China Glaze The Great Outdoors Haul

Today I'm going to review the China Glaze The Great Outdoors collection for fall 2015. I bought 7 out of the 12 polishes in this collection. I bought a few at Sally's Beauty Supply and some at a website I heard about through some Youtubers called head2toebeauty.com Sally's Beauty Supply didn't have the entire collection on display so I felt like my only resort was to buy polishes online. I just had to get these polishes- and quick! This is the first collection that gets excited about fall!! Normally, I'm in denial about heading towards the cooler months, but the colors and the variety are like a breath of fresh air! Bring on the fall vibes!

The first polish I want to talk about is called Take A Hike. This is truly a one coater polish. You definitely can't mess up the application on this polish! This is a rich, creamy, deep forest green and the pictures inserted are of one coat. Classic fall color!

The next polish is called Let's Dew It. This is a fabulous blue/purple/silver glitter in a clear base. The application is super smooth and it's super opaque. The application in the photo is one coat over Meet Me Under the Stars. Macro shot of this makes it look like jewels on your nails!

Just look at that jewel-encrusted nail! Haha.

Wood You Wanna is a very sparkly bronzey taupe micro shimmer. It's got a super smooth application although it did get a little clumpy on me. It's still really beautiful. The picture below shows 2 coats.

Next is called Cabin Fever. This is a really strong red to gold duochrome polish. Out of the three duochromes in the collection this polish is the strongest. I've seen some describe the red as more of a pink, and I guess in some lights it does look pretty rosy .

The next three photos are the transition shots. The gold is so strong and beautifu! On its own it would beone of those ugly-pretty colors!

This is the transition pic I posted to Instagram:

The next color of the duochromes is called Pondering   This is a royal purple to deep teal shift. This polish has a nice, smooth application and it really is reminiscent of the Northern Lights. Formula is super opaque and pigmented.

First shot is my post for Instagram.

Pic with indoor lightin:

Pic with sunlight:

Next photos are the transition shots. The purple was hard to capture, but the teal looks fabulous!

The last of the duochromes is called Gone Glamping. This is a light blue to green to gold multichrome. This polish is super sheer on the first coat, but builds up to a nice opaque finish. The shift in this polish is not as strong as the other two in this collection, but it still has a glowy effect to it, which is wonderful!

Transition shots!

Another angle. Just can't with that gold! 

The last polish that I picked up from this collection is called Sleeping Under the Stars. This is a really deep bluish/purple base with pink flash/shimmer in it. The shimmer is beautiful in the bottle but is very subtle on the nail. I think the power, opacity, and the pigmentation of the base color overpowers the pink shimmer.

This shot is taken with flash. You can still barely make out the shimmer on the nail.

Another shot taken in sunlight. Still more pronounced in the bottle than the nai!

Macro shot! There's the shimme!!

Overall these polishes are super exciting coming from China Glaze. After a few creams and subtle shimmers in their last fall collection having great glitter polishes and duochromes really sets the tone for fall. I've already gotten a lot of compliments on wearing these just for swatch pics! The other polishes in this collection I hear are great too! But I'm making a conscious effort to scale back on my purchases ;) Hope you enjoy! 

OPI Venice Collection Haul/Review

So the next fall collection I have to review is the OPI Venice collection for fall 2015. 

The first polish and probably the most popular is called Gelato On My Mind. This is another classic bright powder blue. This also happens to be a spot on dupe for Essie Mint Candy Apple. This polish has a great formula, as usual; it is smooth and very opaque.The picture below has two coats. 

The picture below shows comparison between Gelato On Y Mind (thumb) and Essie Mint Candy Apple(pointer), China Glaze For Audrey (middle), Julie G Gelato in Venice (ring), and Sally Hansen Breezy Blue (pinky). 

The next polish is my favorite creme of the collection and it's called It's A Piazza Cake. This is a fantastic burnt orange shade. It is super smooth and super opaque. I was pleasantly surprised that this color looked great against my skin tone. Normally oranges of that tone don't look that great on me, but this looks really nice on my nails. 

The next color is called Worth A Pretty Penne . This is a light rose gold shimmer polish. It is slightly streaky but still has very excellent coverage. 

Next polish is called Give Me A Lido Kiss. This is a bright blue toned shimmery red. The shimmer almost looks like a glass flecks. This also has good coverage although the base reminds me of a jelly polish.

Macro shot of OPI Gimme A Lido Kiss

 This next polish is called My Gondola Or Yours? This is a deep smoky black with very subtle shimmer. A lot of people or referring to this as a gunmetal shade, but to me it is just a black with shimmer. Not super unique, but I think I'm due a new black .Picture below is with flash to capture the shimmers.

The next polish is the first of 3 limited edition polishes from this collection. I wasn't able to find these at Sally's Beauty Supply and Ulta did not have them when I first initially looked. So I bought them online on Amazon. 

The first polish is called St. Mark's The Spot. This is a beautiful royal sapphire blue shimmer with a slight purple shift. This color is wonderfully opaque and striking on the nail. 

Shot from direct sunlight.

Shot from indoor lighting.

Shot with flash.

The next color is called Venice the Party? This is a bright aqua blue/teal shimmer. This color is a tiny bit streaky and shows brush strokes but it's still a fabulous color. 

Both of these blue shimmers are similar to something we've seen from the OPI Hawaii collection, so they weren't as much of a stand out to me initially. The colors are still really gorgeous though!

Shot with indoor lighting. 

Shot from direct sunlight.

The last color however is very unique and eye popping. Its called Baroque...But Still Shopping! This is by far my favorite of the entire collection this is a greeny silver with gold shards and gold glitters. This literally looks like shredded up money. When I was younger I went on a field trip to Washington DC and got to see the Treasury. They sold bottles full of old shredded money that had been taken out of circulation. The effects of this polish make it look like that bottle of money. This polish does dry to a gritty texture so you will need to have a top coat over if you don't like the gritty texture. 

 Shot from indirect sunlight.

Macro shot. 

Shot from indoor lighting.

Overall, I think this is a very elegant collection from OPI. I highly recommend the 3 limited edition polishes! And also It's A Piazza Cake!

Nail Medic CC Cream Laquer Review

This first impression blog post doesn't need very many words, the pictures can do all the talking.
But here's a little background:

Like all nail polish addicts, my nails have become badly stained - some worse than others. Thanks to China Glaze But of Corpse, my right thumb has been in pretty bad shape. It's grown out some, but the yellow is still very prominent. Sometimes I just want to let my nails go naked in public, but I'm always embarrassed that the yellow is too noticeable. So I was doing my normal scope-out at Wal-mart - and I have to say, they are really doing a great job of stepping up their nail care section! They now have this nail treatment brand called Nail Medic. I think the parent company is called Pretty Woman. they have complete step-by-step nail treatments to nurse damaged nails back to health. So i decided to try some out. I'm always in the market for new base coats, so I picked one out of the several options available. I chose the CC Cream Color Correcting Base. On the box, it claims to "instantly whiten & brighten nails" while treating them with green tea extracts and vitamin E.

As with all new things, I like to go in with little to no expectation. At the most, I just thought it would be a patchy clear coat. But man, new things are really working out for me lately! This turned out sooooo much better than I expected!

It made my nail beds whiter and it basically neutralized the yellow on the tips. It looked even better after I applied the second coat. You can even see in the photo that the yellow is virtually gone from my right thumb! This was so exciting to see!

So after it passed the inital first impression test, it was time for the wear test! After I applied the base, I worked on an ombre nail art  (more on my ombre adventures soon!) After a week, this wore so well. normally, I will pick at my nails and seek out weak spots to chip or peel off, but with this base coat, there were none! I had no tip wear or chips after a week of wear! This never happens to me! I didn't do anything special with my topcoat; I just used my normal Seche Vite topcoat. 

The two pictures above from fresh mani to a week later. 

So, I would highly recommend this base coat for anyone in the market to try something new. I would expecially recommend it to anyone trying to neutralize yellow stains on their nails. I have used it for two weeks now, so only time will tell if it has any long-term benefits!

New Colour Prevails Nail Polish First Impression

I was wandering around Walgreens one day when I came across some shiny new displays where you would normally expect the Jordana/Sinful Colors to be located. They were for two new makeup collections! Of course - I immediately scope out the nail polish! I can't remember the name of the first collection (they didn't have nail polish, hehe) but the other one was Colour Prevails - definitely more eye-catching! The display seems to have an entire line of makeup, but I was definitely on the look-out for nail polish! I am always pretty apprehensive about scooping up new polish lines, and sometimes over-the-top packaging seems like more of a gimmick to make up for poor formulas - in my opinion. That doesn't mean I'm not a sucker for packaging! So I picked out one bottle. I figured if it sucked I could still keep it for the packaging. I went for the most unique-looking color in the display...

This is Blue Blood. It is a deep blue/sapphire shade with blue and teal shimmers in it. The coverage is actually really good. It could be opaque in one coat! The shimmer is super subtle on the nail - you can only see it in direct sunlight. It is definitely more prominent in the bottle.

I was super impressed by the formula of the polish (it pays to have low expectations)! So, naturally I had to know more about this company, like:

What kind of company is this?

                                    How old are they?

                                                           Why did they choose the drug store market?

How does a new company charge $8 for a bottle of polish with little to no advertising?

What makes them think they can enter the market and already be on par with the likes of Essie, OPI, and other high end but available in drugstore brands?

I just needed to know...the business major in me came out to investigate. So I did some digging and it turns out that the brand is headed up by Nonie Creme - former founding Creative Director for butter London! Then I promptly took several seats. Lol.

So Nonie has broken out on her own and brought her creative genius to Walgreens everywhere! The main product's claim to fame is the ergonomic handle on most of the products adorned with a beautiful butterfly wing! This puppy is definitely not just for looks, either. It is meant to give you a steady hand and therefore more accurate application of makeup or nail polish. It did give me a steadier hand to paint my nails neater, but it was no miracle worker - my left-hand painting is still atrocious!

Overall, it is a very decent polish, and the packaging is beyond beautiful. But the price point is what gets me. Paying $8 is pretty pricey for a drugstore polish. Why pay that when you could pay the same for an Essie or China Glaze polish? Or pay a little extra and get an OPI polish? I don't think they brand has enough pull for people to buy just for its exclusivity just yet. The colors in the rest of the collection aren't much different from other brand either. However, I will be keeping my eye on this company - especially with Nonie Creme at the helm! There are bound to be some great things coming from this brand!

More shots of the shimmery goodness of Blue Blood below!