Back in the beginning of March Absolut Lacquer had a contest to name her new collection of polish. My kids and I looked at the bottle shots and I let them each try and pick a name. It was a fun, and the first time my boys didn't roll their eyes at the mere mention of nail polish. Well wouldn't you know it,  one of the names was picked! Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Confetti Intervention

      I've been in love with the fishtail braid manicure since the first time I saw one. It's such an intricate design how can you not love it?!? So like with any nail art that I want to get just right I sat down and watched video after video on how to do this. After about 15 videos I felt prepared and set out doing my nails.

  I knew I wanted to use China Glaze Peachy Keen as the base color. Lately, I've been drawn to orange colors for spring, especially the ones that lean toward tangerine. I'm not normally an Orange person so this is kind of fun and surprising for me. I also knew that I needed to use really opaque colors for the braid. This gave me a little trouble because I wanted to use yellow for a bright I'm ready for a spring look. I have maybe 6 yellows in my collection and most of them are pretty sheer. Eek! What should I do? I decided on using my striper polishes. I knew I would have an easier time making my lines with them than a regular polish brush anyway.



 So here's what I came up with to try my mani. As always my trusty Orly Bonder base coat. Nail stripers from Sinful Colors in Sunset and Morning Breath (Ewww who came up with that name?) China Glaze Peachy Keen and Out The Door top coat.

      I am my own worst critic. Always have been. I'm sure a lot of you are the same way. So when I started on my adventure with nail art I knew it was going to be a bumpy ride. Besides not inheriting any of my mothers artistic ability I have little patience when I'm trying to complete something. Not exactly a great base for this hobby. But, I'm also determined and have always been pretty creative. So with this in mind I started sharing my nail art with the world.

      After a year of having my facebook page I'm not exactly where I thought I would be. I don't have thousands of "likes", My photos aren't what I want them to be. Every manicure I think up in my head never transfers to my nails quite right. My cuticles have always given my trouble, I have a hard time filing my nails to exactly the same shape and  length. Its easy to get discouraged, especially with all the nail bloggers out there. I have a hard time not comparing myself to others. I browse through picture upon picture of nail art and begin to question my creativity. And then I add the pressure of running a blog!?! Sometimes I wonder what on earth I was thinking. Thankfully I haven't fallen victim to any drama or childish behavior on my page or blog. I have never had a really negative comment on anything which would probably cause even more doubt in my mind. But the doubt creeps in anyway.

      Anyone reading this have any of the same feelings?? Are you thinking to yourself "that's how I feel"? I know I'm not alone in some of this thinking. There have been times when I've considered deleting my blog. I take a short break from my page and eventually I begin to miss it and remember why I started in the first place.

      Ladies (and gents) lets not be so hard on ourselves. Isn't there enough stuff in this world that makes us question ourselves already? Why do we do this to ourselves? Let's take a moment to remember why we started our blogs and facebook pages in the first place. Id love for you to share your reasons with me.

      Personally I started my page as a place to share my nail art with anyone who cared to view it. I was proud of the things I was able to accomplish. My friends and family don't really understand my hobby and I wanted someone else to see what I could do. No offense to any of my followers or likers but I do this because its something that makes me happy. I wouldn't really have a page or a blog if it wasn't for you but deep down this is for me. Its something that I started out being proud of and I need to get back to that.

       I'm a hobby blogger not a professional one. I may never build a relationship with a cosmetic company or and indie polish maker, although that would be amazing. I need to stop comparing myself to others, My life is over whelming enough on its own I don't need to add the pressure of "keeping up with the Jones's" to it. There will be times that I need to take a step back from my page and blog to catch my breath so to speak and that's ok. This is my passion and I call the shots. I encourage all of you who have ever had a moment of doubt to step back, ask yourself why you do this and try to remember that. Stop trying to be perfect and have fun! It's your blog, it's your facebook page, do what you want! And try to not beat yourself up in the process.

     For today's comparison post I have for you China Glaze Agro vs. China Glaze Cast a Spell.  Now Normally I don't think to find dupes from the same company but when I swatched Cast a Spell I just had to find out how close to Agro it was. Now so far I have yet to discover any true dupes in my collection. I have had a few that are very close and would probably appear to be the same polish to someone who isn't a polishaholic. But again today I have struck out in finding a true dupe. Let's start with the bottle shots, shall we.....

    

     As you can see these two are both deep green colors. Agro seems to have a golden shimmer while Cast a Spell has a definite glitter appearance to it. They both have glints of gold to them but Cast a Spell is more obvious.


   Let's see how these two compare when swatched on a nail wheel.



      I wish my camera would have been able to capture this better for you but every shot I took turned out blurry. This was the best one out of the 20 I took. As you can see Cast a Spell dries to a darker finish. Both polishes are smooth to the touch when dry. Agro's shimmer is more apparent when the light hit it while Cast a Spell's is obvious in any light. No dupes with these polishes.

     If you follow my facebook page Lustrous Lacquer than you know that my polish diet has gone out the window. I got my taxes back and went a little crazy. I have yet to add up the total but I'm pretty sure I have spent about $300 on polish and image plates in the last 2 months. After looking at my collection and seeing how out of control it has gotten lately I have decided to put myself on a very very strict low buy. There are a few polishes collections set to come out that I have been waiting on and I'm sure there will be a few more yet to release this year. So with the exception of some special purchases from collections, I am out of the polish buying game for the rest of the year. Especially since I now need to purchase a new way to store them. I'm looking into getting a few "melmers" from Michaels but I would need 3 of them to house my entire collection. The other downfall to these is the place I have to keep them. I'm not positive that they will be able to open properly in the space I have.

   So, for now, I'll just have to be satisfied with swatching all my new pretties and finding a decent and practical way to store them. I haven't decided yet if my low buy will include accessories but it probably should. lol So look for more posts about polish in the future and hopefully I can come up with some fun new nail art ideas too.

   Hopefully, with all the time I save polish shopping, I will actually be able to get this blog up and running the way it should be. I know I haven't devoted much time to it and the posts are nothing special at this point. I really want to change that! I hope you'll stick around and enjoy the ride with me.

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      It's time for another comparison post. This time I will be comparing Zoya Zuza to China Glaze Watermelon Rind.  The thought that these polishes might be dupes came to me while I was swatching Watermelon Rind. The first coat went on so light and sheer it completely reminded me of Zuza. I dug into my Zoya tote to find my bottle and began comparing.


     Looking at them side by side you might think I was crazy for wondering if these two are dupes. Zuza is a much lighter aqua/teal color with lots of shimmers evident even in the bottle. Watermelon Rind is a dark teal with the shimmer showing up when holding the bottle at various angles.

 

     Today I have for you a quick comparison of China Glaze Blue Iguana and Finger Paints Midnight Sleigh Ride. I found both of these on Sally's clearance rack about a week apart and when I had the two bottle sitting next to each other they looked like possible dupes.


     Both polishes applied very evenly and smoothly. Blue Iguana was a bit sheer on the first coat and took 3 for full coverage. Midnight slight ride is a 2 coat polish. I have worn both of these polishes recently but for this post, I swatched them on a nail wheel to get the side by side comparison.

     I've been doing some thinking lately about how I could improve my blog and FB page for all of you. I also thought about how I could possibly get noticed by some companies or indie makers to hopefully be able to review polish for them in the future. Not that I'm in this for free products, although that would be a nice bonus, this is the level of quality I'm striving for. This led me to think about what Id like to see in a review. So today I have for you my first ever full review of a nail polish.

    Like many of you I've walked past the Cover Girl nail polish display at Target many many times. I always stop and look but never purchased.... until Forever Festive caught my eye. Who doesn't love a  great red right?




    Cover Girl states "Dare to go topless with our new nail polish formula that combines a base coat, high gloss color, and a chip-resistant top coat in one simple step."  It also states on their website that you can get a full weeks wear from this polish. So I figured I'd test this theory.  I have to add that I am harder on my hands than the average person. I spend my days at work opening cardboard boxes and reaching into small fittings bin. I'm lucky if I can get 2 days wear out of a normal polish before it chips.

     Feeling brave I applied red nail polish without a base coat. (really hoping I don't regret that later.) I have to say that the application of this polish was a dream. It went on smooth and even without a single streak. The square cap is even comfortable to hold. I was a little worried about dry time since I didn't use a quick dry top coat but within 5 or 6 minutes my nails were dry and glossy. This picture was taken 10 minutes after application.


        There was no reason for that fear at all! Zero staining!!!!! Removal was the easiest I've ever had. I used the "foil method" without the foil and with one swipe all the polish was gone.

      Covergirl Outlast polishes can be found at Target, Walgreens, Wal-mart, and K-mart. I got mine for $5.44 but the price may be different in different areas. So what are your thought on Cover Girl outlast polish? Would you purchase one for yourself?


*This product was purchased by me and all opinions and photos are my own*