Swatches - Basic colors !

With my crazy collection of nail polishes, I've only got one thing to say

Gotta swatch them all! :D

The colors here are mostly China Glaze, which I love for their good formula.

There is minimal staining and they're usually opaque in 2 coats

Have to thank Levon for introducing this brand to me ;p.

I've tried to capture the colors as accurately as possible,

as well as provide some feedback regarding the consistency of the polishes.

Hope it will be useful to those who wants to purchase!

China Glaze Igniting Love

1 regular coat, with slight staining upon removal. 

A true red

China Glaze Merry Berry

2 regular coats, with slight staining upon removal

A cool-toned wine red.

Color Club A Warm Place
1 thin coat, with staining upon removal.
I used a thin coat here, because Color Club's consistency is more watery than China Glaze's
A cool-toned crimson red.

China Glaze Peachy Keen
2 thin coats, slightly streaky on first coat, but evened out after.
A slightly neon toned peach creme.

China Glaze Breakin
3 thin coats, streaky so you have to use careful coats.
Bright orange with slight shimmer.

Essence Little Miss Sunshine
2 regular coats, slightly streaky but evens out.
Marigold yellow creme,

Essence is a super affordable brand, its polishes are available at Watsons for $3?!

China Glaze Happy Go Lucky
2 thick coats, very streaky so apply carefully (most yellows commonly are stubborn like that)
Bright yellow creme.

China Glaze Lemon Fizz
2 thick coats to opacity, but I needed a 3rd coat to even it out. Very streaky.
Pastel yellow creme

China Glaze Four Leaf Clover
2 thin coats, slightly watery
Emerald Green.

China Glaze Exotic Encounters
2 thin coats, slightly more watery consistency than usual but still easy to manage if you use thin coats.
Camo green.

Essie First Timer
2 thin coats due to slightly watery consistency (that's normal for Essie polishes)
Dark Pistachio Green.

China Glaze Aquadelic
2 thin coats due to slightly watery consistency
Blue toned turquoise

Here's a comparison of First Timer and Aquadelic 
First Timer on the index and middle, Aquadelic on the ring and pinky.

OPI Gargantuan Green Grape
3 thin coats due to slightly watery consistency. Streaky on first coat but evened out.
Light apple green.

China Glaze For Audrey
2 regular coats, slightly streaky on first coat but evened out.
Dusty dark turquoise

China Glaze Turned up Turquoise
2 regular coats, but you need to work fast due to its matte formula
Visible brushstrokes may be seen, so if you hope for a smooth matte look, use a topcoat first, then a matte top coat.
Metallic sea green with slight shimmer

With top coat / Matte top coat

China Glaze Grass is Lime Greener

3 thin coats, slightly streaky but evened out in the end.

Work fast as it has a matte finish.

Neon lime green 

Essie Fashion Playground
3 thin coats, slightly streaky during first coat, but evened out.
Mint with slight shimmer.

China Glaze Re-Fresh Mint
3 thin coats, slightly streaky during first coat, but evened out.

Light mint, and sometimes appears almost white

China Glaze Kinetic Candy

2 regular coats, slightly streaky during first coat, but evened out.

Sky blue.

Comparison of Re-Fresh Mint and Kinetic Candy
Re-Fresh Mint on index and middle, and Kinetic Candy on ring and pinky.
When you put them side by side you can see the green tinge of Re-Fresh Mint.

I'm not even halfway done with the collection! :x

Random Swatches !

I've decided to post a bunch of my nail swatches together.. 

simply cause I'm too lazy to post one by one. hahah.

First is OPI: Peace & Love & OPI

Steel gray duochrome, which flashes plum purple and forest green.

Three coats for opacity, I would recommend layering it over black to for easy application.

Smooth and not streaky.

Emily de Molly: Hole in the Sky

A periwinkle creme, with tiny lavender and white dots, and holographic hex and circle glitters. 

Three coats for opacity, but two coats gives it a more delicate and subtle look.

Emily de Molly: The Fifth Element

A turquoise crelly base with teal, red and silver holographic hexes. 

Opacity in two coats

Mattified.

China Glaze: Strap On your Moonboots
Holographic dark blue.
Opaque in two smooth coats.

Pretty & Polished: The Fifth Beetle

A duochrome, thermal topcoat. 

Basically 3 in 1, so worth the price.

Clear when warm and dark when cold.

I layered it over a light cream base, so I dont know the effects of it over other colors.

Pretty & Polished: Cosmos and Effect

A gorgeous holographic multichrome polish.

I layered it over black, as applying on its own made it sheer and didnt show the full effect.

It felt like a chunky glitter topcoat, so I'd highly recommend it to be worn over a base.

Oh yeah, there was so much happening in the sunlight!

First the pretty dark purple-blue-forest green multichrome effect,

then the holographic glitter effect.

I swear, Pretty & Polished makes their polishes work overtime. 

#mosthardworkingpolishes LOL.

Glam Polish: That Old Black Magic.
Black base with rainbow holographic glitters .
Two coat magic. :D

Nail Art: Inspired by TTR's Edelweiss Romper

I don't usually wear florals, but I liked this combination so much it inspired my manicure.

I started with a mint creme: Essie's Fashion Playground.

Opaque in two coats. 

Formula was slightly runny compared to China Glaze; 

its the same with all the essie's I've encountered.

Used China Glaze's Creative Fantasy, Lemon Fizz and Street Chic to draw the florals.

Taaa daaa !

 The mint is not exactly close but I thought I did a good job with the florals :B

The dress which inspired it. :D

Labour Day Nails!

Did nails as a tribute to my job, for Labour Day.
Got a lot of comments on how much I'm a workaholic hahaha.
I love doing themed nails la. :D

My job title is Laboratory Technologist,
but the majority of my work actually revolves around phlebotomy.
Which is, in layman terms, the art of drawing blood hahaha.
Other than phlebotomy I do microscopy work too.

Initially wanted to do bloodstained nails,
but I thought it might be too gory and I wanted to do some actual nail art.
Public holiday so more time to spend hehehe.
So I painted on the tools of my trade!

A vacutainer needle, and EDTA tube, and a plaster.
The purplish abstract thing is actually how a full blood count slide looks like under a microscope.
I tried my best to accurately draw the cells. :D

Painted on straight lines for my right hand!

Le masterpiece.

Used OPI My Vampire is Buff for the base.
LOL even the name is quite apt, hahahaha.

Anyway, MViB is a popular base for many nail artists!
After seeing so many swatches I bought a bottle, and I can understand why.
Its a creamy nude which has a good formula, 
unlike most light cremes where it applies with many streaks.
If you have ever applied white polish you'll get what I mean. ._.
It matches well with most skin tones too!

OPI My Vampire is Buff, 

two coats for opacity.

i love the EDTA tube best.

China Glaze Creative Fantasy, and

OPI You're such a Budapest for the stripes.

Overall effect reminds me of peanut butter and jelly.

Agree?

Nailpolis: World Parkinson's Day

Nailpolis held another nail art challenge, and this time, its for World Parkinson's Day.

What is Parkinson's Disease?

Parkinson's disease (PD) affects millions of people in the world. It is a chronic and progressive movement disorder, meaning that it continues and worsen over time. Parkinson's involves a loss of nerve cells in the brain, called neurons. Neurons produce dopamine, a chemical that tells our brains how to move. As Parkinson's Disease progresses, the amount of dopamine produced in the brain decreases, leaving a person unable to control movement normally. While, there are treatment options such as medication and surgery to manage its symptoms, there is currently no cure for it. Read on more on the Parkinson's Disease Foundation page.

While I am not personally affected by the impact of Parkinson's (choy!),
due to the nature of my job, I do have some exposure to patients who have Parkinson's.
Its quite sad to see them suffering, and I have seen the state of detoriation, which is pretty bad.

Anyway, the challenge entailed that we included
a. Red tulips, which is the worldwide symbol for Parkinson's
b. A blue ribbon, worldwide symbol for National Parkinson's Foundation

I used China Glaze: Grass is Lime Greener for the base,
and also one coat of Essie: Fashion Playground.
I like the uneven look, made it feel more real.


Oh yes, GLG is one of the new colors in China Glaze's Spring 2014 collection.
There were lots of feedback on the overall lousy formula of the collection.

My thoughts?
The polish dried to a semi-matte finish, so you do have to work fast to prevent bald patches.
I did one thin coat and one thicker coat, and got away with minimal streaking.
I love the color, but due to its matte nature, it chips quite easily, which is sad.

Painted on the tulips with China Glaze: Igniting Love, and Street Chic for stalks.
Brushed on Grass is Lime Greener for the base.
For the blue ribbon, I 'twisted' it into the words WPD. spot the hidden ribbons!

Did this under low lighting. Hahahah pok was surprised at my paint-in-the-dark skill. ;p