China Glaze Anchors Away Part 1

This is part 1 of 2 of the Spring 2011 China Glaze collection called Anchors Away.  Click here for part 2!  It's a total of 12 new shades and they are all amazing in their own way!  Today I'm going to show the Knotty Nauticals.  These are the 6 brighter shades of the collection.

This is the Knotty Nauticals set.  First off, how cute is that name?  It's kind of one of those you want to face-palm on, but it's just so punny!  LOL... anyway.

Lighthouse, 3 coats.  It's sheer, but has a glass fleck to it.  It's a golden yellow, like goldenrod to me.  It's pretty, but it's just not my thing.  I like the pale yellows better.  But if you like the darker golden yellow, this is perfect for you!

Life Preserver, 2 coats.  This is listed as a "poppy creme."  I don't buy it.  This is orange.  It's not quite as orange as a real life preserver, but it's still orange.  I heard someone say it had a coral aspect to it.  It's orange.  LOL.  Now I don't have a super critical eye for color, but I don't think I'm oblivious to subtle differences either.  This is a redder orange that a real life preserver, but it's still orange.  It's too orange for me to say it's coral.  I personally do not like this shade, but I'm not a fan of orange in general.  Aside from that, it applied great, good coverage and opacity.  It's good with 2 coats, but too sheer to be a 1 coater I think.

Starboard, 2 coats.  This is a very vivid green creme.  Applied well, good opacity, but needs the 2 coats.  It's like a "kelly green."  It's grass like to me.  Again, this is not really my thing.  I don't choose these bright greens for a full mani unless I'm doing something on top of it.  Or if it's St Patty's day.  Which, I must say, is coming up... so keep this one handy girls!

First Mate, 2 coats.  Now we're talking!  This is a bright yet darker blue creme.  I LOVE IT!  It's a perfect nautical blue.  Good coverage, nice pigmentation... wow.  This is definitely in-your-face blue.  And I know for most colors I like the subtle shades, but I don't mind a bright blue and this is great!

Ahoy! 3 coats.  This is another glass fleck color in a great hot pink shade.  It's a little sheer again, like the yellow.  To me, definitely needs 3 coats unless you're layering.  It reminds me of strawberries, but it's definitely a pink, not a red.  It's a great summer color I think.  It would make a good watermelon mani, haha.  Add some Atlantis on the tips and you'll be good to go!

Hey Sailor, 2 coats.  Bright red creme.  I have to say, I thought I wouldn't like this on, but I love it.  And really, I could have gotten away with 1 coat if I'd been more careful.  This is an amazing color, great coverage, nice and opaque.  I love it.  It's a perfect red.  I'd say it's a little on the orange side, but it's pretty.

BTW, no top coat on any of these polishes.  They are super shiny on their own!  And with them being so easy to apply, you don't really need the top coat except for staying power.  I was VERY pleased with these polishes.  I'm not a fan of all these colors, like I mentioned, but application was perfection.  Even the sheer shades went on like a dream.

Note: All items featured in this post were purchased by me.

Party Hearty!

Somehow I forgot to post this earlier.  I know pretty much everyone and their mother did this combo if they got this China Glaze Party Hearty.  BUT I don't care because it's just that awesome.  And it's still awesome even though it's not Christmas anymore.

This is 3 coats Orly Winter Wonderland topped with 2 coats China Glaze Party Hearty!  How pretty!  The Orly Winter Wonderland is fairly sheer, I believe I may have started with a base of 1 coat Sallen Hansen White On.  But the Orly gives it that frosty wintery feel.  The application on it was good, just sheer.  The China Glaze is just amazing.  It's a clear base with colored glitter, so you have to use a little purpose if you want all the nails to come out even.  You can see my middle finger has a lot more glitter than my pointer.

So cool.  I love this glitter.  It has small silver, medium green and large red glitter in it.  It's an amazing combo!  =D


Also, I just realized that I missed my blogiversary!  LOL.  I started getting some stuff together for a giveaway.  It will be coming soon!  Hehe.

Night Sky

This mani is so dark and pretty.  I love the shimmer... you can get lost in it!

This is 2 coats of Models Own In the Navy topped with 1 coat of CND Sapphire Sparkle on top.  I added some stars and moons to finish it off.  Both polishes applied like a dream.  The Models Own has great coverage and smooth application.  CND effects pack a good amount of "effect" in each stroke of the brush, hah.  When I first used one, I thought it was going to be very subtle, but it's really not.  In some cases, the effect can change the whole color of the polish, but not so much here.  It was a little bit lighter, but pretty much the same shade.  I love this combo!

So pretty!!  What happened to the moon on my ring finger?  Who knows, lol.  Whatever, the rest of it looks awesome!  hahaha.

Snowflakes?

I wanted to do snowflakes, but I was in a bit of a rush, so I did dots with sparkles instead.  Haha.  It's sorta snow like.

This is 3 coats of Orly Snowcone.  I make dots with a dotting tool and Sally Hansen White On and topped them with OPI Simmer & Shimmer.  I think it came out cute and a little abstract, haha.

I love that blue, it's so clear and intense, yet light.  Does that make sense?  It's a great color.  You may recall I had a bit of trouble with it previously.  But I shook it up good for a couple days before I used it this time.  I shook it up, let it sit and then repeated, lol.  Seemed to take away that weird oily problem I had.  I try not to shake my polish and roll them instead, but I think this one needed a good shake and then time to settle the bubbles.  Whatever, it worked and I was much happier this time around!

Broadway Nails

I chose to wear a set of fakes to go on vacation a while back.  I didn't want to have to worry about the polish chipping or bringing polish with me to change it if I had to.  Fakes are pretty sturdy and last about a week on me without looking too gross, lol.

These are Broadway Nails which I purchased at Walgreens I believe.  The white tip was supposed to be UV sensitive and change to a purple with white stars.  Now granted it was pretty cloudy the week I wore these... but I only had 2 nails that showed any signs of color changing and it was barely visible.  I'm glad they had the other stars on them for some visual interest other than the tips... otherwise it would have been boring!  Haha.  But they went on well, stayed on all week, no issues there.  I soaked them off in acetone, which is my usual removal process.  That wasn't any more difficult than usual either.  Overall, I was very pleased as usual with this brand.

Color Club Alter Ego Preview

I can't wait to see these in real life... they look awesome!

Color Club lets you create high-fashion looks for every identity with Alter Ego, their latest collection of diverse, long-lasting lacquers!

Alter Ego’s consists of 12 shades! Go incognito with our opaque shades or rendezvous in full view with our sheers of Alter Ego ‘LIGHTS’ and ‘DARKS’!

Above: Their ‘Keep It Undercover Collection’ 7 piece salon pack includes Alter Ego, Secret Agent, Total Mystery, Alias, Ulterior Motive and Masquerading plus Vivid Top Coat.

Above: Alter Ego’s ‘Reveal Your Mystery Collection’ 7 piece salon pack includes Get a Clue, Revealed, Incognito, Secret Rendezvous, Sheer Disguise, and Give Me a Hint shades plus Milky White Base Coat.



The darker shades look awesome.  The Color Club polishes I have now apply like buttah and are nice and opaque.  I will fall in love if these are the same!  And the lighter shades look like good stand by colors and bases for stamping!  Yay spring colors!  I can't wait!!

Happy New Year!!

A little belated... but Happy 2011!!!  I hope this year is a lot better than last year.  I suffered a great loss in 2010, but I'm better for it now and I'm thankful that I was strong enough to keep going.

How cool is this?  I used 3 coats of Sephora by OPI 212-Sephora as a base.  It's an amazing black base with copper flakes and gold and iridescent small glitter.  I used Orly Luxe on the tips.  Then I added some Viva la Nails stars and hex glitter.  It was very fitting for the occasion.

So pretty!!!

Last shot, lol.  I loved this one.  I think it came out pretty and I got compliments as well!  :)