China Glaze Shower Together Nail Polish Review & NOTD

I've had this polish for quite sometime now and for some reason I've never used it. I guess that is just what happens when you have to many shades to choose from. Last week the gloomy, cold weather was just getting to me. I felt as yucky as it looked outside, so I decided I needed a pick me up. I took a look at my lovely display of nail polishes and instantly chose China Glaze Shower Together. After all the filing and grooming I applied 1 coat of this polish. The polish went on very easy. The formula is not too thick or thin, and applies without a brush stroke in sight. However, one coat of this polish is quite enough and it doesn't show up completely opaque. That's no bother to me, I'm a two coat kind of girl anyways. I feel no matter how great the polish looks with just one coat I must add a second coat just to be sure I get the max out of my application. So, I applied a second and it looked wonderful. I applied one coat of Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat which I swear by, and I was all done. Shower Together definitely did the trick for my mood as well. The shade is simply gorgeous. I would describe it as gray based teal blue color with a high shine cream finish. It's fun and modern, but still a sophisticated kind of shade.

3 Days Into My China Glaze Shower Together Mani-
I am totally impressed with this polish now. The lasting power is great. I feel that you should be able to get at least three days of wear out of any nail polish or it's not worth the money or your time and effort. I've been wearing it for 3 days now and I have only one itty bitty chip on my index finger which only happened when I rammed my finger into my cabinet door. The rest of my nails are still nice and neat. The shade is gorgeous. The formula is great on application and for lasting power. This polish is a keeper and I will be wearing this shade again.

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Check This Cool Little Gadget Out!! Try it Before You Buy It!

Sephora just came out with this genius tool for their Sephora for OPI Polishes. You can choose your skin tone, nail length, and nail shape, then click the color swatches to see what each shade looks like on your hands before you fork out the cash for their polishes. I love it!! Try it out here
SEPHORA VIRTUAL POLISH CHANGE

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Sally Hansen Complete Manicure Polish- Guilty Pleasure- Rating: ♥♥♥♥

This polish didn't receive 5 hearts only because of the expensive price for a drugstore polish ($7.50), and of course for the horrible brush that all of the SH Complete Manicure polishes have. If you don't mind the brush or the high price these are perfect. I use a nail polish brush that I bought from Sally's, and next time I buy any of these I will wait until there is a buy one get one free sale.

This is a gorgeous metallic/shimmery (not glittery) shade of antique gold. I was kind of afraid to purchase this one because usually a metallic shade always leaves noticeable brush strokes. So, for those of you who are weary about purchasing these for that reason, have no fear. This polish gives a great finish with very few (if any) noticeable brush strokes. The formula is neither to thick or thin. It last me for 4 days.  I'm sure would last most a little longer probably 4-6 days. If you are looking for a good gold polish that you can easily pick up from your local drugstore that is not too bright/yellow gold take a look for this one. Love it!

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Ladies! My Sephora Nail Polish Haul Came Today : )

I just opened my box from Sephora! I ordered 5 different polishes last week and it came in today. All of the polishes are amazing! I ordered Illamasqua's Muse, OPI for Sephora's Leaf Him at the Altar, Ocean Love Potion, Under My Trench Coat, and Metro Chic. I will be posting swatches and reviews of all the Sephora for OPI nail polishes I got today in one post and a different post for Illamaqua's Muse and Milf (which was a gift from my best girlie). I will finish up posting the SH Complete Manicure collection this week, and get started on the Sephora for OPI next week. So, check back for more swatches and reviews.

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Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure- Yellow Kitty- Rating:♥♥♥

This is a gorgeous bright, creamy muted yellow polish. It reminds me of a Banana Cream Popsicle, perfect for a hot summer day. The formulation of these polishes are pretty good. I've had the polish on for 3 days now and there is no chipping. It took 2 coats of polish to get it completely opaque. Though I added a 3rd just for good measure. There where a few things that turned me off about the whole SH Complete Solon Manicure line. The brush totally sucks. Literally, the brush seems to soak up all the polish and no matter how much polish you think is on the brush it's not. This makes for an uneven application. The shape of the brush is another turn off. I think that SH was trying to knock off OPI's brush design, but failed miserably. I don't really care for the large brush design from OPI or SH because I have relatively small nails and I am quite shaky, so the big style brushes don't leave me any "wiggle room". However, I can still handle and achieve a neat mani/pedi with the OPI brush if I am careful. SH tried to be innovative with her brush and did this senseless tapering design on the tip of the brush. I don't quite understand what the point was in tapering the brush. However, I do know that it makes it almost impossible to create a clean edge at the nail bed. One more thing is the price. I paid $7.50USD for this polish at CVS, which is a ridiculous price for a drugstore polish. I could have bought an OPI or Essie polish for this price. So, it boils down to this...If you find the SH polishes BOGOF get the shades you love the most. When you get them home and are ready to do your mani/pedi do not use this brush. Buy a nail polish brush from your local beauty supply store (Sally's) or you can take the brush out of a polish you already have and clean it well with nail polish remover and use that one to apply the SH CSM polishes with. I know that this seems like a lot of BS to have to deal with to use these polishes with good results, but in the case of Yellow Kitty this shade is totally worth it. Yellow Kitty is such a beautifully fun and unique shade. I also purchased two more gorgeous shades of SH CSM polishes. I have Fairy Teal (creamy greyed, teal blue) and Guilty Pleasure (shimmering bronzed gold), so check back for those reviews and swatches.
Love the color!
Hate the brush!

                        (no flash)

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Attention!!: Demon Robert 1968 is BACK!!!! Go get it!

For all you ladies including myself who loved the look of Channel Jade polish, but not the price...meet Demon Roberts 1968. It is the closest dupe I've ever seen. DR 1968 is a limited edition polish that was first released last year and now is being re-release May 1, 2010. I passed on  it last year and have regretted it ever since. Not again! I just order 2 bottles. You can order yours by calling 310-271-2100, this is for the boutique in LA. I know that they also have one in NY, but I'm not sure of the number. The polishes are $9 USD ea. & the shipping is $3.95 for up to 5 bottles, then they charge by the bottle.

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China Glaze- Purple Panic (neon) Rating: ♥♥♥

Let's start with the things I love about this polish....The Color!! It is the most vivid, hot fuchsia pink with a slight reflect of a purple undertone. Perfect for a hot, flirty summer nail. I just wish the formula for this polish was as knock-out as the shade is. Aw man, this stuff was a pain in the butt to get right. Purple Panic is a neon shade and neon shades are notorious for having a dull/flat/matte looking finish. This one is not an exception to the rule. That is the easy part to deal with though. You just need to add your most glossy top coat to the top and vahla, just that easy. Hum I wish, this polish also had some major drying issues. The first time I applied this polish I applied 1 medium coat and 3 min. later fallowed up with a 2nd medium coat, 3 minutes after the 2nd coat I added my Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Top coat. I ended up with a gloppy mess that never dried. So, I started over...1 very thin coat of polish, 5 minutes to dry, 2nd thin coat of polish, 5 min. to dry, 3rd thin coat of polish, 5 min. to dry, then Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Top Coat. It was quite time consuming. I must say that the final result was gorgeous. A beautiful mani with a brush stroke no where insight. So, yeah I'll be keeping it and using it again this summer, but I will have to use this one when I have the time to spend on the application. I will also keep my neon polish collection down to Purple Panic and Turn Up The Turquoise (another CG neon) and that is it. These two shades were just to pretty to pass up and since I only have two I should be able to find the time to apply them.

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My Summer Mani and Pedi: China Glaze: Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

I am a sucker for a beautiful bright mani/pedi for the spring and summer months. For the most amazing color selection I turn to China Glaze. It doesn't matter what your favorite shade may be, they are bound to have several that you fall in love with. I like pretty much any color as long as it suits me. I do tend to lean towards blues, purples, pinks, corals, and reds, but I'm easily swayed in any color direction. China Glaze finishes range from a sheer, cream, shimmer, and glitter. I tend to stick with either a shimmer or a cream finish. I sometimes will do a sheer on my mani, but never on my pedi. I never go for the glitters. I'm over 21 so no glitter for me. I know is probably just me. I wore glitter nail polish before I could wear makeup on my face, so it reminds me of a young look. Though, I have seen ladies my age wear it and pull it off. I just don't think I could.

China Glaze's (CG's) formula is usually great (you always have a few bad apples) and gives results that last in between 3-5 days, depending on the top coat I use. Seche Vite gives me the most lasting results. I would compare the formula and the staying power to Essie's polishes. The only formula I like better than Essie and China Glaze is OPI, we're talking 5-7 day long mani with OPI. I must say that regardless of which formula I use my manis tend to be slightly more short lived than most ladies would be. I put my mani through the ringer, with taking care of my three ^sweet♥'s^ (dh included), cleaning, cooking, and digging in the flower beds my mani takes some extreme abuse. So most lady's manis will stay going strong long after I have made a new color selection. Honestly, I have a routine of changing my polishes on Monday and Thursday nights. I do it this way so that I will have a new shade for the weekdays and another shade for the weekends. I know, pretty silly, but I love it!

I will try my best to post swatches of both of my weekly manis for you this summer. So, keep an eye out for that. It won't be hard to miss as bright as they all are- lol ; ) I hope you love it!

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