ABC Challenge: V - China Glaze Visible Shivers + Native War Paints Black Cat Crossing

Self-purchased

China Glaze Visible Shivers (index and pinky fingers) is a gunmetal-purple shimmer. It's prettier than I thought it would be! This polish was made before the current Big 3-Free era so I'm not sure if you can still purchase it. I'm not sure if it's part of the core collection either. My dad found it at a beauty supply (?) place a few years ago so dusty hunting would be your best bet. I used 3 coats. The formula was thin and a little watery, but still easy to apply. It smelled terrible though, thanks to the Big 3 chemicals in it. It dried shiny so I didn't use top coat.

Native War Paints Black Cat Crossing (middle and ring fingers) has copper, lilac, purple, and silver diamond, hex, square, and star holo and metallic glitters, along with black holo cat glitter, in a glow-in-the-dark lavender jelly base. It was an extremely limited edition polish so I was very lucky to score the last one! My bottle is numbered 5/5. :D I used 3 coats. The formula was good and packed with glitter, but I needed to dab the large glitters onto my nails. I didn't have trouble retrieving them though. It dried bumpy so I used top coat to smooth it out.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

ABC Challenge: U - LA Girl Uninhibited + China Glaze Shell-O

Self-purchased

LA Girl Uninhibited has small and micro black, matte hex glitters in a clear base. I used 1 coat over China Glaze Shell-O. This combination makes me think of a radioactive watermelon! :D The formula was great and easy to apply, though I wish there was more small hex glitter. It was too packed with micro glitter. It dried a bit bumpy. No top coat.

China Glaze Shell-O is a neon pinky-coral jelly. I stopped at 4 coats. The formula was good, but sheer and a bit thin. Despite using so many coats, the patchiness was very persistent. (You can't see them in the photo though.) I didn't have any trouble applying it though. It dried matte and didn't level well. A good top coat will fix the leveling issue. No top coat.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

ABC Challenge: D - China Glaze Dreamsicle

Self-purchased

China Glaze Dreamsicle is packed with iridescent hex glitter that's swimming in an orange jelly base. I used 3 coats. The formula is good and easy to apply. It dried a bit gritty so I used top coat to smooth it out. 

Dreamsicle is an old China Glaze polish so I'm not sure if you can get it anywhere but online. I got mine from Head2ToeBeauty. It was part of the Speciality Collection. Unfortunately, it's no longer listed so they don't stock it anymore.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

China Glaze Wish on a Starfish

Self-purchased

China Glaze Wish on a Starfish is a beautiful warm light pink texture, glistening with gold shimmer. It reminds me of a peach for some reason... I used 3 coats, but it was still a little patchy. The formula was sheer and thin, but easy to control and not runny. The texture didn't materialize until a couple minutes after I had finish painting. It also took a bit to dry completely and smoothly. I didn't use top coat in order to preserve the textured finish. I left my adorable cats on my middle and ring fingers because I couldn't bare to take them off just yet. <3 They make for such a cute mani! :3

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

China Glaze Glistening Snow + Nails Inc. Noho

Self-purchased

China Glaze Glistening Snow (index and middle fingers) is a dense, holographic silver glitter. Think of it as a full-coverage version of the beloved Fairy Dust! I used 3 coats. The formula was good and easy to control. I've had this for several months to a year now, which is when I generally find many of my China Glazes to have dried up a little. I noticed this one didn't escape the same fate when I applied it, but it's nothing some thinner can't fix! :) It dried very gritty so I used 3 coats top coat.

Nails Inc. Noho (ring and pinky fingers) is a black that produces a leather effect once it dries. The leather effect is much smoother than the texture effect. I think it'll be great for people who don't like how rough the texture effect is. I used 2 coats. The formula was amazing! It was the standard Nails Inc. formula: very pigmented, buttery, and easy to control and apply. The effect materialized soon after application. It dried quickly. I didn't use top coat in order to preserve the finish.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

China Glaze For Audrey

Self-purchased

China Glaze For Audrey is a pigmented Tiffany-blue creme. It's an extremely popular color that seems to be in almost everyone's collection - and with good reason because Tiffany blue is such a beautiful color! I used 2 coats. The formula, unfortunately, left a lot to be desired. It was thick, needed a lot of thinner, and didn't level well. Also, it was already separating when I received it. It dried shiny and in an average amount of time, but I still used 1 coat of top coat.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

China Glaze Fairy Dust

Self-purchased

China Glaze Fairy Dust is a holographic microglitter topper. It's a wonderful staple for anyone's collection! I love using it to finish off my galaxy manis. I used 1 coat over Essie Navigate Her, First Timer, Turquoise & Caicos, Bikini So Teeny, and Lapis of Luxury. The formula was a bit thick, but still easy to apply. I used 1 coat of top coat, which, unfortunately, shrunk it.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

China Glaze It's a Trap-Eze!

Self-purchased

 

China Glaze It's a Trap-Eze! is a sheer, milky white jelly that's packed with multicolored glitter in a variety of sizes. The glitter mix is very Milani Gem-esque. It's seriously like a party in a bottle! I used 2 coats, though you could also use 1 coat for a delicate/toned-down look. (I like it both ways.) When I swatched this polish on my nail wheel, it was either a bit dried out or there was too little of the jelly base (the glitter really is packed in there!) so I had to add in 2 drops of thinner before wearing it. The thinner helped it a little since I didn't have any problems with application. There's no need to dab with this one - there's sooo much glitter! The dry time was quick to average. I used 2 thin coats of top coat, but it's still a little gritty.

I'm glad I finally got this one! It's been off-and-on my list since it first came out because I figured I could just do a jelly sandwich to make up for it. But when I saw it on sale at Cherry Culture (which also had a coupon code), I went ahead and grabbed it. ^__^ It was a good decision. I like that decision.

Thanks for looking! See you on the other side of the day!

Michelle

Cover Band Sticks 'n Stones + China Glaze Re-fresh Mint

Self-purchased

Cover Band Sticks 'n Stones

Cover Band Sticks 'n Stones is a mix of black and white hex, bar, and square glitters in a clear base. Sadly, I couldn't get any of the white bar glitters in these swatches. :( It also has a sprinkling of blue iridescent glitter that goes largely unnoticed. Because of that, Sticks 'n Stones is often touted as a dupe for Lynnderella Connect the Dots. I used 1 coat over China Glaze Re-fresh Mint. The formula was just right - not too thick and not too thin. Fishing wasn't necessary to get the larger glitters, but I did have to do some dabbing. I didn't find Sticks 'n Stones to be a pain to apply at all though. I found that the bar glitter can run off the nail or lift up a little; I needed to pay extra care and attention to them. If they lift too much, they can scratch and/or come off. Because of this and the bumpiness when it dried, I used 1 coat of top coat. It dried shiny and had an average dry time.

I got this from Sticks 'n Stones at Ninja Polish. You can find it here and can follow Ninja Polish's facebook for information on restocks.

China Glaze Re-fresh Mint

China Glaze Re-fresh Mint is a green mint creme with lots of white in its base. I used 2 coats. The formula was thick and buttery. I had some dragging that didn't level out and bubbling, but it was otherwise okay to apply. It dried slowly and with a nice shine. No top coat. I will probably thin it a little the next time I wear it.

What do you guys think? I'd love to know! :)

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle 

China Glaze Surreal Appeal

China Glaze Surreal Appeal

Surreal Appeal is a neon-ish medium pink creme. In real life, it doesn't look as bright so it's actually quite wearable. When le roommate saw this on me, she said the color reminded her of strawberries. (I assume she meant the inside of a strawberry... Or a radioactive strawberry!) I used 3 thin coats here, but you can get away with 2 thick ones. Surreal Appeal was fluid and easy to apply, had the right thickness, and leveled well. In short, the formula was great! It dried very shiny with average dry time. I dare say you don't need top coat. It's great if you're feeling lazy or usually skip topcoat.

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle

China Glaze Concrete Catwalk

China Glaze Concrete Catwalk

Concrete Catwalk is a dark grey creme and is a great alternative to black. I used 2 coats, but it's so opaque that I almost didn't need a second coat! The formula was great and a "good" thick, just the right balance of opacity and viscosity. It flowed smoothly, almost as if it was applying itself, and dried in a reasonable amount of time. When dried, it was very shiny and darker than the bottle color. I had this on for a week and only had very little wear and minor chips. I can already tell I'll be wearing Concrete Catwalk a lot!

P.S. Sorry about the horrendous cuticles. :( I've been babying them with cuticle balm and oil, but the weather just keeps getting colder and colder!

See you guys on the other side of the day!

Michelle