Subtle Geometry...

This is a manicure from way, way back in April when I was first swatching and playing with the China Glaze Hologlam collection. I really wanted to try out stamping with these holos because I expected some amazing results. Although it did stamp well, the result turned was a lot more subtle than I anticipated. Of course subtlety has it's charm as well so I still enjoyed the mani...

I started out with a base of China Glaze Cosmic Dust on all except for the thumb and pinkie fingers where I used China Glaze Strap on Your Moonboots. For the stamping, I used Strap on Your Moonboots and Gals stamping plate GA46. Light blue rectangular rhinestones on the stamp-less fingers to complete the look...

Although my nails were fairly short at the time, they were still a bit too long for the Gals full nail images. There is a small gap in the stamping toward the cuticles which is not too noticeable here, but drove me nuts in real life..

P.S. I finally broke down and joined Instagram last night, so come say 'hi' and follow if you want to! There is not much there so far, but maybe there is hope for me yet... :)

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful moms out there!!!

I would love to say that I have prepared a special manicure for the occasion, but I simply ran out of time. Rather than spend this morning trying to create a manicure for myself, I am heading over to visit my wonderful mom and give her a much deserved manicure! To compensate for my lack preparedness, I would like to show you a manicure I wore a little bit ago....

The base of this manicure is China Glaze Strap on Your Moonboots which is a beautiful denim blue holo. I stamped the scroll butterfly pattern from Dashica plate SdP-O using Wet 'n Wild White Creme. This pattern reminds me of piping on a cake that is done in one continuous string of icing. The name of the technique escapes me at the moment. This is such a beautiful pattern...

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

China Glaze Hologlam! Part 2...

Whenever there is a part one, it wouldn't be wrong to assume that part two will follow closely behind. To avoid breaking such rules, I would like to show you the second half of the China Glaze Hologlam collection. This half is made up of cooler blue and gray shades in contrast to the warmer shades of the first half. I can't think of any other time when a collection had so many shades of a particular color, but I like it. Can anyone else picture an easy ombre manicure with the four blues?...

Similarly to the shades in the first half of the collection, I would classify these as holographic metallics. They have a fine holographic rainbow when under direct indoor or outdoor light. With no direct light, they appear as metallic shades. In the bottle, the holographic effect is barely visible, but it does show up on the nails.

The formula on all of these is very easy to apply and work with. They provides full coverage in 2-3 coats, depending on the polish. The darker shades require just two coats while some of the lighter ones are best at three coats. The only issue I had with these is that they don't seem to like my base coat and instantly start to drag and leave bald spots. For that reason I chose to skip the base coat with these, but it is something that I usually do very reluctantly to avoid yellowing of the nails. Another reason a base coat would have been nice is that these show absolutely every little flaw, bump, and grove in the nails and a base coat helps smooth some flaws out...

Don't be a Luna-tic

Swatch Details
	Brand: China Glaze Collection: Hologlam, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Don't be a Luna-tic, 1205 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Sci-fly By

Swatch Details
	Brand: China Glaze Collection: Hologlam, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Sci-fly By, 1206 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Take a Trek

Swatch Details
	Brand: China Glaze Collection: Hologlam, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Take a Trek, 1207 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Strap on Your Moonboots

Swatch Details
	Brand: China Glaze Collection: Hologlam, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Strap on Your Moonboots, 1208 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Galactic Gray

Swatch Details
	Brand: China Glaze Collection: Hologlam, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Galactic Gray, 1209 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Cosmic Dust

Swatch Details
	Brand: China Glaze Collection: Hologlam, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Cosmic Dust, 1210 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

I have a hard time picking favorites from this half. It probably doesn't help that I happen to like blue polish...

Which ones stand out to you?

Thanks for looking and commenting!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **

China Glaze Hologlam! Part 1...

Today I have part one of the China Glaze Hologlam collection to share with you. This is the warmer half of the collection with a peach, two pinks, lilac and purple shades plus a green tossed in to keep things interesting. I can't help but get distracted as I try to catch the light and see the rainbow..

All of these polishes have a nice, easy to apply formula and full coverage in 2-3 coats. Although I really wanted to use a base coat with them, the two just didn't get along. I got bald spots and poor coverage over the base coat, but had no problem applying them to bare nails, which is how I ended up swatching and wearing them. It could be a reaction with my particular brand of base coat, but I didn't try testing different ones.

I would classify these as metallic holos rather than pure holographic shades. The holo shows under direct indoor or outdoor light and without it, they appear metallic. Most likely because of this metallic finish, they show every little ridge, bend and flaw in the nail. The holographic particle size is very fine, much smaller than that of the Color Club Halo Hues. They are very, very quick drying which makes them a great choice when you need something quick...

Get Outta My Space

Swatch Details
	Brand: China Glaze Collection: Hologlam, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Get Outta My Space, 1169 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Astro-Hot

Swatch Details
	Brand: China Glaze Collection: Hologlam, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Astro-Hot, 1170 Number of coats: 3 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Infra Red

Infra Red has one of the weaker holo effects in the collection...

Swatch Details
	Brand: China Glaze Collection: Hologlam, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Infra Red, 1171 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

When Stars Collide

When Stars Collide has one of the stronger holo effects, making this plum shade one of my top picks...

Swatch Details
	Brand: China Glaze Collection: Hologlam, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: When Stars Collide, 1172 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

Not in This Galaxy

This also has a weaker holo than some of the others...

Swatch Details
	Brand: China Glaze Collection: Hologlam, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: Not in This Galaxy, 1173 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

OMG a UFO

This is my favorite from this half of the collection. I just love the olive green shade and the holo effect is one of the strongest...

Swatch Details
	Brand: China Glaze Collection: Hologlam, Spring 2013 Color Name/Number: OMG a UFO, 1174 Number of coats: 2 Top Coat: No Free of Formaldehyde, Toluene, Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP)

I would love to know what you think of these holographic shades!

Thanks for looking and commenting!
Anutka :)

** Polishes were provided to me for review by the manufacturer or their PR. **

** For more information please see the disclosure policy **