A vegan nail polish blog. A celebration of colour and light, as well as of justice for nonhuman animals.

Archive for the ‘Kleancolor’ Category

China Glaze Spring in My Step and Valentine’s Day Stamping

Happy Valentine’s Day! This mani started out with a polish I like a lot, Spring in My Step from China Glaze.

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Four coats plus top coat. The four coats are needed, but the formula is thin so it doesn’t seem too thick on the nail, and it dries super quickly. Like, quick enough that this polish and the others I have from this collection (last spring’s City Flourish) are among those I would choose when rushing to cover up naked nails before leaving for work in the morning! I know a lot of people hated the formula of the pastels in that collection, but I loved it!

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I then added some stamping using Bundle Monster plates BM-H16 and BM-H17. I received both of these plates as gifts from the people at Nail Polish Canada, H16 last year and H17 this year. I think they send them out to regular customers or something. Thanks NPC! 🙂

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The polishes I used for stamping were Kleancolor Iridescent Fuchsia (which is a ridiculous name as it’s not in any way iridescent, it’s a straight creme polish!) and Red Alert. Someday I hope I’ll get the hang of stamping so that the whole images will transfer without gaps and smudges 😉

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I coloured in a few of the stamps using OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston, a coral pink jelly polish.

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Here’s a close up of the thumb stamp, since it didn’t show up very well in the other photos.

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And here’s the right hand – here, I coloured in some of the stamps using OPI Houston We Have a Purple, another jelly from the Texas collection.

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Disclosure: the stamping plates used in this manicure were provided free of charge by Nail Polish Canada.

A few odds and ends

I have a few random phone pics of relatively-recent manis to share today!

Quo by Orly Infinity and Beyond (same as Orly Milky Way), layered over Cosmetic Arts Sky High (which I think is the same as Color Club Take Me To Your Chateau). Accent nail is just the Cosmetic Arts by itself.

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Kleancolor Concrete, a one-coater, with Kleancolor Yogurt Raisins on the accent nail.

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Maya Cosmetics Big Chief, two coats. The glitter was a little sparse but other than that it had a great formula.

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And finally, Misa High Brow, a gorgeous vampy purple shimmer with a satin-matte finish. On my rarely-seen right hand:
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On my usual hand, with topcoat:
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Zoya Zuza, Wednesday, and comparisons

I should have posted this ages ago, but then I lost the photos of the nail wheel comparisons… or maybe I forgot to take the photos, I don’t know! So I took new ones recently, but they aren’t exactly colour-accurate… Ah well, I’m posting them anyway! 😀

Zoya Zuza

Here is Zoya Zuza, a beautiful shimmery turquoise. Two coats, and the formula was a little thick, according to my notes. I love Zuza.

Zoya Zuza

Zoya Wednesday

Zoya Wednesday, a slightly dusty turquoise/minty/tiffany blue creme. Two coats, three on my ridgey ring finger. The formula on this one was a little thin.

Zoya Wednesday

And here are the comparisons! The photos are not colour accurate; they photographed a bit too green and dark, which you can see by comparing Wednesday (3:00 position on the left wheel) to the swatch photos above. So keeping that in mind, the pic can give an idea of how similar they are to other polishes in the same colour family. Zuza is directly next to Wednesday on the other wheel, at the 9:00 position on that wheel. Should have numbered the polishes on the wheels, sorry about that…

(Not colour accurate, leans slightly too green.) Left wheel, clockwise from 3:00 position: Zoya Wednesday, Color Club New Bohemian, Orly Gumdrop, Nubar Mod Agua, Cult Nails Manipulative, Kleancolor Pastel Teal, Soulstice Kona, Sephora by OPI Natural Environ-mint, NYX Girls Pistachio, Essence You Belong To Me, China Glaze Aquadelic, Color Club Blue-Ming, NYX Salon Formula Surf, Barry M Mint Green, Orly Ancient Jade, Fingerpaints Choco Mint, NCLA Santa Monica Shore Thing, Fingerpaints Tiffany Impostor. Right wheel, clockwise from 9:00: Zoya Zuza, Nicole by OPI Diva Into the Pool, Manglaze ILF, Milani Golden Sea, LA Girl Delirious, China Glaze Custom Kicks, Kleancolor Teal Envy, Kleancolor Mystic Grass, Sparitual Rhythm of Life, Butter London Thames, Gosh Ocean, LA Girl Obsess, Kleancolor Teal Marble, Kleancolor Metallic Aqua, Fingerpaints Winter Sky, NYX Juliette, LA Girl Chromium Green, Kleancolor Metallic Jungle.

(Not colour accurate, leans slightly too green.) Left wheel, clockwise from 3:00 position: Zoya Wednesday, Color Club New Bohemian, Orly Gumdrop, Nubar Mod Agua, Cult Nails Manipulative, Kleancolor Pastel Teal, Soulstice Kona, Sephora by OPI Natural Environ-mint, NYX Girls Pistachio, Essence You Belong To Me, China Glaze Aquadelic, Color Club Blue-Ming, NYX Salon Formula Surf, Barry M Mint Green, Orly Ancient Jade, Fingerpaints Choco Mint, NCLA Santa Monica Shore Thing, Fingerpaints Tiffany Impostor.
Right wheel, clockwise from 9:00: Zoya Zuza, Nicole by OPI Diva Into the Pool, Manglaze ILF, Milani Golden Sea, LA Girl Delirious, China Glaze Custom Kicks, Kleancolor Teal Envy, Kleancolor Mystic Grass, Sparitual Rhythm of Life, Butter London Thames, Gosh Ocean, LA Girl Obsess, Kleancolor Teal Marble, Kleancolor Metallic Aqua, Fingerpaints Winter Sky, NYX Juliette, LA Girl Chromium Green, Kleancolor Metallic Jungle.

Happy Halloween! with Zoya Dhara

Happy Halloween! 😀

Zoya Dhara with topcoat under Ott Lite

Here’s my Halloween mani, featuring Zoya Dhara, my black and white glitter franken, and black cats! (In that first picture the bottle I’m holding is Beatrix, not Dhara, because I grabbed the wrong one!)

Zoya Dhara with topcoat and flash

Here are some photos of Dhara before the additions. Zoya Dhara is a deep orange texture polish with gold glitter, from the fall 2013 Pixie Dust collection.

Zoya Dhara in overcast light

This is just one coat! I’m really glad I got this polish, it’s awesome!

Zoya Dhara in overcast light

Zoya Dhara in overcast light

I had some sun during the late afternoon so I went outside to get sun photos with my phone camera:

Zoya Dhara in sun

Zoya Dhara in sun

As mentioned, the black and white glitter I added to most of the nails is my own frankenpolish. On the ring finger, I first used a layer of topcoat to smooth out the texture, and then stamped a black cat using Kleancolor Black and stamping plate HB49, which is made by HB Nails and has a bunch of cat designs. I ordered the plate from Amazon UK, not sure if it’s still available there.

Zoya Dhara with topcoat and flash

Finally, a blurry shot to show all the sparkle that topcoat brings out in Dhara!

Zoya Dhara with topcoat and flash

From the Vault

More old pics that I haven’t posted before… I think all of these photos are under the Ott Lite except for the last one.

Glitter gradient of OPI DS Temptation with Nubar Sky Sparkle.

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With Ozotic 505 overtop:

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OPI DS Desire, my favourite OPI DS shade.

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Sephora by OPI Rumba Romance with half moons in Orly Chocolate Martini.

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Milani Golden Lilac (the one with gold shimmer) and Kleancolor Gorgeous Surprise (the one with blue shimmer). I don’t remember what the base colour was that they’re layered over, unfortunately.

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China Glaze Sun of a Peach and comparisons

Here’s another neon from the China Glaze Sunsational collection!

China Glaze Sun of a Peach

Sun of a Peach is a neon pastel peach, and a great unique colour! I like the name too, haha.

China Glaze Sun of a Peach

The formula is a bit difficult to work with, but not really worse than other neons or pastels.

China Glaze Sun of a Peach

I used three coats to even everything out. The photos include base coat and top coat.

China Glaze Sun of a Peach

I think the colour is certainly worth putting up with the neon formula. With flash:

China Glaze Sun of a Peach

In the shade:

China Glaze Sun of a Peach

And here is a nail wheel comparison with other peaches, neon and non-neon, and some that lean more towards coral. The photo was taken with flash, but somehow the polishes still look a bit darker than they do in real life. So, word of warning that these aren’t colour accurate, but give a good indication of the relative differences in these polishes!

Sun of a Peach and peach/coral comparisons

1) China Glaze Sun of a Peach, 2) Misa Shake it to the Samba, 3) China Glaze Peachy Keen, 4) Nubar Orange Creme, 5) NCLA Poolside Party All Eyes On Me, 6) Joe Fresh Orange Sorbet, 7) Kleancolor Mango, 8) Jessica Tangerine Dreamz, 9) NYX Amazon, 10) Cult Nails Scandalous, 11) OPI Apricotcha Cheating, 12) FingerPaints Circus Peanuts, 13) NYX Girls Naked Pink, 14) Funky Fingers Daiquiri on the Deck, 15) Barry M Peach Melba, 16) Kleancolor Pastel Orange, 17) Illamasqua Purity, 18) Essence Rebels Peach Punk

None of these are close to Sun of a Peach; the most similar are Kleancolor Mango which is darker and much less bright, and oldie NYX Amazon which is a translucent jelly with iridescent glitter, however. But as you can see there are some dupes and near-dupes among the other polishes – notably China Glaze Peachy Keen and Misa Shake it to the Samba which are basically identical. Cult Nails Scandalous is also similar to OPI Apricotcha Cheating, and Kleancolor Pastel Orange to Illamasqua Purity, but those pairs aren’t close enough to be dupes.

China Glaze Neon & On & On, Shell-o, and neon pink comparisons!

China Glaze Neon & On & On and Shell-o are from their recent Sunsational collection of neons. Since they’re both in the pink-coral family, I thought I’d post them together along with nail wheel swatches of all the neon pinks I own!

Shell-o is a neon coral pink jelly. I used three coats over ridge filler for the swatches. I didn’t have problems with application for this one.

China Glaze Shell-o

It dries somewhere between glossy and matte, and these photos do not include top coat.

China Glaze Shell-o

In the shade:

China Glaze Shell-o

Neon & On & On is a warm/coral leaning pastel neon pink creme. I used three coats over ridge filler, plus top coat.

China Glaze Neon & On & On

The formula on this one was difficult to work with. It helps to not go over the same spot twice while applying each coat.

China Glaze Neon & On & On

It dries very quickly, so that’s a plus. The polish dries matte, and a little lumpy before topcoat due to the thick and quick-drying formula. But top coat really helps to even it out. Next time I think I’ll try adding thinner to this one.

China Glaze Neon & On & On

In the shade:

China Glaze Neon & On & On

ANd now for the great neon pink comparison! I’m including two photos in slightly different lighting (apologies that the orientation of the wheel isn’t quite the same in both photos).

1) Kleancolor Barbie Pink, 2) China Glaze Surfin' for Boys, 3) China Glaze Flirty Tankini, 4) China Glaze Shell-o, 5) China Glaze Pink Plumeria, 6) China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, 7) China Glaze Neon & On & On, 8) Milani Pink Hottie, 9) Color Club Electro candy, 10) Zoya Kiki, 11) Color Club Poptastic, 12) Kleancolor Neon Pink, 13) Misa Girls' Night Out, 14) Kleancolor Pink Lady, 15) Zoya Renée, 16) Orly Passion Fruit, 17) China Glaze Rose Among Thorns, 18) Misa Bikini With a Martini

1) Kleancolor Barbie Pink, 2) China Glaze Surfin’ for Boys, 3) China Glaze Flirty Tankini, 4) China Glaze Shell-o, 5) China Glaze Pink Plumeria, 6) China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, 7) China Glaze Neon & On & On, 8) Milani Pink Hottie, 9) Color Club Electro candy, 10) Zoya Kiki, 11) Color Club Poptastic, 12) Kleancolor Neon Pink, 13) Misa Girls’ Night Out, 14) Kleancolor Pink Lady, 15) Zoya Renée, 16) Orly Passion Fruit, 17) China Glaze Rose Among Thorns, 18) Misa Bikini With a Martini

1) Kleancolor Barbie Pink, 2) China Glaze Surfin' for Boys, 3) China Glaze Flirty Tankini, 4) China Glaze Shell-o, 5) China Glaze Pink Plumeria, 6) China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, 7) China Glaze Neon & On & On, 8) Milani Pink Hottie, 9) Color Club Electro candy, 10) Zoya Kiki, 11) Color Club Poptastic, 12) Kleancolor Neon Pink, 13) Misa Girls' Night Out, 14) Kleancolor Pink Lady, 15) Zoya Renée, 16) Orly Passion Fruit, 17) China Glaze Rose Among Thorns, 18) Misa Bikini With a Martini

1) Kleancolor Barbie Pink, 2) China Glaze Surfin’ for Boys, 3) China Glaze Flirty Tankini, 4) China Glaze Shell-o, 5) China Glaze Pink Plumeria, 6) China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy, 7) China Glaze Neon & On & On, 8) Milani Pink Hottie, 9) Color Club Electro candy, 10) Zoya Kiki, 11) Color Club Poptastic, 12) Kleancolor Neon Pink, 13) Misa Girls’ Night Out, 14) Kleancolor Pink Lady, 15) Zoya Renée, 16) Orly Passion Fruit, 17) China Glaze Rose Among Thorns, 18) Misa Bikini With a Martini

From the Vault

I still have some really old photos from when I started blogging, so I thought I would post them in a few installments!

This first one is a fall mani that I really loved! Thumb to pinkie: Finger Paints Sketchy Character, a mustard yellow frankenpolish, Kleancolor Fashionista, China Glaze Brownstone, Joe Fresh Pumpkin. The glitter gradient over everything was done with Nubar Lime Green Glitter and Orange Glitter.

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Next, Orly Wild Wisteria with China Glaze Brownstone accent:

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I’ll finish up this first vault post with swatches of the creme half of the Color Club Back to Boho collection, along with a couple of layering combos using them.

Shabby Drab:

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With Color Club Jingle Jangle overtop:

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Color Club Earthy Angel:

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Color Club New Bohemian:

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Color Club Nomadic in Nude:

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Color Club Rad Nomad:

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Color Club Red-ical Gypsy – gotta say, the stereotypical gypsy-themed polish names just make me think of cultural appropriation… This is a nice red though, and look! An appearance from my little Thor!

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With an accent of Cult Nails Hypnotize Me and Nubar V matte top coat:

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Some Cult Nails Swatches

How about a few random Cult Nails swatches?

Spontaneous, a dusty purple creme with small purple glitter. The formula was a little thinner and runnier than I expected; I used three coats for coverage and to even it out. Shown with Wicked Fast topcoat.

Cult Nails Spontaneous

Cult Nails Spontaneous

Cult Nails Spontaneous

Before topcoat, it dries a little matte and slightly textured:

Cult Nails Spontaneous

Blackout. It isn’t black, but a dark charcoal grey. If you look at it from up close in real life, you can see that it’s actually got a sheer jellyish base packed full of tiny little specks of pigment giving it a soft, smoky finish. It does look pretty much black in some lighting situations, although not quite as much as it does here in my photos.

Cult Nails Blackout

I used two coats although it was still just slightly patchy with its jelly base so I could have used a third.

Cult Nails Blackout

This photo is more true to colour, where you can tell that it’s grey and not black:

Cult Nails Blackout

Comparison with a couple of medium-dark greys to show how much darker it is: Kleancolor Concrete (1 thick coat), Blackout (2 coats), Misa Office Polish-tics (3 coats, it was a bit thin). I should have also compared it to a true black, ah well…

Cult Nails Blackout, Kleancolor Black, Kleancolor Concrete

Top to bottom: Kleancolor Concrete, Cult Nails Blackout, Misa Office Polish-tics

Evil Queen, a pink-toned red semi-jelly. I don’t usually like cool toned reds on me, but I really like this one!

Cult Nails Evil Queen

It was almost a one-coater, but I did two coats for the photos.

Cult Nails Evil Queen

Great formula, shiny and smooth!

Cult Nails Evil Queen

Cult Nails Evil Queen

Feelin’ Froggy, a cool/neutral green with green shimmer. This one is sheer to let the shimmer shine through and I needed three coats. It’s a little cooler toned in real life; I’d say the first photo is the most colour accurate.

Cult Nails Feelin' Froggy

Cult Nails Feelin' Froggy

Cult Nails Feelin' Froggy

Zoya Rory, Kimber, and Comparisons

Today I have another one of my straggling summer Zoya posts – the two pink foily polishes from the Surf collection! (Look at how long my nails were – I really liked this length/shape! ;))

Zoya Rory

First is Rory, an awesome cool-toned, lilac-leaning bubblegum pink foil polish! Quite unique, I love it! This was two coats. The formula was a little thick but easy to apply.

Zoya Rory

And next, Kimber, a darker red-toned warm fuchsia pink with golden shimmer.

Zoya Kimber

I’d say that Kimber’s finish is somewhere between foil and glass-fleck, definitely not a true foil like Rory.

Zoya Kimber

This is also two coats of Kimber, whose formula was similar to Rory’s, although slightly thinner. Neither had any issues with application.

Zoya Kimber

And now, some nail wheel comparisons of any and all polishes I had that were remotely similar! The first photo is indoors near my Ott light, the second in direct sun; neither is that great lighting-wise but I hope each can make up for the other’s deficiencies in showing the colours! Kimber and Rory are directly across from one another at the point where the two wheels are closest to each other.

Left wheel, clockwise: Soulstice Kauai, Milani Photo Flash, Milani In a Flash, Kleancolor Metallic Pink, Manglaze Lesbihonest, Milani Golden Girl, Milani Gold Digger, Milani Pink Out Loud, Zoya Kimber, China Glaze Strawberry Fields, Essence Glamorous Life, China Glaze Endurance, Zoya Starla, LA Colors Coral Reef.

Left wheel, clockwise: Soulstice Kauai, Milani Photo Flash, Milani In a Flash, Kleancolor Metallic Pink, Manglaze Lesbihonest, Milani Golden Girl, Milani Gold Digger, Milani Pink Out Loud, Zoya Kimber, China Glaze Strawberry Fields, Essence Glamorous Life, China Glaze Endurance, Zoya Starla, LA Colors Coral Reef.
Right wheel, counterclockwise from top: LA Girl Rockstar Scandal, China Glaze No Way José, Orly Rose Radiance, LA Girl Pink Steel, Zoya Rory, Pop Beauty Ruby Metal, Orly Preamp, LA Girl Color Addict Euphoria, Milani Gold Violetta.

As you can see, Rory is unique even among the other pink foils I have, and Kimber is fairly similar to China Glaze Strawberry Fields. Strawberry Fields is a bit lighter and less red though, and its shimmer is less dense.

Left wheel, clockwise: Soulstice Kauai, Milani Photo Flash, Milani In a Flash, Kleancolor Metallic Pink, Manglaze Lesbihonest, Milani Golden Girl, Milani Gold Digger, Milani Pink Out Loud, Zoya Kimber, China Glaze Strawberry Fields, Essence Glamorous Life, China Glaze Endurance, Zoya Starla, LA Colors Coral Reef.

Left wheel, clockwise: Soulstice Kauai, Milani Photo Flash, Milani In a Flash, Kleancolor Metallic Pink, Manglaze Lesbihonest, Milani Golden Girl, Milani Gold Digger, Milani Pink Out Loud, Zoya Kimber, China Glaze Strawberry Fields, Essence Glamorous Life, China Glaze Endurance, Zoya Starla, LA Colors Coral Reef.
Right wheel, counterclockwise from top: LA Girl Rockstar Scandal, China Glaze No Way José, Orly Rose Radiance, LA Girl Pink Steel, Zoya Rory, Pop Beauty Ruby Metal, Orly Preamp, LA Girl Color Addict Euphoria, Milani Gold Violetta.