My favorite China Glaze collection I think

Dear Lacqueristas,

What is your favorite China Glaze collection? Here is a polish from my favorite:

Did you guess the polish? Here's another pic:

Well? No? Ok let me spill the beans: it's Sky High Top from the Kicks collection. A perfect blue shimmer with tons of depth. I do not have all the shades from the Kicks collection but so far, I'm loving them.

*UPDATE: I think Kicks is my second favorite ChG collection.... Rodeo Diva has to be #1! Thanks for making my realize that Jobreck!*
What's your favourite shade from Kicks? And what's your favorite China Glaze collection ever?

Don't forget to enter my Black Shatter Giveaway!

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

Is this the best chrome finish?

Dear Lacqueristas,

Have a look at this pretty lil momma:

China Glaze Sci-Fi

This came out in the Khrome collection. Sci Fi is light blue and has a chrome finish. It goes on as liquid metal. Once applied it is highly reflective. Kinda like a mirror. Ok, I couldn't pluck my eyebrows using my nails as a mirror, but you get the point.
My favorite of the Khrome collection is Milennium, a true silver polish. I love it so much that I have 2 back ups. Many people like to use these polishes from the Khrome collection as a stamping polish for Konad, I like it best just applied on it's own as a manicure. It looks so hot with a tan!

The downside to this amazing chrome finish is that it shows all flaws. I applied 2 thick coats of Gelous as a basecoat to achieve a smooth surface.

Have you come across chrome-like polishes other then China Glazes'? I think a hot pink chrome would be awesome :-D

Have you already entered my Black Shatter giveaway? Here's your chance!

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

Neon crackle

Dear Lacqueristas,

Here's a piece of neon sponged nails topped of with Black Shatter crackle polish.

Several neon shades from China Glaze's Poolside Collection, topped of with OPI's Black Shatter

Have you read my post with tips and tricks on crackle polish? I'm not sure what pattern I created on my neon manicure.... I think it's a crossing of the Giraffe and the Leopard lol.

Do you have an idea for my next crackle mani?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

You all voted this as your #1

Dear Lacqueristas,

Remember the polish top 5 last week? When the results came in and I posted thefinal top 5, I realized I never even reviewed the #1! And that while it is one of my own favorites as well! Here we go:

Of course we are talking about China Glaze Ruby Pumps. A deep red jelly loaded with fine red glitter. Awesome! In real life this is one shiny, sparkly baby. On photo it is a bit tricky to catch the oomph. Ruby Pumps makes an excellent pedicure as well. I get compliments whenever I wear this polish. Love!

Did you vote for this polish as well?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

Swiss Cowboy Leopard

Dear Lacqueristas,

Here's my take on Konad's leopard plate.

Base: OPI Glitzerlands from the Swiss Collection

Main pattern: Konad Special Polish in Black Pearl

Dots: China Glaze Rodeo Diva Collection Branding Iron and Prize Winning Mare.

Yellow dots: China Glaze Happy Go Lucky

If you have a close look it looks a bit messy, but from a normal persons view it looks quite nice. The only time I ever got more compliments was when I had my nails marbeled in neons...

One of the best looks I've seen is on  The Lacquer Files, I think her blog is awesome, it's one of my favorites and she has some of the best ideas for nail art. Yay for Dutch Lacqueristas!

What do you think girls? And what is your favourite combo for the leopard plate? Neons? Pastels?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

China Glaze LOL welcome to the family! (OMG collection)

Dear Lacqueristas,

Too bad the OMG collection is discontinued. I already own OMG, DV8, FYI, TMI and the latest addition is LOL.

LOL is a purple that looks pretty dark in the bottle but on the nail appears to be a medium purple. The holographicness is not as obvious as in OMG but it is there and the particles flash mainly blue. A beauty!

Close-up

 Can't wait to wear this as an actual manicure. The color itself is flattering and doesn't draw too much redness. Formula was good but had one issue: I had to let the first coat dry fully before applying the second or the brush drags away the first layer.
Wich is your favourite holo?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

China Glaze Entourage and Fly (Kicks collection)

Dear Lacqueristas,

China Glaze came out with the Kicks collection in april 2009 but only now I've bought two shades from the range. Let's start with Entourage:

A lighter lime green shade but not too vibrant or bright. There's lots of pretty glass flecks that China Glaze is so famous and loved for. A juicy, lushious nail polish if it weren't for the dissapointing formula!

Close-up

I experienced cuticle drag due to the runny formula and as a side effect, the polish that I applied to my nail would slide off to the sides to leave the middle part of my nail with sheer spots. I didn't use too thick coats but this would still appear. I had to use 4 coats to achieve opacity.

I decided to take off the polish of my index finger and put China Glaze Snow as a base coat (an opaque white). On top of this I still had to finish off with 2 coats of Entourage. You can see in the swatch pics that my index looks a bit more vibrant though.
All and all I like the shade but hate the formula.


Fly
A darker fuchsia with blue undertone, leaning even towards purple. This one has tiny tiny glassflecks that sometimes appear like a flash. This is a pretty unique finish and in most lightings it appears so glossy that it reminds me of plastic, or patent. Awesome shade and awesome formula. Application went flawless, I used two coats and practically no clean-up!

Sun

Shade. See the glossy *plastic* finish?

Close-up

What other shades from the Kicks collection do you recommend me?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

My first 7 coater! Neon skittles Hidden Treasurized....

Dear Lacqueristas,

I just received my China Glaze Poolside collection. I ordered all but one because I just knew Sun Worshipper would look horrible one me.

Have a look at my skittles and guess wich one is the 7 coater????? The other nails are 4 coats each. In my opinion 7 coats is rediculous. I know that a lot of Lacqueristas prefer to use a opaque white as a base for neons but I didn't want to do that for swatching.

The answer is Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. Come on, 7 coats? I didn't even count the base coat, just the color. For these swatch I didn't use a topcoat to show you the matte finish of neons.

The formula's on these where so so, because they were so sheer. My favorite formula was Pool Party and my least favorite Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. That was one streaky mess.

Then I just HAD to swatch my newly obtained Hidden Treasure over my neon skittles:

I had to censor the smudge on my pinky

It's so difficult to capture the beauty of a flaky but my favorite was over Towel Boy Toy and Pool Party.

Why is it that yellows always seem to have awfull formulas?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

Neon Marble! Poolside collection all swirled up.

Dear Lacqueristas,

Oh boy was it a pain to marble with neons! They dry to quick to properly flood out if you know what I mean. After many many experiments I came up with a lil trick: My first drop in the marbeling water would be some regular cheapo nail polish. After that has properly spread I could add VERY QUICKLY some drops of neon polish and marble.

LOL I made this pic without using my hands, I pressed the button with my chin!

I couldn't pick up the brightness of these neons. Imagine these 1000X brighter.

Right hand, always a challange hence the akward cramped hand position. But I find that this hand came out nicer then my *easier* left hand... What do you think?

By far this was my most difficult marbeling so far. I used the following shades from China Glaze' Poolside collection: Towel Boy Toy, Flip Flop Fantasy, Pool Party, Kiwi Kool-Ada, Yellow Polka Dot Bikini and as a base I used China Glaze Snow. I used Seche Vite as a topcoat.

Have you ever marbeled neons? How did it work out? What polishes work best for you? I think cremes are my favs so far.

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

China Glaze Sci-fi (Khrome collection)

Dear Lacqueristas,

For ages I am wanting China Glaze Millenium but since it's disconinued I can't get my hands one... The e-tailer I buy most of my polish from offered me a Sci-Fi instead. I knew it was leaning more blue but hey. A gift is a gift right?!

Sci-Fi is a metallic polish that goes on so smooth that there no brushstrokes visible. How awesome is that? My nails looked like they had lil mirrors on them! The color of Sci-Fi is a silver with a blue undertone.

Close-up

Formula overall was good, but I did notice I had to work really quick as the polish brush tends to drag the layer underneath if this is semi-drying. So I applied just 3 quick brush strokes to each nail and let them dry before I applied the second coat. Two coats is all it took! Another plus is that the polishes from the Khrome collection are awesome for Konad stamping!

Who has a spare bottle of Millenium to swap?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

Like blackened olive and gold glitters? I do! Yeehaa!

Dear Lacqueristas,

I knew this polish wasn't made for me. It's a warm toned blackened olive with golden glitters. But Scrangie's swatch was soooo mouthwatering I just HAD to buy it. Wagon Trail is part of the Rodeo Diva collection of China Glaze.

Wagon Trail is a beautiful nail polish because of it's finish: it's packed with golden microglitters that shimmer right through the layers of polish. In direct sunlight it's a true stunner. I added a video to show you Wagon Trail's full beauty:

Application was good. Formula was not too runny nor gloopy. I like the brush. The good thing with darker colors is that they are easy to do clean-up becuase the contrast with the cuticle is so high.

Don't you just love these polishes that have that *lit-from-within* quality? Do you have a favorite?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

I found my match!

Dear Lacqueristas,

One of my co-workers is a prize winning make-up artist and she always used to tell me that I should wear more peachy colors. I would always pick colors like red, magenta etc and I thought a softer, warmer color wouldn't suit me. One day she did my make-up and proved me wrong. From then on I ware corals and peaches very often and I see that they do flatter a fair skintone. One of my favorite lipsticks is Rouge Dior 028 Pink Comedy. I spend a lot of time looking for the perfect polish to match, and I think I found it today!

No camera can capture the brightness of this beauty

Sugar High was in my pile of untrieds. It didn't particularly appeal me from the bottle. But when I put it on I knew I found my match. I got tons of compliments today while wearing it. Sugar high sure looks like OPI Elephantastic Pink but that one is more muted. Sugar High is so vivid and bright! It looks like I have candies on my fingers!

Do you match your lipstick to your polish? Do you have signature colors?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

My first time wearing China Glaze OMG in the sun... VIDEO!

Dear Lacqueristas,

Yesterday I was wearing China Glaze OMG. I reviewed this polish before but I never actually had it on as a full manicure for a day in the sun.

I was stunned and couldn't stop looking at my nails.
I went swimming and even under water it showed the holographicness! Awesome and I highly suggest this polish as a lacquerista basic.

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

China Glaze High Hopes

Dear Lacqueristas,

China Glaze High Hopes is definitly in my personal top 20. I can't believe how bright and vivid this color is, I just get happy looking at my nails.

The picture does not do justice to the color. Imagine this 10x more vivid and brighter.

High hopes is part of the Up and Away collection. China Glaze calls the color Guava and I think they are pretty spot on. Hot pink/orange creme, so bright that it's almost neon-ish. Lovely finger licking color. I don't have any dupes in my stash so I can't compare. If you know/have a dupe or similar color, let me know! Feeling down on a rainy day? I suggest you wear this color. You would go out in shortpants, slippers and shades.

Do you guys own this polish? Can you show me a pic how it looks on your skintone?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

My very first marble... and it didn't hurt!

Dear Lacqueristas,

Today I had my very first marbeling experience... I felt so inspired by all those pictures I've seen on other blogs for ages but I was sure that it would be to hard for me. Turns out that it isn't that hard at all, it just takes some time and practice. I'm sure I need to practice a lot more because some of my nails are messy and others look just fine. What do you think? My favourite is the left thumb and the left ring finger.

I just made sure you wouldn't be offended by my cuticle on my right index finger

Close up of right hand. I think the thumb and ring finger came out nicest.

I Used a cheap nail polish from H&M as a base, it's called Fuchsia but I don't think it's available anymore. I'ts similar to OPI Dim Sum Plum. For the actual marbeling I used:

• ChG High Hopes
• ChG Re-fresh Mint
• OPI Suzi says Feng Sui
• ChG Lemon Fizz

Do you girls like this? And how do you make sure your nails don't get messy like mines??? Clean-up after was a total bish!

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

China Glaze - Re-fresh mint (Up and away)

Dear lacqueristas,

I'm all into pastels lately and thats the reason I purchased this next polish. Re-fresh mint is a mint creme, the color is a pastel green with blue undertones. Application was not perfect, the polish was a bit gooey and streaky. I had the same experience with High Hopes from the same collection, too bad!
I didn't realize how unflattering a minty shade can be on a skin with red undertones... Just have a look to see what I mean:

3 coats, no topcoat. In direct sunlight.

It's such a shame that I feel like a big red lobster claw with this shade on my tips, because I'd totally rock it with a chique black outfit.

Close up in daylight, no sunlight

Who could pull this minty shade off? And how would you style your outfit to match it?

Hasta la vista, Laqueristas!

China Glaze Sexagon

Dear Lacqueristas,

I think most of us lacqueristas know how to appriciate a good holo. Most of you probably own some, and I think Sexagon is one of the bestsellers when it comes to holo's.
It is a clear base (really!) with very fine, tiny flakes of holo's. The main colors of these particles are silver, but they flash blue, orange, green and purple depending on the angle of the light rays. The formula on this is great: dries super quick and finishes without a grainy feeling!
I played around a lil bit with it, and I figured I'd show you the results

Daylight, no direct sunlight. See how it looks just plain silver/grey? No holo to be seen! Untill....

...You get direct light (in this case the flash) to hit the polish. Mind you that holo's are extremely hard to catch on picture, so IRL the holo is much much more!

check out the comparison pictures after the jump.