China Glaze FYI & beige holo comparison

China Glaze - FYI, 2 coats

China Glaze - FYI (index & ring), Make Up Store - Madeleine (middle) & Eveline (I need to check the # of this one) (pinkie), all 2 coats

China Glaze Calypso Blue, Sally Hansen Turquoise Opal & Nfu-Oh 50 (Picture heavy post!)

China Glaze - Calypso Blue, 1 coat

China Glaze - Calypso Blue & Sally Hansen - Turquoise Opal, 1 + 2 coats

China Glaze - Calypso Blue, Sally Hansen - Turquoise Opal & Nfu-Oh - 50 1 + 2 + 2 coats

China Glaze Ahoy! & freehand nail art

China Glaze Ahoy!, 2 coats

China Glaze Ahoy! & freehand nail art

Miyo Tropicana & China Glaze Cracked Concrete

Miyo - Tropicana, 2 coats

I don't know much about this brand, but I'm pretty sure that Tropicana might be a perfect dupe for Essie She's Picture Perfect. Both are periwinkle with hidden pink shimmer, but only Tropicana is scented!

 Miyo - Tropicana & China Glaze - Cracked Concrete, 2 + 1 coats

Naturally, I had to layer something over Tropicana...

 Miyo - Tropicana & Barry M - Blue Print, 2 + 1 coats

...And here's my right hand with another crackle polish.

Etude House LUCIDarling Glittering Pink Jewel & China Glaze Cracked Concrete

Etude House LUCIDarling - Glittering Pink Jewel, 2 coats

I think I own 20 dupes to Glittering Pink Jewel, but hey - glass flecks in creme base, one of my favourite finishes! And it has a pretty name, and it's so... PINK! 8) As with all of my LUCIDarling polishes, I had to thin this one quite a lot because the first coat applied like cold porridge.

Etude House LUCIDarling - Glittering Pink Jewel & China Glaze - Cracked Concrete, 2 + 1 coats

The China Glaze crackles aren't among the best (uhh, crack-wise?.. also, the brush is way too skinny and soft for applying such thick polishes), so I was half-expecting a nail fail when I chose to put Cracked Concrete over the pink Etude House. But hey, this one really did work, unlike most of the Crackle Glazes. I really like those thin strands on my pinky and ring fingers!

China Glaze LOL & IsaDora Black Tag

China Glaze - LOL, 2 coats

One of my all time favourites is LOL from the OMG collection! Here it is in direct/indirect sun and in shade. Now that it's dark and dreary outside, I very much wish I had worn more holos during the summer...

China Glaze - LOL & IsaDora - Black Tag, 2 + 1 coats

This black crackle from IsaDora looked great with LOL. I prefer the glossy version although this second coat of TC diminished the holographic effect quite a bit.

China Glaze Lighthouse & first attempt at water marbling

China Glaze - Lighthouse, 2 coats over 1 coat of Rimmel - Sunshine

This is Lighthouse, a cheerful yellow glass flecked polish, and my favourite from China Glaze's Anchors Away collection. It's a relative of Misa Under My Sunbrella but whereas the Misa is like a tall glass of chilled fruit punch, Lighthouse is sunshine in a bottle. B)

China Glaze - Lighthouse & water marbling

This was my first foray into the world of water marbling and albeit messy, it was also tons of fun. I used Essie Mod Squad (pink creme), Misa Honeybunch (white glass fleck), a white jelly and a clear polish. Most people use Scotch tape to ease cleanup, but I grabbed a tin of unused petroleum jelly lip balm (didn't like the scent) and an artist's brush and carefully masked the cuticle area and the surrounding skin with the jelly. This took more time than covering the skin with tape, but oh how easy it was to simply wipe away the excess polish afterwards! Of course you'll have to wait for the water marble to dry but that doesn't take long.