Comparisons: Strawberry Fields/Kimber & Smooth Sailing/Sklar

Ok, so I haven't ever done a comparison post before, but I've decided to do one and to kill two birds with one stone. Two recent purchases reminded me of other colors in my stash at first glance. So I figured someone else might be thinking the same thing without seeing them side by side.
First off is the last color I swatched, Skylar. I thought that this looked a lot like Essie Smooth Sailing (one of my favorites)! The are similar but after putting them next to each other I instantly knew these were very different. Skylar is more cornflower blue and SS is more periwinkle. Both have shimmer that is quite noticeable. Skylar has iridescent shimmer that shifts from gold to silver to pink; the base is lighter and more dusty. Smooth Sailing is more saturated, brighter, and its shimmer is silver.

The next two I thought looked like they might be alike are China Glaze Strawberry Fields, and Zoya Kimber. Even next to each other these look strikingly similar, not dupes, but close. That is, until you put them on... Both are warm medium pinks with gold glass fleck. Kimber has substantially more

 pigment, it's nearly a one coater. SF is pretty sheer needing 2-3 coats, and still coming out lighter. The formula on Kimber is wonderful, while SF is slightly watery.

So without further ado...pictures. Please forgive the state of my nails (I wasn't leaving them like this so I was a little lazy).

Left to Right: Skylar, Smooth Sailing, Kimber, Strawberry Fields

Top to Bottom: Skylar, Smooth Sailing, Kimber, Strawberry Fields

I have reviewed all of these except SF, so there are full swatches and write ups n the others. Being the polish collector that I am I have no problem owning all of these. The are all different enough to justify buying. My favorite blue between the two is Smooth Sailing, and pink is Kimber.

China Glaze- For Audrey

Hi guys, happy Sunday. I am being so lazy today. I am sitting on my couch, still in my jammies, and I love it! If I had got to sleep past 7 this morning (after being up until 2:30), today would be perfect. Today I have a polish that was one of the first one's that I fell in love with when I started collecting (aka hoarding, lol)! This is one of those ones that has a special place in a lot of peoples collections, China Glaze- For Audrey.

The formula on this is a nice two coat creme. Nothing else to really say about it. I know lots of colors like this have come out recently and it works great for spring/summer. This one will always be one of my favorites. Luckily this isn;'t hard to find, its in most core displays.
Now its off to, oh I dont know, take a nap? (I love Sunday!)

China Glaze- First Mate & BM204

Hi guys, how is everyone doing? So last week I had the stamping bug and did some fun designs. This is another one.

So I started with two coats of China Glaze First Mate, which I found to be a wonderful dark blue creme. Then I planned on stamping yellow suns on top. For this I choose China Glaze Sunshine Popand BM204. SP was not opaque enough to come out true yellow over such a dark base. So instead it came out kind of gold. it didn't really look like suns so i got out my dotting tool and used the same yellow to dot the center. To be honest I don't really know what these look like but I thought they were cool, so whatever:-)

I apologize for the super crappy pictures. I don't know why my camera couldn't focus. I thought maybe it was the cuticle oil? After so much swatching, I needed that oil though, and the colors are still accurate. Incase you want to see First Mate alone, here she is:

Orly Fresh- Spring Flowers

Hello! Thanks for stopping by:-) Today I have another one of the designs I tried Sunday (while I was supposed to be studying)! I don't know why but this design with the green and pink reminds me of Lilly Pulitzer and West Palm Beach. Preppy, beachy, and fun:-)

This is two coats of Orly Fresh, stamped with Bm224. For the flowers I used my trusty Sinful Colors White on White, with China Glaze Dance Baby for the dots in the flowers. Somehow this color didn't give me lobster hands which makes me very happy, because I love this!

Citrus Fruit:-)

Hello again! It's the beginning of another work week... I have an exam for an insurance class I'm taking this morning, so fingers crossed! I was supposed to a bunch of studying yesterday, but I kept taking stamping breaks! I am looking forward to getting out today, since its going to be 86 degrees, wooo-hoo! I'll take all the nice weather I can get, tomorrow is supposed to be 57! Everyone here always wonders why we get sick so often, a 30 degree difference day to day and swings in wet/dry could be to blame... Or not, but its the excuse I'll use:-) Anyways for one of my stamping experiments today I was inspired by the sunny warm forecast and came up with this:

This is two coats of Sinful Colors White on White, with little citrus fruits stamped from BM 209. For the oranges I used Essie- Brazilliant, for the limes I used Orly Fresh, and for the lemons, I used China Glaze Sunshine Pop. I love Sinfuls basic black and white polishes for a base or for stamping. The colors of the fruit showed up a little more vibrant in real life, but you can get the idea. I think it's a cute summery look, and was super easy to do:-)

Sally Hansen Blue-Away

Hi guys! I hope everyone is having a good week! I've spent the last week coloring more eggs than I will ever be able to eat! My sons hands despite baths and scrubbing are almost as colorful as the eggs! It's fun to do these things with him that I have such great memories of when I was little. Anyway that's what I've been up to! I searched my house for my camera the last two days, only to find it right where I left it in the kitchen! So now I can finally get you some pictures. I had this blue on but it was starting to wear, so I decided to stamp it.

This is Sally Hansen Blue-Away which is one of the Inst-Dry Polishes. This color is so pretty, but this brush....Grrrrrr! I actually cursed out the person who designed this bottle/brush the entire time I did my nails! Its like a big wide paddle on a flat stem that you cant scape the excess off in the round hole! It makes absolutely no sense! This covered in two coats, so that finally ended my frustration. The formula on this is actually pretty nice, its your standard creme.

Over this I stamped the full nail floral pattern from BM 225, with white polish, then used a coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust. The FD obscured the design a bit, but I like the result. Its very springy and subtle. I'm trying to plan my easter mani next, I have a few ideas, but we'll see:-)

China Glaze- Lighthouse

Happy weekend all! I had this one left over from the Anchors away collection,this is Lighthouse. If I'm being honest, this color does absolutely nothing for me.This is a sheer yellow loaded with gold glass fleck. I wasn't sure how opaque this would be, but this is three coats and it has a long way to go. This one might be another one that looks good layered, but I haven't tried that yet.I was procrastinating on posting this because I really don't like putting up colors that I'm not crazy about, but it is a pretty color, just not so much on me... 

I'm sure you've spotted the smudge on my pointer finger...I accidentally stuck it to my middle finger...oops! I wasn't planning on wearing it, so I didn't take the time to redo it all.

The verdict is still out on this, I need to figure out something to layer it with, because alone it looks terrible on me, but I feel like it has potential. Also I really am not a fan of VNL, so hmmmmm. Any suggestions for combinations or other ways to wear this???

Green Week! China Glaze- Starboard

Hi everybody! Sorry I disappeared again, this last week has been nuts! I started out with a pretty nasty cold, then passed it to my husband and son:-( So mommy has been playing nurse this week. I decided to try and  make up for it with a week of green for St Patrick's Day. I have 6 different greens lined up with little twists here and there. My husband comes from a big Irish family that takes St. Patty's Day beyond wearing green and drinking green beer. It's Sheppard's Pie, Irish Cream cake, a big parade, and Leprechaun Coins that lead to treasure when the kids wake up, (as well as green beer)! It's just a lot of fun, and a good excuse to all get together.
To get started I have what might be my favorite true green. Starboard. This is another polish from the Anchors Away Collection last year. It is a gorgeous shiny emerald green jelly.

This went on really nice, was opaque in two coats. I couldn't believe how shiny it was. These pictures are without topcoat. I know my nails are in rough shape. I had the corners break off at various points this week while rushing around the house. I'll keep filing them down until they are uniform, but for now they will look a little weird, sorry:-(

China Glaze - GaGa for Green

Hello! I am so glad it's Friday!!! I don't feel good:-( I managed to stay healthy all winter long in an office full of people passing around colds, well I guess I couldn't hide forever, they got me! I feel especially yucky. I am going to try and relax all day tomorrow and be really really lazy! I don't care what needs to be done, it will have to wait! It will take some effort,I'm not very good at relaxing, I can always think of something that needs to be done then I'm not content till it is,but not this weekend!
So moving on... I have for you GaGa for Green, another Electro-Pop polish. This is very much a spring color! Pretty grass green. Another one of those bright but not bright colors. It reminds me of watercolor.

This was such a nice squishy jelly. It would work really well for a jelly sandwich I am thinking! This wasn't as opaque as some of the other in this collection that were more creme-jelly's. This is three coats, it went on super smooth and shiny. Surprisingly I do not get lobster hands from this one! I feel like a broken record, but I really am loving this collection! I didn't think they were super unique, but I didn't end up with any dupes! Plus I haven't had an issue with any of the formulas in these. They are still available most places that sell China Glaze, but don't wait too long! I've learned that lesson!

China Glaze- Sunshine Pop (nail art fail)

Ok, so I was hesitant to even post this, this is soooo not me! I don't know if its as terrible as I think it is, but I cannot pull this off! I really wasn't feeling wearing plain yellow nails, so I though 'hey, lets try one of these fun leopard stamps with some color!' Oooops, overkill!!! It actually looked pretty good with just the leopard, but the dots went too far. I figured I would show it anyway, since it's all part of my learning curve!

As far as formula goes, SP wasn't as nice as the others, but not bad for a yellow. Some nails I got away with two, but others I needed three. I stamped on Sinful Colors Black on Black with Konad plate m57. Next I used my dotting tool, with several (I cant remember what ones I grabbed) colors. This is where it all went wrong. I have seen this done with white, and thought it was cute. I don't know if it was just not right over the yellow, or just not right on me... either was it wasn't a win.

China Glaze- Gothic Lolita

Hi Guys:-)  So I hope Every one's week is going well! I am still feeling like a piggy in a food coma after our Fat Tuesday party at the office yesterday! I gave up on trying to behave myself for the day when the smell of all the goodies overtook my cubicle! Now I understand it's called Fat Tuesday!

Alright so back to posting the rest of my Electro-Pops! Today I have Gothic Lolita. This is a medium purple creme with a very subtle shimmer. It's neutral, which is nice because warm purples don't work on me.

The formula on this was wonderful. This is two coats which and a top coat. GL was super smooth. I really liked this one. It was very pretty. Before I took it off I decided to try Sinful Colors Frenzy over the top since it looked like a good match.The turquoise glitter really popped, but I prefer Gothic Lolita on it's own. I am really liking this collection. At first I didn't know if these were anything unique enough that I needed to jump on, but I'm really glad I did:-)

China Glaze- Make Some Noise & Sally Hansen Glass Slipper

Hi Guys:-) Back to the grind again! Isn't it funny that the countdown to the weekends starts every Monday. The week never goes fast enough and the weekends fly by. I suddenly have the 80's song Everybodys Workin for the Weekend in m head. Appropriate I guess, but I might be singing that the rest of the day! Anyway... I should have the Beastie Boys in m head because today I am wearing Make Some Noise:-)
This is a squishy red leaning coral jelly. I really like this one, it's very summer-y!

This is two coats of MSN, in real life it wasn't so sheer. The pictures accentuate the VNL, quite a bit. If you have longer nails, you might want a third coat though. I added one coat of Glass Slipper over the top. This is a clear base with clear flakies. It applied very easily. I like Glass Slipper...a lot, but I think I liked MSN better on its own. I think GS gets lost a little bit on here. I think it will look better on a darker color, but I will test that out! So another hit from The Electro-Pop Collection!

China Glaze- Sweet Hook & Techno

Hi Guys! I hope you are all having wonderful weekends! We are here, they just go so fast! We got a little snow here last night, but its 10 degrees outside, so we will not be going out to play! Instead I think we will make some valentines with my son:-)
So today, I have Sweet Hook from the Electro Pop Collection. I really love this, its so sweet!

This is two coats of SH, then one of Techno, no topcoat. It went on smooth and squishy:-) Not streaky like light colors can be sometimes. Dry time was fairly quick on this too. SH was a creme jelly hybrid, like OPI sorbets. I like this is pretty for Valentines Day without being too obvious. Somehow the lilac isn't make my hands look like lobster fingers either, that's a plus! Sorry about the shiny cuticles, i may have one a little crazy with the oil:-) So far I really like this collection, I cannot comment on the formula as a whole yet but I love them already!!! So enjoy your Sunday and stay warm!

China Glaze- Dance Baby!

Hello and Happy Friday! I thought it was never going to get here! I am due for a little wine and a lot of R&R! So bring on the weekend!!!
Ok, so I was going to finish showing my Anchors Away colors (I have 3 left), but I cant wait to show my new ones!I got the Electro-Pop colors, and decided Valentines Day was a good excuse for a girly pink mani:-) My husband told me this reminded him of Barbie, then he said that's a good thing, hahaha! I'm not sure I get where he's going with that... Anyway..I am loving this collection! Such fun colors to break out of the winter doldrums! I have been feeling like spring so much lately I keep putting on outfits for work, that will be perfect in like April, but right now I just walk outside and freeze! So for now at least I can throw some color on my hands and try to keep the rest of me warm:-)

So for this I used 2 coats of Dance Baby then brushed on a really sparse coat of Sally Hansen Strobelight. Then I brushed on a little more starting a little farther up, and again. That gave the gradient without sponging. I currently am in love with this:-) The pink in dance baby is not pastel, not bright, its just perfect. It has a real blue lean to it, so it works well with my 'winter skin'. It went on a ted streaky. It would have been opaque with two coats if I was a little more careful, but I needed three to even it out. Overall I like it though!
I have no idea what to do next and if I did, I would probably change my mind before then anyways so I'll roll with it...and I hope you all have a nice weekend ^_^

China Glaze- Anchors Away- Mish Mash!

Hello, I hope every ones week is going well! Work is especially yucky, but at least its going quickly! I am pretty excited about this post:-) You know how nail art is, hits, misses and everything in between. Well I am very proud of myself because I think this one is a win.

I started with 2 coats of Sunset Sail. I had planned on just showing these colors since they are new to me, but I know you must have seen them hundreds of times last year so I decided to do something different and mix a few of them together:-) I used Sunset Sail, Life Preserver, First Mate, and Starboard. First mate was stamped on with Konad m57, using the fishnet design. Then FM, Starboard, and LP got 'dotted' in the squares like a checkerboard. So I hope you like:-)

China Glaze Sea Spray & White Cap

Happy Tuesday! Not much going on today, so I'll get right to it! When I first put Sea Spray on, I realized the pictures I got were terrible, and I decided to swatch it all over. I was taking pics the second time and I still wasn't loving the color, which is probably why I wasn't loving the pictures! As I was snapping away I saw White Cap, and well one thing led to another and... lets just say thank god for White Cap! Alone I really don't like SS. It's a frosty cream pastel grey-blue. The problem for me is the finish, i would like this if it were a plain creme, but I don't like the the frosty-shimmery yuckiness. (That's my technical terminology!) So as I was thinking how much I hate this color, I figured I'd give WC a shot on top. Besided I wanted to show it over some of the colors in the collection anyway. WC completely transformed SS into something I not only tolerated but loved! Yay! I liked the combo so much I ended up with quite a few photos, so have a looksee...

I kind of want to put White Cap on everything right now! Isn't she lovely? Wc is a sheer milky white base with gold shimmer. I don't think you could get it opaque on its own, but as a topcoat it really shines!
I threw in a plain SS pic, so you can see the before shot in this makeover:-)