Weird Matte Polish Formulas…

Back in December I ordered a set of polishes from Nail Polish Canada’s Boxing Day sale.
China Glaze For Audrey
China Glaze Towel Boy Toy
China Glaze Frostbite
China Glaze Pink Voltage
China Glaze Scarlet
China Glaze Snow
China Glaze Nova
OPI Top Coat
OPI Base Coat
It was a great deal that they offered and of course I had to buy it. I justified it by saying I didn’t have the China Glaze polishes except for Nova. (They are a set of just the China Glaze that you can check out HERE)

China Glaze Pink Voltage

Added a top coat to all but one…

This is a really bright pink. Probably the brightest pink I have. It isn’t a crème, as it has slight shimmer in it. The funny thing about this is that it dries matte. I’m assuming the brightness of the pigment makes it dry matte. Just like the effect you get when you mix too much eye shadow in to clear polish to make your own colour.

It is pigmented, but because of the weird way it dries, it gets a little streaky.

I’m actually not a fan of the colour on my hands, but I think could be a fun colour to wear on the toes (despite the fact that I like wearing dark colours on my toes as well…). I might keep this as an accent colour…otherwise might go in the “Find a New Home” box. Not too sure as of yet.

Seeing as this dries matte, I wanted to show another China Glaze polish that also dries matte.

China Glaze Blue Sparrow

I added a top coat to all but one…

I actually bought this a LONG time ago, but ended up selling it off. It wasn’t a colour I liked back then.

In the bottle it looks gorgeous, but as you can see dries to a weird matte.

I picked this up at Sally’s Beauty on clearance. I’m not sure if they are DC’ing it, but this would be kind of the second time, at least for the store itself. They had removed it from the regular line that they carried in stores, and then it reappeared I think more than a year ago.

As you can see in the pictures…it is really weird. Not too pretty even with the topcoat (at least for me personally).

Anyway…
Guess what?
Well…I can’t reveal it just yet, but come back Sunday (June 9, 2013) for another mini surprise :)

China Glaze in Ahoy! + other ramblings…

Ahoy! has been on my mind since its initial release a while back. Look, I commented about it HERE, which is where I fell in love with it…

But alas…I didn’t jump to buy it.

And then it grew to be an dull pang in my nail polish loving heart.

So when I saw it on the regular display at Sally’s, I knew I had to have it.

It reminds me of a denser, pink version of Raspberry Festival. Without the same metallic-y shimmer that Raspberry Festival has (which is also another polish I love :P). On a side note, this is without a top coat, and yet look at how shiny this is! O____O

I also went to pick up my Midnight Recovery Concentrate at Kiehls, so I could participate in their promotion where you get 20% back on a GC to use for a future purchase. I wrote about it HERE, scroll to the end of the post…

I picked up the Midnight Recovery Concentrate in their limited time only 50mL bottle. Actually I went in for the 30mL bottle, but then the SA told me about their limited edition 50mL bottle. Then I hummed and haw’ed…and then decided to go for it.

It works out to be $2 cheaper per 10mL than the 30mL bottle, as the 50mL is priced at $70.

I got two sample sachets.

Not too sure how I feel about the experience in the Canadian store (I’ve purchased a masque and lip stuff in the American ones before, or stole my cousins stuff lol but this is the first time I have shopped here in Canada). On the one hand, I am happy that the SA didn’t pressure me to buy things I didn’t want. A HUGE thing for me. On the other hand, I feel like there could have been better interaction between us had she talked more about the product…

oh well. Now too sure what I will get with the card…maybe the Midnight Recovery Eye Cream? I got a sample of it, so let’s see how I like it…

I also picked up my free handcreme from L’occitane, as they sent me a reminder email about the redemption for it. It was part of a Facebook promotion that they had at the end of January, I believe. Anyway, a $12 dollar value for free. I liked that it was straight off the regular shelves, rather than some pile in a box behind the counter. Also I got a bunch of samples, when all I did was get a FREE product! That was mind blowing for me. I mean we don’t even get samples from Sephora when we shop…let alone get something for free…

Anyway, I haven’t liked going to the Yorkville shop, but the one at Yorkdale was really nice. The SA was very informative, without having to be pushy, or force a sale on me. There was a slight issue I did have, but that was due to the company itself, rather than the fault of the SA.

Alrighty…
that’s enough out of me. I had planned to go out tonight, but things changed, so I am studying Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason. Yay! -___-

Hope that you all have a great weekend!

Keep Calm Paint On…

…or so I tried…

Youll see what I mean soon.

Such a lovely colour, and I felt this tiny pull inside me when I first saw swatches.
So when I saw the last bottle on the Sally Beauty Supply display, I knew I had to buy it.

So I got it.
And applied it…
And almost hated it!

I may have gotten a dud formula. I found that it was thick yet thin. It was thin in the sense I needed 3 coats to give a remotely smooth finish, but thick in the sense it was a tad gloopy, and just a overall pain in the but formula to use. I ended up removing my first try of this. I ended up putting some thinner in it, and hoped that my second shot at it would be better.

NOPE.

What you see is three coats, and it is harder to tell, but the finish is still quite streaky. Just…mind boggling to me. I haven’t come across such a pain in the butt formula in quite some time. The last few would have been Zoya…and a recent OPI buy.

Anyway, if you got a dud bottle, would you struggle with it if the polish were pretty?

It’s that time of year again… <3

What shall I do with the nails for Valentines…Not too sure. But here are a few colours that I wanted to share.

First Up is American Apparel Nail Polish in Lipstick


I added a NOPI glitter on the accent nail. Anyway, this is a gorgeous red nail polish. Definitely something to look in to, though it does stain the skin when removing.

Second, we have a pink glitter gradient.




Sally Hansen HD Byte
China Glaze Innocence
Sally Hansen Xtreme Strobe Light
Wet n Wild Sparked
China Glaze Fairy Dust

I applied Byte a little messily about a 1/3 of the nail. Then I applied Innocence over, which helped smooth out the rough edges of Byte, and give it a more gradient look. I applied Strobe Light to half of the nail, then applied Sparked to the tip. I finished it off by applying a coat of Fairy Dust to the entire nail.

Finally…Revlon Ruby Ribbon

This is a matte polish, but I applied a top coat…


This was a Christmas LE colour, but I found it at a Revlon sale that was held at the International Centre in Mississauga. Applies quite decently, though not a full matte. More of a shiner matte polish. It has subtle shimmer in it that doesn’t really show up until you apply a top coat. It isn’t a deep red, but a nice colour to wear as well.

Next…

Just a few colours I scrounged up. If I were to go all pretty lipped, I’d pick one of these. Seeing as I am just in classes the whole day, I think I probably won’t. I might contemplate the stained lip though.

Vasanti Denmark
Revlon Colorburst Ruby
NYX Jumbo Lip Pencil Deep Red
The Body Shop Lip & Cheek Stain

If you want something kiss proof, you wanna go for stains, or at least a good lip sealer. Also might want to dab a bit of UDPP on the lips before the application of the colour to make it last longer.

Is there a particular colour you will be wearing this Valentines Day? Or an anti-Valentines Day colour? Let me know :)