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!

NOTD + a mini haul from Holt Renfrew

Holt Renfrew had a special in Ottawa today: buy any two Lippmann products and get a free manicure by Beauty School Dropouts. How could I say no to that?

Here's what I ended up doing:



Two coats of Deborah Lippmann Stormy Skies with Today was a Fairytale glitter gradient.

Of course, the hardest part was just picking out two Lippmann products to buy. As I was going to pay, Elena (the Lippmann rep) told me they were giving away bottles of Just Walk Away Renee with the purchase of four products, so I ended up with this:



From left to right:

Shape of my Heart, Ruby Red Slippers, Hydrating Base Coat, Lady Sings the Blues, and Just Walk Way Renee. I can't wait to do my nails with these beauties!

By the way, Holt did get in the spring Lippmann collection today, so I finally got to hold them in my hands. If I hadn't pre-ordered it from Neiman Marcus already, I would have picked it up today. I know Mermaid's Dream is getting a lot of attention (and rightly so!), but On the Beach is SPECTACULAR.

Girly Bits

This is my first time trying Girly Bits, a small independent lacquer creator with some absolutely beautiful stuff! I ordered five polishes to start off and swatched them all today.

As always, images can be clicked to find the full sized version.

First up, Into the Night, a black jelly, jam packed with multiple colours of glitter, holo glitter and pink shimmer.





This one sparkles like CRAZY. It's also a topcoat hog - I used a coat of clear polish and then topped with Seche Vite for a smooth finish. Application was easy and not at all streaky, even on the first rather sheer coat! By two coats this had built nicely, but by three it was perfect.

If you want to save on coats, my middle finger has a coat of black creme polish (DL Edge of Glory) with one coat of Into the Night on top, and I can't tell the difference. A lovely sparkly polish for glitter lovers!

Note: this is the standard PITA for removal - use the foil method!

Next up is Sailor's Delight - a deep red-orange jelly with incredible gold micro-glitter that sparkles like mad!!





I have to agree with the description - it DOES sparkle like mad! This colour reminds me of blood oranges - gorgeous and rich. Application was a breeze. The swatch shows three coats topped with Seche Vite. I can still see some VNL, but not much! A fourth would probably make this completely opaque, but I didn't bother as I thought it was beautiful as it was.


Stormy Skies - a medium grey that leans to the dusty teal side. It has a hint of micro-glitter that shows gold or green, depending on the skies.





A lovely dusty blue-grey with tons of hidden sparkle. It's very subtle and lovely, showing tons of teeny tiny glitter particles in the sun. Application on this one was a bit trickier and took a steady hand to keep it from being uneven, but it wasn't bad. Very sheer at one coat, it built nicely to almost opaque in three coats, with some VNL. I love this one, it'll be great for spring!

The next two colours will be quite picture-heavy due to the nature of the polishes - capturing all those lovely colours was NOT easy!

The first of the duochrome topcoats is Cosmic Ocean - a blue/green/purple duochrome, which is completely stunning and whose true beauty can not be captured by the camera.











Yes, ALL those pictures are of the same polish! I have to agree that this polish is very difficult to capture on camera - it shifts like crazy from a gorgeous deep cobalt blue to a forest emerald green. This is one coat over Deborah Lippmann Edge of Glory black creme. Application was simple, just a stroke of the brush and it was perfect.

If you're a fan of blue/green duochromes at all, you need this polish! I love looking at this in the sun, it's mesmerizing.


Last but not least is Street Magic - a wildly duochrome, colour shifting polish that is meant to be layered over a dark colour. It will transform from a deep bronze to a brilliant green right before your eyes.











This one was even tougher to capture than Cosmic Ocean. The copper kept disappearing when I looked at the photos! The shifting put me in mind of Chanel Peridot, that same kind of gorgeous green to copper shift, though Street Magic delves more into the deep emerald side of green. Application was identical to Cosmic Ocean, one thin easily applied coat over a coat of Deborah Lippmann Edge of Glory black creme.

Of them all, I think Cosmic Ocean and Sailor's Delight are my favourites for the moment, though I'm sure that'll change over time :)

Girly Bits can be bought via Pam's blog, or from llarowe.

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!

Multi layered taped look

This is pre-cleanup, so it's a bit of a mess.

This is OPI's French Quarter for your Thoughts, YSL Shiny Black (from the Duo Terriblement Noir), and OPI Designer, De Better. The layered effect was achieved with a little scotch tape and a lot of cursing when I messed up my thumb SIX TIMES and had to redo it.

With flash:




Without flash:

My first attempt at a taped manicure!

After seeing the tutorial for taped looks at Reddit Laqueristas, I figured I'd give it a go! This was my first ever attempt at a taped manicure: OPI French Quarter for your Thoughts tipped with OPI Designer, De Better.



It's a bit messy, but not bad for a first try! I was surprised at just how easy it was to achieve those clean lines:

1) paint with base coat and base colour, wait for colour to dry.
2) take a piece of scotch tape and stick it to your hand a few times to make it less sticky (if it's too sticky it'll take the polish right off your nails!), place over your nail however you'd like the design to go.
3) Pain your tip colour, remove tape before the paint dries.

I really need to do a full taping tutorial. I've figured out a number of tips and tricks and I should post them!