China Glaze Mistletoe Kisses

Christmas is almost here! It's my favorite holiday by far. I love everything about it. So it's only appropriate that I show a holiday polish today. I have Mistletoe Kisses from China Glaze's 2010 collection, 'Tis The Season To Be Naughty And Nice.

It was my first time using Mistletoe Kisses and I must say, I love it. It's a beautiful silvery green glitter in a tinted green base. It's not dark like most greens I've seen released during the holidays, but it's still perfect for Christmas.

This beauty is a full coverage glitter, so only three coats were needed. It was mainly opaque by the second but some bald spots were showing. The formula was also really great, not too thick or runny. It dried fairly fast and it wasn't very gritty when it did. One coat of top coat was all I needed to make it completely smooth.

I'm so glad I didn't wait any longer to wear Mistletoe Kisses! It's a great polish for the holidays. I recently got the new China Glaze holiday polishes, so look out for those in future posts!

Sinful Colors Neptune

When Sinful Colors put out their Cast Away collection this year, I was excited. It was nice to see new colors since most of their "collections" re-promote their core line. I ended up getting Zeus and the one I'm showing today, Neptune.

Neptune is a denim blue packed with gorgeous silver fleck like shimmer. I really, really love it. It's beautiful and has definitely become a favorite blue.

The formula was so awesome. It applied easily and only two coats were needed for opacity. It has great quality and you don't have to break the bank for it, which I love. Literally the only downside was the clean up which took some extra time since it's so saturated.

I'm very satisfied with Neptune! It's a fantastic blue that doesn't disappoint one bit.

Revlon Gold Get 'Em

There are numerous polishes in my stash that I've had for at least a year or two but have yet to actually wear them. Today's post is going to highlight one of those neglected polishes. It's Revlon Gold Get 'Em, one that I got in the beginning of my newly found interest in polish.

Gold Get 'Em is a pale, shimmery gold. It actually took some time for me to warm up to it. At first I liked it more in the bottle than on me. I may not be in love with it now, but I do like it. It has pretty shimmer that is gorgeous in sunlight. I'm thinking it would probably look better layered over other polishes.

The formula wasn't bad, but it was runny. Application was still somewhat easy. The sheerness bugged me, as it still wasn't totally opaque at three coats. I wasn't very patient between coats, so the drying time wasn't great.

Overall, Gold Get 'Em is pretty but I think it would be better served layered over golds and darker polishes. I'll have to try that next time when I decide to wear it.

Icing Hey Sailor Boy

I feel so bad for neglecting my blog. I've been on an unexpected hiatus because of personal issues but things are better now. I do miss blogging. For my first post back I have Icing Hey Sailor Boy to show you.

Hey Sailor Boy consists of blue and green hexes and small blue glitter in a dark blue base. It looks similar to the popular Deborah Lippmann Across the Universe, but they're not exact dupes of each other. HSB seems to be more dense and not as dark.

Instead of layering it, I wear it alone. This is three coats. All of them dried fairly fast. It was really easy to work with, not too thin or thick. Clean up was the hardest part because of all of the glitter.

I love Hey Sailor Boy. I really want Across the Universe, but this one is satisfying my lemming for now. If you have an Icing store near you, I definitely recommend it.

Creme Brulee Surprize

I finally just got over a cold and have also been feeling the blues on top of that, so I haven't had energy to post, but today I have an indie. It's Creme Brulee Surprize (not a typo),  from the awesome site, Copious. The only info I had was that the seller bought it from a blog sale and it came from an indie store on Etsy. I only had 10 minutes before my credit was to expire and it was the only polish that caught my eye so I took a gamble on it.

I love creme brulee, so I adore the name. As for the brand, I think it's Naild'it Unique. Same bottle, cute hand written label as older bottles, and spelling but the color confuses me. In the purchase history there seems to be an older version of this polish, which is no longer available. It looks like mine but I'm not sure. The newest and only one now has the same kind of glitter as mine but in a sheerer pink base. See? Confusing. I'm not sure what the deal is.

It might make me feel better to here what some of you have to say so here are links to bottle shots if you want to check it out. Newest on top, oldest on bottom:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/98519220/creme-brulee-sur-prize-custom-blended
http://www.etsy.com/transaction/81687544

Anyways, it was thick but easy to apply. I only needed two coats for opacity. It dried faster than I expected and was self leveling. It had downsides though. First off I had to give it a vigorous shake to try to break up the glitter against the sides. Secondly and sadly, the glitter got lost in the base. I wish it was more obvious.

I don't absolutely love Creme Brulee Surprize as I had hoped, but I still like it. The shade of nude is pretty but if the base was sheerer and the glitter was more obvious, it would have been love for me. I'm still glad I took the chance on it.

My birthday mani!

Today is my 22nd birthday! So far it feels like any other day. I don't have extravagant plans, but I am going to dinner with my family tonight, so that should be nice. I wanted to wear something cute and girly on my nails today, so I chose China Glaze Naked.

Naked was my first China Glaze ever and the first polish I bought when I started to fall in love with the stuff, not to mention my first "professional" brand, so it's special to me. Coming from a person that doesn't like pink polish THAT much, I absolutely love it! It's a barbie pink that I find flattering on me. I also love how bright it is and the shimmer is absolutely gorgeous!

I've used it before, so the bottle is running low and it's getting kind of thick. What's weird is that it didn't seem thick at all when I shook it or it was on the brush, but once I put it on, it was. It wasn't self leveling, but uneven. The thickness made the drying time longer. It was also sheer, so three coats was a must, plus top coat.

Overall, I love Naked! I will definitely think about buying a new bottle once I run out. I mighttt add some glitter to it, but I'm undecided about which to go with!

Liebster Award!

About two weeks ago I was given the Liebster Award by blogger, Addicted To OPI-Yum. These are always fun to do, so I finally took the time to answer all of the questions.

 


11 Facts About Me:

1. My middle name is Lynn.
2. I'm going to be 22 years old on September 7th. 
3. My first nail polish after being bitten with the nail polish bug in 2010 was China Glaze Naked.
4. My favorite television show is Supernatural. It's so much different than any other show I've seen. Lately, I've been watching reruns of the older seasons practically every day!
5. Orchids are my favorite flowers, along with cherry blossoms.
6. Currently I'm reading the book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
7. The last movie I saw in theaters was The Amazing Spider-Man.
8. I love chocolate covered honeycomb. 
9. My favorite sport is hockey and my team is, The Los Angeles Kings.
10. I've been fortunate to never have broken a bone.
11. The polish color that I have the least of is red.

Questions:

1. When and why did you start blogging? It was late 2011, November, I think. I had been visiting other nail polish blogs for a while before that and they helped fuel my interest. They got me hooked and eventually I decided I wanted/needed a way to share my passion with other people who felt the same way, so I created my blog. It's been a fun experience so far.

2. How many bottles of nail polish do you own? My stash is fairly "small" at around 200 something bottles.

3. What color do you have the most of in your collection? Blue!

4. What is your first memory of nail polish? During my middle school and high year school years, my younger sister and me would go to the 99 Cent Store and we would buy nail polish, especially Revlon. It's where I got a lot of my oldie Street Wear's from!

5. What do your friends/family think of your hobby? My family sort of knows about it, but I don't really talk about it and they don't ask me about it. I'm okay with that! I like having this all to myself and plus, I don't think they would really understand.

6. What are your hobbies other than blogging? I LOVE to write and read. I also really love to draw. I've always liked drawing but my art classes that I took in middle school got me super interested.

7. What's your favorite nail polish color? Hm, that's hard. There's so many amazing poilshes, but Color Club Wild at Heart is one of them. It's the first one that I really fell hard for.

8. What would be your dream nail polish? That's hard too! I'm in love with blue starry night sky polishes, so maybe a cosmic looking one.

9. What is something you love, but everyone else hates? I really don't know, but maybe Chocolate Covered Edamame Beans from Trader Joes. I'm the only person in my family that likes them. They may sound weird, but they're really good!

10. What trends do you love? To be honest, I don't really pay attention to the trends going around.

11. What trends do you hate? Same answer as #10.

Honestly, I don't know who to tag and don't feel much like doing it. So, I'm going to cheat and give this to anyone who wants to do it. Knock yourself out! 

Color Club Foil Me Once

I decided to paint my nails late last night and I wanted to use something easy to work with and that would dry fast. It's the reason behind my decision to go with Color Club Foil Me Once, from last years Foiled collection.

Foil Me Once is a light pink foil. There's not much else to say about it, so I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Like most foils, it was easy to work with and it didn't give me any problems at all. It only took two coats to be opaque, but it was almost good at one. The drying time was just as great.

Taken yesterday in poor sunlight and without topcoat:

Pinks aren't my favorite so I'm not totally crazy about it, but it's still pretty. If you love pink polish and love foil finishes, Foil Me Once is perfect for you.

Revlon Mistletoe

Sorry about not posting frequently! Today I Revlon Mistletoe, a polish released last Christmas and I'm only now wearing it. I had a $2 off coupon through Target, so I picked it up a couple of months ago.

It's a blackened green shimmer with golden flecks. It's not your typical green, especially one you would associate with Christmas. I love that it's versatile, but unique too. The only polish I can really think of that comes close to it is Zoya Edyta but they're different enough to warrant owning both.

It was very easy work with. It was thick but in a good way. It was nearly a one coater! I only needed a second for a few bald spots. The drying time was average, even though it claims to have "Top Speed" drying.

Shade:

I wouldn't say that I'm super in love with Mistletoe but it's beautiful and I have nothing like it, so it's a welcomed addition in my collection.

Icing I Like the Nightlife

I wanted to post this earlier, but I've been so busy. My 5 year old niece, who is like a daughter to me, started Kindergarten on Wednesday, I went to a water park later in the day, I was in the car with my family all day yesterday and visited my newborn cousin. Today I can finally show I Like the Nightlife, another Icing beauty that I recently picked up while at the mall.

It's a unique blue with purple pink glitter/shimmer and it's so pretty! Unfortunately it was hard to capture when taking pictures. It's much more noticeable in person.

It chipped which is annoying. I also didn't realize my cuticles were dry, sorry.

 
The formula was okay. Due to the glitter, it would sometimes get a little chunky during application, especially if I didn't work fast enough with it. It was easy to work with for the most part though. It was very sheer on the first coat, but it was fine on the third. I recommend top coat with it, it's much better with it.

I really love seeing unique polishes like I Like Nightlife and not having to pay big money for it either. Blue lovers, this one is for you!

NYX Gilded Glitter

I went to the mall on Thursday and at Sephora I sampled the Sephora by OPI 18K Gold Top Coat. It's pretty but I don't know if I could bring myself to spend $30 on a bottle of nail polish. Instead, I took home one of my first NYX that I found in a clothing store for $1.99, Gilded Glitter. It's a cheap, alternative version of the OPI and while it's not made of real gold, nor is it a dupe, it's good enough for me. I layered it over Sinful Colors Rise and Shine.

I absolutely love how it looks! The effect is amazing. It really adds something special. It's slightly tinted so it changed the look of my base, but I don't mind that much. While it can't compare to the look of the real gold in the OPI, it's still beautiful.

It was a tad thick, but easy to work with. It was dense enough at one coat, but I wanted to use a second. The pieces lay smooth and there was hardly any texture at all, but some random pieces stuck out. One coat of top coat took care of that.

In the shade:

I'm in love with Gilded Glitter! It's really awesome. I can see myself using it a lot in the future. It's a good option for anyone who wants a gold flake polish but don't care if it's not the real thing and don't want to spend a lot of money either.

Sinful Colors Rise and Shine

Today I have Sinful Colors Rise and Shine. After putting it on, I remembered the drama surrounding the brand a few weeks ago. I don't condone what they did, but I'm glad that they apologized and owned up to their mistake. Regardless of what happened, I still love them. I've had Rise and Shine for a while, but never took the time to wear. I'm so glad I finally did!

 
It's a blue/green teal polish with fine silver shimmer. It's really bright and vivid, but it's not a neon. It goes on creamy but it dries with a satiny, matte finish. It was kind of hard to photograph correctly. It's not exactly color accurate. It's darker and more vibrant in person.

It was super easy to work with and it was nearly opaque in one coat, but a second was needed. The drying time was some what fast. As pretty as it was as a matte, it's so much better with top coat!

 Here it is as a matte:

I absolutely love Rise and Shine! I think it's a must need from Sinful Colors.

Milani 3D

The only time I've ever purchased an entire collection were the Milani 3D Holographic polishes, which consisted of 6 shades. It was the first time I saw holos in person and their $4 price tempted me, so a few trips to Target later, I had them all. Today I'm showing you the only one I haven't worn yet, Milani 3D.

3D is a warm gold with scattered holographic particles. I think it's beautiful, but I don't know if I absolutely love it. I think it's just because I hardly ever wear golds and only have one other besides this one, so I'm not sure if I like it on me. The holographic effect, which is more of a holographic sparkle, is the weakest of the collection but it's still very gorgeous!

The formula was great, but that wasn't much of a surprise. I've never had any problems with the other ones. The consistency is thin, so it was sheer at first but it built up nicely in three coats. The drying time was also pretty fast. No top coat was used.

Overall, 3D is my least favorite in the collection, but I still really like it. I'm not head over heels in love with it, but maybe it'll grow on me. If any of you like this one, it can be found, along with the rest on the website, Cherry Culture.

GlitterDaze B.A.M.F. AKA My First Indie

I recently got my first indie polish! I basically joined Copious, a site that is like eBay but there's no bidding and you don't need PayPal. I got $20 credit when I joined and that's how I got GlitterDaze B.A.M.F., the indie in question that I was lucky to find. It was pretty much free with my credit, minus the one penny that Copious charges. It's the glitter I layered over Essie Coat Azure, so let's take a look!

GlitterDaze is normally sold through Etsy and their new collection is The Bad Girl, which B.A.M.F. is apart of. I was able to get a full size 12ml bottle. The meaning of the name is pretty obvious and I absolutely love it! As described on GlitterDaze's blogspot, B.A.M.F. consists of "purple, silver, royal blue, and fuchsia shredded glitter as well as various shaped silver and gunmetal glitters, and holographic silver bar glitter." There's a lot going on and it's so pretty!

Application was a bit tricky. It was hard to get some of the glitter out, mainly the hexagons and the holographic bar glitter. A little fishing was required. The first coat was sparse, so I needed a second and had to dab some bald areas after that. I really didn't mind to be honest. I used two coats of top coat.

It's still gorgeous in the shade! 

I'm so happy with B.A.M.F.! I can now say that I've been bitten with the Indie Polish Fever!

Here's an invite if you want to join!

https://copious.com/invites/500c7ecb6058f1130700a121

By the way, my mom let me use her Facebook for Copious since I don't have one, so just know that it's her Facebook profile and not mine. Happy shopping if you decide to join!

Essie Coat Azure

I actually only own one Essie polish and it's Coat Azure from the A French Affair collection from last spring. It's a sky blue that is a little darker than most and it's packed with silver shimmer.

I'm planning to use it as a base for a glitter that I'll be wearing soon, but it was just too pretty not to show by itself. I absolutely adore it! It's perfect for summer. The shimmer is gorgeous as well and it makes it that much more special.

I had no problems with it. It had good coverage on the first coat, albeit a tad streaky, but a second was perfect. The drying time wasn't too bad either. I hardly had any clean up at all, which is awesome.

I'm so glad I have Coat Azure! It's not only beautiful, but easy to work with. Now I need to work on getting more Essie's in my stash!

Icing Radio Superstar

I have a polish coming to me in the mail in a few days that I'm very excited to wear, so today I wanted to keep it simple. I decided to layer Icing Radio Superstar, a mixture of fine sugar like blue glitter, larger fuchsia hexagon glitter, and silver stars over my current mani, Orly After Party.

It's such a fun polish! I really love the contrast between the blue and the fuchsia glitter. They are perfect together. The stars are a cute touch and add something special. I purposely placed them myself and I love how it looks. The one on my ring finger was stubborn and didn't want to move down.

It was kind of thick but easy to work with. It didn't take very long to dry though. It smoothed out quickly. The fuchsia glitter was sparse on the first coat, but it was fine by the second, and I had to place the stars where I wanted but it wasn't hard. I also had to give it a good shake since all of the stars wanted to settle at the bottom. I used two coats of top coat to make it smooth.

Here it is in the shade:

I love Radio Superstar! I'm sure it would look amazing over a blue, pink, and even a purple base!