Come on over and see what I’m offering!

I have to say, China Glaze really surprised me with this collection – it is everything that –> LCN <– wasn’t.

One of the things with the China Glaze Magnetix collection is that you have to make sure that you shake it up really well. If you don’t, the magnetic particles will not distribute evenly throughout the polish. When that happens, you won’t get a pattern when you hold the magnet over it.

Let me say the magnet that accompanies the polishes…it is AWESOME!!! I had a good grip on it because it is U shaped – on one tip of the U, there is the diagonal stipes. On the other end of the U is the star pattern. At the base of the U is the chevron pattern. That pattern was the most difficult and frankly, boring. I know that the  –> Nails, Inc. <– stuff worked, but China Glaze nailed it right on the money for me. There was a learning curve, but it was nowhere as steep and anger inducing as LCN.

The formula needs a good round of shaking for the magnetic particles to distribute evenly before use. I learned through trial and error on that. Formula rocked because it dried fairly fast and I only needed one coat to get it all done. Personally, I found I had better luck without using a base coat. I know China Glaze recommends using it, but I had better results without using one.

With that out of the way, on to the pictures.

Left to right: Drawn To You, Instant Chemistry, Attraction, You Move Me

Remember how I said that the chevron pattern was the most disappointing? Well, you can see why on my pointer finger, the color is Drawn To You. For some reason, the chevron magnet refused to work with any of the China Glaze Magnetix colors. It also refused to work with my Nails Inc magnetic polish and the LCN ones, too. I think it just wasn’t as strong as the star pattern or he diagonal one. I’m loving the star pattern with Instant Chemistry, aren’t you? It’s this deep dark purple and when the magnet pulled the particles up, this beauty totally shines. I’m loving it.

Left to right: Drawn To You, Instant Chemistry, Attraction, You Move Me

That said, now is the time to ask…would you like to own these? If so, keep on reading…

I am giving away ONE set of these bad babies. All 6 colors and I’m also including the magnet! I may also include some extra goodies as a thank you for entering and following me on GFC.

PLEASE USE A VALID EMAIL IF YOU CHOOSE TO NOT USE YOUR FACEBOOK ID.

This contest is open to everyone. If you live on Mars or the Moon, I’ll find a way to ship it to you.

Terms and Conditions:

The contest is open from Sunday, January 22, 2012, 12:00am EST until Sunday, January 29, 2012, 12:00am EST.

The winner will be notified via email within 48 hours after the giveaway has ended.

The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email. If I do not hear from the winner, then I will choose another.

This is open to individuals of any country who have reached the age of majority according to their local laws (18 in the US with these exceptions: Alabama and Nebraska, 19; Mississippi, 21).

Void where prohibited by law.

You have a total of 30 total possible points to win. That said, this is my first time using rafflecopter….so here we go…wish me luck!

Good luck to those who enter.

Thanks for stopping by.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

However, that’s not what this post is about. This is about a green I saw on display a couple of weeks ago. I purchased her because…she called to me. Little did I know that she would remind me of some colors in my collection already. Hm….

Let’s see how accurate this really is, shall we?

I present one of Revlon’s newest colors, Rain Forest. How gorgeous is it? No sunlight shot because I couldn’t get to the sun in time here in California. I know it sounds lame, but it’s the truth. The sunlight shots really didn’t do this color any justice. As you look at this color, aren’t you reminded of a comparison I did just mere days ago?! I know I was. So the next day, while I had the sun on my side, I did a comparison…and let me know what you think?

You can’t really see it here, but notice MMUTM is glowing? Like humming because it wants to be noticed? In the shade RF and GG almost look alike, but guess again…

Personally, I love how RF on my index finger hit the sun just right and got that little blingy sparkle going on. Here in the sun you can really see the difference – RF has a darker, almost black base. GG has a dark green base while MMUTM has a much lighter base when compared to the other two. Also, RF seems to be a bit more olive with the glitter/glass flecks where as GG and MMUTM are more of a sheer/silver tint.

At any rate, I’m happy to have added another illustrious green to my collection.

Happy Tuesday!

Aren’t these two colors great? Totally vibrant and just all around glowing, wouldn’t you agree?

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What would you say if I told you that these are not two colors but really FOUR? Quelle suprise!

Come see the reality of it…

Shade

Sunlight

Is there really a difference? I venture to say yes, but it is so incredibly small and if you weren’t nitpicking like I was, you’d never find it.

First and foremost, the Wet and Wild stuff stank. Like…rotting breath kind of stank. Gag me stank. You get the idea. The Nails Inc stuff wasn’t much better, but it was that thin tiny margin of better.

Wet and Wild took forever and a day to dry, where as the Nails Inc dried as soon as it hit the nail. All of these are three coats.

So where is the difference, you ask? I see a tiny discernible difference between BS and BAD – BAD is just a hint darker than BS. Almost like it had a slightly darker tint in the base, but as you can see it is barely noticeable. The glitter is still this dazzling shade of purple with lovely round magenta glitter. The blue in CS is deeper, a bit richer than BM,IR. The purple glitter in CS also a bit more predominant, but I wonder if it’s due to my application and not the formula itself. BM,IR is a a hint of a shade lighter, but it seemed to glow a bit more.

Overall if you want WnW, these are from the Ice Baby collection and I’m not sure it’s so easy to find at the moment. It’s worth it if you can find it because it’s oodles cheaper than the Nails Inc ones. While you can readily obtain Nails Inc at your local Sephora store or online, be prepared to pay a hefty price for it.

Happy Monday!

However, it’s got this mad crazy shine to it that really made me sit up and notice. This is an extremely festive red that delivers for the seasons – it has enough of a pink undertone that it could be used for Valentine’s Day. It’s also got enough of a blue undertone so that it works wonderfully during Christmas. It’s definitely a holiday kind of thing.

This is truly a shade of red worthy for a Friday red thing. It’s been a while since I’ve done a Friday red because I took time off during the holidays and I hadn’t swatched any reds.

I wish I could’ve seen how this red would’ve fared under natural sunlight, but it was a boo boo overcast day and this was the best shot I could get.

From different angles this really shimmered and actually did show that it was metallic. It is, simply put, a beautiful red. I would venture to say that this is a red you need to have in your collection…provided it flatters your skin tone!

Click the picture to see it in its original size.

After seeing some pics of CND’s Mood Ring Manicure on different blogs, I decided to give it a shot. I had 3 of the 4 colors needed to complete this. I was missing the finishing coat called Copper Shimmer. I was about to run down to my nail guy…then I remembered that I was the one who cleared him out of his CND Nail Effect stash. I hunted around town, but no one sells CND Nail Effects, but they do the Shellac. No, not what I was looking for.

I thought it was pretty, but it’s a lot of work…and I hate that. I think that’s why I don’t do nail art. It takes up a lot of time when I like to be finished in under 20 minutes. Plus, I just flat out suck at art.

For the base I used two coats of Color Club’s Blue-Topia from their Fall 2011 Collection called Back To Boho. Down the middle of each finger I swiped Emerald Shimmer. To the left of that I swiped Violet shimmer. To the right of Emerald Shimmer, I laid down a streak of Ice Blue Shimmer. Waited forever for it to dry. I got impatient. I got bored. This is yet another reason as to why I don’t do nail art. I have the attention span of a flea. When it was dry, I did a nice coat of Copper Shimmer.

I thought this was a beautiful manicure, but just incredibly time consuming. I can’t sit and wait for this stuff to dry! The end result? What do you think?

Come see why…

First off, this is a lovely shade of not quite opaque, yet not quite sheer grey with some stunning  shaped glitter. Lynnderella describes it as “Sheer neutral grey base with pink shimmer and scattered silver, gunmetal, pink, silver, periwinkle, aqua and lavender squares and multiple-size hexagons. Also contains holgraphic bars. Spooky. And ever so brainy.” It is totally SEXAH! I layered it over a brand-that-shall-not-be-mentioned and the color is called Tickle My France-y. I L O V E this combo and can’t wait to wear this glitter again, despite the pain in the butt removal.

I purchased this and 2 bottles of Glitter Tamer and I do need to say this about her GT – there is an odd slightly violet tinge to it. I’ve seen a tinge like that before and it was when I –>  bought some polish back in Sweden  <–. It actually changed the color of my polish! This is what Lynnderella’s Glitter Tamer does which is sad because it does, literally, tame the glitter! Even the most thirstiest of glitters completely falls into line with one swipe…Just, it’s a pity about the tinge that changes the colors of the glitter polish.

Finally…Happy New Year. I had all these grandiose plans about posting my favorite polishes of 2011, a countdown and all these other things…but I discovered that all I really wanted to do was get back on track with my blogging. I’ve decided that 2012 will be my year of untrieds because I have 3 Helmers (soon to be four!) with colors that have yet to be swatched and compared. I hope, but make no promises, to have a post of my favorite polishes of 2011.

Happy New Year and may it be wonderfully prosperous and joyful.

It still kept screaming MEET ME UNDER THE MISTLETOE months later. I finally wanted the screaming to stop, so I did a comparison. While they are not dupes of each other, I found MMUTM to have a little more glass flecks in it. Glittering Garland has a deeper, darker jelly base that almost looks black. MMUTM has a slightly lighter base.

Come and see what I’ve got for a comparison today!

As always, please click on the images to get the full size.

They look almost alike here, but you can see that Glittering Garland has a slightly darker base with deeper, richer round of glass flecks.

Though this is an overcast shot, you can see that it does emphasize the difference between GG and MMUTM. They are incredibly similar. I’m not going to scream dupe because they really aren’t.

Overall, I find that Meet Me Under The Mistletoe has a bit more of a denser cluster of glass flecks. Almost like they just dumped extra glitter in! While I’m not complaining, it definitely is pretty. I’m glad I still have this in my stash! Also, thought it doesn’t show well in the photos (thank you non-sunny California day!), the bases for both of them are slightly different. GG is darker, almost like a blackened green jelly, whereas MMUTM is a couple of shades lighter, yet still a jelly. There are more glass flecks/glitter in MMUTM while the glitter seems sparser in GG.

If you get either one, you really won’t see a difference. However, if you happen to have both, you are one lucky person!

Is it? Come on over and see – let me know what you think

Each of these colors are three coaters. I wasn’t very impressed with Bad Fairy when I first got it. Check out the review of it —> HERE <—

I’ve heard rumors of the color shift in Pinky Brown – it’s supposed to flash pink, brown, orange, etc. However, in natural light and incandescent light, there was little to no shift in color at all. Very disappointing as this was the color that really got me excited over the collection. BOOOOOO! I am hoping that the rest of the collection is better than this. I am going to do a comparison for another one of their colors because it reminds me of an Orly color.

Drying time was a bit of a pain. I had to wait ten minutes between coats to make sure that it didn’t bubble up. It was worth the wait when it came out this pretty for swatching. So though a three coater, the formula on both was very runny and I experienced a bit of cuticle pull – very annoying. However, that was easy to take care of in clean up before taking photos.

As always, please click on the photo to see the original image size.

BF has a more pink-orange base, whereas PB has a bit of brown/black in it.

Sun wasn’t shining, so you get another shade/overcast shot!

Macro shot of Pinky Brown – click to enlarge.

I had been on a Unicorn Puke search…I even went to evilBay to try and find it, but I wasn’t willing to pay $40+ for it. I decided to wait for the Super Powers Collection. I just wanted the name Unicorn Puke…I’m still on the hunt for it. If you want to swap for it, give me a shout. Check out my swap list in my spreadsheet.

I’m a bit bummed I forgot to swatch Time Traveler before I slapped on Clairvoyant on top. Oh well.

Time Traveler is this intense deep, dark blue that is opaque in one coat. However, it was a bit on the thick side. It took a bit longer to dry than I would have preferred, but it was opaque in that one coat. It’s a gorgeous creme. It dried with a wax like finish. I was a bit taken aback because I was expecting it to be a high glossy shine. Removal of Time Traveler is a little messy – I had smurf fingers for a while because I had forgotten about my special way of removing blues like this. Nonetheless, it’s very pretty.

Make this blue shimmer and sparkle by slapping on some Clairvoyant. Clairvoyant had some funky drying time. It took longer than five minutes in between coats. It’s not like I went nutty with the coating, either. I did two coats…and it felt like the dry time was taking forever. I also wanted to give it appropriate time to dry because when I put on my fast drying top coat, I didn’t want any shrinkage…so here are the pics, in all their glory.

Nice gold and red flash…

Pretty green gold flash…