Catrice No Snow Petrol stamped with Pueen 49

With this, I have finally finished swatching my Catrice haul, phew....Catrice No Snow Petrol is a gorgeous medium petrol blue with blue shimmers and applies easily in 2 coats. I got the Pueen stamping plates as I loved the upholstery/wallpaper kind of design ;) So here I have stamped with China Glaze Passion and Pueen 49 and I like the result despite my sub-par stamping :p

Click below for plain swatches.

Etude House WH901 over China Glaze For Audrey & Essence Enchanted Fairy

Love this pretty Etude House glitter polish, WH901, with white/ yellow/ blue/ pink hex, diamond and heart glitters. Index and pinky is Essence Enchanted Fairy, middle is China Glaze For Audrey and ring finger has the 2 polishes along with OPI Do you lilac it.

Think this is my favorite Etude House glitter so far, with its soft pastel colors and different shapes/sizes :D

Thanks for viewing!

Barry M Watermelon, China Glaze Adore and Orly Miss Conduct

Sorry this looks really worn out but it was 2-3 days of wear and I think adding an additional layer of Poshe fast dry top coat after I added the "clouds" on the 2nd day shrunk it even more :( Anyway, this is 1 coat of Barry M Watermelon, 1 coat of Essence Time for Romance, blue is China Glaze Adore and pink is Orly Miss Conduct.

Click read more for more pics.

Orly Cotton Candy with China Glaze Passion braid and Essence Make it Golden

Hi, it's been some time! I've been painting my nails and taking pics but there's an inertia after my holiday to actually sit down and draft a post (>.<) Anyway, this is my mani from 2 weeks back and base is Orly Cotton Candy, a peachy pink creme. I did the braid on the index, middle and pinky fingers with Golden Rose White and China Glaze Passion. Also applied Essence Make it Golden to the ring finger and tip of thumb.

I got the 1.6mm gold chain from BornPrettyStore as I wanted to experiment with other materials besides studs/rhinestone. It could be cut using normal scissors and comes in 100cm. Wanted to actually put the chain on the ring finger as well but I simply couldn't get it curve properly and remain untangled on the smaller surface. In fact, the chain is twisted on my thumb and doesn't lie flat but at least it was secure enough for me. It would be easier if you use it in a straight line or applying for someone else :p Nonetheless, I like the overall look with it :)

P.S. Use BNNMK31 for 10% off BornPrettyStore purchases.

Thanks for viewing!

Comparison of Essie Come Here! with OPI Red Lights Ahead...Where?

When I saw Essie Come Here!, it reminded me a lot of OPI Red Lights Ahead...Where? from the Holland Collection, hence decided to put them side by side - from left: OPI Red Lights Ahead...Where?, Essie Come Here! and China Glaze Poinsettia.

Essie Come Here! is slightly lighter than OPI Red Lights Ahead...Where?, but I think for a non-nail-phile, they are not dupes but pretty similar. Have swatched China Glaze Poinsettia just to show the orange tinge the other 2 have.

Both the Essie and OPI were minis in the sets I purchased so I didn't have much of a choice, but I probably wouldn't buy the both on their own, as I'm not that into this shade and they are close enough for me. Do you find them similar too?

Thanks for viewing!

Cherry blossoms / sakura flowers on China Glaze Hello Gorgeous and Essence English Rose

When I discovered the cherry blossoms stamp on BM313 in my previous post, I decided I just had to do a proper cherry blossoms theme mani the next time, and China Glaze Hello Gorgeous and Essence English Rose were the perfect base for it ;) 

I first painted on the branches with acrylic paint, then stamped on the sakura flowers with Konad White. After that, I added OPI Pedal Faster Suzi to the centre of the flowers and dotted white paint around them. 

This is definitely one of my favourites, so I probably wouldn't be posting the next few days as I will keep them on as long as I can :p

A few more pics below cos I like them so much....haha

Thanks for viewing!

China Glaze Hello Gorgeous and Essence English Rose stamped with Color Club Miss Bliss

China Glaze Hello Gorgeous and Essence English Rose were applied alternately in this mani, along with stamping with Color Club Miss Bliss with BM203.

China Glaze Hello Gorgeous is well named as it is indeed gorgeous :p It is dense light pink and holographic glitter polish and above is 2 coats. It dries to a matte finish and even though I put a top coat, I can still feel the texture.

Essence English Rose is a medium rose pink creme and I was a little worried it will look oldish, but I ended up liking it quite a lot :) It is pretty opaque, one coat could almost conceal the nail line and 2 coats were definitely enough.

Although Miss Bliss was a little thin, the stamp came out quite clearly and I thought that it helped English Rose to match Hello Gorgeous a bit better. My left hand is not shown here as the polish was not quite dry and my stamping created creases :( 

Update: You can see it with nail art here :p

Below is without stamping and top coat.

Thanks for viewing!

BYS Magenta stamped with Sally Hansen Pink Satin & China Glaze Passion

This is BYS Magenta (one of the color changing series), topped with Essie As Gold As It Gets (which is sadly not apparent here), stamped with Sally Hansen Pink Satin + BM206 and China Glaze Passion + BM313 and mattified with Rimmel.

I tried this polish out as I figured my nails were long enough to possibly see some gradient as the tips would be cooler in temperature. Please click read more if you want to see more pics of Magenta and my review.

Essence Iced Latte stamped with China Glaze Awaken BM315 and mattified with Rimmel

I previously did Essence Iced Latte stamped with China Glaze Awaken here and thought they went well together so tried it again. Actually I chose a floral image from BM215 but it turned out quite badly as the flowers were positioned at the sides and got cut off so I ended up with random looking bits of grey everywhere. Didn't take a pic but below was what was roughly what I saw on my nails :(

Anyway, I had to clean it off (luckily I had top coated before that so I didn't have to redo the base coat) and I chose a simpler image in BM315. Simpler in terms of design but not in terms of stamping (>.<) As you can see, I had difficulty in aligning it straight and getting the lines imprinted clearly. But generally if you don't look closely, it is fine :p

At the end, I added Rimmel Mattifying Top Coat to get a soft look.

Click read more for plain swatches of Essence Ice Latte

Essence Nude Glam polishes stamped with China Glaze Awaken and BM315

I had meant to do the swatches of the Essence Nude Glam polishes and remove them for a new mani but ended up too lazy hence the skittles :p

China Glaze Awaken is dark metallic grey and is good for stamping but pretty thick on its own, had difficulty painting the tips because of its consistency.

Anyway, found that Awaken looks great with Essence Iced Latte (index and pinky), think I shall do another stamping with this color combi another time :)

Thanks for viewing!

OPI Lights of Emerald City over Golden Rose minty jade green and China Glaze Cherish

So here is the other glitter topper from my mini haul, OPI Lights of Emerald City. It's so pretty in the bottle but the application was tough! Much like the movie, I was kinda disappointed. As the white squares were so distinct, you had to get a number of them on the nail otherwise it would look weird but it was hard to fish them out. Most of the time, when I scraped the excess polish off, I ended up with only the iridescent squares. When I managed to fish the white squares out, it was with lots of clear polish so the surface became a little bumpy. Simply had a hard time getting an even distribution (>_<)

Anyway, I began with China Glaze Cherish, a metallic light green. Although metallics are normally 1 coaters, this is sheerer and definitely needs 2 coats if you are wearing it on its own. But I was planning just use this as a base to reduce the number of layers I had to put on for my sheer polish so it was fine.

After that I applied a layer of Golden Rose polish on it, a sheer minty jade green polish with hidden green shimmer which will take many coats to build up on its own, hence the need for Cherish. Btw, I couldn't find the name of this polish on the bottle :( Love the color,  maybe I will wear this again without the glitter ;)

I then applied 1 layer of OPI Lights of Emerald City (LOEC), a layer of Golden Rose, then another layer of LOEC before top coat.

The end result wasn't too bad but wish LOEC was easier to apply. If you have any tips on better application, do share!

Thanks for viewing!

OPI Polka.com over Max Factor Fantasy Fire and China Glaze Manhunt

Couldn't wait to play with my new polishes so here are 2 of them: OPI Polka.com on the tips, with Max Factor Fantasy Fire over China Glaze Manhunt :) Polka.com is a pretty pink and blue medium and tiny hexagon glitter and dense enough to not require dabbing. Max Factor Fantasy Fire is what is giving the red/orange sparkle and the base is China Glaze Manhunt which is a cobalt blue creme.

Please click read more for step by step pics ;)

Mini haul - OPI Polka.com and Lights of Emerald City and China Glaze Manhunt and Hey Gorgeous

I gave in to temptation again (-_-)" Had been eyeing OPI Polka.com but when I saw Lights of Emerald City, found it pretty and too unique to pass up. And China Glaze Manhunt and Hello Gorgeous were ones which I had liked but resisted until this time as they were on sale. So now, my number of untrieds have yet again grown :p

Update, used them in following links
OPI Polka.com and China Glaze Manhunt
OPI Lights of Emerald City over green and over rainbow gradient
Hello Gorgeous

Can't wait to try the glitters, they look so lovely! :)

What polishes have you bought lately?

Thanks for viewing!

Essence Too Blue to be True stamped with China Glaze Harmony and BM307

Essence Too Blue to be True is from the A New League collection. It is an inky blue with violet undertones. It is a little sheer but I did 2 medium/thick coats above. I do not like the brush though, as it is skinny and doesn't fan out too well. Don't get why they use different brushes in their seasonal collections, when their standard brush is excellent. Somehow I have problems with Sally Hansen and Golden Rose maxi/wide brushes but Essence's work great for me.

Anyway, I wanted to do freehand painting inspired by a Tsumori Chisato pouch at first but it didn't turn out too well - looked kiddish and my moons looked like bananas (-_-)"

So I ended up redoing the 2 fingers and stamping using China Glaze Harmony and BM307 instead. Liked it much better and Harmony matched the polish pretty well :)

Thanks for viewing!

Innisfree nail polish 101 (dupe of Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream?)

This was part of my Etude House and Innisfree nail polish haul and I grabbed this when I saw it as it reminded me of Deborah Lippmann Mermaid's Dream, with its fine aqua and gold glitter and turquoise bigger glitter. Unfortunately I don't have Mermaid's Dream so I can't do a comparison but I think it is a close dupe? Scroll down to the last pic below for a shot in the sun which is probably more color accurate. It applies well and above is 2 coats.

Below is 1 coat FYI.

1-2 days later on I was bored and decided to sponge on China Glaze Passion and mattify it with Rimmel Mattifying top coat.  

Reminds me of beaches and clear turquoise waters....what do you think? :)

Thanks for viewing!

Orly Cotton Candy stamped with China Glaze Passion and BM223

Colors used:
Base - Orly Cotton Candy
Stamping polish - China Glaze Passion
Plate - BM223

Was kinda dreading Cotton Candy's application before this as I had previously used it on a pedi and it was very streaky but luckily this time it turned out better....It is a lovely peachy pink but is rather thick and hard to apply. This was 2 thicker coats and it was still little patchy but I guess the gold strips helped to camouflage things? :p

Thanks for viewing!

Revlon Classy stamped with BM224 and mattified

Colors used:
Base - Revlon Classy
Stamping polish - China Glaze Joy
Plate - BM224
Mattifying topcoat by Rimmel

Classy is a pinkish nude shade and this is 2 coats. Think I should have left it plain but wanted to practice my stamping :p

Thanks for viewing!

OPI The Spy who Loved Me and China Glaze Glittering Garland stamped with BM323

Colors used:
Red - OPI The Spy who Loved Me
Green - China Glaze Glittering Garland
Glitter - China Glaze Snow Globe
Stamping polish - China Glaze Passion
Plate - BM323

One of my Christmas mani last year, with more traditional colors...thanks for looking!

Essence Bashful and marbling with China Glaze Cherish and Passion

Colours used:
Base - Essence Bashful (from Snow White collection)
Marbling colours - China Glaze Cherish and Passion

Bashful was the only one that caught my eye from the Snow White collection and I'm happy with my pick, as it is a beautiful jade green with gold shimmers. Cherish and Passion are from the old China Glaze Romantique collection but I got them as I read that they were good for stamping :)

This is my 2nd try at marbling, the first time I forgot to put a base and tried to do all 10 fingers and it ended up being one of my longest and least enjoyable nail polishing times (>.<)

It was many months before I gathered courage to try again :p And to make sure I wasn't stuck doing it for hours, decided to do it only on the ring and thumb. It turned out not too disastrous but I still can't seem to get the nice petal like pattern, argh....

Do share if you have any tips for nicer marbling.....I need the help, haha...

Pink striped with daisies

Wanted to practice stripes and flowers so here was the result....

Colours used:
Base - Couleur Inc Botein
Stripes - Sally Hansen Golden-I
White - Golden Rose (can't find name)
Blue dot - China Glaze For Audrey

This reminds me somewhat of Kate Spade, what do you think? :)