China Glaze Jungle Queen

It's very old untried Sunday!!! And while I hardly have ANY purple untrieds (which says a thing or two about my love for this color) there was still China Glaze Jungle Queen from the Safari Collection released for Fall 2012. Jungle Queen is another not so plain purple in my collection. It can look more grey or brown leaning depending on the light:

I applied two coats of China Glaze Jungle Queen over Essence Hardening Nail Base. The application was nice and easy despite the somewhat runny formula. The first coat was nearly covering the nail in opacity but left some bald patches here and there. The second coat leveled out all of it and Jungle Queen is awesomely self leveling and quite fast drying.

Final thoughts: another polish in my stash that certainly did not deserve its long neglected life in a drawer!

I cannot remember where I got China Glaze Jungle Queen from but I used to order my China Glaze polishes either with Head2Toe or Transdesign.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for stopping by!!!
Christine

Zoya Monica and pals - Shop le Stash Part 2

Are you ready for shopping my stash Part 2? Well let's get on with it…

You certainly aren't surprised to find a purple in the basket I brought from my vault. This is Zoya Monica, released in Zoya's Designer Collection for 2012. A wonderfully dark purple with a hint of dustiness. The formula was Zoya perfection: creamy, perfect consistency, flawless application - I am swooning here. Dry time was fantastic and look at this beautiful shine!!!

I have observed some more brown shades ranging from camel to dark brown in many of the Collections. Now camel and I are one of the few absolutely totally no-no-no go combinations. Wearing this color on my nail brings forward the most unflattering shades in both of us - polish and my skin - LOL! I therefore went for a middle toned brown that got little love when it was released as some less appealing associations with its colors were made but look:

These are two coats of China Glaze Mahagony Magic, released in the Hunger Games Capital Color Collection for Spring 2012. The formula is thin but since the brushes of China Glaze are thin as well (I think by now they are the thinnest out there) application is easy though certainly not to be achieved in those famous three strokes with nails as wide as mine. Dry time is normal. Browns are usually not the shades I tend to gravitate to but walking the planet for a full day with Mahagony Magic I found the shade really grew on me. In the sun it looked as if I would have muck on my nails - very glossy and edgy muck that is - and I LIKED it!!!! (I can hardly believe I write this…)
perfect consistency, flawless application - I am swooning here. Dry time was fantastic and look at this beautiful shine!!!  Note: Polish dries darker on the nail.

Lastly one of those dark pine greens had to be included in my vault-basket. Guess what - I own exactly one bottle of bottle green cream polish - this being Illamasqua Kink - and it even isn't your regular cream but dries to rubber finish. Today though I show it with Essence Better than Gel Nails High Gloss Top Coat. I applied two coats of Kink over Essence XXL Nail Thickener. The formula is thin and Kink is not self leveling so an even application helps to prevent bold spots or pools of polish. Now the dry time is a bit peculiar - it dries relatively fast to "dry to touch" level but from there drying goes downhill - it takes FOREVER to thoroughly dry and to be honest, I wasn't really all that exited about the rubber finish in the first place. It is whether a satin sheen, nor matte nor I don't know what. Whenever I wore this polish I always applied a high shine Top Coat as the rubber finish also is not very lasting and you collect dents and marks throughout the day, not to mention the tips turning shiny half way through your day - eeeeks.

Final thoughts: I am more than happy with what I came up with to mirror this years fall collections and I don't feel the need to add any polishes of the new collections to those four I bought. However, I clearly want to state that while I didn't buy any creams from Zoya, Opi, Essie or China Glaze I like the fact that they release staple colors in their spring and fall collections - not everyone is frantic for Indies like me or having such a vast collection. Also the fact that some colors seem very close to each other is very nice - isn't it often enough, that you like a shade of let's say purple but it is just this Yota off the range that would look just stunning against your skin? Having more than one (in this case) purple available to choose from and to find YOUR perfect shade is clever thinking I find.

So, these are the finds out of my vault - are any of them also in your Collection? How did you feel about the uniqueness of this years main stream brand collections?

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine

Nails Inc Chester Square and pals - Shop le Stash Part 1

The four polishes I showed you so far this week are the only creams I bought for fall. While I loved the collections of China Glaze et al, I haven't come across much I haven't felt I already own. And a couple of weeks back I started a swatch book. To compile this book helps me to meet old PPs (Polish Pals) and eventually should help to prevent me from buying too many dupes or twins. So before diving into a buying spree I descended into my nail polish vault to see if I can find some polishes fitting the current trends - here are my finds part 1:

Of course a vampy red is CORE this Season with all those shades popping up in Opi's San Francisco Collection and what I have seen from their Holiday Mariah Carey Collection. This is Nails Inc Chester Square. Your true classic dark (brown leaning) red jelly. The first picture shows Chester Square at three coats, the second picture at two coats. The formula is a perfect jelly: sheer and thin but easy to control and wonderfully flowing onto your nails. Chester Square dries in normal time to the above high shine (yep once more no topper here).

I have read a lot of gushing over those navy blues out there which are dark yet look blue in any light. Anyone remembers China Glaze First Mate? This beauty was released in the Anchors Away Collection for Spring 2011.  I applied two coats of First Mate over Essence XXL Nail Thickener. Flawless application - tick, quick dry time - tick, very glossy on its own - tick!!! I honestly don't think I could have found a better navy blue polish in the current collections and gladly will go for First Mate this season.

This slightly muted mid-tone blue (with some teal in it) clearly is a personal favorite of mine for the upcoming fall season and I haven't seen anything of this shade in any of the collections of the main stream brands. Still to me those blues are a safe bet year around shade that I wouldn't want to miss. To represent this color I choose Depend 254. I applied two easy coats of it over Essence XXL Nail Thickener. I think Opi Suzi says Feng Shui might be related to Depend 254.

We are at the end of Part 1 of my Shop le Stash spree - Part 2 will follow tomorrow!!!

I look forward to reading your comments and will try to reply to all of you timely - thanks for visiting!!!

Christine

Vintage Challenge: Nailart Sunday with the Vintage choices of the week

Last but not least we tasked ourselves with doing nailart using one or more of the vintage polishes we showed this week. Once more you are more than welcome to show us nailart or a Skittelette using your Vintage Polishes.  Just add the links to your posts in the gadget below. For more information on the Vintage Challenge click here.

Ingredients:

From left. Barielle Falling Stars, BB Couture African Queen, China Glaze Hey Sailor, Nfu Oh 61.  To "frame" the above Cult Nails Fetish

I truly had to do some brain racking to combine all those boldies into a single mani - mosaic nails was what the part of my brain reserved for manis spit up:

Recipe:
Pinkie and index: two coats of Cult Nails Fetish
Ring and middle: I started out with one coat of Nfu 61, taped off the parts I wanted to keep silver and painted the open squares with the blue, green and red - done!!! Luckily this time I choose equally pigmented polishes, so I did not have to somehow try to add an additional coat of polish on the one or the other square AFTER I pulled off the tape ;-P

Some more pics:

 In the above indoor photo you can still detect a hint of holo - mainly on my middle finger.

I sealed the mosaic with A England The Shield - I did not consider that I will loose the most of Nfu 61's holo effect - oh bummer, it is also nice with silver.

Sadly, we have reached already the end of our Vintage Challenge week - it has been such a great experience, tons of fun and delight to not only work out the details with Jezz but also meeting new Blogger friends and welcoming known Blogger friends. A BIG THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU!!! You really made this week very, very special for me - of course my biggest Thank You goes to Jezz - for having formed the best ever Challenge Team with me - I am so over the moon - YAY!!!

I hope all of you have enjoyed the weeks Vintage Challenge post - those who participated and the faithful readers coming back daily to see what we have up our sleeves for them - thank you for all the great feedback we got!!!!

Christine

Vintage Challenge - Red: China Glaze Hey Sailor

Day 2 of our Vintage Challenge - today it is all about red nailpolish. You want to join us? Just add the links to your posts in the gadget below. For more information on the Vintage Challenge click here.

Now this was quite a different matter with regard to choosing which polish to show. I choose China Glaze Hey Sailor since this is not only Vintage by our terms - it was released in the China Glaze Anchors Away Collection for Spring 2011.  This was my go-to red for quite some time as it represents the epitome of classic, happy bright red and is a "slap and go" polish.

The above two pictures are taken indoors in daylight, the photo below outdoors in the shade

I applied two coats of China Glaze Hey Sailor over Zoya Anchor Base Coat. Formula and application are a breeze and I used to carry Hey Sailor along to every weekend Mark and I were away - it is fit for every occasion, throughout the year and applied within the shortest possible time - including a very quick dry time.

What is your go-to red (if you are a red nailpolish lover)?

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine

My NOTDs of the Week

After having swatched all those bright and bold colors, glitters and what have you, I really needed a palette cleanser week à la Christine, i.e. dark, dark manis ;-)

I liked Wicked Polish Black Lung so much, that I wore it for three straight days after taking the pictures for my post, hence just a small photo. The original post you can find here. I applied two coats of Wicked Polish Black Lung over one coat of A England Camelot. I used Essence XXL Nail Thickener as Base Coat and A England The Shield and Essence Better Than Gel Nails Top Sealer as Top Coats.

Continuing my dark vibe with a spark I went for KBShimmer Witch Way. The pictures I have seen on the internet show this polish as jelly that will not really become opaque and while I don't mind a tad sheerness with soft shades, I definitively prefer the dark ones opaque. I started out with one coat of A England Lancelot, the darkest red I have ever come across.

I then applied one coat of KBShimmer Witch Way over one coat of A England Lancelot. I used Essence XXL Nail Thickener Base Coat and again two layers of top coat: the first A England The Shield, the second Essence Better Than Gel Nails Top Sealer.

And this is one coat of A England Lancelot - it really looks black in most lights. The formula is spectacular - creamy and soft, not too thick, not too thin - in short PERFECTION!!!

This week I also received my order from Head2Toe with my picks of the China Glaze new holo collection (among others - ehem). Strap on the Moonboots was (of course) my first choice to wear. The below picture is taken indoors in daylight - I love the deep steel blue base color dominating the look.

And here comes the holo effect to life

Formula and application wise I can easily chime in with the rest of the nailpolish world - it is plain awesome!!! The polish flows smooth and silky onto the nail, dry time is warp fast and the finished look is to die for. While I agree that the holo effect is not in your face the more saturated base color makes this baby look fantastic even in dark and murky spring weather or indoors.

Wrapping up the week I stayed true to my dark manis. I am a huge Ozotic fan and have grabbed the multi-chrome effect Top Coats being on sale with Harlow & Co. This is Ozotic 506 layered over A England Camelot. Ozotic 506 shifts mainly from blue to purple. In certain light it can even look teal or gets a slightly browny tinge. On my second picture you might detect some blue and red shimmer particles on my pinkie - oh man, there is so much going on in this polish, it was impossible to capture with my iPhone.

I applied one coat of Ozotic 506 over one coat of A England Camelot. As Base Coat I used my by now favorite Base Coat, Essence XXL Nail Thickener and again used two different Top Coats to finish: A England The Shield first and to finish off Essence Better Than Gel Nails Top Sealer.

Which was your own favorite NOTD of the week?

I ordered Wicked Polish Black Lung and KBShimmer Witch Way and Ozotic 506 with Harlow & Co, China Glaze Strap on your Moonboots with Head2Toe. I ordered my A England polishes from their own website which unfortunately is not possible anymore due to shipping restrictions from Royal Mail. Their website offers though a directory of worldwide shipping distributors which you can find here.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine

Let's get some green into our lives: China Glaze Cha Cha Cha

I am a really, really spoiled gal here having met so many lovely ladies through blogging who so generously have sent me AWESOME nailmail. Liesl from Liesl Loves Pretty Things turned out to be a sister of mind to me in just so many more ways than just nailpolish. Before the postal fees skyrocketed a couple of weeks back we quickly swapped some nailpolish. And look what she sent me (among so many other beauties): This is China Glaze Cha Cha Cha from their Island Escape Collection (yes, a true Oldie but Goldie):

The above pictures are taken in daylight, the below photos in artificial light

and look at this shine shifting beauty:

Ehem, I got picture crazy here right? The application is awesome, the polish flows easily and evenly onto the nail and if you hold your brush lightly there will be no real issues with visible brushstrokes. I used Essence XXL Nail Thickener as Base Coat and no Top Coat - I did not wanted to ruin the silky glow...

I got China Glaze Cha Cha Cha as gift from wonderful Liesl. 

I look fowarwad to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!

Christine

Spring 2013 Must Haves: China Glaze Tart-y for the Party

Lilac is a color I really wear well. I cannot even say that it is a favorite of mine, but it is a safe choice of color for any occasion or season and I feel homely and cosy when wearing it. Sounds weird? To me it does - just a little bit ;-). Therefore China Glaze Tart-y for the Party was the first of the polishes that went to my Shopping Basket with Head2Toe when I picked my must-haves from the Avant Garden Collection ;-)!!!

the two pictures above are taken indoors in daylight, the photo below outdoors

I applied three thin coats of China Glaze Tart-y for the Party over Essence XXL Nail Thickener, no Top Coat here as the polish dries to a high-shine finish. The formula is thin and the first coat will look streaky and patchy. But I waited a couple of minutes in between applying the second and third coat and it resulted in an opaque and even finish. Be wary of the amount of polish on the brush - it could float your nail. I always wipe of the excess well when using thinner polishes of China Glaze.

Tart-y for the Party screamed for some decor. I fished for Picture Polish Mardi Gras - sigh, so pretty. Note worthy: Mardi Gras glitters lay flat on the nail and leave the surface of the nail smooth!!!

The above picture is taken outdoors in the shade, the below photo indoors in the shade.

Final thoughts: This polish holds a huge potential to be used as base color for glitter, stamping, nail applications and nail tattoos - stay tuned for a Saturday Skittlette featuring Tart-y for the Party soon :-)

Did you pick-up any of the China Glaze Avant Garden Collection yet? Which ones did you pick?

I ordered China Glaze Tart-y for the Party with Head2Toe.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!

Christine

My NOTD's of the Week

After having done glitter posts for nearly two weeks now, I felt like I need a cream polish week. A couple of weeks back I posted about Butter London La Moss here . Ever since I was having it on my mind:

I applied two coats of Butter London La Moss over Butter London Nail Foundation and again used two different Top Coats, first one coat of Butter London Hardwear and then Essence Better Than Gel Nails. La Moss is a jelly and a careful application is core to prevent later patchiness. Also I always let the polish dry well inbetween applying the coats to avoid any polish dragging. If you consider this, the application should not cause any issues. For removal I always use only one cotton pad per nail to get around the reddened finger tips that usually come along with those dark polishes.

On Tuesday I received my nailpolish order from Head2Toe. I got myself some bottles from the new China Glaze Collection Avant Garden Collection. The hard part was to decide which polish to wear first.

Yep, Sunday Funday made it :-)!!! Awesome formula, perfect consistency, easy application, quick drying AND no staining upon removal. This is in short the summary of how convincing this polish is beside its beautiful color. I used Essence XXL Nail Thickener as Base Coat and Vefic quick dry Top Coat (Priscilla, this Top Coat is A.W.E.S.O.M.E.)

1 March was the meteorological start of spring, hahaha: weather murky and overcast, still heaps of dirty snow left and right. No soon relief of heavy winter boots and down jackets - le sigh... This must have triggered my urge to grab for a Christmas-y polish. China Glaze Ruby Pumps is in my eyes still one of the most stunning red sparkle polish out there - an oldie but goldie in my stash ;-):

I applied three thin coats of China Glaze Ruby Pumps over Essence XXL Nail Thickener and used again Vefic quick dry Top Coat. While the formula is thin it is not runny and application is really easy - the polish went there where it was supposed to go.

Nati from the Polished Polygot has posted a great article on what products she emptied recently. I loved the idea a lot and thought I will occasionally add a note on a beauty product I use. First I would like to introduce you to my cleaning ritual (I lay way more consideration on the cleaning than on the application I have to admit). I could not live without the Mac Wipes. I remove my eye and face make-up every day with them. They softly remove also waterproof eye make-up and one tissue is enough to leave my skin clean and moisturized.

This week's polishes are not necessarily exiting, I have to admit. Still, any of them you like particularly? If you use make-up, what is your preferred make-up remover?

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine

China Glaze Sky High Top

All the polishes I have shown you so far are pretty recent releases. But then there are always those Oldies but Goldies from a couple of years back that I still love and use. Today I want to show you one of them: China Glaze Sky High Top from their Kicks Collection released for summer 2009:

Both pictures taken indoors in artificial light. While in the above picture you can just get a glimpse at its beautiful aqua shimmer this blue gem changes its appearance depending on how light falls onto the nails. In the photo below it looks leans towards a cornflower blue.

Sky High Top has a great formula. It glided evenly on the nail and hardly left bald spots. However drying time is on the slow side and most certainly not my pick for a quick mani ;-) Still this is one of my true Oldies but Goldies and having swatched it for this post just reminded me how much I love it and I am wearing it not often enough :-(.

Do you have an Oldie but Goldie that you wear not often enough? If so, which one?

I order my China Glaze polishes with Head2Toe and Transdesign.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine

Manis for busy bodies: Colorama Vinho Fashion and China Glaze Adventure Red-y

I love a classy sophisticated red on any day. And going with classic red is to me as going with a neutral: it fits all dress style and is day and/or evening appropriate. For this post I selected a blue toned red - Colorama Vinho Fashion and a classic deep red China Glaze Adventure Red-y from their Safari Collection.

I applied one coat of Colorama Vinho Fashion over Essence XXL Nail Thickener. No Top Coat. The polish is very shiny all on its own. This will not take longer than 20 minutes starting from applying Base Coat to putting on your coat and grab your bag!!!

These are two coats of China Glaze Adventure Red-y. Now if applied carefully you certainly can get away with one coat but if I am really pressed for time and have to do my nails quickly I usually don't manage to work carefully enough. Again I used no top coat. It took me 30 minutes to apply this mani.

I would advise to not pass on Base Coat when applying red polish - being pressed for time or not. Dealing with stained nails afterwards is way more annoying and time consuming. I get moderately clean nails in such cases by simply washing my hands very well with normal soap right after removal. It does not always work but at least the worst will get washed away.

Todays' question for you is very simple: what is your go-to red?

Colorama Vinho Fashion was a gift from my dear sister in polish and I ordered China Glaze Adventure Red-y with Transdesign.

I look forward to reading your comments - thanks for visiting!!!
Christine

China Glaze Exotic Encounter

China Glaze Exotic Encounter is one of the few polishes I picked from the China Glaze Safar Collection. Mind you, I liked most of them but quite a few were pretty standard and I have plenty of similar colors already.

The formula is on the thin side but I had no issues with the application. I applied two coats of China Glaze Exotic Encounter over Essence XXL Nail Thickener on pinkie and ring finger and China Glaze Ridge Filler on middle and index finger. I again wanted to compare application differences between these two Base Coats. I found the application over China Glaze Ridge Filler easier. China Glaze Ridge Filler helped with the thin formula to prevent flodding the nails. However the difference is small and both Base Coats provide an excellent foundation. Dry time was not influenced either.

Have you picked any polishes any of the China Glaze Safari & Tourist Collections?

I usually order China Glaze polishes either with Head2Toe or Transdesign.

I look forward to reading your comments!!!

Thanks for reading!!

Christine

Girly Bits Crunchy Leaves

I wore this mani also this week, but was so in love with it that I decided it deserves its own post!

Automn is my favorite season of the year. I love the crisp air, the clear blue of the skies, even the foggy mornings that turn into gorgeous sunny days. And then there are these heaps and heaps of colored leaves on the ground that still invite me to jump on them despite my distinguished age - LOL!!!

This is a tree close by our home, could not resist posting a picture of its gloriousness:

When I saw Girly Bits Crunchy Leaves it directly jumped to my heart and my shopping basket, despite having seen only bottle shots up to then. It got a slightly tinted base filled to the gills with small glitter in orange and copper tones. Depending on the light some of them appear red. The name is so aptly chosen!!!!

I did not want to layer Crunchy Leaves over black or navy but over a matching color. I picked China Glaze Brownstone from their Metro Collection.

I started with 1-2 coats of China Glaze Brown Stone over China Glaze Ridge Filler Base Coat. I love the reddish brown, this will make a very sophisticated though edgy looking mani when worn on its own!! The formula was a tad weird though. It seemed as if the brush would hold lots of polish and one has to be careful to prevent flooding the nail or spilling the polish all over your table (yep both happened to me). I don't mind to deal with this given the excellent self leveling, shiny finish and quick drying time though.

And then I added only 1 (ONE) layer of Girly Bits Crunchy Leaves over Brownstone. But you might already guess, this is another Top Coat eater - I applied 2 thick coats of Butter London Hardwear Top Coat for the glossy finish.

Indoors in dayilight:

Indoors with flash

Blurry shot of thumb (sorry for my wrinkled Thumb - ughh age shows sometimes)

I so much loved this combo and I observed people staring openly at my nails!!! Removal was a piece of cake using the foil method. However I never use polish removers containing acetone but the foil method works equally well with acetone free polish remover when left for approximatively 10 minutes on each nail. I barely had any glitter left on my nails!!

I order my China Glaze polishes through Head2Toe Beauty or Transdesign. Girly Bits Crunchy Leaves is available with Llarowe and Harlow & Co.

Do you also like to layer glitter polishes over matching colors or do you prefer more contrasting effects? Have you picked up any of the new Girly Bits polishes? Looking forward to hearing from you in my comments!!

Thanks for reading!!

Christine