Choi's nails: June 2012

NOTD: China Glaze’s some like it haute

Friday, June 29, 2012
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Haul: China Glaze Eye candy collection

I’ve been doing some naughty polish hauling. Not one, not two but a few and I’m planning to order more once I’ve received the rest. My polish purchases are starting to spiral out of hand but to think I don’t buy much of the other beauty related items such as makeup it really doesn’t seem too bad.

Finally decided to pick up China Glaze’s Eye candy collection from winter 2011. Actually can’t believe I left it for a year before I purchased any of them. It’s a collection of six polishes jam packed with glitters in a clear base. I haven’t worn glitters as a full manicure in ages. I just had to get them.

I made use of the box and foam peanuts before I threw them out. I didn't have any other pretty bedding to place it on but I had to make do.

I purchased these babies on EBay for around £4 per polish. Good prices I think. Though it came to me all in one piece, the thing is some bottles had chips on the lids; you might be able to see some of those in the photos. It’s not a really big deal, just thought I’d mention it.

The six shades included in this collection are:

Some like it haute – Fine grey mixed with round holographic glitters that flashes green, blue, orangey-red and yellow.

Love Marilyn – Small red glitters mixed with normal round silver glitters.

Blonde bombshell – Fine yellow-y gold glitter mixed with round glitters the same colour that are just a little bigger.

Marry a millionaire – Small glitters with green/blue/yellow holographic bar glitters.

Material girl – Fine pink glitters mixed with small, some medium (took a while for me to spot) and some holo hexagon glitter. The holo glitters don’t flash as much as some like it haute.

Lorelei’s tiara – Fine silver glitters with small blue round glitters.

I tried to describe these as best as I can but if I was being honest I’m really not someone you should turn to for colour descriptions. They’re just not my strength. I won't be posting swatches of these polishes instead I like to wear them as a full manicure properly to see how they wear for me. I'm sure you can find more than a few swatches online since these have been around for a little while. Stay tuned for upcoming NOTDs with these polishes.

Did you pick up any polishes from this collection?

Thursday, June 28, 2012
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Review: China Glaze fast forward top coat

China Glaze

This is the second top coat I’ve had since my interest for nail polish grew. My first was the Misa breakneck top coat which I quite liked. I’ve used more than half of this stuff and I’m already planning to purchase a different one so I figured it’s time for a review.

It comes in a frosted polish bottle and by the name I suppose it’s meant to be fast drying. I do agree with that, after applying the top coat the top does dry fast but the layers in between takes a little more time so I can still manage to dent my polish even after applying my polish for a while. I do apply my top coat a little thick though. I’d suggest letting the polish dry in between each layers but sometimes who really has the patience and time to do that? I do on somedays but that doesn’t stop me from smudging my polish from time to time. Even after a whole day I can still put dents into my polish if a pushed my nail into it a little harder.

This problem doesn’t always happen though. At times the top coat and base polish dries faster than usual. I’m guessing this has to do with the formula of the polishes I use it with too. I haven’t paid attention to which brands/polishes it works better with though.

The next point might sound a little weird. The polish has a strong scent but it smells better than the other top coat I had. I know it’s bad to smell such odours but sometimes it’s hard to avoid when the polish is hovering under your nose. I’ve learned to keep the windows open when I polish my nails now. This top coat seems to smell a bit sweet-ish ( or maybe it's just me). It's like a strong odour mixed with a sweet scent which just isn’t healthy.

The formula is really good; it’s on the thin side which is an advantage for me. I’ve had this top coat for months and even until now it still hasn’t thickened unlike my previous one which took a quarter of my nail polish thinner to restore it back to half its original state. It gives quite a good shine too.

There are times where I see air bubbles on my manicure. Sometimes one or two bubbles but there have been times when there were millions on one nail. Gave me shivers to look at but I guess it’s down to the polish you pair it with too. I didn’t have this problem at the start but I after using it too much that happens.

I can’t really comment much on the wear time because I don’t keep the same polish on for too long and my fingers are forever typing for instance right now. I haven’t experienced major chips unless I’ve had it on for 3-4+ days which is the average time my nail polish starts chipping or unless I’m at work where I’m constantly dealing with hangers and such.

Here’s to sum up all the pros and cons:

Pros:

Formula is thin so it doesn’t thicken up so fast
Top coat does dry fast
Gives a good shine
Easy to get hold of – I purchased mine from EBay
Fairly cheap, around £3-5 including shipping

Cons:

Top dries fast but doesn’t help what’s layered beneath so polish is still easily dented
Slightly strong, weird, sweet odour which lingers for a little while
After using half the bottle it started forming air bubbles on some manicures

Overall:
I find this one alright just not amazing. It’s a standard top coat to. It dries fast, gives shine and keeps your polish from chipping for a few days which is alright in my books. For now I won’t repurchase just because I want to reach out and try other top coats from different brands before I decide if I want to come back to this one.