TRONICA SWATCHES!!! *pic heavy post!*

What what!!!

My girl Janet sent me a text yesterday to say that she'd been to a beautician supply shop in town and that they had new nail polish.  Thinking that it was China Glaze's On Deck collection, I wasn't overwhelmingly excited.  The colors look nice, but nothing that I'm impatient for.  When she replied, though, she said that they had Tronica.

WHAT.

I had a miniature freakout before begging her to take me to pick them up today.  So this is a massive shout out to the totally awesome gal that never seems to get tired of feeding my polish habit.  Janet, hugs, kisses, and massive squishes to you!  Thank you!

My two little lovelies.  I may or may not have squealed like a wee girl in my car after I bought them.

Here is the China Glaze Tronica collection all together.  Don't mind the bracelets holding them in place.  Turns out polishes in round bottles like to roll over and hide their labels.


I'll apologize before I start for a few things.
A) It's winter in Indiana and I wash my hands 234238923 times a day.  All the lotion in the world can't save my skin right now, especially if I'm swatching.
B) Being winter in Indiana, there's no sun out. :(  I'm happy with a collection of holo polishes regardless, but you'll have to wait for another blogger to post sunny pictures.
C) Between my OttLite, my camera, and all of the negative sun going on here, I know that I didn't do these justice.  I really wanted to share the collection with everyone, though! :)

All of the pictures you see are two coats of polish with no top coat, in an effort to make the holo effect stand out more prominently.

Techno Teal

This is maybe my favorite polish of the bunch, but it's very hard to pick just one!  I feel as if this color is comparable to DV8, but I also believe that it's a darker hue of teal.

Hyper Haute

I really loved this color as well!  This was a deep, gorgeous raspberry holo that I can't wait to see out in the sunshine!  Comparable to QT.

 

Virtual Violet

A nice, dark purple holo.  This picture even picked up a bit of the holo effect.  I feel that this polish is comparable to LOL or Color Club's Wild at Heart.

 

Hologram

Silver holo.  This is the only one that I had some issues with.  I didn't feel that the holo effect in this one was as evident as the others.  Also, with such a light color, I did have some balding.  Comparable to OMG.

 

Laser Lime

Lime green holo.  Goes on a bit sheer at first, but can be layered up.  There will still be a bit of VNL with only two coats of the lighter colors, but an extra coat would do the trick.  Comparable to L8R G8R.

 

3D Fantasy

Mmmm, red holo. :)  Comparable to TMI.

 

Cyberspace

This is a light taupe holo.  Very work appropriate.  I wonder how it compares to Butter London All Hail McQueen?  Comparable to (though not a total dupe, in my opinion) FYI.

 

Electra Magenta

I don't know if I would call this one magenta.  I'd be more willing to call Hyper Haute magenta, not this.  I found this one to be a pinky-purple shade.  A purplink. :3  Comparable to BFF.

 

Digital Dawn

I suppose that this is a dusty rose color, but there was so much copper in it that it reminded me more of a certain brand of battery than of a rosy shade.  Not my type of color, but like the rest, the formula is nice and even.  Comparable to TTYL.

 

High Def

I would say that this is more of a medium blue holo.  It's not standard blue, but it's not dusty, light, or sky, either.  Comparable to 2NITE.

 

Gamer Glam

Light purple/saturated lavender holo.  Comparable to IDK.

 

Mega Bite

A gold holo.  Again, not my cup of tea as far as color goes, but everything else about it is just right.  Comparable to GR8.

I haven't yet seen these colors compared to the polishes in the OMG collection, but as I pointed out with each polish I swatched, I feel that they're basically either the same, or so similar that you don't need both.  I own most of the OMG collection, so it's a slight disappointment for me.  However, I think that the Tronica collection is going to be a great way for people to pick up colors that they missed out on when OMG was readily available.  Also, these China Glaze holo polishes look like they're fantastic for stamping, and I've seen some really amazing nail art where they're used.  For avid stampers, having this new-old collection back will probably be very nice.

I personally feel like the formula on these new Tronica holos is better than the formula from the OMG collection.  Maybe I'm imagining things?  I had many issues with streaking and balding with the OMG colors, and I didn't have those issues with these polishes.

Don't forget your holo polish basics!  Wearing a base coat with this formula of polish can be the cause of bald spots and drag, so it's advisable to not wear one at all.  Don't worry about nail staining, though.  Holo polishes seem to have a different pigmentation that doesn't (so far as I know) stain.  Two coats is sufficient for a dark color, maybe three for a lighter shade.  Wearing a top coat over the polish will reduce the rainbow effects, so if you can keep yourself from wearing a top coat, the polish will give you a greater show.

Which Tronica polishes will you be picking up?

Thank you for reading!

OttLite question, upcoming giveaway, and Royal Navy!

Question and pictures later!  The most important thing first!

I have ninety-six wonderful followers!  I would like to thank you all so very much for taking the time to read my little blog.  I hadn't ever expected that people might be interested in my simple life and little nubs. :)  Thank you all again, so very much!

I'd like to announce that once I reach one hundred followers, I'll be posting a new giveaway!  It's not a lot, but I will say that it's a new, hard to find polish that has dozens of bloggers on a wild goose chase. ;)  I can't wait to get it started!

I was looking through the weekly ads and noticed that JoAnn Fabrics (is it still called that?) has OttLite lamps on sale for 50% off this week!  I live in the Midwest, and during winter months, proper light is reduced to, y'know, zero. :)  I wore Color Club's Wild at Heart all weekend, hoping to see a glimpse of sunlight, but no luck.  How great would a proper lamp be?

So my question is, which light is most advised for the pictures that we take?  I don't need a floor light, so a desk lamp is most appropriate.  But which one?  Do you use a particular model?  Do you like it?


Onto Orly Royal Navy.  I love when you can see the ripple effect that a polish has through the blogging community.  As far as I know, Royal Navy has been in Orly's core line for a while, but a few months ago, it gained a popularity with bloggers.  First there would be one post.  Then three.  And they kept coming. :)

Look at how jelly sheer it is!  This is three coats.  I didn't notice the VNL until I took pictures of it in the light.  It was a great color, though!  Blues are usually not my cup of tea, and I'm still not entirely sure that I'm going to add this one to my permanent collection.  But for a blue?  It was pretty great. :)

 My nails go from long to short all the time.  This is long for me, haha!  Perhaps the color would look best on me if I wasn't wrestling with the VNL issue.

 Do I even need to mention the light blue glitter mixed into this polish?  Gorgeous!

And since I was eating at Culver's at the time that I took the picture, I snapped a quick one with the cup.  Cute!  Also, ignore my pinky.  I believe this is when I had a run in with a straight razor. :(


I would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on OttLites.  I'd love to get this giveaway up on its feet.  If you have any nail buddies that you think might like my blog, I'd love it very much if you'd pass my name along! :)

As always, thank you for reading!

Sally Hansen - Gray by Gray

Hey all!

It's been, what?  Twenty-two, twenty-three days?  Sheesh.  I wonder if they make sheepish emoticons?  I'll have to check sometime. :)

Unless there was serious drama brewing, I was never very good at keeping a well-updated personal blog.  I had hoped that having a blog that others could read would motivate me to write more, but that's not always the case.  Clearly. ;)  If only my endless polish-related buying and hoarding would screech to a snail's pace along with my blogging!

I wore Sally Hansen's Gray by Gray a little while back.  I have a few of the Complete Manicure polishes, but this is the first one that I've worn for an actual manicure.  (Outside of Hidden Treasure, of course.  Everyone knows that you slap a coat of Hidden Treasure on almost everything!  Psssh!!!)

Oh yes, I love me a heavily blue-based gray. <3  Is there any better color to mix into your gray?  I don't think so!

This was two snappy coats (plus base and top coat [Out the Door]).  Not being a huge fan of OPI's wide brush (gasp! shock! horror~!), I thought that I would hate this one.  It's almost the complete opposite, though.  The consistency of my polish was great, and the applying it with that brush meant that I could practically do it in my sleep.  I also love how bottom heavy these bottles are.  I'm often a Clumsy McDropsalot, and painting my nails rarely escapes my blunders.  It was relieving to have a heavy, sturdy bottle and a very manageable applicator. :)
 

And there you have it: Gray by Gray.  Love!


Here's hoping, once again, that I can beat out this laziness and keep writing!  Thank you for reading!