Summer of Untrieds Day 15: Pink

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

Day 15 of the Summer Untrieds Challenge calls for pink, so I went with something I’ve had for ages and have never tried: My first-ever China Glaze! I grabbed a bunch of these vibrant glitter crackle polishes during a huge Sally Beauty sale last summer (or maybe the summer before?), and I’ve only used one of them until today. This is one coat of Glam-More over two coats of Ciaté’s Amazing Gracie, topped with one coat of Seche Vite.

As you can see, Glam-More is a glitter crackle. It’s pink, pretty, and totally passé. I just can’t say no to glitter, though, in any of its forms. This was actually quite thick when I opened it, but I took care of that with some thinner. It went on easily after thinning and the crackle effect occurred almost immediately. I think it’s a bit pinker in person; it looks purplish in the studio. That’s a bit misleading.

I’ve never used Amazing Gracie before today, so I’ll say something about it, too. It’s a soft, sheer nude that’s perfect for a French mani. It dries quickly and with a nice shine. I fear these polishes a little, because they always come out streaky, and since they’re so translucent, you can never correct it with another coat. That happened to me a little, but isn’t noticeable under the crackle.

I really love how dense the glitter is in Glam-More. It’s basically a clear crackle with glitter; there’s no pigment at all, that’s all glitter! This is especially obvious in the sunlight/outdoor photos. I regret using such a delicate base color, though; I feel like a darker color would have done more for it. Actually, looking back, I made that mistake the last time I used one of these crackle polishes. Why didn’t I learn?

I feel a little weird wearing this. I know I’m late to like every nail trend ever, but this is crazy. It’s like a nail polish time capsule.

Summer of Untrieds Day 13: China Glaze

Posted on July 13, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

Day 13 of the Summer Untrieds Challenge calls for China Glaze, so here I am trying the first China Glaze on my list: Running in Circles. Running in Circles is an awesome shamrock green jelly with fine metallic glitters. I’m wearing three coats of it here with one coat of top coat. Note: this post is late because of World Cup finals and excessive drinking.

So I didn’t expect Running in Circles to be such a thin jelly, but it is; my nail line is just barely visible, even after three coats. The tips were the hardest part to cover; I thought they looked great until I took photos and they looked a little bald. Despite that, each coat went on easily and evenly. The glitter spreads really well. I like this polish a lot, but it’s a little too Christmassy for July.

So I took these pictures when it was dark outside, so there weren’t any great sunlight photos of them. You’ll have to take my word on how awesome this looks outdoors. It’s so full of glitter and sparkle, it’s amazing.

Running in Circles was part of China Glaze’s Cirque du Soleil collection from last year, and has a blue counterpart called Water You Waiting For, which I also have. I cannot wait to do a gradient with those.

Manicure Monday: Sweet Pink and Bold Glitter

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

Manicure Monday is good this week. Everything I love is here: pink, glitter, shine; I couldn’t hate this if I wanted to. For this manicure, I’m wearing two coats of Julep’s Carrie with two coats of China Glaze’s Razzle Me Dazzle Me on my accent nails. All nails are topped with one coat of Seche Vite.

Carrie is a sweet candy pink creme. It’sa really nice polish, though I wish I’d gone with three coats instead of two. Consistent with my Julep experience, the first coat was streaky and thin, and while the second coat did a lot to even out the color, there are still some bald spots. Other than that, I like it a lot. I have no other complaints than the coverage.

Razzle Me Dazzle Me is a graffiti-style glitter from China Glaze, filled with various shapes and sizes of black and pink glitters. At first, I didn’t notice the pink glitters were pink; they appear silver at first look, but are much rosier and smokier than silver. In any case, they give off a ton of shine. The black glitters are much more prominent, obviously, so much so that it overpowers the base color. I didn’t plan to use two coats of glitter, but the first coat was kind of lopsided, and I wanted to even it out. Mission accomplished, I guess.

This is an outdoor shot. It was cloudy out there, so I didn’t get many good shots, but I wanted to show you this one because of how shiny the glitter is. See how it looks green? I was standing in front of a tree. And in the other photos where it looks gold? That’s my yellow shirt.

I love this manicure. I don’t wear pink polish often enough.

Manicure Monday: Soft Steel Shimmer

Posted on April 21, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

Today’s Manicure Monday is softer and simpler than I usually like to be. I feel strange when I do these simple manicures and actually like them; it’s like I’m growing up or something. I’ve heard my mother dismiss colors with the phrase “Maybe if I was younger”, and I’d think “Who cares?” When I do subdued manis like these, I feel like I’m becoming my mother. Here, I’m wearing three coats of China Glaze’s Recycle, with Essie’s Pure Pearlfection on the accents.

Recycle is a color I’ve liked for a while. I’ve been using it a long time; this is actually my second bottle of it. It’s a nice neutral, and it’s so versatile; nearly every glitter or effect topper works well with it, and it looks good alongside any color in a gradient or dotticure. I bought it for the first time a couple of years ago because I needed a soft gray for a look and could never find the right one. It goes on well, it wears well, and I’ll probably buy it until I die.

Sunlight shot!

Pure Pearlfection was one of the first Essie polishes I ever bought, and this is the first time I’ve ever used it. I feel like this is the weakest entry in the LuxEffects line; it’s pretty, but it’s no Shine of the Times. However, I feel like maybe these polishes were made for each other; on their own, they’re subtle. Together, they are magical.

Manicure Monday: Pink Ice Gradient

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

It’s been a while since I’ve done any kind of nail art, so I did a gradient for Mani Monday. Gradients are my favorite; it’s such a cool look and so little effort. This gradient turned out way better than I expected.

My gradient colors are Julep’s Audrey and Sinful Colors’s Forget Now. Both colors have pretty shimmer, but are quite sheer; nail lines are visible under two coats of both. Audrey has a soft silvery shimmer; Forget Now’s shimmer is the same color as the polish, which is enough to give it some shine. I knew these would make a gorgeous gradient because they’re so much alike, and yet so different.

Then I got carried away. The baby holo glitter here is China Glaze’s Fairy Dust, and it was only supposed to be an accent on a couple of nails. I decided it looked funny on so few nails and just put it on all the rest. It’s even more glitter on top of an already really sparkly manicure, but I think it works. I don’t feel like there’s too much going on; the fine glitter adds something extra to a beautiful gemlike look.

Because I couldn’t resist, I added an outdoor photo. This is incredible in the sunlight. I can’t even tell you.

Manicure Monday: Get Carried Away

Posted on March 17, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

For Manicure Monday this week, I’m wearing China Glaze’s Get Carried Away, a black jelly with silver and copper hexes, black bar glitter, and very fine black hexes. I’m wearing three coats of it here, no undies, under two coats of Seche Vite.

I had high hopes for this polish in the beginning. When I first saw it, I’d likened it to a goth older sister of It’s a Trap-eze!, and I had to have it. After three coats, it looks exactly like it does in the bottle; I got a full, even coverage with good glitter distribution. However, cuticle cleanup was awful. You can see I have a lot of jagged lines and pointy bits. I went over my cuticle with the brush and just got the fine black glitter all over me. The bar glitter didn’t play nice; it extended over the tips of my nails like eyelashes and I couldn’t get them off, so I ended up trimming them with my cuticle nippers. Same with the large hexes; when I couldn’t get them off, I cut them down. They’re not as smooth as they could be, but I did well enough.

Protip: Don’t do three coats of this. You’ll hate yourself. You’ll get the same effect by using black undies and one coat of Get Carried Away. It’s not worth it.

Manicure Monday: It’s a Trap-eze!

Posted on March 3, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

For this week’s Mani Monday, I’m wearing one of my most loved polishes, China Glaze’s It’s a Trap-eze!. A nail friend peer-pressured me into buying it, and I have not regretted it once. This is the first time I’ve ever worn it on its own; you may remember it from this bad mani I did almost a year ago. This is a gorgeous polish in the bottle, but I was totally unprepared for how it came out on my nails.

It’s a Trap-eze! is a white jelly loaded down with metallic rainbow glitters. I’m wearing three coats of it here, but I could have gotten away with two. As it dries, the glitter makes it textured and gritty; I put down three coats of Seche Vite, and it’s still a little bumpy. Also, cleanup was a bit of a pain; I didn’t get my cuticles as clean as I wanted them, but I’m lucky to have done this well.

This polish is just unbelievable. Look at that glitter! I am completely hypnotized by it. Whenever I happen to look down at my hands, I end up staring. Also, it’s always amazing how the macro setting on my camera picks up the individual shapes of the glitters. Man. It’s unbelievable.

Wacie Wednesday: White Noise

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

This week on Wacie Wednesday, we’re taking the black and white glitter topper a little farther. I told you I would. White Noise is the newest Wacie Nail Company polish; I’m wearing two coats of it over China Glaze’s Recycle and For Audrey, and Essie’s Check-Up.

White Noise is a glitter topper with black and white shreds and tiny gray hexes. It was designed to evoke an earlier time in technology, a time when you were more likely to encounter it on your TV instead of the black, quiet HDMI mode screen. Originally called “Static”, it was inspired by the sound that greeted us after we turned off the Nintendo to change games. It was sometimes alarmingly loud, always unpleasant to hear. Despite that, turning off the Nintendo to change games and hearing silence isn’t the same.

As you can see, I went a little overboard with the glitter. I probably didn’t need two coats of it, because it covered up the color more than I wanted it to. I believe that’s a fault in my application, not the polish. I wanted to demonstrate the versatility of it by putting it over the light blue and pink. It looks right at home over gray, but it can do so much more over other colors. I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

I’m still looking at labelling samples, and then I’ll start figuring out shipping logistics. I hope that if you like White Noise or some of the other Wacie Nail shades, you’ll be able to purchase them soon.

Manicure Monday: Scattered Glitter Over Khaki

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

This week’s manicure is a gorgeous one. I have on Julep’s Kennedy and China Glaze’s Scattered and Tattered. Note to self: do more glitter and nude pairings.

Kennedy is a khaki creme. The last time I used it, I compared it to unblended foundation. There’s just not a lot to say about this one. It’s far too yellow to be a nude, at least not on me; I’m sure this is a perfect nude for someone. The formula is standard Julep fare; the first coat was thin and streaky, but the second evened everything out. I think I still had a slightly visible nail line, but the glitter covers it well. Overall, despite the odd choice khaki is for a nail color, I like it. Before I put the glitter over it, my nails look lengthened and smooth. It’s like nail mascara.

The real star here is Scattered and Tattered. This is a clear base full of black and red hexes and slices. I’m wearing one coat here, and you can see that it applies well and the glitter spreads evenly. I love these China Glaze glitters so much that I bought as many as my boyfriend would let me. I think there’s only one I’m missing, and once I figure out which one it is, I’m going to grab it. I just really love this look. It’s part pop art, part graffiti, part granite countertop. I definitely want to do this again.

Julep’s Kennedy and China Glaze’s Scattered and Tattered

Manicure Monday: Whirled Away Over Yellow

Posted on February 3, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

This week, I’m finally arriving to the black and white glitter topper party. Also, I forgot how much I love yellow polish. This is also my first Color Club mani, so that’s exciting too, I guess.

Color Club’s Almost Famous is part of their Poptastic collection, which according to the packaging, are all colors that POP. This one certainly does pop. I really love this one. It went on smoothly and easily and turned opaque in two coats. I’m pretty impressed by the quality. I’ll go ahead and mention I got the whole Poptastic set and the Take Wing set for $8 each at Bealls Outlet. Yeah, it was awesome.

When I saw China Glaze’s Whirled Away, I knew I had to have it. At that point, I’d turned to nail polish to ward off the loneliness of having my boyfriend living in another state, and a certain enabler showed me this one. It was so unlike anything else I’d seen or owned; I fell hard for it and spent my dinner money on it. I regret nothing.

Color Club’s Almost Famous and China Glaze’s Whirled Away. Also that’s Hard Candy’s matte top coat on the end.

This is a look I like. I had a little application problem with Whirled Away; it picked up some of the yellow, and while it didn’t smudge the color, some of the black glitter has a weird greenish wash over it. This is probably most evident on my thumb. Apart from that, I like the chaos of the glitter over the bright color. Also, the matte coat was an afterthought; I figured that since the glitter was matte, it couldn’t hurt. I’m always afraid I’m going to ruin the mani with a matte finish. I’ve also switched from the Revlon matte to Hard Candy’s matte, and it’s the first Hard Candy product I’ve ever used. Lots of weird firsts this week.

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