Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Untried A-Z Challenge - Letter N



     Welcome back to my blog, I hope your week started off on a good note. Mine started out with cleaning and straightening our camper from our last trip so I can get it ready for our next one. I will be off and running for the next two weekends with friends out camping and attending a music festival of sorts. I'm currently thinking up mani ideas for each event but in the meantime, I thought I'd share with you my letter N polishes for the Untried A-Z Challenge. 

     

     Yes, you read that right I said polishes, this week I'm sharing two polishes with you from China Glaze.  I'll also be sharing my thoughts on a new to be base and top coat. This post is chocked full of untried products! I'll get to the top and base coat at the end of this post but for now, let's get to the polish. 


     New Birth is a white creme nail polish with just a whisper of a blue tint. While you can easily see the hint of blue in the bottle, I found it looks mainly white on the nail until you get it next to something truly white.   Released in 2014 as part of The Giver Collection this pale beauty has been sitting around unloved in my helmer for almost 4 years. It was way past time to get it on my nails. 
   

     The application process for this was interesting, the first coat was a bit runny and applied semi-sheer. I know my bottle is a bit older so I decided to look up some previous reviews to see if it was an age issue or a formula one. The two reviews I read both mentioned that the formula was good but had streaks on the first coat. 

     I gave my bottle a good mixing before applying the second coat to see if it would help with the application. It didn't, but I was able to get full opacity on the second coat with an even finish.  Now even though this polish is thin and runny I didn't have any issues with pooling around my cuticles and clean up was minimal. 

     New Birth dries to a glossy finish. I've shown it here as two coats plus glossy top coat.


     I wish the blue was a bit more evident in this, I'm not sure I would wear this on its own again. Even though the formula is thin it still applied easily and I'd be willing to use it again. I'd like to try it in a watermarble or as a base for some floral leadlighting.


      Naked is a Begonia pink polish with silver micro-shimmer. This polish was released as part of a Breast Cancer Awareness set in 2012 that included this color and a bottle of Seche Vite top coat. It took me hour and hours of scouring the internet to find out that little tidbit of information. Why would I put so much effort into it? Well, I wanted my China Glaze Collection list to be complete!


     The formula makes this an easy polish to work with. While it is very sheer on the first coat, it covers evenly and with a ton of shimmer. It builds up nicely but I was left with a slight VNL after two coats. Shown here is 3 thin coats plus top coat. Naked dries to a glossy shine and a smooth finish. 


    I am a pink polish lover so this color is right up my alley. I like that it's a bit muted as far as pinks go but you still get a little sparkle from the shimmer. I will definitely be wearing this again. 

     Now let's talk base coat. For these swatches, I used the Cuticula scented base coat in Effervescent. This was offered in Polish Pick Up for April. It dries very quickly and leaves a smooth surface.

     Funny story, I haven't really read any reviews on scented base coats, and I had no idea what effervescent smelt like. So obviously I opened my bottle when it first arrived and took a big whiff. NOT a good idea, because all I smelt was chemicals. I soon realized that the scent is only evident after the product dries. So hopefully now you won't make the same mistake that I did when it comes to scents base coats. And in case you're wondering Effervescent has a sweet, crisp scent to it. 

     Instead of using Pure Ice Girl on the Run, which is my typical go-to quick dry top coat, I reached for one called Show Stopper from 77 Nail Lacquer. I honestly have no idea when I picked this up, or how long it's been in my helmer. Show Stopper was dry enough to lightly touch after 4 minutes, still dentable after 10 and, fully dry after 30 minutes. Once dry I was left with a super glossy finish and is UV reactive. I didn't test the UV part because after moving, I have no idea where my black light has ended up!

     That all I've got for you today, time to get back to my preparations. I hope you enjoyed this post, I'd love to hear your thoughts on any of the products I mentioned. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!



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