NOTD: Dorothy Who? by Gelaze

So today I have to share with you a NOTD of a new Gelaze polish I picked up. Dorothy Who? had been either sold out or opened/gooped up in the cap of the nail polish bottle at my surrounding Sally's. Finally, the Sally's I primarily go to had restocked them and I finally got my hands on one. The nice Sally's lady also informed me of a coupon I was missing out on and I ended up getting Ruby Pumps for free on top of my $5 off purchase coupon! I got both Gelaze polishes for less that $7. What a steal! Anyways, onto the picture...

It's pretty gloomy here right now so you can't see all of that glorious sparkle but in real life, it just sparkles like crazy. It's the prettiest blue gel polish that I own so far and I'm super pumped I finally own it. It's so glittery and perfect. I cannot stop staring at it. What's your favorite Gelaze polish? Or what's your favorite gel polish in general?

China Glaze + Salon Perfect Confusion?

While I was out, I remembered I needed to stop by the store to get some personal hygiene products. Target happened to be closed (I was out late, had to pick up someone from work) and was forced to go to Walmart. I absolutely hate that store. Am I the only one? I feel like it's always gross and dirty... Anyways, while I was there I just had to stop down the nail polish aisle. That is when I noticed a China Glaze nail polish bottle (NOTE: Walmart does NOT sell China Glaze) mixed within the Salon Perfect polishes. The only difference that the polishes had were the bottles and brands. They both were the same color, had the same cap (even the "China Glaze" polish had a Salon Perfect cap), and had the same exact name. The name of this polish is "In Love" and from what I've found, China Glaze does not have a polish with this name. Below are a couple pictures that I snapped really quickly.

Does anyone know if China Glaze and Salon Perfect are owned by the same company? It seems to be that they are and that they had a mishap that happened while producing the polish. Anyone else run into weird nail polish mishaps?

Gelaze by China Glaze Review + Swatches

So today I'm going to be talking about something I've been trying out for a while now and that's Gelaze by China Glaze. China Glaze has decided to jump on the bandwagon and create a gel polish line. All of the polishes they have are already found in their regular polishes permanent line. These gel polishes do REQUIRE the lamp. It claims to be a 2in1 polish and doesn't require a base coat. Here are a few random NOTD swatches that I have for a few of the colors that I own.


Fairy Dust - Can't really tell from the picture but it is a clear polish with small holographic glitter.

Flip Flop Fantasy - This one looks definitely more orange than the original FFF.

Refresh Mint - This is probably my favorite of them all. It looks so lovely on.

Shocking Pink - Definitely a very bright pink, looks wonderful on.

Swing Baby - Not really that fond of this one. Looks prettier in the bottle than on my nails.

Sorry for the randomness of the photos, most of them were taken for the use on my Instagram so they are not the best. These are the only swatches I have of them right now and thought it would be better than bottle pictures. Anyways... I also own the topcoat, For Audrey, and Turned Up Turquoise which are not pictured above. Overall, I really do like these polishes but lets take a deeper look into them.

Dislikes:

• Peels easily - This doesn't last on your nails very long. After a couple days of wear it begins to peel up at the edges causing it to snag and completely come off.

• Shrinkage - While waiting for this to cure under the light it begins to shrink. You have to really work at this polish for it not to shrink.

• Pools at the cuticle - You have to be extremely careful to use thin coats with this polish. It pools extremely easily around the cuticle and makes the whole process a lot longer due to all the excess clean up (MAKE SURE TO DO CLEAN UP BEFORE CURING, WON'T COME OFF AFTER YOU CURE).

• Availability - So far, Sally's is the only place that carries this. Most of the time when I got to the Sally's around me they are all sold out of the colors I am interested in. So the availability kinda sucks.

Enough with the dislikes, now onto the likes:

• Peels easily - I know this is under the dislikes but it is also a like as well. I love gel polish because it doesn't chip but that doesn't really take away my want to change my polish constantly. It peels of easily and doesn't damage the nail (well it hasn't in my case) and allows me to change my polish often without it chipping easy.

• Glossy finish - It's extremely shiny and I just love that. The gloss doesn't fade away either so you can expect the gloss to last however long this polish lasts on you.

• Price - Gel polish can be extremely expensive but the price for this polish isn't that bad. It costs $11.99 with your Sally's card but I've seen these on sale a lot. I got all of these polishes on sale when Sally's was having the BOGO Free deal so watch out for the deals.

• No drying time - This really goes for all gel polish. It takes a little longer to apply BUT it has zero dry time. I hate waiting around on my nails to dry so I love using this polish when I want to do my nails but don't have the time to wait around for drying.

Like I said, I do really enjoy these polishes. I most likely will be picking up a few more whenever my Sally's restocks them. What colors have you tried and which is your favorite?

Sally Beauty Top Coat Reviews

When I first started painting my nails, I always told myself a top coat was useless. Once I broke down and bought one for the quick drying properties I quickly learned that you do indeed need a top coat. A top coat not only protects your polish from chipping or smudging but it also cuts down on the drying time significantly (depending on the type of top coat you use). So today I will be talking about 5 top coats that claim to be fast drying, long lasting, a shine increasing. I purchased these all from Sally's Beauty Supply and have used the images from their website. All image credit goes to Sally's Beauty Supply website which is linked here. I will also be linking to the top coat if you are interested in purchasing it. Since I have so many to get through, lets get started!

First up is China Glaze Fast Forward Top Coat. One of my favorite nail polish brands is China Glaze however, I'm not a fan of their top coat. I was looking forward to using this and had high expectations due to their wonderful nail polish. This top coat isn't terrible but I don't find it to dry that quickly, add that much shine, or extend the wear of my polish. It's an average top coat and isn't really anything all that special.

Next we have ProLinc Diamond Dry Air Dry Top Coat. I actually received this top coat free a while back when Sally's was having a promotion where you would get a free top coat when you bought a China Glaze nail polish. I was super pumped to try it since I was freshly on the hunt for good top coats. I really tried to like this top coat but I just couldn't. It didn't dry that quickly at all. While it did dry quicker than if there wasn't a top coat, it still took a long time. The biggest reason why I didn't like this top coat though was that it crinkled. Every time I would use it it would crinkle and look like crinkled up aluminum foil. It looked terrible and after 5-7 uses or so I gave up and tossed it.

Up next we have INM Out The Door Fast Drying Top Coat. I like and dislike this top coat all at once. It does dry you polish rather quickly but it doesn't extend the wear of your polish. When I use this polish I notice chipping within 1-2 days after applying. I only use this polish when I know that I will want to change my polish again rather soon otherwise, I won't use it.

Next we have Orly In A Snap Nail Dryer. I honestly just picked this up because it was one of the very first top coats that I had found. It's much like the China Glaze Fast Foward that I mentioned above. It's an average top coat that doesn't really have that amazing of drying time, additional shine, or additional nail polish wear. I wouldn't recommend this top coat unless average is what you are going for.

Lastly we have Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. This top coat and I have had a very long love hate relationship. I first got this top coat when there was a deal at Sally's when you bought a China Glaze polish you would receive a free Seche Vite. It's honestly one of the best top coats I have tried. However, it does have it's downfalls. 1) It's made with chemicals that can cause birth defects. When I think about this, it really creeps me out and makes me not want to use it. 2) It gets goopy after using it about half way through. It can be really frustrating trying to use this top coat towards the half way mark. I may need to try the Seche Vite restore. Those are the only two complaints I have about this top coat. The quick drying time, high gloss finish, and extended nail polish wear does outweigh the negatives though. I would definitely give this top coat a shot if you haven't already.

So what top coats are your favorite? I'm always up for trying a new top coat and would love to hear recommendations.

Introduction + Nail Polish Obsession Tag

Hello everyone! My name is Carly and I am a newbie blogger. This is my first blog I've ever created and decided it should be about my true passion, nail polish. I thought doing the nail polish obsession tag would be fitting and would be a great first post so that's exactly what I will be doing. So onto the questions:

1. What's your favorite brand? - My favorite brand is hands down China Glaze. I've had the best of luck with them. They having amazing quality nail polish and a wonderful color selection. Here are just some random China Glaze polishes that I love that were sitting out:

2. Glitter or no glitter? - I don't often wear glitter but when I do I absolutely love it so I'll have to say glitter. Here are some of my favorites:

From left to right: Orly Bubbly Bombshell, Milani Silver Dazzle, and Revlon Stunning.
3. OPI, China Glaze, or Essie? - Although OPI and Essie have some great polishes I'll still have to go with China Glaze on this one.

4. When do you change your nail polish? - I change my nail polish whenever it starts to chip or every 2-3 days. It use to be everyday but I've decided that's a bit much and I don't have all that time to sit around waiting for my nail polish to dry anymore.

5. What is your favorite color on your nails? - As of recent it would have to be any holographic nail polish. This summer I've picked up the Color Club Halo Hues collection and have fallen head over heels. They are absolutely perfect!

6. Darks or brights? - I would have to go with brights. I'm not much of dark colored nail polish wearer. I feel like they make me look so pale. Here are some new bright polishes I got from Noir. I will be making a blog post about them soon with swatches.

7. What are you wearing on your nails right now? - I'm currently wearing Noir Nail Polish in Splash and Miami Sunrise in a leopard design. Here's a picture (Will be a blog post up soon on what all I used!):

8. Matte nails - In or out? - Although I do not have a matte finished top coat (yet!), I would have to say in. I love how matte finished nail polishes look over glitter and cannot wait to try it out!

9. French manicure? - I love french manicures. I will only wear them on artificial nails though. I think french manicures on shorter nails just look silly.

10. Favorite winter color? Favorite summer color? - My favorite winter colors, going based off of the darks/brights theme, would be Rimmel Midnight Blue and Wet n Wild Mega Last in Disturbia. I love the almost black finish they are. I don't wear them often though because like I said, dark nail polish makes me look super pale. For my favorite summer colors I would say are China Glazes nail polishes in Celtic Sun, Pool Party, and Flip Flop Fantasy. They are just so neon and awesome!

From left to right: Rimmel Midnight Blue and Wet n Wild Mega Last in Disturbia.

From left to right: China Glaze in Celtic Sun, Pool Party, and Flop Flop Fantasy.

I hope you liked my very first blog post! It took quite a long time to finally get everything posted but it was my first one. I'm sure I will get the hang of it! Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have an awesome day! xoxo, Carly