China Glaze Flying Dragon

Reminder you have 1 more week to enter my giveaway!

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all had a good week and are ready for the weekend. I now have a project for the weekend. I got 20 nail wheels from Trans Design. I plan on swatching my entire collection. It all sounds fun now, but I think it's going to end up being more daunting. I have around 230 nail polishes! I just pulled out all my reds and I have 36. I know I have twice as many pinks. I wish I had some of you to help me, we could make party out of it!

Anyways here is my NOTD. China Glaze Flying Dragon.

Indoors


Outdoors


Flying Dragon is a royal purple neon with red and blue glitter mixed in. There are no other polishes out there like it. It's definitely a fun and funky color to wear! This does dry matte, but top coat fixes that up. I used 3 coats. This is a great polish by China Glaze!


That's it for today. I have plenty to do today. I'm also on the hunt for Milani Dot Com. Have a great Friday!

Milani Faves & Milani Untrieds

Milani has become one of my favorite drugstore brands of polish. I've seen them carried at CVS, Walgreens, Target, and online at Cherry Culture. They have an amazing color selection. I find their color selection similar to China Glaze they have all the funky, bright, and unique colors. They also come out with great new collections like the Liquid Metal Collection which I have my eye on. I really want Dot Com!!!

Update: I'm hearing that some people in the US can't find them in their drugstores. I'm wondering if this brand only is readily available in certain parts of the country. Let me know in the comments if you can or cannot find it where you are from part of the country you are in (if you don't mind sharing). I'm curious now! Regardless, you can still find this on Cherry Culture.

Here are two of my favorite Milanis.

Tip Toe Pink

This is a light bubblegum creme pink. It goes on smooth and creamy. This is 3 coats.

Paint the Town Red

I LOVE this red. I forgot what nail blogger it was who coined the term "lit from within", but this polish is perfect example this at. It true almost metallic red with a subtle gold flash. I love it. This is 3 coats.


Here are some untrieds I have that I just swatched.

Gold Lame

This is a metallic yellow toned gold. I used 3 coats


Day Dreaming

This is a medium grey creme. I must admit I am not a grey gal. I usually find that greys look awful on me. However, I think I can pull of this one and I actually like it. This is 3 coats.

What do you think of Milani nail polish? Do you have any favorites?

My Favorite China Glaze and the Runner Up

On Twitter just a little while ago China Glaze asked "What is your favorite China Glaze of all time that you can't live without?" They also basically said you can't have a tie between two you need to pick one. Well, this gave me my idea for my blog post today.

I have to say my favorite China Glaze of all time is.......


Strawberry Fields! This is a polish that at first I didn't think was going to be that great until I put it on my nails myself. It is a warm rosy pink color with gold glass fleck throughout. It is a knockout. I am in love with it completely. This looks greats indoors and in the sun outdoors it is stunning. I think it is my perfect color. In fact, I was a little nutty about it and bought 2 extra bottles even though I'm not nearly done with the first. I don't ever want to be without it.

The runner up would have to be...


Awakening. I really do not know how to describe this color because in some lights is more purple while in others it's more of a rose color. You never know what you're really looking at depending on the angle. It's gorgeous and on top of that it has this gold duochrome effect throughout that makes this truly unique. This is in China Glaze's core line and I'm surprised that I don't see people talking about it as much. It must be one of those people pass over :(. It's really a hidden gem. I really suggest you try this baby out!

Can you tell I'm sucker for gold shimmers/glitters? I know many peoples favorite China Glaze is Ruby Pumps. It's a great polish, and I would of said the same until I came across 2 other polishes that are dupes that I talked about in my Red Glitter Comparison post. There are some great China Glaze contenders. What is your absolute favorite? I won't be picky you can name more than one. :)

Have a great day!

Mutli Glitter Comparisons & Best Buys of the Week

Lately, I've been seeing quite of a few multi-glitter nail polishes being introduced. I decided to do a comparison for 3 of them I have. I'll show you pics and give descriptions!

I'll be comparing.
L-R
OPI-Mad as a Hatter, Sally Hansen-Rockstar Pink, & Finger Paints Wicked Glitter



I understand some of these photos are blurry, but I added the last picture in on purpose. It's hard to photograph glitters with my camera, but in this blurry picture it does show you the different colors of glitter in each polish.

OPI-Mad As a Hatter- At first glance this looks like it's mainly a silver,purple,and light blue glitter. It is way more than that. In the right lighting this has not only silver,purple, and light blue glitter, it has pink, gold, and green. I'd say since the polish seems to showcase more of the silver,purple,blue glitters it does have a more cool tone than the others. This is 3 coats.

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear- Rockstar Pink This is magenta glitter with blue and gold glitter mixed in. This is more warm toned as opposed to Mad as Hatter, but just as flashy and glittery. I used 3 coats. The only drawback with this is the formula is very thick. A few drops of nail polish thinner should fix that. That being said, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not use nail polish remover to thin out nail polishes. I have ruined so many that way. You can pick up nail polish thinner for $3.99 at Sally's Beauty.

Finger Paints-Wicked Glitter This somewhat similar to Rockstar Pink. I'd say in Wicked Glitter each color of glitter is equally dispersed within the polish maybe with an exception of magenta where there is slighty more than the rest. However, unlike the other polishes this at first glance in the bottle you are able to see every single color glitter in it. I used 4 coats of this but it could maybe use 5. That is the only drawback to this one it applies thinner than the rest. I got this at Sally's and it was misplaced. I did some research and I found that his was part of a Limited Edition Glitter's collection. I never saw a display for this, but apparently there was another shade Sapphire Shimmer. These obviously were made with the intention of being dupes to OPI Mad as a Hatter & OPI Absolutely Alice. As you can see Wicked Glitter is not an exact dupe of Mad as Hatter they very different as far as color, but it is cheaper and just as glittery.

As far as I know right now OPI Mad as a Hatter is hard to find except on Ebay, so if you really want a glitter similar but not exactly like it I'd suggest either one of these two. SH Rockstar Pink is usually $2.99, but at CVS this week Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear polishes are on sale for $1.99. Finger Paints Wicked Glitter is $4.99 at Sally's Beauty Supply. I got that one for free though, because Sally's doing buy 2 of any brand nail polish get the 3rd free! There are some good deals there!


Here are the readers best buys of the week. Great job ladies!

* Jewelry Designer: Harjot * of Classy H Jewelry got Sally Hansen HARD AS NAILS (purple w/ silver sparkles) for $2.99

Bec of Bec's Beauty Buzz was feeling crafty and bought a few holo glitters, flakie glitter, pinky gold glitter, along with some clear polishes and made her own nail polish. She did this all for $8. Yay, for being creative!

That's all for today!

Nail Wheel Spam & Best Buys of the Week

No blog today. I have an accounting final tomorrow that I need to be studying for. Blech. Here is some nail wheel spam. This is probably from almost a year a go. My collection has probably tripled since. :P











What are your best buys of the last week?
-What did you buy?
-How much did you pay for it?
-Where did you buy it at?

Have a great Monday!

Red Glitter Comparison Swatches

There are lots of glittery reds out there and many of them could be considered dupes and others are clearly unique. I figured I'd compare the ones I have for you guys. I also will try and give you some detailed descriptions for each one. I did these on a nail wheel because my camera was having a hard time capturing these on my nails.
Here are the ones I'll be comparing..

L-R: Milani-Garnet Gems, OPI-Red Dazzle, BB Couture-Napa Valley Red, Orly-Glam, China Glaze-Ruby Pumps, Maybelline-Red Comet, Milani-Ruby Jewels, Finger Paints-Candy Cane Shimmer, Hardy Candy-Lava


Here are the swatches.
1.Milani-Garnet Gems 2.OPI-Red Dazzle 3.BBCouture-Napa Valley Red 4.Orly-Glam 5.China Glaze-Ruby Pumps 6.Maybelline-Red Comet 7.Milani-Ruby Jewels 8.Finger Paints-Candy Cane Shimmer 9.Hardy Candy-Lava



1. Milani Garnet Gems is a blackened jelly base with red glitter. The glitter in this is little more subdued. You can see it, but it is more noticeable in light or sunlight.
2. OPI Red Dazzle is warm toned red jelly base with gold and red glitter mixed in. This glitter is more noticeable than Garnet Gems.
3. BB Couture Napa Valley Red is deep red/violet jelly base with red glitter. The glitter in here is more subdued on the nail but it really pops in the light.
4. Orly Glam is a medium red-violet jelly base with sparse red,magenta, and silver glitter. The jelly finish in this polish is more of a prominent factor than the glitter. The glitter still does make statement and add dimension to this polish.
5,6, & 7. China Glaze Ruby Pumps, Maybelline Red Comet, & Milani Ruby Jewels by my best judgment are dupes of each other. These are all cooler toned red jelly bases with red glitter mixed in. The glitter in these stands out and really makes for a beautiful polish. If you have one of these I really don't think you need either of the other 2.
8. Finger Paints Candy Cane Shimmer is pink toned red with chunky gold, silver, and pinkish shimmer.
9. Hard Candy Lava is a bright red-orange with red and gold glitter flecks mixed in.

All of these should be easy to find with the exception of OPI Red Dazzle and Finger Paints Candy Cane Shimmer. I have seen OPI Red Dazzle minis being sold on Ebay for under $10. I know I have seen some Finger Paints Candy Cane Shimmer in various Sally's Beauty Supply in their Clearance sections.

BB Couture Napa Valley Red can be found on Overall Beauty. Hard Candy Lava can be found Walmart. The rest can be found at various drugstores, Dollar Tree, Sally's, or different e-tailers.

That is all for now. What are your favorite red glitters?

Maybelline Salsa Sun Summer 2010 Collection & L'Oreal Passport to Paradise Collection

Remember my giveaway!

I was on the hunt for Sally Hansen's Hidden Treasure yesterday and today with no luck. I've been to 5 Walgreens and 3 CVS. I give up for now. If you don't know what Hidden Treasure is check out Nouveau Cheap's post. However, at one Walgreens I found these new polishes by Maybelline part of their Salsa Sun Summer 2010 collection. Right now they are BOGO 1/2 off!

They also had another display with makeup with two other nail colors a bright red-orange and a grass green. This a picture from my phone so the color is off they are brighter. Most these are cremes or have a subtle unnoticeable shimmer. These are AMAZING summer colors. I am so excited about them! All these colors I can picture looking great on summer vacations and at the beach. I love when colors can whisk you away to places.

I picked up these...

Coral Cabana

This a bright red-coral creme. It goes on smooth and dries quickly which I love. This is probably my favorite of the bunch. I love reds and coral reds. I used 2 coats.

Banana Bamba

This is a light yellow with a subtle shimmer I didn't even notice until I looked at the picture of the bottle. I don't notice this shimmer at all. This is my first yellow polish ever. Yellows always scared me, but I think I like this. It's not an everyday color, but a great color for a day out. I used 3 coats.

Beach Plum

This is a light plum creme. I love this one. It's a perfect summer purple. It's fresh and bright. I used 2 coats.

I also saw the L'Oreal Passport to Paradise collection. The polish colors in this collection are said to be dupes to Essie's North Fork 2009 collection.

I only ended up getting Waters Edge. I would of gotten them all, but to be honest blues and greens especially on the lighter side look terrible on my skin tone. It's a shame because blues and greens are some of my favorite colors in general. These are beautiful shades though that I would recommend!

Waters Edge

This is a muted turquoise. It does go on a bit thick but nothing to fuss about. I think it looks alright on me. I can probably pull it off. I love it too much not to! I used 2 coats

That's it for today! Has anyone been able to find Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure? If so, where did you find it?

More China Glaze Glitters Swatches

Just a reminder to enter My Giveaway that ends May 7th.

People seemed to like one of previous posts with China Glaze glitters so I decided I swatch all the ones I have for you all!

Bad Kitty

This is what I'd consider a pink-salmon colored jelly with chunky iridescent glitter. I say take your time applying these because they are chunky glitters so make sure to try and get an even application. I used 2 coats. I love this one. It would be a great summer color! This is 3 coats, but you could go for 4.

Preppy Pink

This is a pale pink jelly with chunky iridescent glitter. I like this one, but it isn't my favorite. I thought it was going to be a bit more pigmented with color, but it could just be my skin tone. I used 3 coats.

Moulin Rouge

This is a red-magenta jelly with chunky iridescent glitter. This probably my favorite of the bunch because of the color payoff. It's very striking and glittery. I used 3 coats.

Medallion

This is primarily a gold chunky glitter with silver holographic glitter mixed in. This definitely needs a lot of coats. I used 3, but I'd go with 4 or 5. This is very blingy for sure!

Nova

This is primarily a silver chunky glitter with holographic glitter mixed in. This one definitely makes a statement! I used 3 coats, but it needs 4 or 5. Wow, what a nail polish! Don't you think?

That's all the swatches I have for today, but as I was swatching by boyfriend noticed we had a friend walking around outside our patio of our apartment. Behind our apartments we have this little marsh area where there are typically a lot of wild birds. They rarely decide to walk up the marsh into the courtyard of the apartments but this guy decided to venture out this afternoon.

Isn't he a handsome fellow? Or a beautiful girl? This is what I believe to be called a "Sandhill Crane". These are big birds probably close to 4ft tall. They are very beautiful. Last spring I saw a family of them and they were always together. They are quite loud though! They will wake me up some mornings with their squawking, but it's nice to have some wildlife outside your front door!

Have a great Friday!

My 50 Follower Giveaway!!!--CLOSED

It's that time! :) I thank you all so much for making my first entry into blogging so great!! I thank you all for the follows and nice comments I have received. I greatly appreciate everyone's kindness.

Here is what you are going to get! I added a few more things.



1. Nailene- Perfect Tips French Polish Guides
2. Essence of Beauty- Citrus Coconut Body Lotion (2 fl oz)
3. Essence of Beauty- Citrus Coconut Shower Gel (2 fl oz)
4. L'Oreal Hip Shadow Duo- Spirited
5. Maybelline Shiny-licious Lip Gloss- Berry-Bella
6. Maybelline Shiny-licious Lip Gloss- Raiz' n Razzle
7. Cover Girl Nail Polish- Peek-a-boo Pink
8. Cover Girl Nail Polish- Ruby Dust
9. Sinful Colors- Cream Pink
10. Sinful Colors- Mint Apple
11. Sinful Colors- Forget Now
12. Sinful Colors- Let's Talk
13. N.Y.C.- Big Apple Red Creme
14. Wet n' Wild- Rain Check
15. Wet n' Wild- Night Prowl
16. Revlon- Tropical Temptation
17. Milani Neon- Dude Blue

Note: All these products are new and never have been used. The lip glosses and eyeshadow are in their original packaging and have never been opened.

Guidelines
1. You must be 18 or older to enter.
2. This is open internationally. However, if an international winner is chosen I will be using the least expensive method of shipping because it can be really expensive!
3. The contest is starting today and will run until Friday May 7th 2010 @ 11:59 EST.
4. I will randomly draw a winner Saturday May 8th and the winner will either be announced that day or Sunday May 9th.
5. I will email the winner and you have 48 hours to reply or else another winner will be chosen :(.

How to Enter:

You can have up to 5 entries. Please, please, please, try to incorporate all of your entries into one post! :)

Mandatory
1. You must be a follower and provide me with your email. (1 entry)

Optional
2.(Freebie) What is your favorite color family when it comes to nail polish (reds, pinks,blues, etc.)?(1 entry)

3.You can tweet about my giveaway my twitter name is @ImperfectPaint. Please provide me with the link to the twitter update you made or your twitter so I can find it. (1 entry)

4. Blog about my entry either in a post or your sidebar and provide me with the link. (1 entry)

5. Can you guess my favorite Disney Princess? I'll narrow it down.. is it Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White, Belle, Jasmine, or Sleeping Beauty? (1 entry if you get it right)

There you go! I hope you all like this giveaway and I look forward to all the entries! If you have any questions about the giveaway please email me at imperfectlypainted@gmail.com

China Glaze Glitter Swatches & Happy Earth Day!

Here are some polishes I got awhile ago I hadn't had the chance to swatch. All of these are the China Glaze glitter polishes they released in late summer/early fall of last year.

Mango Madness

This is a coral jelly base with lots of chunky iridescent glitter! It's a fun polish for sure. This is 3 coats and it could maybe use 4. You could use this layer over something else, but I prefer it on its own.

Dynasty

This is a kind of a scarlet red jelly with chunky holographic glitter. Sorry, I couldn't capture this well my camera doesn't really like red glittery polishes :(. This is 2 coats.

Cloud Nine

Cloud Nine is a milky white jelly with goldish iridescent glitter throughout. I'm not sure how I feel about this polish. I love it in the bottle, but I don't think it really suits me. I'm not quite sure what it is but something is off about it? It would probably look better against a darker skin tone. This was 3 coats.

Moving on! Happy Earth Day everyone! I know every blog is posting this, so I'll just give it quick mention. Zoya is having their Zoya Polish Exchange in celebration of Earth Day.

You can mail them a minimum of 6 polishes any kind but their own and they'll mail you equal number of their own polishes in return. This does come with a price tag, but you will be saving a lot! If you're interested click on the link I provided above for more info.

Like many people have said everyday should be Earth Day. I know we all fall victim to this but in our busy lives we sometimes forget about how wonderful and precious our Earth is. I think not only should we take action to be more "green", but we should also educate ourselves more on our Earth. It's always good to know why we should recycle or why we should save water? I suggest maybe reading up, watching a program, or surfing the internet on topic that may interest you on how our world works or has changed whether it be Geology, Meteorology,Paleontology, or etc. Knowledge is important and can never learn enough! In the big picture in our universe the Earth is nothing but a spec of dust (not even). Earth and humanity are unique and one-of-kind as far as we know. We should do our best to protect and take care of planet because it's the only home we have.

To leave off I want to post some pretty pictures I took in England when I visited a few summers ago. Nature is always so beautiful!







Have a great day! I'm 2 followers away from posting my giveaway!