NOTD: Glitter Goblin

Hello Everyone!

The NOTD I have for you today is China Glaze Glitter Goblin. This polish surprised me. I was not expecting it to have holo glitter, but I'd say it's a pleasant surprise. From the promo pictures I was really expecting Glitter Goblin to be more like China Glaze Spellbound (which I'm still trying to get my hands on). Glitter Goblin starts off with a clear base and is packed full of orange micro glitter and slightly larger holo glitter. In my pictures I layered one coat of Glitter Goblin over OPI Ginger Bells, but I think you could wear Glitter Goblin opaque on its own with 3-4 coats. Glitter Goblin is a bit of a "hungry glitter", so I'd suggest a coat of Gelous before your topcoat if you want a glass smooth finish.

NOTD: It's Alive Glitter Gradient

Hello Everyone!

Before I get to today's post I'd like to thank my new followers for joining me here. To all my followers, I appreciate each and every one of you. I always look forward to your comments. I love the polish community and I'm so glad to be a part of it. Okay, enough mushy stuff... on to the polish

The NOTD I have for you today is one of my all time favorite color combinations, olive green and purple. If you've read my past posts it's no secret that olive/military greens are my favorite color. For today's NOTD I started off with 2 coats of China Glaze Urban Night. Urban Night is a rich red based purple creme polish.Urban Night was released in the 2011 Fall collection. It's not so dark that it looks black on my very fair skin, but it's not obnoxiously bright either. It makes me feel warm and screams fall to me. I needed two thin coats to reach opacity.

Since I can never leave well enough alone, and I'm dying for Halloween to be here, I decided to add a glitter gradient using China Glaze It's Alive. It's Alive is an insanely gorgeous (okay I'm biased) murky olive green  multi-sized glitter polish. It's Alive was part of the 2011 Halloween collection.

What are your favorite color combinations?

NOTD: Teal Glitter Gradient

Hello Everyone!

The NOTD I have for you today is a glitter gradient using all OPI polishes. After applying my CND Stickey Base Coat, I applied 2 coats of OPI Ski Teal We Drop. I then applied OPI Austin-tatious Turquoise to about 2/3rds of my nail. If you look closely you can see the turquoise doesn't go all the way to my cuticle area. Using OPI Simmer & Shimmer I created a gradient effect with the densest glitter at the tips of my nails. I topped everything off with a generous coat of China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat.

Have you tried a glitter gradient?

China Glaze Glitter Crackle Swatches

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Today's post has proved to me that you can't always judge a polish on first impressions. Yesterday I decided to go hunting for new collections. I was quite surprised to find the China Glaze Glitter Crackle collection. I didn't expect it to be out so soon. Of course I had to grab all of them.

Right To Left:

Jade-d: a yellow green, possibly chartreuse, glitter

Glam-More: a rich fuchsia glitter

Luminous Lilac: a delicate lilac glitter

Gleam Me Up: light to medium blue glitter



When I first got these I immediately added them to my current mani. I was disappointed that they weren't opaque and only Glam-More cracked significantly for me. I decided not to give up and to swatch them over a fresh mani that's not completely dry but still tacky. Here they are over China Glaze White on White

As you can see they cracked much better for me using this method. I liked these results so much that I decided to swatch them over China Glaze Liquid Leather.

I figured this will give you a good idea of how they'll look over both dark and light colors. My favorite from this collection is Glam-More. Glam-More seems to be more opaque to me, but I think it's just because the color is so much bolder than the other three. I especially like how amazing Glam-More looks over black. I will be wearing that combination as a mani very very soon.

I picked these lovelies up at my local Sally's Beauty Supply. The display was quite picked over. If you're interested in these I suggest looking for them soon. They seem to be going quick.



What do you think of crackle polishes? Are you over them? Still in love with them?

NOTD: OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston & OPI Pirouette My Whistle

Hello Everyone!
For reasons unknown to me I have recently decided I need all the "sorbets" from OPI Texas (Spring 2011). I know I'm a year too late. What the heck is wrong with me? :P So far I've picked up (I believe) all but one of them. I haven't tried all that I have but so far I am loving them much more than I thought I would.

The mani I have for you today was my birthday mani. This was:
1 coat Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator
1 coat CND Stickey ( I love this base!)
2 coats OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston
1 coat China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat ( love this top coat!)
1 coat OPI Pirouette My Whistle)
1 coat China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat

Guy Meets Gal-veston is a warm red jelly, and so squishy! When these jellies first came out I immediately passed on them. I really don't like visible nail line so I generally opt for darker jellies. I honestly thought Guy Meets Gal-veston would be way too sheer for me to wear, but I was pleasantly surprised that it's relatively opaque in three coats. I wore Guy Meets Gal-veston on its own for a few hours and I loved it but I felt it needed a little kick so I added a coat of Pirouette My Whistle. Pirouette My Whistle is a very sparse glitter polish. I live the silver micro glitter in Pirouette My Whistle, but the real star of the polish is the small semi translucent white hex glitter. It's a very dainty and girly polish. I can't wait to try more layering combinations with both of these polishes.

Jelly Sandwich!

 Have you ever tried a jelly sandwich? Which polishes did you layer? I'd love to hear & see your combinations.

NOTD: Essie Marshmallow & Revlon Whimsical (and chatting)

Hello Everyone!

Two quick tings before we get to the NOTD:

1. I'm trying to put myself on a blogging schedule so I can post more regularly. Right now I'm thinking of posts on Saturday, Monday and Thursday with posts on other days as often as I can. Life is busy right now so I think having a day I'm "SUPPOSED" to have a post will help me.

2. If you follow me on twitter you'll know about two weeks ago I had a very bad break on my swatching hand. I haven't fully recovered from it (physically or emotionally) so you'll see in the pictures below that the nail on my middle finger looks a bit sad. I'm working on growing it back and I feel it's growing quite nicely.

On the the polish!

Today's NOTD is Is Essie Marshmallow topped with Revlon Whimsical. Essie Marshmallow is still a little tricky (application wise) for me. It tends to be streaky on me but it IS a jelly and a white (two things I normally have application issues with). I find that three coats of Marshmallow is the magic number for me.

Whimsical is, I believe, intended to be a dupe for Lippmann's Glitter In The  Air (GITA for short), but I do not own GITA to say for sure. I CAN say that Revlon has been doing one heck of a job duping (or at least getting really close) to a lot of higher end polishes that have come out recently. Whimsical starts off with a very sheer (and i mean VERY sheer) baby blue jelly base. There's a lot of glitter floating around in this polish. I see very tiny micro glitter that flashes from blue to blurple to green blue. I also see some small silver hexagon glitter and of course the glitter that is most prominent is the light blue and soft pink medium sized hexagon glitter. I had no application issues with Whimsical, but I will say the large glitter is really sparse so it can be a bit frustrating when trying to get an even looking coat. That's just the nature of this polish. I cannot comment on removal of this polish as I'm still wearing it. I do not foresee any issues with removal as the glitter is so sparse.

Pictures shown are three coats of Essie Marshmallow topped with two coats (I told you that jelly base is  super sheer) of Revlon Whimsical.Base Coat- Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator. Top Coat- China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat

I really can't wait to try Whimsical over other pastel polishes. I think it will be a great polish for spring, and I am totally ready for spring!

NOTD: Essie Fiesta & Essie As Gold As It Gets

Hello Everyone!

The NOTD I have for you today I created with Valentine's Day in mind. Nothing says Valentine's Day like pink and sparkly glitter! I started off with Essie Fiesta. Fiesta is a bright medium pink creme. It was very self leveling. I then added one of the newish Essie Luxeffects polishes in As Gold As It Gets. As Gold As It Gets is small gold irregular shaped glitter, and red to green flashing micro glitter suspended in a clear base. I used two coats of Fiesta and one coat of As Gold As It Gets over Qtica Natural Nail Growth Stimulator and topped it off with China Glaze Fast Forward.

NOTD: OPI Sapphires In The Snow & Fingerpaints Twisted

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The NOTD I have for you uses one of the new Fingerpaints flakies. I was so excited to get my hands on these flakies. I haven't tried them all out yet, but I intend to soon. Stay tuned for more manis using the flakies. The mani I will be showing you today is OPI Sapphires In The Snow topped with Fingerpaints Twisted. Sapphires In The Snow is a blue/purple creme polish. I found it to be quite opaque and it could be a one coater if you're careful with your application. I always have trouble stopping at one coat, especially when I know I'll be photographing the mani. Twisted is an amazing flakie glitter polish. It starts with a milky base and the flakes flash a rainbow of colors. I see flashes of blue, purple, green, red, and gold. The flakes in Twisted are medium sized, cover well and really come to life over darker polishes. The milky base did not distort the base color at all. Application was a breeze and the flakies are smooth with a normal topcoat. Unlike other flakies I've tried, I have zero removal issues. Pictures shown are two coats Sapphires In The Snow and two coats Twisted.

NOTD: NYX Girls Frizz Spots & Super Funk

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The NOTD I have for you today is NYX Girls Frizz Spots. Frizz Spots is a sheer black jelly base jam packed with small and large silver hex glitter. Super Funk is a clear base with small and large purple hex glitter. I have such a weak spot for Frizz Spots. I'm sure it would look great over black but since this was the first time I've worn it I chose to wear it as it is intended to be. I had no application issues, and no removal issues when using the foil method. Pictures shown are three coats Frizz Spots topped with one coat Super Funk.

NOTD- Black & Gold Pittsburgh Penguins Inspired

Hello everyone!

About a week ago (January 6th) my husband and I went to a Pittsburgh Penguins game. I'm a huge hockey fan, in fact it's the only sport I can pay attention to. Every time we go to a sporting event I always paint my nails to coordinate with the team colors. I will usually also to an eye look using the team colors (I'm a dork, I don't care). This was my very first Penguins game and my first NHL game so I was very excited to go and see my favorite team take the ice. The fact that I also got to see my favorite player play (wooo Fleury) was just a bonus.

Since I was so excited to go to the game I had so many NOTD ideas going through my head and i just could not decide..... so i did them all.

Thumb- China Glaze Liquid Leather (2 coats) stamped with Bundlemonster plate #BM-209 using China Glaze GR8


Index- China Glaze Liquid Leather (2 coats) Topped with OPI Gold Shatter (which did not shatter at all for me) topped with Wet n' Wild Tangled In My Web (1coat)


Middle- China Glaze Liquid Leather (2 coats) topped with China Glaze Golden Enchantment (2 coats)


Ring- China Glaze GR8 (2 coats) stamped with Bundlemonster plate # BM-223 using Wet n' Wild Black Creme


Pinky- China Glaze 5 Golden Rings (3 coats) topped with China Glaze Black Mesh

I know it's a little much but I. Love. It !!!

NOTD: China Glaze Cleopatra & China Glaze Golden Enchantment

Hello Everyone!

The NOTD I have for you is my New Year's Mani. I really wanted a glitterbomb of a mani. I've gotta say China Glaze gets me every time with their glitters. Cleopatra is a gorgeous gold glitter with a sprinkling of holographic glitter in a clear base. I have to admit Cleopatra is a little dangerous. It's one of those polishes you find yourself involuntarily staring at when you're stopped at a red light. Golden Enchantment is a gold toned fine holo graphic glitter top coat. Golden Enchantment is great over just about any polish. I especially love it over black. Golden Enchantment gives just the right amount of "oomph" to a day old mani to make it feel new again. It's one of my favorite ways to extend wear time on a mani when I don't have time to start from scratch. Pictures shown are two coats of Cleopatra topped with two coats of Golden Enchantment over CND Stickey and topped with a generous coat of Seche Vite to smooth everything out. I had no application or removal issues when using the foil method for removal.

And a blurry picture to show off all that fiery sparkle

NOTD: China Glaze Some Like It Haute

Hello Everyone!

I am VERY excited about the polish I have for you today. There's glitter(!!!), MULTI SIZED glitter (!!!!!), there's HOLO GLITTER(!!!!!!!!). I was at Sally's a few nights ago and i said to myself, " Hey self! let's check the new release section " When do I not say that to myself? Anyways, sitting in the polish section was the China Glaze Eye Candy collection. My eyes immediately fell on Some Like It Haute and I audibly gasped. "Mine!" I put Some Like It Haute on my nails as soon as I got home. This is almost unheard of! China Glaze calls this collection "3d Glitters", I don't know about that but I can tell you they're gorgeous. Some Like It Haute is a rather complex polish. It starts with a clear base, then I see charcoal and silver micro glitter and a healthy dose of small hexagon holo glitter. Some Like It Haute is quite opaque but if you're careful and use a light hand you could use this as a layering polish. Two coats of Some Like It Haute over my normal base (CND Stickey) was enough to reach opacity. I had zero application issues. I added two coats of China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat. This is a hungry glitter! In a perfect world I would have added a nice thick coat of Seche Vite over my two coats of Fast Forward. The Fast Forward alone was not enough to make my nails smooth, but for results like this... I can live with adding an extra layer of top coat.

 I also took a few blurry pictures you really show off all that incredible sparkle!

NOTD: OPI Pepe's Purple Passion & OPI Divine Swine

Hello Everyone!

Today I have a NOTD using the new OPI Muppets collection. I started off with a base coat of China Glaze Seduce Me then topped my ring finger with OPI Divine Swine. This is ONE coat of Divine Swine. I cannot believe how glittery it is! You're blowing my mind here OPI! I added a coat of Pepe's Purple Passion to my other nails. Again this is one coat of Pepe's Purple Passion. Pepe's Purple Passion has really awesome gold irregular shaped glitter in it.

These polishes are limited edition so if you like what you see be sure to scoop them up fast.

NOTD: China Glaze Fortune Teller

Hello Everyone!

Today's NOTD is China Glaze Fortune Teller. I originally missed out on this beauty because it was released back in 2009 right before my polish addiction started and before I learned my lesson about limited edition products. I was lucky enough to get my hands on it. The picture shown is one coat of China Glaze Liquid Leather ( my go to black) and one coat of Fortune Teller. I used Liquid Leather as a base because I want to get the most out of my bottle of Fortune Teller. Fortune Teller would be opaque in two coats but with HTF polishes I prefer to layer them over a base color. I added China Glaze Matte Magic top coat and to me it looks like lava.

NOTD: Tangled In My Web Gradient

Hello everyone!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. Today's NOTD is a glitter gradient using Wet n' Wild French White Creme and the new (nearly impossible to find)Wet n' Wild Tangled In My Web from the On The Prowl Collection.

To create this effect I first applied my base coat (CND Stickey) and two coats of Wet n' Wild French White Creme and let it dry completely. I then added one light coat of Tangled In My Web which is pretty sparse to begin with. I then added another coat of Tangled In My Web but this time to only half my nail. I then added one more coat of Tangled In My Web to just the tips of my nails. I added two generous coats of China Glaze Fast Forward quick dry top coat.

I'm a sucker for black and white combinations. In fact the majority of my house is decorated in black and white. I'm completely in love with Tangled In My Web. I found the On The Prowl display at my local CVS. If you see the display do not hesitate to pick up a few, they're less than $2! Nice job Wet n' Wild! I'm very impressed.

Sally Hansen Extreme Wear Night Lights

First of all please excuse my tip wear. I made spiced pumpkin syrup from scratch last night after I did my nails which trashed my mani. Cutting up pumpkins is not a mani friendly activity. Anyways, on to the polish...

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Night Lights. Night Lights is a sheer charcoal jelly base loaded with wonderfully sparkly holo glitter. The picture shown is one coat of Night Lights over two coats of China Glaze Liquid Leather. Liquid leather is a semi jell black polish.  I adore Liquid Leather. It is my favorite black polish. It dries incredibly shiny even without top coat. I decided to layer Night Lights over Liquid Leather because I thought the darkness and opacity of Liquid Leather would really make the lovely holo glitter in Night Light pop. As you can see in the pic, each individual jewel of holo glitter is screaming for your attention. It's even more stunning in person. No comps this time because I do not have anything that would hold a candle to Night Lights. Truly a polish to make any polish junkie speechless.