China Glaze - Lemon Fizz

My weekend has officially started! :) My last two classes were cancelled so I finished my school week at 9:15am today and I don't have classes on Fridays. It's definitely been an interesting first week of classes. I'm not sure how many of you heard about the earthquake that hit Virginia on Tuesday, but my school was at the epicenter. It's not everyday that an earthquake happens on the first day of classes...

For the first three days of classes I decided to sport China Glaze Lemon Fizz. I wanted to wear a nice summery color and a light yellow creme seemed perfect. I don't own many yellows because they are generally nightmares to apply and I'm usually not feeling patient enough to deal with them, but Lemon Fizz has a pretty decent formula considering that it is a yellow creme. It was somewhat streaky, but it applied smoothly and is highly pigmented so it wasn't frustrating to apply. I used three coats and one coat of Seche Vite to completely smooth out any extra streaks that I had after the third coat. I love this color, it's like wearing the sun on my nails, that and it makes me think of Easter haha.

Since I'm at school now the lighting I use to take my pictures is different so please excuse the difference in my photos haha. My desk light at school makes colors look bluer than in reality so Lemon Fizz in my photos looks bluer than it is in real life. Just imagine it as being a true light yellow. :)

With flash. 

I don't know why this picture came out looking so bizarre but it's actually kinda cool looking. In this picture this polish almost looks radioactive :)

That's all for today and thanks for stopping by and reading! <3

-Alana 

Another Comparison: China Glaze - Ahoy vs. Strawberry Fields

Hello! I feel like I've been MIA for the past few days with all the stuff I've had to do to get ready to move back to school and now I'm back at school and fully unpacked. Classes start this Tuesday, but I'll still try to update my blog as often as possible. :)

Today I have another China Glaze comparison for you all: Ahoy vs. Strawberry Fields, which are two epic glass flecked pink polishes.

Left: Strawberry Fields. Right: Ahoy

You can see the slight differences between these two polishes even in the bottles. Strawberry Fields is a lighter pink while Ahoy is a deeper, richer magenta. The glass flecks are different as well. The gold glass flecks in Strawberry Fields is a lot more prominent, while the gold glass flecks in Ahoy are a lot more subtle and almost have the effect that the glass flecks are submerged under the magenta jelly base. Also, Strawberry Fields doesn't really have a jelly base, it's like it could be a jelly, but didn't quite get there. 

 Pinky and Middle Fingers: Strawberry Fields, Ring and index fingers: Ahoy

I used 3 coats for each, but I was able to achieve full opacity for Ahoy with only 2 coats. 

Pinky and Middle Fingers: Strawberry Fields, Ring and index fingers: Ahoy

Ahoy has the better formula. Strawberry Fields doesn't have a bad formula, it's just not as good as Ahoy's. Ahoy was streakless and applied smoothly and has more pigmentation than Strawberry Fields. Strawberry Fields has a bit of a streaking issue which is why I needed 3 coats to achieve flawless opacity. 

These two are similar, but some how quite different at the same time. I love them both and they are both definitely gorgeous! I can see why China Glaze is famous for their glass flecks! They're stunning! I've said before that I'm not a huge pink fan, but for me these pinks are exceptions and are must haves for me. :)

That's all for now and thanks for stopping by and reading! <3

-Alana

China Glaze - Hey Sailor

Hi! :) I'm in a really great mood because I've been super productive. Almost all of my clothes are packed, almost all of my laundry is done, and I only have a few more things to do to wrap everything up and I'll be ready to go back to school!

Anywaaay, haha, my manicure is now China Glaze Hey Sailor. A lovely blogger, greeneyespinknails, wore Hey Sailor as one of her recent manis and wanted to know what it would look like on a darker skin tone than hers, so that's why I decided to use this polish now. It's like killing two birds with one stone: I get to try out one of my new, unused China Glazes and answer an inquiry at the same time! :)

I love a red creme polish! For me it's a classic that I can wear any time of the year, even in the dead of winter haha. A vibrant red creme reminds me of the Ford Mustang I've always wanted hahaha. There's also something sultry about a classic red creme polish. ;) Hey Sailor has officially become my favorite classic red creme! The formula was amazing - smooth, no streaks, highly pigmented, and thick enough so that it was easy to control, but not too thick to the point where it was unmanageable. This could technically be a one coater is applied carefully enough. I used two coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

Now, on lighter skin tones I've noticed that this polish looks like it's a blue based red. However, against my skin tone it looks like there isn't any blue at all in this red; it strictly looks like a true red. Check out the awesomeness:

This polish reminded me of a ring I own:

Well that's all for tonight! I've got to get ready for bed and go to sleep because I have to wake up early in the AM to get some more stuff done. Thanks for stopping by and reading! <3
-Alana

Layering Over Four Leaf Clover

Hello! :)

This is going to be a quick post because this is my last week at home before going back to school and I'm procrastinating haha. I really should be washing massive amounts out laundry, packing, etc. etc.

On Saturday I was curious about how the L.A Colors teal glitter polish that I bought a few weekends ago would pair with China Glaze Four Leaf Clover.

Here's this polish in the bottle. My camera made this lean more blue when in reality it takes on a more greenish hue.

The pictures I took of my nails after layering the glitter over Four Leaf Clover were taken in the car while I was out running errands with my Mom haha. It wasn't sunny outside on Saturday so unfortunately you can't see how this sparkled in direct light, but luckily I was able to capture a more realistic representation of how Four Leaf Clover looks in real life, though it's still not entirely accurate. Also, ignore my purse that I used as the background for these pictures. I felt it would be less distracting that the car dashboard or my legs lol.

This glitter paired so nicely with Four Leaf Clover, it was almost as if theses two were made for each other. Love this! :) I didn't wear it for long though, I took it off yesterday haha.

Also, just as a heads up, my next few posts will be basically only China Glaze polishes (with the exception of maybe one or two) because I have quite a few that are untried and I really want to try them out. Hope you guys don't mind. :)

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by and reading. It's laundry time haha :)
-Alana

Comparison: China Glaze - Starboard vs. Essie - Pretty Edgy

Hello! I hope your weekend is going well. :) Today for you guys I have a comparison between China Glaze Starboard and Essie Pretty Edgy. I've been wondering how these two compare with each other for a while and I've finally gotten the opportunity to do so since my wonderful best friend has given me the "Knotty Nauticals" half of the Anchors Away Collection.

You can immediately see from the bottle  pictures that these two are really not dupes. Starboard has yellow undertones whereas Pretty Edgy has blue undertones. 

Pinky and middle finger: Starboard. Ring and pointer fingers: Pretty Edgy

The differences shown between the two in the bottles also transferred onto the nails the same way. Starboard is yellow toned and Pretty Edgy is blue toned. 

Pinky and middle finger: Starboard. Ring and pointer fingers: Pretty Edgy

This picture shows that these polishes have some similarities. There were times, when in certain lighting, or in a shadow, or  in the shade, that it was difficult to tell that I had two different polishes on. 

For me,the biggest difference that separates these two are the differences in the formulas. Starboard wins for the better formula, hands down. These pictures show three coats each (no top coat), but two could have been used for Starboard. Pretty Edgy was rather streaky. Starboard was easier and smoother to apply with no streaking.

So do you need both of these? Well it depends. If you're a green lover (like me) then I say go for it. But if you want a nice green cream, but don't want to purchase both I'd say pick the one that better suits your skin tone. Starboard is warmer toned and Pretty Edgy is cooler toned. Starboard is more of a plant-like green and has a murky, dusty quality to it, whereas Pretty Edgy reminds me of the artificial turf of an indoor soccer pitch haha. I also feel like you could get way with wearing Starboard as a Fall color, or even winter if you want to wear a color that's not extremely bright as a break from all of the dark vampy colors of the colder seasons, making this polish extremely versatile. Personally, I'll only be wearing Pretty Edgy in the Spring and Summer. 

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by and reading! I hope you found this helpful! :)

-Alana

China Glaze - Four Leaf Clover

First, can I just say that China Glaze Four Leaf Clover was a pain to capture on camera. Quite frankly, my camera FREAKED OUT! My photos are waaaaaaay off on how this looks in real life. My photos looks blue when in reality, Four Leaf Clover is much more green. It's not quite teal and not quite kelly green. Regardless, it's stunning! Green lovers, this is a must have!

Not only is the color amazing, but the formula is to die for! It's thick, yet applies smoothly. It's highly pigmented and I actually got it opaque in one coat but used two because a second coat really brought out how bold and dense this polish is. I image that this might be good for stamping. This green is in your face without being obnoxious. I quote my father, "Woah! You have green nails!" haha :) I also imagine that this is going to stain my nails horribly so I applied two coats of base coat, but I still think I'll have major staining. That's how pigmented this is!

Behold Four Leaf Clover! (Just imagine this being a lot more green haha) Shown with two coats and one coat of Seche Vite. 

And there you have it folks, my not so accurate photos of an epic green polish. I'm convinced that there is a wee bit of neon pigment in this. This is something that you have to experience yourself if you haven't already seen Four Leaf Clover in person!

That's all for now, thanks for stopping by and reading! <3

-Alana

 

My Stash, More China Glaze, and Meet My Best Friend :)

Hello Hello! :)

This weekend was tax free weekend so I went out shopping. One of the items I was looking for was a new box to store my polish in because the box I was using was no longer large enough. I found this really pretty box:

I love this box! It's so pretty, and paisley is one of my favorite patterns. :)

I introduce you to my stash. Isn't it cute? :)

Also this weekend I found this awesome shirt. I know this isn't nail related, but I thought I'd share anyway, because "sharing is caring"! haha. I've been wanting a lace top for a while but could never really find one that suited my fancy.. until I saw this! It looks really cute with dark wash skinny jeans and a cute pair of flats. :)

Lastly, my best friend gave me something epic this weekend: the "Knotty Nauticals" half of the Anchors Away collection that I've been lemming since foooooreveeeeeer!!!!! :D 

For some reason Hey Sailor freaked out my camera -_-

All of these colors are beautiful and Lighthouse is definitely a stunner! 

That's all for today, thanks for stopping by and reading! <3

-Alana

I Love Essie - Demure Vixen & China Glaze Haul

As promised, my current mani is Essie Demure Vixen. This color is so weird, it's awesome! haha :) I didn't expect the base color to be so taupey (I know that's not a word) haha and the pink shimmer in it is what keeps it from being like every other beige/grey/taupe out there. Against my skin tone, in certain lighting Demure Vixen almost gives off a purplish look and in other instances it gives me mannequin hands. So cool! :)

The formula of Demure Vixen is pretty good. Not to thin and not to thick. I did experience a little balding, but I smoothed that out with a third coat and 1 coat of Seche Vite.

For this mani I stamped a heart on my ring fingers using N.Y.C In a New York Minute 'Manhattan', which is great for stamping, and placed a rhinestone in the center of the heart. I dare say my stamping skills have gotten better! :)

Check out the epically stamped heart! :)

The pink shimmer is really pretty :)

This came in the mail for me today. I have finally invested in a glass file! :)

My China Glaze Haul! :) From left to right: Black Diamond (a shimmer black polish which is STUNNING!), Strawberry Fields, Four Leaf Clover, and Lemon Fizz. Sally Beauty Supply store is having a sale for the month of August. All of their China Glaze if currently $3.99, plus I had a 15% off coupon so I got these four for $14 and come change. Talk about a great price! :D

Well it's bath time! haha. Thanks for stopping by and reading! <3
-Alana

Mini Haul :)

I'm going to keep this short and sweet because I'm exhausted haha. Today at work was "Department Day" which means that we bonded with each other by playing baseball together in 98 degrees. I'm getting really tired of this hot weather. I want snow!!! haha, anyway...

...When I got home there were two packages for me. The first package contained 3 Essies, Demure Vixen, Knockout Pout, and Pretty Edgy.

The second package was OPI Black Shatter and OPI Silver Shatter. I didn't buy these for myself however. I'm giving them to my best friend. :)

I'm really excited to finally own Demure Vixen and Pretty Edgy. Those three Essie polishes came as a 3 piece deal on Amazon and I only paid about $13 and some change (that's including all the shipping and handling). Yay for awesome prices ! :) I'll be using Demure Vixen as my next mani. I love the shimmer in it. 

That 's all for today, thanks for stopping by and reading! <3 I'm off to bed to read until I fall asleep haha. 

-Alana