China Glaze Poolside Collection

YELLOW POLKA DOT BIKINI
Very bright neon yellow. A bit hard to work with, I had to do four coats. I think white polish under would solve the problem. Still nothing one can´t handle and the result is worth it. It really shines!

 

SUN WORSHIPER
A beautiful neon orange. This will make a great pedi color. It was also a bit harder to work with. But I expected that and again used four coats.

FLIP FLOP FANTASY

I love the name of this bright coral neon. It is a lot on the pink side and I just love that. This applied very nice, three coats.

 POOL PARTY

This stuff is radioactive! I think it is the brightest of the whole collection. A hot pink neon. I will be wearing Pool Party a lot in the summer, I am sure of that. Great application, had no problems. Three coats.

 

TOWEL BOY TOY

Another great name for a polish. This is the only one with shimmer and I wouldn´t call it a neon, although it dries matte. It a beautiful blue with shimmer. I added a picture in the sun, so that you can see it. My favourite of the collection. Three coats.

 

KIWI COOL-ADA

Neon green, very bright. This applied very nice, although four coats were needed. I don´t have anything like this and again it will be a great pedi color.

Overall I really like this collection. Some of them were harder to apply, but if you follow the application tips, you are ok :) In this collection, you get all you need for summer. Fun, bright neon colors, that will make you always stand out! Can´t wait to walk on the beach with these beauties!
P.S. too bad there is not a purple neon, but I want a purple polish in every collection, so don´t listen to me :P

China Glaze

It is raining outside and it will for another week, that sucks! I decided that I need a mani to cheer me up and the choice was Flip Flop Fantasy from the Poolside collection. This color is really so much fun, it is so positive :) Black konad looks great over these bright colors, so I went for something simple and summery. Image from plate m28. Oh and guess where China Glaze is from? Yes, California!

Detail of the konad image from plate m28:

Acrylic Red

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- Nubar Ruby, index finger - OPI Crimson Carol, middle finger - OPI Smitten With Mittens, ring finger - China Glaze Stroll, pinky - Orly Glam. I have 2 coats of all the colors with Essie Good To Go! top coat. About Ruby, Crimson and Smitten I already wrote in Glittery Reds - Part 1, here. Stroll is a purple toned red with tiny purple and pink glitters and larger gold glitters/glass flecks. It´s the most sheer color from all of them in one coat (then Orly and Nubar; the other are pretty opaque). Orly Glam is not so purple as Stroll, but it´s a purple-brown toned red with tiny siver glitters (they are the smallest from all five polishes and almost invisible). I think Orly is the least interesting color from all five and has the most rough surface from them all (then Nubar; the other dry pretty smooth). All the colors are very close to the reality on the second picture except for Smitten which is darker in real life.

China Glaze Stella vs. China Glaze Cowgirl Up

I love Stella. It´s one of my winter favorites. I always wanted to know how different from Cowgirl Up it is. Now I know it, thanks to my friend Boruvka. They are very similar, but Stella is more "clean" purple and Cowgirl Up has more red-brown undertones. Cowgirl Up is richer, deeper. I like still Stella because of its color purity. What about you? Index finger - Cowgirl Up, middle finger - Cowgirl Up, ring finger - Stella, pinky - Stella. Both colors are in 2 coats with Essie Good To Go! top coat.

Poll – What’s Your Favorite Polish Finish?

I recently ran a poll on Twitter and the big question was “What’s your FAVORITE polish finish? Holographic, creme, glitter (chunky or micro)? Shimmer, matte, duo chrome, or jelly? ” According to the feedback I recieved from the people that responded, CREMES won with 35% of your votes! Most of you agreed that “Creme’s are classic;  you can never go wrong with a creme polish.” Here’s a popular creme, China Glaze For Audrey:

Coming in second was HOLOGRAPHICS with 23%! Can you believe that at one point during the poll, holographics and cremes were tied? I think the creme fans jumped on at the right time to give holos a run for their money! In the end, you all love holographics because of their “uniqueness”. I have to agree with you on that one! Here’s China Glaze LOL from the OMG Collection:

In third place was GLITTER with 13% of your votes! I understand that many people have a love/hate relationship with glitter. While you adore glitter polishes, you can’t stand the removal process! I completely understand where you’re coming from: How can something so beautiful be such a pain in the whoo-haa? Well, here’s a tip that’s been shared with me many times: Soak a piece of felt (this can be picked up in fabric stores) in actone and start rubbing away! The felt won’t break up into a million pieces like a cotton pad, so I promise that it will last through the removal process of all 10 fingers! With that being said, here’s one of China Glaze’s best-selling glitter polishes, Ruby Pumps:

Not to be forgotten, shimmer and duo-chrome polishes both came in at 7%, while jelly and matte polishes recieved 4% of the votes.
What’s your favorite China Glaze polish that falls into one of these categories?

China Glaze Crackle is Coming!

As many of you may know , we are launching a line of China Glaze Crackle polishes that will be available starting February 2011! Rather than just teasing you with just one crackle color, there will be a total of SIX amazingly fun colors! Below is a little taste of the China Glaze Black Mesh over China Glaze Medallion:

The six different Crackle colors will include: Black Mesh (black crackle), Lightening Bolt (white crackle), Broken Hearted (pink crackle), Cracked Concrete (grey crackle), Crushed Candy (teal crackle) and Fault Line (purple crackle).

China Glaze Crackle will be available at Sally’s and BSG in a 12 piece counter display. There will also be 3 packs kits available with a base color, a crackle glaze (either Broken Hearted, Black Mesh or Crushed Candy) and a China Glaze top coat.
What do you think about Crackle polish? Is this something you’re looking forward to trying?

China Glaze Holiday Chrismas 2010

Jingle bells…jingle bells! Yes, it’s getting close to that time of year again and China Glaze is here to celebrate the season in style with our 2010 Holiday Promotions! Complete with 16 fun colors that will be sure to spice up your hands and feet for the celebratory season. Here’s some photos and in depth descriptions of the first 8 colors!

First off is China Glaze Jingle Bells. This is a nudish champagne shimmer that would be complimentary on any skin tone. Application is very smooth and that’s needed is 2 coats to get full coverage. I topped this off with a coat of Seche Vite Fast Dry to add extra shine.

Second, we have China Glaze Cheers To You. This is a bright, shimmery silver that reminds me of Christmas tinsel. Application is smooth and two coats is needed as well for desired coverage. What amazed me about all the shimmers was how smoothly they went on, because  shimmers can sometimes be a little chunky and goopy.

Third, we have China Glaze Snow. This is a creamy, dense and smooth white polish. I absolutely love it! I think it’s something about the texture. China Glaze Snow is thick without being gloopy and all I needed was two coats of this to make it perfect. I probably wouldn’t wear this alone, but it would be great for French manicures and pedicures, along with being a base color for layering. I know it’s just a white polish, but I really liked this one, a lot! The formula is hands down, amazing.

Next up is China Glaze Peace on Earth. This is an olive-toned green shimmer. This is two coats of polish with a coat of Seche Vite Fast Dry on top. This color is so unique, especially for the Holidays and I’m glad that it was included in the promotion because it’s not a typical “Holiday” green. I was never a huge fan of green polishes until recently and now I can’t get enough! Olive green, lime green, slime green…I’m loving them all!

Here we have China Glaze Frosty. This is a sheer, shimmery white that’s perfect in layers. This has an amazing texture as well and took me three coats for the desired coverage.  A lot of you on Twitter were asking me  how this compares to China Glaze White-Kwik-Silver from the 2007 Surf Collection. I’ll be sure to swatch both and let everyone know how it turns out!

Next is China Glaze Party Hearty. This has a clear polish base with flecks of green, gold and red glitter. The red glitter is the largest and then the green and gold, respectively. Shown below is 3 coats in the photo below. You can definitely wear this alone, but I think it would look amazing as a top coat. I actually layered this over China Glaze Peace on Earth awhile back and it looked great!

Last, we have China Glaze Naughty or Nice. This is a deep, dark burgundy shade. It is so gorgeous and very dark, almost black. Show below is three coats with a swipe of Seche Vite Fast Dry on top. China Glaze Naughty and Nice was the first color I decided to swatch. I had the intention of taking it off and swatching more colors afterward, but once I put it on, I couldn’t take it off! It’s so gorgeous, I totally fell in love with it! It’s definitely one of my favorite Holiday colors.

The 2010 Holiday promotion will be available starting at the end of October. Which ones are your favorites and what will you be picking up?

NOTD – Nail of the Day

Here’s a blast from the past: China Glaze Grape Juice from the Summer Days Collection! Many of you will remember this color from the Summer of 2009, along with all the other bright, juicy, fruit-inspired colors. This collection was definitely a favorite because of the glass-flecked micro glitter. Who doesn’t love some shimmer and shine?

China Glaze Grape Juice is still available and can be found at your local nail supply store or online. What was your favorite color from the China Glaze Summer Days collection?