China Glaze's Keep Calm, Paint On

If there's a color I've been loving in the past month, it's mint. And what a better way to express my love for the shade than on my nails! China Glaze's Keep Calm, Paint on is a gorgeous greeny mint color, with fine silver shimmer running through it.

This is my last pick from China Glaze's Avant Garden collection which I love. Like the others, this polish lasted well on my nails, but the formula was a bit gloopier than the others. Regardless, it wasn't too troublesome, and the gorgeous color more than made up for it!

Happy Monday!

Sunday Funday AKA China Glaze's Best Blue

I meant to post this on Sunday (because the polish is called Sunday Funday), but my day was ever so long and I didn't get a chance to get away to write at all. And today I'm sick, so if this doesn't make much sense, my apologies.

Either way, here's the beaut. 

It was quite hard to capture the brightness of this blue but Sunday Funday is a bright, in your face, pool blue from China Glaze's Avant Garden collection. This first picture shows the brightness of the polish, but the second picture captures the hue better. Blue seem to be really difficult to capture on my camera. The polish was super easy to work with, opaque in two coats, and wore well (5 days).

The nice weather has really gotten me in the mood for wearing bright polish! I've been loving bright pinks, reds, blues, mints - it's so fun and refreshing to go back to such a bright palette. What colors have you been wearing lately? I can't wait to get my hands on the new Essie Neon collection coming out soon!

Best of: 5 Pinks Great Pink Nail Polishes You Need

I'm not too big on pink polishes. Don't get me wrong, I like pink polishes, but unless they are absolutely amazing, I usually forget about them, give them away, or they wither in the back of my stash. These 5 polishes however truly some of my favorites. All of these were worn several times (hands & feet alike) and have truly stood the test of time since I've had them all for over a year and are still amazing polishes in my eyes.

From left to right: China Glaze Pink Plumeria (reviewed here), OPI Japanese Rose Garden (reviewed here - apologies for my poor photography skills at the time), Butter London Snog (reviewed here), Essie Eternal Optimist (reviewed here - wow, I guess I didn't understand the concept of "natural light" back then) , Deborah Lippmann Pop Life (reviewed here)

Left to right again: China Glaze Pink Plumeria, OPI Japanese Rose Garden, Butter London Snog, Essie Eternal Optimist, Deborah Lippmann Pop Life

Pink Plumeria is one of those colors I had to have as soon as I saw swatches of it online last summer. It's bright, summery, and quite unique in color. I wore this color a lot last summer and plan on wearing it plenty this summer again. OPI's Japanese Rose Garden is one of those muted pinks for when you want to wear something feminine but subtle. Its formula is excellent and the color is so easy to wear. It's especially great for those of you who don't like bright polish. Butter London's Snog is hands down my favorite pink polish ever. It's bright, cheerful, and wearing it just makes me happy. The brush in my bottle of Snog is wonky, but that doesn't stop me from wearing it over and over (especially on my toes!).  It is very similar to Essie's Watermelon in case you are looking for a slightly a cheaper option. Essie's Eternal Optimist was one of those colors I kept seeing at my local Shoppers Drug Mart, unsure of whether I'd like it or not. When I finally took the plunge, I was really happy I did. Eternal Optimist is a great neutral and is a great option for when you're looking for something a little bit more interesting than a nude nail. I've owned Deborah Lippmann's Pop Life for many years now, and when I think of the most classic pink in my collection, Pop Life is definitely it. Pop Life's pink color is clean and vibrant without being neon. I love it and plan to apply it to my toes in the next couple hours!

Of these, my favorites are Pink Plumeria, Snog and Pop Life - perhaps I'm partial to brights even if I'm not a "pink" girl?

I'd love to know what YOUR favorite pink polishes are? List them below!

China Glaze's Fade Into Hue - Swatch and Drool...

China Glaze's new(ish) collection for spring is absolutely amazing. Avant Garden has great summery fresh shades, and I may or may not want every single one in the collection. Well, except the murky green. So it was with great restraint that I only purchased three shades of the collection.

My favorite so far? BOOM:

It is so pretty! Fade Into Hue is a gorgeous periwinkle/lavender shade. I slash the two colors together because it's quite hard to describe the color! In this picture, it looks quite blue. But in the shade, the polish can look almost lavender. It doesn't have any shimmer. I find shimmer is often added to soften the look of a white based shade, but this baby doesn't need it. It definitely doesn't look chalky against my skin tone. I had no problems with the formula - the polish was smooth and opaque in two coats. Such a dream to work with.

Okay, sure, I might be over excited about this, but it's so pretty and makes me think of summer. Plus, I got tons of compliments on this polish (oh hi cashier at Superstore!)

Hope your week is off to a great start! Bye!

China Glaze Nail Appliqué in Shake Your Tail Feathers

When I was offered to review China Glaze's new Real Nail Polish Appliqués* by Nail Polish Canada, my trusty polish supplier, I jumped at the chance. What's not to love? No dry time, quickly done manicure, and funky designs. Did I mention no dry time?

Anyway, I chose the Shake Your Tail Feathers design since I loved the color and swirls.

Applying these is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. You simply peel off the sticker off the back of the "app" and place it on your nail, where your cuticle is, making sure the base is sticking and not to creating any ridges in the process. Then, you gently pull the "app" over the edge of the nail, gently filing off any excess. And voila!

Having never tried these before, I messed up a few nails. Honestly, it's not very obvious that the "app" wasn't applied properly because of the pattern in the design - it kindly hides any mistakes. However, since my nails are so wide AND curved, the "app" was not wide enough to cover my whole nail, specifically, the middle finger and ring finger. The advantage of this however is that people who naturally have very small nails, and don't really get to enjoy the fun of nail art because of their small nails, can definitely revel in these. I've seen them applied on small nails and it looked great! And a lot of them have great patterns that would look amazing on short nails!

I think I did make a mistake with these - I used Seche Vite as a top coat and I think it caused the edges to curl. Seche Vite is meant to help your polish dry and since this polish is already dry, I think it messed with it a little. So, I'd suggest NOT using Seche Vite as a top coat over it. However, I wore them for a few days anyway and had no problem with them falling off - the edges were a bit curled though.

Overall, I'd only suggest these if you don't have a wide nail plate like mine and if you like pattern or design on your nails. However, the fact that there is no dry time is awesome, and the application is very simple and easy! So go for it if this sounds like something you'd like, but do NOT use Seche Vite! Ha ha ha! The China Glaze Nail Appliqué are available on Nail Polish Canada.

* I have received these products for consideration but my opinions are always my own. I am not being compensated for this review and I always strive to review products with honesty.

China Glaze's Pink Plumeria is my kind of neon

I anxiously awaited the China Glaze summer neon polishes to arrive in my home town. My local Lawtons and Sallys were stalked every week for their arrival. I was that excited.

When I saw the display though, the two polishes I was planning to purchase, Flirty Tankini and Pink Plumeria, looked the exact same in the bottle. I couldn't justify both (even though in swatches, they were completely different) so I went with Pink Plumeria and Surfin' for Boys (currently on my toes). I'm not a huge neon wearer, and my picks were the least neon of the bunch. Don't get me wrong - I love the idea of neon and I love seeing people wearing it on their nails. For me though, I just think it's too bright. This is coming from someone who usually avoids blue, so it's not too surprising. Surfin' for Boys is incredibly vibrant and beautiful though (almost uncomfortably so) - I wish I could show you but ew, I'd have to show you my feet, ew gross. Perhaps I'll wear it on my nails when they're short and show you :)

Anyway, Pink Plumeria is gorgeous. Don't take this lightly. Seriously, it's pretty much my perfect summer shade. It's a soft pink, while still being bright and vibrant for summer. Plus, it has a gorgeous shimmer running through it. And it's fun! Pink Plumeria dried to a matte finish - my nails in the pictures have a coat of Seche Vite. Probably because it has a matte finish, it also dried very fast! The funny thing about this polish is that it looks completely different in different lighting. In the sun, it almost looks pastel. But in regular light, it looks neon. And in fluorescent lighting, it looks quite dark.

Below is what it looks like in the sun:

What it looked like most of the time. Excuse the dryness.

In direct sunlight.

If you're looking for an original pink nail polish shade (which nowadays, is getting hard to find) this is it. This is definitely one for the "best pinks" list. I highly recommend it!

China Glaze's Hey Sailor

Moving has totally taken over my life - boxes of books, nail polish and shoes are lying around me and the disorder is drying my crazy! However, the bonuses include living with the boy, my new plant, and an extra awesome closet, laundry room and kitchen. I've gone way up in apartment quality!

Now for the nail polish of the day - China Glaze's Hey Sailor!

Hey Sailor is a beautiful bright cherry red color. This picture has one coat of Hey Sailor and a top coat of Seche Vite. I'm quite impressed that this polish is opaque in one coat! My nails were in bad condition when this picture was taken, that's why the polish looks so poor on my nail, but I assure you the formula of this polish was excellent!

Hope you've all had a good week! It's so nice to see the weather be nice once again - too bad I'm stuck inside unpacking boxes!

Life Preserver

Billie wanted to pop in and say hello.

Currently, she's doing one of her favorite things - kneading the bed while cuddling next to my leg. She's purring like crazy!

I don't know why, but I've been into orange a lot lately. I've just purchases a couple of orange nail polishes, bought a top that is a burnt orange color, and fell in love with an orange skirt at the store. So weird that orange is taking over my life! Sadly, I will not be sporting an orange face of makeup. Orange toned blushes make me look ill and orange lips are never flattering on my skin tone. Meanwhile, I'll be content with this polish.

China Glaze's Life Preserver came out with the Anchors Away collection for spring 2011. I'm very late to the party on this. This is a beautiful shade - which, weirdly enough, was flattering on my cool skintone. This polish applied flawlessly and I didn't have any drying issues with it. I know I'll be wearing this one again.

 

I've cleaned out some old nail polish from my drawer tonight. It's depressing to see so many beautiful shades I've only worn once. I'm hoping I can donate some duplicates to friends and/or family. My mom is quite picky unfortunately, so she almost never benefits from these clean ups. 

My week is looking quite packed! I had the day off yesterday, after spending the night enjoying the Oscars with the boy. We both pledged to take the Monday off so that we could sleep in after the show. It was really nice and relaxing. I also traveled last weekend and went a little shopping madness campaign. It was really fun though, and had a great time with my family. I want to do it again... now! I can't remember the last time I had so much fun traveling!

I am now off to bed. Cheers my friends - next post will be a haul!

Just taking a Stroll here...

I have been so excited to tell you about this polish. So excited in fact, that I had other polish to show you in my lineup before this one but I skipped them. It is called Stroll, by China Glaze, and is my new polish soul mate.

In many ways, Stroll is similar to Ahoy! by China Glaze. They both have a sheerish base with different size of glitter in it. Also, they both give the nail the effect of dimension (by that I mean sort of like a soak-off gel polish) because of multi-size glitter. I must say, I prefer Stroll only because I like a red more than a pink on my nails. You NEED this polish, it is gorgeous. I got may compliments wearing it last week. The formula was excellent at two coats and it wore very very well during the week.

My camera is taking the front seat again since my boyfriend's camera is moving on to bigger projects (film). I miss it so much. Color is so hard to capture with my piece of shit Canon. Oh well. Boyfriend says I should buy one of my own which is tempting. Maybe when I win the lottery. And I plan to.

My weekend has been super uneventful so far and I've been loving it. Painting, cooking, eating, drinking coffee and reading has done me a world of good. Now, off to watching X-Files with the boyfriend!

Oh, my birthday is it now?

Actually, with the Blogger timestamp, it is no longer my birthday. But here, in Atlantic Canada, it sure is!

I wanted to make an effort and get a birthday post in. Just because. Fer the fun of it!

Today's nails are China Glaze's Fiji Fling. Nothing too exciting. Besides, my birthday nails are something much more exciting! But here are the swatch pictures, nevertheless.

This is two coats, and definitely could've used three. This polish just made me wish it was summer again. So it's going in the very back of my nail polish drawer. It'll be one for next year. 

Lucky me, I had an excellent birthday. Lots of cards, food, kisses from the boyfriend, laughter and friends. Can't ask for much better.

Edit: MY BAD, it's still my birthday on the timestamp. Thanks Blogger! HAHAH! 

Sheer Mani? Let us evaluate.

This is totally not me but I was lusting after Essie's Ballet Slippers at the drug store the other day and though that rather than spending, I'll shop my stash!

I ended up with Essie's Vanity Fairest on my nails.

It did NOT help my Ballet Slippers craving. The sheer polish was three coats, and bubbled in some places. It didn't dry fast at all(I smudged it and took it off promptly) and it looked bad on. Plus, some brush pieces (you'll notice on my pinky nail) embedded itself in my polish. What?!

Anyway, so this mani sucked. I don't mind the sheer nail thing but three NON-DRYING coats isn't worth it. Catch you another time sheer mani!

Oh the other hand (PUN!), I did sport a french manicure all week. I was pretty different for me.

The tips were freestyled (!!) China Glaze's White on White and the top coat was China Glaze's Diva Bride. I quite enjoyed wearing this since it didn't wear out (or didn't appear to) as fast as a regular mani. I'd probably do this again if I know my week is too busy to take care of my nails.

Hmm, what else?

A painting taking shape?

A smug Billie watching over me?

Billie says: have a great week meoow!

Below Deck, please.

Lemme tell you, this week has been hell. The only good thing about this week will be that I can wear jeans to work tomorrow.

But at the same time, I think I learned something this week. Things are only as bad as you make them out to be. Even if I had a crap week, looking back on it, I was angry at really silly things. Like my lack of moolah at the moment,  my completely unfulfilling job that makes the moolah not worth it, the cat worries (Billie is getting skinny!!! AHHHHH) and friend drama - in the end, I can only change what I think of these things and how I deal with them. What's the point in dealing with difficult things in a difficult way - better to take things with a grain of salt no? Besides, I'm lucky in a lot of ways - I have first world problems syndrome bigtime. I'm a stressed person by nature I think and I need to learn how to breeeeaaathe.

Blog face back on. 

So today, I will show you the exceptional regularness that is China Glaze's Below Deck. I was so pissed when I got this in the mail because I had also ordered, at the same time, freaking Essie Merino Cool which looks like its doppelganger. FML.

HOWEVER, Below Deck dried WAY darker than it looks in the bottle so it may not be a dupe. We'll see because I'll be posting a comparison soon.

It's pretty. Nothing unique or unseen. People couldn't decide if it was gray or purple. Sometimes I wonder if everyone around is colorblind. I think it's a taupe/mauve. Right?

The wear time suuuucked on this one - one day gave me major chippies. 

Aren't my cuticles doing so much better!? Be warned though, this picture was taken before the start of the week. Stress = cuticle picking/damage. I can't help it! But I do my best for you, moisturizing profusely, faithful 19 readers.

On another note, I'm not doing a "What's in Your Bag" post anytime soon since I'll probably get my legs shoved into a meat grinder à la LipstickRules. How lame people are nowadays eh? Geesh.

By far the brightest polish I've ever worn and mini-vacation pictures!

China Glaze's Shocking Pink is actually quite nice for a neon. I find it has a distinct 70s feel (obviously) to it and I like it. It makes me want wear spandex and take Polaroid pictures!

The formula is only okay. The first coat was really streaky and the second coat left a some bald patches. I left it at that though because I'm lazy.

The accent nail is two coats of China Glaze Snow Globe. It looks very chunky in the pictures but it didn't look that bad in real life. I was pretty pumped about having this manicure for my vacation - especially because it was to GLOW under the BLACKLIGHTS at the CLUB. WOAH!

Remember when I said I was leaving the city for the beach, beer and lobster? Well it ended up being that and more - including locking keys in the car in the middle of nowhere, extremely cold and windy beach with deer flies, cute schnauzer, mussels and clams, rum, dancing and good music. Oh and I met Post Tropical Storm Irene on the way back, no big.

Mollie was the sweetest little dog ever. She just loves people. Here she is, claiming the chair.

My feet on the beach. Wearing OPI's Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ on ze toesies. 

The wind MAY have been really strong... Hence the messy messy hair.

The boy, trying to kill some deer flies.

I found some kewl stuff...

And went for a boat ride! It wasn't the one in the picture though - a much better one.

All and all, twas an amazing vacation. I met some great people, ate some delicious seafood and smelled lots of beach air. I loved it. It was just what I needed. Plus, I knew it was a good vacation because Monday at work was brutal - it's always a good sign.

Next will be a few more China Glazes polishes as I have a slight obsession with them right now. The brush is just so fantastic!!!

Yes, I AM posting 4 photos of the same product...

It's because it's China Glaze's Ruby Pumps! The only explanation for this polish, in my opinion, is in photographs.

It's a gorgeous polish for the glitter fans but also conservative enough for me, a not so keen on glitter polish fan. If you don't have this in your collection, yo gotta gets it. 

I wanted the pictures to speak from themselves but they can't tell you that the formula was excellent and it dries super quickly.

AHOY MATEY!

I am totally in love with this polish. Yes, I know I say this a lot, but for me to say this about a bright fuschia pink color isn't quite as common. This China Glaze polish named Ahoy! (hence the title of this post) is from the Anchors Away collection from Spring 2011.

Some fingers are out of focus - but just look at the ones that aren't! Shimmery goodness. I got lots of compliments at work for this color too. The formula was great (two coats) and the wear time was excellent for a China Glaze (they don't usually wear well on me). Go grab this if you can!

Short and Sassy!

Short and sassy would describe me. Except I'm not really sassy. I'm French. Anyway, presenting Short and Sassy!

I must say, I absolutely love this color. The polish dried fast, barely chipped in three days (again, quite the accomplishment for me) and goes with everything. I've never been a big fan of China Glaze because I don't often find their colors wearable (for me). This, however, is making me change my mind.

I kinda just wish my skintone was darker to match it. Or that I was tanned. But no skin cancer for me. Can you believe the oiled barbies you still see on the beaches?! What? People are stupid. Enjoy your skin cancer. Same goes with cigarettes - but that takes me on another tangent. I have plenty of bad habits so I'm not really one to talk anyway!

It's been really warm here lately. Hopefully the weather cools off. Or at least we could get some awesome thundershowers please?

A dud and a delight.

Here's the dud.

It's China Glaze's Unplugged, which, to be fair, might be nice on some people. I hated it on me. It was so horrid, I had to take it off right away. I'm not a huge fan of brown in general (I think because I have brown hair, I find it's enough brown for one person) so this polish was yuckyuck for me. I though it would be lighter bronze color - you can sort of see it's lighter in the bottle. But eh, you win some and you lose some. At least it's on me blog!

Now this one is a winner. It's called Warm he-art-ed and it's by a new brand to me, Finger Paints. I love this polish. It's conservative but still interesting.

As you can maybe see in the last picture, it's got a nice gold-greenish-orangeish shimmer running through it - whilst still being taupe. I'll be wearing that one again for sure.

You'll be happy to know that I picked up cuticle balm (from Burt's Bees no less, for $1.79!) and the cuticle situation should be improving. At least I hope so since nothing else seems to be working at the moment. And I will try my best not to pick at them too, I swear. Sort of.

No interesting Billie pictures to date. My sister did get a kitten and I'll try to bring my camera next time. She is such a little sweetheart.