China Glaze Holiday Joy � Blue Bells Ring

I am finally going to begin posting the swatches for the China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection. I don't own the full collection, but you'll be seeing more than a few of the glitters.

First up is Blue Bells Ring, an icy metallic blue. This is two coats, but Blue Bells Ring is a very opaque polish. I definitely could have gotten away wearing just one coat. 

I was really pleased with how well this polish went on. It has a super smooth application. It didn't streak or turn gooey while I was applying. It also came off really easily. Be extra careful with any cleanup because the blue comes off first, leaving behind the silver metallic shimmer. That only took a few extra swipes to get up, but you can see near the cuticle of my pinky finger what happens when you get too close to the polish during cleanup.

The only problem I had, big or small, was staining! The blue, once it came in contact with my polish remover, went everywhere. It got all over my hands and fingers and it took an extra cotton ball per hand to get off. It's not a huge con when weighed against so many pros, but I will say don't remove this polish while wearing or even while you're near anything expensive or fancy.

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Twinkling Hot Tamales

First off ... whoa, what is up with the new posting feature?? Was anyone else horribly confused and panicking a bit? I thought I pressed the wrong button or something!!


Right, onto the post. I'm not sure how long I can keep this daily posting up. Maybe another day or so if I'm not too lazy to paint my nails today, so enjoy it while you can! Today, I bring you Twinkle and Hot Tamale both from Pure Ice.

This alternating mani is two coats of Hot Tamale, the darker polish, and two coats of Twinkle, the lighter polish. I'm just noticing now the slightly visible nail line on some of them. They could probably use another coat or three. I guess this means they're more sheer than I thought.

Twinkle showed up fairly dark in most of the pictures I took. I managed to find a handful of true to color. Twinkle is a simply lovely shade of coral pink or maybe a salmon. It contains a slight hint of orange but I'm not sure if that's just the gold shimmer playing tricks on my eyes or not.

Hot Tamale is a darker color that I think nearly overwhelms the delicate Twinkle. The closest I can come to describing Hot Tamale is an off shade of vermilion, sometimes known as cinnabar. I think this shade works best because vermilion is described as being similar to scarlet but with more orange and less red. Hot Tamale certainly has it's fair share of orange and mixes nicely with the gold shimmer the polish contains.

 Twinkle and Hot Tamale close-up shots.

You really get to see the true shades of these colors up-close in direct sunlight.

Hot Tamale shows it's gold shimmer much less than Twinkle. The gold shimmer blends too well with Hot Tamale's metallic finish to really pop. That certainly doesn't mean Hot Tamale doesn't pop all on its own. While pink is my favorite color I don't think I can wear a shade as delicate as Twinkle ... at least not without Hot Tamale to carry it along.


What I didn't know while buying this polish was how closely Hot Tamale resembles Riveting from the China Glaze Hunger Games collection. Riveting has slightly more depth to its color; the metallic finish of Riveting shifts subtly darker than Hot Tamale. However, Riveting leaves Hot Talame in its gold shimmering dust. Riveting has a much, much more present shimmer. The gold flecks are also bigger and brighter; they really shine out of the polish. As you can see from the picture below, Hot Tamale is not an exact match to Riveting but you might be able to make a fairly passable fraken dupe out of it by adding a thicker shimmer.

Will any of you be trying Hot Tamale in place of Riveting? What about Twinkle? Will it work better with your skin tone than it does mine?

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Circus, Circus

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages ... today I present circus nails!!!

Okay, being truthful. I was a bit disappointed with both the circus and these nails.

This is two coats of China Glaze Riveting with a coat of Wet n Wild Party of Five Glitters and though I didn't count after the first three coats ... anywhere between five and ten coats of Fantasy Maker Night Glow, a glow in the dark polish from the creators of Wet n Wild.

This picture is more true to color. The glow in the dark polish is cloudy and somewhere between a cloudy clear and a cloudy yellow/green. You can see that Riveting has lost its bright and fiery gleam with so many coats of glow in the dark polish. I wouldn't have minded so much but Night Glow is very old and has lost most of its glow. I did not know this when I was layering it on. I expected for the lights to go out at the circus and my nails to grab nearly as much attention as the circus acts themselves ... at least from my nieces.

Sadly, this didn't happen. The nails didn't glow at all during the circus!

I only managed to get the glow in the dark pics by quickly holding my nails to the bathroom light, flicking off the lights and snapping the pictures. These pics are also taken through my editing program and the glow brightened so you can actually see it! Very disappointing!! I will have to look into getting more of this polish.

Here is the original, unedited version of the first glow picture. You might see the glow if you highlight it first. The unedited second picture is even worse and not worth posting.

The only thing more horrible than a bad nail design is a polish that's gone bad ... even worse when it's gone bad unnoticed. :(

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It's Just So Riveting

When I started my journey to acquire six polishes from the China Glaze Hunger Games collection I certainly didn't think Riveting was going to be one of the hardest won polishes. The only harder to find polish was Luxe and Lush ... which I did expect. Riveting seemed such an odd and out there color that I didn't think many would hurry out to buy it.


How wrong I was! I searched everywhere and finally had to break down and ask a professional friend to buy it at a cosmetology shop.

I am so glad I did. This color is amazing and so eye-catching, especially in sunlight. As you can see, it practically glows in direct sunlight!!

Riveting before its name change was known as Fire in Flight and was inspired by the flaming Mockingjay. I can certainly see why. The metallic orange turns a fiery reddish orange and the golden shimmer flickers through turning the whole nail into flames.

For those wondering what this mani looks like out of direct sunlight here's a picture. :)

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China Glaze Capitol Colours

Wow! Could this week have gone any faster?


Capitol Colours are here!! I wanted to have these swatches posted for you guys mid-week but it was just one thing after another! Sadly, I still have only three of the six polishes I want from this collection. I've checked most of the local shops, and they're all sold out. I think if I want them I'm going to have to splurge and order them online. I just hate paying shipping costs and then having to wait for them to arrive. I'm not good with waiting! However, if the other colors are anything like these three the collection is certainly worth the effort and extra money.


The first polish I have to show off is the one I was most interested in, oddly enough. This is Fast Track, a gorgeous beige/tan color chock full of gold shimmer. I'm the kind of girl made for bright colos so I'm not a fan of nudes, but I adore this polish. The shade is just different enough from other nudes to catch attention and the gold shimmer really makes it stand out in a crowd. Fast Track is one of a kind in my opinion.

3 Coats in Sunlight

Next up is Harvest Moon. I'm a bit unsure as to how to discribe this color except stunning. I've heard it described as a copper color, but I would go with more of a tawny bronze. Truthfully, it's only a slight shade different, but I think it better manages to capture the near orange tint that mixes with the copper. Harvest Moon is a hidden gem in this collection that puts me in mind of Autumn, pumpkins, and the golden orange of turning leaves. You know me with shimmering metallics; there's no question that I adore this, both formula and color.

2 Coats in Full Sun

Last, but not least, is Stone Cold. This color certainly brings to mind stone: caves and caverns with thick stone walls. It's dark grey bordering on black in some lights with a thick silver shimmer. This is a matte polish so the shimmer doesn't shine or really sparkle but mixes perfectly with the deeper, darker background. I manage to get my nails covered in one coat, but my coats tend to be a bit thicker than most people use. This polish starts to dry very quickly as the matte sets so work quickly if you don't want it pulling up with your brush.

1 Coat in Full Sun

Stone Cold Close-Up

Can I just say I am stunned and so very thankful to all you followers, new and old? You guys are amazing!!

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Rimmel - Rags to Riches

Hello again! Two posts in as many days? You guys will be sick of me before the end of the week!! :)


I mentioned in one of my previous posts that I snagged a major deal�$50 worth of polish for $10. I got 4 Borghese, 2 Sally Hansen, and a Rimmel. The Rimmel is the focus of my post today. It is 286, Rags to Riches, which is a lovely metallic moss green with a champagne shimmer.

Natural Light

I tried a new top coat after I finished painting these and it didn't dry as quickly as I'm used to. They were dry to the touch but must not have been dry through because the tips bunched while I was cooking dinner. There was no fixing it by the time I noticed. :( However, I'm very pleased to say they lasted much longer than I expected given how I practically invited chips and didn't touch up the top coat. I'm sure this is one polish that would live up to it's 10 day promise if I hadn't messed them up before they dried. Even then, they only began chipping on day 5 when I nicked my index nail while preparing dinner. It always happens at dinner for me. The others still looked nearly exact to when I took these pictures.

Natural Light

The Rimmel brush is big and wide and absolutely perfect! It's near an exact match to Sally Hansen Insta-Dri brushes�which I love!  This color actually reminds me of Sally Hansen's Celeb City, different in color but both metallic with a lovely shimmer. If you'll remember, I adored Celeb City so it's a very simple leap of logic to say I love Rags to Riches too. I think I'm turning into a metallic girl and I won't have a problem with it if they keep looking this great on my nails!

Flash

I would like to add that the Rimmel Lasting Finish Pro bottle is very handsome. Yes, I said handsome. It doesn't look very feminine so I'll use male descriptors. It's not so much heavy as solid (fits nicely in hand) and the silver crown on the black lid is simply charming.


Do you have a favorite Rimmel color?

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