China Glaze Stallion Red. MUST HAVE red! :)

Here is my second red nail polish. Check the first one here.

 Sunshine
Check the "glow from within" effect!

 Sunshine

Sparkly? :)

 Direct sunshine

14 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 36 months after opening, made in USA.

From Rodeo Diva Collection, Fall 2008.

Nail lacquer with hardeners (Kaolin/China clay).
3 Big free (but contains Formaldehyde resin).

Colour: gorgeous strawberry warm-toned red with fine golden shimmer (it sparkles under the sun!).

Finish: shimmer (metallic effect?).

Application: smooth application, 2 (or even 1 would do!) coats are enough for a full coverage.

Retail price: 2,5 USD - 10 EUR.

Pros: perfect coverage, pretty bottle, MEGA fantastic shade, almost no brush strokes, Big 3 Free.
Cons: strong smell, thin brush, the fact that it's so expensive here!

PS Screams summer to me. Juicy strawberry! Totally delicious! :)

China Glaze I'm Not Bitter. I need a DUPE!

Sorry, I was away from my blog again. Had so many things going on, including "baby sitting" our friends' dog for almost 3 weeks, planning a bridal shower for my best friend, searching for THE dress (currently waiting for several ones to arrive, ordered them online), searching for a new car (this was SO difficult!!!), and some personal stuff. But at least I managed to read some of your blogs! :)

Oh my, time FLIEEES so freaking fast! Don't you agree?

I really hope I'll manage to make more posts this and the following week (at least I finally uploaded pictures! yay!). I shopped (mainly clothes!) so much (for my liking) this month, it's crazy, but I like it. :) And I changed/updated my style a little bit, yay! :)

Ok, onto today's "subject". Some time ago I suddenly realised that red nail polish stopped "irritating" my eye. Yep, you've heard that right! I've NEVER tried/had true red nail polish, and I used to skip/ignore all those red nail polish collections or swatches. All reds just looked the same to me, and I must admit this was the shade I thought I'd never dare to wear. Somehow, bright orange, or green, or electric blue didn't seem so daring to me. lol

I'll repeat myself - all of a sudden (to my great surprise) I started searching for a perfect red. I couldn't even imagine there are so many different shades of red out there. This is just insane! So freaking difficult to choose!!! :) Now I have 6... lol

Lovely Brooke from Getcha Nails Did tried to help me with my first choice back in March (once again: I know I'm "a little bit" slow :) ). Check her post on reds with shimmers (incl. CG I'm Not Bitter!).

Natural light

Warm tone?

Natural light

Cool tone? (still more on the warm side, right?)

Natural light, flash

Check the fabulous "glow from within" effect!

 Natural light, flash

Note: Pretend you don't see how I manged to ruin my index nail with my Poshe Fast drying top coat which showed the first "signs of aging" when I wore this many in the beginning of May. :)

14 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 36 (not sure) months after opening, made in USA.

From Voodoo That U Do Collection, 2005.

Nail lacquer with hardeners (Kaolin/China clay).
Old formula (contains DBP, Toluene, Formaldehyde resin).

Colour: gorgeous sophisticated cherry red with fine shimmer. It might look warm or cool depending on the lighting.

Finish: shimmer (metallic effect?).

Application: surprisingly smooth application, 2 (or even 1 would do!) coats are enough for a full coverage.

Retail price: 2,5 USD - 10 EUR.

Pros: perfect coverage, pretty bottle, fantastic shade.
Cons: strong smell, old formula (NOT big 3 free!), thin brush, the fact that it's so expensive here!

PS Juicy cherry! Bright, sexy and daring! :)

Any dupes (Big 3 free) for this shade? Preferably from CG, OPI, Essie, Misa, or Color Club. Thank you! :)

China Glaze Peachy Keen. Great Disappointment!

 Sunshine, flash

Sunshine
The closest to what you see irl

 Sunshine
It might look lighter under the bright light, but it's darker irl!

Note: I added a transparent top coat (so it doesn't affect the shade at all) with very  fine shimmer just to make the whole thing look more wearable. :)

14 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 36 months after opening, made in USA.

From Up & Away Collection, 2010.

Nail lacquer with hardeners (Kaolin/China clay).
3 Big free (but contains Formaldehyde resin).

Colour: pastel peachy orange. No hint of pink. And here comes my greatest disappointment - the shade! For some reason I thought it would be a really pretty soft wearable peach. I was wrong! I didn't expect it to be this bright and this orange. It just looks ridiculous on my skin tone. Reminds me of scary dolls. lol FAIL! Btw, it looks lighter in the bottle than on my nails.

Finish: creme, I would call it milky.

Application: a little bit tricky application because the nail polish is on the thick side, 2 coats are enough for a full coverage though. Take your time and work slowly if you don't want to end up with a gloopy mess on your nails. But I made it a gloopy mess with my Poshe fast drying top coat, which suddenly decided to thicken that day. Check that ugly dent on my index finger and imagine how bad it was before I tried to save it with a Maybelline glossy nail color in shade Nr 46 Sugar Crystals. And check what a giant tip wear I've got after only 2-3 days of wear! I mainly blame Poshe for this! Yep, ladies, with all the constant hand washing and house work I usually manage to rock one certain look for around one week! :)

Retail price: 2,5 USD - 10 EUR.

Pros: pretty good coverage, pretty bottle, big 3 free, almost no brush strokes.
Cons: wrong shade! strong smell, the fact that it's so expensive here!

PS I bet it'll look amazing on darker skin tones. Suitable for hot summer days only. :) Not office friendly for sure! IMO though. lol

China Glaze DV8

Natural light, flash

 Sunshine

 Sunshine

 Sunshine

This picture is blurry, but at least you can see those tiny sparkles. :)

Note: For some reason my cuticles look kind of gross in these pictures (especially the last two), they're not that bad looking irl! :) And, in case you're wondering - nope, I absolutely hate cuticle cutting, cuticle pushing rocks! :)

14 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 36 months after opening, made in USA.

From OMG collection, 2009.

Nail lacquer with hardeners (Kaolin/China clay).
3 Big free (and I don't see Formaldehyde resin in the list of ingredients).

Colour: Aquatic turquoise with holographic rainbow shimmer.

Finish: holographic shimmer. Shimmer is so fine that it's better be described as frost-metallic/foil finish.

Application: a little bit tricky application, especially at the very beginning. The first coat was a nightmare. I had a feeling like I was putting a mercury/quicksilver on my nails, not that I've ever tried doing this. lol "Finally" I understood that weird term "cuticle drag". lol I was so upset, I wanted to remove the nail polish immediately, but then I decided to give it a chance (because I just hate removing nail polish! lol), and the 2nd coat saved my mani and the whole day. lol

Retail price: 2,5 USD - 10 EUR.

Pros: cool effect (rainbow! like a mirror!), good coverage, pretty bottle, big 3 free, almost no brush strokes.
Cons: strong smell, "cuticle drag" thingy, the fact that it's so expensive here!

PS To be honest I don't love this shade that much (greenish blue aka aquatic turquoise is not my thing), and it reminds me of those funky holographic gift wraps. :) What I like is that rainbow effect. :) Btw, hubby said it's one of the best blue shades he had ever seen, and he likes it even more than my favourite China Glaze Eyes Like Sapphires! Everyone has his/her own opinion, right? lol

China Glaze Eyes Like Sapphires. MUST HAVE! :)

It's been a while! :) I was away for a week and then was pretty busy with my life (what a saying! lol). But now I'm back! Again! Missed you! :)

Let me present you a MUST HAVE blue! This gem is from my Transdesing order I made in March (yep, I am that slow with updating!). Can't believe I haven't seen this beauty before I accidentally came across it while searching for CG Fairy Dust on Transdesign website. I let my hubby choose between Fairy Dust and Eyes Like Sapphires. You know the outcome, don't you? :)

Sunshine

Direct sunshine

Natural light, flash

Natural light

Note: Because of its finish (and glossy top coat) this nail polish is extremely hard to photograph. It's x times more gorgeous IRL! :)

14 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 36 months after opening, made in USA.

Originally from We Adorn You collection, 2007. As far as I understood from CG brochure this nail polish was reformulated and is now a proud member of CG permanent collection.

Nail lacquer with hardeners (Kaolin/China clay).
3 Big free (but contains Formaldehyde resin). Note: if from a permanent collection.

Colour: It is sort of a more sophisticated (i.e. darker, more mysterious) version of Wild and Crazy Nail Enamel in Super Dooper Blue with some silver glitter added. Magnificent mysterious magic royal blue! Sapphire indeed! :) Gorgeous! No comments! lol

Finish: pearly creme-frost with silver glitter.

Application: a little bit tricky application because the nail polish is on the thick side and the glitter is a little bit too chunky-gritty, 2 coats (or even 1 would do!) are enough for a full coverage though. Take your time and work slowly, and you won't be disappointed. :)

Retail price: 2,5 USD - 10 EUR.

Pros: gorgeous blue, good coverage (1-2 coats!), pretty bottle, big 3 free.
Cons: strong smell, can be gritty (what's the point of that glitter? huh), the fact that it's so expensive here!

PS For some reason it reminds me one blue Lancome nail polish I saw x times in various magazines over a long period of time, but never remembered its name. :/ Ladies, if you like blue nail polishes, this one is a MUST HAVE!!!

PPS This is how I thought OPI DS Fantasy should look like (minus holo of course)! :)

China Glaze Side-Saddle vs Sinful Colors Rich In Heart

Natural light

Check the golden shimmer in the bottle!

 Natural light

Now tell me it's not black? lol

Natural light, flash

I do sparkle!.. in sunshine (or flash) only. lol

 

14 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 36 months after opening, made in USA.

Rodeo Diva Collection, fall 2008.

Nail lacquer with hardeners (Kaolin/China clay).
3 Big free (but contains Formaldehyde resin).

Colour: this colour is strange but still quite pretty. By "strange" I mean that it appears to be dark chocolate with golden shimmer in the bottle, appears deep shimmery burgundy on my nails, and appears (well, actually disappears would be the right word in this case) violet (!) on the cotton ball (during the removal process, obviously)! Strange, isn't it? :) Do you remember my rant from yesterday's post about those "almost black" nail polishes? Here are two of my fails! lol

Finish: shimmer.

Application: pretty average application, because the nail polish is on the thick side, but at least only 2 coats (or even 1 would do!) are enough for a full coverage.

Retail price: 2,5 USD - 11 EUR.

Pros: good coverage (1-2 coats!), pretty bottle, big 3 free.
Cons: difference between what you see in the bottle and what is actually on your nails, brush is too sharp-edged and small (meaning that you have to be extremely careful, or master "clean up" strategy), the fact that it's so expensive here!

PS Don't want to wear plain shimmery black? Check this out! :)

On to the comparison... I was wearing Side-Saddle the other day, when I realised this polish looks very similar to Sinful Colors Rich In Heart, which I bought to "ease my pain" of not getting CG Branding Iron (shimmery dark burgundy).

Natural light, flash

See? I told you, they're almost black, if they seem so dark even with a flash! :)

They look different in the bottles, don't they?

Natural light

Don't they look similar now?

Note: In case you haven't noticed, I'm still wearing CG here, just holding SC bottle. :)

 Artificial light (energy-saving lamp), flash

Sinful Colors Rich In Heart - I took this picture long looong time ago. Hence, the bad quality is here again. :)

Sinful Colors Rich In Heart

15 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 24 months after opening, made in USA.

3 Big and Camphor free.

Colour: deep burgundy shimmer in the black base. Appears almost black most of the time.

Finish: shimmer.

Application: pretty average application, because the nail polish is on the thick side, but at least only 2 coats (or even 1 would do!) are enough for a full coverage.

Retail price: 3,5 EUR.

Pros: good coverage (1-2 coats!), big 3 free.

Cons: pretty strong smell, brush is too sharp-edged and small (meaning that you have to be extremely careful, or master "clean up" strategy), ingredients text colour - black on almost black - are they kidding? lol

PS Don't want to wear plain shimmery black? Check this out! :)
PPS These two look almost completely identical when on the nails. If only I knew they're THIS similar before!!! :) Gotta give it to my friend, who is into heavy metal music. :)

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle (with a little something :) )

Remember my Candy Cane Christmas nails? I decided they were too bright for me, so I chose CG Emerald Sparkle to join the company of the tiny mistletoe (I considered it to be quite modest). :)

Artificial light, flash

Artificial light, flash

Let me introduce you my "fully-emerald sparkled" right hand! :)
Natural light, flash

Natural light. Finally, some decent shot without a flash! Yay!:) Check the warmth (well, it's THIS warm under the certain light) and depth of this green!

Note: My hands are super dry (usual problem in winter!). I'm still on a mission to find my HG hand cream!

14 ml (0,5 oz), exp. date: 36 months after opening, made in USA.

Loves You Snow Much collection. Holiday 2008 (original), re-release in 2009.

Nail lacquer with hardeners (Kaolin/China clay).
Seems to be 3 Big free.

Colour: dark rich green jelly base with a bunch of bright green glitter. It is more of a warm tone green. It indeed looks like a gemstone. It kind of glows from within. And it sparkles! :) Stunning!

Finish: glitter.

Application: pretty smooth application (a little bit runny consistency, but nothing serious), 2 coats is enough for a full coverage.

Retail price: 2,5 USD - 11 EUR.

Pros: gorgeous shade, cute bottle (!), perfect coverage, nice brush (could be rounder though), big 3 free.
Cons: pretty strong smell, a little bit runny consistency, time-consuming removal process (hey, it's GLITTER!) - try foil-cotton ball method, the fact that it's so expensive here!

PS GORGEOUS! A MUST-HAVE, especially if you like GREEN! :)

PPS If the starry night were green (for the unknown reason) it'd look like Emerald Sparkle! lol

Christmas nails

The other day I finally decided to try my nail decoration set (will write about it later) I bought a couple of weeks ago.

Promise not to laugh! :)

 

 

All the colours are shimmery. Hence, they look so washed out. :/ Yep, artificial light and flash again. :)

The inspiration: candy cane and mistletoe (obviously :) ).

What I used:

1. Poshe Fast drying base coat.

2. Mavala Nail color cream in Nr. 49 White (2 coats). Honestly, it's the worst polish I own! Brush strokes are everywhere! And the brush is difficult to "navigate"!

3. IsaDora Wonder Nail Extra long lasting Quick Dry in Nr. 620 Sparkling Diamonds as a top coat (check my review if you're interested) (1 coat).

4. Poshe Fast drying top coat.

5. So called "Dappen dish for color mixing" and 2 different brushes from nail design set.

6. China Glaze Emerald Sparkle - for leaves.

7. Rimmel 60 seconds Vinyl stars nail polish in Nr. 627 Movie Star - for stripes and "berries".

PS No Konad, because I don't have one! lol

All the painting was quite time-consuming, because the polish was drying out VERY quickly (if only it would act like that on my nails! lol) on that "dish", so I had to open-close the bottle quite often. I usually don't spend that much time on doing my nails. :) But I just had to finish this!

It looks so sweet and girly, totally "not me". :) Nevertheless I'm quite pleased with my first attempt, especially with a tiny mistletoe. :) *thinking of something else to try!*

Holographic glittery gothic Skittles nails

What a name I came up with! lol

Actually, it's not a NOTD. It's just me playing with my new toys! :) Couldn't wait to try them out. So, here are my reactions after I tried them on (check the initial reactions on my "8ty8beauty haul Nr.2"):

 

Index - CC Revvvolution is playing the "white skittle" (cause it looks light in my picture): it's a little less holographic (rainbow!) than Wild at Heart, and it's more dark charcoal gray-silver than black! At least to my eyes (energy saving lamps don't help much :) ). It reminded me of OPI Suzi Skis in the Pyrenees Suede version with a top coat. The good thing is I didn't order Suzi, the bad thing is that I want OPI My Private Jet. It seems darker in the pictures. Is it darker and black in a real life? I've heard also that there are two different versions. I'd like to have a holo version. Need to check the retailers... Or maybe I'll just skip it and will enjoy the beauty of this one. :)

Middle - CG Side-Saddle is playing the "red skittle": this colour is strange but still pretty nice! I love it! By "strange" I mean that it appears to be dark chocolate with golden shimmer in a real life, appears deep shimmery burgundy on my crappy pictures (still figuring out how to use that macro thing and artificial light... imagining my hubby's face when I'll ask him how to properly use those functions... for taking pictures of my nails... lol), and finally it appears (well, actually disappears would be the right word in this case) violet (!) on the cotton ball (during the removal process, obviously)!

Ring - CG Emerald Sparkle is playing the "green skittle": now I see the dark green base under all that amount of green glitter in my bottle! This is the most gorgeous green nail polish I've came across (not that I saw loads in a real life...)! I now totally understand Scrangie's "back up" thingy! :) I was thinking of ordering Nubar Greener, but now I can't decide wheather I need 3 deep greens... I already had one deep green Wet'n'Wild Erie (check my review) polish prior to CG...

Pinkie - CC Wild at Heart is playing the "purple skittle": I'm not really a fan of bright purples, but this one is just AWESOME! No comments! :)

Common WOWs: cute bottles, nice brushes, smooth application (CG Side-Saddle has a little bit runny consistency though, but is still manageable). I love all these shades! They're all so different from each other and I love them all equally! Hmmm... Emerald Sparkle a little bit more, but don't tell the others! :)

PS And! These are my first ever China Glaze, Color Club, holographic and intense glitter polishes! Man, I need more! lol

PPS It's our giant lemon tree on the background. She is beautiful. :)

PPPS My hands look SOOO dry because they just hate cold weather! :/

8ty8beauty haul Nr. 2

What a day!

We still have a green winter here! It's a little below 0C but it's not yet that bad. I can deal with it. :) I was so surprised to see the sun today! But then "suddenly" I remembered that I didn't wear any nail polish, meaning I couldn't be able to make a decent picture... again. lol

Five minutes later I was almost ready to leave the house when the door bell rang. Postman!!! With my 8ty8beauty haul! I decided to stay at home for 10 more minutes. I ripped the paper off, grabbed my camera, arranged "the set"... And guess what? Yep, my battery died after the first shot! Man, I'm "lucky" today... lol

Anyhow, I'm VERY excited! These are my first products from China Glaze, Color Club and Poshe. Can't wait to try these babies!

As you've probably seen all these famous polishes for xxx-times and you have the idea of what they look like, pretend you can recognise them from my crappy picture. lol

Can't recognise? Ok, here they are (as a bonus - my initial reactions):

From left to right:

China Glaze Side-Saddle: dark chocolate brown with golden shimmer. Pretty, but I expected it to be more of a burgundy undertone.

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle: green shimmer. WOW! WOW! WOW! It is SO GREEN (no bluey undertone, the original version?)! And it seems that my bottle is FULL of the gorgeous green shimmer (I can hardly see the base - dark green polish!)! I think I found a new love! Speechless! :) Sparkling Christmas tree! :)

Color Club Revvvolution: gray-black holographic shimmer. Interesting colour! Not that holographic as Wild at Heart (yep, no sun here again). I heart the bottle! So cute! :)

Color Club Wild at Heart: purple holographic shimmer. Pretty! I'm so happy it's a bright purple. I was afraid it could be very dark and "sparkle in sunshine" only (check the story about OPI DS Fantasy).

Poshe Super-fast drying base coat

Poshe Super-fast drying top coat

Here is my second attempt, several minutes ago (artificial light):

From left to right: CC Wild at Heart, CC Revvvolution, CG Emerald Sparkle (it looks brighter and warmer in a real life), CG Side-Saddle, Poshe top coat, Poshe base coat

PS This time 8ty8beauty were not that fast (took almost 3 weeks just because they forgot to inform me that one of the polishes was OOS and I had to replace it with another one!), but it was worth the wait! :)