China Glaze Ride the Waves

 Happy Sunday!  How’s everyone’s weekend going?  Any fun events!  I’ve been hanging around the apartment all weekend, cleaning, re-organizing, and de-cluttering.  Two rooms done so far, and it feels like success!  I also did some nail polish hauling yesterday for some international friends, and bought myself a polish or two (but not too many – as I said, I’m trying to de-clutter! ha).

One of the polishes I picked up yesterday was China Glaze Ride the Waves, a somewhat neon blue from the new neon collection for summer 2012.  Ride the Waves isn’t exactly neon, but it’s definitely vibrant, a bright, squishy jelly-like true blue polish.  I saw this in the bottle and immediately thought MUST. HAVE.  The photos below have 2 coats of Ride the Waves.  As you can see, there’s still a little visible nail line; for my next mani it will definitely be 3 coats and I also need to wrap the tips, so the color doesn’t pull back at the tip as it does here. 

Because it’s Sunday Funday, I also added a coat of Nubar White Polka Dots to jazz things up.  All in all, I love the combination!

A look at Ride the Waves in sunlight…

 … and in shade…

 … and the close-up:

A great bright blue for summer, right?  I am in love with Ride the Waves, and will probably be using this as a pedi color very soon.  White Polka Dots was a little difficult to work with – the larger glitters had all settled to the bottom of my bottle, so were a little tricky to get on the nail – but I still love it, and can’t wait to play more with this simple yet pretty glitter soon!

Chip Prevention Wear Test: The Verdict Is In!

Happy Monday!

If you remember, last Wednesday I started a wear test to determine which treatment is better at preventing chips, a sticky base coat or a chip skip top coat. I managed to wear Rescue Beauty Lounge for a full 5 day wear test - I was itching to change the color by Friday! - and the verdict is in. Read on!

If you remember, I had Nubar Foundation base coat on my middle and pinky fingers, with a generic top coat on top. I wore essie No Chips Ahead top coat on my pointer and ring fingers, with a generic base coat underneath. Take a look at the mani after 5 days:


As you can see, there is normal tipwear on all 4 nails (expected, as I do work at a computer all day) with a little more-than-expected tip wear on the pointer finger and ring fingers, and a huge chip on the pinky finger. The pinky is misleading - up until 3 minutes before I took this photo my pinky looked just like my middle finger. But then I walked into a wall (yes, I have blond moments, too). I naturally have soft nails, and this is less a chip and more just a piece of my nail peeled off from the impact.

The Winner: Nubar Foundation Base Coat

Here's the thing - I actually thought both treatments were pretty fairly equal until the last day, when the essie protected nails started showing excessive wear, compared to the Nubar nails. If you keep your mani's for a long time, as in over 5 days, go with a sticky base coat like Nubar (or Orly Bonder, another fave). If you're like me and change your polishes frequently, though, I would say either one adequately will prevent chips.

All things being equal, then, I had to go with the Nubar as the winner. Essie NCA felt very thin when applied, and didn't bring a lot of shine to the mani. I'd rather stick with a sticky base coat like Nubar which would allow me to use a high glossy top coat, like CND Super Shiney, which really makes a mani sparkle.


What do you think? Were you expecting both to give similar results? Or are you passionate about one versus the other? And am I the only one who finds it painful to wear the same mani for 5 days in a row?!?!

Chip Prevention Wear Test: Part Deux

A few weeks ago I attempted to do my first wear test to determine the best way to extend a manicure and minimize chips - either using a sticky base coat, or a chip preventing top coat. The wear test was interrupted by my office move, and I promised you all I'd re-visit the topic in the future.

The future has arrived.

THE CHALLENGE:

Wear a manicure for 5 days (that alone is a challenge for me!) in order to find the best weapon in my current collection of top coats, base coats, and treatments to prevent chipping and extend the life of the mani.

THE CONTENDERS:

Representing sticky base coats, weighing in at 0.5 fl oz, we have Nubar Foundation Base Coat. I realize that Nubar is a less well-known brand, but I'm hoping to inspire you to go out and find them. Really, they make fantastic colors and have a great formula - every polish lover should have a few in their collection!

Representing chip preventing top coats, from a well-known salon brand, weighing in at 0.5 fl oz, we have Essie No Chips Ahead Top Coat. Essie is an easily accessible brand, available at both salons and major retailers like CVS, Target, and Wal-Mart.

THE MANICURE:

If I have to stare at the same manicure for 5 days, you better believe it is going to be a polish I love. I have hunted online and the streets of LA high and low to snag up a bottle of the sold-out Rescue Beauty Lounge Catherine, from the fall 2010 The Real Housewives of the Tudors Dynasty Collection (yea, that's a mouthful). Rescue Beauty Lounge is a small, boutique nail polish brand based out of NYC with a passionate group of followers who call themselves ReBeLs.

Catherine is a dark, smokey, blue-tinted purple with a fuschia and teal sparkle. The polish applied flawlessly in 2 coats, however, RBL polishes are special for their colors, and Catherine is no different. Seriously, RBL gives you the most unique colors that you haven't seen anywhere before, and the uniqueness alone makes the price (retails for $18 for a 0.4 fl oz bottle) worth it. Take a look:


Unfortunately, we're in June gloom season in LA, and I don't have any direct sunlight to show you the fuschia/teal sparkle - so sad! However, I do have some close-up shots to show a hint of the sparkle on the nails and in the bottle. Here's a close-up in natural lighting:


And under artificial lighting (sorry for the blurriness, but look at her sparkle!):


So there you have it! The only rules are that I'm not allowed to touch up the manicure (aah!) except to re-apply top coat for shine. I'll be re-applying regular top coat on the Nubar nails, and the Essie NCA to the nails that already have it.

Let the battle royale begin! Check back Monday morning for results!

What do you think? Do you rely on a sticky base coat or hardening top coat to protect your nails from keyboards, dish soap, and all elements that would do them harm? Have you tried any Rescue Beauty Lounge polishes yet? What are you fave colors? Sound off in the comments!

The Untried Diaries: China Glaze Hot Apple

Welcome to the weekend, everyone! Anyone got great plans? I'm out hunting for some CND polishes this morning (I'm so in love with the effects polish that I just have to temporarily lift my ban), then gym, chores, etc. Hoping to get out and go hike one of the beautiful trails in the Southland tomorrow - we shall see!

I decided to switch up my polish for this weekend, but had no clue what I wanted to try next. Being the tech nerd I am, I went to random.org in order to use their random number generator to pick a polish from my collection to try out! LOL! The generator gave me a number... and I'd already tried the polish. Picked another number... and I'd already tried the polish. This (surprisingly) happened a few more times before I landed on a polish I hadn't tried before. I started to pull it out, but then realized I'd much rather try out China Glaze Hot Apple, and so here we are at the next entry in The Untried Diaries.

Hot Apple is a bright tomato red jelly polish. Quick education session: a creme polish is a polish with no glitter, shimmer, etc. - just the pure color with no added fixin's. A jelly polish is like a creme but is more sheer, almost like looking at jello or jelly (hence the name) and have a higher gloss finish than a creme. Hot Apple applied very easily in two coats and minimal VNL (but a little on a few fingers). Take a look (two coats, no top coat):


I really liked this polish. I normally do not wear reds, and this is only the second red that I have been excited about. (The first was OPI Vodka & Caviar, which is also a tomato red jelly polish. Hmmm...)

To spice up the polish, I added one coat of Nubar 2010. I always struggle with glitters, as I think they just never class you up, but can make you seem young/immature. 2010 though is not a glitter - it's what we call a 'flakie'. While most think of glitters as micro, flakies use a larger reflective flake to show a rainbow of colors; they can be worn over a nude nail or layered over a polish. Not sure if that description helps at all, so take a look:


And a close-up of the 2010 flakies:



This is not the best pairing of 2010, as the reflective flakies tend to dominantly reflect orange and this is a red polish - not a lot of contrast. However, over a blue or green or potentially nude color polish, the reflective flakes would stand out even more.

In any case, both polishes are keepers! I loved the creme formula of the Hot Apple, and application was breezy easy (especially after dealing with streak-master that is essie), and the 2010 adds texture and depth to any polish, making any regular creme or jelly bling without feeling too high school.

Hot Apple is discontinued but is still available online, or you can always pick my favorite option and go hunting for it at local beauty supply stores and salons. Hey Sailor from the recent CG Anchors Away collection may be a dupe (and is easily available), but I'm not sure as I don't have a bottle to compare. 2010 is still available and can be purchased at bynubar.com.

What do you think? Do you like these tomato red polishes, or do you go for reds with a more blue coloring? And how do you feel about bling nails - totally okay, or more a trend for the young'ins?

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Wear Test...

Hey Lacquer Lovers! How's everyone's week going? Inching along to the 3-day weekend, or is the time flying by? It's actually going to be a 4 1/2 day weekend for me, and while the week is flying, Friday 1p can't get here fast enough!

So I have to apologize to you all - I know I was doing a wear test to figure out what treatment is better at preventing chips, either a sticky base coat or a chip-preventing top coat. Unfortunately, I can't finish the test - silly me forgot that I am moving to a new office tomorrow, and i just chipped both manicures all to hell packing up 3 offices! (For the record, the Orly base coat was beating the essie top coat, but I won't hold it against essie.) So, unfortunately, we're going to cut this test short and try again next week!

In the mean time, I just had to get this chipped manicure off my fingers, so reached for a new polish to throw on. I'm way over pinks and corals right now, so decided to go with a new color and new brand - Nubar Indigo Illusion. Nubar is a brand I had never heard of before I decided to start talking to other polish lovers and was pleased to learn it's distributed in the US right here in Los Angeles! Last weekend I went out to a few small stores in Little Saigon to see what I could find, and Indigo Illusion was one of the colors I picked up. Indigo Illusion is teal/purple duochrome, meaning both colors shine through in the polish depending on lighting and angle. Take a look!



It was really difficult to capture the purple side of the duochrome in a photo, but you can see it in the bottle clearly in this shot.

Overall, I think I'd characterize this polish as ugly-pretty. The teal/purple combo are not colors I would normally wear, but the fact that it's a duochrome and really interesting to look at more than makes up for it. It's a manicure that is definitely a conversation starter - so I'm happy to have it in my collection!


What do you think? Do you like these duochrome polishes? Have you tried any Nubar polishes yet? Sound off in the comments!