China Glaze Recycle

China Glaze Recycle is from the "ecollection" Collection and what I hoped to be my answer for a grey creme.  I've been wanting to find the perfect grey creme that wasn't too light but wasn't too dark.  I have a certain love affairs with greys.  I've been watching Color Splash on HGTV (and not just because of David Bromstad but he's a big reason), and I'm convinced that I want to paint my living room a blue grey very soon.  


Despite promo pictures of Recycle looking more dark grey, I was pretty surprised to find that Recycle was more of a purple grey to me.  Now, I could be totally wrong, but this is just how I saw it.  I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 2 coats of Recycle and a top coat of Seche Vite.


Now, application on this was WEIRD.  I wiped my brush on the side of the bottle like normal, but that made the polish too thin on my brush and leave bald spots, so I decided to just dip the brush in, and paint my first coat slightly thicker than normal.  I did the same with the second coat and it seemed to work just fine, although I felt like I was putting on globs of polish.  It didn't pool into my cuticles though and with a coat of Seche Vite, I was good to go in my normal 3 minute dry time so I don't get it.  

Now, here in the sun, this polish does weird stuff.  It's MUCH darker (to me at least) on my nails than in the bottle.  What?!  Granted this made me happy because I was looking for something a little darker, and it didn't have as purple of a tint as I originally thought.

But I really liked it in the shade.  It appears super glossy because of the Seche Vite but this is definitely just a flat creme.  Overall while I am happy with the polish in general, I don't think I'm going to wear it as much as I hoped.  I do think it would be very pretty in nail art, so I'm willing to try it out again soon.


China Glaze [official website] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty [official website], Sally's Beauty Supply [official website] as well asTransDesign [official website].

Fashion Watch: China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

I am a Katy Perry fan.  I liked her whole "I Kissed A Girl" phase, despite that it made me feel very dirty.  I liked "Hot and Cold".  I have the video of "Starstrukk" from 3OH!3 that Katy Pretty (as I like to call her) did a nice cameo and sang her heart out.  The one thing I can't stand about her, is her fiancée, but that's another story.

I haven't watched the MTV Movie Awards program yet.  I DVRed it but my son is in that wonderful age of three, where he's smart enough to know exactly what he's doing and saying, and can't be left alone for a moment.  He just recently found my China Glaze Stroll and painted all 10 of his fingers with it, and even used the bottle of Seche Vite to top it.  -deep breath-

Despite not watching the awards show yet, I did see this picture EVERYWHERE and then I got this press release today ^_^  Enjoy.  For my review of Yellow Polka Dot Bikini please click HERE

Dazzling in her Zuhair Murad mini dress and Rock & Republic grey platform heels, Katy Perry was definitely a stand out at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards. With so much sparkle, shimmer, sequins and shiny fabric going on, Katy nixed the accessories and instead went with a wild royal blue coif and neon yellow nails!

Katy Perry, who is known for her love of manicures and nails, went with her favorite celebrity manicurist Kimmie Kyees for this event. Kimmie, who is totally aware of the fact that Katy likes to stray as far away from the norm as possible, chose China Glaze Yellow Polka Dot Bikini as her first manicure color for the night. To make the neon yellow polish pop, Kimmie used a well-known manicurist trick by first applying a couple coats of China Glaze White on White underneath the Yellow Polka Dot Bikini. This insured that everyone was able to see Katy’s nails from a mile away! To achieve the desired nail length that Katy wanted, Kimmie also used ibd Natural Nail Tips. Kimmie says that she goes through so many of these nail tips that she can never have enough in her manicurist kit.

China Glaze colors may change from season to season, but our longwearing formula continues to provide consumers with the highest quality nail lacquers. Designed with the professional in mind, our 220-strand brush is great for ease of application. Best of all, our non-thickening formula provides perfectly even coverage.  China Glaze nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, visit: www.chinaglaze.com .China Glaze is a division of American International Industries.

IBD is committed to supporting today's salon professional and promotes excellence in nail care by offering comprehensive education and training to nail artists. Our educational program is a hands-on training program that enlightens nail professionals with up-to-date techniques, explains the science behind the products and describes ways to build business and profits. Taught by a highly trained ibd educator, each attendee will experience the incredible benefits of using ibd products. No odor and no dust - nail professionals discover the future of nail care in IBD's light activated systems, for a healthier and safer salon environment.

About American International Industries

 For nearly 40 years, AII has been the leading manufacturer and worldwide distributor of innovative, quality beauty and skin care products for men and women.  Our product lines include Ardell, Andrea, Body Drench, Bye Bye Blemish, Checi, China Glaze, Clean + Easy, Clubman/Pinaud, Duo, European Secrets, EzFlow, Fright Night, Gena, GiGi, Gypsy Lash, IBD, Jeris-Lustray, No Tweeze/Micro Tweeze, 'N Rage, Prolinc, RAW, Seche, SuperNail, Surgi-Care, Waterworks,  Winning Nails, Woltra, Woody’s,  and Youthair. 

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pre-Order

Straight from Ji (owner, creator, master of Rescue Beauty Lounge)

YOU ASKED (BEGGED, PLEADED, CAJOLED)
FOR THEM...YOU GOT’EM.
48 HOURS VIP SALE, PRE-ORDER NOW!

You know how much I detest seeing RBL polishes going for ridiculous prices on Ebay. And yet when murmurings that Scrangie and No More War were becoming hot commodities on the nail polish black market, I decided to reissue these two previously limited-edition polishes.

Get’em while they’re hot!

For those of you who are scratching your heads in confusion (and I’ll admit, the names don’t exactly bring to mind a delicate pale pink or a ripe juicy tomato red…), Scrangie is a shimmering iridescent beetle wing in violet/blue/green, inspired by the nail blogger of the same name. No More War is a pop-in-your-dirty-martini glossy olive green. Neither is your run-of-the-mill, off-the- drugstore-shelf shade. And given the demand for these colors, this next issue may only last as long as your weekend spray tan.

On your mark, get set….

As ever,

Ji


http://www.rescuebeauty.com/category/nail-polish-scrangie-NMW.html
====================
I own a bottle of Scrangie, and I'm seriously thinking of picking up a spare.  Since Scrangie came out, companies have JUMPED to attempt to reproduce it (Sally Hansen Grape Going is one), but no one has come close.  Now No More War doesn't really do anything for me, but I'm not an olive person.  I used to have olive skin when I was a baby, thank you Grandma for your Native American + Italian genes.  However, I'm almost thinking about getting 2 bottles of it just for the sake of saying I have it.  Now, these are $18 a piece.  Is RBL worth $18 a bottle?  My honest answer is yes.  And there you have it.

China Glaze Awakening

China Glaze Awakening was from their Urban Chic (previously Platinum Series) Collection but now can be found in some of the core lines at Sally's Beauty Supply.  This is such a pretty purple pink with a gold shimmer.  It's almost a duochrome but I think I'm sticking with shimmer.  I had tried this color before but it was a messy application, mostly because I was still learning at the time.


I used a base coat of Seche Natural, 2 coats of Awakening, and a top coat of Seche Vite.


As you can see in the sun, the purple pink base is showing quite nicely.

However, you can move your hand around a bit and get some of that gold.

Indirect sun was probably my favorite time to photograph this color.  You really see the glowing softness of the color itself.

I'm still having some green lighting issues with my shade pictures but this one worked out well - check out the dusty gold rose on the middle finger - so pretty!

Finally, here's my "way back when" picture ^_^

Overall I was very happy with this color.  The polish wasn't too runny or thick - a pretty good consistancy and covered well in 2 coats.  In the sun picture, you can almost see some VNL but that's with some harsh 100 degree Texas sun.


China Glaze [official website] can be found online through several etailers, including my favorite Head2Toe Beauty [official website], Sally's Beauty Supply [official website] as well asTransDesign [official website].

Essie "Summer Collection"

Essie?  Doing a green?  Nice!  The name of this collection is a bit boring though, but hey, they are working on it. ^_^

Essie can be purchased on their website [official website] or etailers like Head2ToeBeauty [official website] or TransDesign [official website].

Essence "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse"

Essence is a Europe brand of polish that I personally haven't tried yet but I do get the press releases on.  They are launching an exclusive make-up collection for fans of "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" with some cool products.  Although it's hiding, that purple polish looks AWESOME.

essence make-up collection for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
The Twilight Saga fascinates millions of fans with its mystical atmosphere and the fateful
love story between Edward Cullen and Bella Swan. Just in time for the start of the
movie, essence seduces you with an exclusive make-up collection to go with the
"The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" and whisks you away to an enchanting rendezvous with the
mysterious colors of dusk and phenomenal shimmer effects for magical moments from
July and August 2010 until eternity.


essence twilight collection – duo baked eyeshadow
For those unforgettable moments when a mysterious look can determine everything. The
versatile duo baked eyeshadow with its unique texture can be applied dry or moist –
depending on the desired intensity – and guarantees an exciting eye make-up effect.
Available in three color combinations.


essence twilight collection – glitter eye pencil
A seductive shimmer to make your eyes shine. With a sponge applicator to create
magical smokey eyes, the glitter eye pencil is the perfect finishing touch for your
awesome Twilight make-up. Available in two mysteriously dark shades.


essence twilight collection – shimmer powder
A silvery sparkle that makes your face and body shine like Alice Cullen in the sunlight.
The essence make-up collection shimmer powder is an absolute must-have for fateful
summer nights.


essence twilight collection – lip gloss
Intoxicating red, deep black and the crimson colors of sunset – the romantic essence
make-up collection lip gloss is super-seductive with fascinating metallic effects and a
beguiling scent. Available in four colors.


essence twilight collection – nail polish
Enchanting shades ranging from the gentle grey of the moonlight to intense, fateful red
conjure the colors of twilight to your nails and touch your senses. Guaranteed to last
until dawn – and much longer! Available in the five colors.


The exclusive essence make-up collection for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse will be
available in stores in July and August 2010.

300 Followers Giveaway! [EVERYONE!] Winners!

Again, thank you to all my readers for following me and motivating me to keep blogging!


I decided to use the Random Number Generator located here http://www.psychicscience.org/random.aspx this time, just to switch things up.  To keep things easy, you were assigned the number on my Google Form in the order you signed up for the giveaway.  Duplicate entries were deleted, keeping the original entry in its spot.  I listed the prizes in the same order that I listed them on the giveaway.



1) Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure
2) OPI Havana Nights Minis
3) OPI Tiny Takeouts Minis from the Hong Kong Collection
4) OPI Modern Flower Minis
5) OPI Shrek Minis

Prize 1) #108 Annie
Prize 2) #130 Emilie
Prize 3) #61 Jessica K.
Prize 4) #3 Ivy
Prize 5) #111 Aimee W.


Thank you again and congrats!  I have sent you all an email asking for your information.  If I haven't heard back from you by Monday, June 7 at midnight:01 GMT, I will choose a new winner.

300 Followers Seche Giveaway! [Winner]

First, thank you to all my readers for keeping me motivated to do what I do.  Secondly, thank you to Seche for hosting this giveaway - I am very grateful for it.


I decided to use the Random Number Generator located here http://www.psychicscience.org/random.aspx this time, just to switch things up.  To keep things easy, you were assigned the number on my Google Form in the order you signed up for the giveaway.  Duplicate entries were deleted, keeping the original entry in its spot.


First off I drew 2 winners for the Seche Pack that contains one (1) bottle of Seche Vite Crystal Clear Top Coat, one (1) bottle of either Rebuild, Recondition or Retain (winner's choice), and one (1) bottle of Seche Restore.

Next I drew 2 winners for the "Secrets to the French Manicure" FULL SIZE SET.

YAY to the winners!


Oh, I guess you need to know the winners.  ^_^


71) Lily
11) Mai


46) Meryl C.
69) Hillary


I have sent you all an email asking for your information.  If I haven't heard back from you by Monday, June 7 at midnight:01 GMT, I will choose a new winner.


Thank you all again!

OPI What's with the Cattitude?

On one of my recent trips up to a bigger city, I went into a place called Trade Secret, which sells OPI.  They have tons of colors, but what gets me the most were the Minis.  I love miniature items.  The one big gripe I have about OPI minis is that the name is not on the bottle.  Rawr!  I'm almost thinking of making little labels for them, because it drives me insane not to know the color of a bottle.  I have 4 other OPI minis that I stupidly threw away the box, so I have no idea what the names are.  There is only a code on the bottom of the bottle.  The code on the bottle of this bottle of OPI is NLB90 10062


Oh man, awesome.  I just realized that the number on the bottom (the NL part) is also listed on OPI's website.  Their iPhone app has not been updated with the Shrek colors, but the others are on there.  SCORE.


Back to the polish.  Now these bottles are MUCH smaller, at only 3.75 mL instead of a normal bottle of 14 mL but when you don't use much as it is, I'm okay with it.  The package of 4 colors cost me $12.50 so the bottle was about $3.12.  That's still super pricey when you think a 14 mL bottle of China Glaze can be purchased online for $3.50.  Oy, I can't think about that much.  This is why I hate math.


I really like this color.  It's almost a cotton candy blue creme - quite light.  OPI says it's a moody light blue that's really a pussycat.  (Remember, these were Shrek related.)  I used Seche Natural for my base, 3 thin coats of What's with the Cattitude, and a top coat of Seche Vite.  I did have a big of an issue with covering bald spots, but I think that's my base and top coat (more on that later).

See, isn't this a pretty color?  I had a bit of an issue holding ON to the bottle hah, it's so small!

Shade picture here - again just a really happy color.  I'm a fan.


Now, as soon as I got back into the house, I touched my nail and it wrinkled under my top coat.  What?  Now, I was using Seche, which goes great with China Glaze, but won't work with Zoya.  Looks like OPI doesn't play nice with Seche either, which is why I was having bald spots and wrinkling issues.  So now I'm going to try and get a bottle of the OPI Natural Nail Base Coat, and I found out that I have not one, but two bottles of RapiDry OPI Top Coat (minis), and I'm almost interested in the OPI DripDry Lacquer Drying Drops too.  I'm a little apprehensive of drying drops after not having the best results with my Zoya ones.


I have like 20 OPI minis and 2 full size bottles of OPI to review still.  Please note that OPI is officially on Facebook [official Facebook] and Twitter [official Twitter] now (they joined last week), so be sure to follow them.  I know there has been a lot of controversy regarding their lawsuits with etailers, but I'm not going to get into that, partly because I don't agree with the "popular" side, and secondly because I don't know enough about it.  I'm just glad that I'm near a salon that sells OPI - regardless.  ^_^


OPI is available at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, and Ulta, for $8.50 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail for each Nail Lacquer. Please visit their website for details [official website].  

China Glaze Stroll vs Ruby Pumps

So if you're on my Twitter, you've seen it blow up over the HBO True Blood Ultimate Fan Experience in the past week.  Here's the low down - on June 1st, HBO is hosting a Live Q&A session with Alan Ball (creator) and some of the cast members, following is a showing of the Season 2 Season Finale (previously aired) and finally a sneak preview of Season 3 (rumors are swirling that we'll actually see the first episode of Season 3, unconfirmed).  To win, people had to log on to True Blood's Facebook page in the 6 minute window that your theater city was announced, and click to see if you were a VIP winner.  There are only 50 theater cities in the USA, and a minimum of 50 people were chosen per theater.  Each winner received 2 tickets... so we're talking a minimum of 100 people per theater but they were also giving away General Admission tickets at some theaters, so .... I have no idea how many people will truly be there.


Now, HBO is pulling out the stops for this one.  Each theater city will have a red carpet entrance complete with photographers and whatnot.  The event starts at the same time in each theater, 11:00 p.m. for us Central Truebies (as they are called).  So it's going to be a late night.


IN ADDITION, HBO asked for "sheriffs" to call out from each theater city.  No one knows fully what they do, or what they will be asked to do, despite at least one leaked document online that may or may not have been genuine...  anywho, I "applied" and well, I won!  There is only 1 sheriff per theater city, so 50 sheriffs throughout the entire event.  ^_^


I haven't completely figured out what I'm going to wear.  Some people are seriously going all out - fangs, capes, the whole nine yards.  I originally signed up on the site as a Fangbanger which is the character that willingly allows a vampire to feed on them (awesome, huh?).  Typically in the show, fangbangers are kind of the equivalent of a groupie.  (Sorry Mom.)


While I'm still assembling my outfit, now I'm stuck on nail polish.  I originally was thinking of a vampy red or maybe even a hooker red, but I forgot how boring cremes are for me.  I want something that pops, so I went through about 10 polishes and finally settled between two.


China Glaze Ruby Pumps is a red glitter in a red base and it sure does shine.  I'm wondering if it's too much shine for this event.  China Glaze Stroll (from the Retro Diva collection) is a reddish gold glitter in a dark fuchsia base.  I used Seche Natural for my base, three coats of each polish, and a layer of Seche Vite to top it off.


Now I just need to pick one!  Please vote for me in the poll below ^_^

Which color should I wear to the True Blood Ultimate... » create a poll
Tags : beauty nail polish