Catrice - I Sea You! (250) with China Glaze Atlantis (80406)

After 3 days of Catrice I Sea You! I just had to do some layering - and what a coincidence that I just received China Glaze Atlantis!

But I've to say: China Glaze Atlantis is not a all what I expected! I wonder why - I saw it so many times in blogs! But I didn't realize that it contains just silver holo glitter! Somehow I thought it would be multicolored! But well, it's still nice! It's just a turquoise jelly with silver holo glitter.

Here are 2 layers of Atlantis over Catrice:



1 x P2 Care and Basecoat
2 x Catrice I Sea You!
1 x Poshe super-fast drying topcoat
2 x China Glaze Atlantis

And a closeup:


The surface is really bumpy but I was too lazy to apply any additional topcoat - and since there is no sunshine in sight I can't even show the wonderfull bling this polish has! All I get is cold temperatures and big clouds!

Removing was a real PITA ... next time I'll try the aluminum foil method!

China Glaze - Bermuda Breakaway (674) with Gosh - Rainbow (546)

Sorry for the big break! After the massive nail-peeling I gave my nails a little break and afterwards I needed a China Glaze FYI treat. The peeling is still bad ...

But now I'm back with a picspam from something ... well ... colorful! Very colorful indeed:
China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway layered with Gosh Rainbow.



Is it too much? - Perhaps

Do I like it? - Yes

Does the dragon like it? - No way!



This time the coats are a bit different:
2 x P2 8in1 nailwonder
2 x China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway
1 x Poshe super-fast drying topcoat
1 x Gosh Rainbow
1 x Poshe super-fast drying topcoat

I think a bit less flakies would have been nice - but Gosh Rainbow is really packed with them!


(in the sun)

And guess what? I had bed linen stamping! But thanks to the flakies you won't see it, so I don't care that much.



So what do we have? China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway is a creme blue - ink blue. A least the ink I wrote with as a child - before we were allowed to use black or lilac or teal ink ;o) And Gosh Rainbow is a clear polish filled with transparent flakies - I love it layered over darker polishes but some days ago I saw it layered over a white polish - it was just wonderful!



This polish combination is nice, I think. But I got a whole lot of different opinions. Some loved it, some were very doubtful and others hated it. But it certainly got a lot of looks from everyone - so it's not for those days you wish to go unseen ;o)



I applied this one monday evening and was pretty sure I'd remove it tuesday evening because - well, let's be honest: I was too afraid to wear ist. Anyhow - I removed it on saturday morning. Somehow my boldness growed and I went into "I like it - so you have to live with it!"-mode.



Removing it was not the PITA I anticipated! But after I removed it I had to file my nails way back because the peeling is still so bad and I can't leave it alone.



After this flakie-week I think I really need Nfu Ohs ... well well well - perhaps next month!



I just love how much depth the flakies create while their surface is perfectly smooth!


And I have a giveaway I wanted to show:
Painted Lady Fingers Hard Candy Giveaway!



And another Giveaway!
This time from R3 Daily - a Rescue Beauty Lounge Giveaway!

China Glaze - 2nite (640)

Hello polishfriends!

Okay, time for another holo! This time: China Glaze 2nite from the OMG Collection.

It applied easily in 2 coats but it tends to produce bold spots. It has a light blue color and a great holo effect. I love that the China Glaze Holos dry so fast!

1 x Poshe nail strengthening treatment basecoat
2 x China Glaze 2nite
1 x Poshe super-fast drying topcoat

I often read that a topcoat reduces the holo effect - I can' agree with that. Granted, while the Poshe topcoat is wet there is no holo left - but dried it shows the holo goddess again!

Ignore the big chip - that was my fault, the polish was innocent.

(in sunlight)

On the sunlight picture you can see my heavy ridges - but on the middlefinger you can see my special ridge with diagonal stripes - by now I really love it :o) My unique ridge.

(in the shadow)

(with flash)

And one closeup of the polish:

I think this one calls for a backup ...

Brush Comparison - Lumene and China Glaze

Some polishes really come with great brushes and others have the same brushes I know from my childhood nailpolishing advantures. One of these typical "childhood brushes" would be the China Glaze brush. It's not too bad but nothing great either. I can live with it.

And then there are brushes that are really an ease - like the "One touch brush" from Lumene.

Here's a comparison between Lumene Angel Touch / Enkelin kosketus and China Glaze Wireless Holographic topcoat:

Okay okay, I admit it: The Lumene brush is not perfect! And no, it's not only "one touch"!

Great: It's wide and I really need less strokes + the round shape of the tip makes it easier to apply around the cuticles

What could be better: As you can see the tip is not perfectly shaped. Perhaps I cut it myself one day. One half of it is perfecty round, the other one is frayed.

I'm undecided about the flexibility of the brush ... while the China Glaze is really soft and flexible the Lumene is sort of stiff. This has advantages but I'm not really used to it.

But over all I prefer the Lumene brush.

China Glaze - Emerald Sparkle (28843) - matte

As I promised Musicalhouses here comes the mattified version of China Glaze Emerald Sparkle. And what should I say? Despite telling that mattifying this polish killed it - I love it! And here is why: First time I tried Essie's Matte about You on this it was very late and I only tried one nail in artificial light. This time I did the whole hand and in daylight and it looked great. Not quite as intriguing as the mattified Ruby Pumps but still wonderful (ignore the dry skin):




It brought out the glitter in a most amazing way and I will try this again - but first my thumbnail has to grow back.

China Glaze - Emerald Sparkle (28843)

I just needed a hot, long bath - that's why the China Glaze FYI peeled off again (great, avoided the polish remover once again!) and I took the chance to try China Glaze Emerald Sparkle.

Because of my recent problems with INM Out the Door I played it save and went with Poshe again.

1 x Poshe nail strengthening treatment basecoat
2 x China Glaze Emerald Sparkle
1 x Poshe super-fast drying topcoat




(Pictures taken after 24h of wearing it - and sorry that they are not perfectly sharp)

This is green glitter (well, actually again silver, you'll see it when removing) in a dark green jelly. Of course the sun won't come out and I had problems to catch the beauty of this one. I really like it, the glitter is great in artificial light - and I suppose in sunlight, too ;o)

First coat - terrible. Streaky and just *yuk*. I was convinced that I'd remove it right away ... in one coat the jelly color is ugly - at least on my nails. But with the second coat everyhing is beautiful again and I fell in love with it.

My sweetheart really liked it (well, he picked it!) and told me that I've already learned to apply the polish neatly. Ha ha. Not really. This one was a big mess (but it was my fault, I was tired) and it took me quite some time to make it a least presentable.

I think this evening I'm going to apply Essie Matte about you over it ...

OPI - Parlez vous OPI? - layered

Yesterday I was in the mood for some layering experiments. I wanted to remove the OPI Parlez vous OPI? - not because it would have looked bad - there was no chipping at all, it was still perfect! - but I decided to give my nails a least 24h hours to catch some breath. So yes - right now they are naked!! They only got some pure coco-oil I primarly bought for my hair - but my nails seem to like it, too. That's what they look like naked:


But I'm too fast! I wanted to show you my layering projects! I wanted to see the OPI with the China Glaze Fairy Dust and the Wireless topcoat, always hoping to get a better picture of the differences. Once in normal ligh, then in the sunlight to get the sparkles (well, the sun was low already):




from the left
1 x China Glaze Fairy Dust
1 x China Glaze Wireless Holographic Topcoat

And I found some of my older essence duochrome polishes and tried layering them:



These are (from the left)
1 x essence Splash! (36)
1 x essence Electric (25)
1 x China Glaze Fairy Dust
1 x China Glaze Wireless Holographic Topcoat

Splash! is really great for layering! I remember that I tried to get it opaque by itself and it was terrible - but like this it's great. From some angles it's unvisible, then it's a bit purple (didn't catch this one in the pictures) or just wonderful teal like in the pictures!

Electric was even harder to catch. You can see the pink/yellow shimmer but I didn't manage to catch the angle on which it is green!

I hope I find more of these polishes because the bottles of those 2 are old and not really full anymore.

In the end I wanted to see Splash! together with Essie Matte about You - it was okay, but not the "woooow" I expected:



Everything like above - only one coat Essie Matte about You over Splash!

I think tomorrow I'll polish again - but right now the nails stay naked ;o)

China Glaze - Ruby Pumps (182) with 3 different topcoats

Yesterday I got some new polishes and had to test some of them on my CG Ruby Pumps nails:

This is (from left to right):
China Glaze Wireless Holographic Top Coat (2 coats)
China Glaze Fairy Dust (551)
Essie Matte about You
pure China Glaze Ruby Pumps

Great effects! I loved all of them! The Essie Matte about You was my favorite, I think - at least in the combination with Ruby Pumps. This combination looks so nifty! Glitter and yet no glitter. I think soon I'll do a manicure with those 2! It's just a very special combination and I'm totally in love with it.

The Wireless Holographic topcoat needed 2 coats, otherwise it was too subtle for my taste. Holo + glitter was kind of boring - the holo effect totally killed the glitter. So while I really like the Wireless topcoat I just don't like it on Ruby Pumps.

Fairy Dust was a total eyecatcher *sparkle sparkle* I think it would be wonderful on a dark blue polish, will have to try that! It too killed the glitter in Ruby Pumps but was less subtle than Wireless and thatfore I liked it better in this combination.

Unfortunately the difference between the Wireless topcoat and Fairy Dust is not that obvious in the picture - but believe me, there is a big difference! The particles in Fairy Dust are much bigger than those in Wireless - but still small enough for my taste - I'm not a big fun of flakes in polishes ... it's just not "me". The Fairy Dust is much brighter than the Wireless - much more eyecatching.

Here is another picture that shows the difference in the particle size a bit better:


Anyway: I like all the 3 of them - but since I never had a matte polish before, the Essie Matte about You is the most interesting at this moment - but I'll juse them all, that's a given!

China Glaze - Ruby Pumps (182)

Hello out there!

Yes, I know: I said that I wanted to enjoy my Dorothy Who? nails for a while but it seems that Poshe + CG are very delicate regarding to water. The polish peeled right off the nail (and I admit: I take pleasure in picking the polish away like this - and it prevents me from the work of removing a glitter polish the conventional way).

Anyway, I had to redo my nails and since it was Valentine's Day I went for a glittery red: China Glaze Ruby Pumps.

This one is really nice - such a deep color and red glitter! Well ... silver glitter, as you'll see when you remove it with nailpolish remover (which, by the way, is a nice effect: Polish the nails, carefully rub with a bit nailpolish remover over the nail until the glitter is silver and then apply topcoat) but on the nail: red red red! But also a hint of pink - at least at some angles - this makes it even more interesting for me, I like those effects!

Application was nice, this time it went better than with Dorothy Who? at least regarding the thickness of each coat. But since I was in a hurry I messed around a lot and didn't even purge properly - so please excuse the messy application on the following pictures:


A closeup:



And here you can see that the surface of this polish is not smooth, even with one coat of INM Out the Door:

I applied:

1 x Poshe nail strengthening treatment basecoat

2 x China Glaze Ruby Pumps

1 x INM Out the Door

A small excursion to INM Out the Door:
My first try with this one was a disaster! I had 2 coats of P2 Base + Care Coat on my nails and applied 2 coats China Glaze Emerald Spark to one nail and 4 coats of P2 happy to another nail. Then I applied INM Out the Door and waited for 20 minutes. Then I gently pushed one nail into the polish and both nails were totally squashy. I applied another coat of INM and waited another 20min and pushed the P2 polish again - it was wet down to the basecoat - I could move all 8 layers from the nail without using force. The CG nail was a little bit better but still a big letdown. I was surprised: Everybody seemed to be happy with INM Out the Door and it won't work for me?!

After my test yesterday I can say: INM Out the Door works fine and is a good alternative to Poshe fast-drying topcoat, but you should never use it together with the P2 Base + Care Coat - it simply won't work.

China Glaze - Dorothy Who? (857)

Finally! Today I got one of my 2 ordered polish-packages!

Since I need a serious cheer up I went for a glitter: Dorothy Who? from China Glaze. I was surprised because it looks pretty dark blue with a purple hint in the bottle. Once applied I liked it much better because it has a nice teal color. But I had some trouble applying it. This is my first glitter/jelly polish.

First I'll show you some pictures:

It was not easy to capture this color or the wonderful glitter effect.

Back to my problems during application. Here are the used layers:

1 x Poshe nail strengthening treatment basecoat

2 x China Glaze Dorothy Who?

1 x Poshe super-fast drying topcoat

The Poshe basecoat was nice to apply and one coat was enough to smooth out my ridges the same amount as two coats of P2 basecoat do. The first layer Dorothy Who? was a pain. It seemed to dissolve the basecoat and I got terrible blotches, parts with hardly any color or glitter. The second coat made almost everything nice again - only the biggest blotches on my thumb needed a 3rd coat.

But there are big differences in the depth of color in my 2 coats. I'll have to learn to apply the polish more evenly over all nails!

And then: My first time with a fastdrying topcoat. What a relief!! It didn't take 30min to dry my nails perfectly and I can't detect the much dreaded shrinkage. I'm really happy with the Poshe topcoat! Now I hope that it makes my polish last at least 3 days - then everything is wonderful.

Before polishing my nails I made two test-nails with fastdrying topcoats, one with INM Out the Door and one with Poshe. I had the feeling that the INM didn't really work with the China Glaze glitters. Will have to run a real comparison between those two fastdrying topcoats - but first I'll enjoy my Dorothy Who? nails for a while.

China Glaze - FYI (64)

And here comes another polish!

I really really love this one! I ordered rightaway 2 backup-bottles of China Glaze FYI because once applied I knew that I'm going to wear this one a lot! I love holographic polishes! Well, I love everything holographic! But this one is just perfect! I can wear ist to work because on a cloudy day (and believe me: we have a lot of cloudy days!) it looks quite inconspicuous and works well with my skin tone:



(Sorry for the blurry quality - I was in a rush and the light was bad.)

In the sunlight or with artificial light it goes to "woooow!" and shows its entire holographic beauty:



When I saw the promo pictures of this color I thought "boooooring" - but one look at Scrangies Review of this made me reconsider. This could be THE holographic polish for me!

The pictures are taken on the 3rd day after applying, the 4th day would have been okay too but while peeling a cucumber for my guinea pigs I accidentally peeled one nail, too. So bye bye FYI - but I'm sure we'll see soon again!

The chipping was minimal and due to the nude quality of this color the chipping was quite unnoticeable and I was still happy with it.

For this one I used:
2 coats P2 Base + Care Coat
2 coats CG FYI
1 coat P2 Diamond Shine 3in1
and some Rival de Loop Fast Drying Spray (not sure if it really works)