Thursday, March 15, 2012

China Glaze - Crackle Glitters Collection

Image Source: Secret Allure

Image Source: Body & Soul 
 Glam-more  -  Gleam Me up  -  Jade-d  -  Luminous Lavender

This is China Glaze's latest crackle collection. Most people are all crackled out by now but not me so I'm looking forward to this collection! Purple, blue and green are my three favourite colours so I'll probably get all four of them. I'm not sure about the release date of this collection but I think it will be out in the first half of this year.

What do you think about this collection?


Sally Hansen Gem Crush - Glitz Gal

Sally Hansen Gem Crush - Glitz Gal
3 coats

Glitz Gal is from the Sally Hansen Gem Crush collection - 2012. It's a dark grey micro glitter with larger holographic hex glitters. This dried super fast! It's very gritty so you'll need lots of top coat. It also drieds dull so the top coat brings out the gliter. This is very similar, if not a dupe for China Glaze - Some Like It Haute. I think a few of the others are dupes for the China Glaze - Eye Candy collection.

At first I picked up Be-Jeweled (the purple one) from this collection. The checkout line went past the display and when I got down the line to the display I ended up swapping for Glitz Gal.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

O.P.I - New York City Ballet Collection

 Barre My Soul  -  You Callin' Me a Lyre?  -  Don't Touch My Tutu!
Care to Danse  -  My Pointe Exactly  -  Pirouette My Whistle

Well I have to be honest and say this collection doesn't interest me at all. I like colour and this is just to boring for me. Pirouette My Whistle is the only one I would buy from this collection but I don't think I'll be getting it. Then again, I could change my mind after seeing swatches. 

This is due out in April.

What do you think about this one?

Images Source: Polish Insomniac

Artsy Wednesday - Animal Print

The theme for Artsy Wednesday this week is Animal Print!

When you think of animal print what are the first animals you think of? Leopard print, zebra stripes, cheetah spots, right? So I thought I'd do something different, cow print! 
I used Ulta3 - Lily White for the Base and Ulta3 - Black Satin for the stamp. I stamped using Bundle Monster plate BM-222 (second set).

Check out the other girls participating in Artsy Wednesday:
Lyndsey: nailsbymslizard.blogspot.com.au 
Please note that some girls are in a different time zone and their posts may not appear for a few hours.

If you are interested in joining Artsy Wednesdays please contact myself or any of the other girls. You can contact me here: prettypurplepolish@gmail.com.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

China Glaze On Safari Collection


 
I'm Not Lion - I Herd That - Kalahari Kiss - Desert Sun


Elephant Walk - Exotic Encounter - Jungle Queen - Call Of The Wild

Manhunt - Purr-fect Plum - Prey Tell - Adventure Red-y


China Glaze - On Safari collection is due out in June (I think). I like the look of this collection and can see myself getting a few of these. My picks are:
  • I'm Not Lion
  • I Herd That
  • Elephant Walk
  • Exotic Encounter
  • Jungle Queen
  • Manhunt
Which ones do you like? Will you get any from this collection? I've got a few more "Upcoming Collection" posts to show you. you may have already seen them but I hope you still enjoy them.

Images Source: Fashion Trend Seeker

Ulta3 - Sweet Violet

Ulta3 - Sweet Violet
3 coats

Sweet Violet is a silvery purple toned frost. This finish is similar to Ulta3 - Jelly Bean. The first coat was quite sheer but it builds up nicely. I probably could have gotten away with two coats but I did three trying to even out my brush strokes. If you are careful with the brush strokes they don't show up. How do you all feel about frosts? I don't mind this one, I hope I'm not slowly starting to like frosts eeek! I don't think I am, I think this and Jelly bean must be the exceptions.

Monday, March 12, 2012

Color Club - Holiday Splendor

Color Club - Holiday Splendor
2 coats

Jingle Jangle is from the Color Club - Under The Mistletoe collection  - 2011. It's a green, blue and silver glitter with scattered holographic glitter in a green jelly base. This is so gorgeous. When I first saw this collection I put it on my wish list then sort of forgot about it. Then I saw it pop up on a blog a few months later and it reminded me how much I wanted it. This is similar to  China Glaze - Atlantis which was also on my wish list. I don't think I need that one anymore.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Ulta3 - Lily White

Ulta3 - Lily White
2 coats

Lily White is a white creme. The bottle of Lily White I have is made in PRC and is more opaque than the Australian made version. It's a little streaky after one coat so you definitely need two coats. I've done some stamping tests with this and you can see that post here.

Sorry about missing yesterday's post. I had taken photos and when I went to edit them they weren't coming out colour accurate. 

Friday, March 9, 2012

China Glaze - Dorothy Who?

China Glaze - Dorothy Who?
3 coats

Dorothy Who? is from the China Glaze - Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection 2009. The original collection was released in 2001 and China Glaze re-released it because fans asked for it. If only they would do that with the OMG collection!

Dorothy Who? is a silver and blue shimmer polish in a dark blue jelly base. This is gorgeous! If you don't already own this one go add it to your wish list now! I'm going to put it on my nails  again when I finish this post.

Also not sure if anyone has noticed but I pimped my My Collection page, you should check it out. Special thanks to Cathy from More Nail Polish for pointing me in the right direction with the code.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

China Glaze - Attraction

China Glaze - Attraction
1 coat

Attraction is from the China Glaze - Magnetix collection 2012. It's a silvery grey shimmer. The shimmer particles are larger than those in Pull Me Close and Instant Chemistry. The design shows up really easily on this one. This was also a little sheer with one coat but the design covers up and bald patches. China Glaze recommends using only one coat with their magnetic polishes. I started off using two coats but one coat give a much better design.


Here's what the China Glaze magnet looks like. They magnet has a lip to rest on your cuticle to help prevent you from touching your nail to the magnet. I found it easiest to rest the lip on your first knuckle rather than at the base of your nail.


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Artsy Wednesday - Favourite Book or Inspired by a Book

 The theme for Artsy Wednesday this week is Favourite Book or Inspired by a Book!

Immediately I thought Harry Potter, but Harry Potter nails have been done so many times before, so I thought of my second favourite books which are the Tomorrow Series by John Marsden. These books are very good and I suggest you read them. John Marsden is an Australian writer and the story is based in Australia. You may have seen the movie Tomorrow When The War Began, which is based on the first book in the series. 

My design is based on one of the versions of the front cover of Tomorrow When The War Began:
Image Source: ACT Public Library
Colours used:
Ulta3 - Frangipani
Ulta3 - Fire
Ulta3 - Black Satin
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Silver Sweep

So if you can't tell what I've done the silver stuff is supposed to be barbed wire and the thing on my ring finger is supposed to be a ferris wheel.

For this design I started with two coats of Ulta3 - Fragipani. I sponged on Ulta3 - Fire over part of my nail. Then I used a small nail art brush and Ulta3 - Black Satin for the tips. This would look a lot nicer if my nails actually had tips. I used a thin striping brush dipped in Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Silver Sweep for the barbed wire. I used the same striping brush dipped in Ulta3 - Black Satin for the ferris wheel. I topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite.

Check out the other girls participating in Artsy Wednesday:
Lyndsey: nailsbymslizard.blogspot.com.au 

Please note that some girls are in a different time zone and their posts may not appear for a few hours.


If you are interested in joining Artsy Wednesdays please contact myself or any of the other girls. You can contact me here: prettypurplepolish@gmail.com.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

China Glaze - Instant Chemistry


China Glaze - Instant Chemisty
1 coat

Instant Chemistry is from the China Glaze - Magnetix collection 2012. It is a dark burgundy purple shimmer. I used the star pattern with this one, the design isn't very clear, I've tried all three designs with this polish and this is the best it shows up. This one wasn't sheer like Pull Me Close. My brush was a little dodgy, it looks like it's had a really rough hair cut:


I forgot to mention yesterday that I've had to switch to my left hand for swatching again. I broke the same nail in the same place on my right hand. Sorry if my short nail annoys you, hopefully it catches up soon!

Monday, March 5, 2012

Captcha Code

I've turned off the captcha code (word verification) for my comments...well at least I think I have, so please let me know if it's still asking for it. :)

China Glaze - Pull Me Close

China Glaze - Pull Me Close
1 coat

Pull me close is from the China Glaze - Magnetix collection 2012. It's a light blue and silver shimmer and when the magnet is applied it pulls black (iron particles?) to the top making the pattern. The China Glaze magnet is in a horse shoe shape and has three designs; diagonal lines, chevron and a star. I forgot to take a photo of the magnet separately so I'll put a picture of it in tomorrow's post. I tried these out a few times and wasn't getting a very strong design. It think it was because the polish was too thick. For this picture I used one coat. It was a little sheer but when the design comes up it covers that.


Here's a photo of how I hold the magnet. This is the view I see when I look at it. I find it easier to get close to the magnet without touching it when I hold it like this. I also found it helps to blow on your nail while your holding it to help dry the polish. Sometimes the design fades as the polish dries.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Ulta3 Stamping Test

I recently bought Ulta3 - Black Satin and Ulta3 -Lily White and discovered the PRC made versions are more opaque than the Australian made versions. I've done the test stamping each one over the other one, here's the results:


They work quite well. Lily White is a little sheer but it works well enough for me. I don't do much stamping with white anyway.

Do you know of any other Ulta3's that you can use for stamping?