Reader's Choice Monday ~ China Glaze Immortal

Hey dolls! The winner for this week was China Glaze Immortal with 42% of the votes. This is a gorgeous gray with flashes of blue glass flecks. The formula was pretty good. I haven't used a China Glaze in awhile, so I forgot how long and thin their brushes are. I used two coats for opacity.

I was secretly hoping Immortal would win! This color is perfection! But of course I couldn't stop with Immortal alone because I also picked up Make a Spectacle from that collection. Make a Spectacle is a topper that is filled with iridescent glitter. The glitter is very dense and I had no problems getting it onto the nail.

These two colors compliment each other so well! I've been staring at my nails all day at work as the light reflects off of the glitter. I totally recommend this duo while the Wicked collection is still readily available at Sally Beauty Supply.

For this week's poll, I have three Butter LONDON's for you that I added to my collection during the Ulta BOGO deal. Please take a second to vote dolls!

surveys & polls

Reader's Choice Mondays ~ China Glaze Rain Storm

Hey dolls! This week's winner with 44% of the votes is an oldie - China Glaze Rain Storm. Rain Storm is a cornflower blue with silver shimmer and subtle blue micro glitter from the 2010 Rainbow of Hope collection. The formula was not problematic, but it was extremely sheer. I used 3 coats of Rain Storm over one coat of Essie Marshmallow.

Rain Storm is so gorgeous! I only wish it wasn't so sheer. Typically this would go on my swap list simply because of the sheerness, but the color payoff makes it a keeper. Rain Storm is unique to my stash, so it's not going anywhere!

I have three polishes from The Hungry Asian for you to chose from for next week's Reader's Choice. I  love her polishes. I can take my time when ordering as most polishes are usually in stock. Please take a second to vote. The poll will close on Friday, August 24.

web polls

Pink Wednesday ~ China Glaze Neon Lasers

Hey dolls, I've been wanting to do a striping tape mani with neons for a few weeks now, so I'm glad I finally got around to it yesterday. I picked up China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy a few weeks ago from Sally Beauty Supply. I don't know why I waited so to get this neon. Flip Flop Fantasy is a coral pink neon with a somewhat thick formula and was opaque in two coats. I received I'm With the Lifeguard, a bright green shimmery neon, from a polish friend in a secret swap. I used I'm With the Lifeguard for an accent nail and it was easy to use and opaque in two coats.

shade

I loved this look! I'm With the Lifeguard is one of the few that I wanted from the new neon collection. The shimmer in it is gorgeous! To take this mani up a notch further, I pulled out the striping tape for an abstract laser look. Here is the final look!

flash

Hubby has been commenting on how much he loves my nails for the last 24 hours! Who knew he had a thing for neon. This look is super fun and perfect for the summertime! 

Happy hump day!

China Glaze Riveting & Cover Band Sticks 'n Stones

Hey dolls! Have you guys missed seeing my nails? I've definitely been missing you all. I've submitted my completed dissertation to my committee and now the wait is on for my defense next Tuesday. Everyone around me has been noticing that I haven't been changing my nails as often. I have a friend that I saw on Friday and I was wearing Picture Polish Denim (blog post to come soon). I saw her again last night and she could not believe I was still wearing the same polish. She proceeded to make me change my nails at 11p last night because "I was disappointing her."

She chose China Glaze Riveting for me to wear. I've been wanting this polish since it was released with the Hunger Game series, but I could never find it locally. I was able to get Riveting in Enamel Girl's blog sale (she's super cool). Riveting is a warm orange that is packed with gold shimmer. I used two coats and the formula was great.

shade

This orange polish is so fiery! I stared at my nails all night and then stared again the next day in the sunlight.  I'm so glad to finally have Riveting in my possession. I wonder how close this is to Zoya Myrta???

In light of all the Lynderella craziness, I thought it was only fitting to add a layer of Cover Band Sticks 'n Stones to this mani the next day. A polish friend decanted some in a mini bottle for me in a swap. I added one coat to Riveting.

I like this pairing, but I'm not overly crazy about the bar glitter. I much prefer the look on my pinky where no bar glitter happened to come out. I was able to get Pretty and Polished Valentino (a black and white glitter without bars) in a swap last month, so now I'm looking forward to wearing that one.

There are a couple more amazing guests posts scheduled to round out the week. I may try to post again this weekend in between practicing my presentation. If not, I'll be back next Wednesday to share my defense nails. Take care dolls!

China Glaze Bahamian Escape & Sinful Colors Cinderella

Hey dolls, I finally changed my nails and now I'm wearing a gorgeous light blue. I purchased Sinful Colors Cinderella a few weeks ago after hearing all the hype surrounding the polish. I've read that the formula could be problematic alone, so I decided not to even attempt multiple coats by layering it. China Glaze Bahamian Escape seemed like a perfect complimentary creme for Cinderella. The formula was a little runny, but very pigmented. I applied 2 thin coats of Bahamian Escape. I probably could have gotten away with one coat, but I knew a little streaking would be apparent in the pictures.

I then applied one coat of Cinderella, which is a light blue that is filled with pink shimmer. I had no formula issues, but it may be because I only used one coat.

Cinderella is definitely a soft, girly shade. This color screams spring pastels and I received several compliments throughout the day.

Have you picked up Cinderella? Did you experience formula issues?

Abstract Striping with China Glaze Skyscraper

Hey dolls, as I make my way through my untrieds, I came across this beauty in my melmer. I bought China Glaze Skyscraper when it was first released with the fall Metro collection, but hadn't gotten around to wearing it. Skyscraper is a dark blue base filled with silver glitter. I described it to a friend as a starry night sky in the country. The formula was fine and I applied 2 coats. The camera picked up on a little sheerness and visible nail line, but it does not look that way in real life.

Love this shade. Super fine glitters are all good in my book! I saw this abstract striping on The Nail Network a few days ago and I knew I had to try it. I received some striping tape from Lucky Lacquers in a gift exchange that was just waiting to be used. I applied the tape in a random fashion and then used 2 coats of Orly Flirty. The tape was removed while Flirty was still wet.

I love everything about this! The colors compliment each other so well. The striping tape was very easy to use and I'm excited to use it more. Thanks for the inspiration Chelsea!

What are your thoughts on this accent nail?

China Glaze Holly-Day & Twinkle Lights

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you! I decided to use China Glaze Twinkle Lights for my Christmas mani like I mentioned a few days ago. I started with a base of China Glaze Holly-Day, a gorgeous green that was opaque in one coat.

Next, I sponged Twinkle Lights, a fine gold, red, and green glitter, onto my tips. This glitter just screams festive to me. For an accent, I stamped on the image from BM plate 223 using Zoya Goldie.

My right hand had to make an appearance in the first picture because the stamp didn't transfer completely on the left and I didn't have time to change it. I like the way that this turned out and I'll probably wear it until the day after Christmas. You may have noticed that my nails are shorter. No breaks occurred; they were just getting very long and I decided to cut them.

I hope that each and every one of you enjoy this holiday season and you're surrounded by loved ones!