China Glaze - On The Horizon - Flock Together and You're A Hoot

I received my 2 bottles from the on the Horizon collection today! Oh joy! I was really looking forward to these, but was a little cautious as these are my first feather polishes and I wasn't sure how they would turn out to be. I chose You're a Hoot and Flock Together. I still have my eyes on All a Flutter, maybe I splurge on that one next month. These babies don't come cheap, they're about 25% more expensive than your usual bottle (I paid SG$9.50 for these from an online local seller). Which is another reason I didn't dare to buy too many.


China Glaze Flock Together and You're a Hoot

If I see my bottles, and the rest of the colors (Light as a Feather, Flying South, All a Flutter and Party Fowl) it seems they keep using the same few colors of 'feathers', and then throw them inside different bottles in different combinations. I would have liked to see some more variation, like forest green or shocking pink. But overall they look really nice. All polishes in this collection consist of a clear base packed with very small matte bar glitters, they're only about 1-1.5mm in length. A little update: removal of these was surprisingly easy! Perhaps because the glitters are so narrow, the polish remover gets underneath more easily. That is another big plus, as removal makes many of us reluctant to wear glitters sometimes.

The formula for both is pretty similar. It spreads pretty evenly, you need to work a little to get the sides covered, but if you try working from the outside to the inside, it works quite well. Two generous coats gives a pretty good coverage! I have made swatches with 1 layer and 2 layers for you to see. But you can also choose to put a thinner layer, and use it as a top coat on top of a fun base color. So you can use them for many different looks, use your imagination! The second layer became a little bumpy, 1-2 layers of top coat will make it shiny and even. Seche Vite would work wonders, but as I don't have that right now, I used China Glaze first and last. I had some feathers sticking out a bit, but I just gently wiped the side with my finger to smoothen it. No big deal.

Surprisingly, I really love these, will probably get All a Flutter as well! Oh did I mention that already? Actually All a Flutter was my first pick, but wanted to try something different for a change.

You're a Hoot Honestly, whatever color this would have been, I'd have gotten it just for the name. I love owls and this is just so cute! The colors are really owl-ie too, and I can just imagine this with China Glaze Desert Sun and some Konad Owl stamps *drools* Really happy with this one. There is a lot of pastel yellow and soft orange, and a bit of black accents. Very feathery and owly! Well done China Glaze *clap clap*.



You're a Hoot - Bottle Close-up



You're a Hoot - L-R: 1 layer and 2 layers, no top coat

You can see how good the coverage is after just 1 coat! My coats are quite generous. This was taken without flash, with artificial light. Bottle shot is very color accurate, for both Hoot and Flock.

Flock together Well, after seeing preview pictures of this color, I was really excited. It looked forest green with baby blue and black. Hmmpf! I ordered this and then saw swatches coming up and realized it's yellow with baby blue and black! I was initially disappointed, but prepared for the worst, when I got my bottle today, I really loved it! Seeing it on the nail, loving it even more. So maybe it was faith, I accidentally stepped out of my comfort zone - I would never have ordered it if I knew it was yellow and blue - and ended up liking it very much!

Flock together - Bottle close-up



Flock Together - L-R: 2 layers and 1 layer, no top coat

Quite a fun color, isn't it? I have read reviews saying the light 'feathers' are lime-green, but to me, they're a highlighter yellow. Hmm yes, this is growing on me more and more.

Now, for the round-up some full shot pictures, which may help you get a better idea what they'l look like when worn.


Flock Together and You're a Hoot - Artificial light - Top coat

Flock Together and You're a Hoot - Flash - Top coat

Sorry for the weird half-shot. I only now realized this, but as this is the sharpest shot I could get, I'll post it anyway. =P

Flock Together and You're a Hoot - Artificial light - Top coat

In case you're wondering, I was experimenting on the application on my thumb, I just dolloped the polish on, had a little patch, added another dollop here and there to fix patch, and really, you can be pretty messy with this polish, it doesn't drag or smear and doesn't get too bumpy, you won't see it where you have fixed it. Great! Let's get messy and polished up!

On the Horizon - Layered with other base colors

I just added this picture, so you can see how these look when used layered on other colors. I was playing around and used Solar Power (ring) and Peachy Keen (middle, for full review please click here) to match with You're a Hoot, and Towel Boy Toy (Pointer) and That's Shore Bright (pinkie, for full review please click here) to match with Flock together. All base colors are by China Glaze. Really like Towel Boy Toy and Flock Together.

I absolutely love these, no regrets on splurging almost 10 bucks per bottle at all! My only worry is that they might finish faster than normal polish as glitters usually do, so I might save them for special occasions and I-Feel-Sorry-For-Myself-Feel-Good-Manicures.

I have a hard time deciding which of these 2 is my favorite! Maybe they're getting a shared first place. =3

Which one is your favorite? Getting any of them?


China Glaze - Fuchsia Fanatic - Pedicure

Hello! I am still sick, actually I have been sick the whole weekend, laying lethargic on my bed, drowsy from the medication. Today I am starting to feel slightly better, and because I have been bored to death this entire weekend, I played with my polish a little bit. Pulled out this color from the 2012 Spring collection Electropop (what a beauty was that collection, wasn't it?).

China Glaze - Fuchsia Fanatic - Bottle shot

Actually, this is a color I am still surprised at picking up, because it is so.. normal. It is just a plain magenta pink creme. But it is bright and cheerful! Maybe that's what made this one stand out for me. Application is great too, very pigmented and 2 thin coats will give perfect coverage. No messy, gloopy layers. =D It evens itself out nicely, just gotta look out for bubbles. I still have problems applying cremes, they're so difficult to apply! Even when I think 'ohh so nice and smooth', when it dries, I see the bubbles appear. It's such a heart ache. Or when they don't level out well.. Eek! Dry time is pretty good too.


Anyway, I have put this on my toes (Now I think of it, I don't think I ever used this color of my fingernails much). It's such a cheer-up! Best remedy to any sick girl: a pretty polish on her nails.

I had a very hard time photographing this one, it wants to look red. I got a few shots that are pretty close to the real thing. 2 coats (second coat is a bit thicker, because my big toenail has such a big surface, it'll dry too fast if I use thin coat and will start dragging half-way through applying). I used China Glaze First and Last as my top coat. (Do NOT use this as a base coast! But as a top coat it's great, very shiny and okay dry time.

Well, enough gibberdigibber. On to the pics =)

China Glaze - Fuchsia Fanatic

Why doesn't Blogger allow me to rotate this picture! *Frustrated*. Anyway, here's a Swatch with my finger. I made it so you don't have a gape at my funny wriggly toes the whole time. This is 2 thin coats + top coat. This is how bright the color really is when the sun shines on it! It can be cute, it can be cool and funky too!

China Glaze - Fuchsia Fanatic - Flash

My rabbit always gets very jealous when I do my nails. He will follow me through the house when I'm trying to find good spots for color-accurate pictures. His nose ended up in this picture, but as this was the most color-accurate, I'll post it up. Bunny's Blog-tribute hehee..

This is with flash, taken in an entirely dark room (you try funny things when color doesn't want to come out pink and bright, well, it worked!). See how bright this is! It will look like this under the sun!

China Glaze - Fuchsia Fanatic - Natural light

This was taken in natural light. This is more how the color will look in the shade. Ignore the blue feet.. scary o.o

Well, for a color that is not that unique, I already typed way too much. It's good to have this type of basic color in your stash. You can do all kinds of styles with them. From girlie to rock chick to formal dinner party, it will all work!

Now I better get back to bed and rest. My headache is coming back as well. I go take my drowsy medicine and take a nap =) Have a good week ahead!

Which brand/color do you have in this shade? Which magenta pink is your favorite?

China Glaze - Mahoganie

Hello! It's friday night and that means it's weekend! I am anxiously waiting for my order of  2 bottles from the brand-new On The Horizon collection (I ordered Flock Together and You're a Hoot). Hopefully I get them next week so I can show them to you. While waiting, I pulled out this slightly older polish, but not less beautiful!

China Glaze - Mahoganie 80398

This is China Glaze Mahoganie, and it is one of the 50 specialty glitters that came out a couple of years back. I had to do some digging to get it over here in Asia, but was so happy when I found it! I love the warm brown color, I find that a lot of browns out there just lean much too red. And I love holographic glitter, so this is perfect. It also makes you look so sunkissed! The only thing I shudder at, is the moment when I have to remove this glitter-packed mass from my fingers... *faints*

The 50 specialty glitters was an amazing collection. I mean, 50 glitters! I got my paws on 2 others from this collection: One is Atlantis, a stunning dark teal with similar glitters as Mahoganie. And the other one is mahoganie's little brother, Ginger. That one was even harder to come by over here. All these beauties have been discontinued, sadly enough.

So the color, it's a beautiful warm medium brown, and it is really packed with fine silver and holographic glitter. Once this baby is under the sun, it's amazing! So much colorful glitter! And like I said before, I love how warm this color is and how it makes you look so tanned.

The application is also really good. If you wanted to you can get away with one coat, but as I prefer to start with a thinner coat for better drying time, I did 2. That was last night.. then I played my guitar and I messed up my half-dried polish. So today I put a third coat + top coat (Nailtek II) for these pictures. But really, 2 coats is usually more than enough for this highly pigmented buttery baby. Very creamy, self-levelling, very easy to apply. I would advise you to use topcoat to make the surface more smooth (a bit bumpy) and shiny and to make the glitters pop out better. Looking at my photos, I could even have done with a second top coat as it still looks slightly gritty. Update: Next day I added another layer of top coat, it's much smoother, see photos for the result =)

Get it while you can, because I think availability is limited.

China Glaze Mahoganie - Bottle shot (flash)

Look at those pretty shiny glitters! The bottle shows a more red leaning color, that is not there in real life. It is a true brown. The pictures in artificial and natural light are pretty color accurate though.

China Glaze Mahoganie (Flash) + 1 top coat

China Glaze Mahoganie - Natural light + 2 top coats

The above picture is very color accurate, and look at that holographic microglitter! Like Fairy Dust!

China Glaze mahoganie - Artificial light - top coat 

China Glaze Mahoganie - Flash - 2 top coats

Sorry, I couldn't resist taking this pretty brown with my owl curtains =3 Looks a bit too red again, because of the flash. But shows the glitters really well!

What do you think of this glitter? Like, love, want?

China Glaze - Trendsetter and Ingrid

Goodmorning! Last night I re-did my nails with China Glaze's Trendsetter and Ingrid. You probably have noticed by now I rarely wear 1 color entirely by itself. I love playing with colors and combining colors that compliment each other. I love how these 2 go so well together. I have been putting the bottles together many times but it never made it on to my nails yet. I love the result! Like some kind of tree fairy. Maybe I should try put some Konad fairy stamps on it when I get bored with them in a few days time. =P

Bottle shot for Trendsetter  81076 and Ingrid 80506

Bottle shot Trendsetter 81076 and Ingrid 80506

Trendsetter is a color from the Autumn 2011 Metro collection. It is a beautiful yellow-tones green with mild glassfleck shimmers inside. Let's get one thing out of the way first. I have read many reviews stating this is a mustard yellow, and I don't understand the universal agreement on this statement. It is absolutely a green, not mustard-yellow! A yellow-toned green, but green nonetheless. If my mustard ever turns this shade of green it's going straight into the garbage. Well, that is said and done. I feel much better. =x

I adore this color, it's so unique and amazing and fun to wear. I love all these olive and mossy kind of green shades, I think of all colors I have the most greens (followed by blues/purples).

The glassflecks add a beautiful dimension to the nails, but they are not too obvious from a distance. They aren't here to make your polish glittery and bling, they're here to give the color more depth. The application is absolutely fantastic, some of my nails are done in 1 coat! It is incredibly pigmented, China Glaze did a very good job on this one. It is an oldie but still available anywhere online, grab it while you can!


Ingrid is a China Glaze classic, though I only picked it up quite recently. It was part of the Vintage Vixen collection for Autumn 2008, but is now part of the core collection. From the bottle I admit I was a bit bored out by it, I'm not usually a fan of these kind of taupe shades and classify them 'boring and neutral'. However, I was so wrong about this color! The golden shimmer inside turn this boring taupe in a totally wearable and beautiful soft brown! And it really glows, it's not the standard taupe neutral at all! Slowly getting used to this color and falling in love with it. this is only the second time I'm wearing it since buying it.

The application for Ingrid is very good as well, but definitely need 2 coats. Just apply the first coat a bit thinner, and let it be patchy and streaky. A second, medium coat will cover all of that up nicely. I recommend a top coat for both to make the shimmers and glassflecks come out better.

Let's get on to the photo's. All are done in natural lighting (no flash), though the sun wasn't out this morning. they are pretty color accurate. I tried to make some close-up shots for you to show the mild shimmers and glassflecks inside of these beauties.

Ingrid and Trendsetter - Natural light

Hmpf! I hate it when I spent a lot of time getting my polish to look smooth and flawless, then when I make pictures they suddenly reveal to be messy, bubbly, aweful! Then when I look at the real thing, I swear they look so neat and nice! I don't know how all those big bloggers get their nails to look so flawless - I just use a q-tip with a bit of acetone to clean up, I don't use a fancy brush, even if I did it wouldn't turn up so smooth -, cuticle-less - I refuse to cut my cuticles away entirely, they're there for a reason girls! - and whatever else they do to make it so picture-perfect. These are a normal every day girl's mani, I post them for my own entertainment and I hope maybe there are some girls who find the information useful when choosing their polish.

Well, talking all together too much already, let's go on to the other pictures then!

Ingrid and Trendsetter - Natural light

China Glaze - Trendsetter 

China Glaze - Ingrid

The mild glassfleck made this unique color even more special. Love!
























I couldn't get the gold shimmer to come it well, it is very mild, but gives this color so much more depth.

Trendsetter and ingrid

You know I like full-hand shots! This is what it will look like. =)

My favorite of the 2 is definitely Trendsetter! Which one do you like? Do you have any of them?

Going to cycle to the park later with the husband and enjoy some fine sunday afternoon sunshine. =) Have a good sunday!

China Glaze - Watermelon Rind - Pedicure with Face It MX311

Yea.. so I know this is a bit unusual, but I did this on my wriggly toetsies and really liked how it turned out. So I wanted to share it with you.

The base color is China Glaze - Watermelon Rind. This is a color from the amazing Summer Days collection, including 6 gorgeous glassflecks the way only China Glaze can do 'em. If you asked me to pick a favorite, I couldn't! They are all so nice!

It is a little sheer, but 2 thin coats and another 1 or 2 generous coats does the job to make it fully opaque. You got to apply carefully so you don't flood your cuticles, as the formula is a little bit thin, but nothing to complain. The color is a beautiful dark forest green, sometimes it is a bit too dark for me but today I felt like wearing it.

I combined it with this bar glitter from The Face Shop, for full review please click here. With the glitter it doesn't appear so dark, and even though your covering a bit of the pretty glass flecks, I don't mind as I find the total effect is so pretty and glittery. And because of the dark base color, the glitter is not too in your face as well.

Here's the pictures. All pictures are made with natural lighting.

And blasted, I forgot to didn't take pictures of the color before putting on those glitters, I should've done that.. I was a little busy today. That makes me horribly chaotic. Cheers.

China Glaze Watermelon Rind with MX311

Close up. Oh my that's one big toe..

Watermelon rind - Bottle shot

Watermelon Rind and MX311

I actually put Towel Boy Toy on my fingers today, but I forgot to make pictures, did a lot of housework (I was off from work), and then took pictures. When I transferred them to my computer I was like holy moly because they showed really horribly how much tip wear they had suffered, so I'll postpone that one for another time when I redo my nails with them again. So sad. Just a toe-post this week. Hehee..

Have a good weekend!

The Face Shop - Lovely Me:ex - Yogurt Nails

Hello! Today I did swatches for this cute little collection by the Face Shop called Yogurt Nails (typo included). They are super cute, but there are many sacrifices.

The formula is horrible. Horrible. Maybe that's why they are not available here in Singapore.. (I ordered them straight from Korea for SGD1.80 per bottle) They are jelly sandwiches, and the base is really the jelly kind of squishy shiny formula.

When applying, it drags, streaks and bubbles, though the glitters spread out pretty evenly by themselves. They are worth the effort and hard work because they are so cute and affordable, but you need to be very patient with the formula.

What I found works best is to put 2 thin coats, and then 2 very generous coats. You need to put generous coats for the last 1-2 coats to avoid streaks and to make sure you have good coverage without patches. Thin coats for the 3-4 coat will just streak and get very messy. It also helps to use a very light hand when brushing it on your nails.

Dry time: don't get me started. I applied the Vanilla and went to the park to cycle just now. I was out for 2 hours. It is now 3 hours later, and the polish is still not completely dry! It's like wearing play-doh on your nails, awful.

They dry up shiny, but super chunky, so you'll need a generous layer of top coat as well. So, that's a lot of thick coats + slow drying time = not a good combination. Definitely would recommend using a fast-drying top coat for these. (I didn't do that today.. hmmpff should have..)

Update: I tried using China Glaze Fast Forward topcoat, dry time is still pretty long because even though the top layer is dried properly, the layers underneath are still very fragile and will damage if you are not careful. Drying time is still really long, like 1-2 hours to completely dry. The only bonus is that you won't smudge your nail polish onto your clothes, furniture, etc. by accident.

So sad, I really wanted this to work. I wear them on my toes now too, and with the fast-dry top coat they are all right, really. I am amazed I have not heard anyone complain about the formula yet in other reviews.

As you can see in below photos, the Strawberry, Grape and Apple Mint are pretty chunky. As I was doing these swatches in a bit of a rush, I did not use top coat (dry time was just too long and it would just drag and ruin my nails) so some look horribly chunky in the picture. Don't worry, this is solved with a nice top coat, as you can see with the Vanilla. Another reason for them being chunky is because I did not wait in between coats to dry, I just kept going :x So the chunks are partially a result from dragging.

So far The Face Shop polishes are 3-free, but I can't guarantee these ones are. I have not seen any ingredient list for these. But I'll risk it.

On to the pictures then, shall we? (All pictures are taken in natural light)

Yogurt nails collection

From left to right: Vanilla Sugar Yogurt, Lemon Candy Yogurt, Apple Mint Yogurt, Strawberry Milk Yogurt and Grape Juice Yogurt.

Bottle shot Vanilla Sugar Yogurt

First one up: Vanilla Sugar Yogurt. I did my manicure with this color, and still waiting for it to dry wearing it. This is my second favorite of the collection. There is so much to see! The bigger hexagonal chunks are sky-blue, indigo blue, green, red and yellow. the smaller hexagon chunks are orange, green, sky-blue, purple (yes, purple!) and white. The base is a bright white jelly, which helps to make all the colors stand out lovely!

Vanilla Sugar Yogurt - 1 coat

Vanilla Sugar Yogurt - 2 coats

This is 1 and 2 thin coast, you can how streaky it is, but how well the glitters spread themselves. This is the same for all 5 colors.

Vanilla Yogurt with top Coat

Here is the result with top coat. 2 thin and 2 thick coats. And a generous amount of top coat to make it look shiny and smooth.

Vanilla Sugar Yogurt - Full hand

You know I like a full hand shot, so here you go. Shiny and clean. I should do a comparison with China Glaze It's a Trap-eze. I like the Vanilla Yogurt glitters more, I like how they are spread out over the nail and how the white makes your nails look so clean. But China Glaze formula is 10 times better so I will still prefer using that one.

Next up: Lemon Candy Yogurt. This is my favorite of the bunch, it is unique, fun, and reminds me of ginger Chistmas cakes and vanilla yogurt. They should have called this one Vanilla Yogurt instead! It's the tiny glitters that really makes it look like yogurt, you know how real vanilla yogurt has those brown vanilla powder scattered inside? It really reminds me of that.

Lemon Candy Yogurt - Bottle shot 

There are copper orange, lime green and golden yellow big hexagons inside, and very small yellow and and lime green hexagons. The base is a lovely pale pastel yellow. How cute is this?

Lemon Candy Yogurt - 3 medium coats

Lemon Candy Yogurt

This is without a top coat, but it is not so chunky as the next 3. I am not sure why. Even though this is a yellow AND a jelly, coverage is pretty good, 3 generous coats. Really love this one!

Next up is Grape Juice Yogurt. A lilac base jelly with big  lilac, magenta, mint green and soft yellow big hexagons and small magenta and purple hexagons. This is very sweet and will look good on anyone!

Grape Juice Yogurt - Bottle shot

Grape Juice Yogurt - 3 generous coats

This one was pretty chunky somehow, I did not put a top coat but I think you might need 2 coats to smooth-en it out. The color makes up for you trouble, though.

Grape Juice Yogurt - Full hand shot

This picture makes it look more grey-toned, but it's really the lovely lilac grape purple with a tinge of pink you see in the second shot. (Matches my wall, too! Hehee.. so lame)

Next one up is Apple Mint Yogurt. I was most excited for this one but ended up liking some other colors more. it's still lovely. In certain lights it looks baby blue instead of green.

Apple Mint Yogurt - Bottle shot

The glitter in this one is totally cute, pale pink, mint green big and small hegaxons. Yes, this is really a nice color as well! There is a reason I bought the whole collection.. I just couldn't chose and they were all so cute and they were only 1 dollar 80 cents each and, and.. I forgive you your awful application issues! Amen.

So chunky.. =(

This one definitely needs a base coat too.. my goodness how embarrassing and messy does this looks.

Apple Mint Yogurt - Full hand shot

Looks better from a distance =x This shot is quite close to real life. It is a little dusty, which is what I like about it.

Last but not least Strawberry Milk Yogurt. This was my least favorite of the bunch and I couldn't decide whether or not to buy. But since I decided on the other 4 already I just got them all, and now I tried it I quite like it! It looks like strawberry milk and looks literally sweet, like sugar candy.

Strawberry Yogurt bottle shot

Pale cute pink jelly base with mint green, pale pink and purple big hexagons, tiny magenta and purple hexagons and - for some strange reason - white square glitters. It is actually very nice and seemed a little less chunky than the Grape and Apple. More smooth like Vanilla and Lemon. Very girly!

Strawberry Milk Yogurt

Strawberry Milk Yogurt - Full hand shot

Have you had any application issues? Which are your favorite colors, do you have any?

The Face Shop - Colored Paper Nails - CMX321

Today I want to share with you all this amazing glitter from The face Shop. It's from a recent collection called Colored Paper Nails, which consists of 6 different glitters. And the glitters are made of.. paper! Which is fantastic, because it is: 1. Not chunky at all 2. Applies and spreads unlike any other glitter I ever tried and 3. Removal is not so disastrous (every girl loves and hates glitter because of this!)

This is CMX321, it actually has a name too, which is uncommon for face Shop polishes: this is called Tropical Candy! Such a yummy name, it makes me love this baby even more.

Because the glitter is made of paper, even though it is very colorful, is it still, well, for lack of a better word, modest, because the shine is not too strong. And it looks awesome on cremes, almost looks like you painted the dots yourself. This is my new favorite glitter!

There is just one thing negative about this glitter.. I would have liked this even more seeing it inside a China Glaze bottle! Didn't really like their most recent Glitz and Pieces glitters much.. they should try paper glitters too!

Dry time is good, application amazing, glitters are cute and colorful, result: Can't stop staring at it.

MX311 - So gorgeous!

The clear polish has some bigger hexagonal glitters in white, green and pink. Then there are small hexagonal blue and red glitters, square whit glitters, and tiny tiny hexagon white glitters. Very fun on almost any background color, and useful in many kinds of nail art for all seasons. Gotta get a back up bottle of this one.

I would like to share a tip with you as well. I have been painting my different glitters on the sticky side of a piece of cello tape, then covering it with another piece of cello tape. So you have a shiny clear film with your glitter trapped inside. With this, you can hold the strip against your bottles of polish and see which color you like best with your glitter, without having to get angry over failed manicures and waste precious polish. I did this for most of my glitters, and it proofed itself highly useful!

Let's move on to the pictures then. =)

MX311 Tropical Candy - Artificial light

This is 2 coats. No need to put big dollops on your nails to spread the glitters evenly. The glitters lie flat on the nail too, they don't drop or get stuck in your hairs, I love that too. I applied a top coat to make it a bit more shiny and long lasting, but it is not a must.

In case you are curious, the purples base colors are China Glaze Fancy Pants and Gothic Lolita (click here to go to full post of these colors). I can imagine this looking amazing on Def Defying (from the Cirque du Soleil collection) as well! I should get myself that color, even if it was just to wear it together with this glitter!

Close up =)

I'm not sure where this is available except directly from Korea. I asked the face Shop outlet here in Singapore and they informed me they don't carry this collection at all. I ordered it online directly from Korea and only paid SGD3 for it!

What do you think of this glitter? Do you have this or any other glitters from the Colored Paper collection?