Showing posts with label Matte. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matte. Show all posts
Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Today's NOTD: China Glaze Riveting with a matte topcoat
A bit of randomness: China Glaze Riveting from the Hunger Games collection, with a matte top coat. I LOVE how this appears to glow from within!
Monday, 26 March 2012
Comparison: China Glaze Stone Cold vs. ManGlaze Fuggen Ugly & Matte is Murder
When I think of matte polishes, the first thing that comes to mind is ManGlaze. So when I saw that the new Hunger Games collection from China Glaze contained a matte grey polish, I knew I had to compare it against my favourite matte grey, ManGlaze Fuggen Ugly!
In the bottle:
ManGlaze wins hands down for creative bottle labelling. I love their cartoon labels - so much fun!
When I saw how dark Stone Cold was, I decided to add Matte is Murder to the mix, applying two coats of each polish to my fingers.
The biggest difference here is in the size of the shimmer. Whereas the ManGlaze polishes have tiny sparkles, Stone Cold is practically a glitter polish. In fact, when I took this off, I was left with a sheer coat of silver glitter for a moment, which shocked me.
Application wise, both ManGlaze polishes applied like butter - smooth, silky, and easy to apply. Stone Cold on the other hand, is much thicker and a bit trickier. While I didn't end up with streaking, I had to be a bit careful to avoid drag lines. As with all matte polishes, these all dried super quickly. Both ManGlaze polishes dried super smooth, while Stone Cold had a rougher texture.
With a topcoat applied, you really see the difference between Stone Cold and Fuggen Ugly - Stone Cold's larger, brighter silver glitter really pops! Fuggen Ugly has a more subtle rainbow shimmer, and is less textured looking.
Stone Cold is definitely not a dupe for Fuggen Ugly! Application wise I much prefer Fuggen Ugly, but both are beautiful polishes in their own right. If you're not a huge fan of grey polishes you really don't need both, but I'm happy to have them!
In the bottle:
ManGlaze wins hands down for creative bottle labelling. I love their cartoon labels - so much fun!
When I saw how dark Stone Cold was, I decided to add Matte is Murder to the mix, applying two coats of each polish to my fingers.
The biggest difference here is in the size of the shimmer. Whereas the ManGlaze polishes have tiny sparkles, Stone Cold is practically a glitter polish. In fact, when I took this off, I was left with a sheer coat of silver glitter for a moment, which shocked me.
Application wise, both ManGlaze polishes applied like butter - smooth, silky, and easy to apply. Stone Cold on the other hand, is much thicker and a bit trickier. While I didn't end up with streaking, I had to be a bit careful to avoid drag lines. As with all matte polishes, these all dried super quickly. Both ManGlaze polishes dried super smooth, while Stone Cold had a rougher texture.
With a topcoat applied, you really see the difference between Stone Cold and Fuggen Ugly - Stone Cold's larger, brighter silver glitter really pops! Fuggen Ugly has a more subtle rainbow shimmer, and is less textured looking.
Stone Cold is definitely not a dupe for Fuggen Ugly! Application wise I much prefer Fuggen Ugly, but both are beautiful polishes in their own right. If you're not a huge fan of grey polishes you really don't need both, but I'm happy to have them!
Monday, 20 February 2012
Battle of the Topcoats
Inspired by a post over at /r/RedditLaqueristas.
Going through my box of polish implements yesterday, I realised that I had a number of different topcoats. Looking at them, I couldn't think of which one I'd call "the best", so I figured it was time for a challenge!
If you're impatient, you can skip to the end for the summary.
The contenders:
Seche Vite: By far the most popular topcoat on beauty blogs. It retails for ~$8.
Poshe: a bit of an underdog. Loved by some, but I hadn't heard of it til I saw it at my local Sally Beauty. Retails for ~$7
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri: This is the most accessible of the polishes, available at drug stores all over the place. It's also the cheapest of the bunch at ~$6, cheaper on sale.
OPI Rapidry Topcoat: the Salon alternative. Easy enough to find as OPI products are stocked in a lot of beauty salons and places like Trade Secrets. At full retail price, this is the most expensive of the bunch at $10.
Control: No topcoat.
The polish:
I decided to use something with a bit less shine so I could evaluate on the shine of the topcoat as well as longevity. I also wanted something that I could handle looking at for as long as this experiment lasted! I normally change my polish every 1 - 2 days, so this was tough! I ended up picking YSL Matte Black from the Duo Terriblement Noir. Plain black tends to be one of my favourite colours, goes with everything, will show every single chip, and the matte finish should put the shine factor of these topcoats to the test!
Application:
Cleaned and buffed nails, swiped with polish remover. Applied one thin coat of Deborah Lippmann Rehydrating Basecoat, wrapped the tips, and let sit for one minute. Then applied one coat of YSL Matte Black, again wrapping the tips, and did some initial clean up. This is the result:
This is a beautiful black, with a finish that reminds me of fine leather. The actual polish is beautiful, but the angle brush that it comes with makes me crazy. Here it is next to a brush from the China Glaze Electropop collection:
It's extremely short and wide, on top of being angled in a strange way. All that to say, applying this polish took a fair bit of work and clean up!
I then applied one coat of topcoat to each nail, mirroring on both hands. OPI Rapidry on my pinky finger, Sally Hansen Instadri on my ring finger, Seche Vite on my middle finger, and Poshe on my index finger. I left the thumb bare as a control.
Left hand:
Right hand:
I'm so not used to taking pictures of my right hand! This was incredibly awkward!
Top coat application:
OPI: Definitely the thinnest of the bunch. This applied easily with no visible bubbling, and self-levelled nicely.
Sally Hansen: Slightly thicker, this was also very easy to apply. It self-levelled and had no bubbling.
Seche Vite: The thickest of the bunch, I ended up having to redo these nails due to bubbling in my initial application. Luckily I have two bottles of SV, so I re-did it with my new bottle. The older bottle will get a bit of thinner tonight! Application of this was trickier, and it tends to have a learning curve, but it does level nicely! It also has the strongest smell of the lot, which may be an issue for some.
Poshe: leaning towards the thinner side, this was also very easy to apply and self-levelling. Smell wasn't as strong as Seche Vite.
Dry time:
All topcoats were dry to the touch in minutes.
Shine level:
The OPI Rapidry is the least glass-like of the four, with Sally Hansen coming in next. Seche Vite and Poshe are, for all intents and purposes, identical when it comes to shine level. All four are pretty shiny and I doubt anyone would notice much of a difference unless they were obsessing over it.
Summary of Initial Application, Day 0:
Application:
1) OPI, 4 points
2) Poshe, 3 points
3) Sally Hansen, 2 points
4) Seche Vite, 1 point
Seche Vite loses due to its strong odour and tricky application.
Dry time:
no clear winner. All topcoats dried quickly, so each gets 4 points.
Shine:
1) Poshe & Seche Vite (seriously, these were pretty much identical), 4 points
2) Sally Hansen, 3 points
3) OPI, 2 points
Totals:
Poshe: 11 points
OPI: 10 points
Sally Hansen: 9 points
Seche Vite: 9 points
After initial application, Poshe is the leader by 1 point.
Tomorrow, I'll evaluate shrinkage levels, shine after fully curing, and if there are any chips!
Going through my box of polish implements yesterday, I realised that I had a number of different topcoats. Looking at them, I couldn't think of which one I'd call "the best", so I figured it was time for a challenge!
If you're impatient, you can skip to the end for the summary.
The contenders:
Seche Vite: By far the most popular topcoat on beauty blogs. It retails for ~$8.
Poshe: a bit of an underdog. Loved by some, but I hadn't heard of it til I saw it at my local Sally Beauty. Retails for ~$7
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri: This is the most accessible of the polishes, available at drug stores all over the place. It's also the cheapest of the bunch at ~$6, cheaper on sale.
OPI Rapidry Topcoat: the Salon alternative. Easy enough to find as OPI products are stocked in a lot of beauty salons and places like Trade Secrets. At full retail price, this is the most expensive of the bunch at $10.
Control: No topcoat.
The polish:
I decided to use something with a bit less shine so I could evaluate on the shine of the topcoat as well as longevity. I also wanted something that I could handle looking at for as long as this experiment lasted! I normally change my polish every 1 - 2 days, so this was tough! I ended up picking YSL Matte Black from the Duo Terriblement Noir. Plain black tends to be one of my favourite colours, goes with everything, will show every single chip, and the matte finish should put the shine factor of these topcoats to the test!
Application:
Cleaned and buffed nails, swiped with polish remover. Applied one thin coat of Deborah Lippmann Rehydrating Basecoat, wrapped the tips, and let sit for one minute. Then applied one coat of YSL Matte Black, again wrapping the tips, and did some initial clean up. This is the result:
This is a beautiful black, with a finish that reminds me of fine leather. The actual polish is beautiful, but the angle brush that it comes with makes me crazy. Here it is next to a brush from the China Glaze Electropop collection:
It's extremely short and wide, on top of being angled in a strange way. All that to say, applying this polish took a fair bit of work and clean up!
I then applied one coat of topcoat to each nail, mirroring on both hands. OPI Rapidry on my pinky finger, Sally Hansen Instadri on my ring finger, Seche Vite on my middle finger, and Poshe on my index finger. I left the thumb bare as a control.
Left hand:
Right hand:
I'm so not used to taking pictures of my right hand! This was incredibly awkward!
Top coat application:
OPI: Definitely the thinnest of the bunch. This applied easily with no visible bubbling, and self-levelled nicely.
Sally Hansen: Slightly thicker, this was also very easy to apply. It self-levelled and had no bubbling.
Seche Vite: The thickest of the bunch, I ended up having to redo these nails due to bubbling in my initial application. Luckily I have two bottles of SV, so I re-did it with my new bottle. The older bottle will get a bit of thinner tonight! Application of this was trickier, and it tends to have a learning curve, but it does level nicely! It also has the strongest smell of the lot, which may be an issue for some.
Poshe: leaning towards the thinner side, this was also very easy to apply and self-levelling. Smell wasn't as strong as Seche Vite.
Dry time:
All topcoats were dry to the touch in minutes.
Shine level:
The OPI Rapidry is the least glass-like of the four, with Sally Hansen coming in next. Seche Vite and Poshe are, for all intents and purposes, identical when it comes to shine level. All four are pretty shiny and I doubt anyone would notice much of a difference unless they were obsessing over it.
Summary of Initial Application, Day 0:
Application:
1) OPI, 4 points
2) Poshe, 3 points
3) Sally Hansen, 2 points
4) Seche Vite, 1 point
Seche Vite loses due to its strong odour and tricky application.
Dry time:
no clear winner. All topcoats dried quickly, so each gets 4 points.
Shine:
1) Poshe & Seche Vite (seriously, these were pretty much identical), 4 points
2) Sally Hansen, 3 points
3) OPI, 2 points
Totals:
Poshe: 11 points
OPI: 10 points
Sally Hansen: 9 points
Seche Vite: 9 points
After initial application, Poshe is the leader by 1 point.
Tomorrow, I'll evaluate shrinkage levels, shine after fully curing, and if there are any chips!
Sunday, 15 January 2012
ManGlaze: Fuggen Ugly
How anyone could call this beautiful polish "Fuggen Ugly" is beyond me - this stuff is gorgeous!
This is two coats of Fuggen Ugly, with no topcoat. Just check out that subtle shimmer! It's got all sorts of crazy colours inside!
I took this picture of the wet brush just to show how beautiful it is.
I love this polish so very much. It applies beautifully, completely opaque and lovely in two coats, and like all matte polishes, dries super fast.
If you've yet to try ManGlaze, do it! It's worth it!
This is two coats of Fuggen Ugly, with no topcoat. Just check out that subtle shimmer! It's got all sorts of crazy colours inside!
I took this picture of the wet brush just to show how beautiful it is.
I love this polish so very much. It applies beautifully, completely opaque and lovely in two coats, and like all matte polishes, dries super fast.
If you've yet to try ManGlaze, do it! It's worth it!
Tuesday, 27 December 2011
Funky French Manicure with ManGlaze Matte is Murder
Inspired by Chloe's Nails fancy french manicure. This is one of the most beautiful, simplistic looks I've ever seen, and no one does it better than Chloe's nails.
This is my take on it, using ManGlaze #Matte is Murder, tipped with a stroke of Seche Vite.
Protip: don't even attempt to use tape to keep the lines straight on this stuff - it stuck to the nail polish no matter how long I waited and how much I tapped the tape to my palms, it stuck. I had to redo all the fingers on my left hand twice!
Anyway, here's my take on it.
With the flash, you can see just how much amazing shimmer is packed into this great matte polish:
Working with matte polish is so different from your usual creme finishes. I had to buff all my nails to remove any ridges to get this smooth look, as every single bump will show. I also worked much more quickly than I normally would to try and avoid it drying and clumping. This stuff dries FAST.
Another gotcha: I tried OPI's drying drops on this and it RUINED the matte finish. Guess I'll be saving those for non-matte looks!
This is my take on it, using ManGlaze #Matte is Murder, tipped with a stroke of Seche Vite.
Protip: don't even attempt to use tape to keep the lines straight on this stuff - it stuck to the nail polish no matter how long I waited and how much I tapped the tape to my palms, it stuck. I had to redo all the fingers on my left hand twice!
Anyway, here's my take on it.
With the flash, you can see just how much amazing shimmer is packed into this great matte polish:
Working with matte polish is so different from your usual creme finishes. I had to buff all my nails to remove any ridges to get this smooth look, as every single bump will show. I also worked much more quickly than I normally would to try and avoid it drying and clumping. This stuff dries FAST.
Another gotcha: I tried OPI's drying drops on this and it RUINED the matte finish. Guess I'll be saving those for non-matte looks!
Friday, 23 December 2011
I'm on a posting spree today
After my disappointment with the Ozotics, I decided to redo one of my current favourite manicures for today: China Glaze For Audrey with China Glaze White on White french tip, covered with Deborah Lippmann Flat Top. You can clearly see where I rushed with the For Audrey on my ring and little fingers and got some polish on the cuticle. Ugh! I WILL learn to slow it down consistently one day.
Here it is before I put on the matte top coat:
And after:
I love this look so much - the matte finish turns it into something very unique and different!
Here it is before I put on the matte top coat:
And after:
I love this look so much - the matte finish turns it into something very unique and different!
Thursday, 15 December 2011
A haul, and a porcelain manicure!
I received one small package of nail polish today with a few China Glaze items, and then I stopped into Sally on the way home to pick up a few odds and ends. I ended up getting a few more China Glaze polishes while I was there, along with a few cheap Sally Girl samples.
Misc: Polish thinner & pure acetone on the left, nail gems on the lower right.
Polishes:
Top row: China Glaze Frostbite, China Glaze For Audrey, China Glaze White on White, Finger Paint Sparkle Top Coat
Middle row: China Glaze Icicle, China Glaze Glittering Garland, China Glaze Holly Days, China Glaze Tinsel Town, China Glaze Some Like it Haute
Bottom row: Three mini Sally Girl polishes, no names.
China Glaze For Audrey made me think about my lovely set of blue Nigella Lawson mixing bowls, except shiny while they're matte. So I hauled out my Deborah Lippmann Flat Top and did this:
Base: CND Stickey
Blue: China Glaze For Audrey
White: China Glaze White on White
Top coat: Deborah Lippmann Flat Top
Matting a manicure just changes it so completely, from a pretty shiny look to a sophisticated porcelain-like finish. I love this look so much! I'll definitely be wearing it again soon.
Misc: Polish thinner & pure acetone on the left, nail gems on the lower right.
Polishes:
Top row: China Glaze Frostbite, China Glaze For Audrey, China Glaze White on White, Finger Paint Sparkle Top Coat
Middle row: China Glaze Icicle, China Glaze Glittering Garland, China Glaze Holly Days, China Glaze Tinsel Town, China Glaze Some Like it Haute
Bottom row: Three mini Sally Girl polishes, no names.
China Glaze For Audrey made me think about my lovely set of blue Nigella Lawson mixing bowls, except shiny while they're matte. So I hauled out my Deborah Lippmann Flat Top and did this:
Base: CND Stickey
Blue: China Glaze For Audrey
White: China Glaze White on White
Top coat: Deborah Lippmann Flat Top
Matting a manicure just changes it so completely, from a pretty shiny look to a sophisticated porcelain-like finish. I love this look so much! I'll definitely be wearing it again soon.
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Playing with polish - a bunch of swatches!
I had a fair bit of time on my hands this day, as you can see. I decided I needed to finally swatch all my Muppets minis to figure out which ones I'd buy full-sized bottles of.
From left to right:
Designer De-Better. This is just a gorgeous foil, so bright and lovely, silver with goldy flecks. I've never seen anything quite like it! I have a number of silver and gold foils, and this one is just distinct from all of them.
Wocka Wocka. The perfect Christmas red! Rich, with a subtle gold shimmer. This just SCREAMS Christmas to me.
Excuse Moi! Glitter heaven! Light pink jelly just jam packed with glitter. I had to have this one.
Warm and Fozzie: a lovely copper glittery foily bits in a dark base. It ends up looking like a warm dark golden foil on the nail, nice, but not something I went crazy over.
From left to right:
China Glaze Ruby Pumps. Oh my... now I know why people go crazy over this colour! It's so sparkly, with great depth and a lovely finish. Red jelly that's just packed with shimmer and glitter. Definitely a must have!
Deborah Lippmann The Glamorous Life. Described as the perfect rose gold, this is a lovely creamy colour. It applies like butter, though you do have to be careful of brush marks.
Deborah Lippmann Good Girl Gone Bad. I've yet to do this as a full manicure and I have no idea why! It's a gorgeous deep sparkly purple, definitely a good buy.
China Glaze Snow Globe over YSL Shiny Black. Ah Snow Globe. I have a love/hate relationship with this polish. On the one hand, lovely sparkly shiny glitter! On the other, it can tend to make my polish look pitted as the flecks sink into the undercoat.
I couldn't resist playing with Deborah Lippmann's flat top on top of all these polishes. It was just sitting there, looking at me! Some of the results were just spectacular.
Flat Top over Excuse Moi! shows just how packed with glitter this polish is! A very unique look.
Flat Top over Wocka Wocka! The subtle shimmer in this polish really comes out. This was my favourite of the bunch, with a soft sheen that reminded me of satin finish Christmas ornaments.
From left to right:
Designer De-Better. This is just a gorgeous foil, so bright and lovely, silver with goldy flecks. I've never seen anything quite like it! I have a number of silver and gold foils, and this one is just distinct from all of them.
Wocka Wocka. The perfect Christmas red! Rich, with a subtle gold shimmer. This just SCREAMS Christmas to me.
Excuse Moi! Glitter heaven! Light pink jelly just jam packed with glitter. I had to have this one.
Warm and Fozzie: a lovely copper glittery foily bits in a dark base. It ends up looking like a warm dark golden foil on the nail, nice, but not something I went crazy over.
From left to right:
China Glaze Ruby Pumps. Oh my... now I know why people go crazy over this colour! It's so sparkly, with great depth and a lovely finish. Red jelly that's just packed with shimmer and glitter. Definitely a must have!
Deborah Lippmann The Glamorous Life. Described as the perfect rose gold, this is a lovely creamy colour. It applies like butter, though you do have to be careful of brush marks.
Deborah Lippmann Good Girl Gone Bad. I've yet to do this as a full manicure and I have no idea why! It's a gorgeous deep sparkly purple, definitely a good buy.
China Glaze Snow Globe over YSL Shiny Black. Ah Snow Globe. I have a love/hate relationship with this polish. On the one hand, lovely sparkly shiny glitter! On the other, it can tend to make my polish look pitted as the flecks sink into the undercoat.
I couldn't resist playing with Deborah Lippmann's flat top on top of all these polishes. It was just sitting there, looking at me! Some of the results were just spectacular.
Flat Top over Excuse Moi! shows just how packed with glitter this polish is! A very unique look.
Flat Top over Wocka Wocka! The subtle shimmer in this polish really comes out. This was my favourite of the bunch, with a soft sheen that reminded me of satin finish Christmas ornaments.
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