Comparison Thursday: Pale Pink Indie Holos

First thing's first.  I'm selling grab bags again!  I've lowered the price to $25, which includes domestic US shipping, PayPal invoice fee, and 7 polishes.  Contents of the grab bag will be 7 polishes consisting of 2 full size drugstore brands, 1 mini (either indie, drugstore, or salon), 2 full size salon brands, and 2 full size indies.  THESE BAGS INCLUDE HTF AND DC INDIES AND EACH BAG WILL HAVE AT LEAST 1 HOLOGRAPHIC!  The DC polishes are ones that came out last year that have been discontinued for a very long time.  Those will be going first, so grab one while you can!  I will be accommodating with color and finishes, but I can't tell you which polishes are available or let you choose the polishes that will go into your bag as that's too time consuming.  Please email me at wishesofablueeyedgirl@gmail.com for inquiries.  Please include your paypal address as well as your favorite/least favorite colors and finishes.  For more information, check out my blog page: http://wishesofablueeyedgirl.blogspot.com/p/blog-sale-or-swap_17.html.

Ok, now that the shameless plug is out of the way, let's get down to the comparisons!  I've chosen Enchanted Polish September 2013, Enchanted Polish J'Adore, and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer We Saved the World, I Say We Party! (aka Buffy) from the Once More with Feeling Collection.  Let's take a look at how they compare below.

As you can see from the bottle shot, the colors are quite different.  Buffy is a more greyed out pink that leans lilac.  September is a rose, and J'Adore is a super pale and dainty pink.

The rainbow effect is minimal in J'Adore to almost non-existent.  It's relatively strong in Buffy, but this lighting doesn't showcase it very well.  September, however, is the most brightly rainbowed.  Yes, rainbowed is now a real word...

As for application, Buffy was very easy to work with and only required two coats.  There isn't any dragging or balding like with so many other holographics.  You also don't need to use an aqua base.  September comes in second in terms of application.  It was also a two coater, but it was a bit thick in comparison.  Lastly, J'Adore is just so sheer that it required four coats, which means that it took forever to dry.  The consistency also wasn't all that great as it was also a bit thick.

So, there you have it!  You can purchase Enchanted Polishes at her store as well as several e-tailers.  Follow Chelsea at her Facebook and IG for news and updates on releases.  My polishes are available at my store here.  Follow me on Facebook and IG for news and updates on new polishes, releases, sales, and giveaways!

So, now that I've featured one of my own polishes for Comparison Thursday, is this something that you'd like to see more often?  What polishes would you like to see compared from my line?  Let me know in the comments, and I'll see if I have them!  I don't try to intentionally dupe other polishes, so any such duplication is purely coincidental.  Often times, I'll have worked on something for several months before release, and then once it's released another polish comes out just like it.  Either way, though, I'm always glad to show you comparisons, and that includes comparisons using my own polishes!

Hololoooooove!

I'm writing this post in the comfort of my pj's and all bundled up in covers.  Alas, I'm sick.  Again.  I'm not sure why I haven't gotten used to this by now as it is an every day norm for me these days.  Still saving up for my surgery, so working my butt off with all of my jobs.  It never gets old...  Although, I now wish I would've invested in one of these instead of my legal education, lol!  Click the link.  Go on.  I'll wait.  Ok, now that we all feel a little bad for ourselves, let's take a look at one of the manis that made me super happy to see again while going through my old photos.  Yes, I'm still going naked for Naked November and still going a little stir crazy because of it!  Tonight's post is Color Club Cloud Nine with an accent nail of Lynnderella Ghost of a Chance.  The proper review will be on Cloud Nine, and I'll talk a little bit about Ghost of a Chance in the Overall Thoughts section.  Ready?  Ok, get your polarized glasses on, these pics are a bit blinding.

*I was not financially compensated for this post.  All items in this review were purchased by me for my own use.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

Color: Lilac linear holo that leans pink in some lights and purple in others.

Finish: Holographic – pigment gives polish a rainbow in the sunshine.

Bottle / Brush: Color Club – square bottle is not too hard to hold.  The wand length and brush are average.  Easy application.

Opacity: High – opaque at two coats.

Glitter Application: N/A

Consistency: Medium – applies easily and doesn’t flood the cuticles.

Overall Ease of Application: Hard – applies with some dragging and balding.  Spreads well with manipulation.  Requires quick work to get a smooth result.  Unlike most holos, the Color Club Halo Hues don't need an aqua base to go on smoothly.  They do, however, require quick application and a little extra time to dry between coats to ensure a smooth finish without dragging.

Stampability: Not tested for stamping, but I'm hoping to play around with some holographic stamping soon!

Dry Time: Medium – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in 3-8 minutes.

Overall Thoughts: Look at how gorgeous Cloud Nine is.  I mean, wow.  This is in my old lighting setup with less direct sunlight and more artificial lighting, and it's still blindingly holographic, despite the lackluster lighting setup.  This means that it's still very holographic in most lights, which makes this bad boy suuuuuuper awesome.  Application was relatively easy, too, so that's a huge plus in my book.  So many holos are a pain in the butt to apply, so this was a nice change of pace.  Lynnderella Ghost of a Chance is a glitter topper with a cloudy shimmer base with tiny iridescent glitters, white hexes and squares, yellow, lavender, pastel green, and baby blue hexes, and light pink hearts.  The milky base dulled the holo, but I still really liked the effect it had as an accent nail.  The glitters came out of the bottle very easily and spread nice and evenly on the nail without clumping.  I need to wear this for real sometime, but I'm not sure exactly what color I'd wear as undies.  Overall, I really liked the daintiness of this mani.  As my friend Sara from Born for a Storm would say, it's dainty as f^@$.  I think that sums this mani up nicely.


I purchased my Color Club Halo Hues on Amazon.  You can purchase Lynnderellas at their store here.  Follow their fan-run Facebook, Twitter, and IG pages.

*I was not financially compensated for this post.  All items in this review were purchased by me for my own use.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

Enchanted Polish Tenderheart

Today has been a super busy day of making polishes and working on blog stuff.  I'm super excited to announce that my polish line's November Duo is up in the shop for preorder.  Go and check those out here!  There will be a proper restock of the duo as well as everything else in my store (minus the Nail Polish Frights collections) on 11/18.  If you order your polishes now, though, you can get free shipping on orders $20 and over by using the discount code NOVEMBERFUN.  So, get on over there if you've been looking to try my polishes out!

Tonight, let's take a look at Enchanted Polish Tenderheart worn over OPI Liquid Sand The Impossible.

*I was not financially compensated for this post.  All items in this review were purchased by me for my own use.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

Color: Clear based polish with iridescent shreds, silver holo diamonds, red holo hearts, and various sizes of red hexes.

Finish: Glitter Top Coat – glitter in a clear base to be worn as a top coat.

Bottle / Brush: Rectangle bottle – The wand is the standard length, but the brush is a little too thin to pick up large / shaped glitter without fishing.  The brush's width is also an issue for spreading.  It doesn't fan out and pretty much requires you to dab polishes that are densely packed with glitter.

Opacity: Glitter topcoat – not designed for full opacity.

Glitter Application: Hard – difficult to dig the glitters out of the bottle, spreads well with the dab method, but pools at the cuticles and bubbles when dry.

Consistency: Super thin – runny and floods the cuticles easily.

Overall Ease of Application: Hard – applies with some pooling and bubbling.

Stampability: Not designed for stamping.

Dry Time: Long – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in over 8 minutes.

Overall Thoughts: As much as I wanted to love this polish, it was kind of a pain in the butt to apply.  The base to glitter ratio was way off meaning that there was much more base than there was glitter creating a very sparse look on the nail.  If I wanted to get enough glitter on my nail, I either needed to use several coats or attempt to load up on glitters in one coat, which caused pooling and bubbling.  Stupidly, I went with option two and gobbed one super runny layer onto the nail, which took forever to dry...  Otherwise, I really liked this combination.  The bright pink undies worked really well with the red glitters.  I also like how easily you can see the iridescent shreds, which were my favorite part of the polish.  It was surprising how well it went over the liquid sand texture, but I do wonder if that attributed to the long dry time.  Either way, though, this combo is quite pretty.

Sadly, Tenderheart and the rest of the Love A Lot Glitter collection have been long discontinued.  You can still find them on blog sales and ebay, though, if you're in the market!  Purchase other Enchanted polishes at her store.  Follow Chelsea on Facebook and Instagram for news and updates on new releases.

*I was not financially compensated for this post.  All items in this review were purchased by me for my own use.  The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.  For more information, please see my Disclosure Policy in the tab above.*

Comparison Thursday: Dusty Pink Cremes

Tonight's Comparison Thursday is going to be a simple one - dusty pink cremes.  When I bought OPI Dulce de Leche I thought, hmmm, this seems familiar...  I got it home and took a look at my stash and immediately spotted a polish that was just so close in the bottle that I just had to compare them.  So, I present to you OPI Dulce De Leche versus China Glaze Dress Me Up.

In the bottle, they both look just so similar.  Dress me up is just a hair darker in the bottle than Dulce de Leche.

The bottles and brushes, however, are extremely different.  I vastly prefer the shape of the OPI bottles over the China Glaze bottles.  They're easier for me to hold onto.  As you can see in the photos below, the OPI Pro-Wide Brush is significantly thicker than the China Glaze standard brush.  Application with the Pro-Wide Brush is a little tricky for those with smaller nail beds, but pretty nice for those with larger and longer nails.  The China Glaze brush is a lot thinner, but this polish was so easy to apply that a thinner brush wasn't a problem.

The polishes are vastly different on the nail.  In the bottle, they look pretty similar, but on the nail Dress Me Up dries quite a bit darker.

Dulce de Leche applied like most OPI cremes.  A bit streaky the first coat with a tendency of pooling at the cuticle but building nicely in two to three coats.  Dress Me Up was amazing to work with.  It is a one coater. I LOVE when polishes go on perfectly in one coat!

Here's another shot of them together.  I ended up keeping Dress Me Up and selling Dulce De Leche because I didn't see the need to keep both, and, honestly, why wouldn't I keep the one coater?!

The highly pigmented nature of Dress Me Up made it work great with stamping!  I love the monochromatic look for stamping, and these two were perfect for that.  I think it would've worked better had I applied my Orly Bonder before stamping (pro tip - sticky base coat over top coated undies helps the image transfer from the stamp!).  You can see my review of these two stamped in my guest post for Color Me So Crazy here.

Unfortunately, Dress Me Up was from the Hunger Games collection that came out last year, so it is discontinued.  However, you can often still find it where China Glaze polishes are sold, at salons, or on blog sales.  As far as I know, OPI Dulce de Leche is still available in the OPI core line.  

So the question remains, which do *you* like better?

Soft Tribal Gel Quickie

This past Saturday, clients were flowing in, but with so many new nail tech students, most were being assigned to their services. So I had the pleasure to do a Gelish mani on one of my fellow students.

She let me have free reign over her colors and design, so I decided to do a tribal look using my tribal tutorial, which you can try out yourself here!

Apologies for the somewhat blurry picture.

I love the way it turned out, and she told me she's been receiving lots of compliments on it.

Have you tried nail art with gel polishes before? Do you have a favorite gel to work with?

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers: Once More with Feeling Collection Part 1

I had planned to do a big post about my Depression Awareness Fundraiser and Giveaway, but I need to get one last thing before I can do that...  So, tonight, you guys get to hear me yammer on and on about my not-quite-so-new line of polishes.

In August, I decided to take the plunge and open my own shop.  I was terrified, but you guys have been so supportive that I knew it would be a good idea in the long run.  At the beginning of September, I released my  homage to the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television show called the Once More with Feeling Collection.  It consists of eight linear holos and two glitters and is broken up into three different categories - the Scoobies (the gang), the Demons, and the Vampires.

The idea came to me last spring in the form of a set of customs from my good friend Sara from Born from a Storm (and @sarawthouttheh on IG).  She asked me to make a couple custom polishes based off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, so we started out with only three - a green holo, a charcoal holo, and a pink holo.  As we worked on them throughout pretty much the whole summer, I knew we had a good thing going.  We decided to expand it from the original concept of just Buffy, Xander, and Angel to encompass the rest of the gang. Let's take a look at the Scoobies portion of the collection, shall we?  We'll take a look at the rest on Wednesday.  Get ready for some picture heaviness!  Oh, click on them to see them with more detail.

All photos were taken in full sunlight, indirect sunlight, or from the light from my refrigerator and/or ice maker.  What?  My fridge showcases shifts, shimmers, and flamebows (thank you to whoever came up with this term because it is made of win) better than any other light source in the house!  Also, all photos in this post are three coats without undies - except for Scoobies, which is meant to have undies.

The Scoobies

We Saved the World, I Say We Party:  Based off of Buffy Summers, the slayer.  A pale pink linear holo with a strong pink flash.

Love Makes You Do the Wacky: Based off of Willow Rosenberg, the most bad-assed witch.  Dusty purple linear holo with fuchsia flash.

Dorkhead?  You Slash Me with Your Words!: Based off of Xander Harris, the one who sees everything.  Pale green linear holo with a strong green flash.

Tact is Just Not Saying True Stuff.  I’ll Pass: Based off of the self-absorbed and yet oddly heroic Cordelia Chase.  Nude leaning taupe linear holo with green flash.

Tea is Soothing.  I Wish to be Tense.:  Based off of Rupert Giles, the Watcher.  Blue linear holo with an ice blue flash.

The Scoobies: the gang’s self-styled moniker to describe their meetings to discuss strategies and status of “the big bad” in Sunnydale.  Clear base with red micro-flakies, burgundy micro glitters, hexes and squares in burgundy, caramel, gun metal, and red, red holo hearts, silver holo moons, and tiny black stars.  Pictured here over Tact.

So, what do you think about the first half of the collection?  I'm so proud of these polishes, and I'm so excited to share them with you all!  If you'd like to purchase any of my polishes, my new store is up and running, and you can find it here.  I've also added a tab up top that will redirect you to the store when you click on it so you don't have to dig around to find the link in my posts!  Most everything is in stock, but those that sell out will be replenished next week.  It may be a smaller restock, though, but I'll let you guys know when I have a date and time in mind.  Tomorrow's post will be about the depression awareness fundraiser I'm hosting, and I'm hoping it will make a ton of money to help support a pretty great cause.  One prize includes the Limited Edition Lynnderella the Mindful Heart.  All four prizes include 5 Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers, which you'll learn all about tomorrow!  Stick around, there are lots of things going on!