China Glaze Graffiti Glitter & China Glaze It's Alive

Yesterday, I was getting bored with my current China Glaze It's Alive mani and wanted a new look, but I wasn't quite ready to take off polish that didn't have any chips. Naturally I started digging through my glitters. My goal was to create a look that could be worn for Halloween, but also any day of the year. I settled on my unused bottle of China Glaze Graffiti Glitter. Here are the results!

Here is one coat of China Glaze Graffiti Glitter layered over China Glaze It's Alive. It's a simple glitter, with just green hex glitter and black bar glitter. I'm so in love with the look I created! Graffiti Glitter looks so much better on It's Alive than I expected it to. I think it's kind of perfect for Halloween but in a unique way. I love how the black and green glitters pop. Obviously the green glitters in both polishes don't perfectly match but I think they end up complimenting each other. I topped off everything with one coat of Gelous and one coat of my Orly top coat.

I'm so happy I made the decision to use China Glaze Graffiti Glitter. I love that I was able to create a totally new look with just one polish. That is one of the many reasons why I'll forever love glitter.

OPI Stay The Night

I must admit, I wasn't completely convinced by the liquid sand/textured polish craze that has been taking over. I saw swatches of different collections featuring the new trend and I was neutral about it. Still, I wanted try it to see for myself. To test the waters, I chose two OPI Liquid Sand polishes and after a quick swatch on my nails, I fell in love! Today I'm showing you my first pick, OPI Stay The Night.

Stay The Night is a black matted base with red glitter. Being a Liquid Sand, it's grainy and it sparkles like sand. I've seen this one described as looking like molten lava and I must say that is pretty accurate. It's super pretty to look at. The texture isn't nearly rough as I thought it would be. I actually like it. The most surprising thing about this polish? Removal is SO easy and hassle free! I expected it to be a pain but I was so wrong. It didn't involve any elbow grease and it removed so much easier than a glitter. I needed three coats. It dried faster than some polishes I have used but it took a good while until it was completely hardened.

It's settled, I'm in love with Liquid Sand! I'm so glad I gave it a chance. Stay The Night is one that I recommend. I can't wait to show you the other one I got in my next post. In the mean time, I'm hoping to get my hands on even more colors!

Hard Candy Sugar Rush & Jelly Bean Blue

Today I have more of the Hard Candy Candy Sprinkles polishes to share! This time the colors I paired together are Sugar Rush and Jelly Bean Blue.

Sugar Rush is a white polish packed with black and silver glitter. It totally reminds me of Cookies & Cream ice cream. Jelly Bean Blue is a light blue base with blue and black glitter. I love both of them!

As with the two other polishes from the Candy Sprinkles line that I've worn, these ones were easy to apply, fast drying, and I was able to reach opacity in just two coats. I only needed two coats of top coat to make them smooth.

I have yet to be disappointed with the Candy Sprinkles polishes! If you want them for yourself, all 9 shades are available at Walmart and retail for around $4.

Hard Candy Gummy Green & Cocoa Smore

Some of you might already be aware that the brand Hard Candy, which is available at Walmart, has released 45 new polishes! I recently picked up 9 of them. Six are from the Candy Sprinkles collection, which I'm crazy about. They're very similar to the Nails Inc Sprinkles Lane collection, but they're only $3.97, compared to $9.50, and they offer a wider range of colors. Nails Inc does offer more product at 0.33 oz, while Hard Candy is only 0.26 oz. I can deal with that. I wanted to conserve what I have, so I paired two colors together. Here is one of my favorites, Gummy Green, and Cocoa Smore (Nails Inc. Sugar House Lane dupe).

Gummy Green is a mint base with black and silver glitter. Doesn't it make you think of mint chip ice cream? Cocoa Smore is a brown base with black and silver glitter. It definitely makes me think of chocolate. I love the two together.

When I saw the press release, I assumed the Candy Sprinkles polishes were going to be top coats, but I can happily say that they're not! Both were opaque at two coats and fast drying. They were a little gritty when dried but top coat fixed that.

Are you loving these Sprinkles polishes as much as I am? I'm assuming the others are just as awesome, I can't wait to wear them. I'm not sure if this collection, or the others, are limited edition, so don't hesitate to get them!

Pure Ice Private Show (Butter London The Black Knight dupe)

Pure Ice recently released 29 new polishes to their line and there's a lot of glitters in that mix. Just the other day I picked up three of them, one of which I'm showing you today. It's Private Show, a mix of multicolored glitter in a black base.
 

And yes, Private Show is a Butter London The Black Knight dupe. This is perfect for me because I've been lemming after The Black Knight for a while. I just haven't been able to bring myself to spend $14. However, a $1.97 is very doable.

Formula wise, it's good. Sometimes you get what you pay for, but in this case, you get good quality. I have actually never had a problem with my other Pure Ice polishes. This was two easy coats and two coats of top coat.

I'm really happy with Private Show. It's gorgeous and it doesn't make my wallet sad. I'd suggest picking it up while you can because I'm not sure if it's a permanent color in the Pure Ice line. You can find it at Walmart.

Orly After Party

Today I have Orly After Party, a black polish loaded with blue and pink shimmer, from the Feel the Vibes collection. It's an oddball for summer, but it's beautiful, so who cares? I bought it at Sally Beauty during their extra 50% off red tag clearance sale for only $2. Let's take a look at this beauty!

The blue and pink shimmer is still obvious when on the nails, but it's more intense in the bottle. However, it doesn't disappoint. It's still very pretty. Even though it's black, it appears blue/purple tinted because of all the shimmer. It's very interesting and I found myself staring at it a lot. It's one you have to see in person, it's so much better.

It was a dream to work with! It was a little gritty and thick, but it didn't affect application one bit. It was actually a good thing, since it was almost opaque in one coat. I needed a second to cover the small amount of bald spots that I had. It dried some what matte, so top coat was necessary.

I love After Party! I'm not sure how how unique it is, but in my stash, it is. Behind my Orly Cosmix FX polishes, it might be my favorite from the brand.

Icing Witch's Brew

Yes, another Icing polish. I can't help it! I love them. Months ago I posted a black polish with red glitter from Icing called Vampire's Blood. Today I have its blue equivalent and the first Icing polish I ever bought, Witch's Brew. It reminds me of the deep sea or a starry night sky.

The base is a black, more of a jelly than a cream, with tiny blue and green glitter. Having both colors makes it a little more complex. Sometimes one color will flash and other times, both will. I can't stop staring at my nails because of it. I definitely think it's one you have to see in person to fully understand how beautiful it is.

I love how it looks on my nails! It's so much better than my swatch of Vampire's Blood, which I wore on much longer nails.

Application was a breeze! It was so easy to work with. I only needed two coats for opacity. It dried super fast and was left with a dull satiny, bumpy texture when it did. Top coat was a must need to make it shine.

Witch's Brew might not be the most unique polish out there, but it's still very pretty. It was released last year for Halloween, so it might be harder to find in Icing stores but I've seen random bottles hanging around, so it doesn't hurt to look. Have a great weekend!

Icing Vampire's Blood

I was busy last week, so I'm sorry about the lack of posts! Today I have Vampire's Blood, a polish I got at Icing when I went to the mall with a friend on Tuesday. I wanted it last time I went to Icing, but I was trying to save money. This time there was a BOGO sale, so I couldn't pass it up! I'm glad I have Vampire's Blood now!

First off, I love the name of it, because I love vampires! Aside from Twilight, I use to watch a ton of Buffy and Angel during my high school years, and I love the movie, Interview with the Vampire. As for the color, I love it, even if it's not complex or unique. It's a black base with magenta or fuchsia micro-glitter. Because the glitter is small and blends into the base, the black looks tinted, but it's really not. My mom described it as "black cherry." The formula was good too! I used two coats and they dried fast. It dried flat and a tad bumpy, but one coat of top coat made it smooth and it looks way better with it!

Pictures! These were taken today, so almost after a full day of wear. The first two are in the sun, with one close up to show the glitter and the last one is in the shade to highlight the glitter too. Sorry for the blurriness and the glare!

I haven't worn an Icing polish before, so I'm not sure how well Vampire's Blood will hold up, but I was on a site where many people deemed the brand as crap based off it's cheap price alone. In my opinion the idea of "if it's cheap, it must suck" isn't always true. Brands like Milani and Color Club aren't expensive and are great quality. Icing polishes can cost anywhere from $4-8, which I wouldn't call super cheap. I love the colors they offer and even if they're no OPI or China Glaze, I think it's worth it to try them out. So far there's no chips or shrinkage.

If you're looking to buy some Icing polishes for the first time, I obviously recommend Vampire's Blood, but also, Witches Brew, Pop a Bottle, and Epic Winning to name a few!

Hockey Nails!

Before I get into the nails, here's my experience! Monday night, I went to my first hockey game for the Los Angeles Kings with my dad and it was so much fun! My dad's always loved them, but I only started really getting into hockey and seriously watching games two years ago. I've grown to love the Kings, so it was cool to be able to go to a game to experience that! It's so different from watching it on television. I've only been to Dodger baseball games most of my life, but I think I like hockey more. It's just way more intense and has way more action with players falling, players knocking into each other, and fights, which there were three of last night, and of course the moment when your team scores a goal! You also have to pay attention because if you look away, you'll miss something since it's busy on the ice. Overall, it was a great game! They won 5-2, which was awesome! I have a few favorite players on the team and if you're familiar with them you might know who Dustin Brown is. He's not only the captain, but my number one favorite, so I was pretty excited that I got to take home a blanket with his face on it haha! Now onto the nails!

I don't own anything Kings related, so I just wore black but I also represented them with my nails since it's an easy form of expression. I'm not experienced at nail art, so my nails aren't necessarily hockey related with pucks, sticks, or logos. Instead the Kings jersey colors were my inspiration. Sometimes the colors they wear depend on the game, but on Monday they wore my personal favorite, their jerseys with predominantly black, white, and silver. I love how sleek they look!

I used Color Club Revvvolution as my base. It was my first time wearing it and I love it! It's very opaque! I could have gotten away with one coat, but I needed another for some bald spots. The rainbow effect isn't super strong, but still pretty! I painted tips with China Glaze Cheers To You, with the help of my manicure strips. I've worn it before and there's no complaints. It goes on opaque and dries fast. I wanted to use white polish to write the numbers of my favorite players which are in white on the jerseys, but I lacked the tools. I still like the way they turned out! I was in a rush toward the end, but I hope that's not too obvious.

Pictures! The first one is in the shade, the rest are in the sun. Oh, and try to ignore that random silver mark! 

 

 

My nails don't scream hockey, but I felt like I paid tribute to the Kings in my own special way! Now that I've gone to my first Kings game, I hope to be able to go to plenty more and maybe I'll come up with new manicure ideas! Thanks for checking this out!