aquarius

I wasn't really sure how to name this but here's my first somewhat successful sponging attempt!







Base: China Glaze Snow, 2 coats (Holiday collection 2010)

First sponge: China Glaze Flyin' High (Up and Away collection 2010)

Second sponge (nearer tips): Zoya Charla

I initially had wanted to use OPI What's With The Cattitude for the first sponge (the one that covers about 2/3 of the nail) and I'm glad I chose Flyin' High instead, which is a better match for Charla. I like how Charla adds that mermaid sheen at the tip.

I really like how this turned out! It looks like an ocean spray or something. I could've named it Sea Spray or On Stranger Tides, but they are unfortunately already used as polish names.

I did this by cutting a square of sponge and just putting the polish on a piece of paper (I stupidly tried using kitchen towels in my first few attempts, DO NOT use anything absorbent), then dabbing the sponge on the polish and dabbing it onto your nails. It turns out a little gross and rough at first because of the sponge (unless you're using a smooth sponge), but all is well after you put on your layer of topcoat.

I used a sponge that was holy and I guess rather rough. That's why the gradient turned out splatter-like and sort of like water splashing, which is cool with me, but for a smoother gradient, I think perhaps finding a foundation sponge or something smoother would be a better idea. I might go and hunt for one now, myself.

All in all, extremely pleased with the way this turned out! And it's super fast, because when polishes are sponged on rather than painted, they tend to dry a whole lot faster. The only rate limiting factor is most probably going to be the dry time of your base layer.

UPDATE





So I got bored and I also received my haul from 8ty8beauty so I applied some China Glaze Black Mesh over it and I love how it looks! I love how the gradient pops up against the black crackle in the forefront, and how it all looks really cartoony!

China Glaze Metallic Muse, Sci-Fi

This is China Glaze Metallic Muse, 1 coat, no topcoat.

I'm not sure why but I was led into thinking that Metallic Muse was a blue-ish foil, but it turns out that it leans more towards the light sea-green side. Or maybe not? OK, I'm confused. XD I'm not really sure, but it does have some blue-green tinge to it, as compared to Millenium and Sci-Fi.





This is China Glaze Sci-Fi, 1 coat, no topcoat.

Again, I was led into thinking that Sci-Fi was a gunmetal-grey version of Millenium, but it turns out that it's a more lavender-tinged silver as compared to Millenium. I have to say that this colour is extremely similar to Millenium, though, so I did a comparison...





As you can tell, the two colours are very similar, although I think Millenium is definitely brighter and shinier than Sci-Fi, and not to mention it's a definite white-silver as compared to the lavender tinge in Sci-Fi.

I've tried both Sci-Fi and Metallic Muse with Konad, and I find that I still prefer Millenium as a Konad stamp, unless I specifically want a silver-green/blue or silver-lavender stamp on my base colour. I think it's because Millenium is just so bright and so shiny, and plus, white-silver would be a hit with any base colour there is.

Application-wise, Metallic Muse and Sci-Fi are very similar to Millenium, since they're all from the China Glaze Khrome collection 2009. Dries super fast, one-coaters and just all-round good foils. My only query about these is how am I going to pair them up now? Hahaha. However, I don't regret getting them, beacuse they're excellent Konad stamping choices, being so opaque and drying so fast. And besides, I'm slowly getting into this futuristic, shiny, foil-ish look recently.

pink eggshells

Base: China Glaze Millenium, 1 coat. From the Khrome collection 2009.
Shatter: China Glaze Broken Hearted, 1 coat. From the Crackle Glaze collection 2011.

Doesn't this look entirely like pink eggshells? I just can't stop thinking of eggshells when I stare at my nails now, although I'm not sure if there are hot pink eggs around.

I really like how Millenium pairs up with Broken Hearted! I feel that a hot pink crackle over a pure white creme has a very jarring neon effect which could be nice, if you're into that sort of thing. Millenium provides a excellent contrast base without being way too glaring. It's light and shiny, without really emphasizing the crackle lines of Broken Hearted too much that makes your eyes ache.

Broken Hearted also crackled really nicely on this one. I think it's also because of the fast-drying action of Millenium, so by the time I got around to painting Broken Hearted, it was really completely utterly truly dry, so Broken Hearted worked better than it did on those slower-drying ones. I love the fast-drying-ness of Millenium. It's so so time-efficient. I wish all polishes were this fast, but that's wishful thinking.

If Lightning Bolt decreased my faith in China Glaze crackles, Broken Hearted would have restored it. Very user-friendly, probably on par with OPI's Silver Shatter, and it's denser too (being creme, duh). Sorry, I still have yet to mastered the art of using Lightning Bolt but that just says something about its user-friendliness. However, I doubt I'd be getting the OPI White Shatter unless I'm feeling really extravagant, since I already have Lightning Bolt.

dancing on the kitchen tiles

2 coats of OPI Black Onyx then scotchtaped with 1 coat of China Glaze Millenium.

As you can tell, Millenium is now my new favourite darling of nail polish art, because it's striking, outstanding and dries very fast. Anyway, apologies for the less than perfect technique but I'm still getting the hang of it! I had intended this to be a kitchen tiles effect a la Alice in Wonderland like the sort of vinyl flooring but it somehow now reminds me of Formula 1 racing? Perhaps I ought to have used a pure white instead of a silver, but I have no white that is opaque enough to cover in one coat, as is needed for scotch-taping.

Anyhow, I'm generally quite pleased with how this turned out, despite its messy application. Definitely eye-catching and not what you'd usually see on the nails of conservative Singaporeans! My friend suggested black and red checkers like a real checker-board but I felt that that combination might be a little fierce. Black and silver is outstanding, eccentric but still passable. Oh well! My next scotch tape project is going to be something along the lines of starburst!

Dancing on the kitchen tiles - it's from some McFly song, isn't it? I like that line. XD

China Glaze Four Leaf Clover

From the Up And Away collection 2010.

This was 1 coat, no topcoat.

This was one of the first few nail polishes that I bought for myself online, and I bought it on the recommendation of Scrangie. Being totally new to nail polishing, I had no idea what colours I'd like and what I wouldn't. As a result, I wasn't quite a fan of Four Leaf Clover from the start because I just couldn't really pull off the really bright rich green colour that it boasted. Make no mistake, if you are a fan of green, you should definitely get this polish. I like green enough but when it's such a full-green as this one, I just couldn't handle it. It made me feel like the wicked stepsister from Cinderella, for some reason. When I curved my nails to take photos to show my friends, they said it looked like the witch's claws. In addition, the finish is so glossy and smooth, plus the exact shade of green, my nails looked like the back of mahjong tiles.

However, throughout the months, I haven't yet been able to part with this. I'm not sure why. I've used it in several nail marbling experiments and other things that required the liberal use of polishes that I may not wear that much, which is why its levels are still dropping despite my only having worn it as a manicure just once. Maybe it's because, despite my not being able to pull off green, I recognise that it's a pretty epic green colour. I haven't yet seen any polish that matched its pureness and richness of green. It's bright but not neon, rich but not dark.

Can't say that I love it, but definitely a must-have for green fans. Are you a green fan?

China Glaze Ruby Pumps

Disclaimer: I'm almost ashamed to look at these photographs because it reflects almost nothing of the awesomeness that is Ruby Pumps.





From the Wizard of Ooh Ahhs collection 2009, and also released under the Loves You Snow Much holiday collection 2009.

This was 2 coats.

Do you notice something? Do you notice there is no close-up circle in my first photograph? I decided not to put it in because WHY BOTHER ZOOMING IN ON SOMETHING THAT ISN'T ACCURATE?

Attempting to photograph this polish (along with almost every other pink/red-pink/hot pink polish out there is a problem I doubt even Einstein could solve. Come on, has there not been a camera invented to deal with the flashiness of hot pinks and reds? It's not just this polish either, it's also OPI Do You Think I'm Texy, OPI Diva of Geneva, China Glaze Ahoy! amongst many others. All these come out way too red than they really are, although in this case, though it's more or less the correct shade, the levels that my camera downplayed the glitter effect of Ruby Pumps is nothing short of a blasphemy.

Rants aside, Ruby Pumps is a deep, rich red polish that has a semi-jelly base and has the best glass flecks I've ever seen (sorry, OPI The One That Got Away, you just got served). As if the colour of the polish isn't already sexy enough, China Glaze added in some winning glass flecks that makes the polish look as if it has RED CHRISTMAS FAIRY LIGHTS INSIDE!

I'm not very much of a red-polish kinda person. I shun vampy, vixen colours because I just can't pull it off. This is probably the 2nd full-red polish I own, and the first one isn't even really mine, I stole it from my mom (for unknown reasons). But the polish in the bottle captivated my heart in the store. Believe me, I warred with myself for a loooong time (until the store was about to close, actually) because I had no idea if I was going to ever wear it in my life since I don't like to wear red polishes, but omg, it was a great buy. I'd recommend it to anyone. It is really a whole lot more captivating in real life.

And yes, I am going to wear it, in defiance of my usual avoidance of red.

China Glaze Senorita Bonita

I've always wanted Blue Iguana from the Island Escape collection, but for some reason when I entered the nail polish shop, the one that caught my eye was this one.





From the China Glaze Island Escape collection 2011. This was 2 coats.

All the swatches in the world could not have prepared me for the brightness of this beautiful red-toned purple. It adds a splash of really bright, almost glowing colour to your nails, without transcending the thin line into the realm of neon. I wouldn't really quite call it neon because it doesn't have that eye-popping brightness, but the shimmer really does make it seem like it's glowing from within! It's complete with a sparse pink glitter that's not very noticeable but gives it a bit of texture! This polish was made to be eye-catching.

I used to be all over the blues and blue-greens but lately I seem to be transiting into a pink/red/purple phase where my pink/purple catalogue nail wheel has been filling up at an exponential rate.

China Glaze Millenium vs OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It

China Glaze Millenium from the Khrome collection 2009. 1 coat.
OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It from the Texas collection 2011. 4 coats.

As you can tell already, CG Millenium is tons more opaque than the watery-thin formula of OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It. The chrome-shine of Millenium is also way more outstanding than the mere shimmer in OPI. Of course, the OPI has the pink glitter add-on but really? Compared to the blingness of Millenium, it pales a long way. Although OPI on its own looks shimmery already (like in this swatch) but when compared with the shamelessly shiny Millenium, it also begins to look dull and lifeless. The silver in it is evidently a lot more gray than Millenium, which leans towards white.

I'll say this for OPI though, at least it evens out. Even in this photo, you can pick out all the brushstroke mistakes I made with Millenium. What can I say? Beauty is unforgiving. In the close-up, you can see that OPI has a much neater, even finish, whereas Millenium has a more foil-like appearance, and dries too fast to ever even out your mistakes. Millenium reminds me of white gold, though!

And just for kicks, I thought I'd layer some China Glaze Broken Hearted (from the Crackle Glaze collection 2011) over it...



I'm not gonna lie! I'd definitely wear Millenium under Broken Hearted any day. Precisely because it's so shiny, it enhances the effect of the crackle! OPI looks fine under it, and the pink crackle brings out the pink glitter even more, but ngeh, like I said - beside Millenium, it just looks a lot more muted.

China Glaze Millenium

From the Khrome collection 2009.

It's... it's blinding. I think this is possibly one of the must-have silver polishes of all time, unless you can find its dupe (which I'm sure there are out there). This is just 1 coat of Millenium, and opacity is already built up there, making it a thoroughly awesome polish to experiment with Konad! I'll be doing that soon, believe me.

Millenium is a white-silver, high-shine metallic polish that has excellent formula. The only thing I can begrudge this polish is its propensity to highlight every brushstroke mistake you made, as metallic polishes are wont to do. Also, because it's so madly reflective, be careful that any, and I mean any dent or mistake you make in the finish, will be extremely apparent. In that sense, this polish allows little room for mistakes. I would highly recommend using a ridge-filling basecoat so you get a smoother finish!

The dry time of this polish is actually pretty amazing. I didn't know what to expect but aside from mattes, this is probably the fastest-drying nail polish that I own. Also, even though I'm such a topcoat fanatic, this polish is one of the few I'd wear without. Not because the topcoat ruins it, but it doesn't really do much for the polish either. I had expected it to appear something like Silver Shatter, where the topcoat brings out the bling-ness, but nope. I'd forego the topcoat and just live with the metallic finish!


However, this polish is really beautiful and eye-catching. I love the soft whiteness of the silver and of course, the amazingly shiny finish. I feel like Lady Deathstrike whenever I wear this. I have no doubt that if they had run out of those mirror-quality acrylics they stuck on Kelly Hu's nails, Millenium would've made a good replacement (if it had been released at the time).

China Glaze White Cap on Black

China Glaze White Cap is from the Anchors Away collection '11.

This is 1 coat of China Glaze White Cap over Black Onyx. One may think that White Cap is a cheaper alternative to CND Jade Sparkles. Although I don't own Jade Sparkles, but having seen the quality of CND Sparkles in their Sapphire one, I am convinced that White Cap will never really substitute Jade Sparkles.

White Cap is a cream jelly base with fine golden shimmer in it. You can see how the cream translucent base plus the golden shimmer transform the black polish into something olive-golden. I personally am not digging the olive-golden shade, I think it could be achieved in better quality with Jade Sparkles over Black.

However, that's not to say that White Cap isn't a great polish! I've used it over other nail polishes to great effect. However, because of its translucent cream base, it may not turn out the way you think it would because it does make the base colour lighter and more faded-looking.

China Glaze Fairy Dust over Black

Good grief, just how dense is this? I'm so amazed by it already in just one coat! This has got to be the best holographic sparkle polish out there. Not only is it dense and even, the glitter in it is so beautifully holographic, I can't stop staring at it. Looks best over black because then you wouldn't have anything competing with Fairy Dust for epicosity.

I think I've mentioned it on another entry before but I love how Fairy Dust doesn't seem to just sit on the base colour, but it somehow feels as if it's suspended in the clear jelly base it's in, giving it this amazing depth that I've never seen done in any other layering glitter topcoat! The only bad thing about Fairy Dust is that it's so epic on its own that I never really feel like layering it over any coloured cremes because it doesn't quite do the glitters justice!

Also, unlike most other shimmery topcoats which enhance its base colour or makes the base colour different-looking, Fairy Dust doesn't. It's suspended in a clear base, so it wouldn't alter the shade or colour of your original polish, but because it's purely holographic, it's not any shade of colour at all (for example, I wouldn't call it a silvery glitter, because you see nothing but holographic specks), so it doesn't quite enhance the base.

If you want to go really crazy, go ahead and test how far you can resemble a disco ball by painting 2. However, I found that a 3rd coat didn't glitterify it significantly more than the 2nd coat.

My first attempt at Konad!!

Whoots, here it is! OK, I lied, this isn't my first attempt at Konad, but it's the first ever documented!

Index
Base: China Glaze Snow
Stamp: Zoya Breezi
Plate: m51

I definitely like the index finger design best. It reminds me of old Chinese white porcelain cutlery with their intricate blue designs. But sorry for the smudge. Although the polish looks a little thin on the nail and looks a bit bald in some places, I actually like it that way! Like I said, reminds me of the Chinese cutlery.



Middle
Base: OPI Diva of Geneva
Stamp: Zoya Marley
Plate: m79

Middle finger looks a bit strange! I don't think the combination goes really well. For a relatively darker polish like Diva of Geneva, a lighter stamping colour would be better. Zoya Marley was supposed to be that light shade, but for some reason it came out pretty dark on the nail. The design's a little incomplete but I also surprisingly like it that way. Gives it a bit of a vintage feel, especially since the design is roses and pearls and random lines.

Ring
Base: Zoya Marley
Stamp: OPI DS Diamond
Plate: m60

UGH, I can't see DS Diamond at all! What a pity. I had expected DS Diamond to really shine when on Marley but, no. I can't see it at all. And because it's a scattered holo, I suspect that's why the holo effect didn't come out so well when stamped on, unlike linear holos (like legendary China Glaze OMG etc.) How saddening. Now it just looks like I have some glittery holo topcoat-ish thing on my Marley.

Pinkie
Base: OPI The One That Got Away
Stamp: Konad Special White Polish
Plate: m51

Whoops, I forgot to put on a topcoat for this one. And before anyone comes up to me with an accusation of not cleaning up properly on my pinkie, the story goes that when I stamped it on, I was so amused by that whole bit that stuck out (and rather enamoured by the design) that I kept it as it is. But yes, I will clean it up later on. I like the combination here. The One That Got Away is one of my favourite base colours of just about any nail art because it's that deep but rich shade of reddish-pink, but the glass flecks in it really helps it become bright. So basically it's good for just about everything.

Hailing from Korea, Konad is a brand that specializes in making image plates on which you can paint on nail polish, scrape it off (so that there's only nail polish left in the engravings of the design), stamp it on a stamper, and then stamp it on your nails. It sounds difficult, but it's actually pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Of course, doing it on your right hand (if you're right-handed) is a whole different ball game and one at which I am completely at the bottom of the ladder.

Anyhow, Konad (obviously) recommends you to get their own Konad special polish which is ultra-opaque (so much so that it is highly recommended that you do NOT try painting it as a full coat on your nails - honestly, I don't even want to try) as well as a whole bunch of other stuff. I like how small and handy all the equipment are, very convenient and all-round cute. Everything's a becoming girly shade of pink (hey, if you're doing nail art with flowers and stuff - kinda speaks volumes about you). Using the Konad special nail polish would definitely make it a lot easier for you to get the hang of things, and I would highly recommend that to beginners. Personally, I think the white Konad polish is a must-have for everyone, since white Konad is especially lovely. Black and silver are also becoming tempting. I stupidly bought the lavender shade which I have not used until now.

In my opinion, Konad's one of the easiest nail arts that I've come across. I've tried water marbling, I've tried nail foils and nothing really works without hair-pulling frustration. Shatter polish doesn't count. Konad, however, is pretty simple, as long as you don't do it in a windy place or under a fan, because the nail polish would dry up faster than you can stamp it. Yes, I confess, I learnt that the hard way. Anyway, that being said, Konad isn't fail proof (especially the RIGHT HAND), so you may have to practise a bit before you get things right.

So I'm really happy that I've found colours that are able to work with my Konad. This is my first time successfully trying stamping with non-Konad polishes! Generally, if you want to find something that works, go for those polishes that are one-coaters, or at least has a pretty good coverage in one coats. The thicker and creamier, the better. Zoya cremes work marvelously for this one, I've heard that China Glaze Millenium, 2030 and Color Club Worth The Risque and Revvvolution are great polishes for Konading as well. Will try it out when I get them!

sunny days, sweeping the clouds away

Base: 2 coats of Zoya Breezi
Design: Konad plate m79 in White Konad polish
Glitter: 2 coats of China Glaze Fairy Dust.

In the first photo, the shade of Breezi is more true to real life. In the second photo, you'd see an excellent close-up of the holographic glitter of Fairy Dust.

I was trying to grab the chance before my internship started to do something funky with my nails and was playing with Konad one day while watching Pride & Prejudice (not the heinous Keira Knightley version, the awesome BBC 1995 one). By the way, one tip for Konad: DO NOT ATTEMPT IT WITH ANY SORT OF WIND OR FAN BLOWING. I was foolish enough to try to do it under a rather large and strong fan, and experienced several failed attempts before it finally struck me to switch off the fan, which worked like a charm but left me sweating buckets.

In any case, I bought m79 mainly because I wanted to try out the clouds print on it. I was somewhat pleased with the end-result. It looked like a happy starry sky when you take a closer look at it, but the only downside to it is that from afar, it rather looks like cow-spots, or fluffy flowers. D: Not exactly the intended effect, but cute enough, I guess.

I really like how Fairy Dust is your usual fine holographic glitter for layering but there's a certain depth to it that I've never seen before in layering polishes of its type. Usually the cheap-ish layering glitter polishes we see around layer on rather flatly and could even dry rough and chunky. Not so for fairy dust. It's almost as if the glitter particles are suspended in a layer of clear polish, giving it a very 3D effect. It's not quite so visible in the photo or even in the close-up.

Because I took such a long time trying to get the Konad to work, I got frustrated and lazy after doing 4 fingers, so for the rest of the 6 fingers, I opted for the easier option of normal painting. I tried to do something a bit still in theme with the whole sky thing so here it is:



1 coat of Zoya Marley with 1 coat of Nubar 2010.

All right, all right, so it takes a stretch of imagination to see how this fits in with the sky theme, but I intended this to be a sunset scene, where the sky is a lavender hue and the flakes are rays of sunshine as it sets. Yes, I'm very imaginative.

Anyhow, this photo does no justice at all to the opalescence of Nubar 2010. In the photo, it looks rather flat and uninteresting but in real life, it looks a whole lot more orange/green then in the photo (thereby giving it a sunset feel, heh). Nubar 2010 was a good buy, indeed.

China Glaze Flyin' High

From the Up and Away collection for Spring 2010.

I haven't had the opportunity to wear this as a manicure yet simply because I'm undecided on whether this colour looks good on me or not. (And also because I get sick of cremes really really fast) But anyway, this colour is sort of smack in the middle of green and blue. In some lights, it looks aqua, in others, it looks greenish. I actually haven't really experimented much with this colour either. Gee, maybe I'm not fated with green colours.

Application was good, slightly thick. This was 2 coats.

Crackle Glaze

O Crackle Glaze, how I toiled to get you into my hands.

The elusive Crackle Glaze collection - while not limited edition, has certainly proved to be a challenge to get my hands on. But I've finally done it and gotten my hands on the white one (Lightning Bolt) and hot pink one (Crushed Candy).

This is my first ever experience with shatter polish. My thoughts about it are mixed, but let's see the results anyway!



China Glaze Lightning Bolt one coat layered over OPI The One That Got Away from Katy Perry collection, one coat.

I was looking forward to Lightning Bolt more so than the other one because I personally don't quite like black and I wouldn't use OPI Black Shatter if I had gotten it. At that time, Lightning Bolt was the only white shatter in the market, so I was pretty excited. It is sad to find that it was not very user-friendly.

You might note that my index and ring fingers appear to have a more proper crackle effect than my middle and pinkie. I used a thicker coat of the polish on these two. I think shatter polish has a higher tendency to separate in the bottle than normal polishes, so I gave it a mighty good shake before I painted the ring finger, and the brush picked up a better consistency of polish.

Lightning Bolt dries matte but can also be semi-translucent if you don't use a thick enough coat. I personally don't like that effect because it'd look like you smudged some correction fluid onto your nails (but this doesn't look so bad after you apply topcoat). I found that it was more difficult to achieve the crackle effect than Crushed Candy, and less room for mistakes.



China Glaze Crushed Candy one coat layered over:
OPI That's Totally Fort Worth It (I), China Glaze Sea Spray (M), OPI What's With The Cattitude (R), Essie Lapis of Luxury (P)
(I - index, M - middle, R - ring, P - pinkie)

Crushed Candy is definitely way easier to use than Lightning Bolt. As long as you keep to the rules of shatter polish, i.e. try not to go over the same area twice, you'd achieve an acceptable crackle effect. It does seem to crack a whole lot more, compared to Lightning Bolt too, You can definitely see more base colour than LB too! Application wise, Crushed Candy wins.

The downside to Crushed Candy is really finding a base colour that would work with such a hot neon pink. As you can tell, I couldn't decide which base colour to try this out on so I used a variety of grays and blues. I actually like them all. If you're going for a majorly in-your-face effect, I would recommend layering Crushed Candy over something light like a white polish (I tried it over China Glaze Snow), which would really highlight the neon-ness of the pink, or even a light blue like OPI What's With The Cattitude. If you want to go for a more subtle, neutral effect, then pairing it with something beige or silver or gray would work.

In both of these photos, I did not apply topcoat to show that both LB and CC do dry matte, so if you like that sort of effect, go for it. However, I can't vouch for the durability of the polish if you choose not to apply a topcoat, because from what I heard, crackle polish tends to chip notoriously fast without a topcoat. I personally haven't worn either of these as a manicure, especially not when I'm going to start my internship soon.

Some general tips for applying shatter polish:

- Only apply it over dry nail polish. Ideally, your nail polish should be so dry that it doesn't feel in the least bit sticky when you run your finger over it. After all, shatter polish works on the basis of contracting when it comes in contact with a nail polish, so it makes sense that your nail polish has to be as dry as possible.

- Apply only one coat. I found this a little difficult because we all have a habit of running over the same area twice when painting normal polish to make it even, but you'd have to dump that out of the window with this one. I reckon that it'd be a lot easier with OPI's thicker brushes which can definitely help in a one-stroke kill, but not so with China Glaze's smaller brushes. What I did was to apply the first stroke in the middle and then subsequently do the sides (not what I do with normal polishes). There may be some overlap which is inevitable.

- Don't wipe too much polish off the brush before you paint! After trying so many times, I realise that a small dab of the brush on the side of the bottle would be sufficient to remove any extra glob that you don't want messing things up. Do not actually wipe the polish, because when you need enough polish on the brush to cover the entire nail. You don't want to suddenly run out of polish in mid-stroke! (Trust me, you don't.) Beginners might find themselves with thicker crackle coats but at least you get a crackle coat at all. Running out of polish in mid-stroke means fail!

- It usually looks better after a layer of topcoat. Without topcoat, the crackle polish looks like it's just sitting on top of your base. Having a topcoat makes it look more integrated.

Have fun!

Looking at it now, you would think - what possessed me to even want to compare these two? They look so different. The truth is, when you only have Sea Spray on your nails, it looks pretty much like a baby blue, albeit a dusty one. I honestly thought they would've been more similar. Apparently I had forgotten the brightness of What's With The Cattitude? (seriously, that name is way too long, and 'Cattitude' takes me extra effort to remember how to spell).

Also, apologies for all the scratches and chips on Sea Spray. It's been worn for about 3 - 4 days, and it's gone through a few games of Ultimate Frisbee so I think the scratches and such are passable.

I'm quite a 'blue' person, so I love them both. I'd paint Sea Spray when I feel more neutral or muted, because it's refreshing but yet not too much in-your-face, whereas I'd paint Cattitude if I was feeling bouncy, happy, crazy, etc.

China Glaze Sea Spray

Sea Spray is one of those colours where you just can't seem to pin point an exact colour down for it. The most appropriate one I could think of was dusty baby blue. In yellow light, the blue shines out more, but in white light, it could almost appear dove grey.

Application was great, as usual. This was 2 coats, though if you're really good with your technique, you could do it in one. I know there are some places that say this has a silver microshimmer and I do agree with this, but it took me a comparison photo with a true creme to see the shimmer. At any other angle, it looks like a dusty blue creme. So what's the point of the shimmer? I believe that it's for the purpose of creating more light reflection and therefore making it seem more glossy, which it does. I really love this. Mine chipped, however, within 3 days or less, with topcoat.

It kinda reminds me of a stormy sky. The colour is not too strong or bright, but it's still somehow refreshing. Love it, can foresee myself wearing this quite often.

From the Anchors Away Spring collection '11.

Hot pink comparisons

I decided to do this one because my friend insisted that I was buying the same colours over and over again, so this is to prove to her and also myself that I haven't, really. XD As you can tell, they do look pretty similar in the bottle, and I was worried myself that I've been buying dupes but - obviously not.

I don't really quite know what brand is Eleanor, but I saw it in a big basket of a local beauty shop and decided to get my hands on it.

OPI Diva of Geneva from the Swiss collection '10 is an obvious cool purple with a hint of gold in it. OPI The One That Got Away from the Katy Perry collection '11 is a berry pink on the darker side with large glass flecks in it. China Glaze Ahoy! from the Anchors Away collection '11 is a hot pink base with golden micro-glitter which makes it lighter and warmer than The One That Got Away. Eleanor doesn't really have a name for its polishes but I'm just going to go ahead and call it Hot Pink. This is a more muted dusty pink packed with silver glitter.

Love them all, anyway! I've worn OPI The One That Got Away and OPI Diva of Geneva as manis so far, not the other two yet. Looking forward to Ahoy! It look hawt.

Wowshop haul!

Hauuuuuuul.

So recently I bought from an online etailer called Wowshop. I'll be writing a review on them soon, but I'm really happy my nail polish is here! :D There are a couple of set-backs, like the mini Orly bottle that Liao ordered is not in the box, and my Color Club Rule Breaker cap has no brush, but all in all, very pleased with my haul indeed!

On with the photos!

SWATCH ONE

L-R: CND Sapphire Sparkles, China Glaze Fairy Dust, OPI It's Totally Fort Worth It, OPI Not Like The Movies, OPI The One That Got Away

-- CND SAPPHIRE SPARKLES

CND Effects

A sheer polish with glitter that flashes pink, purple, blue, green. This thing is awesome. A little pricey, but awesome. I can foresee that I would want to restock this when I run out, because it is that awesome. The camera can only capture a third of its duochrome awesomeness. I love things that flash different colours at different angles. This polish would surely brighten up any dull manicure. I can foreesee that it will be amazing over black. Shall wait for my black polish to arrive to have a look. This was 2 coats.

-- CHINA GLAZE FAIRY DUST

Another sheer polish that is definitely not camera-shy with its fine holographic glitters. I was worried that it might be a bit too coarse, or that the holo glitters wouldn't come out right, but my worries were unfounded. I can definitely see myself layering with this some time. I like how you can control the amount of glitter you layer on. One coat leaves a relatively sparse amount of glitter should you want to layer this over something that's already shimmery, but pile on the coats and you'll have yourself a blingfest of holo glitters in no time. The glitter spreads evenly. Very pretty. This was 2 coats.

-- OPI IT'S TOTALLY FORT WORTH IT

Texas collection '10

I'm not really sure what this name means. Anyway, it's a muted silver with a tinge of lavender to it, that has glitters that may or may not be visible depending on the lighting. I thought the glitters were orange in the day, but now under my lamp light at night, it appears to be pink. Strange! The finish is semi-glossy, and some of the glitter does sink in, which gives it a very slight grainy appearance but it's not noticeable at all. A cover of your regular topcoat should do the trick very adequately. This was 3 coats.

-- OPI NOT LIKE THE MOVIES

Katy Perry collection '10

OMGOSH, this turned out way better than I expected! "Oilslick" couldn't have been a better term to describe how this looks. This is a slightly dark silver that flashes purple and green and when I say flash, I really mean flash. The duochrome in this is pretty amazing. At certain angles, my entire nail appears green, while at others, I see purple. I love this, given my weakness for duochromes. Considering this for my next mani! Application is a little streaky but it should even out while drying. It's surprisingly sheer though, there is a very slight, almost invisible VNL even after 3 coats. I can live with it, though. This is 3 coats.

-- OPI THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

Katy Perry collection '10

This is a reddish-purple colour, I'd call it berry, just simply loaded with glass flecks! The flecks are big, but it works. The colour is more true to the colour in the bottle. It's such a vibrant berry colour that it almost seems to glow, really. Opacity can be achieved in 1 or 2 coats max. Super sparkly! This is 2 coats.

SWATCH TWO

L-R: OPI Meet Me On The Star Ferry, Orly Galaxy Girl, China Glaze Flyin' High, Essie Mint Candy Apple

-- OPI MEET ME ON THE STAR FERRY

Hong Kong collection '10

Perhaps a proof of how uninteresting the bottle looks is that I actually forgot to upload the picture of the bottle only. Or perhaps I forgot to take a photo of it. Anyway, the bottle looks rather uninteresting, like a muted burgundy colour with normal red-green glitter. However, on the nail, it somehow works. I really like this! It seems to have a hint of gold to it that's so subtle, you'd have to follow some sort of intuition to realise that it's there. This is very thick, and I actually only have 1 coat on there. The only thing you need to watch out for is brush strokes! They are quite visible. The finish is semi-glossy. It is quite messy to take off, though!

-- ORLY GALAXY GIRL

Cosmic Fx collection '10

Wow. I love this one so much, I need 3 photos of it. Being the duochrome fetishist that I am, you can just imagine how tremendously excited I was to stumble upon the Orly Cosmic Fx collection. If I can, I need to collect ALL polishes in this collection. Galaxy Girl was one of those that I felt like buying but yet was a bit unsure about because I've read reviews about it looks bruise-coloured, and so on. I knew I wouldn't rest if I didn't buy it and I absolutely do not regret it. Though I usually don't quite like to wear dark polishes, Galaxy Girl makes me feel like I have a window to the universe on my fingers. Plus, I'm an astronomy freak. The duochrome in this is insane. True, the base colour is a dark maroon with a tinge of brown that almost makes it look like very dried blood but the awesome glitter duochrome in it will offset it all. Cannot emphasize how much I love this. This is 3 coats.

-- CHINA GLAZE FLYIN' HIGH

Up & Away Spring collection '10

I had an impression that this was a blue-green creme and actually, I'm not sure if I'm wrong. The colour is really difficult to pin down because it seems to be different colours in different sort of lights. It could be darker aqua, or it could be a teal. I'm not sure, but I do love this colour. It's not quite sky blue, I am convinced there's some green mixed in there somewhere, but it flatters my skin tone tremendously and looks vibrant and fun! Looking forward to wearing this. Thick, as per usual. 2 coats.

-- ESSIE MINT CANDY APPLE

Winter collection '09

This isn't really quite the true mint. It leans more towards blue but that is exactly what I like. I like that in-between colour, and if I had to choose, I'd pick blue anyway. I don't generally like pure green polishes. Anyhow, this is a mint creme that is the usual thick Essie formula as well, and covers in 2 coats.

All in all, very pleased with my haul. Still deciding between Not Like The Movies, Galaxy Girl and Flyin' High for my next mani! If I ever get down to swatching them, will post the photos up! (: