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Christmas Nails

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'll tell you what I've been up to this week. I've been adding to that China Glaze Midnight Kiss manicure, the gold foil one, that I showed you on Sunday. At this point, I've added so much stuff to it that I'm deeply concerned about the removal process and how much life it will suck out of me, but that's a concern for another day.

Today, I'll just show you the layers. As a reminder, here's the base I started with, Midnight Kiss, in natural light.

China Glaze Midnight Kiss Nail Polish, Two Coats

That was Sunday. On Tuesday morning, I decided to add some China Glaze Party Hearty to it. I did three coats of Party Hearty to get the coverage I wanted, then I added (and here's where the big trouble starts) three coats of top coat to smooth it out. So as of yesterday, the official coat count is 1 base + 2 base color + 1 top + 3 Party Hearty + 3 top coat = 10 coats of nail polish I have to remove without just snapping a nail off in my aggressive pursuit to get rid of glitter. But it looked cool. This is under artificial light.

China Glaze Party Hearty over Midnight Kiss = One Metric Boatload of Nail Polish

I've stated the down side of removal, but there's also an up side to seventy zillion layers of nail polish. I spent a few hours yesterday tearing tape off of one of those big rolls with the tape cutter on it, hanging things on walls. A few times, I really dug into a thumb nail with that tape cutter, but this industrial strength manicure didn't get scratched. I also knocked my nails right into things a few times where I was certain I had to have broken one, but they were fine, only one big chip in the polish.

This morning I was going to do a fresh manicure to protect the exposed nail from that big chip, but the prospect of getting rid of glitter prompted me to add even more to this manicure in order to put that off for a little longer. I decided it could use some silver, so I added two coats of CND Silver Sparkling Effect, which barely showed up. I gave up on the CND and added one coat of OPI Disco Ball Glitter, which gave enough silver to make me happy, then two coats of top coat to smooth it out. The CND shows up much more in this macro picture than in person.

More Coats of Nail Polish Than Is Reasonable

So now I have festive holiday nails, but I've also raised the official coat count to a staggering 15, quite likely a personal record, which affords my nails a protective barrier that may well deflect bullets.

I'll let you know how it goes when I change this one, supposing I'm able to talk about it right away. Until then, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Gentle Blossom

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I was out and about this morning picking up a few things for this project I've got going, and I ran into the display for the new Nailgrowth Miracle line from Sally Hansen. Most of the colors were pretty yawny, but I did pick up two. The two I chose, I selected because the finish of each is interesting.

I got home and unpacked, then promptly decided that I've been working hard this week and I'm going to be a slacker today. That meant there was no reason I couldn't try out one of the new polishes, so I did. I used Gentle Blossom.

Gentle Blossom is a light mint green, a really pretty shade. As I looked at it in the store, I initially passed because I couldn't see the shimmer well in the weird store fluorescent lighting, but a closer look convinced me it was a good choice. The shimmer is odd - it's subtle, but really dense at the same time. Gentle Blossom applied well with a brush like the one in the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure line. In two coats, it was opaque but still a bit streaky, so I added a third to even it out.

Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Gentle Blossom Nail Polish, Three Coats

The sunlight today is not very strong, but the shimmer still shows well. Here's a closer look at the shimmer.

Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Gentle Blossom Nail Polish, Closer Look

I think this is a really nice one, and I like it a lot. Occasionally admiring it throughout the day will be a nice use of a slacker day.

That's it for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Posted in green , nail polish , Sally Hansen , Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle

Carolyn New York Greenwich Ave

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I just finished doing a new manicure tonight using Carolyn New York's Greenwich Ave, and I have a picture of it for you. I hadn't planned on a new manicure tonight, but Chanel Riva chipped like nobody's business today, so I really had to.

Greenwich Ave is probably my favorite green creme. The formula is great and CNY's is my all-time favorite brush. The only down side is that the company seems to have gone out of business, yet keeps their website up. A while back I read accounts of CNY orders not shipping and getting no replies to emails, so I tried to contact my person there, who was excellent. I got no replies to emails and her cell phone had been disconnected, so I assume they really are gone. I mention this in case you're tempted to order from their site - if it's too tempting, call or email before getting charged for an order.

Anyhow, back to Greenwich Ave. In two coats it's a perfect shiny bright weird green creme.

Carolyn New York Greenwich Ave Nail Polish, Two Coats

It's a shame that CNY seems to have gone away - they made wonderful nail polish and the people there were good.

That's it for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Posted in Carolyn New York , green , nail polish

Color Club Enchanted Holiday

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Color Club sent me their Enchanted Holiday mini set for review, and so I have pictures of it to show you today. The set consists of four mini polishes, which are a green foil called Magic Elf, a white glitter called Snowflakes, a red glitter named Wish List Red, and gold glitter named Enchanted Holiday, as well as a little sheet of holiday nail decals.

Color Club Enchanted Holiday Mini Set

Here's a closer look at the decals.

Color Club Enchanted Holiday Nail Decals

I didn't get a chance to swatch these for you, so I'll just show them to you one at a time as I wear them. I'm currently wearing Magic Elf, and this is three coats.

Color Club Magic Elf Nail Polish, Three Coats

Magic Elf is wearing well - I've had it on for two days that could chip any manicure, and it's holding up just fine. The other one in this set that I'm eager to try out is Snowflakes, which I think would look really wintery and cool over a light blue like OPI What's with the Cattitude.

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Posted in Color Club , Decal , green , Nail Art

Illamasqua Viridian

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today I got to try out Illamasqua Viridian, and it's every bit as good as Scarab. Viridian is a bluish green shimmer, and it's also really glowy. These two may have the best application ever. Two coats was all it took.

Illamasqua Viridian Nail Polish, Two Coats

Ain't she a beauty? I think it's fantastic.

That's it for today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Posted in green , Illamasqua , Long Nails , nail polish

Zoya Gems and Jewels Swatches

Good evening, Dear Reader!

What I have on tap for you tonight is swatches of Zoya's Holiday 2011 release, the Gems and Jewels Collection, which Zoya sent for review. It's six polishes total, three shimmers and three glitters (which they call "glitter glazes"), and although Zoya suggests various layering options, I figured I'd show you swatches of each of the six at two coats so you have an idea of what each looks like before getting into any layering. I used artificial light for today's pictures because there's no sunlight, which is never my favorite but sometimes shows glitters a little better by not washing them out.

I'll start with glitters, and with generalities about all three in the collection. They're all a clear base with colored glitter of two types, powdery-fine regular glitter and particularly small bar (stringy) glitter. I'm really picky about bar glitter, and this is a good one because it is so small - there are no giant stringy bits anywhere. All three provided good coverage at two coats, and with glitters like this I use slow brush strokes on the first coat to avoid essentially wiping off all the glitter as I go. Since these are swatches and I have not worn any as a full manicure, I don't know how much top coat they'll need, but it doesn't seem like it would be a lot with how fine the glitter is. The dry time looks promising as well, and I'll let you know for sure when I wear them.

Kissy might be my favorite of all here. It's a kind of fuchsia bright pink glitter with holo-y bar glitter.

Zoya Kissy Nail Polish, Two Coats

Twila is a striking vivid blue glitter with matching bar glitter.

Zoya Twila Nail Polish, Two Coats

Rina is a bright evergreen glitter with matching-but-reflective bar glitter.

Zoya Rina Nail Polish, Two Coats

I think these are great holiday glitters - they bring to mind throwing glitter and streamers at a party. I don't think they'll be of the sandblaster removal variety either, because of how fine the glitter is - I find that the size of glitter tends to make a pretty big difference in how tough it is to take off, but again, I'll confirm that after I wear one for real.

That brings us to the three shimmers, which are also quite good. All three were completely opaque and even in two coats, were super easy to apply, and they're full of the kind of shimmer I expect Zoyas to have, where it's strong but not too out there.

Noel is a good kind of silvery blue.

Zoya Noel Nail Polish, Two Coats

Holly is the epitome of a holiday green.

Zoya Holly Nail Polish, Two Coats

Izzy is a hot pink glowy shimmer. I'm kind of hoping bright pink takes off as a permanent holiday color (in general, not just for nail polish!).

Zoya Izzy Nail Polish, Two Coats

I really like each one of these quite a bit individually, and all together I think they make a very cool holiday collection. If there's only one in your budget, my vote goes for Kissy - it's a New Year's Eve party in a bottle!

Those are my Zoya Gems and Jewels swatches and all I have for you today, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Posted in Blue , Fuchsia , Glitter , green , nail polish , Pink , Zoya , Zoya Gems and Jewels

FingerPaints Winter Dreams Collection

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Sally Beauty Supply sent me samples of their FingerPaints Winter Dreams Collection for Holiday 2010 to review, and I have swatches of them for you today. I'm a fan of FingerPaints in general, particularly the seasonal collections, but the FingerPaints holiday collections are always my favorites with great colors and finishes. The Winter Dreams Collection does not disappoint, either - every one of these polishes is a winner.

Winter Wishes is an elegant champagne shimmer with very fine gold glitter. I used two coats of Winter Wishes and topped it with a coat of Seche Vite so you could see how it really looks (the glitter was making it look less than attractive without top coat).

FingerPaints Winter Wishes Nail Polish, Two Coats

Holly Good times is a mixture of gold and red fine glitter in a clear base. I used two coats to make it opaque, and somehow this one reminds me of apple cider.

FingerPaints Holly Good Times Nail Polish, Two Coats

Just Plum Fun is a rich plum with a subtle shimmer, also a two coater.

FingerPaints Just Plum Fun Nail Polish, Two Coats

Merry Mittens is a rust red shimmer with fine gold glitter. In two coats, the polish is opaque and the fine glitter shows through very well without being over the top - it's festive without being too much at all.

FingerPaints Merry Mittens Nail Polish, Two Coats

Mistletoe Mischief was the only one of the six that required a third coat for me. The polish was a bit thin, but for a Christmas green shimmer with tiny flaky bits, I'll do a third coat.

FingerPaints Mistletoe Mischief Nail Polish, Three Coats

Last up, in keeping with the traditional ordering of things, is my favorite of the collection, Mulberry Madness. This one's a mulberry base with silver and mulberry glitter. It's gorgeous and it's good in two coats.

FingerPaints Mulberry Madness Nail Polish, Two Coats

So those are the six colors in FingerPaints' Winter Dreams, and I really like every one of them. As for generalities regarding the collection, I found the shimmers with lots of glitter (Winter Wishes & Mulberry Madness) were quite thick, but after two thin coats and two coats of top coat, they're perfect. With the other four, when applying them I questioned whether they could be possibly opaque in inly two coats because the first looks really thin, but they're just fine. No changes have been to the brush or bottle, and I had nary a wonky brush, so I really have nothing at all to complain about.

The FingerPaints Winter Dreams Collection will be available online on Sally Beauty Supply's site and in stores in November. That's all I have for you today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Posted in Beige , FingerPaints , Glitter , green , nail polish , purple , red

Essie Going Incognito

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I just got some (most) of Essie's Winter 2010 Collection this week, and I have Going Incognito to show to you today. It's the green creme in the collection. It's a really nice polish - a well pigmented two coater that's easy to control. It's roughly the same tone as Pretty Edgy but Going Incognito is a bluer shade of green.

Essie Going Incognito Nail Polish for Winter 2010, Two Coats

That's what I have for you today, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Posted in Essie , green , nail polish , Winter 2010

FingerPaints Holiday 2011 Swatches

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

This afternoon I have swatches of the FingerPaints Merry & Bright Collection, their Holiday 2011 release. The collection consists of six polishes, three glitters and three shimmers, and the pictures of all six are in sunlight and without top coat on the first five (the last one is the post-swatching manicure). I'll start with the glitters...

Each of these is super fine glitter in a clear base, the powdery fine kind of glitter. I used three coats in each of the swatches for complete coverage, and since they are swatches rather than dried manicures, I don't know how much top coat they require. However, since the glitter is unusually fine, I doubt more than two could be necessary. I'll tell you for sure when I wear one as a manicure.

Drummer Boy is a bright blue glitter, a really nice holiday shade of blue. Three coats gives the completely encrusted in glitter look.

FingerPaints Drummer Boy Nail Polish, Three Coats

Santa Kisses is the red of those metallic looking overly fragile glass ball tree ornaments, the good ones from long ago that would shatter into a zillion shards if someone looked in their general direction. It screams Christmas to me.

FingerPaints Santa Kisses Nail Polish, Three Coats

The last is a tinsel-y silver, Frosty Night, and it could likely use a fourth coat to be totally opaque.

FingerPaints Frosty Night Nail Polish, Three Coats

Those are the three glitters. For the three shimmers, I used only two coats each. Yule Be Merry is a pinkish red with a really interesting glowy shimmer. The color strikes me as a happy one that's still good for winter.

FingerPaints Yule Be Merry Nail Polish, Two Coats

Comet's Collar is the green, and it has my favorite name. The shade of green is kind of a pale holly shade, but the really cool element of Comet's Collar is the shimmer - there are multicolored sparkle bits in it that just make it really fun to look at.

FingerPaints Comet's Collar Nail Polish, Two Coats

The last is Winter Sky, and it's the one I did a full manicure with. It's a vivid deep sky blue with an almost-secret shimmer. One coat of Winter Sky was totally opaque and even, I added a second because it's the one I'm wearing.

FingerPaints Winter Sky Nail Polish, Two Coats

I think FingerPaints holiday collections are the ones I most anticipate, and this one did not disappoint me at all. Each of the shimmers is really well done, and the super fine glitter in the glitters makes them apply and build well. I think Comet's Collar is my top pick of this collection simply because its shimmer is so outstanding, but I couldn't wait to wear Winter Sky either.

Those are my FingerPaints Merry & Bright swatches, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Edited to add a link to the FingerPaints Merry & Bright Promo Image & availability info and a removal note: When I took off Winter Sky, the skin on my hands stained teal (no nail staining, just the skin upon removal). Tom's of Maine whitening toothpaste and an extra soft bristled toothbrush took all of it off easily. I panicked at the sight of teal hands, you don't have to - just use toothpaste and it'll come right off.

Products were sent for independent review.

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Posted in Blue , FingerPaints , FingerPaints Merry Bright Collection , Glitter , green , nail polish , red , Silver

Sally Hansen Haunted & Emerald Amethyst

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Since duochromes seem to be making quite a return right now, I thought I'd show you one of my favorites from the Sally Hansen Nail Prisms line, Emerald Amethyst. The sun is absolutely not cooperating today, so the best I can do is give you a sense of how cool this one is.

Since Nail Prisms seem to be pretty sheer, I picked a charcoal shimmer base for it, which I find to blend a little better than a black creme, and the one I used was Sally Hansen Haunted, which is a New Lengths from a few years ago, and I think it was a Canadian exclusive. Haunted needed two coats over a base, and while I gave it a few minutes to set, I took a picture of it alone.

Sally Hansen Haunted Nail Polish, Two Coats

I added two coats of Emerald Amethyst to it, waited a few minutes, then added Sally Hansen Salon Speed Shine to dry it all. Here are a few pictures under a completely overcast sky to give you a hint at what it really looks like in decent light.

Sally Hansen Emerald Amethyst Nail Polish, Two Coats, Straight On View

Sally Hansen Emerald Amethyst, Angled View

Sally Hansen Emerald Amethyst Nail Polish, Two Coats, Angled View

Sally Hansen Emerald Amethyst, Close Angled View

Sally Hansen Emerald Amethyst Nail Polish, Two Coats, Close Angled View

Sally Hansen Salon Emerald Amethyst, Final Angled View

Sally Hansen Salon Emerald Amethyst Nail Polish, Two Coats, Final Angled View

You can see that straight on, it's kind of a purple mauve, but from any angle it's really green, which make it a lot of fun to play with in the light. I'm glad to see a return of duochromes, and hope that some of the new ones coming out are as cool as the old ones with some different color combinations. I haven't seen any yet that strike me as unique, but hope springs eternal.

That's my ode to Emerald Amethyst, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Posted in Duochrome , green , grey , nail polish , purple , Sally Hansen , Sally Hansen Nail Prisms

China Glaze It's Alive

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I realized it's the second half of October and I haven't done a thing for Halloween yet, so today's manicure is China Glaze's It's Alive, one of their Halloween polishes. It's a murky green glitter and I really like it, especially because it's not an obvious orange or black. While those certainly have their place and are fun, lots already exist, and being the ardent horror flick fan that I am, I know there's infinitely more fodder for Halloween colors than that and late October is the only time anyone other than horror fans particularly cares.

It's a pretty polish right at the first look, tons of normal fine and small hex glitter in a matching jelly base, but I couldn't immediately see any tie-in to the original It's Alive! movie (that's the one with the big mutant baby). It's been a while since I've seen it and I never saw the remake since the 1974 state of the art special effects are part of its charm for me, so I checked out the movie trailer and found one. I say "one" rather than "it" because I don't even know whether China Glaze was making any specific movie reference at all, but an odd green can be connected to the film. Around 1:50 in the trailer, the doctor asks the parents of the mutant baby if they've ever been exposed to radiation, and it seems like weird shades of green are pretty standard for radiation, as that's what we see in all of the Return of the Living Dead movies as well as in all the Tromaville movies (Class of Nuke 'Em High, The Toxic Avenger, ...). Here's the 1974 It's Alive! trailer so you can see. Even if you don't care in general, the first few seconds have some of my all-time favorite things going awry in a scary movie music, so I urge you to play it just for that.

So now that I've established a solid case for an odd green for Halloween (I don't know why that was necessary either, but it was entertaining to do), I'll show you the manicure. It's base coat, only two coats of It's Alive!, which was plenty for even and opaque coverage, and three coats of top coat. It was gritty alone just because it's a dense glitter, and the Tout de Suite I applied to dry it was quickly eaten up by the glitter and it was gritty again. I added one coat of BB Couture Top Rock to smooth it, and after a bit I needed one more coat of Top Rock. Now it's shiny and green.

China Glaze It's Alive Nail Polish, Two Coats

Here's a closer look at its glitter on one nail.

A Closer Look at China Glaze It's Alive Nail Polish's Glitter

I really like it! It's a fun change from the usual Halloween fare, and I see a scary movie reference when I look at it. I'm glad I got it.

So that's China Glaze It's Alive and a case for its Halloween tie-in, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Posted in China Glaze , Glitter , green , Halloween , nail polish

Two from China Glaze 'Tis the Season

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I got some of China Glaze's Holiday 2010 polishes this week, and I have pictures of the first two manicures I've done with them for you.

The first is Jolly Holly, a really nice pine green with a subtle shimmer. I found this one to be quite thick, so I applied two really thin coats and it worked out fine.

China Glaze Jolly Holly Nail Polish, Two Coats

Next up, I wanted to use Party Hearty, gold and green glitter with red hex glitter in a clear base. I decided to layer it over Mrs. Claus, the pinkish red glitter from this collection, and I used two coats of each. After about a zillion coats of top coat to smooth it out, I'm happy with the result - I like how well the glitter from Party Hearty, even the red, shows up well on the pink red of Mrs. Claus.

China Glaze Party Hearty & Mrs. Claus, Two Coats Each

That's what I've used from 'Tis the Season so far. I especially love both Mrs. Claus and Party Hearty - I'm really glad that I picked them up. I don't have anything else for you today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Posted in China Glaze , Glitter , green , nail polish , red

Free beauty tips

Christmas Nails

Sally Hansen Nailgrowth Miracle Gentle Blossom

Carolyn New York Greenwich Ave

Color Club Enchanted Holiday

Illamasqua Viridian

Zoya Gems and Jewels Swatches

FingerPaints Winter Dreams Collection

Essie Going Incognito

FingerPaints Holiday 2011 Swatches

Sally Hansen Haunted & Emerald Amethyst

China Glaze It's Alive

Two from China Glaze 'Tis the Season

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