China Glaze's The Hunger Games; Electrify

China Glaze, recently, came out with a collection called 'The Hunger Games'. I do live under a rock but even I know about this book series and that the movie was a financial success. I think this polish from the collection is a success as well...

 I was eager to swatch this one called 'Electrify'. Heck, even in the shade it looks like it is on fire...

The base is a transparent copper with gold and blood red glitter. This is what one coat looks like...

 I swiped it over 'Foie Gras' (from the same collection), which I reviewed here.  It didn't come out as great as I had envisioned it would...

 Uhm, yea...pass! But don't pass on either of them; they are both worth getting. 'Electrify' can come back for a visit around Christmas, I say.

This I gotta share; check out this caterpillar I had riding on my car...

Seriously, it is one weird insect!! That red dot, the head ???, was super bright. I hope it grows up to be something splendid. Kind of eery I'd come upon some insect that has gold and red on it...like the polish...[cue Twilight Zone music.]

Anyone know what this is???

Testing the Waters with Butter London

My first Butter London and it was given in a swap just like the post prior. I'm excited to swatch this and have been staring at this bottle, mesmerized by the color, for weeks. What I really wanted to know, is it worth all the hype?

This is Butter London's 'Wallis'...

 It is a mysterious shade that just sort of grabs you. I don't even know what color this is. It's a gold (gilded?) green. Maybe?? It is more intriguing than beautiful. Maybe that is why it is called 'Wallis', the woman who got the King of England to abdicate his throne. (I'm going to read a book on Wallis Simpson after I finish my current book. I want to learn more about this woman.)

I have 3 coats on but I bet a skilled hand would only need 2. Now, for my take on the hype. I do agree that this polish applies grandly. I found no problems at all working with it. I mean, it turned out lovely...

 This shade has mega-depth to it. It is a rather unique shade; not one you see every season.

 'Wallis' wore well, for me, too. I did use a top coat of Color Club's Vivid so that gave it a bit of extra protection.

 And, I love how the shade looks on me. I'm keeping this one for the time being.

Here is a photo taken in the shade. But, the question I posed earlier to myself: is it worth the hype? I will have to sit right on the fence with this. It is worth it for the unique color. However, it didn't go above and beyond some of the lesser costly polishes I use. At $14 a bottle, I find that price to be too steep. If it was $8 to $9, I think that would be a fair price. This has kept me from purchasing Butter London previously.

So, it will be an outstanding shade that will make me purchase Butter London, not the formula. The price makes me think twice and then again before I put a bottle of this in my shopping cart. I'm very happy I got the chance to swap with this one and just see what the hype was and, make a decision for myself.

Have you tried Butter London and what did you think about it?

China Glaze's Blonde Bombshell Takes The Gold

It has been mostly gloomy today in the Sunshine State. I know I'm not alone, during days like these, feeling like making homemade chocolate chip cookies, crocheting, painting my nails...or, all of them...just not at the same time.

I found this shade to perk me up...

China Glaze's 'Blonde Bombshell' is a dazzler. I don't know if I have ever met a gold glitter that I didn't like. And this one is a hottie.

Tons and tons of twinkle in this polish. You'll think you found the end of the rainbow with 'Blonde Bombshell'. Can you just tell that this polish is literally packed with gold glitter? In with all that micro-glitter are small dot glitter pieces. And they are all shiny because in the sunlight, they really do twinkle.

I only used 2 coats today as I wanted to keep it light and not feel like a left-over Christmas ornament. You can see that this polish could work as a top coat as well as a stand-alone shade.

Get in close and you can see that the small size glitter is just speckled about. Doesn't make me feel like a total glitter bomb...just a 'Blonde Bombshell'.

Which way would you wear this polish...as a top coat or as a single polish?

All That Glitters Is Not Gold...Unless It's Nail Polish

Even though this is a beautiful gold glitter, it looks and feels like a Holiday leftover...

I got it on Ulta's clearance shelf. I'm always surprised when pretty polishes like this hasn't been scooped up.

This is a polish by Pop Beauty and I couldn't find a name or number on the bottle...

Other than that, I have nothing negative to say. This polish was super easy to apply...

This is 3 coats over Wet 'n Wild's base coat. Then I put on just one coat of Color Club's Vivid Top Coat.

Blingy Blingy! Look at all the colors!...

 

Even though it is a very dense glitter, it wasn't terribly gritty. The one coat of Color Club top coat made it relatively smooth. I'm still wearing it so I can't comment on the removal. This is wearing so good, I hate to take it off. 

Does anyone else remember when the Solid Gold Dancers wore this glitter color?

Hey, don't laugh. I really liked this show and you can see those same moves in any Britney Spears show.

Champagne Bubbles for the Holiday

I love the Christmas decorations that are all gold. They look so rich, right from a storybook. And to think, I almost passed this golden polish up...

China Glaze blew the cork right out of glitters with their 2011 collection. This gold is named 'Champagne Bubbles.'

This is why, at the last minute, I decided I did, indeed, need this gold...

This gold has sparse silver glitter in it; like...bubbles in champagne!

And this gold is a buffed, softened gold...

Just a bit of an issue with the silver glitter making the polish look, well, bubbly. In person, it isn't quite this bad, just very noticeable in (my) photos.

I applied 3 coats and they didn't dry as quickly as other polishes do. And so, I nicked my pinky. But the last photo shows just how yellow 'Champagne Bubbles' is. This isn't a gold that usually goes well with my skin tone, but this one, somehow, works very well. No top coat needed.

I like to have one glass of champagne a year, but rarely make the attempt to get it. I posted about Verdi and that's what I enjoy. How about you? Champagne? Gold polish?

Orna-ment For Each Other, At Least Through Christmas

Nicole by OPI is a brand I rarely pick up. I will check them out while shopping, but I only have 3 or now, 4. My reasoning is that they rarely have anything I find unique. And, I know, that is an odd remark coming from a nail blogger that will swatch 3 different brands that have similar colors. But, as a lot of nail/beauty bloggers know, we don't always have the most logical reasons for our choices.

Here's my latest Nicole addition...

A Christmas nail polish, if there ever was one. This is 'Orna-ment For Each Other.' Cute name! I do have to hand it to OPI, they come up with fun and definitely, unique names.

There is so much glitter in 'Orna-ment For Each Other' that it is opaque in just 2 coats. But I did the fail-safe 3...

This polish is heavy-laden with micro gold and red glitter. Very shiny; I'm swatching with no top coat. 'OFEO' is gritty, but it isn't difficult to remove like some glitters can be. It wore nicely for the 36 hours I had it on.

 

There's just a one thing I wasn't happy about with this polish. It makes my fingers look red. I think it is the combo of red and gold together. It combines to be an orange and my pallor can't handle it. Sadz.

However, besides that, it is a great Christmas glitter polish. It is feisty and cheery and just Christmas-y.

I'm just sad that the beautiful color 'OFEO' shows in the bottle didn't translate onto my nails. Interestingly enough, the color looks all the same in my photos.

Here, it shows a bit of patchiness, but I'm chalking that up to user-difficulty. There's enough glitter jammed in this polish to counter bald spots. I feel that this is the type of glitter polish that looks good on both short or long nails.

Are you a Nicole by OPI fan? Is 'Orna-ment For Each Other' for you?

Del Sol's Christmas Polish: Tinsel Toes

This just in...Holiday Del Sol polish!!!

 

 

'Tinsel Toes!' I love it! I visited clients that have businesses out at the airport and this is where there is a Del Sol store. Since I found a Halloween polish and I blogged about it here, I stopped in to see if they had any Christmas polishes.

OK, the novelty is neat but I like the colors a lot. The fun of this brand is to show people that haven't seen it. Kind of like magic!

'Tinsel Toes' is a softened gold that is slightly sparkly and understated. It is not an 'in your face' flashy gold. These photos were taken in the shade.

Now watch it change...

A little more red....

Getting darker and redder...

And here it is a magical golden red. However, it comes off a bit like a salmon color on the nails. It's not so noticeable in real life. However, you can see how it makes my fingers look like the infamous 'lobster fingers' where the contrast between nail color and flesh tone collide.

I was surprised, and I don't know why, that this wasn't more opaque. I have on 2 coats and I just finished there because I knew it would take many more to get it opaque.

So, Del Sol's 'Tinsel Toes' is a more subtle sparkle, and after flashy glitter manis and polishes, it is nice to wear something more demure.

Share with me your thoughts on 'Tinsel Toes.'