Today, I have three shades from the China Glaze Sunsational Summer 2013 collection. Out of the jelly half of this collection, these three were the most attractive to me.





These jellies don't self-level at all. Floating the brush and avoid going over the same spot twice helped tremendously. I think they are worth getting if you're willing to be patient with them.

I thought I'd start off the year with a Purge Wars post, since my one and only New Year's resolution is to take purging my stash more seriously. Hopefully it sticks because I'm running out of storage space!



Today, I've pitted different flakies with colored bases against each other. I also wanted to see if I could franken-layer to achieve a similar look.



First into the arena were Layla Ceramic Effect 52 and Nfu.Oh 51

Layla Ceramic Effect 52, Nfu.Oh 51

5 coats 51, 3 coats 52

The base colors of 51 and 52 are more similar than I anticipated. The biggest difference would be the opacity. I'd probably choose 52 to wear alone more often than 51 because I don't often have time for a 5 coat mani. I had no trouble applying either of these.



I used American Apparel African Violet as a base, and then layered Essie Shine of the Times and Milani Purple Neon for my franken layer. The purples I chose were too warm, and the flakie was too dense, but I do think it's possible to get close to 51 or 52 with a few corrections and maybe a coat of 230 or something similar. I think my next attempt will be more successful.



Battle Casualty: I'm keeping both of these because...just look at the pretty! Look at it!



Next up are Urban Outfitters Mystic and Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light

Urban Outfitters Mystic, Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light

3 coats Mystic, 3 coats Ray of Light

Mystic has larger flakes and its base more vibrant than Ray of Light. Mystic also looks a touch darker than Ray of Light, which is probably because it lacks that slightly dusty quality that Ray of Light has. The formula on both was a bit thick, so I thinned them both. No problems after than.



My franken-layer is a Revlon Royal base with Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure and American Apparel Moonlight Beach layered. I think Hidden Treasure was a better choice than Shine of the Times because it's less dense. I think I'd go for a darker jelly to achieve a more accurate look. Maybe Deborah Lippmann Rehab.



Battle casualty: Urban Outfitters Mystic. There's something missing here. Maybe some depth? Not sure, but I don't mind parting with it.





Is it bad that I prefer my franken layers over all of them, though? Maybe I'm just stroking me ego. :)



That's it for this round of Purge Wars. Stayed tuned for Battle of the Flakies 2:

They're more similar than you think

While shopping Butter London's Autumn/Winter 2012 collection, I had a feeling I'd seen Lovely Jubbly before. I couldn't make the connection, so I bought it anyway. Of course, it clicked as soon as I got home:

Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink, Butter London Lovely Jubbly

2 coats Rockstar Pink, 3 coats Lovely Jubbly

I'm usually super nitpicky about what I call a dupe, and I have no problem calling Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink a dupe for Butter London Lovely Jubbly. Or is it the other way around since Lovely Jubbly is newer? The only difference is that Rockstar Pink is slightly more dense than Lovely Jubbly. There is really no need to own both of these, though.

1 coat Sally Hansen Rockstar Pink, 1 coat Butter London Lovely Jubbly over 2 coats  Nails Inc. Baker Street

I wanted to try to show the slight difference in the opacity of these glitters. I do prefer the look of Lovely Jubbly layered, but again, it would be ridiculous to suggest owning both of these.



The formulas we comparable. I had no issues applying either one, and the consistencies were not too thick or thin. I prefer the SHXW brushes to Butter London's.



I would suggest skipping Lovely Jubbly (unless you collect BL) and going for the much more cost efficient Rockstar Pink.

Just realized I never posted this. Slowly working through my untrieds!

3 coats Pop Beauty Lavender Love w/ 1 coat Sally Hansen A Girl's Best Friend

Pop Beauty Lavender Love is a pale lavender creme. It's pretty, not at all unique, and has one of the worst formulas I've encountered. It was goopy and runny at the same time; I'm not even sure how I got it to finally level out. I normally try thinning problem polishes, but this one's already so thin, I'm not sure what I can do besides get rid of it.



Sally Hansen A Girl's Best Friend is a very pretty golden shimmer top coat. It's like China Glaze White Cap without the translucent white base. I had no issues applying this, and it dried fairly quickly. I have a few more shimmer top coats that I'll have to compare this to before I decide to keep it or not.

Sally Hansen has created a variety nail strips, similar to Minx, that allow users to easily create salon-quality nail designs at home. The appliques are made of real polish and removed with polish remover. I picked up two sets:

Frock Star, Kitty Kitty

Each set comes with 16 nail strips, a nail file, a wooden cuticle stick, and detail instructions:



Price: $10 at Walgreens. Pretty pricey, considering how many manicures you can get with a bottle of polish. It's cheaper than a professional mani, but don't people pay for the service (shaping, cuticle care, etc) and not the polish? Most people bring their own polish, anyway. I don't think I like this price point.





Application: I had no problem applying these. They are very flexible, so they melded to the curvature of my nails very well and I had no issues with wrinkles or air bubbles. The problem I had was the fit of these. My cuticles are just not round enough for these. Cutting 10 nail strips to fit isn't my idea of fun.  Plus, any hope I had of getting two manis out of one package was dashed once I realized how much adjusting I had to do.



Wear: I only wore this for two days, so I can't be the best judge of wear, but I didn't experience any chipping, tip wear, or peeling. I didn't use a top coat. I can't imagine these lasting a full 10 days with out at least some top coat, though. Maybe a week at the most.



TL;DR: Try these if you wear manis for a week+, suck at all things nail art, or need a quick mani for something special. Ignore these if you change your polish as often as I do.



Here are some pics of Frock Star, which looks practically identical to Deborah Lippmann Happy Birthday:

This looks amazing indoors and in the sun. It's like a party on my nails! I didn't have time to get a decent sunlight pic, but it's blindingly beautiful.

With all the untried polishes I have, there is no reason I should have repeated this mani three times now. I just love this combo so much!