Green
China Glaze Sleigh Ride for Holiday 2008
Just hear those sleigh bells jingling, ring-ting-tingling, too
Come on, it’s lovely weather for a sleigh ride together with you
-”Sleigh Ride” lyrics by Mitchell Parish
The holidays are coming early kids. Have you made out your wish list? Because I did. Back in January I wished for an emerald green version of China Glaze Ruby Pumps named Emerald City and now it’s been fulfilled. It may not be called Emerald City but you won’t hear me complaining.
I showed you a sneak peak of the polish back in July when I talked about my visit with the women of China Glaze but now you can finally get a bottle of your very own. The Sleigh Ride collection is all you need for a truly blingtastic holiday manicure. Included in the set is the ultimate green dazzler, Emerald Sparkle, a glitzy silver, Tinsel, and core collection best seller, Ruby Pumps. All three are well pigmented, packed with micro-glitter and include that amazing China Glaze jelly finish. The glitter will cause the polishes to dry slightly matte and bumpy but a coat of Seche Vite brings out their brilliance and fire.
Emerald Sparkle! That so deserves an exclamation point. There aren’t enough words for how truly stunning this polish is. I couldn’t dream up a better green shimmer if I tried. Bravo China Glaze! You have just made my year. Not only have you created the perfect green but you made it PIGMENTED. Like seriously pigmented. What you see below is two coats and there’s no sign of nail beneath.
Tinsel will be your go-to color for New Year’s Eve bling. Better yet, can you imagine this icing your Emerald Sparkle tips? Totally over the top and not for everyday but come on, it’s the holidays. Live a little! Now Tinsel is not as pigmented as the other two polishes. What you see is two coats and there is still a bit of tip showing but with three coats, you’re solid.
Ruby Pumps is a classic, jazzy red, glitter bomb. For the past two years, this has been my holiday pedi choice. Originally introduced with the Wizard of Ohh Ahz collection Ruby Rumps is the lone survivor that made the China Glaze core lineup. A brilliant twinkling red, this is a great shade for conservative gals that aren’t ready for green but still want to up the ante on special occasions.
The China Glaze Sleigh Ride collection is on sale now at 8ty8beauty.com and will be arriving soon at Head2ToeBeauty.com. China Glaze is also carried at ULTA and Sally Beauty Supply. Call for seasonal collection availability.
Misa Poisoned Passion for Fall 2008
Jewel tones and vampy nail shades are carrying over from last Fall and Misa Cosmetics is putting their twist on the trend. The recently launched Poisoned Passion collection is a lineup of six rich shades. With five shimmers and one creme, these colors pack a lot of punch. They are all very lush.
The last time I reviewed a Misa collection, Love Connections, it was right after their switch to become Big 3 Free. You may remember that I was non-plused with the formula then but, I’m seeing an improvement in this new lineup. While I still had issues with application of a couple shades (Dying Love & Fatal Affair) the rest flowed quite nicely. One thing that has remained consistent is the high level of pigmentation. Each polish only required two coats.
Toxic Seduction – Let’s start out with my favorite color of the bunch. Of course it’s the green, duh! You might call the base color a blackened teal or blue-green but the hints of gold shimmer warm it up a bit. Though I wouldn’t say its a forest green. More like a franken of Gussied Up Green & Rodeo Fanatic. Regardless of how you describe it, I have just one word – WINNER! I looked for it’s closest living relative in my stash and found Poison Ivy from Nailed by Sleek UK (shown below).
A Sin Worth Committing’s base color is royal blue, like OPI Dating A Royal. No purple undertones in the slightest. It’s most definitely a superb navy shimmer however, I found that OPI Yoga-ta Get This Blue is close enough that you wouldn’t need both. A Sin Worth Committing is just a touch bolder.
Dying Love is a tricky one. Both in application and color description. I guess it’s appropriate for the punkiest color to be the problem child. Not quite jet black yet too dark to be gunmetal gray, Dying Love falls somewhere between Lippmann Hit Me With Your Best Shot and Sally Hansen Salon Black Orchid (a LE color).
Fatal Affair is similar to Misa Blueberry Glaze in that BG is a purple tinged blue and Fatal Affair is a blue tinged purple. Though the blue shimmer affected my ability to show the true color. It’s more purple in real life. Compared to one of my favorite purples, Misa Dreamy Purple, it is deeper with a red-violet base.
Forbidden Lust is a deep red based purple shimmer. Like a dark amethyst. In looking for a dupe, I found that it’s a deeper version of NYX Wild (#2 on the linked image).
The only creme in the group, Love Bite, is a vampy browned red. It’s bright berry base makes 2-3 coats necessary to achieve bottle color. I have to say that this is the one color I wasn’t all that jazzed over. As you can see below, it’s very similar to Misa Stiletto so not really a must have for me.
The Poisoned Passion collection is available for sale online at MisaCosmetics.com and Head2ToeBeauty.com.
So fanatics, what do you think? What did you/are you buying from the collection?
China Glaze Rodeo Diva – Flannel Fixation
Looking at the Flannel Fixation shades from China Glaze‘s Rodeo Diva collection takes me back to my college days in the mid 90s when grunge was all the rage and I owned a seemingly endless supply of flannel. Which makes this palette of six cool toned shades so perfectly named.
Ahh how I miss the days of uber-comfy baggy clothing. Not that wrapping a flannel around your waist hid a big butt or looked flattering in the least but we all did it. Except maybe my pal Amber from Beauty Blogging Junkie who abhors the 90s fashion trends with every fiber of her being. BTW, if you share Ambular’s hate of the 90s but love yourself some 80s you MUST check out her 80s Ladies Week. In Amber speak, it’s TO DIE!
But I digress, let’s get back to the polish. The colors may be western flannel inspired but the look is way more chic. Gorg jewel tones with tonal shimmer, they are so hot for Fall. I’m telling you, China Glaze so got it right. And they sent us yet another green! Can life get any better?
All swatches are shown with two coats of lacquer and no top coat but they’re so pigmented I hardly needed the second. With the exception of Red Stallion they all flowed smoothly on the nail. For some reason my bottle was thick and goopy and took some play to get it right. I hope it’s just mine but buyer beware. It’s still workable just a PITA, ya know?
Cowgirl Up is berry based red-violet. It looks more burgundy or wine in the bottle but on the nail its purple side comes out.
Red Stallion was my problem child during application but this warm orangey red has a great Fall feel. In the sunlight the undercurrent of gold shimmer peeks out.
Branding Iron is rich and vampy yet not so dark you can’t tell it’s a burgundy. The shimmer gives this luscious shade its depth and character. Without it, it would be a very boring creme.
The buzz on the MUA nail board has been over Rodeo Fanatic and the possibility of it being a twin to the highly coveted MAC Whirlwind (see comparison below). Well kids, Rodeo Fanatic is not an exact dupe but its certainly the closest living relative. Whirlwind is more of a sea-green (heavier on the green) while I’d call Rodeo Fanatic a deep peacock blue. Either way, it’s a total winner and necessity if you love blues.
How much gushing over Gussied Up Green can you all take? Leaving my love of all things emerald aside, the intensity of this shade is unparalleled. Its luster does not dull. It is the epitome of forest green. I thought Zoya Suvi and OPI Jasper Jade were IT but in comparison (see below), Gussied Up Green has a richness the others don’t. LOVE, pure love.
Midnight Ride’s pure eggplant goodness really only stands out in bright light. Indoors the “almost black” thing takes over and it becomes difficult for anyone but the wearer to know its true identity. Though I’m a sucker for a purple vamp so stick a fork in me, I’m done. They got me!
The China Glaze Rodeo Diva collections, Flannel Fixation and Hay Ride are both available online at 8ty8Beauty.com and Head2ToeBeauty.com. China Glaze nail polishes can also be found at ULTA and Sally Beauty Supply but seasonal collection availability may vary.
Color Club Glitter Vixen for Fall 2008
Glitter me timbers! Color Club is going glam rock blingtastic for Fall. One of the two new collections from Color Club, Glitter Vixen’s glitz factor is no joke. Consisting of seven clear nail polishes packed to the hilt with glitter, these lacquers are not for the faint of heart.
Now you kids know I loves me some outrageous and sparkly nail colors but these are a bit much. Don’t get me wrong, they’re totally fun and for a special occasion I’ll be rocking the green (that’s a no brainer), blue and holo but the formula is what’s putting me off.
We all know that glitter polishes are a pain. They dry bumpy and are a b*tch to remove but these ones take the cake for me. Usually in a glitter polish, the base is pigmented so it doesn’t have to be as glitter packed but these are allllllll glittah! It took two coats of Seche Vite to get the surface smooth and removing the green was such a PITA (even using felt instead of cotton rounds) that I used a nail wheel for the rest of the swatches. The scratching was just too hard on my nails, sorry girls. So I’m showing the collection in both sunlight and artificial light on fake tips. All swatches use three coats of polish (two on my nails) and no top coat. Enjoy!
The Color Club Glitter Vixen collection retails for $1.99 each and is on sale now at 8ty8Beauty.com and coming soon to Head2ToeBeauty.com.
So what do you think gals? Too blingy or is there no such thing? What has you drooling?
China Glaze Fall 2008 – Rodeo Diva Hay Ride
Giddy up little cowgirls for the Rodeo Diva collection from China Glaze is here. Twelve nail polishes divided into two sets, warm and cool, these shimmering beauties will be causing a frenzy. And even though I tend to go the cool route (blues, greens) the gold shimmer in the Hay Ride polishes is incredible.
I would describe the shimmer as micro glitter yet it doesn’t affect the finish or cause that skin crawling glitter scratching as you remove it. All in all, the polishes applied well. Though I did notice the formula getting thicker as I went from lighter to darker shades. The lacquers dry glossy and the pigmentation is excellent, I only needed two coats to achieve bottle color.
Now you’ll notice that my skin tone looks a bit funky in the swatch pics below. That’s only because I altered the images to best show the polish color, which resulted in my skin looking a bit jaundiced in some and flushed in others. You’ll just have to excuse that.
Yee Haw! is a golden peachy orange that just radiates in the sunlight. I don’t think it necessarily works on me but the shimmer really gives it a punch to take it from being just another peach.
Golden Spurs is actually one of my favorite shades in this group and I’m not a big fan of tans. There’s something about how the shimmer really adds dimension to what could be a totally boring color that draws me in. It’s a sexy evening neutral.
Prize Winning Mare is a hard shade to capture. It’s golden brown but not chocolaty and very chameleon-like. In every light, it looked different. Very unique
Lasso My Heart’s golden shimmer makes it look more rosy in person. In fact, in the bottle, I thought it was a duo-chrome because of the way the shimmer affects the color.
Wagon Trail was the one color I most look forward to testing and it didn’t disappoint. You know me, any mention of green perks my ears up. This golden green is dirty, funky and totally fun. Like nothing else I own. I know there are fans of the discontinued China Glaze shade, Cat’s Eye (I don’t own it). Well I’d say that Wagon Trail is its blackened, trampy cousin.
Side-Saddle is for all you vamps. A browned plum peppered with gold, this shade represents the “diva” in Rodeo Diva the best. The minute I saw it, I thought of my pal Sara from Bit By The Beauty Bug. Even though I’ve helped encourage her to explore the lighter, brighter side of polish this summer, she’s a vampy girl at heart. I just know she’ll love this!
And since I knew there would questions of how Side-Saddle compares to NYC Cognac Sparkle, I beat you to the punch. Cognac Sparkle is more berry/wine based and a tinge lighter. Sorry gals, no twin here.
The Rodeo Diva collection can be found online at Head2ToeBeauty and is coming soon to 8ty8Beauty. China Glaze can also be purchased at ULTA and Sally Beauty Supply, call for seasonal collection availability.
Lisa N.
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