Vault 106: Life of a Manicure, Deconstructed

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It's not uncommon for me to get bored with a mani quickly, but I'm too lazy to remove it and it still looks okay, so I just add something. Yes, I confess to polish ADD. This time it turned out alright, if a bit thick. Here's the final manicure after about 5 days. This shows the stamping, using plates BM03 and fauxnad M96. The blue is Sally Hansen Navy Baby and the white is Love My Nails White.

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Sans stamping, this layer shows one coat OPI Big Hair... Big Nails. Mmm, jelly sandwich, anyone?

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Here we have three coats Sinful Deep Red Ocean. Starting to look a bit thick already. But SO sparkly!

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Back to the beginning, this is two coats China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy alone. It's a typical neon, so it dries matte, and I liked it that way. It's so bright! Love this one.
Whew, that's a lot of layers! Did you follow all that? Are you polish ADD, too?

Vault 106: Tiger, Tiger

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I did this manicure last spring, when I was playing with different uses for crackles. For this look, I used OPI Black Shatter over Zoya Rica. I started with very little Black Shatter on the brush, and pulled it from each side of the nail towards the center. I really liked this, and I've used this same technique a few times since then. It looks best with a very thin layer of crackle, and if you don't quite meet in the middle.

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Zoya Rica on it's own. I didn't record how many coats, but it's most likely two. Gorgeous color! I bought this whole collection (Zoya Sunshine) last year, because I adore the gold fleck/foily finish and the stunning colors.

China Glaze Classics

It's about time I did a bit more swatching, isn't it? And I have the perfect opportunity, thanks to China Glaze!

Recently, China Glaze was kind enough to send me these three polishes for review.

China Glaze Exceptionally Gifted. Classic pink pearl. 3 coats, no topcoat. This is the perfect classic, bubblegum pink - the exact shade of Hubba Bubba, IIRC. It's very cute, feminine and delicate, for girly-girls. ☺ It has the standard pearl brushstrokes, though, and is a little too sheer for my preference. All pictures are color-accurate, depending on the light you're in, so there's some depth and character to this polish. Pretty!

China Glaze Conga To My Cabana. 3 coats, no topcoat. Bright coral shimmer. This one surprised me - in the bottle, it's kinda blah (to me), but on - it's gorgeous! The color is deep and saturated, bordering on neon. I can't wait to wear this on my toes this summer. I would call it a candy guava color. Again, it's a little too sheer, but it lacks the pearly brushstrokes of EG, thankfully.

China Glaze Outta Bounds. 2 coats, no topcoat. Emerald green shimmer. This is a kissing-cousin to teal. It is definitely on the blue side, and more cool-toned than most greens. It's a great color, and won't ever look swampy like so many yellow-based greens can. It reminds me of a blue spruce or pine color, but richer.
What stood out for me on all three is how glossy they are - I had trouble photographing them, with all the glare. Wow! Opacity was only good on OB, though. The other two, even at three coats showed no sign of being opaque - so nude base color, here I come! No application issues, they all applied nicely. Not too thick or thin, just right. I just wish for wider brushes, as usual.
Bottom line: Would I have picked these out for myself? Probably not - they just didn't stand out to me. (After all, they're not holo, duochrome or flakies! LOL.) Am I glad I own them now? Definitely - they're all solid, beautiful colors that everyone should have represented in their stash, with great application besides. I'm very happy with them.

*Disclosure: This polish was sent to me by China Glaze for review purposes.