Tuesday 30 August 2016

Marc Jacobs Nail Lacquer

So for my birthday, one of my friends gifted me a Marc Jacobs nail polish is the shade Jezebel. I decided to do a wear test of this polish to see if the high price tag is mainly attributed to the brand name or if the quality can justify it. The main claims behind this polish is that it is supposed to have a "wet look" to it and that the brush is supposed to optimize nail polish application because it is meant to hug the curves of the nail.

The application was actually hard for me, the polish did not glide on easily and the brush was not curved at the end so I did not find that it hugged my nail at all. The color was opaque for me in two coats but in mainly yellow light, you could see the patches where it was uneven so you may want to do three coats if you are picky. 

Two coats of Jezebel 

Overall, I was really happy with the polish, it had a very nice amount of shine to it but it was not high shine. I prepped my nail with Pretty Woman nail detox to ensure that there was no oil on my nails. I used two coats for my test and did not add a top coat. 

Day Six of wear

This polish lasted a very long time on my nails, I noticed tip wear around day three however I did not get any chips until day five. And the chip did not worsen the longer I wore the polish. I did get some dents and scratches in the nail polish but I find that happens to all nail polish the longer you wear it. The shine stayed pretty much consistent, it did not feel dull at all. One thing I did notice about the polish is that it was easily removed by rubbing alcohol which does happen to some of my other polishes. The main reason I ended this wear test on day six was because I wanted to change up my manicure.

In conclusion, I do think that $22 is fairly pricey for a nail polish however, this is a good quality formula and not just a branded item. Six days with just one chip and good shine is amazing considering that I did not use a base or top coat. Formula wise, this polish really stands out in my collection. If you have a nail polish lover in your life or are searching for high quality nail polish then this would be a lovely gift for you to splurge on. 

Leave me a comment below letting me know what is the most expensive nail polish you've ever bought or received as a gift!

Wednesday 3 August 2016

Top Seven China Glaze

Hello everyone, after taking requests it seems like you all wanted to see my top ten China Glaze next. Unfortunately, China Glaze is a fairly new brand to me that I have been using for only two years. I own around 40 of them and they are mainly from newer releases and some from the core collection. Also for some reason, my local Sallys Beauty store actually closed down so now I don't purchase any China Glaze since they are not as easy to find for a good price. So all in all, I only have my top seven China Glaze to share with you. I have taken a lot of time to go through my collection to bump up the number to ten but for one reason or another, they did not stand out enough for me. Also just like before, I do want to include two polishes that had disappointed me so you can better understand the brand.

Two coats of Too Yacht to Handle.

Lets start with my first China Glaze, I saw this polish on a blog and I was under the impression it was a limited edition collection so when I found it in a random booth at the mall for $12 I bought it right away. Then I found out it was in their core collection and available at Sallys for around $6 I felt a little bad but the color is amazing. In my honest opinion, if you are someone who is just starting to experiment with neons, this is one of the first colors you should get. This is because for this shade to truly be neon, you will have to layer it over a white base to make the color pop. However if you wear it on it's own, you get a bright but wearable blue.

Three coats of Flip Flop Fantasy

As I mentioned before, I am relatively new to the world of China Glaze so I have never seen the original version of this shade, but the current shade is definitely gorgeous. I think the best thing about this shade is that you do not need a white coat of polish to make the color pop. You can absolutely get the color in the bottle onto your nails. I will warn you though, the formula on this can be very tricky, it does dry matte so you get a quicker dry time. However, if you continue your coats too soon, the polish tends to drag itself off and create patches which will just need more coats to cover. So it is beautiful but just make sure you wait in between coats.


Four coats of Highlight of my Summer

This shade has the same formula as Flip Flop Fantasy, I didn't wait long enough for the coats to dry so I had to do four coats instead of three. But I love this shade, it is a stunning bright light green and contrasts very nicely with my skin. The color is well worth the effort of properly applying this shade.

Three coats of Frostbite

This is the last one that has a tricky formula, it needs the three coats and ample dry time in between. It is amazing! This color takes on another life when you get it on your nails instead of  looking at it in the bottle. I love it for my toes in particular.

Two coats of What's She Dune?

This is an unexpected favorite of mine. I actually bought this in a set of three thinking that this would be the shade I would end up giving away but it turned out to be the only shade I liked. I fell for this shade and it was the first time I thought that a cream/beige/nude color looked good on me. The formula for this is amazing, you might be able to get away with just one coat if you do it thicker.


Two coats of Ruby Pumps

This next one probably is not a surprise to you since it is one of China Glazes well known polishes. I adore red nail polish and the fine glitter in this one really works for me. This was one of their polishes that I thought was completely worth the hype. I have gotten friends to try this shade before and they ended up loving it.

One coat of Wood you Wanna?

My last favorite China Glaze I want to share with you is an amazing one coater. If you can still get your hands on this shade, I would say go for it. It applies so smoothly and dries very quickly. I can get a full manicure done with this shade in 5 minutes because it is so easy to work with. Also the shade is very beautiful and like nothing in my collection.


Now I have tried a good amount of China Glaze polish and while I was not able to pick ten of them for my favorites that does not mean I did not like a lot of them. I actually only have two disappointing shades and it was mainly due to the formula.




At Vase Value is a fairly frustrating polish; the color is absolutely amazing but the formula is really lack luster. Even if you wait for each of your coats to dry, this polish still pulls on itself leaving major patches. I have tried doing a thicker third coat but even then it does not the best and a fourth coat can just make the patching worse. So I do love the shade but the formula really puts me off.





Thistle do Nicely is an amazing neon but again fairly patchy where a fourth coat is not always helpful. However I find that if I use this on my toes, its easier for me to ignore the imperfections in the application. I do not reach for this for my fingernails though.


Overall, I think China Glaze is a great brand. I always try to buy them from Sallys when they are buy one get one free since I get to try more. I do have a lot of lemmings on my list from China Glaze and I hope to find more that I can leave. I would love it if you left me a comment telling me what your favorite China Glaze shade is or if you have any recommendations. Also, which brand would you like to see next?