China Glaze Fancy Pants and Scattered & Tattered

PRESS SAMPLES

   Happy Friday everyone!  I hope you all have fun plans for the weekend.  Today I'm bringing you the last of my China Glaze Avant Garden and Glitz collection swatches.

   Fancy Pants is a blurple polish with a pink shimmer.  The base is mostly purple with strong hints of blue.  Application was good and the formula wasn't as runny as Sunday Funday.  The hubby actually liked this color which gives it bonus points in my book.  You do need a top coat with this one.  The polish dries a bit matte/not as shiny as the rest of the collection.  I used 2 coats of polish over Finger Paints base coat.  I did not use a top coat in these photos.

 Direct Sun

Indoor with Flash

   Scattered & Tattered is a red and black glitter mix from the Glitz collection.  The glitter mix is the same as the rest of the collection.  The formula is on the thicker side like Razzle Me, Dazzle Me.  This is another one that needs thinner before use.  Also like the rest of the collection, a dabbing method of application will give you the best results.  I used one coat over Fancy Pants and no top coat in the following photos.

Direct Sun

Indoor Natural Light

Indoor with Flash

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the company for consideration.

Nuance Rococo Red

   Is it really February already?  I feel like I still haven't fully gotten my days and schedule back on track from my surgery and recovery.  Today I have a polish from a new line for you.  The Nuance by Salma Hayek cosmetic line has been around for almost 2 years now at CVS.  But they just introduced a collection of nail polishes with the new Nail HQ at CVS.  

   Rococo Red is a red creme somewhere between berry and brick.  The color varies a bit on what type of lighting you are in.  The brush is rather wide, like the OPI Pro-wide brushes- I swear one day I will get the hang of these.  Formula and application were both good and didn't give me any issues.  I forgot to write down how many coats I used, but I want to say it was 2.  I used Finger Paints base coat and no top coat in the following photos.

Direct Sun

Indoor Natural Light

Indoor with Flash

   Rococo Red is a nice shade of red, but nothing really unique.  Though I think it would make a great Valentine's mani.  I do like the bottle shape quite a bit.  It's nice a sturdy and doesn't feel like it's going to fall over.  I also think the flower design on the cap is pretty.  I'm curious to see future releases from the collection.  The initial release is a nice set of basic colors and finishes, but nothing that really stood out to me.  So I'm hoping that will change in the future.

Disclaimer:  The product(s) in this post were sent to me for consideration.

Zoya Diva Collection Part 1

   Hello my lovelies!  I am feeling much better, and bored out of my mind sitting at home all day aside from a couple doctors appointments.  I know these swatches are a little late, but I wanted to make sure I got them up for you all before the Zoya sale ends.  I'll put up a quick info post on that soon too if you haven't heard about it yet.  
   The Diva collection for Fall 2012 contains 6 polishes that are a mixture of shimmers and micro glitters.  All swatches are over Finger Paints base coat and have no top coat.

Elisa

   Elisa is a vibrant Christmas-y red shimmer.  I used 2 coats for these photos, but I'm not sure the 2nd was necessary.  It darkened the polish a bit, but didn't really add much opacity wise.  My brush feels a little off- almost mop-like- but even with that application was very smooth and the formula was great.

Direct Sun

Indoor Natural Light

Indoor with Flash

Suri

   Suri is a blue-based royal purple shimmer.  Royal is a good description because when I look at this polish I think monarchs and throne rooms and all that stuff.  The formula feels a little runny and  tends to catch on the brush bristles so make sure you wipe your brush down well.  This is 2 coats.

Direct Sun

Indoor Natural Light

Indoor with Flash

Song

   Song is a very vibrant sapphire blue shimmer.  The formula was a little runny again and if you go over an area you've already polished it can drag some.  Just wait a little longer between coats and you shouldn't have too much issue with that.  Dry time was longer than normal as well.  You might want to double up on the base coat as this one does have staining potential.  I used 2 coats for these swatches.

Direct Sun

Indoor Natural Light

Indoor with Flash

   All three of these polishes are very lovely, but Song is my favorite of them.  What about all of you?  Which is your favorite?  Anyone try any of these yet?

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the company for consideration.

Holiday 2012 Holographic Polish Comparisons

   Merry Christmas everyone.   Happy Tuesday or Movie and Chinese Food Day to everyone not celebrating.  Today I just have a quick comparison of a couple holographic polishes that have come out this season, and one older polish, for you.  

   For this comparison I used 2 coats of each polish over Finger Paints base coat and no top coat.  The polishes are Zoya Blaze on my thumb, Orly Miss Conduct on my index finger, OPI DS Extravagance on my middle finger, Zoya Aurora on my ring finger, and Color Club Gift of Sparkle on my pinky.  I noticed no significant difference in application or formula between the Zoyas, OPI, and Orly.  The Color Club was a bit thicker because of the glitter particles.

Direct Sun

Indoor Natural Light

   As you can see, there are similarities in color, but no dupes.  I'd say Aurora and Gift of Sparkle are the closest color wise.  Do you need all 5 of these?  Maybe not, but they are definitely different enough to justify buying all of them if you like all 5.

Disclaimer:  Some of the products in this post were sent to me for consideration.

Zoya Ornate Collection Part 1- The Holos

   I've been sitting here staring at my screen for the last few minutes with absolutely no idea what to write.  The fact that I can barely remember what day it is, and that I might be coming down with a cold, probably has something to do with this.  I'm looking forward to Christmas tomorrow mostly to have a day off.  And a day off where I don't have to feel guilty about not doing chores, or anything else if I don't want to.  So please forgive me if my posts are very short this week, but the retail world is rather exhausting this time of year.
   The Zoya Ornate collection for Holiday 2012 consists of 6 polishes.  Today I have the three holographic polishes for you.  The formula and application for all three of these was excellent.  I used Finger Paints base coat and no top coat for all swatches.

Aurora

   Aurora is a red-based purple base with scattered holo particles.  This one is the strongest holo.  This is 3 coats.

Direct Sun

Indoor Natural Light

Indoor with Flash

Blaze

   Blaze is a cranberry base with scattered holo particles.  The holo is not as strong as Aurora, but still very noticeable.  This is 2 coats.

Direct Sun

Indoor Natural Light

Indoor with Flash

Storm

   Storm is a black base with scattered holo.  This is the weakest holo of the three in my opinion.  I felt like the holo was trying to hide a bit unless my nails were directly in strong light.  This is 2 coats.

Direct Sun

Indoor Natural Light

Indoor with Flash

   I really liked Blaze and Storm and loved Aurora.  I would recommend all three, but if you can only get one, I'd make it Aurora.

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were sent to me by the company for consideration.

China Glaze Holiday Joy Swatches and Review

   It's officially one week until Christmas.  Has everyone finished their shopping?  If you're celebrating or giving gifts that is.  In celebration, today I have 5 of the new China Glaze Holiday Joy polishes for you.  
   Sadly, I do not have any direct sun shots of these polishes though.  I swear the only time the sun has been out in the last few weeks around here is when I've been at work or had an appointment.  But I wanted to get these up for you before Christmas so instead of my normal direct sun and indoor with natural light photos I did outdoor photos in natural overcast light.  The first photo will be the overcast shot and the second photo will be indoors with flash.  I used Finger Paints base coat and no top coat for all swatches.

Red Satin

   Red Satin is a medium red creme.  Application is smooth and the formula flows nicely, though it is a little thin so you should be careful of pooling.  This is 2 coats.

Pure Joy

   Pure Joy is a red and gold glitter.  The mix is heavier on the small round red glitters, but the small gold hex glitters stand out a lot.  This is 2 coats over Red Satin.  I had no problems or issues with formula or application.  This is probably best as a layering polish.  I think it would take too many coats to build opacity on its own.

Merry Berry

   Merry Berry is a dark red creme with some purple hints to give it a berry tone.  I had a few issues with this one.  Application was mostly smooth.  The formula tends to pool however and thicker areas dry slowly.  This caused some drag and pulling on the second coat.  I recommend using thin even coats and waiting a little longer than normal between coats with this polish.  I used 2 coats.

Blue Bells Ring

   Blue Bells Ring is a blue foil.  The color is very vibrant yet still feels wintery, at least to me.  Formula and application are both very nice with this one.  I did get a bit of drag around my cuticles when I went back over an area I'd already covered to even out brush strokes.  I used 1 coat in these pictures.

Glitter All The Way

   Glitter All The Way is a multi color glitter.  There are small round red, gold, and purple glitters and small green hex glitters.  The color mix is Mardi Gras in a bottle.  Formula and application are both good.  This is 2 coats over Blue Bells Ring.  You could probably get this one opaque without too many coats, but I think it works great as a layering polish as well.

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were provided to me by the company for consideration.

China Glaze Bend Over Backwards

   Today I have another polish from the China Glaze Cirque du Soleil collection for you guys.

   Bend Over Backwards is a rusty red-orange shimmer.  The formula runs on this one and tends to pool if you use thicker coats.  I used 1 thick coat for the photos below, but would recommend 2 thinner coats instead to avoid the pooling and running.  The shimmer lets some brush strokes show so you might want to be careful with application, or even use a makeup sponge or eye shadow applicator to sponge on the second coat.  I used Finger Paints base coat and no top coat in these photos.

Direct Sun

Indoor Natural Light

Indoor with Flash

   Bend Over Backwards has a nice glow, especially in the sun.  I can see myself wearing this one again.  Especially in the fall.

Disclaimer: The product(s) in this post were sent to me by the company for consideration.