Ulta-violet – China Glaze

Without flash & with flash.

I have been moving away from mainstream polishes lately, but this one was actually fairly unique to my collection when I bought it. 

It’s another pink-based full-coverage glitter that’s opaque in 2-3 coats.

A few weeks after this one came in, I tried a few things from new-to-me indie brand, Girlie Bits and ended up with an accidental almost-dupe.

As you can see, Witch, I’m Fabulous is a bit twinklier and holographier (which is totally a word!) than Ulta-violet, but on the nail they come off almost identical.

Pondering – China Glaze

Having tried and owned so much polish, I tend to be really picky. I think, by and large, China Glaze is one of the most overrated brands out there. Especially when you compare it with other brands in its price range. This shade, however, is phenominal.

First of all, the green/purple duochrome is lovely and strong. Much stronger than the photo. (Gettin’ better with the glitter, not so much with the holo and chrome!)

It can be a one-coater. I used two just to see if it would deepen the color. It did, slightly, but strictly for opacity’s sake, a second coat isn’t required.

It lasted much longer on my nails than other China Glaze polishes do, as well! Which is a plus!

Gone Glamping – China Glaze

This is a green/gold duochrome. Very pretty in the right light; opaque in 2-3 coats.

Ingrid – China Glaze

Ingrid is a cool, shimmery brown. The formula is pretty nice compared to others in the brand and you can get it opaque in two coats.

Dorothy Who? – China Glaze

This is another one of those rare China Glaze polishes I just love. It’s a full-coverage midnight blue glitter that takes 3-4 coats for opacity.

Don’t Let The Dead Bite – China Glaze

A couple of days ago I mentioned a couple of China Glaze glitters that I actually like. This is one of them. It has a milky flesh-colored base with shiny red glitters. Perfect for Halloween. It was a limited edition last year, but a lot of mainstreams like this can be found if you scour the web. And they like to re-promote colors as well. At its best in 2-3 coats.

I Love Your Guts – China Glaze

I’m not China Glaze’s biggest fan, but there were a couple of polishes from last year’s Halloween collection that I love. This one is a red base with red shimmer and matte black glitters. This is one coat. One. I only wear it this time of year, but I highly recommend it if you can find it somewhere.

De-stash & Trash – Summer 2015 Nail Empties

This is part two of my epic summer de-stash & trash.  If you didn’t catch the first one, I took a break from just about everything to get myself through the busy season at work.  But I kept track of my products just the same!

There are a lot of nail-related things this time around.  I spent a couple of weekends finishing The Great Swatchening of my collection and weeded out a few things as I went along.

First up is a very sheer Orly called Frozen that I picked up at a special Walgreens display.  It was hella-sheer – this is four coats – and struggled to make them even.  It just wasn’t something I ever wanted to use again.

Sally Hansen is my crack.  I know that I don’t usually like the trendy experimental collections that come out every season, but that doesn’t keep me from trying them out anyway.  This purple, called Velour, was supposed to dry down to look like the fabric.  Semi-matte and plush.  My problem with the formula was that it never really did dry and the formula was gloopy and difficult to spread evenly.  Sure, I could have used a top coat, but that would have defeated the purpose of having a textured polish in the first place.  Out it goes!

And I have met very few China Glaze polishes that I’ve actually liked.  I picked up the cult favorite Flip Flop Fantasy on a whim and regretted it the first time I tried to apply it.  The color is lovely but the formula manages to be gloopy and sheer at the same time.  To get a similar color with a better formula, try K.B. Shimmer’s Bahama Drama or Leggo My Mango.

Keeping on the anti-China Glaze theme, I had a similar experience with In a Lily Bit, the lavender cream in the middle.  Sheer, yet thick and it chipped within hours of application.  I was hoping that the glitter on the right, Tail Me Something, would be similar to my favorite from the brand, Dorothy Who?.  It’s not.  The glitter density isn’t there for it to work on its own, but it’s too dense to really be a topper.  And the chipping!

I had tried a few Rainbow Honey minis before I subscribed to the full-sized mystery bag.  The problem with the minis is that they’re really only good for one application.  Even though there’s enough polish in there for three or four, the RH formula dries up almost as soon as the air hits it.  This one was called Deep Heart Sea, and it was lovely the one time I wore it!

The same goes for Chemical Plant and Aurora.  They were lovely, but the minis are only good for one use.

I went through a couple of base coats.  My favorite is the Nailtiques Formula 2.  It doesn’t really keep my mani on very long, but to be honest, I haven’t met one yet that does.  (Yes, even Orly Bonder.)  But I don’t really mind because I feel that Nailtiques is nice to my nails and I get bored with a mani after a couple of days anyway.

Next is Rainbow Honey’s All Your Base.  (Complete with a practice O from when I did my Orioles mani in the spring, of course.)  I used this for swatching, and it worked really well.  I had to start thinning it out about two-thirds down and kept thinning it until I couldn’t get the brush saturated anymore.

Rainbow Honey sends out a lot of scented top coats, and I’m always disappointed.  Not because they don’t work or I don’t like the scents but because I just don’t want the extra step at the end of my mani.  I want to top coat and go.  So these are really wasted on me.

I went through a lot of remover.  For me, remover is remover is remover.  Really, the Sally Beauty Supply non-acetone is the only one out of the many I’ve tried is one that I will never use again.

In my Beauteque bag a couple of months ago, I got a little cup of cotton balls that were fashioned to look like cotton candy.  (Of course, it was Tony Moly!)  They were just cotton balls, but the packaging was so adorable I had to get a shot before I used them up.  I used them for both swatching and makeup removal.

Finally, I tried out one of K.B. Shimmer’s mani shots.  I loved the lemon verbena scent to this.  The smell is the main reason I enjoyed this product. I also enjoyed the fizzing.  Because who doesn’t enjoy some fizzing, right?  The soaking was relaxing, and I enjoyed the warm water.  But once I was done, I felt like my hands were drier than they were before the treatment.  I have one more in a different scent that I’m going to try to see if I get different results.

That’s it for my nail-related empties this summer!

Pink Voltage – China Glaze

This neon Barbie pink has a pretty blue sheen to it. It has a bit of a chalky texture, though, and doesn’t build on itself well.

Celtic Sun – China Glaze

I forgot to take a swatch picture before putting on the art! This is a bright neon yellow that absolutely needs a couple of coats over white. Its formula can be a bit futzy but if you’re patient it can be a beautiful polish.