Shelby's Swatches: August 2012

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Untried China Glaze Swatches!

Good evening ladies! I was looking through my stash today and decided to swatch a few of my China Glaze polishes that I haven't tried yet. I had more than 3 untrieds (my untrieds keeps expanding!), but I decided to keep it short and sweet this time :P. I chose to swatch Dorothy Who?, IV, and Four Leaf Clover!

China Glaze Dorothy Who?

Dorothy Who? is a stunning blue glitter! In the sun it sometimes looks blue, but it also flashes silver! This color was perfectly opaque in 2 coats and didn't give me a single problem! This is from the Wizard of Oz collection; I wish I had more polishes from it since I'm a fan of all the WOZ characters!

China Glaze IV

IV is a sheer, jelly-like salmon/coral creme! I was worried this wouldn't be opaque in 3 coats since there was quite a bit of VNL after 2, but I was pleasantly surprised! This is the perfect summer color! I don't hear about it much; I'm not sure why it goes unnoticed! It was made to celebrate China Glaze's 4th birthday I believe!

China Glaze Four Leaf Clover

Four Leaf Clover is a true kelly green creme! I'm sorry if my hands look a little yellow; I had to adjust the color a little since this shade did NOT want to photograph! This is a very unique color and it screams "leprechaun" to me! This went on pretty well and was opaque in 2 coats. This is from the Up & Away collection. I'm still trying to obtain every color from this collection. I'm drawn to pastel shades and for some reason want this whole set! haha

What do you think of these shades? Do you like random untried polish posts?

-Shelby

Sinful Colors Rain Storm- Cloud Mani

Good morning! Yesterday I spent a good chunk of time looking at various nail designs, but one design that stuck out to me was Nailside's cloud tutorial! I was determined to recreate it, even though mine doesn't quite look as good :P

I decided to stick with cool blues. I didn't mean for them to be the colors of the sky, but it's how it turned out!

What I used:
Sinful Colors Rain Storm
China Glaze Electric Beat
China Glaze Kinetic Candy

Sinful Colors Rain Storm
China Glaze Electric Beat
China Glaze Kinetic Candy

This mani was fairly easy and not time-consuming at all. I didn't even need to wait for Electric Beat to dry before applying Kinetic Candy! With what little effort went into this, I'm thoroughly impressed :). Also, Rain Storm has a great application; two coats of perfection! I like all the blues together, but maybe next time I'll venture out and do something more daring! Some glitter in there would be cool too!

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Misa Someone Like You & China Glaze I'm Not Lion

Hello again! Last night I was trying out another glitter gradient and was very pleased with my outcome! I was inspired by another blog post to use fine glitter for the gradient, rather than chunky glitter!

I used 2 coats of Misa Someone Like You & sponged China Glaze I'm Not Lion onto the tips!

Misa Someone Like You
China Glaze I'm Not Lion

Someone Like You is a nude creme with a bit of a pinky/peach tone to it! This color applied great and was fully opaque in 2 coats! This color always makes me think about the Adele song & I start singing haha. To add some sparkle, I added I'm Not Lion, which is a gorgeous silver and gold fine glitter that's somewhat holo in the sun. In photo 3 you can see how it twinkles in the sunlight! I think this mani is very classy/elegant yet fun! I would wear it to a formal event or cocktail party if I were to go to one!

What do you think of this mani? Are you getting tired of glitter gradients? :P

-Shelby

31 Day Challenge, Day 4: Green

Good morning! As you can see by the title, today's challenge theme is green! I like green; it happens to be the color of my eyes & my boyfriend's favorite color :). For this mani I decided to do a little bit of stamping to jazz it up! I did this mani last week (that's why my nails are shorter) and decided to save it for this challenge day!

Below I did 1 coat of OPI Don't Mess With OPI (could have used two) and Sally Hansen Black Out for stamping. I used BM305 for the design! I added a coat of Essie Matte About You to mattify it!

OPI Don't Mess With OPI

Don't Mess With OPI is a gorgeous darker green shade. It applied wonderfully! If I was a little more careful, I wouldn't have the little patchy area on my middle tip haha. I originally wanted black lighting bolts, but Black Out wasn't opaque enough, so they turned out a forresty green color. I actually like that better! It's green on green, can't go wrong there :P.

What do you think of this green mani?

-Shelby

Check out the other participants:

Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner

Kat at Hooked On Polish

Diana at Nails By Diana

Aly at Wonderland Beauty

Meredith at Perfectly Polished

Kate at The Painted Pony Nails

Cee at Absolutely Cee

Sam at Polished Art

Nail Narcotics

Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed

Shelby at Shelby's Swatches

Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful

Mixed Mama

Joanna at Sweet Polish of Mine

Patty Greenberg

Liz and Lisa at Lozlosa

Mari at Nailista

Greta at How Was Your Day?

Miss L at Beauty by Miss L

Nicole at The Color Republic

Gini at Sassy Paints
Mandy at Chameleon Stampede

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Kleancolor Glitter Swatches

Good evening ladies! I've been really into indie glitters lately, but I have a bunch of Kleancolor glitters that I had yet to try, so I thought I'd give them a chance and see if they added up to my indies!

Beware, this post is picture heavy; I swatched 7 Kleancolor polishes!

Kleancolor Shooting Star
Sally Hansen Sun Kissed

Shooting Star is a sheer orange base with silver micro glitter and orange, yellow and teal small hex glitters. I really like this glitter! It may be my favorite of the bunch. I put 1 coat over Sally Hansen Sun Kissed & the outcome looked great! I didn't have a hard time getting enough glitter on each nail.

Kleancolor Disco Ball
China Glaze Flyin' High

Disco Ball is a clear base with purple and teal small glitters. I used 1 coat over 2 coats of China Glaze Flyin' High. I like the mixture of purple and teal; it's untraditional and I like it! I also didn't have an issue getting the glitter to go on evenly with this one.

Kleancolor Dolly Girl
Wet n' Wild On a Trip

Dolly Girl is a clear base with purple glitters. This is just like Disco Ball, but without the teal! I used Wet n' Wild On a Trip underneath and I think the purples go perfectly together! I had no issues getting even glitter with this polish either!

Kleancolor Silver Lining
China Glaze Icicle

Silver Lining is a silver shimmer with scattered purple glitters. I used China Glaze Icicle underneath because the silver in Silver Lining barely showed up! I was disappointed with the lack of color pay off; if I wanted a purple glitter, I would have gotten one. Oh well, you live and you learn!

Kleancolor Silver Star
Ulta Blue Streak

Silver Star is a clear base with some silver glitter and silver stars. I used it over Ulta Blue Streak. I like the combo of royal blue and silver, but I'm not sure this polish is for me. The formula was rather thick and the glitter and stars were difficult to get onto the nail.

Kleancolor Aurora
Color Club Blushing Rose

Aurora (who doesn't like a cute Disney reference?!) is iridescent pink/purple glitters and purple stars in a pinky clear base. I used one coat over Color Club Blushing Rose. I like the idea of this color, but the stars were rather hard to get onto each nail. It also is a little juvenile for my taste.

Kleancolor Holo Blue
Nicole by OPI "Baby" Blue

Holo Blue is a subtle blue holo, as the name states! This could possibly be opaque in 3 coats, but I did 2 coats over Nicole by OPI "Baby" Blue! It's hard to tell in the photo, but it has a subtle holo effect in the sun, which I definitely like! The formula of this was good going on!

Overall, I think Kleancolor glitters are okay. They just don't hit the mark compared to my Indie beauties, unfortunately. There are a few I like and will use, but indie polishes have so much more dimension and uniqueness to them. Also, I've noticed that Kleancolor takes a looong time to dry, even with a fast-dry topcoat. Bummer. I like them, but I'm glad I didn't have to pay much for them!

I think I'm going to post 3 of them in an upcoming blogsale of mine!

What do you think of this brand? Of these colors?

-Shelby

Vintage Sally Hansen Hot Sauce

Good morning! A week or so ago I saw a vintage Sally Hansen on a nail blog (sorry can't remember which) and I needed the polish! I looked on eBay and low and behold....a set of 2 was $5. Score! What is this vintage Sally Hansen you ask? Hot Sauce! I put it on and was so impressed that I had to show you :)

Below I did 2 coats of Hot Sauce and a coat of Out the Door!

Sally Hansen Hot Sauce

Hot Sauce is a gorgeous fiery, tomato red with gold shimmers running throughout! For a red, this had almost no cleanup, which surprised the heck out of me! For being who knows how old (1990s?), the formula was awesome and I couldn't be happier. I used 2 coats for full opacity, didn't need anymore than that! This could be great for summer, fall, holiday season, all that jazz! The only downfall this polish may have is that the handle is so long it can't stand straight up in my helmer!

What do you think of Hot Sauce? Do you have any vintage polishes?

-Shelby

Monday, August 27, 2012

China Glaze Harvest Moon & Foie Gras

Good evening! Today I got the chance to finally watch Hunger Games (I know, I know. I'm late jumpin' on the band wagon!). I thought it was a great movie- better than I expected! So I figured I'd pull out my 2 polishes from the China Glaze collection: Harvest Moon & Foie Gras.

Below I did 2 coats of each color, without a base or top coat!

China Glaze Harvest Moon

Harvest Moon is a coppery orange shimmer! This leaned very orange on me, but in the sunlight, I really like it! It applied well; two coats made it perfectly opaque! I got it on sale at Sally's a while back and am glad I picked it up. It'll be good for the fall :)

China Glaze Foie Gras

Foie Gras is a cool dark brown with a tinge on purple. I thought this wouldn't be very flattering on me, but I kinda like it! I picked it up in a lot on eBay so I also got this one for a discounted price! The formula on this was great! It was practically opaque in 1 coat, but I did two for the heck of it! This name makes me laugh since I think it means goose liver, haha!

What do you think of these two shades? Did you like this collection?

-Shelby

Essie Glitter Gradient!

Hello ladies! Last night I did a mani that I just had to show you! I decided to do a glitter gradient; all 3 of my polishes used ended up being Essie! haha.

I used 2 coats of Boxer Shorts as my base and sponged Stroke of Brilliance onto all of my nails except my ring finger, which I sponged Set in Stones onto instead! I've really been enjoying the Luxe Effects polishes; I have 4 and enjoy all of them! The size of the glitter is great as a topcoat and for gradients!

Essie Boxer Shorts, Stroke of Brilliance, Set in Stones

Stroke of Brilliance is a beautiful periwinkle/blue glitter in a clear base. In the sun, it kind of likes to shine somewhat silver, but indoors you can definitely see the blue! Set in Stones is the same sized glitter as Stroke of Brilliance, but it is silver! Both worked really well for sponging and I thought they looked awesome over Boxer Shorts, a purple/blue/periwinkle; I thoroughly enjoy wearing this color!

I hope you guys enjoyed this mani!

-Shelby

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Sally Hansen Green with Envy & Blue Me Away!

Good afternoon! Yesterday I got my nail striping tape in the mail and I was excited to try a nail tape design asap! I decided to use 2 Sally Hansen polishes: Green with Envy & Blue Me Away!

I liked the outcome, but next time I may do the lines in various directions!

Sally Hansen Green with Envy
Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!

Sally Hansen Green with Envy
Sally Hansen Blue Me Away!

Green with Envy is a lime green creme. I wore this as a full mani one and didn't like it, but I enjoy the color for detailing! I think it adds a fun pop of color and complements Blue Me Away! :) I can't say enough how much I like Blue Me Away!, a gorgeous blue creme. I didn't have a lot of issues with the application of the tape, but getting thin pieces off a roll was pretty hard! I hope I have better luck next time :)

What do you think of this mani?

-Shelby

31 Day Challenge, Day 3: Yellow

Good late-morning ladies! As you can see by the title, the topic for today's challenge is Yellow. Yuck! I am not a huge fan of yellow nail polish; it doesn't look the best against my skintone and is a pain to work with!

I decided to use a cult favorite yellow, China Glaze Lemon Fizz, for my mani. I was uninspired by yellow, so I didn't spice it up haha.

Below I did 2 coats of Lemon Fizz and a coat of Out the Door to smooth out the imperfections. We are also going to ignore the mark on my pinkie, today was not my day for yellow :P

China Glaze Lemon Fizz

Lemon Fizz is a classic baby yellow creme. It took 3 coats to be "opaque" I use quotations because even though it looks opaque, something still looks off in that department haha. This wasn't the most fun to apply; it was streaky and patchy, but I dealt! The color looked a lot better on me outdoors than inside; outdoors it ended up being more vibrant!

I hope you guys enjoyed the yellow nails! I'm sorry for my lack of yellow inspiration, better luck next time :P

-Shelby

Check out the other participants:

Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner

Kat at Hooked On Polish

Diana at Nails By Diana

Aly at Wonderland Beauty

Meredith at Perfectly Polished

Kate at The Painted Pony Nails

Cee at Absolutely Cee

Sam at Polished Art

Nail Narcotics

Nicole at Nicole Gets Nailed

Shelby at Shelby's Swatches

Stephanie Louise at All Things Beautiful

Mixed Mama

Joanna at Sweet Polish of Mine

Patty Greenberg

Liz and Lisa at Lozlosa

Mari at Nailista

Greta at How Was Your Day?

Miss L at Beauty by Miss L

Nicole at The Color Republic

Gini at Sassy Paints
Mandy at Chameleon Stampede

Saturday, August 25, 2012

OPI Pink of Hearts 2012 Duo Set

Good Saturday afternoon ladies! OPI recently released their 2012 breast cancer awareness polishes and I am all for that cause and had to pick them up! I believe that some (or all) of the proceeds of these polishes go towards breast cancer awareness and research. The two colors that came in the set were: You Glitter Be Good to Me & I Think in Pink!

OPI I Think in Pink

I Think in Pink is a sheer, bubblegum pink! I used 3 coats for the photos above, but there was still some slight vnl! The polish applied pretty well for being so sheer. I think this would be good for a sandwich since it is somewhat jelly-like! I Think in Pink is from Softshades 2010, so it is a rerelease I'm pretty sure. I think this color would be good to make an edgy outfit a touch girly :)

OPI You Glitter Be Good to Me

You Glitter Be Good to Me is pink micro glitter with purple small glitter all in a clear base. I used 2 coats for the photo above, but you can still kind of see the nail through the glitter. I may use a base color next time! I like two colors as a pair in this polish, it transferred really nicely onto the nails and applied well too. The last photo isn't the best, I know, but I liked how it showed the brightness of the purple glitters! I may even use this as the glitter for the I Think in Pink sandwich!

What do you guys think of this duo? I personally like to support good causes like this! (& it gives me an opportunity to buy more polish :P )

Until next time,

-Shelby

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Thursday, August 30, 2012

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Monday, August 27, 2012

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Saturday, August 25, 2012