China Glaze Midnight Mission

Collection: Vintage Vixen

Navy blue with silver micro-glitter. I bought this in hopes that it’ll kill my lemming for Essie Starry Starry Night. It’s beautiful and does look like the night sky.

The formula and application was smooth and easy. No problems to report of at all. Sadly, this didn’t kill my lemming so I guess I’ll still be keeping eye out for other alternatives.

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• China Glaze Midnight Mission (2 coats)

China Glaze Glitter All the Way

Collection: Holiday Joy (2012 Winter)

Small gold, purple, red and slightly larger green hexagonal glitter in a clear base. I love the colors in this; it’s like having a Mardi Gras party on my nails! It might not be the typical Christmas color scheme but I think it works just as well. Also, I love the name! Jingle bells, jingle bells, glitter all the way~~!

The glitter itself spreads pretty well but it clumped a bit when I applied a thick coat. My advice is to apply a thin first coat without worrying about the coverage. The second and third coat will cover almost everything up, it doesn’t matter if you miss some spots – no one will notice. I didn’t even notice there was a bald spot on my index nail before I saw the pictures on my computer!

Polish peels:
• PVA Glue (1 coat)
• China Glaze Glitter All the Way (3 coats)
• American Classics Gelous (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)
• Ettude House Help My Finger Matte Top Coat (1 coat)

Metallic Zigzag

After seeing this on Pshiiit, I’ve always wanted to try it out with a different color combination. I don’t understand French but the diagrams are pretty self explanatory (and there’s always Google Translate if you need it). Initially, I wanted to use these colors for a needle marble but that was an absolute failure so I switched to this. I’m glad I did because I’m happy with how this turned out!

For the base, I used a black cream from Beadstreet. I just have to mention how awesome it is: full coverage in one medium coat and it cost less than $2! As for the zigzag, I sponged on Deviantly Daring because I didn’t want any brushstrokes – plus it creates a speckled effect that prevents it from being too flat.

I hope you enjoyed my attempt!

Polish peels:
• NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)
• Michelle S79 (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)
• • China Glaze Deviantly Daring – sponged
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

Polish Us Pink – China Glaze Something Sweet

Collection: Up And Away (2010 Spring)

Pastel pink cream with lilac tones. It’s a pretty stark color and I tried my best to capture that. I didn’t have to do any color correcting, but the glowy edges you see above doesn’t appear in real life. However, the base color is more accurate than the images below (as sunlight washes it out a bit).

This is the last BCA for this month. For more information on Breast Cancer:
• Breast Cancer Foundation (Singapore)
• Singapore Cancer Society
• Pink Ribbon (International)

Polish Us Pink – China Glaze Pink Plumeria

Collection: Summer Neons (2012 Summer)

Bight pinkish coral satin with golden shimmer. I don’t normally go for pinks, especially bright pinks. I wanted to try one and I thought, why not go for the one that everyone has been raving about this summer?

For more information on Breast Cancer:
• Breast Cancer Foundation (Singapore)
• Singapore Cancer Society
• Pink Ribbon (International)

China Glaze Stone Cold

Collection: Capitol Colours (2012 Spring)

Charcoal matte with silver shimmer. Like all other matte polishes, this dries fast. No need to wait if you’re in a hurry. It also chips easily – I had one within 24 hours. And that shimmer also gets everywhere during cleanup (and removal).

While I had it on, I noticed something weird – the charcoal base gets worn off, making it more silvery over time. Especially at the tips. If you dislike such a thing, then this polish is not for you.

Polish peels:
• NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)
• China Glaze Stone Cold (2 coats)

Euro 2012 Germany

This is a simple design that I used a striping brush to do. I did manage to make the lines pretty straight but my yellow polish applied too thickly, causing an uneven bump even after I put on top coat.

This is the German’s home kit. I do like white kits because there’s just something elegant about the color. As for the team, I was disappointed when they were knocked out at the semis. I really thought that a final between Spain and them would have been great, but alas, it wasn't to be.

The weather over here has been rather finicky, so I settled on some lamp light shots. I'm sure you’re seen this white shimmer in sunlight a couple of times anyway.

Thanks for looking!

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Orly Au Champagne (3 coats)
• Konad Special Polish Black (1 coat) – ring finger
• Essie First Dance (1 coat) – ring finger
• China Glaze Lemon Fizz (1 coat) – ring finger
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 Ukraine

I'm sure you can tell that this is another attempt at freehand drawing, heh. I did create some "guides" by using thread to "impress" checkered boxes before the base dried completely. It worked but my freehand skills are still rather lacking regardless.

The Ukraine home jersey is rather trendy with its slight tribal pattern that has been so popular this year. As mentioned in an earlier post, I only have one yellow in my stash; hence, this is as color accurate as I can be.

I used a dotting tool to “fill in” the checkers here. It was rather time consuming but that may be just my inexperience talking. If I do find my drawing skills improving or an easier method to do this, I’ll definitely try this design again.

Thanks for reading!

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• China Glaze Lemon Fizz (3 coats)
• Orly Snowcone (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 Czech Republic

Another subtle stamping – this time metallic on a crelly (cream + jelly) with an accent nail.

The Czech’s have what it seems to be a plain red home jersey with a short blue strip at the left shoulder. But upon closer inspection, you’ll notice that the top diagonal area has a faint checkered pattern.

My stamping wasn't quite up to standard this time. Luckily, one of the advantages of subtle stamping is that the mistakes are not very obvious.

Thanks for looking!

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Essie First Dance (2 coats)
• China Glaze Thunderbird (RA-103)
• Michelle M31 (2 coats) – ring finger
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 England

I really like the classic white jersey. It’s timeless so I decided to use my new white jelly to create an elegant effect.

England’s home jersey is a very clean white with red accents. The stamp I used makes me think of a lions face – the team’s nickname is Three Lions (look closely at their crest).

I loved how this turned out despite my less-than-perfect stamping. The dots from the stamp didn't appear very well so I used a dotting tool to fill them in. It was raining when I took these shots so the two pictures above are under direct lamplight instead of sunlight.

Thanks for looking!

Polish peels:
• NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)
• OPI Don’t Touch My Tutu! (4 coats)
• China Glaze Thunderbird (RA-120) – ring finger
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 Sweden

This marks the eight country in the tournament – I’m halfway there! Four more days, eight more countries to go!

Sweden’s home jersey is a lovely bright yellow – a color I don’t have. Hence, the pastel yellow substitute. I actually do love the simple design; I just wish I had the same yellow!

I wanted a thin line down each nail but my striping brush wasn’t thin enough. So I decided to use a strand of hair. Yes, you read correctly. A strand of hair – my hair. I got the idea from Copy That, Copy Cat and it worked great! I don’t find it gross since it’s my own hair after all.

Thanks for reading!

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• China Glaze Lemon Fizz (2 coats)
• OPI Road House Blues (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

China Glaze Magnetix

China Glaze is releasing a magnetic collection in 2012! This is really good news for me because I've wanted magnetic nail polishes for the longest time! It's not easy to find such polishes in Singapore as it's rather hard to find Essence, Nails Inc or LCN Magnetic. The only time I ever saw magnetic polishes in person was in my secondary school days; remember those old L'Oreal Star Magnets in Watsons and Guardian?

There's no fixed date for when this collection will be released but many bloggers suspect a Spring/ Summer release. I can't wait to get my hands on these babies!

Purple Paradise

It was my birthday on Sunday and I decided to treat myself by breaking out my bottle of Nfu Oh 51. However, since it has a sheer purple jelly base, I painted it over another untried color, Michelle M32. M32 is a purple cream that is nowhere near to 51’s base color (more on that below). No matter, I think it turned out well!

China Glaze Jitterbug

Collection: Vintage Vixen (2010 Fall)

Gunmetal-silver foil. The picture above displays how it looks like most accurately. But when the light hits it, it really glows and reflects because of the silver foil particles.

Honesty, I could have added another coat as there was a small bald spot or two. But it’s so reflective in real life I never saw those spots, which is just the way I like it.

Thanks for reading!

Polish sandwich:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• China Glaze Jitterbug (2 coats)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

Elianto Indigo Shine & China Glaze Midnight Mission

Elianto Indigo Shine: index and ring fingers (three coats)
China Glaze Midnight Mission: middle and little fingers (two coats)

The base of Midnight Mission is blue while Indigo Shine has a teal base. Because the glitter in both is silver, the base tints it. Both are similar but definitely not dupes!

Midnight Mission is more opaque, needing only two coats. Indigo Shine needs three but I think it’s worth it. Which do you prefer? Should I keep both?

China Glaze Classic Camel

Collection: Vintage Vixen (2010 Fall)

Yellow-toned khaki with golden shimmer. There’s quite a lot of golden shimmer, but since the base color is similar, it doesn’t stand out. I can’t decide whether I like it on me, but I love how it looks in the bottle. Many of my friends thought it was gold, so I guess my skin tone makes it turn golden. (Please ignore the bubble on the index finger.)

It required a few drops of thinner for a smoother application. I painted my right hand before I thinned it and I needed three coats to cover the bald spots because it was so sticky. But on my swatch (left) hand, I managed with only two.

I still have two more Elianto polishes from the Sparkling Diva collection to show you, so please look forward to them! Thanks for looking!

Polish sandwich:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• China Glaze Classic Camel (2 coats)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

Hogwarts School Tie

After seeing all the Harry Potter inspired manicures on the MUA NB (MakeupAlley Nail Board), I wanted to do something similar to commemorate the last HP film too. I haven't watched the movie and I'm not sure if I'll watch it. In fact, The Order of The Phoenix is the only one I've watched in the cinema. But I have read all the books and have decided to watch all the previous seven movies at home.

This design is rather simple and I used very thin tape to create the stripes. I think it can also be done with a striper brush. It's my first time trying a tape mani so please pardon me for the messy lines. This idea was inspired by the Hogwarts School tie and I wanted to have each house represented on a different finger. Can you guess which house is on which finger?

I did a lightning bolt on my thumb, though it doesn't really look like it. This design was learned from Nailside, who does awesome tape manicures and has tutorials on how to replicate them.

Polish sandwich:
Index
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• OPI Dating A Royal (3 coats)
• OPI DS Glow (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)
Middle
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• OPI Jade Is The New Black (2 coats)
• Color Club Worth The Risque (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)
Ring
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Essie Bordeaux (2 coats)
• Couleur Inc Dazzle (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)
Little
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• China Glaze Lemon Fizz (2 coats)
• Color Club Revvvolution (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)
Thumb
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• China Glaze Ingrid (2 coats)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)
• Nubar Gem (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)