China Glaze Crackle Lightning Bolt

I swear, for someone who was pretty indifferent to crackles I become a devoted fan. I started out only liking the black crackle, then I moved on to the white. Now, I want all the other colors, but they're old sold out on all e-tailers so I'll have to hold off and hope they get more in. Today, I have the white China Glaze crackle for you.

Lightning Bolt over China Glaze Spontaneous

Lightning Bolt over Savina Ocean Waves

 

Lightning Bolt is a white creme crackle.

I initially didn't care for this one, but I really love it over bright or pastel colors. I think the black crackle formula is a bit better, but this is nice too. I do notice with this one where the polish "cracks" there is slight white overcast over the color underneath in some spots. This could be my own application fault though. It's not very noticable though, and I really like the effect!

Happy Sunday!

China Glaze Crackle Black Mesh

I must admit when the crackle craze started I was pretty apathetic about the whole thing. I was quickly won over by OPI Black Shatter, so I jumped on the crackle train! Here is a the black crackle from China Glaze.

Black Mesh over DS Glamour

Black Mesh over China Glaze Ruby Pumps

Black Mesh is a black creme crackle.

I think China Glaze Black Mesh and OPI Black Shatter are identical as far as how they look. I do think the China Glaze crackle is much easier to work with. I found the OPI in comparison to be thicker and had the tendency to drag against the nail versus giving a smooth coat. China Glaze definitely delivers better and for a far more reasonable price in my opinion!

Happy Saturday!


P.S. There is a special sale going on at Cult Nails today and tomorrow only. Please check out Maria's blog for details!

Revlon Top Speed Ocean

A few weeks ago I takled about Revlon Scented Ocean Breeze. I hated the smell of this polish, it was completely unbearable. What I did like about it was the color, but I refuse to tolerate the putrid smell for a pretty color. I even have my limits. There is an alternative, and I think a much better one. The Revlon Top Speed collection has a called "Ocean" sans the smell. I think the colors are almost identical, but I think the Top Speed is better overall.

Ocean

 Ocean is a teal shimmer/foil.

I think this has a slight kind of blue/purple duochrome too it. It's more prominent on the bottle than the nail, but it's nice nonetheless.

Ocean (under lamp)

You can kind of see hints of the duochromeness in this picture.

Here is how it compares to Revlon Scented Ocean Breeze.

I think Top Speed Ocean is significantly better. I think are similar in the sense of color. Top Speed has more of a foily finish versus Scented's frost finish. Also, the pigmentation and formula are far better in Top Speed. I say Top Speeds wins in this comparison, not just because it's missing the nasty smell, but it's an overall better polish.




Happy Thursday!


P.S. My parents are coming in town tomorrow for the weekend, so I may not have posts or they may be sporadic. I haven't seen them since October, so I'm excited for their visit!

China Glaze Spontaneous

I have a problem. I've become addicted to lavender and lilac polishes. I only have 3 or 4 of these colors, but I want more. I just love this shade of purple. This China Glaze is one of my favorites in this color family.

Spontaneous

Spontaneous is a medium lavender creme.

I love this purple. I love that it's blue-toned purple. I really don't have much else to say! Yay lavender! That being said...

Do you have any favorite lavender or lilac cremes/shimmers/ or glitters you would like to recommend?

Thank you!

Happy Wednesday!


P.S.: My friend over at Lacquer Ware for Tips and Toes is having a blogsale! She has some great international lacquers she is selling!

Zoya Danielle

I haven't visited Zoya land in awhile! This is one of my favorite manicures I think I done so far this year. I don't wear sheerer/paler colors often, but when I do always love the look. Zoya makes some great sheer/french colors that shouldn't be overlooked.

Danielle

Danielle is a sheer seashell pale pink with sparse iridescent glass flecks.

It's best if you enlarge this one, because there are these tiny iridescent glass flecks throughout this polish. This a beautiful elegant color. I love the glass flecks in there anything to make a sheerer color a bit more special is right up my alley!

After a few days I decided to liven this up a bit by adding a coat of Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure...

This is how you take something great and make it even better! I love Hidden Treasure over dark color, but it is equally beautiful over light colors. I love the opalescent look of this.

Happy Tuesday!

Savina Ocean Waves

I have to do a quick post today. I have massive amounts of work to do on a research paper, so it maybe like this for the rest of the week. Today, I have for you a great Savina polish I found. This is a brand I find at Nordstrom Rack that retails for $3.97 a bottle. You can also find them on 8ty8Beauty.

Ocean Waves

Ocean Waves is a medium aqua shimmer.

This is a great bright blue/green shimmer. I love aquas,turquoises, and teals, and this is no exception! I love the Savina brand. I think they are similar to China Glaze in the sense that they have a great selection of unique and funky colors. Also, I just realized that with Savina you get .65 fl oz of polish versus the standard .5, so this is nice plus!

Happy Monday!

Crosscreek Country Candles

This is going to be a non nail polish post, but I loved this so much I wanted to share. On Tuesday, I won Gina from Prim and Polished giveaway. It was a $25 gift certificate for Crosscreek Country Candles. I have always been a candle/scent person.  I've never bought candles online, and I only have a few because to be honest candles can get expensive! I don't know why it never occurred to me to look up tarts (which is scented wax sans the wicks), but I'm glad I discovered these now through Gina & Crosscreek Country Candles because I'm very pleased!

Deana is the owner of Crosscreek Country Candles. She's been making these tarts for 9 years. I always appreciate a home grown business. My father has had his own business for almost 22 years, and I understand the love and dedication that goes into creating and maintaining your own thing. Deana's business is no exception. She is very friendly and easy to communicate with. I ordered on Wednesday, and got my tarts today! She packaged everything nicely, and it overall was a wonderful experience. I will 100% be getting her stuff again and again. I will not need a gift certificate in the future these are totally worth the money. That being said, these are very affordable!

Here are the goodies I got...(click to enlarge photos)

Twilight Woods, Celtic Moonspice, & Bamboo Sugar Cane

 Coconut Lemongrass, Cucumber Cantaloupe, & Harvest Moon

 

Island Mango, Cactus & Sea Salt, & Cucumber Aloe

 Mediterranean Garden Spa, Salty Sea Air,  & Green Irish Tweed

Waterfall Mist, Island Spa, & Storm Watch

Citrus Linen H2O & Sweet Cravings

The last two were smaller tarts Deana sent me as extras. The larger tarts were $2. She also has smaller tarts and specialty tarts in shapes like baked goods, hearts, bunnies & etc. She has tons and tons of scents you can choose from. I won't go into detail on the scents I got, because I know everyone has their specific taste. I prefer fresh/clean, spicy, or tropical scents. All of these I got were great, but I'd have to say the standouts are Bamboo Sugar Cane, Coconut Lemongrass, Cactus & Sea Salt, Mediterranean Garden Spa, Cucumber Aloe, and Salty Sea Air. I am sensitive to smells, and none of these I found to be off putting or too intense.

I burn these on a candle/tart electric warmer. I cut these in half since they are big, a suggestion Deana gave me. These are melt quickly, and the fragrance fills up the room. It's not too strong, it's just right. I'm very impressed. :)

Thank you so much Gina for having this giveaway, and thank you Deana for introducing me to your excellent product!

If you're interested, be sure to check out Crosscreek Country Candles! They're also on Facebook.

Happy Saturday!

China Glaze Sea Spray

I was very worried about this color. I had this feeling that this color would look bad on me. I do not have much luck with lighter gray-blue or gray-purple colors. This started with Orly Pixie Dust, which I gave away before I even started this blog. This color was so atrocious on me, I feared gray for a while. When I first put on Sea Spray I fell in love. I got a lot of compliments on it too. So, I'm no longer going to write off the light gray/blues/purples anymore.

Sea Spray is a light grey-blue with a subtle shimmer.

This color is from the China Glaze Spring Anchors Away collection. What I've noticed is the colors I seem most hesitant about are the ones I fall deeply in love with. I actually want to get a second bottle of this. Great color. I definitely recommend it!

Happy Friday

OPI Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ

I've been hearing raves about Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ since I got into nail polish. I always had an interest in the color, but never got around to getting it until recently. I also really like the name, even though it gets picked on a lot.

I was born and raised in Texas, but to be honest I don't consider myself much of Texan. I don't have Texan pride. There is one thing about Texas I will always stand by, and that's that they have the absolute best BBQ. That is something I miss living in Florida, they just don't do their BBQ right! I could get into a discussion on what I think makes good BBQ, but this a nail polish blog...:P

Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ

 Mrs. O'Leary's BBQ is a deep plummy brownish-red creme.

This color is fabulous. A great classic dark creme. It dries super shiny. I love this sophisticated shade. I wouldn't call this an all-time favorite, but it's a definite color I'm glad to have in my collection. This looks great as a mani or a pedi.

Happy Thursday!

I was rejected.......

A little while back RBL asked for submissions for their dream color. I normally don't get invested in contests because I know my chances are incredibly slim. As soon as I found out about this contest, I knew I had stunning idea. I wanted something that hasn't been done before. I love gold, but I'm so used to seeing gold being paired with warmer colors like reds,pinks, and oranges. I wanted to see gold paired with a blue, and knew exactly where you see this....

This is the Roman Pool at Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California. This area of central coast California is where I've spent many Christmases with my family, and we'd often make it a tradition to take tour of this castle. So, not to sound silly, but I have many nice memories attached to this place.

My idea for a color was a bright lapis blue with a warm golden iridescent flakie. I wanted this color to emulate mosaic tiles or lapis lazuli.

It didn't get picked, which is fine. Of course, I'm bitter and disappointed. I know there were hundreds of entries. What I didn't expect was when I revealed this idea to my nail polish buddies how much they'd appreciate it and understand my attachment to it. I got so many nice messages. I had people telling me they'd buy that color if it was put out. I know it's just a silly idea, but it gave me some validation that my idea was worthwhile, and it was OK that I felt so strongly about it.

Ange from Scandalously Polished even took the time to create a version with her amazing franken magic. She even did a blog post about it today! It's gorgeous! Be sure to check it out! Maria from Cult Nails even took interest into possibly creating this color. So, maybe it will become a reality after all. :)

To be honest it means more to me to have my nail buddy friends appreciate this color. I know many of you entered as well with fabulous ideas that were not picked also. I heard many of yours and was surprised why they weren't chosen either! We're a creative bunch! If you have an idea you should talk to Ange, and she'll try to create it for you. :) In the comments section you can also share with me your idea, I'd love to hear them.

Happy Wednesday!


P.S. Thank you to those of you who sent my all the kind messages. You all made my day!

Cult Nails Quench, Living Water & Iconic

Maria blogger of R3Daily and founder of Cult Nails has released the rest of her colors in her first collection. I talked about her first color My Kind of Cool-Aid a little while ago. I am equally impressed with the rest of her collection. These are awesome colors and have an incredible formula to match.

Quench

Quench is a red jelly. This is what I call red-jelly perfection. The formula of this is excellent. It's not to thick or too thin. I put enough polish on my brush where it covered my whole hand without dragging or being running. This is a "va-va-voom red". It's very sexy, but sophisticated. You can't go wrong!

Living Water

Living Water is a deep blue/green jelly with blue and green glitter. This color was created by Tierney. Beautiful rich color. I love anything named in relation to ocean or water, and this is unique and dark spin.

Iconic

Iconic is a berry shade with tiny red flakes and golden shimmer. Red flakes & gold shimmer? Count me in! This is right up my alley! The base color is beautiful on its own, but the amazing addition of flakes and gold shimmer make this one extra special. I love the subtlety of the flakes and shimmer it doesn't overpower the color, but gives it the perfect hint of pizazz.

The thing I think that makes Cult Nails extra special it is goes above just creating great colors, but gives you an excellent product. The formula of these is one of, if not the best I've used. Maria ships things quickly. She also packages her products using recycled materials and lots of cotton balls. It is so clever because those cotton balls come in so much handy as a nail polish addict! I said it my last post, but you can tell the love Maria has put into her company. It definitely shows and as a customer that means a lot to me.

You can purchase Cult Nails polishes on their website.

Happy Tuesday!