Friday, September 21, 2012

Nail Swatches

Since my recent birthday nail polish haul, I've been swatching like crazy!
(My hands are not enjoying the nail polish remover either..)
So here are some swatches and my opinions on the polishes!

China Glaze - I'm Not Lion
This is three coats with a top coat in natural sunlight.
I'm absolutely in love with this polish. It's so gorgeous!
It looked opaque enough with two coats, but there were some "bald spots", it also dried rather quickly.
Unfortunately, it was hard to capture just how beautiful it is on camera, but I think you get the idea.
I used the Elmer's Glue method and I'm not sure if I just applied too thin of a layer or what, but it was more difficult to get off near the tips of my nails. It still came off much easier than without, nonetheless.

Color Club - Blue-Ming
Two coats with a top coat in natural sunlight.
I'm really loving this polish, the shade of blue is gorgeous and it's so bright.
It's almost neon-ish with how bright it is. It applied really smoothly and was opaque in two coats.

Color Club - Worth The Risque
Two coats with a top coat in artificial light.
This polish was a bit disappointing. Though it looks beautiful in artificial lighting, in sunlight it just went into a pretty dull silver for me. It did apply smoothly and was opaque in two coats. I even tested it outside with no top coat thinking that might make a difference, but I got the same result. I'm not sure if I got a dud but I was pretty disappointed after seeing such gorgeous swatches of it. 
Does anyone else have this polish? Do you have this problem?

Color Club - Who Are You Wearing?
One coat of snow and one coat of WAYW on top, with a top coat in natural sunlight.
I was also a little disappointed by this polish as well. I had tested it out previous to this swatch and it took three coats before it was opaque. Which is what lead me to putting white under it and seeing how that went. The color came out the same but it didn't take three coats to get it to be decently opaque. It also wasn't the color I was hoping for, it's a little washed out here (but not much) and I was expecting it be a little bit darker and more nude/beige rather than looking like an off-white cream.

China Glaze "Snow" vs. Sinful Colors "Snow Me White"
One coat of each, no top coat, in artificial light.
I wanted to do this comparison just to fulfill my curiosity.. and I must say I was surprised.
I was expecting some godly difference between the two. Though there is a difference, I wouldn't say it's a difference worth 6 dollars.
Snow: Snow applied very smoothly and covered the nail nicely. It was almost opaque in one coat and there were little to no flaws.
Snow Me White: Snow Me White was a little "goopy" (mine is a little old compared to the brand new  CG 'Snow' and had a few bumps/bubbles and left the sides of my nails a little streaky. It was almost opaque in one coat as well. I could push down the bumps/bubbles once it was almost dry and I'm sure it was nothing another coat and a top coat couldn't fix.
Conclusion? If you don't mind spending the money on China Glaze, go for it. The application was great and two coats would probably leave your nail entirely opaque in white. However, if you don't and you prefer the $1.99 alternative, I'd say the difference is hardly there, and nothing anyone but you would notice.

(Please keep in mind I do have fairly small hands--meaning small nails. The results I got may not be the results you get if you have longer and/or wider nails.)

P.S, I've started working on my "giveaway prize box"! I can't wait to complete it so the fun can begin!

Thanks for reading!