China Glaze - Traffic Jam

Today I wanted to show you a swatch of my current pedicure colour- China Glaze Traffic Jam.

Traffic Jam is a lovely purple-y pink berry shade; I actually don't own many berry shades, so despite seeming like a common colour, it's pretty unique in my collection. The best thing about it is that it's a one-coater. Really! It's wonderfully pigmented, has a great formula, and what you see here is only one coat.

I'm pretty thrilled that I got my nails on this one, and even better, I snagged it for $2!

What do you think of China Glaze Traffic Jam?

Pretty and Polished - Candy Coated

Today I have yet another indie polish to share with you. Candy Coated is a lacquer created by Pretty and Polished; you can purchase her polishes from her Etsy shop. Candy Coated consists of small round purple and pink glitter in a cool pink base. It covers nicely in three coats, and gives the appearance of a "jelly sandwich", without the extra layering that kind of manicure usually entails.

I actually kind of dislike taking manicure pictures while holding the tiny miniature sized bottles... so instead, you'll get this:

Yep, that's a mace. A Ukrainian "bulawa", to be precise. I got it during my first trip to Ukraine; I couldn't resist it, because honestly, how cool is that?! Don't worry, I didn't attempt to bring it home in my carry on luggage. I think that might have raised a few eyebrows. 

Early on in the lifetime of this blog, I wrote a post about some of my experiences travelling in Ukraine; I think I'd like to tell you a little more about my first impressions of life in Ukraine. The second time I visited Ukraine, it was to spend a semester teaching at a university. When people ask me what the biggest adjustments to life in Ukraine were, I often talk about the apartment I was living in.

Okay, so admittedly the trees weren't at their most photogenic, and the pavement was pretty ripped up, but after awhile I began to realize this was a pretty good area of town. Very close to the city centre, and a lot of the buildings were lovely old relics of the Austro-Hungarian era, but unfortunately in a state of disrepair.

Arriving at my apartment very late at night, and after a long couple days of travel, I wasn't exactly heartened by my first view of the interior of the building. Nor was the natural gas I could smell in the entryway very reassuring (especially in the older areas of the city, natural gas is the main way of heating buildings- with gas lines running everywhere, there is often a small leak here or there). 

The shower was another big adjustment for me, coming from the land of instantly available hot water from every tap. In order to have hot water for showering, one manually lights a gas fire under that metal cylinder of water, and then waits for it to heat up. After about 45 minutes, the water will be hot, and you'll have about 10 minutes for a shower. Additionally, when it comes to water, drinking from the tap is a no-no; only drink bottled water in Ukraine.

These gas burning furnaces were the method by which I could heat my apartment (apparently this style of heating is very common in the older areas of the city, but they do have more modern features in newer areas). They were quite inadequate for heating my apartment during the colder parts of winter, but once it turned into spring, it wasn't such a problem. It was a huge adjustment for me, to learn how to manually turn on the gas and light it safely. I was so worried about not doing it quickly enough and letting too much gas out! My elderly landlady laughed at my squeamishness, and I did get the hang out it eventually, but on my first night in the apartment it was a lot to take in. I was very careful to listen for the sound of the flames while I had the gas on during a windy day, because sometimes the flame would blow out, and then gas would just be running... not an ideal situation! 

These were the bigger challenges I experienced initially while adapting to Ukrainian life. Eventually I did adjust to the differences, and I'm very glad I spent time there! I met a lot of kind people, and it was very interesting to immerse myself in a different way of  life. 

I'll leave you with a quirky picture I took while in Ukraine; I often saw these teapots-on-a-fence-post around town, and I'm not sure what the deal is with them. If you know, please tell me!

Lacquistry Plucked Spider (over various bases)

A short while ago I posted a review of Lacquistry's Plucked Spider, which I had layered over Essie Bordeaux, a deep red jelly. I wasn't so keen on the result, and several readers had mused about what it might look like overtop of a lighter base. Today I have swatches of Plucked Spider overtop of a plain white base (Zoya's Snow White), as well as Plucked Spider by itself, without anything underneath it.

Left to right: two coats of Plucked Spider over white, two coats of Plucked Spider by itself, one coat of Plucked Spider over white, one coat of Plucked Spider by itself.  

I have to be honest, I'm still not loving Plucked Spider. In the bottle it is very interesting to look at, but on the nail, I'm just not feeling it. The glitter still doesn't pop, although I'll grant that it is a neat concept and I do like the name. The formula was also incredibly hard to work with, extremely gloopy and globby (I'm not actually sure either of those are legitimate words, but I'm gonna use them). It was like trying to paint my nails with strawberry jam, both in texture and appearance.

What do you all think of Lacquistry's Plucked Spider now? It is better than it was over Essie Bordeaux? Or is it still lacking?

Man Glaze Santorum

I thought "Santorum" by Man Glaze would be a fitting polish to post on the day Rick Santorum announced his withdrawal from the Republican leadership race. Man Glaze exclusively produces matte polishes. This was my first time trying Man Glaze, and I have to admit I was drawn in not because I'm crazy about matte polishes, but because of the hilarious name choices and awesome coordinating labels for each lacquer. That said, I'm very happy with how this lacquer looks on the nail. This is two coats (although it was nearly perfect in one) of Santorum:

This is a matte brown polish with lots of shimmer, including subtle red and green shimmer. Yes, this is a brown polish called Santorum. I'm preferring to think this was solely inspired by the colour of Rick Santorum's brown sweater vest (LOL), and not that other association with Santorum. Ahem. Moving on... Man Glaze also references one of my favourite movies in a quote on the label:

"For Relaxing Times, Make it SANTORUM Time"

I love Bill Murray, and the whole movie is pretty great. If you missed out on Lost in Translation, definitely check it out. 

Finally I'll leave you with a couple photos of Santorum with a topcoat. I might actually prefer it this way, it really brings out the tiny red and green shimmer and shows how much depth this polish has.

What do you think of Man Glaze Santorum? I ordered my polishes from Man Glaze's Amazon store, but be sure to check out Man Glaze's website for other ordering options. 

Cover Band Sticks 'n Stones over Sally Hansen Smooth and Perfect Whisper

Today I have Sally Hansen Smooth and Perfect Whisper, a extremely pale pearly lilac shade to show you. Like the other Smooth and Perfect polishes I've reviewed, this is a very light and subtle colour, but I thought it might make a nice shade for Easter. I used three coats for the following pictures, but I probably should have used one more in order to completely cover the staining on the tips of my nails (unfortunately I ran out of time). 

Every time I wear one of the lacquers from this line I keep thinking that this polish actually does feel unusually smooth to the touch... which seems kind of silly, but it really does feel that way. Anyone else notice this, too? Anyways, I really like Whisper, just as I enjoyed the other polishes in this line, and really appreciate how non-streaky the formula is. It's so soft and light, with just a touch of pearl to keep it from looking flat. Gorgeous. 

Since Whisper is such a pretty and unobtrusive shade, I decided to jazz it up by layering Cover Band Sticks 'n Stones over top of it to complete my Easter manicure. There has been a tonne of interest in this lacquer because of its strong resemblance to the extremely hard to find polish "Connect the Dots" by indie polish maker Lynnderella. This is the awesomeness that resulted with one coat of Sticks 'n Stones over Whisper:

These pictures weren't my best, but I really hope you get an idea for how cool this looks in person. I'm crazy about this. I received so many compliments on it, and questions about how I created this manicure. It's easy to mistake for nail art, but in reality it's so much simpler than that! It has such a cool splatter effect, particularly from a distance. The glitter is mostly made up of a mixture of black and white glitters (various sizes of hexagonal glitter, small round and square glitters, as well as bar glitter). There are also tiny and somewhat iridescent green and red glitter, but they are so fine that it's practically imperceptible. Sticks 'n Stones is available via Ninja Polish, but it is currently out of stock. Demand is extremely high for this polish, so I feel lucky to have gotten my hands on it at the same time I snagged Floam.

What do you think of this combination? Are you as crazy as I am about Sticks 'n Stones? 

I hope you all had a fantastic Easter weekend! 

Lacquistry - Plucked Spider

I recently received a small order from Lacquistry, which is another handmade "indie" nail lacquer line. Lately I can't get enough of these indie polishes! I decided to layer Lacquistry's Plucked Spider overtop of my Essie Bordeaux manicure from the other day. Plucked Spider is a wine-coloured jelly polish with a mixture of black and red glitters (including lots of bar glitter). This is the result of two coats of Plucked Spider over Essie Bordeaux:

In the bottle this looked really interesting, but to be honest, I wasn't crazy about it when I got it on the nail. Which was rather tricky, by the way. The formula was pretty gloopy and hard to control, and didn't really even out well which made this manicure pretty bumpy. The glitter doesn't really pop, and generally looks murky and cloudy.

I've been having great experiences with indie polishes, and I can't help but be a bit disappointed with this one. I have one more Lacquistry polish to try, so I hope I can give a glowing review of that one. What do you think of Plucked Spider? Have you tried any Lacquistry polishes? What was your experience?

Essie - Bordeaux

I didn't think Bordeaux would be this amazing. I'd heard good things, but in the end I figured, hey, it's just another red polish.

But actually, it's not. It's an unusually awesome red lacquer with a streak-free jelly finish. It has a fantastic formula, and it's really the perfect deep wine-coloured red. Behold!

Glossy red perfection in two coats. I'm sorry it took me this long to give Essie Bordeaux a try! I'm really happy with this red, and I think it's the perfect one for my skin tone. Reds can be tricky that way, sometimes clashing with the undertones in your skin... but I think this one is great.

Have you tried this polish? Are there any other fantastic reds you would recommend?