Showing posts with label Holiday Joy. Show all posts

China Glaze Holiday Joy — Glitter All The Way

This swatch was supposed to go up last Friday, but it just didn't feel right posting after the devastating tragedy that happened in Newtown, Connecticut. My heart goes out to the families of both the children and the brave teachers who worked to protect and calm their students during the attack. I don't have children myself, but I have nieces and nephews and to think that something could happen to someone so young and innocent is horrifying. I am at a complete loss of words except the always unanswerable question of WHY??

Two Coats with Top Coat

This is Glitter All The Way, the last of the polishes I own from the China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection. I think the name of this polish is simply wonderful. One of the best holiday names for this brilliant holiday collection.

One Coat

I don't know if I'd consider this glitter truly holiday though. To be honest, I'm reminded more of Mardi Gras than Christmas, but I guess that's a holiday too ... just not a December holiday. The colors are beautiful no matter what holiday this is for. I couldn't seem to truly capture them sadly. The light reflected off this glitter all wrong for my camera but was stunning to behold to the eye. I like the way one coat of Glitter All The Way looks, so I think I'll be wearing this as a layering glitter.

Two Coats with Top Coat

For all that it's pretty, I will say I found this glitter hard to work with. It came out of the bottle pretty dry and clumpy and refused to spread out on my nail. I used two coats to get opaque, but I think that was simply because my coats had to be thick to get glitter to cover my nail. This thickness left my nails tacky for much longer than any of the other glitters of this collection and you can see in this picture the dent in the polish on my middle fingernail. I thought my nails were dry enough for pictures about an hour after doing them but a small bump and they dented easily.

Color: Small green hex glitters with purple, red, and bright yellow-gold micro-glitters in a clear base. The most noticeable colors are definitely green and purple.
Finish: Glitter
Application: Not great. There seems to be too much glitter and not enough clear base. This makes the polish dry and the glitter sticks together; you think this might be a good thing but it just makes it hard to spread. Hard to spread means fairly messy.
Coats to Opaque: 2-3 depending on how well your bottle of Glitter All The Way spreads and how thin you can keep your coats. Mine didn't spread well so my two coats were thick.
My Rating (1-5): 4

China Glaze Holiday Joy — Angel Wings

Today's late night post is Angel Wings, another from the China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection color swatch Angel Wings gold green holo holographic glitter
Two Coats with Top Coat

Oh boy, what is there to say about Angel Wings? It's not me. It's a mildly pretty color, but not on me. This collection was picked up by someone else with my wish list. I should have waited until the swatches started coming out because this is something I would not have checked out with.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection color swatch Angel Wings gold green holo holographic glitter
One Coat

Like all of the ultra-fine glitters of this collection, Angel Wings goes on thin and patchy with one coat but fills in nicely with two.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection color swatch Angel Wings gold green holo holographic glitter
Two Coats; no top coat

I'm really coming to love the texture of this collection. I'm sure if left without top coat it would catch on everything, but it looks so gorgeous!

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection color swatch Angel Wings gold green holo holographic glitter
Two Coats with Top Coat

And again, as with all the glitters of this collection, it takes two coats of top coat for a smooth finish. I didn't get any really great pictures that showcased the amount of holographic glitter in Angel Wings, but this one gives you a small idea. Imagine this times three. Seriously, there is so much holo packed into this that I am stunned I couldn't get a picture of it. :)

Color: Green gold with lots of holographic
Finish: Ultra-fine glitter
Application: Patchy with one coat but builds up nicely with two. This one didn't need much dabbing and pushing to cover my nails.
Coats to Opaque: 2-3
My Rating (1-5): 3.5

I feel I kind of have to explain my rating on this one. This rating is my own personal rating. I gave it points for the formula and application but I really, really don't like this color. I think it's the worst possible shade of gold China Glaze could have created. Far too green tinted for my tastes.

Happy Hanukkah

Two posts in one day?? Yes!! There has been an influx of Hanukkah nail art, but I still come up with very little in search engines. I'm not Jewish, but I don't think there can ever be enough nail art for holidays, any holiday. So I felt it was my nail artist duty to contribute. :)


nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound Happy Hanukkah Chanukah holiday Star of David gold silver blue China Glaze Blue Bells Ring Pure Ice Silver Mercedes candle fire flame stripes

This is based around a really beautiful menorah I saw in one of my Hanukkah searches. There were, of course, four candle holders on each side and rising up from the middle was a Star of David candle holder. There were no candles in the holders in the picture but I could just imagine how stunning it would look all lit up.  I just had to use that Star of David and put a candle on top.

As for the other nails, I thought this all deserved a beautiful and simple background to draw attention to the accent nail. After two disasters with tape, I finally just free-handed the stripes using China Glaze Blue Bells Ring over Pure Ice Silver Mercedes.



If there is ever a holiday coming up that you want to see nail art for let me know. I barely follow US holidays let alone those internationally, but I would love the chance to attempt nail art for your favorite holiday. Leave me a comment or Contact Me so I can mark them on my calendar. :)

China Glaze Holiday Joy — Champagne Kisses

Today's swatch is definitely one of my favorites from the China Glaze Holiday Joy collection. Right under Cranberry Splash and tied with Pure Joy.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection color swatch Champagne Kisses Pure Joy gold rose red glitter Christmas New Year's Eve
Two Coats; Lightbox

I'd like to introduce you to Champagne Kisses. This is a rose gold glitter with a small amount of holographic glitter suspended in a clear base. It's the perfect rose champagne color that would be perfect for a New Year's party.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection color swatch Champagne Kisses Pure Joy gold rose red glitter Christmas New Year's Eve
One Coat; Shade

Champagne Kisses is a very delicate color, but one that doesn't get lost. There's no mistaking this for unpainted nails. This is a common problem I've had with skin toned glitters, but Champagne Kisses has just the right amount of sparkle to never go unnoticed.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection color swatch Champagne Kisses Pure Joy gold rose red glitter Christmas New Year's Eve
Two Coats; Sun

It's also a wonderful chameleon — subtly shifting colors in sun, shade, and artificial light.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection color swatch Champagne Kisses Pure Joy gold rose red glitter Christmas New Year's Eve
Two Coats; Shade
nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection color swatch Champagne Kisses Pure Joy gold rose red glitter Christmas New Year's Eve
Shade

If you want to create a truly stunning Christmas nail I recommend adding a coat of Pure Joy over two coats of Champagne Kisses. This will take a bit of dabbing and pushing, but it is so worth it in the end.

Color: Rose gold with a small amount of holographic.
Finish: Ultra-fine glitter
Application: Perfect application. It went on very smoothly and built up great.
Coats to Opaque: 3, but the small patches of two coats were only visible in macro.
My Rating (1-5): A very solid 4.5

China Glaze Holiday Joy — Pure Joy

Today's swatch from the China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection is Pure Joy.


nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Pure Joy color swatch glitter red gold christmas
Two coats of Pure Joy with two coats of top coat

Pure Joy is another of the glitters from this collection. It has a clear base with small red hex glitters and larger gold hex glitters.


nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Pure Joy color swatch glitter red gold christmas
One coat of Pure Joy; no top coat

This has good coverage with one coat. Not enough to be a one coat wonder but really good for a glitter. The small red glitters fill in nicely around the larger gold glitters. The gold glitters did need a bit of dab and drag to get them around the nail but I didn't have to dig for them. They came out of the bottle good; they just didn't want to spread out.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Pure Joy color swatch glitter red gold christmas
Two coats of Pure Joy; no top coat


nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Pure Joy color swatch glitter red gold christmas
Two coats of Pure Joy; two coats of top coat

I found that all the glitters of this collection needed two coats of top coat to get a smooth to semi-smooth finish. That said, I think this one was the best at accepting top coat. The glitter lay pretty smoothly on its own and the glitters left very few cracks between them for the top coat to sink between.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Pure Joy color swatch glitter red gold layered poinsettia christmas
One thin coat of Pure Joy; layered over two coats China Glaze Poinsettia

And just to show you how well this one layers, I put one very thin coat of Pure Joy over two coats of China Glaze Poinsettia. The only problem I had with this was that no matter how much I dabbed and pushed the glitters wouldn't stick to the polish around my cuticles. Not a big problem at all and the awesome shimmer effect of the red glitter more than made up for this!


Color: Small red hex glitters and larger gold hex glitters in a clear base.
Finish: Glitter
Application: Application was good. The glitter came out of the bottle nicely with no digging needed and only needed a bit of dabbing and pushing to get the gold glitter arranged around the nail. Builds up perfectly so it can be worn alone, but layers over other polish just as nicely.
Coats to Opaque: 2
My Rating (1-5): 4 — 4.5 if pushed. It's not a bad glitter, and it really is perfect for the holidays.

China Glaze Holiday Joy — Winter Holly

I'm really sorry about the lack of post yesterday. I was informed that someone on Facebook had stolen some of my nail photos, cut and smudged out my watermark, and was now claiming to have done them. Thank you again, Lacqueerisa, for letting me know! ♥ My photos have now been removed from her page, and I've informed as many other artists as I could of their stolen work. But enough about that!

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound color swatch China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection Winter Holly glitter green gold purple holo holographic

Today's post is a swatch of Winter Holly from the China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection. Winter Holly is a pretty deep green and gold glitter, very Christmas-y, with flares of holographic glitter mixed in. I also noticed a bit of purple glitter in the pictures but that may just be a trick of the light playing off the holo glitter.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound color swatch China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection Winter Holly glitter green gold purple holo holographic

Here is one coat of Winter Holly. Two coats fills in nicely and takes care of all the patchiness so don't worry about how thin this goes on. Winter Holly dries pretty matte and will need a good top coat if you want it to really shine. I found my top coat settled around the glitter in visible dimples and needed two coats.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound color swatch China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection Winter Holly glitter green gold purple holo holographic

I'm not sure how I feel about all the really fine glitters of this collection. Such fine glitter wasn't really made for layering so multiple coats are a must. Since I use two thick coats of glue base for glitters, along with my usual base coat, the added two or three coats of these glitters needed to get full coverage really makes my nails feel heavy and awkward. Along with the mentioned two layers of top coat needed to smooth everything ... personally, I think I'll be wearing these matte. All said though, they're so darn pretty that I can't help liking them!!

Color: Dark green and gold with flecks of holo and maybe purple.
Finish: Ultra-fine glitter; dries matte.
Application: Goes on smooth but patchy with one coat. Fills in nicely with two.
Coats to Opaque: 2-3
My Rating (1-5): 4

So, what do ya'all think of the new blog layout? I tried to keep it winter-y with only one or two Christmas touches.

China Glaze Holiday Joy — Cranberry Splash

Today's China Glaze Holiday Joy polish is by far my favorite of this collection. It was one I picked up completely on a whim, but I couldn't be happier.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection Christmas red shimmer glitter ruby Cranberry Splash color swatch review

Meet Cranberry Splash, an amazingly beautiful ruby red shimmer. This is two coats of Cranberry Splash, picture taken in the shade. In some lights this polish looks almost liquid on the nails. Its shine is so intense and gorgeous.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection Christmas red shimmer glitter ruby Cranberry Splash color swatch review

This picture was taken in my lightbox. Polishes like Cranberry Splash, Christmas red with shimmer, are fairly common additions to most holiday collections. However, I find China Glaze has captured the most perfect shade of shimmery red for the holiday season.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection Christmas red shimmer glitter ruby Cranberry Splash color swatch review

This picture, taken in full sunlight, shows the wonderful shimmery side of Cranberry Splash.

Application was nearly perfect. It went on very smoothly and was easy to control. I find most red polishes have a messy application but Cranberry Splash needed next to no cleanup. There were a few streaks when I wasn't careful enough with the brush, but nothing too noticeable. I simply had to slow down a bit and apply from one side of the nail to the other instead of starting in the middle. This put a stop to any streaking and left behind a perfect finish. A top coat sealed it and gave it a shiny gleam.

All in all, China Glaze Cranberry Splash is a striking polish and will make a lovely addition to your nail polish collection. And just think how beautiful this color will look against some snow or in the presence of a lit and decorated tree during any holiday celebrations.



I'm attempting to start giving better, more thorough reviews instead of my usual 'it's pretty; go buy it'. I'm more than open to ideas on what a good review should include. If there's something you always look for in a review let me know and I'll try to include it in my upcoming reviews. Thank you!

China Glaze Holiday Joy — Blue Bells Ring

I am finally going to begin posting the swatches for the China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection. I don't own the full collection, but you'll be seeing more than a few of the glitters.

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound color swatch China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection Christmas metallic Blue Bells Ring shimmer silver glitter

First up is Blue Bells Ring, an icy metallic blue. This is two coats, but Blue Bells Ring is a very opaque polish. I definitely could have gotten away wearing just one coat. 

nails nailart nail art polish mani manicure Spellbound color swatch China Glaze Holiday Joy Collection Christmas metallic Blue Bells Ring shimmer silver glitter

I was really pleased with how well this polish went on. It has a super smooth application. It didn't streak or turn gooey while I was applying. It also came off really easily. Be extra careful with any cleanup because the blue comes off first, leaving behind the silver metallic shimmer. That only took a few extra swipes to get up, but you can see near the cuticle of my pinky finger what happens when you get too close to the polish during cleanup.

The only problem I had, big or small, was staining! The blue, once it came in contact with my polish remover, went everywhere. It got all over my hands and fingers and it took an extra cotton ball per hand to get off. It's not a huge con when weighed against so many pros, but I will say don't remove this polish while wearing or even while you're near anything expensive or fancy.