i'm the Evil Queen

hello, good morning! welcome! this morning i have an unusual (for me) color for you! Claire's nail polish in Evil Queen. when i bought this polish, i was thinking of it's similarity (or so i thought) to Cult Nails Living Water. i was drooling over Living Water and hadn't ordered it yet. so i picked up the Claire's polish for $2.50 and haven't tried it 'til now. in reality, they are not very similar. anyways! here i have on 2 medium coats of Claire's nail polish in Evil Queen. the formula was a little tricky. it was fairly streaky and the brush is very small. i used China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat, 2 coats Evil Queen, and ColorClub 0-60 Speedy Top Coat.

comparison: OPI Fiercely Fiona and ChinaGlaze Electric Pineapple

good morning! while i was looking through my vast collection of polishes today, i noticed i have two very similar colors. OPI (Shrek Collection) in Fiercely Fiona and China Glaze (Island Escape Collection) in Electric Pineapple. i decided to do a comparison swatching. i used 2 coats each Fiercely Fiona and Electric Pineapple on every other finger. the shades are very similar, however, Fiercely Fiona is much yellower upon closer examination. Electric Pineapple is very green. my camera had some difficulties...but i tried my best! take a look:

inside lighting

in the sunshine-you can definitely tell the color differences

i decided to add yellow polka dots to help my camera recognize the difference in the colors

the polka dots are OPI in Lemonade Stand By Your Man

bottle of Lemonade Stand By Your Man

hats off to the TOP COAT!

so i've been using China Glaze Fast Forward top coat and i just wasn't thrilled about it. it has almost ruined a couple of my very favorite leopard manicures and it has been known to give me some bubbles from time to time. and i don't know where they got the name Fast Forward from, because it happens to be on the slow side, in my opinion. anywho-hats off to ColorClub 0-60 Speedy TopCoat. it's my new favorite topper. with an easy, smooth application, non-horrible smell, and super fast dry time, ColorClub rocks my world as of late. also, i've just started using another of their top coats, Vivid color intensifying top coat, and it performs as promised...you can see in my 'feeling blue' post.

so the next top coat i'm going to try is probably the Revlon Quick Dry top coat...it's available in drugstores and i've read on quite a few other blogs that it is out of this world for the price.

until then-

ColorClub 0-60 Speedy TopCoat

designer series obsession

so i think it is safe to say that i've got a bit of an OPI DS obsession going on right now. and i'm willing to accept that. this manicure ended up being a layering mani, so first i'll show you the DS polish that started it all. OPI DS (Designer Series) in Signature. this polish is a semi-sheer holographic ultra micro glitter concoction. and i love it! the DS series has a different brush, and i absolutely love it. i started with 2 coats (opaque) of Signature and then used China Glaze Crackle Glaze in Broken Hearted. then i used 1 coat of Essie in Streamers (as if i didn't have enough glitter going on already) to complete the look. i topped the manicure with my new favorite top coat, ColorClub 0-60.

2 coats OPI DS in Signature

my camera had such a hard time focusing-but this gives a good glimpse of the holographic-ness

this is really the only shot where you can get an idea of the crackle

Respect the World

omg omg omg. this was a breakthrough manicure for me. it started out like any other: China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat...then things got a little crazy. i 1 coat Nicole by OPI in Respect the World. application was difficult, Nicole changed their brushes to the new "perfect brush" and i am not a huge fan. the formula was alright,    fairly sheer. because i still had some VNL (visible nail line) i ended up with 2 total coats of Respect the World. lucky for my little impatient self, it did not take long to dry. next i used 1 coat China Glaze Crackle Glaze in Crushed Candy. i thought i ruined the manicure!! Crushed Candy dries very matte and is tricky to apply because the formula is mushy and a little on the clumpy side. on my right hand ring finger i skipped the Crackle and opted for 1 thin coat Milani 3D nail lacquer in Cyberspace. the saving grace was taking a chance with ColorClub 0-60 Speedy Top Coat...which had the most wonderful brush and was very simple to apply. it also really dried in about 60 seconds and gave my Crackle a glossy, smooth look. i <3 this!

Nicole by OPI in Respect the World, China Glaze Crackle Glaze in  Crushed Candy, and Milani 3D Lacquer in Cyberspace

2 coats Respect the World

could not get the camera to focus 

bright sunshine and focused! but couldn't get my foot out of the pic

2 coats Respect the World Nicole by OPI

the whole shebang! Crushed Candy Crackle Glaze and 3D Cyberspace 

this has a great shot of the holo on my right ring finger

left hand- no 3D polish

color changing leopard, baby!

greetings! today i've got one of my personal favorites, the leopard mani! i used 3 coats Wet n Wild in Gray's Anatomy to opacity. then used Sally Hansen HD polish in shade #16 Laser to make my leopard spots. i used LA Colors Art Deco polish in black to outline the spots. i topped the spots with China Glaze Fast Forward top coat for a glossy finish.

Wet n Wild in Gray's Anatomy, Sally Hansen HD color in Laser, L.A. Colors Art Deco in Black

Katy Perry manic mani! Swoon!

does anyone know if there is a polish color called Swoon? i'd love to see it, if so. please comment if you have any info.
good morning and happy sunday everybody! today i have a manicure that i've been salivating over for quite some time now. ever since i saw OPI's Katy Perry collection i have been drooling. unfortunately, popular polishes fly off the shelves here in my small, limited southern city. the Katy Perry collection is currently sold out in virtually every salon and beauty supply store within 2 hours of my home. i went shopping earlier in the week and by chance stumbled upon Katy Perry by OPI in Teenage Dream...the exact color i was looking for!!
so, on to the mani:
i used 3 thin coats Teenage Dream Katy Perry OPI collection. then used one thick coat China Glaze Crackle Glaze in Black Mesh over the top. i was scared when i saw this coat dry, because it was very matte and not the finish i was looking for with my ridiculously glittery Teenage Dream coat . i topped it with 2 coats China Glaze Fast Forward top coat and it was instantly super shiny.
i love this look!

The finished look-

Two coats Teenage Dream (pre Crackle!)

AHHH-Mazing!

drinking Papaya Punch!

just laquered: one thick, creamy coat of $1.99 China Glaze in Papaya Punch. this smooth, creamy orange was a breeze to apply and i really like how shiny it is. on my ring finger i used one thick coat of China Glaze Electric Pineapple. Electric Pineapple looks nothing like a pineapple to me. they should have called this color "pretty baby snot"...as it is more green than yellow. i wanted to turn this look a little more toward summer, so i decided to add a coat of Barielle in Buddha-ful to the mix. this coat came out a little more opaque than i had in mind, but i still like it. it reminds me of an orange dreamsicle.as always, i used China Glaze Strong Adhesion base coat and China Glaze Fast Forward top coat.

China Glaze in Papaya Punch, Electric Pineapple, Barielle in Buddha-ful

one coat Papaya Punch, one coat Electric Pineapple (ring finger)