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Sunday, December 23, 2012

Polish Review: Penguin Polish Penguin Poopies and Happy New Year Baby!

Good evening! So I was supposed to do this review sooner during the weekend, but between finishing Christmas wrapping and a sick husband...hey, it's here now, hooray!!!!

So I got a message a little over a week ago from a fabulous lady named Lacey who is the creator of Penguin Polish (the link takes you to her Etsy). We connected by our similarity of love for all things sparkly, hehe. She asked me to review a couple of her polishes, and boy did she pick polishes for me to a tee! She is all about fantastic glitters, and even has some SCENTED polishes, one of which I get to share :-)

I'll post a few bottle shots of the polishes, to give you an idea of what to expect. The bottles are almost exactly the same in shape and size to a Seche bottle, to give you a comparison. (Pardon the cuticles in some of these shots, undoing staples on a bulletin board at school and a change in weather patterns have left my fingers in dire need of more than the treatment I normally do!)

Left: Happy New Year Baby Right: Penguin Poopies


As a note, I was wearing China Glaze It's a Trapeze when I got these in the mail :-)


First we have Penguin Poopies. This is a mix of medium black, white, and purple hex glitters with larger purple hex glitters in a clear base. Now, what I LOVE about this first of all is the name, hehe. That and the color combination, because purple is my color and I love me some black and white glitter (I need to buy a few of the ones I've been eyeballing after Christmas). The glitter was also very good quality, no "tacos" or curling whatsoever! AND the polish smelled like sugarplums after it dried, even after topcoat. It isn't the "OMG I want to eat this" kind of smell, but definitely a delicious "Bath and Body Works" type smell :-)

What I didn't love but could deal with is that, because of the nature of the large hex glitter, you kind of had to dab it on and place it the way you wanted. Here is a base of Seche Clear, two coats of OPI Steady As She Rose, one dabbed on coat of Penguin Poopies, a coat of Gelous and a coat of Seche Vite.
Artificial light, with flash.

Artificial light, no flash.

Thumb shot!

Artificial light, with flash.
Happy New Year Baby! is a rainbow mix of shard glitter, with some micro-glitter, a few holographic shards, and small holographic hexes mixed in. This is the streets of New York City on New Year's night, with confetti all around. The mix of glitter has an abstract, haphazard feel but at the same time is distinct and not just "thrown together," because you can tell what's in it. I LOVE it, it is so fun and festive, it works for almost any special occasion even though it's a New Year's polish.The coverage was also GREAT in one coat!

The only thing I didn't love was it does stick up in a few places, even with topcoat. That's due to the shark glitter, but as with Penguin Poopies, there are certain qualities about glitter nail polish that come with the territory which I have long since set fort in, hehe. Here is Seche Clear as a base, two coats of OPI Lincoln Park After Dark, one coat of Happy New Year Baby, and two coats of Seche Vite.
Artificial light, with flash.

Artificial light, no flash.

Thumb shot!

Artificial light, with flash.
So if you are like me or Lacey and love all things sparkly, these polishes are for you! You can find them at here Etsy shop which I will post again here. Penguin Poopies, as well as her other Christmas and Hannukah polishes are selling for $5.00, but generally they are $9.00 for a full size. She has some other scented polishes, fantastic glitter polishes, and even a polish specially made for Alana on "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo."

Happy Holidays!!
-Jessica

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Trying to stay on it! Color Clubed Berry and Bright striped mani!

Wow, twice in a week, I'm on a roll! Actually, I just finished my final exam last night, so all I have left of graduate school is my school counseling internship starting in January (which is ALL I'll have, I have to take a leave of absence from work).

So this mani just chipped on me while I was making dinner (but it probably wouldn't have if I didn't try to ninja-chop sausage, lol), but I LOVED it. I asked what I should do on Facebook, and someone said candy cane stripes. Well, time was of the essence, so full stripes were not able to be done. BUT I compromised and did sparkly stripes with red and silver, because I felt in the holiday spirit, hehe. PLUS, I was dying to use my scented Color Club holiday polish!

Here we have Color Club Berry and Bright with a stripe of L.A. Colors Art Deco in silver glitter. Berry and Bright is from Color Club's current holiday collection, but there's a catch to it. Sally Beauty Supply actually started selling sets of this collection, and only Sally's are scented! I was very excited about that, I love scented polish! This one had a Christmas-y berry scent that's hard to describe, but delicious nonetheless. In terms of formula, Berry and Bright is a berry red shimmery foil like polish that almost appears glass flecked. In the right light, I get the faintest hint of blue and silver sparkle, but overall a very pretty, holiday polish! Definitely perfect for candy cane stripes :-)

In artificial light, with flash. Not the best quality :-(

No flash. Can you see the shimmer?

I don't know why this comes up this way when I upload it, but I cannot change it now matter how I try >.< I had another cute one with the gift box, too! But, check out my freehand, just saying! LOL



So I had a few more cute pictures, but I have to fiddle more with the photos, when I open the files in the folder, they aren't rotated, only in Blogger...

But overall, enjoy, check out this collection at Sally Beauty supply if you want them scented, or any other CC carrier if you don't. I have another polish from the collection coming soon, stay tuned!

Peace!
-Jessica


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

OMG THE DUOCHROME! Color Club Port-Folio, even though they're phone pictures :-(

So my husband stole my (well, technically our) camera for work, so all I had to take pictures was my phone. My phone has a decent camera, but it's just NOT THE SAME. I'm going to share the picture anyway, though, because they really are that pretty.

So I'm a little behind on this color, but Color Club's Port-Folio came out this fall with the In True Fashion Collection. I'm all for a great duochrome, and boy does this deliver! It has a green/purple/navy color shift, with a a metallic shimmer finish. The color shift is AMAZING, I couldn't really capture it to its full potential on my phone but the different pictures show the shift. The formula also isn't terrible, slightly thin but opaque in two coats. AND since I can't leave anything alone, I did one coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust for a subtle holographic sparkle.
Pardon the couch backdrop, I was a little shaken after not having my actual camera. You can see a little bit of the color shift here. No flash, artificial light.

No flash, artificial light. You see mainly the purple here.

With flash. In this light, the purple is BRIGHT. With a little blur to show the holographic sparkle of Fairy Dust.

With flash. The green you see in the bottle really did translate gorgeously on the nail!
 This color is RIDICULOUS to try to capture on camera, if you haven't yet checked it out I highly suggest a purchase. (If duochrome polishes are your thing, of course).

Now, this mani chipped today so I'm getting ready to do a Christmas mani...I had one vote for candy cane stripes on Facebook, you'll have to see how it turns out!

Peace!
-Jessica


Sunday, December 9, 2012

OVERDUE Polish Post: China Glaze Winter Holly

So I am SOOOO overdue on blog posts, it's not funny. I had this polish on at the beginning of the week, but with the craziness of being a grad student at the end of the semester, blogging has unfortunately taken a back seat. My nail polish, however, has not, if you check out my Facebook. I actually posted a couple pictures of this polish there, and even made it my profile picture because of the holiday season :-). I even have a Christmas themed blog for the month of December!

*On a note, even though I'm a Christmas-y blog, I DO highly encourage and appreciate those celebrating different holidays. Mine may be Christmas but I love to hear and see others!

On to the polish! China Glaze Winter Holly from the Holiday Joy 2012 collection. Oh how I love thee! So wintery and festive, here you will see a almost forest green fine glitter with gold and some holographic glitter mixed in. Very reminiscent of I'm Not Lion/I Herd That from On Safari collection and United/Hello Gorgeous from the United collection in terms of formula, but with the beautiful Christmas green and gold. It definitely needed topcoat with make it shiny/sparkly, and I did a coat of Gelous to smooth it out. Here's the photos!

No flash in artificial light, with garland background :-)
With flash, artificial light
No flash, more garland!

With flash and blurry, to show the holographic goodness

 Isn't that so festive and Christmas-y? This polish would be perfect for a Christmas-tree mani, as the green of the tree. Maybe I'll make that happen soon...

Until then, enjoy your holiday!
-Jessica


Sunday, November 4, 2012

Would you like some...ZOYAS? Out-of-the-Blue Giveaway!



If you answered yes to that question, you've come to the right place! I'm getting in the holiday spirit, and I feel AWFUL for not being as active as I'd like. So, to make up to you all, I've decided to offer THREE Zoya polishes from the website (with exception to the 18K Gold Flakie polish, I'm sorry!). Entering is simple, you just have to fill out the Rafflecoptor.

*Note: As Zoya does not ship internationally, this contest cannot be international. Unless you have an American friend I can ship to that will agree to ship to you, I must request U.S. entries only :-( Someday, I NEED to figure out international shipping!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

I'm baaaaaccckkkK! :-D With CANDY CORN NAILS!!!

I'm doing horribly lately at getting my posts done. Twelve master's credits really are as bad as my advisers told me they'd be! But while I should be utilizing this day off for working on a paper...I'm updating the blog quick with one of my favorite mani's that I've done in a long time :-D

First of all, I LURVE candy corn. Second of all, today (October 30) is National Candy Corn Day! So, naturally, candy corn is my theme :-) Here I've used Orly Spark for the yellow base on all but the ring finger. Then I sponged Sally Hansen Sun Kissed for the orange gradient, and used China Glaze Lightning Bolt crackle. For the ring finger, the base is Sally Hansen White on, with Sparked and Sun Kissed sponged on in a gradient fashion. The whole thing is topped off with a coat of China Glaze Ghoulish Glow, but I couldn't get a good picture of the glow :-(

With flash in fluorescent light

No flash, fluorescent light

No flash, incandescent light

Had to do a picture of my mani with the shirt I'm wearing today!
Now I'm working on a mystical witchy mani for Halloween tomorrow, and I'm having a hard time with it!!!

Peace!
-Jessica

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Polish Haul! I've been on a roll...

So while school and work have been incredibly overwhelming, I have had polish to keep me sane :-). I haven't kept the best track of my mani's thus far, but I HAVE picked up quite a few polishes in the past couple of weeks! I'm hoping to be able to show some of this off in the near future, depending on how much I want to procrastinate on graduate work, lol.

So I'll start with my little haul from approximately two weeks ago. This is from three places: Sally Beauty, Beauty PLUS, and Hot Topic.

From left to right: Finger Paints Easel-y Entertained and Where Art Renoir?, China Glaze Desert Sun and Jungle Queen, OPI Super Bass Shatter, China Glaze Hello Gorgeous, Color Club Worth the Risque (holo version!)  and Wink Wink Twinkle, and a Hot Topic Blue glow-in-the-dark skull polish
And here was one mani I did after getting this haul:
One coat of Finger Paints Where Art Renoir? with a coat of China Glaze Hello Gorgeous. Check that holographic sparkle!!!
 Then yesterday, I had the day from HELL at work. So I hit up Sally Beauty again, who is having a 50% off all clearance items sale...so I got the following:

China Glaze Halloween pack with Roughish Red, Glitter Goblin, Bizarre Blurple, and Ghoulish Glow. Orly Flash Glam FX Mermaid Tale and Sashay My Way, Finger Paints Fall of Surprises, and China Glaze Swanky Silk
And then today I had some amazing nail mail! I had ordered a grab bag from Jen over at Jen's Nail Files. She guaranteed ten polishes and at least one full size indie. WELL, she definitely gave what she promises and more!

Julep Boris and Nicole, OPI Didgeridoo Your Nails, Color Club Hot Like Lava, China Glaze Skyscraper, Confetti Pink Confetti, and Tip Top Rocky Road Glitter
Claire's Flamingo Feather, F4 Hawaiian Punch mini, Darling Diva Antares, Creative King's Ransom, Monster Mixers and Elixers Stratosphere mini, Spoiled Use Protection, and Avon Stunning Cobalt
WOW! I ended up with one full size indie, two mini indies, and a total of 11 full size and two mini bottles of polish. *Billy Mays style* BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
Halloween Candy!
Bag of goodies including dolphin nail file, witch eraser, two mini vials of glitters, a notepad, and four magic grow beans.
Like, I'm looking at this influx of new polishes dreaming of the different combinations possible! Do I put the Hawaiian punch over the Flamingo Feather? Stratosphere over Stunning Cobalt? Rocky Road Glitter over Hot Topic glow in the dark? Ghoulish Glow under Super Bass Shatter?

What do you guys think I should do with some of this? I did show one combo, because it was GORGEOUS and I had it on for like, four days without chipping! Anything else?

Good night!
-Jessica (Sparkle and Shine)

Monday, September 17, 2012

Sorry for the delay! Here's a 10 day challenge...

So I've been out of touch with my Blogger, school as started both for me and the students in the class I'm a T.A. in, so time is of the essence nowadays. BUT I've still gotten to paint my nails, and even join in Erica's Nails and More 10 Day Challenge! She's decided to cut down the time on a nail art challenge, which is PERFECT for me at the moment. But I'm gonna give you guys a lowdown on the first half of the challenge (with a little sneak-peak at some of my entries :-O!).

Day 1: Favorite Color. If you check out this blog (just opening the page gives it away!), my favorite color is purple. And my favorite polish color/finish is sparkle/holographic. SO I did a base of China Glaze Stone Cold with Claire's Night Sky holographic glitter, then did stripes of my most prized polish I own, Color Club Fashion Addict (also my favorite color!)
Day 2: Favorite Animal. Since I first read the Harry Potter series, I've had a thing for owls. So here I did Zoya Angelina with China Glaze Oxidized Aqua for the wings and other fingers. I did L.A. Colors Atomic for the belly, Zoya Paz for the beak, and Sally Hansen White On with a Sinful Colors shimmer black nail art polish for the eyes.
 Day 3: Favorite Season. Now, I wanted to go a little out of the box for this one, and my fingers needed a break. So I did my current favorite time of year, football season! I'm a HUGE NY Giants fan, so I had to do red and blue! It's OPI Swimsuit...Nailed It! and A Out Bit of Red, with China Glaze Unplugged and Sally Hansen White On for the football.
*sneak peak* Day 4: Saran Wrap Nails. I had never done this form of nail art before, but it turned out to be just as easy as sponging on polish. You paint your base and let it dry COMPLETELY (I don't think I let it dry enough). Then you paint a layer of the other color on and, while wet, dab a balled up piece of saran wrap on it. I didn't love the results, but it was easy. This is OPI Pepe's Purple Passion and Pink Friday, with a touch of Orly 54 (Sparkle and Shine at least needs a little shimmer!)
*sneak peak* Day 5: Gradient Nails. I've done this technique three times before, and this is so far my best attempt (my gummy worm nails for my last challenge were an utter fail, and my candy corn nails were...better). I learned you need less polish on the sponge, which is how my pinky turned out so well. This is my metallic duo-chrome gradient, with Ulta Jaded as the base and China Glaze Deviantly Daring as the second color.

So there you have the first part of this 10-day challenge! I will probably post the other five at the end of the challenge, and you can go to Erica's Facebook page to see all the contestants as they post throughout the day :-)

<3 Jessica (Sparkle and Shine)

Friday, August 24, 2012

NOTD: Color Club Fashion Addict, STAMPED!

Good morning everyone! You may have noticed there's a new look to the blog this morning! I'm trying to keep it simpler, but when your blog is titled "Sparkle and Shine Nails," you have to have sparkles in it! And I'm still fiddling with the color scheme, but I'm loving this purple/blue/pink thing going on (purple is my all time favorite, if you didn't know already, hehe).

So to break in the new blog look, I'm posting a NOTD with one of my all-time favorite polishes thus far: Color Club Fashion Addict! I put it up to vote last night on Facebook, and Fashion Addict was the first choice by everyone. Which I'm glad, because it is purple, and it's my dad's 49th birthday today! Both our favorite colors are purple, and this has a nifty holographic-wrapping paper quality, hehe. But since I'd worn it already not that long ago, I decided to spruce it up with a little stamping!

Now, my stamping technique, like many of my nail art skills, is still being perfected. And I only have the Salon Express stamping kit, with the five plates it comes with. With that in mind, it was hard to try stamping whole-nail designs, because the patterns on the plate are too small for my nails. I'm going to have to get some x-large plates soon!

My next challenge: Finding the perfect color. I've used Sally Hansen Xtreme-wear Celeb City for stamping, it's probably the best one I have FOR stamping. But it didn't show up properly on Fashion Addict. I stamped Celeb City on Revvvolution without a problem, but Fashion Addict is even more shimmery holo, and it blended too  much. My Sally Hansen Black Out was coming out too thin, as was Gunmetal, and didn't want to adhere to the stamp properly. I thought I'd get crazy and try an orange, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed...still too thin! Stamping on this holo color was more challenging than I had thought!

So I start grabbing any dark colors I have, hoping SOMETHING would work! I tried China Glaze First Mate (almost, but still too thin and didn't love the color combo), Color Club Jewel of a Girl (WAY too thin for stamping), and finally...China Glaze Stone Cold. I was like "Matte polish on holo? It's crazy enough to work!"

Closer look at the stamp, with flash.

No flash in artificial light.

A little further away, shows the nice shimmer in Stone cold.

Hand shot!

LOOK AT THAT HOLO GOODNESS!

I was sooo right, it looks awesome! Contrasts beautifully with Fashion Addict, has a neat shimmer when given a shiny topcoat that compliments the holo, and is thick enough to get a proper stamp with! I just had to be quick, because it was trying to dry too fast for me.

So my stamping skills are improving, and I'm learning what polishes I have that will work (I really don't want to invest in Konad polishes if I don't need to). What do you guys think? How have your stamping experiences been?

-Jessica (Sparkle and Shine)

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

FINALLY posting my Liebster Award!

 So a fabulous blogger called Lightwell Nails nominated me for this award WAAAAAYYYYY too long ago. I'm ashamed that it's taken me this long to post it, but even though I've done small posts since, I haven't had the time to put real thought into this award like I wanted to. But I didn't want it forgotten about, so I'm doing it now! This is how it works:

"This little award is all about discovering new blogs and helping those with less than 200 followers to get recognised."

Here are the rules:

1. Each person tagged must post 11 things about themselves.
2. They must also answer the 11 questions the 'tagger' has set for them.
3. They must create 11 more questions to ask bloggers they have decided to tag.
4. They must then choose 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers and tag them in their post.
5. These lucky bloggers must then be told.
6. There's no tag backs.


So here's the first part: 11 things about me!
1.) I want to be a guidance counselor when I "grow up." (I graduate in May from my master's program.)
2.) My grandfather (mother's father) was from Puerto Rico. I never had the chance to know that part of my family, but I am interested in the culture.
3.) LOVE LOVE the color purple!
4.) Harry Potter is the best book series EVER. Ever.
5.) I'm recently addicted to the movie Horrible Bosses. "You cannot win a marathon without putting some band-aids on your nipples!"
6.) If it involves mystical, magical, fantasy-type topics, I will most likely read/watch it.
7.) I have an amazing husband, we've been married since October 2,2010.
8.) I can drink a liter bottle of Arbor Mist in one sitting, oops!
9.) I'm a small-town girl. I work at an inner-city, and went to college in the downtown part of another one, but my heart is in the country.
10.) Owls are my favorite animal. They have been since 2000, but I love that they've gotten so popular.
11.) Nail painting is probably the only artistic thing I can do. While I've always excelled in music, art's never been my forte.

Next: My 11 questions from Lightwell Nails!
1. What would you say your getting-started-with-blogging experience has been like?
I've loved every second of it. I've met some fabulous people, I've learned about new polishes and techniques, and almost have the chance to REALLY be myself.
2. How do you store your stash? (Share pics! :D)
Honestly...my stash is in a big tote! My stash isn't that big, but it IS starting to outgrow it!

3. Do you collect anything?
Honestly, not really, other than polish :-)
4. What’s your favorite part of every day?
Coming home to my husband, or having him come home to me. It sounds cheesy, but hey, I like that we're still in love :-)
5. What other communities do you participate in on your blog topic? (i.e. Reddit, Tumblr, Facebook, MUA, etc.)
I'm not sure I entirely understand this question, but the only social networks I currently use are Facebook and Blogger for polish.
6. What nail technique, design, color combo etc. have you wanted to try but haven’t yet?
I'm new to stamping, and have yet to try the whole-nail design stamps that I have. I'm still perfecting the small pictures.
7. Star Wars or Star Trek?
I'm honestly not familiar with either...but I did watch some Star Trek  with my dad as a kid.
8. What was the most memorable trip you ever took?
Hmmm...probably New York city with my sisters three years ago to see Equus on Broadway (yes, we went to see Daniel Radcliffe, hehe)
9. What’s your favorite breed of dog?
I've always had a thing for Rottweilers. My grandmother had the sweetest ones, and I've always been attached.
10. What do you never leave the house without?
NEVER leave without my cell phone. I'm on the road a lot, so I make sure I have my charger with my and my car charger in my car at all times.
11. What’s your favorite piece of “life advice”?
You will never make EVERYONE happy. Make sure YOU are the one happiest with any decision you make before you start looking for the approval of everyone around you.

And ...my 11 questions for those that I tag!
1.) Where were you born? (You don't have to be exact for privacy sake)
2.) What is your absolute favorite polish of all times?
3.) Gandalf...or Dumbledore?
4.) If you were magical, what would your trademark be? (Flying, black magic, animals, flowers, ect).
5.) Favorite movie?
6.) Cats...or dogs? (You may substitute these for another beloved pet)
7.) You go to a party on Saturday night. Where would we find you?
8.) Drink of choice (Alcoholic or not!)
9.) What got you into polish blogging?
10.) BJ's, Sam's Club, or Cotsco?
11.) Favorite place to buy beauty supplies?

Now, here are the lovely ladies I'm nominating!
1.) Little Miss Nail Polish
2.) Enchanted Nails and Fluffy Dog Tails
3.) Fox Claws
4.) The Holo Queen
5.) Tough as Nails Nacquer
6.) Nail Noise
7.) Beauty and the Polish
8.) Frugal Polish
9.) Mega Nailatude
10.) Polished Prisms
11.) ManPolish (Because he needs it, too!)

So I hope all the nominees enjoy their award, I apologize again for posting this late, but thanks again!

-Jessica (Sparkle and Shine)

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

China Glaze Swatch Fest Part 1!

So it was voted on Facebook last night that I do a China Glaze swatch fest, as part of an effort to swatch every color that I own. However, I got about a third of the way through them and realized it was going to take me a while! So, I'm presenting the colors in order of their release dates based on a little research I did, because I feel it's good to know a little about when a certain color came out, or what colors it was meant to go with. This is the first third of the batch of China Glaze's I own. As a note, each color starts with a picture with flash, then a picture without flash in artificial light.

Reggae to Riches (Year Unknown), Caribbean Temptation collection: Gorgeous fuschia with blue-purple duochrome shimmer. Opaque in two coats, fantastic formula and shine, no topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.


      
Fairy Dust (2004), Fashion Fairies collection: Holographic sparkly topper, full of small holographic glitter with a silvery tint. The glitter is a little thick but covers nicely. One coat over Sally Hansen White On, no topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.
.

Exceptionally Gifted (2006, re-release 2011), Exceptionally Gifted wedding collection, Susan G. Komen  color of 2011: Semi-sheer pink frost. Formula is okay, requires three coats for full opacity and has the streaky finish of a frost polish. No topcoat. 

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply when released for Susan G. Komen foundation.


 Lubu Heels (2007), Louboutin Manicure inspired polish: Dark black jelly with small red glitter throughout. Creates a very vampy, high fashion dark look that’s beautiful. Formula was pretty good, opaque with two thicker coats of polish and not too runny or thin. No topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.


Unplugged (Spring 2008), Ecollection: Brown metallic with undertones of red tint and gold shimmer. Beautiful formula that went on smoothly and opaque in two coats, no topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.

     
 Secret Peri-wink-le (Fall 2008), Operation Colour collection: Pale blue/purple cream, pretty much the color periwinkle to perfection (refer to Periwinkle from Blue’s Clues, it’s her in a bottle!). Pretty nice formula, slight running toward the cuticles and streaks with one coat, but perfectly opaque and smooth in two coats. No topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.


Atlantis (2009), Specialty collection: Teal jelly base with medium holographic glitter throughout. While this color is absolutely amazing, my particular bottle’s formula is awful! It’s very thick and goopy the more you use it during the manicure, and if the first coat doesn’t dry entirely, the second coat drags. I don’t know if my bottle is older, has too much glitter, or a bad batch, because this isn’t a problem I’ve seen before. So if you are able to get your hands on this color brand new, you might be better off. One thick coat of Color Club topcoat.

Bought in a blog sale, but can be found on  e-tailers such as Amazon and eBay.


Dorothy Who? (2001, 2009 re-release), Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection: Blue jelly base with small silver glitter throughout. Can I just say I am one that is not only glad they came out with the re-release of these polishes, but that this color is now part of the regular collection? It’s such a vibrant blue, and the sparkle gives it a magical touch associated with The Wizard of Ox movies. Formula wise, this polish was decent, but it required three coats for full opacity and could use a topcoat one dry to smooth out the slight texture from the glitter. One coat Color Club topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.


Ruby Pumps (2001, 2009 re-release), Wizard of Ooh Ahz collection: Red jelly base with small red glitter throughout. I feel like I put the ruby slippers on my fingers when I put this polish on, and the sparkle is mesmerizing. The formula is just as beautiful, two coats to full opacity but could use a topcoat as there is a slight texture one dry. One coat Color Club topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.
Four Leaf Clover (Spring 2010), Up and Away collection: Somewhere between a kelly and mint green crème. The actual color of this polish is poorly represented by my camera. It is not nearly as blue as it looks without flash, and not nearly as mint as the picture with the flash. But the formula of this polish was fabulous, opaque in two coats, smooth, not too thick or thin. No topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.


Flip Flop Fantasy (Summer 2010), Poolside collection: Bright pink-coral neon. This pink is SCREAMING at you even from the bottle, it is a perfect summer color for toes and fingers. The formula wasn’t the greatest, though, it was rather streaky and barely smoothed out with three coats (topcoat helped, though). It also has that neon tendency to dry with a matte finish. One coat China Glaze Fast Forward Topcoat.

Bought at Sally Beauty Supply as part of regular collection.
 Lightning Bolt and Cracked Concrete (Spring 2011), Crackle collection: Lightning Bolt is a white crackle finish, Cracked Concrete a cement-gray crackle finish. The cracks on these are generally thin, sometimes a little stringy-looking for my taste. However, they always crack on fully dry nails, even though they are starting to get slightly goopy with age. They do dry matte and leave some texture without extra coats of topcoat. One coat Color Club topcoat.

Lightning Bolt bought at Ulta on clearance.
Cracked Concrete bought at Sally Beauty Supply’s website on clearance.