The Neon Creeper Heel Manicure

Good morning, Dear Reader!

After a few days of no polish change, I was up for a more involved mani this morning, so I did a nail art interpretation of a T.U.K. high-heeled neon creeper.  Why yes, that is incredibly random and out of the blue, but when you see the shoe, you'll see why it inspired a manicure.

The backstory, to mitigate some of the randomness, is that I need a new pair of all-purpose, running out the door shoes.  I've mentioned my taste in clothing is pretty plain, but my taste in shoes is far from it, with the current worn-out pair being red/purple/pink mosaic flats.  I've always loved heels, and being kind of short I wore them just about all the time for years (I'm still a normal height for a woman wearing them, and if there's no good reason not to...).  That era ended when I completely tore an ankle ligament (I was pledging a sorority and fell on the first step of the house's spiral staircase, smashing my ankle on every step on the way down,  while everybody was waiting for me at the bottom - my grandest entrance ever), until I just recently discovered shoes with a platform.  They look impossible to walk in, but they're totally comfortable and nothing at all to walk in, so heels are back on the table for me, and they've been included in the hunt.

That brings us to the inspiration picture,which I mentioned was a pair of T.U.K. neon creeper heels.

My Manicure Inspiration

To make the manicure, I started with three coats of China Glaze Kiwi Cool-ada, stamping plate H9 for the leopard print, which is a larger pattern and let me cover each nail with only one stamp.  I used that XL stamper I tried once before and hated because I've read reviews from a few bloggers with whom I normally have a similar experience who loved it.  That made me think I needed practice, and that proved to be the case.  There is a trick to using it, which is absolutely no pressure picking up or placing the stamp, and then it does a really beautiful job.  Having stamped, I filled in the dots on the leopard print with Misa Dreamy Purple, painted the tip one nail with Dreamy Purple to make it like the top of the shoe, then sealed with top coat.  Here's how it turned out.

My Neon Creeper Heel Manicure

There's not fabulous light today, so Dreamy Purple looks darker in the picture than in real life, although I think I should have hunted down Nubar Pasadena Purple for this one - it would have been more clearly purple.  I'm still really happy with the manicure because it's ridiculously fun.

That's my new weekend manicure and just about all I have to yap about this morning Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

China Glaze Island Escape Swatches & Comparison

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm still waiting for word on yesterday's interview, which went really well, so I have no news on that front, [I got the call - I JUST GOT THE DREAM JOB!!!] but I got a surprise from China Glaze this morning, so I have things to show you.  I went out to get some coffee early this morning, and as I was pulling out of the driveway I saw a Post-It on my front door, and when I went to look at it I found it was from FedEx and there was a little box at the door even though I wasn't expecting any deliveries.  I'm hoping it was placed there just yesterday... Anyhow, when I got back home I opened it up to find that China Glaze had sent their upcoming Island Escape collection for review, so I have some pictures for you.

First, I swatched the six polishes on a little thingy of fake nails (I believe "thingy" is the industry technical term for it), which I've never done before.  To be honest, I have no idea why I even had the fake nail thingy, it must have come with something else at some point, but it worked out fine.  Second, the sunlight here is almost non-existent and I did the best I could for you on the pictures, but if I notice a few minutes of good light I'll take additional pictures and add them to this post.

China Glaze Island Escape Collection Swatches, Two Coats Each

For reference, everything in the picture other than nail polish is white, that's the light I was working with.  As for the polishes, I thought I'd just go through them one at a time like usual.  If you click the picture it'll open full sized in a new tab, which may be the easiest way to go back and forth to it.

Electric Pineapple is a yellow creme that has a slight greenish tinge to it, and it reminds me of a yellower Misa Green with Envy.  It's quite opaque for a yellow, and the second coat made it even and opaque.

Cha Cha Cha is a yellowish green with a gold shimmer, very much like China Glaze Moonpool, and I compared the two to find that Cha Cha Cha is a little bit brighter.  The only notable application issue was that I found brush strokes were pretty evident in the shimmer even after it dried, so it has to be applied carefully.  Here's Cha Cha Cha with Moonpool.

China Glaze Cha Cha Cha and Moonpool Comparison, Two Coats Each

Blue Iguana is a great glass flecked bright blue, very much like a glass flecked version of Nubar's Mali Blue, which is a shimmer.  Actually, three of these are about the same base color as three of that Nubar collection with a different finish.  Anyhow, the color of Blue Iguana is gorgeous - I spent a couple weeks in the Bahamas a few years ago, and the balcony of the room I stayed in had a clear view of the beach and ocean (which I could stare at for hours), and Blue Iguana is the color that the water was near the shore.  There were no application issues to mention.

Senorita Bonita has the same finish as Blue Iguana, but the shimmer bits are pink in a purple base.  Senorita Bonita's base color is very similar to Nubar's Pasadena Purple, again with a different finish.  Again, nothing was noteworthy about its application.

108 Degrees is a fantastic bright pink, also with the same finish as the previous two, and the base color immediately brought to mind Nubar's Hollywood Pink.  108 Degrees was also easy to apply and even.

Papaya Punch is an orange creme, and it reminds me a lot of OPI's Flit A Bit from last year's Summer Flutter Collection.  Papaya Punch is quite thick, but I did not find that to be problematic, and it was almost good with just one coat (it needed the second to even out the color).

That's just about everything I know about China Glaze's Island Escape Collection, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!  

China Glaze Island Escape Collection

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm busying myself with some housework today, and I just sat down for a break to find an email from China Glaze with the press release for the Island Escape Collection for Summer 2011.

Here's the picture of all six shades in a row:

China Glaze Island Escape Collection
 Papaya Punch, 108 Degrees, Senorita Bonita, Blue Iguana, Cha Cha Cha, Electric Pineapple

The color description from China Glaze are:

·        Papaya Punch: Crème based vivid orange.

·        108 Degrees: Flirtatious berry pink with specks of micro glitter.

·        Senorita Bonita: Passionate purple shimmer with pink micro glitter.

·        Blue Iguana: Bold and daring sparkly blue.

·        Cha Cha Cha: Vivacious shimmer green.

·        Electric Pineapple: High intensity crème based lime green.

They'll be available individually, in a six-piece set, and 36-piece display, and the press contact at China Glaze told me they'll be available for purchase in May (but Trans Design seems to get a lot of things early, so I wouldn't be shocked if TD had them very soon).

That's about all I have for you today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!