Pastel Party!

There's something about pastels--I just can't get enough of them, despite the fact that they always do me wrong. They are too eye-catching to resist. Even the pastel cremes with proclaimed “ease of application” often fit into one or more of these unpleasant categories: thick, gummy, stringy, they pull or are streaky. 

 

Most of the following pastels presented some problems, some got better with practice, some didn't. The only one I absolutely COULD NOT work with was Lime Crime Pastelchio (a sort of pastel yet neon green, such a cool color!). It was like painting with melted chewed gum. 

My Lifesaver was the easiest of the bunch and the best tip I could relay about pastels would be to let each coat dry in between layers. These pictures suck, so here's a bunch.

Nicole by OPI My Lifesaver. Artificial Light. (index finger looks fat!)

Nicole by OPI My Lifesaver. Artificial Light.

Pastelchio, Up and Kim-ing Pink, Milky Ways (Index has horrible Orly Repair on it!!)

Milky Ways, Pastelchio. Natural Light.

Milky Ways, Pastelchio. Bottles, natural Light.

V-Day Mani!

I wanted to do a fairly festive Valentine's mani, but I don't have any really Valentine-themed polishes. I decided to layer a few--OPI Elephantastic Pink, Sephora by OPI Be-Claus I said So, and Lynderella Love, Lace, and Lilacs. 

It turned out looking interesting, but not terribly Valentine-y because Elephantastic Pink turned out more corally on me than pink. Even a little orangey in some light. It was a little sheer and I used three coats. 

LLL was better than it's ever been and I noticed that it has a faint white shimmer. Beautiful. 

Elephantastic Pink, Beclaus I Said So, and Love, Lace, and Lilacs. Natural Light

Elephantastic Pink. Natural Light.

Elephantastic Pink, Beclaus I Said So. Bottles, Natural Light.

Second time's a charm

I decided I needed to conquer this gorgeous mint green. This is actually probably closer to my third or fourth try and after waiting for each coat to dry completely, I got it to work pretty well imo, though far from perfect. I looked at different swatches and noticed that there are almost no perfect (ah!! no offense) applications of Refresh-mint, and that's because quite honestly, it's a serious pita to apply. But worth the effort for that minty shade, despite the next day chipping.

This is probably one of my most proud mani days, haha.

China Glaze Refresh-mint. Artificial Light.

China Glaze Refresh-mint. Artificial Light.

Mints compared l to r: Refresh-mint, Milani Dressmaker, For Audrey.

Mints compared l to r: Refresh-mint, Milani Dressmaker, For Audrey.

New Year's Eve Eve already!?

I'm lucky enough to have two new and beautiful polishes to show today--New Year's Eve Eve from Lynnderella's Season's Glitterings collection over Nicole Up and Kim-ing Pink (dupe for OPI Pink Friday).

I love the color of Pink Friday but had a ton of issues with the formula. I'm not sure if the Nicole formula was much better or if I'm just more skilled now. The polish isn't terrible to apply, though it's streaky and takes at least three coats to even and still has a somewhat chalky look. Also, it chipped like a beotch (sorry for the tip wear!) after half a day. But this color can't be beat!

New Year's Eve Eve, December 30th, I think ;) From Lynnderella's website: "363 days of glitter. We expected it to have some relationship to The Glittering Crowd, and it does. But the addition of new matte and satin glitters add an extra whallop. Just like 2012."

The satin glitters are really different--I think these were used in Sweets to the Sweet as well. A sort of pearlescent effect. A beautiful rainbow of glitters in a clear base which is great for anytime of year, really. The main differences I notice between NYEE and tGC is the satin glitter, diamond glitter, and yellow flowers. Of course the overall color scheme is also different. I haven't actually worn tGC yet either, but will compare soon <3

Up and Kim-ing Pink. Artificial Light.

New Year's Eve Eve and Up and Kim-ing Pink. Artificial Light.

Up and Kim-ing Pink. Artificial Light.

Lynnderella New Year's Eve Eve. Artificial Light.

Late to Spring cont'd

More from the China Glaze Up and Away collection, Lucky Clover is a beautiful, bright bold cream and for me this polish glided on so shiny and smoothly; it was a dream to apply. You might be able to get by with one coat, but I did two. 

I haven't seen a lot of colors like this, though with the recent influx of greens, I guess there have been some, I just don't own any. Maybe if Milani's Fresh Teal and Essie Pretty Edgy had a baby it could be Lucky Clover's cousin.

I think my pictures show Lucky a little more blue and definitely more muted than in real life. I found it to be greener and much brighter than my camera was able to capture. One unlucky thing was that it chipped in one day (all the CG polishes I've worn have), but I definitely feel lucky wearing it :)

Lucky Clover. Sun Light.

Lucky Clover. Artificial Light.

Lucky Clover. Shaded Indoors.

Way Late to Spring

Yes, I'm over a month late for Spring, and two years late for this collection but I wanted to show do some Spring colors from the China Glaze Up and Away collection. Pastels and brights like that have been a hit for the past couple Spring seasons and tend to move into some Summer brighters and neons, so that might be a good path to take :)

First up in this series I will post Lemon Fizz. While the color may be quite cute, I found the application to be quite messy both times I tried :/ 

The consistency was interesting. I found it possible to make coats thin, yet it required thick coats to get even coverage. I'd call it chalky, which seems common in pastels. 

Back in the day I seem to recall this brand of makeup called "Jane" (this brand can still be found sometimes, in some discount outlets) that had a color called Taxi. Lemon Fizz reminds of Jane's Taxi. It's not good on my yellowy skin, but as my Taxi shades and Lemon Fizz can attest to, I seem to love yellows, even if yellow pigments seem to make polish application a bee. 

Honestly, it's a good thing my pictures turned out a little blurry, cos my application is pretty uh-uh. Sadly, I couldn’t wear Lemon Fizz as a mani because it was so challenging to appy I couldn’t even apply it on my dominant hand! 

Lemon Fizz. Sun Light.

Lemon Fizz. Artificial Light.