Tag: China Glaze
Hex Boyfriend
Sometimes you buy a nail polish and it’s like…OOF, whyyyyyy?
China Glaze “Hex Boyfriend” called out to me from the clearance rack at Ulta, as I was standing in line to pay for my daughter’s haircut. $1.88 is a pretty low risk investment, but this polish wasn’t even worth that. Even though it is only from the Halloween 2020 Collection, it’s so thick that it was almost unusable. Adding OPI Thinner didn’t even help! I might have been better off sticking to a single coat, but it was so uneven, that I had to try to smooth it out.
Although not apparent at the time, I was left with peaks and valleys in my nails, like a relief map of the Rocky Mountains. This formula might have made a fantastic crackle polish!
From the way it looked in the bottle, I was expecting a dark, mysterious green…but on the nails, all I got was black. Flat black, like a theatre set. Boring.
This is two coats over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat. No top coat, except for Glisten & Glow Top Coat on my pinkies. Even glossy, it’s boring.
I could’ve gotten better results with a Sharpie.
Material Girl!
I am IN LOVE with Funky Fingers “Material Girl”. If you know, you know.
This is two coats of “Material Girl” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat. Since “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend,” I used China Glaze “Bring on the Bubbly” on my accent nails. I did NOT forget the Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber this time.
Even though “Material Girl” is already matte, I wanted my diamonds to be matte as well, so I topped them all with Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat.
“Material Girl” was a tiny bit streaky, but the top coat even it out for the most part.
This is a MUCH better “Material Girl” than the other “Material Girl” I own.
Quarantine Nails
Locked in my room for 10 days…what else was I going to do?
Belle en Argent “What She’s Having” arrived in January’s ipsy bag. I think the name of the polish is referring to THAT scene in When Harry Met Sally. This is two coats of “What She’s Having” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat.
I wanted my nails to look fancy, so I made an accent nail with China Glaze “Diamond in the Rough”. I should have topped that finger with Glitter Grabber to smooth over the rough glitter, but I forgot to ask my jailers to slide it under the bedroom door. I topped them with Glisten & Glow Top Coat. All dressed up and nowhere to go.
I did my toes, too! Even though I just got a pedi, the lady didn’t cut my toenails down short enough and they were snagging on my sheets. Don’t you hate that? I cut them down SUPER short.
First Ulta Haul of 2022
I placed my first Ulta order of the year…I had no specific plan in mind, I just kept adding to cart until it felt right.
I take that back, I did have a bit of a plan. I am running out of conditioner, so I picked up a refill of NatureLab.Tokyo Perfect Smooth Conditioner ($23). The shampoo lasts forever, but I go right through the conditioner. Speaking of refills, I got a refill of my KVD Beauty Lock-it Foundation – it was half off ($12, down from $24)! My favorite Ulta Ultra Slim Brow Pencil in “Dark Brown” was also half off ($5, down from $10), so I got another one of those, too.
I need eye shadow like a need another kid, but I got the NYX Limited Edition Lunar New Year Eyeshadow Palette ($10) anyway. I am annoyed that I haven’t had a chance to play with it yet.
I cannot pass up cheap nail polish, so I got China Glaze “Diamond in the Rough” and “Bring on the Bubbly” for $1.88 each. They’ll make good toppers.
My order qualified for a tarte 4 piece Beauty Break, which includes tarte Stay Spray, sugar rush Lip Slip in “Dragon Fruit”, sugar rush Lash Smoothie Volumizing Hemp Mascara, and a shape tape glow wand. Tarte isn’t my favorite makeup brand, but it’s not bad.
$3.50 off coupon and $1,150 to Diamond for 2023.
National Nail Polish Day 2021
June 1st was National Nail Polish Day and Ulta had a lovely 11 piece gift with a $40 purchase. I just happened to need a few things…
I stocked up on 3 bottles of Zoya Remove+ ($10) and decided to splurge on a bottle of Pacifica Plant Magic 16 Free Polish in “Green Goddess” ($10). I wouldn’t ordinarily spend $10 on a single bottle of nail polish, but this color is so beautiful…plus, I used a $3.50 off coupon…so…
The 11 piece gift is worth more than what I bought! The gift included: Dashing Diva Gloss Gel Nail Strips; le Mini Macaron Sweet Mandarin Hand Mask; ella + mila Soy Polish Remover Wipes; Pacifica BioGlitter Translucent Topper in “Fairy Dust”; China Glaze “Summer Moon”; Orly Breathable 1-Step Manicure in “Power Packed”; OPI “Magic Hour”; lakur “Kissed by Rose Gold”; essie “Bahama Mama”; CND Solar Oil; and Nailtopia “Nails on Fleek”. So many new polishes!
$697 to Diamond Status…
Rainbow Nuts
China Glaze “Rainbow” is soft baby pink when topped with a matte top coat, but before the top coat, it was white with a flash of rainbow opalescence. I love a versatile polish!
I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and two coats of “Rainbow”. For accent nails, I used one of my favorite glitter toppers, Funky Fingers “Son of a Nutcracker”. I finished with Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat.
This polish combination reminds me of The Last Unicorn.
Perfect Shine Splurge
Back in November, I think when Sephora was offering 15% off, Ulta sent out a $10 off $40 coupon, so why not restock on a few things. Sometimes, there’s nothing like splurging on fancy shampoo & conditioner!
I’d gotten to try NatureLab Tokyo Perfect Shine Shampoo & Conditioner ($14 each) in an Allure Beauty Box last year. I really liked it, but it wasn’t widely available. Fast forward a year and now Ulta carries it – score! The secret ingredient is grape stem cells. I don’t know what those are. I also picked up some a single use conditioners – PURA D’OR Single Use Hair Thinning Therapy Intense Moisturizing Masque ($1.79), HASK Shea Butter & Hibiscus Oil Anti-Frizz Deep Conditioner Packette ($2.99) and HASK Tea Tree Oil & Rosemary Hair & Scalp Treatment Mask Packette ($2.99).
Freeman Masks were on super sale, so I bought a replacement Cucumber & Pink Salt Clay Mask. I also grabbed a clearance China Glaze “Rainbow” for $2.62 and a new Flowery nail buffer.
I definitely did NOT buy that Kylie Cosmetics Velvet Lip Kit in “Bare” – it was a gift with $25 makeup purchase. I now know the secret of the Kylie Lip Kits! The lip liner is one tick darker than the lipstick, so it creates an optical illusion of a fuller lip. The more you know…I tried it out and the color was WAY too light for me. Hypothetically, my lips did look bigger though.
My $70 purchase qualified me for a Hello Holidays Sample Bag – it’s so fancy! Inside the bag: Dermablend Insta-Grip Jelly Primer; Awake Pore Down Tightening Concentrate; Donna Karan Cashmere Mist Towelette (WEIRD); Lake & Skye 11 11 (I could not smell this); MAC Lipstick samples in “Ruby Woo”, “M-A-C Red” & “Cockney”; Too Faced Damn Girl! Mascara; Pravana Color Protect Cleanse and Condition (HUGE samples tubes – will try these out after my next dye session); Philosophy Purity Made Simple Hydra-Bounce Eye Gel; Ahava Dead Sea Water Mineral Body Lotion; Tula Skincare 24-7 Moisture Hydrating Day & Night Cream; Smashbox Photo Finish Primer; Burberry Her; Yves Saint Laurent Mon Paris; NatureLab Tokyo Perfect Shine Shampoo & Conditioner (foilpacks for travel!); Tonymoly Golden Pig Collagen Bounce Mask; Gucci Guilty; AG Haircare Glow Shine Infuse Serum; Lancome Teint Idole Ultra Wear Sample Card (none of these will match me); Beekman 1802 Milk Drops Probiotic Ceramide Serum; John Frieda Frizz Ease Secret Weapon Touch-up Creme; Patchology Little Helper Energy Dietary Supplement Strip (a caffeine strip that melts on your tongue – is drinking a cup of coffee so hard?); and VDL Velvet Blur Primer.
Oh, and if the order looks a little light, it’s because there were a few gifts in my order…
Shower Together
China Glaze “Shower Together” is just your basic teal crème polish. It is another polish shared from my friend, Lisa – and it was really striking on my nails.
This is two coats of “Shower Together” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat. The shiny top coat really makes it POP!
The polish went on great, even though it’s fairly ancient, by polish standards. It was released back in 2008, as part of The Eco Collection! I have had several more recent China Glazes dry up already, but “Shower Together” is still going strong.
I have a lot of teal polishes, but they all seem to be shimmers, like China Glaze “Brought to You By…”, Sinful Colors “Magic Dragon”, Sally Hansen “Reflection Pool”, Formula X “Prismatic”, and Julep “Cozette”. I guess “Shower Together is more unique than I thought.
Feeling Grinchy
Is it too early to be feeling Grinchy?
Or maybe it’s not that I’m feeling Grinchy, it’s just that humanity is really showing it’s ass right now…
In any case, I needed a sparkly green nail polish to match my recently pedicured toes, so I grabbed China Glaze “Grinchworthy”.
This is two coats of “Grinchworthy” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Turned Up Turquoise
It’s so difficult to get good sunlight polishes of turquoise nail polishes and China Glaze “Turned Up Turquoise” is no exception. The pictures I was able to get are straight blue, but the polish has a bit more green in it in real life. It is absolutely a chameleon of a polish.
The polish was a gift from my dear friend Lisa and I was excited to try it immediately. I was not expecting a pearly matte finish! From the bottle, it appears to be a plain old creme polish, but I was pleasantly surprised with the pearly qualities.
This is two coats over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Matte Top Coat. Even with the top coat, it chipped rather quickly – I was disappointed.
“Turned Up Turquoise” is originally from the 2008 Summer Ink Collection – no wonder it’s so thick! The collection is modeled on tattoo colors, which is right on with the turquoise in blue rose tattoos on my arm. I was very fortunate to get my hands on this classic and sought after polish.