CG Fireside Glow - Layered

So here's what I did to spice up Fireside Glow (FG).  I added Ulta's Pinata-yada-yada (PYY).  I've featured PYY before; its an awesome multicolored hexagon glitter polish with a clear base.  Super versatile. 

Left hand.

Right hand.

Up close.

Overall, from afar.

Left hand from afar.

I originally wanted to try this with Wet N Wild's Jewerly Heist, but PYY is a much better complement to Fireside Glow.  PYY is a dupe of Deborah Lippmann's Happy Birthday, and Milani makes a nice dupe too.

This mani is one coat of base, 2 coats of FG, one coat of CG's fastforward (FF) top coat, one coat of PYY, and one coat of CG FF top coat.  CGFF top coat is the best top coat I have for leveling glitters.  Six coats, now my nails are super thick and hard!

To see a swatch of FG click here.
Thoughts?

China Glaze - Fireside Glow - Swatch

I've got two posts for you today.  I decided to separate them since they are a little picture heavy.  Fireside Glow (FG) is from China Glaze's holiday 2011 collection.  I was at Ulta and Sally's every week in December and I never saw this polish, until after Christmas, this was in the clearance bin for $3.49.  Weird! 

Anyways, FG is a densely packed bronze, copper micro-glitter in a clear base, it also has a moderate amount of holo glitter, that gets a little lost on the nail.  You can see it in low light, in person.  In the photos, you can see the holo glitters in the bottle.   Overall, FG has a neutral effect and isn't really that shimmery or shiny.  It dries dull.  Adding a top coat helps, but it really isn't that exciting.  I think it might be nice if your craving some texture or gritty-ness?

See the holo glitters on the blurry pinky finger?  You can see them in the bottle too.

Well, I do have to say it was a breeze to apply.  This is two coats, over a base with China Glaze's fastforward top coat.  I skipped the clean up step entirely, and it dries really fast.  So, if you are in a hurry but need some neutral, yet somewhat unique coverage, FG might be the answer.

Don't forget to click to the next post.

Thoughts?

Wet N Wild - Spoiled - I Don't Drink Cheap Wine Swatch

"I Don't Drink Cheap Wine" (IDDCW).  Yeah, well I wear cheap nail polish, and its not too bad.  WNW's IDDCW is a deep burgundy shimmer, with a really nice formula.  Two easy coats and would be really great for fall and winter.  Some of my co-workers are still sporting around some dark fall and winter colors, so I figured this might be my last chance to wear something like this, until next September. 

My middle finger nail broke, so now I'm debating, should I file them all down?

Really fat moppy brush this time.

I have to agree with Sneakerette, about the brushes, on this one.  I haven't had any real problems until now.  All the brushes are different, some are curved, some are flat, some are lop sided, some are frayed, but they are all super soft and thick.  This one however felt like I was trying to paint with a floor mop.  So, I really had to spend more time cleaning up this manicure. 

My solution to this problem might be to use a brush from an older nail polish.  I have some empty nail polish bottles sitting around.  I poured the old polish out on to some newspaper, let it dry and discard.  In the meantime, I filled the bottle with some acetone to clean it, the bottle and the brush, and poured that out, into the trash, not down the sink.  Pour a little fresh acetone into the empty bottle.  I haven't done this but I would think you could use that old brush (after it dried from cleaning) to paint, and then when you are done, rinse it in the bottle with the fresh acetone in it.  ?? Good idea?

Wet N Wild - Spoiled - Magic Carpet Ride - Swatched and Layered

I have another WNW Spoiled polish to show you!  Magic Carpet Ride.... a pink with a hint of purple with a lot of sliver shimmer.  The formula is quite thin and this is three coats.





Magic Carpet Ride reminds me of some of those holographic polishes, but without the holographics.  They too are ususally pastels that are really shimmery. I have a hard time finding holo polishes. I know they are on eBay but I'm not going to get into a bidding war over nail polish or buy them for $30 a bottle.  I also wonder why China Glaze stopped making their line of holos?  There seems to be a strong demand for them.  Hits from Brazil makes a bunch of them but they are not big-3-free so that's not an option, for me. 

So.... I had the idea to add some nano-holographic glitter.  I used the term nano (10 to the negative 9th power) in relative terms not literally. I added INM's Out The Door, Northern Lights, holographic top coat.  I have another holo glitter polish, Orly's Shine on Crazy Diamond, that has bigger pieces of aluminum powder (holographic material), but in terms of glitter size Orly's Shine on Crazy Diamond is like micro-glitter (10 to the negative 6th power).  Anyways.... the results were pretty subtle.  In person, the glitter is much more apparent and really pretty to look at.

Indirect Sunlight.  You can really see it in the bottle.

Direct Sunlight.

INM's Out The Door, Northern Lights, holographic top coat dries to touch in 45 seconds and doesn't require another top coat.  The glitter settles to the bottom of the bottle pretty quickly so you have to work fast or keep shaking it.  I let my bottle sit upside down for a little while before I start rolling it around to mix the polish.  I got mine at Sally's, I think for $5.99?  WNW, spoiled is $1.99 at CVS.

Thoughts?

WNW's Toad-ally Amazing Funky French

I don't know if this is totally amazing but it is "Toad-ally amazing"....  I did a funky french with Wet N Wild's Silvivor and Revlon's Jaded Night. 

Right hand.  Sorry for the dry hands. WNW's Toad-ally Amazing as the main color, Jaded Night on the tips.

Added this so you can see, Jaded Night in the bottle.

Left Hand.  Silvivor on the tips.

I ended up liking the tone on tone, Jaded Night french mani more than silvivor.  Silvivor was too bright for me and I felt like a space cadet. 

I still need practice doing tape manis but I think I'm getting the hang of it.  I think the trick is to pull the tape and stretch it a bit to make sure it lays really flat and paint doesn't seep under it and to pull it off while it is still wet.  I used plain scotch tape.

More WNW to come!

Wet N Wild Spoiled - Toad-ally Amazing Swatch

My husband commented, "It looks like lettuce."

Hmmmm, what's that suppose to mean? 

Hubby says, "means I don't like it."

Oh well....

Wet N Wild's Toad-ally Amazing (WNW) (TA), a minty green, silver shimmer polish.  I actually kind of like it.  I was skeptical at first, like I am of all green polishes but this one is growing on me.  Its kind of fresh and new.

Good formula, two really easy coats with the super soft and fat WNW brush.  This one was rounded on both sides.  I could almost cover the entire nail bed with one stroke.  For the sides, I just turned the brush 90 degrees, so that it becomes narrow and painted the sides.

I used Lippmann's hydrating base, two coats of TA, and one coat of China Glaze fast forward top coat.

What are your thoughts?  Does it look like lettuce?

Deborah Lippmann - Baby Love

Quick post today.  I am having a demanding couple of weeks...  This week's work mani is Lippmann's baby love, a sheer french manicure pink.  Neutral and clean.  This is three coats.

Left to right: hydrating base coat, baby love, on a clear day top coat, CG FF top coat.

This came from the Lippmann's Start Me Up, Nail Treatment set.  I haven't tested the whole kit yet, so I have to do a full review later.  It comes with a nail file, cuticle remover, primer, cuticle oil, base coat, top coat and baby love. 

The hydrating base coat goes on clear and shiny, dries fast, seems like a regular base coat to me.  It does have some safflower seed oil and Kukul nut oil in it though, so that might help moisturize the nail beds. 

Baby love is quite sheer and I use three coats to cover my slightly yellow tips, I probably would have been okay with two coats.  The brush is pretty thick and works well. 

On a Clear Day top coat... This top coat is SLOW drying, 5 minutes dry to touch.  This is unacceptable to me considering there are several fast drying top coats out there.  Plus on my right hand while waiting to dry, I banged into something and smudged three fingers and some lint flew into the ring finger which I could not remove and so, is trapped in the paint.  Not good.  Long dry time equals big room for error.  Plus it was not a good smudge fixer.  I didn't bother to wait and see how long it would completely dry.  I put one coat of China Glaze's fast forward (CGFF) top coat and all was well.  CGFF dries fast, one minute to touch, and dries hard and super glossy.  (On a clear day was glossy too.)  CGFF is also a really good smudge fixer and great leveler for glitters. 

All of the nail treatments in this kit are 0.3 oz or 9 ml, and is $40 at Neiman's.  This probably would make a great travel kit.  Have you ever travelled with nail polish before?  What do you do with your nails when you go out of town?