Perfectly Polished Tips 123 - China Glaze Romantique Part One

Sorry for the long delay in posts! The holiday season is killer. China Glaze's newest collection Romantique includes 12 gorgeous metallic colors. They are perfect for the upcoming spring season or any time really. They apply smoothly and while I did have brush strokes they didn't ruin the polishes for me. My favorite part about this collection is that they are all one coaters! That alone made me forget all about the brush strokes. I am posting the cool part of the collection first followed by the warm.

Devotion

Awaken

Cherish

Adore

Admire (as with almost every pink my camera distorts it, it's a bit lighter/truer pink in real life)

Harmony (a bit deeper in real life)

Being a cool toned girl myself, I am partial to this collection with my favorites being Harmony and Adore. I wasn't a huge fan of Cherish but it might be a fun pedicure color for me. Personally I think silvers look better on me than golds but I always find myself disliking the silvers and craving gold.

I hope to be back to posting regularly, and I hope you all had wonderful holidays!

Perfectly Polished Tips 104 - OPI My Private Jet

I take back every mean thing that I said about OPI My Private Jet. Today was MPJ day over at the MUA nail board and I wanted to participate so I decided I would give this polish another chance. This polish has been quite lucky because I think this is the 4th or so time I've given it another go in hopes of loving it. Usually I don't do that. I layered My Private Jet over SpaRitual Solitude and was instantly in love. I guess I have just been layering it over the wrong colors. I tried a basic black, grey, and most recently white. None of them looked good to me, and honestly I would have never thought to try purple. I can only imagine what it would look like over blue, or red, or even hot pink.

1 coat of My Private Jet over 3 coats of SpaRitual Solitude

I'm really glad that I gave this polish another go. As I posted before there are two versions, this is the holographic version. The other is sparkley but not holographic. I think the Polish Addict posted pictures a few weeks ago if you are curious.

After counting my untrieds I decided that for the rest of this month each manicure and pedicure I do will be out of that list. I'll try to make it ones I haven't photographed.

Perfectly Polished Tips 102 - My Top 20 Part I

So some people have 1 favorite polish or maybe 5. I however have 20 "must haves" that I would like to share with you. Some are my all time favorite, some are from newer collections. These are the ones I am loving at the moment. Although when I think about it this list isn't really fair, as I haven't worn all the polishes I own. Yet. I will admit that I have an unreasonable amount of untrieds but we'll save that for another day! Here is the first half of my top twenty list. In no special order.

China Glaze White Kwik Silvr - reminds me of winter and the glitter is amazing

Nicole Pinkerbell - soft, girly and Tinkerbell is my favorite

Sephora by OPI Metro Chic - unique but chic..it's a fun color

OPI Got the Blues for Red - my HG red creme, it's classic

Zoya Kalista - one of the few glitter polishes, it's so pretty

L'Oreal Emerpor - my newest obsession..dark blurple (more purple) creme

China Glaze Bermuda Breakaway - perfect blue creme

butter London Portobello Pink - fun summer color..usually I use it on my toes

Lippmann Collection Fade to Black - 1 coater, great for layering

OPI Designer Series Glamour - looks awesome layered over OPI Dating a Royal

Perfectly Polished Tips 92 - BB Couture for Nails

I recently got to test out a polish brand that is new to me, BB Couture for nails. These polishes have a 4-in-1 formula and a motto of "just polish and go." BB Couture is free of toluene, formaldehyde, and DBP. Their formula is amazing, all of the polishes applied like a dream and they did dry fast. I don't use a base or top coat with my swatches and by the time I was finished photographing the swatch it was completely dry. They have some beautiful glitters and a green creme. Not Zulu status but you could probably tweak it a bit and have something close. Anyways on to pictures.

Hollywood Junk - a mix of stringy glitter and regular glitter. I apologize for the crappy state of my nails, i chewed them all off and they are stained beyond belief. And clearly I am not a pro at applying this type of glitter.


Blue Suede Shoes - excuse my typo! I edited these late last night. This polish is a blurple with baby blue shimmer. The shimmer is so intense that it just glows.


Karribean Kiersti is a foily blue with silver sparkles. It looks a lot nicer on the nail than in the bottle. If you click the picture you might see a bit more detail. This polish kind of reminds me of the illusive China Glaze Dorothy Who? but I don't think there will ever be a dupe of that one. I'm currently wearing this on my tips and I love it.


Prince Charming Blue - this is an intense almost neon blue with micro shimmer. It's like China Glaze Blue Sparrow with out the grittiness. This one is definitely a favorite.


Erotic Night is a dark plum jelly. As with most jellies it took 3 coats to be most even. I wasn't really going for perfection when I was swatching so there are a few bumpy areas. This color isn't unique but I really like the name.


Cash Black is a simple black creme. It took three coats as well which almost disappointed me. I think I needed to do thicker coats with this one and I didn't. The first coat was streaky, it was just okay after two and amazing at three. I think Lippmann Fade to Black is still my number one black creme but since BB Couture dries so quickly I don't think I'll have a problem using it.

This is BB Nail Couture Cash Black topped with one coat each of OPI Sapphire, OPI Shimmer, and BB Hollywood Junk. I posted swatches of the OPIs in my last post.

BB Nail Couture can be found at BBNailPolish.com or OverallBeauty.com. I believe one site has them for $8.95 and the other for $8. Overall Beauty is having a special right now for free shipping on orders over $35. Overall Beauty has more of the colors in stock, as the BB Couture site hasn't been updated recently.

Perfectly Polished Tips 65 - ManGlaze Swatches

ManGlaze is matte nail polish. It is for women and men who do not want glossy looking nails. I was a bit skeptical when I saw this polish, because one, I love glossy wet looking nails and two it's called ManGlaze. The company currently has two colors, a matte black and a matte grey. Apparently the polishes are made to last long. I have only swatched them so I do not know about wear time, I do plan on using one soon so I will report back. Both polishes applied very smoothly and the drying time was amazing. The company asks that you not put a top coat over them so I didn't and with in 10 minutes I was good to go. I was worried about the drying time because it's rare that I go with out using a quick dry top coat. The bottle design on these is amazing. I love the cartoon and punk look that they have going on.

Fuggen Ugly is a matte steel grey, it really is a gorgeous color. It has shimmer but nothing over the top or overly girly. This picture is two coats with out a camera flash.

This is Fuggen Ugly with flash. I really love this polish, the matte finish doesn't even take away from the awesome shimmer which I love.

The Death Tar is a matte black. This polish has great shimmer as well. This polish could be a one coater if you really wanted. I did two just because that is what I do.

I compared The Death Tar to some other black and charcoal polishes that I own. Besides being matte it is pretty unique to my collection. Essie Over the Top and Lippmann Hit Me With Your Best Shot seem to be identical. The Death Tar has much more shimmer than those two and is a hair darker. The last polish which is L'Oreal Patent Black Silver is more of a true black rather than a charcoal like The Death Tar.

Surprisingly enough I didn't have anything that was at all similar to Fuggen Ugly. I don't usually wear grey so I'm glad that I finally have one that I like. ManGlaze can be found at ManGlaze.com and they retail for $6.66.

Perfectly Polished Tips 45 - More White Manicures

Shortly after I made my post about the icy white manicures someone suggested we do a dare week on the MUA Nail Board. My dare was white and some one suggested China Glaze White Kwik Silvr specifically. It wouldn't have been fair of me to recycle the picture so I did the mani and took another. I did three manicures in total for dare week. The rules were you only had to wear it long enough to take a picture. Since I have two SpaRituals on their way to me and SOPI Metro Chic next to me I did my dares as quickly as possible!

I started out with a white out mani - Essie Below the Belt. Surprisingly enough I liked this on me. I never thought I could pull off a stark white mani but apparently I can.

Next I added 1 coat of China Glaze White Kwik Silvr over top. I think the China Glaze it prettier on her own, even if you have to do 3 coats.

For my last dar mani I chose Lippmann Rhapsody in White. I told you all I would come back to this once the blue stains were gone and I had better lighting. I also wanted to try out a tip I had read a while back on AllLacqueredup.com. Michelle's tip was to use a quick drying top coat as a base coat to help prevent or cut back on brush stroke marks. I used INM Out the Door and it didn't really help much. I'm going to have to try out the other quick dry top coats I have to see if it makes a difference.

Before this I had only used the Lippmann on my toes and I hated it but I really like it on my fingers. I think I'll be revisiting these white polishes sooner than I thought.

Don't forget to enter my give away! It's open for 1 week! Good Luck!

Perfectly Polished Tips 42 - White Creme Comparisons

I don't wear white nor do I do french manicures yet some how I have three white creme polishes in my stash. I do find that they are good to put under sheer colors or jellies, or even some neons. I compared these three polishes to see which was best for a stark white manicure.

OPI Alpine Snow, Essie Below the Belt, CQ French White

Here are the polishes after 1 coat, these do not have a base coat underneath. The CQ is most sheer/streaky, followed by the OPI. To my complete surprise the Essie was the most opaque and least streaky.

Here are the polishes after 2 coats. The picture is slightly blurry but again the Essie looks the best to me.

Here are the polishes after three coats. I was not at all impressed with the CQ, which is probably why I've been using it for frankens. The OPI is managable, I'm sure with a ridgefilling base coat and more patients it would look great. The Essie won this for me, it was not at all streaky and had great coverage in three coats.

It is Dare Week on the MUA Nail Board, my dare was any white. A stark white mani was suggested so here it is:

Perfectly Polished Tips 40 - Icy Cold NOTDs

With fall quickly approaching everyone seems to be all about the dark and vampy colors. I wanted to share a couple of light colors that I love for fall (or anytime really). I apologize that they have my MUA tag on them, but the originals are no where to be found

Nicole Pinkerbell - this is one polish I never thought I would find. It a beautiful metallic off white with gold tones and very slight pink shimmer. I believe this is 3 coats of polish over 1 coat of ridge filler. This is a favorite neutral polish of mine and I think it's perfect for the cold fall days that are ahead. I have also discovered that MAC Sacred White is basically a dupe of this, although I don't know if that one is hard to find or not.

China Glaze White Kwik Silvr (and a puppy!) - This another fall/winter favorite. It's an icy white with awesome multicolored sparkles. This picture does not do the sparkle justice but it's there. China Glaze is a wonderful brand of polish too. This one also has a polish that is similar. It's a Sinful Colors one, but I cannot recall the name right now. I'll have to look it up.

I have a couple of new things to share but the weather hasn't been cooperative. Hopefully soon the sun comes back and I am able to get some new stuff up!

Also if anyone has requests I would be happy to fulfill them. What do you guys want to see here? You can leave suggestions here in the comments or feel free to email me!

Perfectly Polished Tips 31 - Lippmann Collection for Fall

Before I start I just want to apologize for the messiness of these swatches. From wearing so many vampies I have a stain on my middle finger which is very apparent in these. I was rushing because I had a couple of free minutes, but then my two year old joined in. So it was a race to get the polish on & photographed before he could get his fingers in. I will take better pictures of these soon, I just wanted to share them.

(l-r) Rhapsody in White, Stop & Stare, Pump Up the Jam, Fade to Black

from Lippmann- "The quick drying formulas contain Green Tea Extracts and Protein Building Biotin, which work together to give you strong, healthy nails."

I had no idea what the polishes contained but honestly these polishes are my favorite. I wish they had a few funkier colors. Maybe more shimmery blues, purples, and greens. I am still dying to get my hands on last spring's collection. One day! On to the pictures, each is two coats with no base or top coat.

Rhapsody in White

A frost white that pays tribute to the 60's with it's retro look. Named for Love Unlimited Orchestra's classic song, Rhapsody in White is truly a far out color.

This is a pretty color, I don't like the visible brush strokes though. I believe if you put a coat of quick dry top coat on as a base coat it is suppose to cure that. I have yet to try it though. The picture is pretty true to life, it's a white with a little bit of silver.

Stop and Stare
A strikingly vibrant red inspired by the rich colors seen on the runways. Named for OneRepublic's chart-topping tune, the gorgeous hue will become your fall staple.

This picture sucks and again I apologize. This polish is much more pink my camera kind of made it have an orange undertone. This is two coats and I still have a VPL, since it's a jelly I think the VPL will be there no matter what. This reminds me of Lippmann's I Want Candy, I'm going to have to compare the two.

Fade to Black
The perfect little black polis that made its runway debut at the Zac Posen fall show. The lacquered shine makes this nail color stand apart from the rest and is named for the Dire Straits tune that Deborah Lippmann covered on her Vinyl album.

This is my favorite color from the collection. I know you are probably saying it's just black. That it may be but wearing it just made me feel chic and sexy. It's a one coater which I always love and is so glossy even before applying a top coat. I have had other black cremes but I always shyed away from wearing them in fear of being "goth". I didn't feel goth at all when wearing this polish. I love that these fall collections are really making me branch out.

Pump Up the Jam
A shimmery version of fall's hottest hue, purple, named for the difinitive party hit.

This picture is pretty bad too, it is more purple in real life. It's very blackened with a hint of brown which makes it difficult to even see that it is purple. I was lemming this all summer but when I finally got it and put it on I was dissapointed. I'm not too sure what I expected but this was not it. Maybe I can tweak it a bit. This polish too was a one coater and it does contain some awesome shimmer.

Lippmann Collection retail for $15 and can be found at Barney's New York, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Bath and Body Works Flagship stores, or online at www.lippmanncollection.com.

special thanks to Lippmann Collection

Perfectly Polished Tips 28 - Fashion Rocks 2008 Nail Trends

Hey everyone, I am plagued with rain and clouds. I have a ton of stuff to swatch for you but no sun light. Hopefully I will have some new stuff up in the next couple of days. So for the time being I decided to show a couple of pictures from Fashion Rocks. I have Taylor Momsen, Miley Cyrus, and Lindsay Lohan.

Taylor Momsen, better known as Jenny from Gossip Girl rocked out with dark nails and new bangs. I couldn't find a close up of her nails but it appears that she is wearing either a gun metal/charcoal color or black. For the charcoal look try Color Club After Hours or Lippmann Hit Me With Your Best Shot. For glossy black goodness Color Club Black and Lippmann Fade to Black are both one coaters. It's so hard to believe that this girl is only 15 years old, she is goregous. Although I must say I am not a fan of the bangs.

While Taylor chose to go vampy Lindsay and Miley went neutral. It looks like Lindsay's tips might be naked and Miley may have a shimmery silver on. To get tips like Lindsay just remove polish and buff lightly. You could add a clear top coat for shine if you'd like. For Miley's silver tips I would go with Lippmann Stardust or Maybelline Silver Speed, one coat would probably do.

That's all I have right now, I might make a post about my pedicure routine a little later.

Perfectly Polished Tips 21 - Color Club Fall

I received the new fall Collections from Color Club today sadly my camera batteries are dead! I will have them replaced and have (at least) bottle shots up either tonight or tomorrow.

This fall Color Club has released

Dance to the Musique
Glitter Vixen

both which have been mentioned previously in my blog and two collections of minis:

Teenie Halloweenies - French Tip (white), Silver Glitter, Orange Revenge (neon orange), and Black this will be available August 1st


Jingle Bling - R-L Sliver Glitter, Ruby Slippers, Brrr-Red (dark red creme), Cadillac Red (red creme) this will be available September 1st