China Glaze Light as Air

I swear, these spring collections almost look like the nail polish companies have been reading my mind. Beautiful crème pastels, gorgeous, heavily pigmented purples, and medium greens … so many greens! Perfect, bright, medium greens! This post, however, is not about green. It’s about the incredibly beautiful, densely pigmented, light, greyed-out pastel lilac: Light as Air.

This stuff is perfection in a half-ounce bottle. The pigment is so dense, one could almost get away with one coat; the option of a sheer coat simply does not exist. It’s smooth … so smooth; self-leveling, almost like Illamasqua polishes; and it looks absolutely phenomenal:

Two coats of China Glaze Light as Air, on top of Essie Base Coat and under Seche Vite.

It wasn’t until I had actually made the decision to begin this blog that I realized how bad my fingers look. This polish had been on my nails for a few (non-working) days, and these two fingers were the only ones that looked decent enough for me to actually show the world. Hopefully, there will be more fingers in future photos.

I would like to discuss the formula for a moment. Yes, it is thick. Thicker than most polishes, 3-free or otherwise. It has to be, too: in order to get this kind of opacity, a lot of pigment has to be used – a lot of solid, dense pigment. It’s kind of like milk: the more milk solids in it (fat, etc.), the more opaque the milk is. Similarly, the more pigment – especially white or really light pigments, which require more pigments than other to create opacity – in a polish, the thicker and more opaque it becomes. One cannot apply a very thin coat without it looking horrible, patchy, and, quite simply, ugly. So the coats have to be relatively thick. It’s not stringy or hard to get even or anything, it’s just thicker than normal. It’s worth it, though.

On the whole, I am loving this color and loving China Glaze right now. Thank you for reading my mind and making such a perfect color!

Polish: The Gurus

When I began obsessing over nail polish several months ago, I started to read polish blogs. I was craving grey crèmes, and needed some guidance on where to find them. While I didn’t actually find what I was looking for at a price I was willing to pay, I did end up becoming a loyal follower of three blogs in particular: Vampy Varnish, Scrangie, and All Lacquered Up.

Why these three? They just happened to be some of the first blogs I stumbled upon.  There are many, many wonderful nail polish blogs out there, and I have read bits and pieces of many; these three have just stuck with me. I’m sure I could fall in love with many other blogs as well, but I’m working very hard at not doing so right now. I don’t particularly want my daily internet ritual to become an hours-long event. So for right now, these are the blogs that I read and the wonderful women from whom I draw my blogging inspiration. They have brought the internet nail polish world to me, and introduced me to wonderful new products I probably never would have tried without them. In fact, if it weren’t for Scrangie, I probably never would have discovered and NEEDED China Glaze’s Fortune Teller. I actually went on a (failed) hunt to track down a bottle. My family thought I was insane, but I knew it would be worth it. Finding a bottle under the Christmas tree this year had me sporting halloween-esque nails in December, but I didn’t care. It was totally worth it. But I digress.

A helpful disclaimer: these women are not, nor do they claim to be professionals. They all admit that this is simply a hobby and passion of theirs and that they have no professional training or expert authority whatsoever. They post their honest opinions and share their personal perspectives. That I look up to and trust the advice of these women is my responsibility, not theirs. They did not ask me to trust them, to consider them my “gurus,” or even to write this post about them. I simply wanted you to know to whom I am referring when I mention “the gurus.” Do I consider everything they write to be absolute truth? No. I don’t always agree with the things that they post. Right now, All Lacquered Up is running a series on mannequin hands, and I think the concept is hideous. Vampy Varnish recently wrote a relatively well-researched post about acetone and its potential toxicity; I respectfully disagree with how she made her conclusions, but I agree with her conclusions themselves. These blogs are written by real people, who have their own opinions, and just because I look up to them it doesn’t mean I agree with everything they write. They are wonderful, inspiring blogs and I admire the women who write them. It’s that simple.

Polish: China Glaze Up & Away!

I’m sooo excited! I just ordered myself my own set of China Glaze’s spring collection – the first full collection I’ve ever really felt inspired to order! After seeing swatches on the gurus’ blogs, I knew I had to have the whole set. I also ordered the rest of the Wizard of Ooh Ahz Returns collection (I got Ruby Pumps for Christmas), some decals, and a couple of Orly miniature bottles. I’m so excited!

I promise, I will eventually post actual nail polish pictures on here … my manicures have turned out particularly poorly the last couple of times, so they’re really not good for anything other than top and base coat reviews. I’m really loving this Sephora by OPI Lagoon-A Beach on my nails right now, though. It’s a great pale blue with lots of sparkle. It’s somewhere between a shimmer and a glitter. Unfortunately it’s a limited edition color, though, and it looks like the website at least is sold out. My manicure probably would have turned out better if I hadn’t used a new top and base coat combination … I’ll definitely have to do some experimenting. Expect pictures soon!

Genesis

Hello. My name is Elizabeth, and this is my blog.

Here I will discuss three things with which I am obsessed: nail polish, pens, and people.

Nail polish is a new obsession for me, and as such I am making many exciting new discoveries. The only problem is ... My family and friends (and coworkers and random people) really couldn't care less. So, inspired by the polish blogs that I have started reading daily, I am launching my own blog. This is my attempt to temper my excitement by sending my discoveries out into the univers and pretending that someone else cares (which I hope someone one day will ... right?). Expect many excited posts about such mundane things as top- and base coats, drying drops, and brand consistency scattered among the many equally exited posts sharing newly discovered colors and other pretty things. When I called this an obsession, I wasn't joking.

Pens. What can I say? I'm a pen snob. Always have been. I refuse to use ballpoint pens unless I'm writing on receipt tape and don't have a felt-tipped pen with me. Currently I'm in love with the new Sharpie Pens. Expect to hear much more about them.

And People. People simply amaze me. How is it that enough variation exists within one species to where one individual is able to perform minute, intricate brain surgery; while another specimen somehow manages to shoot himself in the hand with a .22 RIFLE while climbing a tree? This third category is primarily for me to rant about things that I read or experience, both positive and negative. Plus I needed a third "P."

My name is Elizabeth, and this is my blog.