Tag: china glaze

Dare to Compare | Comparing 5 Coral Nail Polishes

Happy Friday! Today’s nail polish comparison is going to be the biggest yet. I own five coral nail polishes that all look extremely similar in the bottle, and I just had to test them out together to see if any were dupes. Coral is the perfect shade to wear in the summertime, so I hope you’ll find these swatches helpful if you’re on the lookout for a coral shade. Let’s jump right into the individual reviews and side-by-side comparison!

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear – Coral Reef Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear – Coral ReefFirst up is Coral Reef from the Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear line. This is the most affordable polish of the bunch, and it also has one of the best formulas. Coral Reef is a bit on the watery side, but it applies smoothly and is opaque in two coats. If you’ve been following my blog since its beginning, you’ll know that I am a huge fan of the Xtreme Wear line. While some of the formulas are duds, most of them are excellent and can fit nearly any budget. Coral Reef is a great option!

Milani – Splendid Strawberry Milani – Splendid StrawberryNext up is Splendid Strawberry from Milani’s older nail polish collection that is now discontinued. Splendid Strawberry looks a bit more pink-toned in the bottle, but dries to a beautiful coral shade. This polish has a very good formula, but is again a bit on the watery side. I really like the flat brush that came in this Milani line, as it makes application easier than thicker brushes.

Milani Color Statement – Corrupted Coral Milani Color Statement – Corrupted CoralAnother polish from Milani is Corrupted Coral from its newer Color Statement line. Corrupted Coral’s formula is okay, but quite thick. I found that it dragged upon application, so make sure to let each coat dry completely before adding another layer. I also recommend thin coats as this polish can be very tacky.

Sally Hansen Insta-Dri – Peachy Breeze Sally Hansen Insta-Dri – Peachy BreezeThe next polish is Peachy Breeze from the Sally Hansen Insta-Dri line. Peachy Breeze is a go-to polish for me, and my most used coral polish for sure. The formula has gotten a bit tacky over time, but it is still easily workable. I applied two coats to achieve opacity, and as promised, this polish dried extremely quickly.

China Glaze – Surreal Appeal China Glaze – Surreal AppealLast but not least is China Glaze Surreal Appeal. This polish has a wonky formula. It is very watery, and then when it dries it becomes very uneven. I applied two coats in the photos above, and you can definitely see the uneven texture. I just don’t have much luck with the China Glaze brand!

Dare to Compare | Comparing 5 Coral Nail Polishes Dare to Compare | Comparing 5 Coral Nail PolishesIt’s time to look at all of these polishes together! I’m wearing a different polish on each finger in the photos above, and I think it is fair to say that these are all dupes for one another. I cannot tell a difference between these five shades! I can’t believe I own so many of the same polish color. That being said, I am going to declutter all but one of them. I will be keeping Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Peachy Breeze, because although the formula is not perfect, it is my favorite out of the bunch since it applies well and dries fast.

All in all, I can’t get over the fact that I had five coral nail polishes that are virtually identical in my collection! I hope you found this post helpful if you are looking to find a coral, or if you already own one of the above. Now you won’t be wondering if a polish is a dupe when nail polish shopping! Definitely let me know in the comments if you have a favorite coral shade. I would love to hear your polish picks!

Some of the products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Manicure March | China Glaze in Surreal Appeal

Happy Monday! We are in the home stretch for Manicure March, and today I’m revisiting the brand China Glaze. Earlier this month I tried Creative Fantasy, and found the formula to be quite bad. I wanted to test out another China Glaze in my collection to see how the formula compared. I love the shade of Surreal Appeal, but it’s not worth keeping if it has a bad formula. Let’s take a look at this bright nail polish!

China Glaze in Surreal Appeal China Glaze in Surreal AppealSurreal Appeal is a bright coral nail polish with a creme finish. The formula is good, but it is still a bit thicker and goopier than I would like. That being said, it’s not too challenging to work with, and I get a gorgeous finish in two opaque coats. I absolutely love the shade of Surreal Appeal. I’ve decided that I’m going to keep it in my collection for now, because I know this is a polish I will wear regularly. However, I’m going to see if I own another polish in this same color with a better formula. If I do, I will destash this one.

All in all, I’m glad I found a China Glaze polish in my collection with a beautiful color and decent formula. Surreal Appeal is so bright and fun, and makes me ready for the spring weather. Coral pinks are a go to shade for me in the warmer months for sure. I would love to know in the comments what nail polish colors you reach for once springtime is here. Do you wear polishes seasonally, or just based on your mood? Please share with me!

Join in #ManicureMarch by using the hashtag on social media and by tagging me in your photos on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter!

Manicure March | China Glaze in Creative Fantasy

Happy Saturday! Today for Manicure March I’m reviewing a polish from the brand China Glaze. While this brand is very well known in the nail polish world, I rarely use China Glaze polishes. In fact, besides owning the complete Hunger Games collection, I only have a few other polishes from the brand. During my recent nail polish reorganization project, I found the bottle Creative Fantasy. I’m not sure if I’ve ever used it, so I decided to try it out and share my thoughts with all of you!

China Glaze in Creative Fantasy China Glaze in Creative FantasyCreative Fantasy is a purple nail polish with a crelly formula – creme and jelly mixture. The formula is very problematic. It is thin and watery, and very patchy. I’ve applied three coats in the photos here, and you can clearly see how it is patchy and not fully opaque in some areas. I didn’t have to spend any time debating whether or not I’d keep Creative Fantasy in my collection. This one had to go ASAP!

I’m very interested to hear from all of you in regards to China Glaze. The polishes are sold at stores such as Sally Beauty and Ulta, and I consider them a salon brand. However, I haven’t fallen in love with the shades I’ve tried in the past. I know I’m unlikely to purchase a nail polish from a brand if I haven’t had a great experience in the past. Let me know in the comments if you feel the same way!

Join in #ManicureMarch by using the hashtag on social media and by tagging me in your photos on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Twitter!

Manicure Monday | China Glaze in Surreal Appeal

Happy Manicure Monday! Today I have another polish to share with you that I swatched during my great destash project. It’s no secret that I love pink nail polish. In fact, it’s the color of polish that I have the biggest variety of in my collection. I decided it was time to pare down my pink polishes, so I carefully picked out a few that I knew I had dupes of, or whose formulas just weren’t that great. I put China Glaze in Surreal Appeal aside, and decided to swatch it. I’m so glad I did! Let me show you this beautiful polish!

China Glaze  – Surreal Appeal China Glaze  – Surreal AppealSurreal Appeal is a neon pink polish that leans towards coral. The formula is excellent, applies smoothly, and is opaque in two coats. Surreal Appeal looks amazing with my skin tone, and I can’t believe I haven’t worn this more! I think it’s been about two years since I reached for this polish, but that’s due to the sheer volume of pinks I own. It got lost amongst all the other pretty bottles!

All in all, I am loving China Glaze in Surreal Appeal. Decluttering my nail polish collection is a slow process, and difficult for someone who is a collector and blogger. That being said, it’s refreshing to get rid of polishes that I’m not in love with, because now I can focus on the truly stunning ones like Surreal Appeal. You can purchase Surreal Appeal on Amazon HERE for around $6.00. I highly recommend you pick this one up for your stash!

This post contains an affiliate link. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Guest Post | Blobbicure Nail Art with Nail Envy

Greetings Adventures in Polishland readers! My name is Emily and my blog is Nail Envy. Today I’m in for Christina while she’s away, so I hope I’m a reasonable substitute! =D

The design I created here is featuring the blobbicure technique. The first time I created a blobbicure, I did it with uncertainty. It was for a nail art challenge, and I had never heard of a blobbicure before. After a Google search, I wasn’t super impressed with how it looked, although the technique did look like it would be fun to try. So I tried to change it up a little by making blobby shapes instead of just blobs. My first blobbicure mani turned out kinda cute, but I managed to dodge the challenge because I wasn’t really a fan of the look.

Well it’s been a while since then, and I’ve seen lots of blobbicures popping up all over the place. I’ve not only been won over to the blobbicure, I’ve been inspired by so many of the designs I’ve seen to create some interesting combos of my own!

Like so many other nail polish addicts, I recently purchased China Glaze’s Electric Nights collection. I’m still finding my way through all of the polishes and all of the combos I want to try, so I decided to use three polishes from this collection: Violet-Vibes, DJ Blue My Mind and Treble Maker. I used some Elmer’s Glue (which I keep in an old nail polish bottle) to coat the skin around the nails of my index and pinky finger. (The glue dries clear, is easily removed and takes all the excess paint off that would have got on your skin.) After the glue dried, I used some pieces of sponge to create a sponged design of the three polishes on those fingers.

Blobbicure Nail Art with Nail Envy

For the blobbicure, I polished Violet-Vibes on my thumb, middle and ring finger, and when the first coat was dry, I put on a thick second coat and quickly blobbed on DJ Blue My Mind and Treble Maker. I waited a while for my blobbed nails to dry since the polish is so thick (about 15 minutes) before I finished my whole mani with a coat of Seche Vite.

Blobbicure Nail Art with Nail Envy

My first official blobbicure is complete! I have more ideas of other combos to try, and can’t wait to do another and see if I can perfect this technique. If you haven’t created a blobbicure yet, you should give it a try!

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Manicure Monday | China Glaze Stone Cold

Happy Monday! As you may have noticed, I took a bit of a break from my blog this past week. I’ve just been so busy with school and my internship this semester! Luckily I had a long weekend thanks to President’s Day, and I’ve gotten in some much needed rest. Now I’m here to show you this week’s manicure in the Alphabet Challenge. We’re onto letter C, and I’m trying on a China Glaze polish. Please forgive my winter cuticles in the photos – the NYC temperatures have not been good to my hands!

China Glaze – Stone Cold China Glaze – Stone ColdThis is Stone Cold, one of the polishes released in the Hunger Games collection a few years back. Stone Cold is a slate grey polish with a matte formula. It contains a silver shimmer in the base that really makes it look like solid rock! Stone Cold has a really great formula that is opaque in one coat. I applied two above just to test it out. I can’t believe this beauty has lived in my nail polish collection for nearly three years without me using it!

All in all, I am so glad I finally pulled out Stone Cold! It has a really unique color and formula, and I’m certainly a sucker for matte finishes. I do wish clean-up on my cuticles was easier, but now I know to be super careful during application with this one. While Stone Cold was a limited edition shade from China Glaze, it is available on Amazon HERE for $6.49! Make sure to snag it if you want it, though, as there are only four bottles left as I type this!

Please let me know your favorite China Glaze shades in the comments! I love your recommendations!

This post contains an affiliate link. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Halloween Week | Fall Glitter with China Glaze Nail Lacquer

Happy Wednesday! For today’s Halloween inspired manicure, I put together a simple look for those who like more abstract designs. While nail art is always fun, sometimes a bit of polish and some glitter will represent the holiday just as well. I grabbed a couple of my China Glaze polishes from the Hunger Games collection since I am so excited for the upcoming release of Catching Fire, but you can use any polishes in your collection. Let me show you the look I created!

IMG_3190 IMG_3192I love fall colors – browns, reds, golds, oranges – they’re all so pretty this time of year! I began my manicure with Mahogany Magic, a nice coffee brown creme polish. Then I added one thin coat of Electrify to complete the look. Electrify is a gold and red glitter polish that can easily be worn alone in two coats. I finished up with a glossy top coat and was ready to celebrate the Halloween season in style!

IMG_3197All in all, if you are looking to celebrate autumn, try a glittery look like this one! It’s so easy to create, and represents fall foliage perfectly. Plus, this is a great alternative to nail art if that isn’t your thing. Let me know what your favorite glitter for the Halloween season is in the comments!

This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

What’s Under There? Part Two

Happy Monday! Today I have another edition of What’s Under There? In this series I share with you some of the nail polishes I used as the base color for glitter manicures. You can see Part One of this series HERE, and make sure to stay tuned for new installments on a regular basis! Let me show you the polishes on today’s agenda.

 

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First up is Sally Hansen Complete Manicure in Barracuda, a beautiful pastel blue. Barracuda is a great polish that is opaque in two coats. The formula is spot on, and applies with ease. I layered Rainbow Polish in Tahitian Waters over Barracuda (see that post HERE), but it is beautiful on its own as well. The Complete Salon Manicure line is one of the more expensive collections from Sally Hansen, but it often goes on sale. Keep an eye on the weekly fliers and coupon inserts in the newspaper!

 

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Next up is Surreal Appeal from China Glaze, a vibrant red orange polish that leans towards pink. Surreal Appeal is from the Cirque du Soleil collection, and is the perfect color for summer. I needed three coats of this polish, as the formula was a bit uneven in two coats alone. Otherwise, Surreal Appeal is just a fabulous polish! I layered Different Dimension in Wish You Were Here over this polish in THIS review for a manicure with even more pop. You can find Surreal Appeal at your local beauty supple store, or on Amazon HERE (it is currently just $3.05, so snag it before the price goes up!).

 

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Last but not least is Zoya Arizona, a beautiful orange creme polish. I’ve wanted Arizona for the longest time, and when I tried it for the first time I understood why. This polish has a perfect formula that is opaque in two coats. The orange color is not too bright, but just a true orange. I used it as the base color for Different Dimension’s Comfortably Numb to create the neon look seen HERE. Arizona is such a flattering polish, and can be purchase on Zoya’s website HERE for $8.

All in all, these polishes are stunning on their own as well as layered with a glitter nail polish! I find that these shades are great for the spring and summer seasons as well, and are definitely fabulous and affordable. Let me know which of the three is your favorite!

 

Some of the links above are affiliate links. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Keep Calm and Add Glitter!

Happy Sunday! Today I thought I would share with you one of the manicures I wore at the beginning of the spring season. Even though I love trying out new nail polishes all the time, I enjoy it when I have the chance to search through my stash for a favorite polish. For this manicure, I decided upon a pastel mint green, and one of my favorite glitter top coats. Let me show you this fun manicure!

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First I began with a base of Keep Calm, Paint On from China Glaze. This is a mint green pastel with green and pink shimmer mixed in, so it has just a touch of sparkle on its own. Keep Calm, Paint On has a good formula that is opaque in two coats. It is a bit on the thick side, so there is a little streaking, but not much. I love this nail polish because of the name, but the color is also stunning. You can also snag this on Amazon for just $2.19 at the moment! There are only seven bottles left in stock, so grab yours HERE!

 

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I completed my manicure by adding two coats of Kite Island from A Rhyming Dictionary Polish to my mint base color. Kite Island is a glitter top coat filled with fine glitters in pink and green, hexagonal glitters in orange, blue, pink, and green, small green squares, and large white squares. I think this glitter is so fun, and it really livens up my nails. The white square glitters are so unexpected, but they are my favorite part of the polish! As with all polishes from A Rhyming Dictionary, Kite Island has an amazing formula, and the glitters apply with ease. You can purchase this on Etsy for $7.50 HERE.

All in all, I hope you liked seeing one of the manicures that I wore for spring! Mint green and glitter are definitely the perfect combination in my book. Plus, I love being able to reach into my nail polish collection for a polish I haven’t worn in a long time. If you liked seeing this manicure, please let me know in the comments!

 

Some of the products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. This post contains some affiliate links. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information. 

Dare to Compare Week! Day Three – Mint Green

Happy Wednesday! Dare to Compare Week here at Adventures in Polishland continues with one of my nail polish obsessions, mint green. Mint is such a trendy color for spring that I made sure to include it in this week’s comparison extravaganza. I’ll let you know up front that I didn’t find any dupes, but I did discover some beautiful options! Let’s see what is up in the mint green color family.

 

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From left to right, the polishes are Julep in Susie, China Glaze in Keep Calm, Paint On, and Zoya in Neely. These polishes do look similar in the bottle, but I could tell they wouldn’t be exactly the same on the nail. I still wanted to see the comparison, though. First I’ll show each polish alone, and then I’ll show them side by side.

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Polish Name: China Glaze in Keep Calm, Paint On

Price: $6.99 at beauty stores, or $3.32 on Amazon [Buy HERE]

Coats Needed for Opacity: 2

Formula: Good, but on the thick side.

Color Description: Mint green with green and pink shimmer.

Bonus: I love the name of this polish!

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Polish Name: Zoya in Neely

Price: $8 [Buy HERE]

Coats Needed for Opacity: 2

Formula: Good, but a bit patchy.

Color Description: Dusty mint green.

Bonus: Zoya is a vegan friendly, and long-lasting brand!

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Polish Name: Julep in Susie

Price: $14 [Buy HERE]

Coats Needed for Opacity: 3

Formula: Okay — formula a bit streaky and patchy, but evens in three coats.

Color Description: Pale mint green

Bonus: I got this in my first Julep Maven Box! It’s an all-time favorite.

 

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Now we have all three side by side! From left to right is the Zoya, the China Glaze, and the Julep. Susie from Julep stands out as the lightest shade of the bunch right away. Zoya Neely and China Glaze Keep Calm, Paint On are very close, but the shimmer in Keep Calm really makes it stand out. I personally prefer the light shade of the Julep, but would choose Zoya Neely over the shimmer in the China Glaze. I prefer a pure, creme finish! In the end, when it comes to mint green I don’t think you can go wrong no matter what shade you choose!

Which do you prefer, bright pastels or dusty greens?! Do you like polishes with an added shimmer?!

Some of the products in this post were provided for my unbiased review. Some of the links above are affiliate links. All opinions are my own. Please see my Disclosure Policy for more information.