N is for ...

Okay, so I usually have at least some build up before announcing the design, but I can't contain my excitement with this one. N is for ... North Pole.

Yes, it's snowing at the North Pole. :) I love this design and wore it all last weekend. Forgive the horrible writing on the sign. I couldn't find my thin detail brush. 

Can you tell how much I love this China Glaze color?? The bottle of the darker blue I use in these 'night time' designs is just as worn. For those wondering, this is Secret Peri-Wink-Le and the darker blue is First Mate. I mix them with a bit of black (sometimes I just use the black straight depending on the design and how much light blue I've used) and white to complete the gradient look.

China Glaze Holiday Joy — Champagne Kisses

Today's swatch is definitely one of my favorites from the China Glaze Holiday Joy collection. Right under Cranberry Splash and tied with Pure Joy.

Two Coats; Lightbox

I'd like to introduce you to Champagne Kisses. This is a rose gold glitter with a small amount of holographic glitter suspended in a clear base. It's the perfect rose champagne color that would be perfect for a New Year's party.

One Coat; Shade

Champagne Kisses is a very delicate color, but one that doesn't get lost. There's no mistaking this for unpainted nails. This is a common problem I've had with skin toned glitters, but Champagne Kisses has just the right amount of sparkle to never go unnoticed.

Two Coats; Sun

It's also a wonderful chameleon — subtly shifting colors in sun, shade, and artificial light.

Two Coats; Shade

Shade

If you want to create a truly stunning Christmas nail I recommend adding a coat of Pure Joy over two coats of Champagne Kisses. This will take a bit of dabbing and pushing, but it is so worth it in the end.

Color: Rose gold with a small amount of holographic.
Finish: Ultra-fine glitter
Application: Perfect application. It went on very smoothly and built up great.
Coats to Opaque: 3, but the small patches of two coats were only visible in macro.
My Rating (1-5): A very solid 4.5

China Glaze Holiday Joy — Pure Joy

Today's swatch from the China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection is Pure Joy.

Two coats of Pure Joy with two coats of top coat

Pure Joy is another of the glitters from this collection. It has a clear base with small red hex glitters and larger gold hex glitters.

One coat of Pure Joy; no top coat

This has good coverage with one coat. Not enough to be a one coat wonder but really good for a glitter. The small red glitters fill in nicely around the larger gold glitters. The gold glitters did need a bit of dab and drag to get them around the nail but I didn't have to dig for them. They came out of the bottle good; they just didn't want to spread out.

Two coats of Pure Joy; no top coat

Two coats of Pure Joy; two coats of top coat

I found that all the glitters of this collection needed two coats of top coat to get a smooth to semi-smooth finish. That said, I think this one was the best at accepting top coat. The glitter lay pretty smoothly on its own and the glitters left very few cracks between them for the top coat to sink between.

One thin coat of Pure Joy; layered over two coats China Glaze Poinsettia

And just to show you how well this one layers, I put one very thin coat of Pure Joy over two coats of China Glaze Poinsettia. The only problem I had with this was that no matter how much I dabbed and pushed the glitters wouldn't stick to the polish around my cuticles. Not a big problem at all and the awesome shimmer effect of the red glitter more than made up for this!

Color: Small red hex glitters and larger gold hex glitters in a clear base.

Finish: Glitter

Application: Application was good. The glitter came out of the bottle nicely with no digging needed and only needed a bit of dabbing and pushing to get the gold glitter arranged around the nail. Builds up perfectly so it can be worn alone, but layers over other polish just as nicely.

Coats to Opaque: 2

My Rating (1-5): 4 — 4.5 if pushed. It's not a bad glitter, and it really is perfect for the holidays.

China Glaze Holiday Joy — Winter Holly

I'm really sorry about the lack of post yesterday. I was informed that someone on Facebook had stolen some of my nail photos, cut and smudged out my watermark, and was now claiming to have done them. Thank you again, Lacqueerisa, for letting me know! ♥ My photos have now been removed from her page, and I've informed as many other artists as I could of their stolen work. But enough about that!

Today's post is a swatch of Winter Holly from the China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection. Winter Holly is a pretty deep green and gold glitter, very Christmas-y, with flares of holographic glitter mixed in. I also noticed a bit of purple glitter in the pictures but that may just be a trick of the light playing off the holo glitter.

Here is one coat of Winter Holly. Two coats fills in nicely and takes care of all the patchiness so don't worry about how thin this goes on. Winter Holly dries pretty matte and will need a good top coat if you want it to really shine. I found my top coat settled around the glitter in visible dimples and needed two coats.

I'm not sure how I feel about all the really fine glitters of this collection. Such fine glitter wasn't really made for layering so multiple coats are a must. Since I use two thick coats of glue base for glitters, along with my usual base coat, the added two or three coats of these glitters needed to get full coverage really makes my nails feel heavy and awkward. Along with the mentioned two layers of top coat needed to smooth everything ... personally, I think I'll be wearing these matte. All said though, they're so darn pretty that I can't help liking them!!

Color: Dark green and gold with flecks of holo and maybe purple.
Finish: Ultra-fine glitter; dries matte.
Application: Goes on smooth but patchy with one coat. Fills in nicely with two.
Coats to Opaque: 2-3
My Rating (1-5): 4

So, what do ya'all think of the new blog layout? I tried to keep it winter-y with only one or two Christmas touches.

M is for ...

We're up to M in the ABC Challenge. Getting ever closer to Z. :( I will be very sad to see the end of this challenge and may just start over on my own. There are so many amazing designs to do for each letter, and I don't think I'll be happy until I try them all. As for today's letter ...

M is for ... Mistletoe. I call this 'Kiss Me Under the Mistletoe'.

This isn't my all time favorite design. I like the idea, but I wish I had thought the design out before jumping in. This is what happens when I don't sketch up my designs first.

I do like the base polish. I went for a snowy effect using Sinful Colors Snow Me White and Pearl Harbor. Two coats of white with the iridescent glitter of Pearl Harbor creates a light dusting of snow over your nails. Perfect for winter. :)

China Glaze Holiday Joy — Cranberry Splash

Today's China Glaze Holiday Joy polish is by far my favorite of this collection. It was one I picked up completely on a whim, but I couldn't be happier.

Meet Cranberry Splash, an amazingly beautiful ruby red shimmer. This is two coats of Cranberry Splash, picture taken in the shade. In some lights this polish looks almost liquid on the nails. Its shine is so intense and gorgeous.

This picture was taken in my lightbox. Polishes like Cranberry Splash, Christmas red with shimmer, are fairly common additions to most holiday collections. However, I find China Glaze has captured the most perfect shade of shimmery red for the holiday season.

This picture, taken in full sunlight, shows the wonderful shimmery side of Cranberry Splash.

Application was nearly perfect. It went on very smoothly and was easy to control. I find most red polishes have a messy application but Cranberry Splash needed next to no cleanup. There were a few streaks when I wasn't careful enough with the brush, but nothing too noticeable. I simply had to slow down a bit and apply from one side of the nail to the other instead of starting in the middle. This put a stop to any streaking and left behind a perfect finish. A top coat sealed it and gave it a shiny gleam.

All in all, China Glaze Cranberry Splash is a striking polish and will make a lovely addition to your nail polish collection. And just think how beautiful this color will look against some snow or in the presence of a lit and decorated tree during any holiday celebrations.

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I'm attempting to start giving better, more thorough reviews instead of my usual 'it's pretty; go buy it'. I'm more than open to ideas on what a good review should include. If there's something you always look for in a review let me know and I'll try to include it in my upcoming reviews. Thank you!

China Glaze Holiday Joy — Blue Bells Ring

I am finally going to begin posting the swatches for the China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection. I don't own the full collection, but you'll be seeing more than a few of the glitters.

First up is Blue Bells Ring, an icy metallic blue. This is two coats, but Blue Bells Ring is a very opaque polish. I definitely could have gotten away wearing just one coat. 

I was really pleased with how well this polish went on. It has a super smooth application. It didn't streak or turn gooey while I was applying. It also came off really easily. Be extra careful with any cleanup because the blue comes off first, leaving behind the silver metallic shimmer. That only took a few extra swipes to get up, but you can see near the cuticle of my pinky finger what happens when you get too close to the polish during cleanup.

The only problem I had, big or small, was staining! The blue, once it came in contact with my polish remover, went everywhere. It got all over my hands and fingers and it took an extra cotton ball per hand to get off. It's not a huge con when weighed against so many pros, but I will say don't remove this polish while wearing or even while you're near anything expensive or fancy.