China Glaze Frosty

Oh look, another cloudy day.  Fun.  Kind of a "throwback" to winter 2010, this is Frosty from the "Tis the Season" China Glaze collection.  I originally wanted to swatch this side by side with White-Kwik-Silvr but for now, my comparison posts are on hold until I can get through my mountain of polish.  I'm even trying to hold off on swatching a few new purchases just so I can mentally will myself to get through all that I have here.  You never realize how much you have until you realize you don't have anywhere to put it anymore but more on that later.


Frosty is a white frosty shimmer polish.  I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 2 coats of Frosty and a top coat of Seche Vite.  The application was good - not too runny or thick.


Once again, I apologize for the lack of sun.  Texas weather is so weird... one day it's 60 and cloudy, the next day it's 96 and super sunny.  Go figure.  As you can see, there is some visible nail line (VNL) showing on my fingers, but it's almost okay with it?  I really hate sheers, so this was a weird one for me.


Indoors with flash - again, VNL.  It's almost a pearly white, which I didn't expect originally.



China Glaze [official website] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty [official website], Sally's Beauty Supply [official website] as well asTransDesign [official website].

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

FingerPaints Psychedelic Sunshine

Also from the Summer 2011 FingerPaints Peace, Love and Color collection is this yellow polish that has micro rainbow glitter called Psychedelic Sunshine.  Now, originally I was pretty much NOT interested in this because I'm not a big yellow fan, but after some buzz on Twitter, I was interested in trying it.  


I used a base of Seche Natural, 2 coats of Psychedelic Sunshine and a top coat of Seche Vite.  The formula was quite thick and gummy and that's why I have heard from others who tried it, so I decided to contact FingerPaints.


Their official statement was that the formula was made thicker to keep the microglitter suspended but you can add some polish thinner to make it easier to manage and it shouldn't affect the quality.  However, if you do add thinner, make sure you mix your polish well because the glitter will probably settle closer to the bottom.


Now I don't know if you're a shaker or a roller, but mixing well for me means a bit of both.  :)


I did NOT add thinner before taking these pictures, so you're dealing with some gumminess.  Also, it was cloudy out (boo!).


Eep sheertown.  I do not like sheer colors.  So what did I do?  Added a base coat of CND Brilliant White first.


You can really see the gumminess on my index finger.


I did take an indoor with flash picture before and after the base of CND.  First the before.


And now the after.
This really shows off the gumminess, but you can also see how much the color brightened up.  It did also swallow some of the glitter, so this was an interesting experiment for me.  I want to play with it some more because this has some amazing potential.


FingerPaints can be found in Sally's Beauty Supplies stores and online for $4.99 USD each.  They are a Sally's Beauty Supply exclusive brand, so you can follow Sally's on Twitter and like them on Facebook as well as follow their blog.

Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

FingerPaints Give Pink A Chance

Today I have one of the FingerPaints Summer 2011 "Peace, Love, and Color" polishes to share.  Despite the name, Give Pink A Chance, this is more of a red than pink.  So I went to get a pedicure from my local place, and allowed them to give me a manicure ... kinda.  I told her I just wanted my nails shaped/cuticles cleaned up.  She squovaled them, which is new for me, but I kinda liked it?  I don't know - I felt at first that the tips of my nails had been chopped off, but I was able to deal.  Thoughts?


I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 2 coats of Give Pink A Chance and a top of Seche Vite.  I was super happy with this polish - the formula, the color... very pretty and this seriously made me happy for being my first FingerPaints to wear.


Here in the sun, it almost looks like it could have a bit of VNL, but it doesn't - it's just a nice pretty red creme.  It's a bit like a tomato red or maybe a pretty strawberry red?


Also super pretty in the shade - very shiny and almost jelly/sorbet like!


Finally here indoors with the flash you can really see how red it is - or how orange my hands look?  And like I said, I'm still getting used to this shape.  :]


FingerPaints can be found in Sally's Beauty Supplies stores and online for $4.99 USD each.  They are a Sally's Beauty Supply exclusive brand, so you can follow Sally's on Twitter and like them on Facebook as well as follow their blog.


Disclosure: The product[s] in this post was [were] provided to me by the company for consideration.  For more information, please read this post.

Blogs of Note

Happy Mother's Day!  My 4 year old told me he's running away because it's not Boy's Day, but otherwise it's been a quiet day.  Here are 3 blogs of note as I try to get back into the 2-a-day groove of posting again.


First is Prim and Polished.  She has short to medium nails and provides a good variety of colors and brands.


Next is Product Pixie.  She actually is a mix of makeup and nail polish - more so on makeup.  A good read though!


Finally today is Productrater.  This is another mainly makeup blog but she has some nail polish in the mix too.  


I hope you have a great day!

essie it's genius

essie has always kind of flown under my radar.  The only places I knew you could buy it was on their website or through etailers, so I just stayed away.  I finally saw them at Trade Secret, but nothing caught my eye.  When essie announced in November 2010 that they were going retail (for more info, check out All Lacquered Up), I thought maybe I'd see more of it...  Well have I ever.  Now it's in Wal-Mart, HEB, Walgreens, CVS...  those are the only stores in my area, so it was like an overload for me.  It's nice!  


I picked up it's genius at Walgreens I believe, for $7 a bottle.  While I was a little surprised by the price, I figured it would be worth it.  This is a violet quartz with beige undertones according to their website but I found it to be a lilac purple with gold shimmer.  Go figure.  I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 2 coats of it's genius, and a top coat of Seche Vite.  The formula worked well.  This is a DBP, Toluene and Formaldyhyde free brand.


See the gold shimmer in the bottle?  I have a bonus sun picture.


Maybe it is a violet...


Pretty shade picture for you.


And finally indoors with the flash.  I do like that the name of the polish is a sticker on the top of the bottle.  I tend to find the bottles of some polishes not to be perfectly flat, and the sticker doesn't sit just right.


Overall, I was happy with my purchase, but I think I would have been a bit happier for about $4.  I'm constantly questioning the cost of everything, so this could just be me.  :)


You can purchase essie in a number of locations; check out their website for more.  You can also like them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter.