So prepping for spring for many people invovles new wardrobes, cleaning out the house, and flinging open windows. As long as temperatures stay in the 60s I'm a happy camper, 70 and above is like death to me. I'm a hot-bodied person. I stay hot. If you asked me if I'd rather freeze to death or die smothered in unbearable heat, I'd freeze (at least you'd eventually go unconsious). The bright side to spring and warm weather...I can bust my toes out! I'm all about wearing flip flops and sandals. I hate socks and tennis shoes. So the weather around here is warming up, though I'm sure we'll get slapped in the face by at least one more winter storm, I finally started painting my toes & fingers again. I mean, you can't go out with crusty toes & fingers. And if you do, shame on you! So to welcome warm weather back to my feet, I ordered some new spring polishes.
I've not tried the Misa brand of polishes yet. They seem to have a large range of fun colors to pick from, I was on the hunt for blues and greens this go around. I have plenty of pinks & oranges in pastels, sparkles and neons but not many cream greens & blues. I found these two and threw them in my shopping cart.
Pour Me Something Tall & Strong (left), Blame It On Fat Tuesday (right).
Pour Me Something Tall & Strong (Look on the Bright Side Collection) is a nice shade of true blue creme. The problem came when applying. It's not a true cream, it's more of a pigmented jelly. The picture shows 3 coats of polish, but clearly a 4th one could have helped even more. I was dissappointed in this one and didn't really know what to expect from the other Misa color I picked up.
Blame It On Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras Collection) however is much better. The formula was close to China Glaze in consistency and covered in 2 coats nicely. It's a nice vibrant green that does remind me of the greens used in Mardi Gras celebrations. It's a little darker in real life, but still a nice color. It also reminds me of China Glaze Four Leaf Clover polish in its vibrancy.
I'll just say...I LOVE this glitter! Not a fan of the jelly it's in though..This beauty is Color Club's Covered in Diamonds (Untamed Luxury collection)
It takes randomly cut holographic glitters and places it into a clear jelly. Which is where the problem was. Hopefully it was just my bottle in particular, but it was thick. Almost as if it sat too long and no one shook it. I'll have to add some nail polish thinner to my bottle but I love this glitter so much already. Because the pieces aren't uniform it really adds depth to the whole look of the nail.
More green! I remembered to pick up OPI's Jade is the New Black (left) and also picked up Don't Mess with OPI (right).
Jade is the New Black (Hong Kong Collection) is a green creme shade. Much less vibrant than the green Misa polish above, but an ideal color for shade for those intimidated by bright greens.
Don't Mess with OPI (Texas Collection) is like the lighter sister of Jade is the New Black. Same creamy formula with a touch less darkness. Another great green...not sure if you would need both though.
This is where other blogger's pictures get you in trouble. I had no intention of picking up the majority of the China Glaze Anchors Away collection, but then I kept looking at other blogger pictures and couldn't resist. (Plus China Glaze is so much cheaper on disount sites!). From the Sand & Sea side of the collection I picked up
(L-R) Pelican Gray, Below Deck, Sea Spray, & Sunset Sail
Pelican Gray is a nice light grey creme with silver micro glitters. I think it's most similar to Marble Tower from Nubar's Fortress Collection. The micro-glitters really help add depth to this polish though!
Below Deck, from my understanding, is one of the hottest colors to be had in the collection. I really like it. Since taupes have taken over the nail world in recent years, this is my first from China Glaze, I think. It fits in well with my other taupes.
Sea Spray is a light, misty blue shade with the same micro-glitters found in Pelican Gray. It makes me think of sea foam for some reason. Very good color for spring.
My surprise favorite was Sunset Sail.. I kept looking at pictures online and thinking it was a little too orange but I picked it up anyway. Glad I did! This light peachy creme with micro-gliters is the perfect step into spring shade if you ask me. It's warm and sweet with a hint of sparkle.
The other side of the Anchors Away collection was the Knotty Nauticals colors. I only picked up three..
(L-R) Life Preserver, First Mate, & Starboard
Life Preserver is what I will refer to as a blood-orange color. It leans just over the red line, but keeps enough orange to call it orange. It's a bit darker than any other orange I have which makes it a little more wearable on me. (I have some BRIGHT oranges in my collection).
First Mate is another color I'm in love with. Don't know if you know, but my favorite color is blue. Teals in particular but when you get a rich navy creme like this that reminds me of my favorite polo shirt in high school (by Nautica actually) I'm in love.
Dumb-dumb here forgot to take a four-finger shot of Starboard...but luckily I had a comparison picture to pull from. Here's China Glaze's green creme in the collection. It makes me think of grass though, not anything in the sea...
And finally...I wasn't going to do it, but I started thinking of all the fun combinations of things I could do with them. I just barely managed to pick up the China Glaze Crackle Glazes. I didn't bother with the OPI Katy Perry ones because I knew these were coming out and had more colors...Now for the youngin's around here, crackle polish is definitely not a new thing. I had crackle polishes years ago (emphasis: like over a decade ago!...Dear God, I'm getting old.. anyway). Back then it literally took forever for them to dry! These new ones had pretty instant results. Amazing what 10+ years can do..
(L-R) Lightening Bold, Black Mesh, Cracked Concrete, Crush Candy, Fault Line, Broken Hearted.
Instead of driving myself insane and doing each polish on my hand separately I combined them into two pictures. Lightening Bolt, Cracked Concrete, and Crushed Candy are featured below on top of Orly's Liquid Leather (black creme). Black Mesh is atop Orly's Country Club Khaki (coffee creme).
Tips for working with crackle/shatter polishes...WORK FAST! You thought matte polishes were a pain, these can cause nightmares if you've never experimented with them. Another tip, don't pile it on your nails. A thin coat is all you need, otherwise it won't crackle properly (see Crushed Candy finger). I didn't use a top coat here, but it really does finish the look!
Below I used Fault Line & Broken Hearted on top of Orly's Cotton Candy (pink creme). The pink on pink look is really cute. The first finger you can see I wanted to show you what happens if you try to make two coats. It still crackled but it's just wrong.
I'm sure you're saying..HEY! You bought a lot of green there, lady.. Yes I did. Here's some comparisons between the four I purchased.
(L-R) OPI Jade is the New Black, OPI Don't Mess with OPI, China Glaze Starboard, & Misa Blame It On Fat Tuesday
Side by side, you can see that Jade is the darkest with Don't Mess close behind and in the same color family. Starboard is much more grass green than any of the other colors. and Pour Me Something is brighter than them all and more Kelly Green.
I also compared China Glaze's First Mate and Misa's Pour Me Something Tall & Strong (why is that name so long?!) If you didn't understand what the difference between a true cream and a jelly was...I think it's clear below. First mate is completely opaque after 2 coats where Pour Me Something could use a few more if you were really trying. The shades of blue are definitely different though.
At Trans Design the prices were:
Misa $3.75 each
Color Club $3.20 each
OPI's $5.75 each
China Glaze Anchors Away $2.99 each.
China Glaze Crackle $3.20 (SOLD OUT) each.
Victoria Nail Supply is the cheapest site but they don't have 3 of the crackle polishes and do not carry OPI & Misa polishes
I ordered all of the above from Trans Design's website. The crackle China Glaze polishes are SOLD OUT now though.
Head2Toe Beauty Supply has the crackle polishes in stock for 29 cents more than Trans Design but does not carry OPI polishes.
Hope that helps!
So that's it. Next week I'll try and have a post up comparing the polishes I have in my collection now and maybe a NOTD or two.
NOTICE: All items seen in this post were purchased by me with my own money. All opinions stated above are my own and not bought in any way, shape or form. I give my honest opinions of any products shown on this blog. I am not affiliated with the sites mentioned in this post and have not been paid or given incentives to promote them.
I've not tried the Misa brand of polishes yet. They seem to have a large range of fun colors to pick from, I was on the hunt for blues and greens this go around. I have plenty of pinks & oranges in pastels, sparkles and neons but not many cream greens & blues. I found these two and threw them in my shopping cart.
Pour Me Something Tall & Strong (left), Blame It On Fat Tuesday (right).
Pour Me Something Tall & Strong (Look on the Bright Side Collection) is a nice shade of true blue creme. The problem came when applying. It's not a true cream, it's more of a pigmented jelly. The picture shows 3 coats of polish, but clearly a 4th one could have helped even more. I was dissappointed in this one and didn't really know what to expect from the other Misa color I picked up.
Blame It On Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras Collection) however is much better. The formula was close to China Glaze in consistency and covered in 2 coats nicely. It's a nice vibrant green that does remind me of the greens used in Mardi Gras celebrations. It's a little darker in real life, but still a nice color. It also reminds me of China Glaze Four Leaf Clover polish in its vibrancy.
I'll just say...I LOVE this glitter! Not a fan of the jelly it's in though..This beauty is Color Club's Covered in Diamonds (Untamed Luxury collection)
It takes randomly cut holographic glitters and places it into a clear jelly. Which is where the problem was. Hopefully it was just my bottle in particular, but it was thick. Almost as if it sat too long and no one shook it. I'll have to add some nail polish thinner to my bottle but I love this glitter so much already. Because the pieces aren't uniform it really adds depth to the whole look of the nail.
More green! I remembered to pick up OPI's Jade is the New Black (left) and also picked up Don't Mess with OPI (right).
Jade is the New Black (Hong Kong Collection) is a green creme shade. Much less vibrant than the green Misa polish above, but an ideal color for shade for those intimidated by bright greens.
Don't Mess with OPI (Texas Collection) is like the lighter sister of Jade is the New Black. Same creamy formula with a touch less darkness. Another great green...not sure if you would need both though.
This is where other blogger's pictures get you in trouble. I had no intention of picking up the majority of the China Glaze Anchors Away collection, but then I kept looking at other blogger pictures and couldn't resist. (Plus China Glaze is so much cheaper on disount sites!). From the Sand & Sea side of the collection I picked up
(L-R) Pelican Gray, Below Deck, Sea Spray, & Sunset Sail
Pelican Gray is a nice light grey creme with silver micro glitters. I think it's most similar to Marble Tower from Nubar's Fortress Collection. The micro-glitters really help add depth to this polish though!
Below Deck, from my understanding, is one of the hottest colors to be had in the collection. I really like it. Since taupes have taken over the nail world in recent years, this is my first from China Glaze, I think. It fits in well with my other taupes.
Sea Spray is a light, misty blue shade with the same micro-glitters found in Pelican Gray. It makes me think of sea foam for some reason. Very good color for spring.
My surprise favorite was Sunset Sail.. I kept looking at pictures online and thinking it was a little too orange but I picked it up anyway. Glad I did! This light peachy creme with micro-gliters is the perfect step into spring shade if you ask me. It's warm and sweet with a hint of sparkle.
The other side of the Anchors Away collection was the Knotty Nauticals colors. I only picked up three..
(L-R) Life Preserver, First Mate, & Starboard
Life Preserver is what I will refer to as a blood-orange color. It leans just over the red line, but keeps enough orange to call it orange. It's a bit darker than any other orange I have which makes it a little more wearable on me. (I have some BRIGHT oranges in my collection).
First Mate is another color I'm in love with. Don't know if you know, but my favorite color is blue. Teals in particular but when you get a rich navy creme like this that reminds me of my favorite polo shirt in high school (by Nautica actually) I'm in love.
Dumb-dumb here forgot to take a four-finger shot of Starboard...but luckily I had a comparison picture to pull from. Here's China Glaze's green creme in the collection. It makes me think of grass though, not anything in the sea...
And finally...I wasn't going to do it, but I started thinking of all the fun combinations of things I could do with them. I just barely managed to pick up the China Glaze Crackle Glazes. I didn't bother with the OPI Katy Perry ones because I knew these were coming out and had more colors...Now for the youngin's around here, crackle polish is definitely not a new thing. I had crackle polishes years ago (emphasis: like over a decade ago!...Dear God, I'm getting old.. anyway). Back then it literally took forever for them to dry! These new ones had pretty instant results. Amazing what 10+ years can do..
(L-R) Lightening Bold, Black Mesh, Cracked Concrete, Crush Candy, Fault Line, Broken Hearted.
Instead of driving myself insane and doing each polish on my hand separately I combined them into two pictures. Lightening Bolt, Cracked Concrete, and Crushed Candy are featured below on top of Orly's Liquid Leather (black creme). Black Mesh is atop Orly's Country Club Khaki (coffee creme).
Tips for working with crackle/shatter polishes...WORK FAST! You thought matte polishes were a pain, these can cause nightmares if you've never experimented with them. Another tip, don't pile it on your nails. A thin coat is all you need, otherwise it won't crackle properly (see Crushed Candy finger). I didn't use a top coat here, but it really does finish the look!
Below I used Fault Line & Broken Hearted on top of Orly's Cotton Candy (pink creme). The pink on pink look is really cute. The first finger you can see I wanted to show you what happens if you try to make two coats. It still crackled but it's just wrong.
I'm sure you're saying..HEY! You bought a lot of green there, lady.. Yes I did. Here's some comparisons between the four I purchased.
(L-R) OPI Jade is the New Black, OPI Don't Mess with OPI, China Glaze Starboard, & Misa Blame It On Fat Tuesday
Side by side, you can see that Jade is the darkest with Don't Mess close behind and in the same color family. Starboard is much more grass green than any of the other colors. and Pour Me Something is brighter than them all and more Kelly Green.
I also compared China Glaze's First Mate and Misa's Pour Me Something Tall & Strong (why is that name so long?!) If you didn't understand what the difference between a true cream and a jelly was...I think it's clear below. First mate is completely opaque after 2 coats where Pour Me Something could use a few more if you were really trying. The shades of blue are definitely different though.
At Trans Design the prices were:
Misa $3.75 each
Color Club $3.20 each
OPI's $5.75 each
China Glaze Anchors Away $2.99 each.
China Glaze Crackle $3.20 (SOLD OUT) each.
Victoria Nail Supply is the cheapest site but they don't have 3 of the crackle polishes and do not carry OPI & Misa polishes
I ordered all of the above from Trans Design's website. The crackle China Glaze polishes are SOLD OUT now though.
Head2Toe Beauty Supply has the crackle polishes in stock for 29 cents more than Trans Design but does not carry OPI polishes.
Hope that helps!
So that's it. Next week I'll try and have a post up comparing the polishes I have in my collection now and maybe a NOTD or two.
NOTICE: All items seen in this post were purchased by me with my own money. All opinions stated above are my own and not bought in any way, shape or form. I give my honest opinions of any products shown on this blog. I am not affiliated with the sites mentioned in this post and have not been paid or given incentives to promote them.
1 comments:
wow, so many lovely polishes, straight to my wl ;)
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