My Current Project - "Untrieds" Drawer

Hey!

I thought that tonight I would show you guys my current project as well as give you a sneak peak into my nail polish collection (and I promise you there is a full collection post coming asap).

This is my "Untrieds" drawer where I hold all of my recent nail polish purchases until I swatch them for you and on my own nail wheels. Usually I swatch polishes for you within the first couple of days of getting them but for my own wheels, I typically have a swatching marathon once every couple of weeks, but this varies depending on how many I've acquired, really.
However, I've neglected my own wheels lately and it's left me with quite a large drawer of untrieds, or unswatched if you prefer.



Keep reading for more photos and a full list of the polishes you see above.




So what do you see here?

At the back of the drawer are my newly acquired Nfu-Oh Holographic polishes (I mentioned these in this haul post and #61 and #65 arrived today).

In front of those we have the Orly Happy Go Lucky Collection as well as 4 colours from last year's Orly Sweet Collection which Sally's recently started carrying as open stock.

Continuing down the left side we have a slew of OPI polishes including the Katy Perry Collection, the Texas Collection, the Blue-Hued Shatters, the OPI Serena Williams Glam Slam! England duos, OPI Red and White Shatter from the Glam Slam France duos, and a few OPI DS Series polishes including Original, Classic and Reflection.

Moving over the right side of the drawer, we have a number of China Glaze polishes in the front including the Crackle Metals Collection, the original Crackle Collection and 5 shades from the Tronica Collection (as mentioned in this haul post).

Behind the China Glaze polishes we have 2 Revlon colours - Royal and Perplex.

And last but not least, at the back of the drawer on the right hand side, we have a number of Essie polishes including the Resort 2011 Collection, the Braziliant Collection as well as a few open stock colours that I've accumulated.


So that's it for my untrieds drawer! I think a swatching marathon is way overdue.
Did you guys keep an "untrieds" drawer? Has it gotten as out of hand as mine has?

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My Current Project - "Untrieds" Drawer

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http://emogirlhairstyles2011.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-current-project-drawer.html

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Review & Swatches - China Glaze Crackle Metals Collection

Hey guys!

I was finally able to get my hands on the Crackle Metals by China Glaze, so right now I'm only stalking my beauty supply stores for one collection - OPI Nice Stems and I have been calling every day this week checking to see if it's in (I'm sure they're sick of hearing from me, haha).

Although, by the time I get that collection, I'm sure there'll be others that I'll be looking for.

Anyways, today I have a full review and swatches of the China Glaze Crackle Metals Collection for you. I decided to swatch all of the shades over a plain black cream polish (China Glaze Liquid Leather) to best show off the colours of the crackles. However, if you're interested in seeing any of these shades over a different polish, let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to satisfy your requests.





Keep reading for the review and swatches!



China Glaze Crackle Metals: Cracked Medallion, Platinum Pieces, Haute Metal


China Glaze Crackle Metals: Oxidized Aqua, Tarnished Gold, Latticed Lilac






China Glaze Cracked Medallion (copper shimmer)


China Glaze Platinum Pieces (silver shimmer)


China Glaze Haute Metal (rosy shimmer)


China Glaze Oxidized Aqua (silver-toned aqua shimmer)


China Glaze Tarnished Gold (gold shimmer)


China Glaze Latticed Lilac (light lilac shimmer)


Cracked Medallion, Platinum Pieces, Haute Metal, Oxidized Aqua, Tarnished Gold, Latticed Lilac (all over China Glaze Liquid Leather)


Cracked Medallion, Platinum Pieces, Haute Metal (all over China Glaze Liquid Leather)


Oxidized Aqua, Tarnished Gold, Latticed Lilac (all over China Glaze Liquid Leather)


Latticed Lilac, Tarnished Gold, Oxidized Aqua, Haute Metal, Platinum Pieces, Cracked Medallion (all over China Glaze Liquid Leather)


Latticed Lilac, Tarnished Gold, Oxidized Aqua (all over China Glaze Liquid Leather)


Haute Metal, Platinum Pieces, Cracked Medallion (all over China Glaze Liquid Leather)

These crackle polishes didn't crackle quite as much as I would have liked, but the colours are super pretty and the formula is really nice - it doesn't feel really thick like some of the creamier crackles.

With the black polish underneath, both the colour of the crackle polish and the base colour are able to really stand out, but I think if you were to use a similarly coloured base coat, you might not be able to notice the crackle effect quite as easily, just because these don't crack as much as some of the other crackles. For comparison, check out my swatches of the original China Glaze Crackles and you'll see what I mean.

All of my swatches are without top coat so you can see just how shimmery these are on their own but a top coat will add to that even more.

Overall, I'm happy with this collection and I think China Glaze did a good job of sticking with the current trend but still adding a flair of innovativeness to it - I appreciate that.

I spoke a little about how I'm feeling about the crackle trend in my review/swatches of the OPI Blue-Hued Shatters but I'll mention it again here since it's completely relevant. Basically, I've gotten bored with this trend and I'm hoping to see it die out soon. However, when brands release new and unique shades of crackle polish (as most of these shades are), I'm happy with that. I'm just sick of seeing the same shades of crackle polish over and over again by different brands.

The China Glaze Crackle Metals Collection is available now at Sally Beauty Supply and professional salons nationwide. They retail for anywhere between $4-6, depending on where you live/where you get yours.

What do you guys think of the China Glaze Crackle Metals? Any layering combinations you'd like to see?

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Review & Swatches - China Glaze Crackle Metals Collection

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http://emogirlhairstyles2011.blogspot.com/2011/07/review-swatches-china-glaze-crackle.html

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Review & Swatches - OPI Blue-Hued Shatters

Hey guys!

My continued stalking of local beauty supply store has paid off once again because I managed to find the last of each of the 3 bottles of the OPI Blue-Hued Shatters last week. They were put out on Wednesday evening and by the time I got to the store at 3pm on Thursday, they were just about all gone! I'm definitely glad that I decided to go when I did.

I'm going to have to check every day this week for the Nice Stems Collection and the China Glaze Crackle Metals.

I decided to do each of these shades over a plain white creme polish (OPI Alpine Snow), just so that it would show off the colours of the Shatter polishes the best. However, if you're interested in seeing any of these Shatters layered over a different colour, let me know in the comments and I'll do my best to satisfy your requests.



Keep reading for the review and swatches!



OPI Blue Hued Shatters: Blue Shatter, Navy Shatter, Turquoise Shatter


OPI Blue Shatter (bright medium blue with shimmer)


OPI Navy Shatter (navy blue jelly)


OPI Turquoise Shatter (very bright turquoise with shimmer)


(Without Top Coat) OPI Blue Shatter (over OPI Alpine Snow), OPI Navy Shatter (over OPI Alpine Snow), OPI Turquoise Shatter (over OPI Alpine Snow)


(Without Top Coat) OPI Turquoise Shatter (over OPI Alpine Snow), OPI Navy Shatter (over OPI Alpine Snow), OPI Blue Shatter (over OPI Alpine Snow)


(With Top Coat) OPI Blue Shatter (over OPI Alpine Snow), OPI Navy Shatter (over OPI Alpine Snow), OPI Turquoise Shatter


(With Top Coat) OPI Turquoise Shatter (over OPI Alpine Snow), OPI Navy Shatter (over OPI Alpine Snow), OPI Blue Shatter (over OPI Alpine Snow)

Overall, I think OPI hit the nail on the head with these Shatters. I like each of the colours very much and the formula was really nice for all of them. They all shattered really nicely and evenly and I haven't seen any other brand release shades quite like these, so I'm happy to see something new added to the crackle trend.

However, like many of us, I'm starting to get a little bored with the Shatter/Crackle trend. SO many brands now have their own version (OPI, China Glaze, Color Club, Sally Hansen, Nicole by OPI, KleanColor, just to name a few) and it's just gotten to the point of too much, at least for me. I don't mind seeing new and unique shades introduced (such as these Blue-Hued ones) but when different brands are just putting out the same colours over and over, it gets boring. I mean, how many different brands of black crackle polish does a girl need?

I think this trend should start to die down soon and I'm sure we'll see something new and equally exciting introduced in its place.

The OPI Blue-Hued Shatters are available now in professional salons. I got each shade for $6.75 but the pricing is really going to depend on where you live and where you manage to find your set. Generally though, the price will fall in the range of $6-10.

As I have in all of my reviews of Shatter/Crackle polishes, I've listed a number of tips for using these types of polishes. I know most of you have seen these tips a number of times now but I think it's best to keep things consistent, and there may be some of you that haven't seen these before.

Shatter Polish Tips:
- Make sure your polish is dry before applying it. If it's not dry, the OPI Shatters will not crackle as much and you'll be left with only a little of your base colour peeking through.
- Apply the OPI Shatters quickly with as few amount of brush strokes as possible. OPI Shatter polishes are very fast acting so you don't want to play around with them, just brush it on quickly and let it do it's thing.
- The shattered pieces may flake off so for a longer lasting mani, add a top coat. But, if you like the matte finish look, skip the top coat.
- A thin coat of the Shatter polish will shatter more and thus provide smaller shattered pieces on the nail.

Most people seem to be favouring Turquoise Shatter but my favourite is actually Navy Shatter. I like how it's a little bit transparent so that you can still see a bit of the base colour through the shatters (OPI Red Shatter was similar in this sense and I really liked that one as well) and I just think it will be more versatile than the others. However, like I said above, I really like all 3 of these Blue-Hued Shatters.

What do you guys think? Are you sick of the Shatter/Crackle trend? Which of these 3 Blue-Hued shades are your favourite? Any layering combinations you would like to see?

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Review & Swatches - OPI Blue-Hued Shatters

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http://emogirlhairstyles2011.blogspot.com/2011/07/review-swatches-opi-blue-hued-shatters.html

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