China Glaze Summer 2012 Crackle Glitters Collection: Jade-d

China Glaze Jade-d (1 coat) over Zoya Tallulah (2 coats)

I'm in heaven! My labmate works on his grandparent's farm over the weekends and he brought me back a ton of fresh strawberries. There's nothing like the smell of fresh strawberries in your office! Any strawberry recipes you'd like to share? 

Continuing on with the crackle glitters is Jade-d (hate the name) which is a yellow-based green color. To shake the color combinations up, I decided to put it over the blue shimmer Zoya Tallulah (it is beautiful on it's own!). The green isn't overpowering, in fact, I wish it were a little denser like the polish yesterday. Either way, I am a huge fan of the green and blue together.

*This polish was provided the the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

China Glaze Summer 2012 Crackle Glitter Collection: Glam-more

China Glaze Glam-more (1 coat) over 2 coats Concrete Catwalk

The weekend is almost over :-( I honestly spent most of it sleeping, which is fine by me. We've had so many guests the past few weeks that I missed out on a lot of my sleeping. The fact that my trip to Cambodia is only 2 weeks away is pretty daunting. I'm going to try to get some posts together this week (definitely by next week) so that you guys will have something to look at while I'm gone.

Are you over crackle polishes? If you would have asked me a few weeks ago I would have said definitely, but China Glaze is going to try and make you reconsider. I actually really like these! I love glitter and they are so shiny that they look cool crackled. Glam-more is a purple/pink glitter that is densely packed. I only used one coat here, but I added topcoat because it dries completely matte. It's really fun to see what different mixes of colors will look like; I used a dark grey creme as a base, and I really like how it turned out. Come back tomorrow to see what I use tomorrow.


*This polish was provided the the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Polish: Love Bug

Sally Hansen Love Bug (3 coats)

Hi guys! I've doing some reading on nail news and apparently Sally Hansen is coming out with their Salon Effects nail polish strips for toes now! No matter what I do, I cannot get nail polish to stay on my toes for long, so I'm excited to try these. I haven't seen these yet, but I hope to do some drugstore shopping this weekend. 

Love Bug is the final polish I have to show from their Diamond Strength line. Love Bug didn't seem like much in the bottle, and, to be honest, I wasn't thrilled with it after applying, but I think it looks really nice in pictures. The shimmer in this light pink polish is just so sparkly and looks great. I also had some issues with application since it is a bit thin and sheer. I used three coats here, but a fourth wouldn't have hurt. This is definitely my least favorite of the ones I got, but I think some may be a fan on of it.


*This polish was provided the the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Polish: Wedding Crasher

Sally Hansen Wedding Crasher (3 coats)

Is it the weekend yet? I just cannot come sooner! It's just been one of those weeks that feels like nothing is going right. On the bright side, I did get to watch Deadliest Catch last night (you knew I couldn't go a whole week without mentioning it, right?). 

Oh, and I also wanted to mention that my sister-in-law was in awe of my polish stash this past weekend. She even had to take pictures to show her friends! I told her go through and put on whatever she wanted, but she said it was too overwhelming and made me pick something out! I really wish I could have a blog sale, but I just don't have the time to invest in shipping everything out.

I have another Sally Hansen Diamond Strength polish to show called Wedding Crasher which is a magenta glitter in a pink base. I'm really glad there was a base color because there just wasn't enough glitter for full coverage. I still had to use three thick coats for it to be opaque. It does dry bumpy so you may need to add a coat of Gelous before putting a topcoat on. The formula was thick, but manageable. I think they changed the bottle of these recently, and I'm really digging them. The glass seems really thick and I like the shape.


*This polish was provided the the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Sally Hansen Diamond Strength Polish: Black Tie (Duochrome)

Sally Hansen Black Tie (2 coats)

Happy Hump Day! It's been a frustrating few days at the job with things I ordered for my Cambodia trip not coming in on time. Ugh, you'd think 2 and a half months would be enough time to get 1 thing shipped, right? Apparently not! Whew, I need to relax! 

I have an awesome duochrome from Sally Hansen to show you called Black Tie. I'm not usually impressed with the color selection for most of the Diamond Strength polishes, but I'm really happy with Black Tie. It is a dark purple shimmer with a teal green flash. While the duochrome is not in your face, you can definitely see it on the nail (you may have to enlarge the picture to see it, but it's definitely present on the ring and pinkie fingers). No issues with the application and it only needed 2 coats. Are you liking it?


*This polish was provided the the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

China Glaze Spring 2012 Electropop Collection: Gothic Lolita

China Glaze Gothic Lolita (2 coats)

Whoa, look at that crazy-looking ring-finger nail! I had just gotten out of the shower when I took this picture, and I guess the water made my nails extra pliable. My apologies for the wonkiness. I showed Gothic Lolita to you yesterday with an accent nail and I thought today would be good day to finish it up. Is it just me, or does this color not radiate Lolita or gothic at all? I'm not sure why they chose this name because it is quite unfitting. Despite this drawback, I think it's lovely. It is a grape color with a fine sprinkling of blue shimmer that is very subtle. When I first showed the color to my husband, I quizzed him on what kind of finish it was and he said creme (I swear, my husband knows more about polish finishes than any man should) and I told him to look closer. It took him a few moments in the sunlight to notice the shimmer-it's that subtle. It also got thumbs up for application and formula. 

China Glaze Spring 2012 Electropop Collection: Wicked Style

China Glaze Wicked Style (2 coats) with Gothic Lolita accent nail

Whoa, the Van Halen concert was awesome last night! It was so hot in there, and the seats were a bit farther back than we expected, but it was great nonetheless. Weirdly the openers were Kool and the Gang and they rocked the place! Who doesn't like the song Celebrate? Did you have a good weekend?

Yeah, I'm still trying to finish up the swatches from the Electropop collection. I don't know what the deal is, but I don't like them quite as much as I expected. Take Wicked Style for example. It's a nice bright pink creme that dries a bit matte, but it just doesn't wow me. There's nothing really wrong with it, but I just expect a little more. I tried to make it a little bit more exciting with an accent nail which I thought helped. On the bright side, the application and formula was great. 

Sinful Colors: Cinderella

Sinful Colors Cinderella (3 coats)

Happy Friday! Sorry for the late post, but I was having some awesome Mexican food with my brother and sister-in-law. 

Apparently Sinful Colors has 5 new polishes out, one being Cinderella. I think I bought one other new one during a recent $0.99 sale. I love the pink shimmer in the light blue base. I was really happy that you can see the color of shimmer, but the application leaves much to be desired. It is really sheer and thick and gloopy at the same time. It needs at least 3 coats, but it's hard to get thin enough coats. Is it worth a buck? Sure, but it does have a few downfalls. 

Sally Hansen Tracy Reese Fall 2011 Collection: Green Tea

Sally Hansen Green Tea (2 coats)

Bad news, guys. I had a split in my middle finger nail so I used the teabag method to let it grow out a bit. Last night I was trying to redo it and I ended up getting nail glue all over. Instead of dealing with it calmly and rationally, I started picking at the glue which ended up taking some of my skin off with it (EEEKKK!) and then cut all my nails down. I'm going to be giving my nails a break for a few days to recuperate. I can't believe it's almost Friday already. This Saturday my brother and sister-in-law will be visiting and we'll be going to see Van Halen! Woot! Any recommendations for my mani?

You know what else grinds my gears? I can never find the Tracy Reese for Sally Hansen polishes in stores. I was lucky here because Green Tea was randomly on sale at Ulta the other day. Why can't all stores get limited edition displays? Green Tea is a serene light green creme that is perfect for Spring (which is weird that this is a Fall polish, but whatever). The application was fine despite the terrible tapered brush on the Sally Hansen polishes. I have never hated a brush as much as I hate these. It almost makes me not want to purchase them. I know some people hate the OPI brushes, but these are much worse, in my humble opinion. 

Nerd Lacquer: All of Time and Space

Nerd Lacquer All of Time and Space (3 coats)

Deadliest Catch is on tonight! I know, most of you are sick of me talking about it, and I promise to try and curb my enthusiasm, but it's still one of the highlights of the week. Am I the only person watching this? I should consider making a Deadliest Catch blog to appease me. 

I love Nerd Lacquer polishes. If you haven't heard of Amanda from her Etsy shop, you're missing out on some fabulous one-of-a-kind polishes. I always feel bad when people who don't know much about polish ask me where to buy her polishes and I have to answer them that you have to go online and wait for her shop to open. I also wish she could go back to selling some mini polishes because variety is the spice of life. All of you Doctor Who fans will appreciate All of Time and Space. I'm a huge Doctor Who fan, but somehow stopped watching after I got back from my Cambodia trip last November. David Tennant will always be my Doctor. I digress. All of Time and Space is a mint green jelly with loads of large and small pink and silver glitter (do I hint a little blue glitter as well?). I absolutely adore it. The only issue I had was with the sheerness. I used three coats, but you can still see some tip line. If I had to do it over again, I would put a base color on first to save as much of this unique polish as possible. 

Mattese Elite Me Amour Collection: Embarasse Moi

Mattese Elite Mattese Elite Embarasse Moi (3 coats)

How was your weekend? Mine was good, but I didn't get enough sleep. My parents were in town for my birthday and they went with me and my husband to look at homes. My husband and I have been living in apartments for years, and would like to eventually settle down into a home for a few years instead of moving all the time. I'm so nosy...I love going into people's homes to see what they've got going on in Open Houses. 

Embarasse Moi is he second polish I have from the Me Amour Collection. I don't like it as much as I did Saturday's polish, but it's still a really bright magenta glitter (with both small and larger pieces). I wasn't sure how sheer it was going to be, but I mostly got full coverage with 3 coats. In the end, I think it would be better over a coat of your favorite base, but you can definitely wear it on its own. It was a little thick, but nothing too worrisome, and the removal was surprisingly easy for a glitter.


*This polish was provided the the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Mattese Elite Me Amour Collection: Amour De Ma Vie

Mattese Elite Amour De Ma Vie (2 coats)

I have a brand new to me and it's called Mattese Elite. If you're lucky enough to live in New York City, you can find these at Ricky's, but if you're like me, you can still buy them online here. Amour De Ma Vie is a black jelly with lots of red, blue and silver hexagonal glitter. I was worried it would be sheer, but it is extremely pigmented and barely needed 2 coats. Color me impressed! I absolutely adore this color, and I would recommend it to lovers of glitter. These will put you back only $5.99 which is similar to other drugstores, but unfortunately I can't see them in person first.


*This polish was provided the the company or PR representative. All reviews are based solely on my opinion. For more information, please see my full disclosure at the bottom of the site*

Essie Winter 2010 Collection: Incognito

Essie Incognito (2 coats)

Happy Friday! I have the winner for the Julep Giveaway and that's Meg S. Congratulations! I had a wonderful birthday yesterday, and thank you for all of the well wishes. Ugh, I'm 30 now :-( When I was younger I thought 30 was ancient and I've been trying to look on the bright side. 

I went back a few years for this polish as it comes from the Essie 2010 Winter collection. Incognito is a unique color, especially for an Essie. Depending on the light, it can look more green, but there's a lot of blue in there which makes it look teal in lots of views. I really like it. I've been so impressed with Essie lately. I was dubious of them being taken over by L'Oreal, but all I've noticed is that it is easier to access. I can only imagine the money L'Oreal is raking in from the takeover. The formula was very opaque and had flawless application. 

I hope you have a great weekend! 

Essie Winter 2011 Collection: Cocktail Bling

Essie Cocktail Bling (2 coats)

Remember how excited I was about Deadliest Catch last night? Well, my husband had poker and didn't get home until late, so no Deadliest Catch for me yet :-( I'm such a nice wife to wait for him. Needless to say, I'm definitely watching my favorites tonight. On a good note, I think I am finished with all my soil digests for a couple months! I've been working on those boogers for months and I finally get a break after about 300 samples (you can only do 40 at a time). Hooray!

Can you believe I forgot a polish from the Winter collection? I was looking through the photos I uploaded last night and came upon Cocktail Bling which is a mix of grey and blue (with a bit of purple as well?) creme.  I'm really digging this one right now because of all the bright colors that have come out for spring/summer makes this one a nice neutral palate cleanser. It had great application and formula for a mini polish. Essie sure can do mini bottles correctly (are you listening, OPI?). 

I've had a ton of new entries for the April giveaway the last few days. Keep 'em coming! 

Essie Spring 2012 Navigate Her Collection: Orange, It's Obvious!

Essie Orange, It's Obvious! (3 coats)

Woot, Deadliest Catch is on tonight! I'm such a huge fan of the show (I know, I'm weird) and I can't wait for Edgar to be back! My other guilty pleasure is on tonight and that's Dance Moms. I'm not sure what I think of the Miami spinoff yet, but I'll be tuning in to give it a chance.

Oh, don't forget you still have until the 12th to sign up for the giveaway. 

I told you Essie's Orange, It's Obvious is a bit similar to Brazilliant. Orange, It's Obvious is a little bit darker and is a creme, but I think Brazilliant wins in this showdown. Orange, It's Obvious is probably easier to find right now so you may want to pick that one up instead. The application was a bit streaky for the first coat, but got better with the addition of two more thin coats. To show you a comparison with bottle pictures:

Orange, It's Obvious (right) Brazilliant (left)

I hope you're having a good week so far! 

Essie Summer 2011 Brazilliant Collection: Brazilliant

Essie Brazilliant (2 coats)

If you celebrate Easter, happy belated Easter! I had a really fun and somewhat relaxing day with a long bike ride. Now it's time for 50% off candy! Easter wins at special candy for sure. Halloween only has the usual candy you can get any time (well, except for candy corn) whereas Easter has Cadbury Eggs of various types, jelly beans, Peeps (which should only be around for Easter), Robin's Eggs, etc. Mmm, can you tell I'm hungry?

I meant to purchase Brazilliant last year, but never got the chance. I think the pink shimmer in the polish is what sets it apart from other bright orange polishes. It does, however, look suspiciously similar to the Spring 2012 color Orange, It's Obvious! without the shimmer. I haven't done a comparison yet, but the bottles look really close. The first coat was a bit streaky which went away after the addition of a second. I like it a lot. Definitely a color that will be popular this summer like last. Who doesn't like a good orange?