China Glaze - Black Diamond

Every now and then, I like to unleash my inner rock-star.
I received a comment from a fellow nail polish wearer named CJ from Texas who is a professional drummer, his post is right there at the poll page so you can read it. 

Anyway, because of that and to pay him homage for leaving his comment, I decided to wear black this time. I also played some drums a while back, although not as a pro, so we have something else in common besides loving to wear nail polish. Sometimes, specially during the winter, I like to wear some leather jackets in black, as well as biker boots. I also have some leather trousers that I wear on special occasion parties. But in winter times, I just expose my fingernails, rarely my toes.

 
Anyway, it is still summer weather here where I live, so I will be wearing black with sandals instead of boots. I love summer and fall because I can wear sandals and short sleeves, it is more my style, I wear bead and chain bracelets and big rings with a big watch, so in the winter they are put away  because they can be cumbersome wearing jackets or sweaters. 

So, having said that, I picked a black that is not a pitch black color. Although I do have some black blacks like China Glaze’s own “Vinyl”, but this time I went with China Glaze’s “Black Diamond”. This is a very good dark black with silver shimmer. As you can see on the photographs, when the sun hits it, is reflects the light quite nicely. As with some other dark colors, this black, being shimmery and not metallic, it is the kind of black you can dress up or dress down. It is not matte, although it kind of looks a bit like it is. I applied Seché Vite Top Coat over 3 layers of the color. It applied very thin at first, so it is definitely a three coat. China Glaze makes wonderful colors, and even though black is the absence of color, this black really stands out with it’s silver shimmer. Depending on your attire, it can look elegant and chic, or It can look edgy, either way, it’s going to look awesome. 

I am looking for a dark green shimmer for my next post, kind of dark olive green with some shimmer, leaning for BB Couture’s “Posse” or something along those lines. If you have some suggestions along those lines, please let me know.

Happy Polishing!

Finger Paints - Who’s Hue?

Summer is here now, time to change colors again. Since last color was blue, I decided to  try a shade I was given as a gift six months ago for Christmas. As a matter of fact, I still have to try on a couple more colors I was given as gifts. This time around, it is a color that looks very strange on the bottle. 

One of the things I like to enjoy about nail polish, is the fact that not all colors are exactly as they are shown on the bottle when you pick them. They all have a slight element of surprise.  Many factors come into play to achieve a desired result. When you look at the color shade inside a store under fluorescent lighting you perceive a certain color, but depending on the amount of coats you apply and different lighting conditions can give you another result. 

Sometimes other factors play into the element of surprise, like last week, when I applied a metallic purple from CHERIMOYA VERNIS CLASSIQUE. The moment I applied an ORLY top coat, the color changed from metallic purple, to a dark crimson. It actually looked very nice, better than the color I was expecting, but not nearly close to what the original color looked like. 

Anyway, todays post is for Finger Paints - Who’s Hue?. And let me tell you, the name of the color is spot on. 

This was really an unexpected pleasant surprise for me. At first, I really had not felt attracted to this color. Purple is one color that I like, but that for some reason, even though I love reds, blacks and blues, somehow, purple was not something I thought It would look good on me, but I never gave it chance either.

This, like almost all other shimmery colors, is a three coater. The color is a strange, purple, semi-metallic, with deep red and silver shimmery sparkle undertones. Kind of like red grapes.

It really lights up under the sun beautifully. Looks very nice on toes, and I just love it on my finger nails. Under fluorescent lighting conditions it looks like a real dark reddish purple. Like all dark colors, certain lighting conditions might make it look darker than it actually is. 

This one does not act funky or change color when you apply a top coat on, everything glides nicely. The applying brush could be better, I prefer thicker brushes than the one provided. Over all, I am very pleased with the end results. If I had to pick a purple shade again, this would probably be it. If I had to rate this, I would give it 4 out of five bottles. 

Happy polishing!

"Wine at the Gallery" by Finger Paints

Oh how I love reds. There is something about reds I can't seem to get enough of.  I feel empowered when I am wearing red. I have done some red swatches before. Last year I did a Sally Hansen red and this year back in February I wore Nina Ultra Pro's Burgundy. Since my last post was for holographic colors, I thought of mixing the holo type with my favorite color. This time around I picked up Finger Paints "Wine at the Gallery". Although it is not a holographic color, It sure stands out like if it were.

Back in December, I was awestruck by a swatch of Chanel's "Malice".  It really is a wonderful color, but a bit to hard for me to swallow spending $30 or more on a single bottle of nail polish,  I don't care if it's Chanel or Ives Saint Laurent, which have very nice colors too by the way, but we all have our limits, and the most I have spent on a bottle of nail polish is $12 when I splurge.

Anyway, I saw this bottle from "Finger Paints" and It looked very similar to that "Malice" I fell in love with from Chanel, so I decided to give it a try.

I just have to say WOW! This has to be to date, my favorite red. It shimmers under the sun with some yellow-gold tones that honestly, even though I did my best to capture it on a photograph, the images really don't do it justice.

Under ambient lighting, the color looks dark, kind of like the Nina Ultra Pro Burgundy I had back in February. But step outside under the sun and the color comes alive with sparkles that give it a special shimmery shine.

This is my left hand holding the steering wheel showing my thumb, see how the sun reflects from the thumb nail bed. My right foot toes and my left hand resting on my thigh also reflect the sun very nicely.


So If you liked that Chanel "Malice" color like me, and like me, you don't like to overspend, this is a nice substitute. I would not call it a "dupe" but it sure is a very nice alternative.

Nail Polish and Color has no gender, Painting ones nails should be the same.

Hello world! Since I am so much for the movement that nail polish, colored nails and the fact that one likes to paint their nails is genderless, from this day forward, I will do my best to be true to what I belive in. 

So in the spirit of equality, I will refrain from comenting on this topic (nail polish) from a man’s point of view. I will insted do  it from the point of view of a person that enjoys nail polish. 

I think that stating that I am a man, that I an not gay, trans, bi, cross-dresser or anything that referes to sexuality and-or gender issues, is not in the best interest of the comunity and is irrelevant.  

I know the title of my blog says otherwise, but that was the way I felt when I first started it.  Although I understand that there are many people out there who are all for the new wave of marketing nail polish for men, I don’t think it should be that way. In a certain way, it contradicts what many polished men, including myself say, and that is that nail polish is genderless, that coloring ones nails is also not exclusive to females and that the fact that men who like to wear nail polish may do so at free will. 

That should not be limited to color selection either, and I say this becasue I see that many nail polish companies that market their product have a very limited color selection. Most of these companies have what society considers “manly colors”, and that is where I disagree. Color is genderless, and as such, it should not be limited to a certain selection for a certain gender. You don’t have to be a female, a male rock star or male celebrity to wear nail color, you just have to be you. Once you get nail polish and what it is all about, one of the things any polish addict is waiting for, is color selection, so limiting ones color selection seems stupid. The mere fact that companies market “male color selection” is again puting the male in a box, as if we were not boxed enough already. They are saying, ok, men can wear nail polish, but it should be limited to these color selection because they are “manly” colors, It's so ilogical. Nail Polish, you either get it, or you don’t, and you don’t have to be a certain gender to get it or enjoy it.