Weekend Quickies: Carnival Lights, Lancome Cream Shadows, Philosophy Holiday Shower Gels
Here are some products I’ve tried in the past few months with reviews done all quick-style 
- China Glaze Carnival Lights Nail Lacquer ($3.50) has a medium pink jelly base with silver micro-glitter and larger silver hexagonal glitter. It doesn’t go opaque on my nail, as you can still see the tip of it a bit. Above is two coats.
- Lancome ‘Color Design’ Cream Eyeshadow
($22.00) came in three shades: Garter Belt (deep burgundy with red shimmer), Haute Smoke (soft taupe brown with multicolored shimmer), and Pink Lace (a milky pale pink). These lasted on my lids well (until I took it off, so about eight hours or so), though they are advertised to last for sixteen hours (I don’t think I usually wear my makeup for much more than eight hours!).
- Philosophy Candy Cane Shower Gel ($16.00) smells exactly as advertised — like the peppermint-y candy canes of the holiday season. Lathers up quite well, as the rest of their shower gels do.
- Philosophy Have a Cherry Christmas Shower Gel ($16.00) lathers up nicely and smells like slightly sweetened cherries that still have that tartness to them. The Muse has a more in-depth review if you’re curious. I love me some Philosophy Shower Gels, but how many times can I tell you that? Ha!
China Glaze Christmas-themed Nails
As I mentioned this morning on Twitter, I did a Christmas-y theme on my nails with China Glaze Ruby Pumps and Emerald Sparkle. I just alternated the colors for my theme 
I used Zoya’s Color-Lock System for base, top, and drying coats!
I’d love to know if you’ve been doing any winter or holiday-inspired nails this season! Share what you’re wearing in the comments!
First row: Heli-Yum, Sugar High, Something Sweet
Second row: High Hopes, Peachykeen, Happy Go Lucky
Third row: Lemon Fizz, Four Leaf Clover, Re-Fresh Mint
Fourth row: Flyin’ High, Grape Pop, Light As Air
China Glaze Up & Away Collection Review Round-up
The twelve shades from Up & Away are all creme finish, which means that they’re creamy and have absolutely no shimmer whatsoever. I didn’t find these the easiest to apply from the beginning, but I did find that after I initially applied three or four of them, I started to figure out what worked and what didn’t for these. I did, however, really love the range of shades included in this launch and really felt like they covered the entire rainbow.
Temptalia Recommendations
Must-Haves: Four Leaf Clover, Sugar High, Re-Fresh Mint
Nice-to-Haves: Something Sweet, Lemon Fizz, Flyin’ High, Light As Air
Skip: –
I don’t think any of these merit a skip, because none of them performed horribly — it’s really a matter of what kind of shades you gravitate towards and which ones you just know aren’t your thing. (Like bright yellows? Not really my thing.) I found the darker/deeper colors to be the easiest to apply, with the lighter ones more prone to streaking, but as you can see, I was able to get creamy, smooth results with all the shades.
Here are some tips I learned about application for these spring shades…
- Experiment with thickness of coats and number of coats. I found one thin coat (which might even be streaky) followed by a slightly thicker second coat gave me the results I wanted.
- Make sure to use a base coat and top coat. The base coat will give the polish a smoother surface and something better to anchor to, which will help the polish look and feel more even and smooth. (It also helps it last longer!)
- Patience is a virtue. You don’t need to wait ten minutes in-between coats, but I would advise waiting anywhere from 30 seconds to a couple of minutes. Since I went for a fairly thin first coat, I didn’t have to wait long before it was dry enough to layer on a second coat.
Shade by Shade Reviews
China Glaze’s spring collection certainly caught your eye, and I was really pleasantly surprised by just how many nail polish fans we have on this blog! I will definitely try to be more consistent and include more coverage on nail polish in the future (though let’s take a break for a few days!).
What are your favorites?
China Glaze Heli-Yum Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Up & Away Collection: Heli-Yum
China Glaze Heli-Yum Nail Lacquer is a vibrant, deeply pigmented pinky-red.; It’s not the scarlet red we’ve seen over and over again for the holiday season — it’s marked by a lot of raspberry pink. It’s one of the deeper shades of the collection as well, but it is a beautiful shade of not-quite-red but more-than-pink.
Intensely pigmented, smooth to the touch, and pretty easy to apply all describe this formula and shade. I needed just one medium-thick coat to get a smooth, non-streaky application with an opaque finish. I still went for two, but that’s a personal preference; you could easily get away with just a single coat with this particular shade and formula.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 28/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: Though a little summery, this is one beautiful pink-coral shade for nails!
Availability: January 2010
China Glaze Sugar High Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Up & Away Collection: Sugar High
China Glaze Sugar High Nail Lacquer is a vibrant medium pink with a coral kick creme. When I swatched it, I saw a fair amount of coral in it, so I wouldn’t classify it as a hot pink at all. It does have the brightness one would expect in a hot pink, though, but there is definitely some coral in it. I actually think the smidgen of coral makes it a more interesting than it otherwise would have been.
Like other deeper shades in the collection, Sugar High applied like a dream–even, smooth, and opaque–in just one or two coats. I didn’t find myself worrying much over streakiness with this, like I did with some of the lighter shades, which was nice. The formula is similar to the other shades; thick, richly pigmented, and has a beautiful slightly glossy creme finish.
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 28/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: Though a little summery, this is one beautiful pink-coral shade for nails!
Availability: January 2010
China Glaze High Hopes Nail Lacquer
China Glaze Up & Away Collection: High Hopes
China Glaze High Hopes Nail Lacquer is a bright orange-red creme. It’s almost like a really, really intense orange-coral with kind of a red flare to it. It’s definitely not “construction orange” nor is it a summery coral! It’s somewhere in the middle, and I’d say it is considerably bright for the spring season. I could just as easily see this shade being part of a summer launch as I do for a spring launch (I’d probably lean towards the summer side, though).
This was a very intensely pigmented creme formula — it went on evenly, smoothly, and opaque in one medium-thick coat. I still ended up opting for a thinner first coat followed by a thicker second coat for the swatches; I just felt like it gave it a more finished look and feel overall. The formula itself wasn’t too thick or gooey, and this one applied particularly well out of the bunch, so I was quite pleased!
If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!
- Product: 28/30
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 4/5
- Packaging: 4/5
Recommendation: For a brighter color on your nails this spring, High Hopes might make you hopeful (harhar!)!
Availability: January 2010
