rush on Monday.  It's been funny to watch him trying to figure out how to use it!  Hehe!  

Ever since it debuted last year, I fell head over heels for China Glaze Party Hearty.  It's basically Christmas in a bottle with large red hexagonal, medium green hexagonal, and super tiny gold and silver round glitter.  It's chunky enough to build up to opacity on its own with 3-4 coats, but I love it best layered.  Over just about anything.  But I'm showing it here as one thickish layer over OPI Alpine Snow.    I probably should've gone a little lighter-handed on the glitter, but hey, it's Christmas, right?  :-)

 (click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

SO festive!  AH-MAZE-ING!  This look reminds me of those cookies you can buy in those huge containers at Christmas that are covered in white chocolate with red and green sprinkles on top.  I really don't think there's a polish out there that says "Christmas" better than this one!  It's amazing, and you NEED it!!  It looks great over just about anything, but here are two of my other favorite combinations:

Party Hearty over  (L) China Glaze Jolly Holly and (R) Color Club What a Drag!

Two totally different looks, but I love them both.  I was actually totally obsessed with wearing it over Jolly Holly last year.  I wore it like 3 times in one month.  It reminds me of red holly berries on a Christmas wreath!  Looks great over silver too - it'd be a great look for a holiday party!

Party Hearty was part of China Glaze's Holiday collection last year, so it's long discontinued, but it's still relatively available on eBay for around $10-$15.  A little steep for China Glaze, but I promise this one is worth it!  It's a Christmas staple for polish lovers!

Well, I've still got more Christmas-y polishes to show you, but I'll just have to catch up on that a little later.  I hope you all have a wonderful and happy holiday!  MUAH!

China Glaze Zombie Zest, Part Deux

BOO!!

Happy Halloween, friends!!!  I'm still recovering from this weekend's freak October snow (our HEATER broke - now that's scary!), but I wanted to show you guys my Halloween manicure!  Nothing too fancy or impressive, but I did promise you guys another way to wear Zombie Zest.  We'll make this quick, so you can get to all your Halloween festivities!  :-)  Here's one layer of Zombie Zest over one coat of Wet 'n Wild Black Creme:

 (click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

Love!  These photos don't even do it justice!  It's sooo sparkly in real life, and the duochrome is much more apparent when layered over black. It's definitely a much more wearable look, if you're not into the whole "sparkly snot" look.  It's dark and mysterious and perfect for Halloween!

I hope you all have a super fun and safe Halloween!  I leave you with my favorite scene from my favorite Halloween movie, Hocus Pocus!

Bye byyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyye BYE BYE (*dun dun dun dun*)!

China Glaze Zombie Zest

As promised, here is the (sort of) final installment of my olive polish obsession.  I've actually had this one for several months, but as it was one of the stranger polishes I've ever brought home, in addition to the name, I thought it'd be best to save for Halloween time.  It's about time to get this one outta my untrieds! :-)

First of all, I'm PRETTY sure by "Zest,"  China Glaze meant "liveliness" or "flair."  But my offbeat sense of humor makes me think of this:

Yeah.  Like "Eye of newt, toe of frog, wool of bat...with a dash of zombie zest for garnish."  I know.  LOL

Zombie Zest (the polish, not the garnish) is an odd bird.  It's this murky, swampy greenish brown jelly with a gold-green duochrome-y glass-flecked finish.  The duochrome isn't super strong, but it's definitely there - flecks gently changing from gold to more of a true green.  The formula is a little on the thin side, so I needed three coats.  My Ott-Lite is x-ray vision-ing this polish - I promise it's not quite that sheer in real life (It's more like the pointer finger).  The application, however, was ah-maze-ing!  It practically applied itself and was super easy to clean up.  Definitely click to enlarge these photos so you can see all of what's going on in this strange polish!

 (click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

Now, I'm not gonna lie.  Zombie Zest is NOT going to be everyone's cup of tea.  My hubby loved it (especially for the name), but my coworker literally said, "Ew!  That's disgusting!" when she saw it.  A few months ago, I probably would've hated this polish, but given my new-found love of ugly-pretty polishes, and kind of "building up" to it with my previous olive polishes, I love it!  It's so weird and ugly and AWESOME all at the same time!  Plus, it can be worn two ways!  I'll show you Zombie Zest layered over black next time.  :-)

Just for funsies, I'll put the comparison I did with Zombie Zest and Butter London Wallis here as well:

(L) Butter London Wallis, (R) China Glaze Zombie Zest

Having worn both of these polishes now, I can say with 100% certainty that they are NOT dupes.  Not even close!  In addition to the other reasons I listed before, I found Zombie Zest to be much more brownish in its base color.  Like, way murkier.  Also, it's way sparklier - my camera didn't really like photographing this one.  Plus, it's a jelly!  Woo-hoo!  It's definitely the "uglier" (but in no means less awesome) of the two.  I do prefer Wallis more, as it's a bit more wearable and more universally flattering, but if you're into ugly-pretty or these strange golden-olive colors, I definitely suggest giving Zombie Zest a try!  Zombies are all the rage right now, after all!  ;-)

China Glaze It's Alive!

Halloween is just around the corner!  I can't believe how fast this year's gone by, but Halloween is by far one of the best holidays, so I'm super excited!  I'm even MORE excited, because I finally get to bust out my Halloween-themed olive green polishes!  Woooo!!  I'm kicking off the last few days until Halloween with China Glaze It's Alive!

First of all, as is only appropriate...

Or, even BETTER:

I love Gene Wilder.  Anywho...on to the polish!  It's Alive (I'm going to drop the ending exclamation point now) is a mixture of large hexagonal and small round olive greenish gold glitter in a murky blue-green base.  I'm not gonna lie - the application wasn't so great with this one.  This stuff is THICK.  I'm showing you a mere two coats here, and it's ridiculously opaque.  They're certainly not skimping in the coverage department, but I think China Glaze could've thinned out the formula a bit and still gotten just as good opacity.  It's also a bit of a thirsty glitter, so expect to use at least two thick coats of top coat.  Formula issues aside, LOOK AT EET!

 (click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

HOLY GUACAMOLE!  It's not often I'll put up with craptastic application, but It's Alive is worth every painful, gloopy coat!  It's like Swamp Thing fell into a vat of glitter, and it's BEAUTIFUL.  I LOVE it!  Hubby told me (and I quote), "Ooh, I like that one.  I REALLY like that one!  That actually might be one of my favorites."  He's got good taste, what can I say?  ;-)

It's Alive was released with this year's China Glaze Halloween collection, so if you want it, now's the time to get it!  Though if you're patient enough to wait until after Halloween, you can probably find it at heavily discounted prices.  This is easily a Top 20 polish for me, and I'm metaphorically standing on top of a mountain screaming, "YOU NEED THIS!"  Go.  Run.  Now!

I've still got one more olive green (and also Halloween!) polish left, which I'll show you two different ways, so stay tuned!

China Glaze Westside Warrior

A few posts ago I mentioned my new obsession love of weird olive greeny-goldy polishes.  I've shown you two out of five of the polishes I mentioned there, so I'm keeping the party going with number three - China Glaze Westside Warrior.

First of all, is it just me, or has it been FOREVER since I showed you guys a China Glaze polish??  I think it's been like, six months?!  Holy cow!  We're long overdue, but never fear.  The last two of The Five are China Glaze as well!  :-)  

Westside Warrior is your textbook olive green creme.  It leans on the yellow side, kind of "olive drab," so it plays nicely with my skin tone.  It's giving me slight lobster hands in these photos, but I promise you it wasn't apparent in real life.  It's super pigmented, and applied like a DREAM in two coats!

(click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

YES YES YES and YES.  Perfection in a bottle!  After the epic fail that was Illamasqua Phallic, Westside Warrior was just what I needed.  I thought I'd love this one, and I was 100% right!  Olive green dream.  :-)

Just for funsies I did a quick comparison of Westside Warrior with Rescue Beauty Lounge Orbis Non Sufficit:

(L) China Glaze Westside Warrior, (R) RBL Orbis Non Sufficit

It's funny, because these are two polishes that I would describe in one word as "olive," but they're on two opposite ends of the spectrum.  Westside Warrior is very yellow (It almost looks like pea soup here!), while Orbis leans strongly blue.  You know what that means?  There's definitely room for both in my stash!  :-D

If you love these weird olive colors as much as I do, I highly recommend picking up Westside Warrior.  It's part of China Glaze's Metro Collection that's currently in stores, so you'll be able to find it pretty easily at your local Ulta or for even cheaper at www.nailsupplies.us.  I think it's perfect for fall!

Essie Shelter Island

Hello my friends!  I'm back to show you what I promised, Essie Shelter Island all on its own!  I was surprised how much I loved this.  It doesn't seem all that exciting, but it's got an almost jelly texture (almost), which made me smitten over this bright blue.  In the bottle I thought it looked an awful lot like China Glaze Bahamian Escape, and a little like Barry M Bright Blue.  Boy was I wrong.  So at the end of this post you'll see a few comparison pics.

Essie Shelter Island is a beautiful bright sky blue.  It's so wonderfully happy and goes great with my skin tone (in my humble opinion).  I really do love blues and this one made me happy.  Like I mentioned before, I had to do 2 thick coats of this puppy to get an even consistency.  I think if I wore this again, I'd do three thin coats instead.  Either way, you end up with an almost jelly, shiny finish.  So lovely!

Now here is the funny part.  In the bottle, I thought Shelter Island looked a lot like Bahamian Escape. Bright Blue was close, but definitely not a dupe.  Good thing I slapped these one to compare.  Shelter Island is DEFINATELY unique in my collection.  It looks so bright and happy on it's own, but it's a lot darker when next to both Bahamian Escape and Bright Blue.  I actually was pleasantly surprised by Bahamian Escape, very light and one beautiful coat.  You can see it below on the left.  On the right side you will find Bright Blue, which wasn't as light as Bahamian Escape and definitely more neon, although it is absolutely not a neon polish. This was my first time with a Barry M polish, and while it's definitely good for the price point, I think I may swap this one away.  It needed 2 coats, and out of the 3 of these below, I like it the least.  And seriously, how many variations on sky blue do I need.

(Left to Right) China Glaze Bahamian Escape, Essie Shelter Island, Barry M Bright Blue
Outside in direct sunlight

Inside, you can really see how dark Shelter Island is compared to the others.  You can also see how Bright Blue is a smidge darker than Bahamian Escape.

(Left to Right) China Glaze Bahamian Escape, Essie Shelter Island, Barry M Bright Blue
Inside

Bad news is Shelter Island is limited edition and long gone as it came out with North Fork Collection in Spring of 2009!!!  I bought mine on a blog sale, but I did find one trusty e-tailer that had it.  Aveyou.com!  I'm pretty sure I'm pimped them before.  While you may not get a discount on the polish price, they often do have coupons and free shipping.  And you can reliably get this beauty (for $8) before it's gone forever.  Bahamian Escape on the other is pretty easy to find and several online retailers have it for $4 or less.  Barry M is a British brand not sold in the states, but you can order off their website, BarryM.com for about $5 bucks.

I definitely highly recommend Shelter Island if you can stand the coats, the texture of this one plus the color makes it a winner for me.  If you are looking for a one coat bright light sky blue, then also pick up Bahamian Escape.  I'd pass on Barry M Bright Blue.

Zoya Dove (and China Glaze White Cap)

After a flashy 4th of July manicure,  I was in desperate need for a palette cleanser!  Something simple, easy, and elegant.  :-)  You've seen Zoya Dove before when I used it for my tips on my "French Twist", but I wanted to do a full manicure with this one.  It was just what I needed!

Dove is (surprise!) a dove grey creme.  It falls on the lighter side of grey, and it's pretty neutral in color.  If anything, I'd say it might be a bit cool-toned, but I think it's a grey that can work with most skin tones. It's well-pigmented, and only needs two coats for opacity.  No complaints on application (I rarely have complaints on Zoya's formulas anyway.)!

(click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

Nothing fancy here.  Dove isn't going to blow you away, especially if you own a plethora of grey cremes (I plead the Fifth!), but it's just nice.  It's kind of like the polish equivalent of comfort food.  It's warm and cozy and elegant in its own simplistic way.  Do you need it?  No, probably not.  But if you don't have a good grey in your collection, Dove is a great place to start!

You've also seen this comparison before, but I thought it fit nicely here again.  This is Dove (right) compared to OPI Skull and Glossbones (left).  You can see how cool-toned Dove looks here.  I don't own it to compare, but I'm thinking Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Wet Cement is probably a closer match for Dove.

(L) OPI Skull and Glossbones, (R) Zoya Dove

A few days later, palette cleansed, you know I couldn't resist putting my favorite effect polish on top for a mid week pick-me-up!  I can't help it - I'm addicted!  Here's one coat of China Glaze White Cap over Dove:

(click to enlarge)

 (click to enlarge)

Sparklyyyyyy....

Even hubby loved this combo!  I can't argue with him - these two work really well together!  I really wish China Glaze would make this one permanent.  But I'm not holding my breath.  :-(  You may still be able to find this one (and maybe even on clearance!) at your local Ulta, or otherwise it's definitely still in stock at www.nailsupplies.us.  You need White Cap!  *enables all the readers*...*evil snicker*

.

.

.

.

.

Want a teaser for my next post???

Oh yeah, baby!!  :-D