Press Release - China Glaze Summer Neons

Normally, I've gotten in to the practice of not posting press releases.  It's not that I don't want to share the releases I receive with my readers, it's just that by the time, I write the post and edit the pics, a million other blogs have done the same, and frankly, 100 people telling you the same thing at the same time, is a little ridiculous.  :P 

That said, I couldn't let this China Glaze press release hit my email in-box without sharing it with you.  Recently, I have become a little nuts over neons.  I'm dying for Essie's new Poppy-Razzi collection and Deborah Lippmann's Girls Run the World.  So when I received this release for China Glaze's new collection of twelve new neons, well... I had to share it...

Heat Up Your Summer with China Glaze® Summer Collection

Los Angeles, CA – (March 2012):  The sun has nothing on you this summer!  Rival its brightness and heat with China Glaze® Summer 2012 collection,Summer Neons.  Featuring 12 new sizzling shades perfect for surf, sand and nightlife, the all new hot hues in China Glaze® Summer Neons include:

·         Pink Plumeria: Light pink with gold shimmer

·         Under the Boardwalk: Fluorescent raspberry

·         Splish Splash: Bright sky blue shimmer

·         Love’s A Beach: Sizzling hot pink

·         Hang-Ten Toes: Bubblegum neon with iridescent purple shimmer

·         Beach Cruise-r: Glimmering fuchsia grape

·         Orange You Hot?: Bright orange with attention-grabbing gold glimmer

·         Surfin’ For Boys: Glistening bright coral

·         Flirty Tankini: Shimmery strawberry smoothie pink

·         Ride the Waves: Dark ocean blue

·         I’m With the Lifeguard: Glimmering lime green

·         Sun-Kissed: Hot highlighter yellow

Also available 8-piece box collection featuring Under The Boardwalk, Ride The Waves, I’m With The Lifeguard, Sun-Kissed, Orange You Hot?, Surfin’ For Boys, Flirty Tankini and Pink Plumeria.

(Megan talking here... lookit at the plumerias on the package.  So pretty)

China Glaze® Summer Neons will be available as open stock colors and 12-piece counter display.  Individual polishes retail for $7 MSRP and the 8-piece box set retails for $56.  China Glaze® Summer Neons will be available at fine salons and beauty supply stores nationwide in June 2012.

China Glaze is free of DBP, toluene, and added formaldehyde. China Glaze nail lacquers are available through salons and professional beauty supply stores nationwide. For more information, visit: www.chinaglaze.com.

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All images provided by China Glaze's PR.  

Deborah Lippmann Sweet Dreams

Several days ago, I posted that I had become with obsessed with Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light.  Because of this obsession, I looked for any and all swatches of Ray of Light I could find and during said search, I learned that Ray of Light had a pink sister, Sweet Dreams.  Once I saw pics of it, I had to have it.  You mean mylar flakies in a hot pink jelly?  Okay... NEED.  LOL.  

Anyway, despite my lemmings, I'd been hemming and hawing on purchasing both Ray of Light and Sweet Dreams mainly because of availability.  Deborah Lippmann's site had both, but I didn't want to spend the amount to get the free shipping, so I had to find another source.  Turns out, HSN had Sweet Dreams, but not Ray of Light (it had gone out of stock).  But I still couldn't pull the trigger.  That was until I tweeted asking if I should get it or not.  Once Deborah Lippmann tweeted me back saying "I say YES" (!), I decided it had to be mine.  :)

I ordered it from HSN on 4/27/2012 and I just got it today.  Pretty good turn-around time (not like Zappos, but nothing is), but what sucks is that the bottle was completely broken.  And I really don't think it happened in shipment.  I've ordered Lippmanns from numerous locations and I've never received a broken bottle.  It looks like this one was dropped.  :(

Thankfully, HSN has online chat, so I was able to immediately chat with a representative.  If you are hesitating ordering from HSN, don't.  No questions asked I got a new bottle shipped out to me.  Their customer service was amazing (and customer service is one of my hot buttons).  That made me very happy, but I was also bummed because I had a bottle of pretty polish that I couldn't use and couldn't swatch.  It made my polish-loving heart very sad.  See...

Well, I decided to take a closer look at the broken bottle and I realized that if I was careful, I could open it and use it.  And that's what I did...

This is 3 coats of Deborah Lippmann Sweet Dreams with Nubar Diamont top coat.  I applied the top coat simply to add shine.  It wasn't bumpy at all.  

I knew I would love this polish and lemme tell you, I wasn't wrong.  It's amazing.  It's a bright, medium-toned, strawberry pink jelly loaded with duo-chrome mylar flakies, that don't get lost in the base color.  I needed all three coats to reach full opacity, but you are going to want those coats to achieve a layered affect with the flakies.  I know, I'm usually about fewer coats, but it dried quickly and the formula is very easy to work with.  

I am so happy I got this, even if I had to deal with a small issue (I do plan on decanting what's in the broken bottle into an old topcoat bottle).  And of course, now I can't get the Marilyn Manson version of "Sweet Dreams" out of my head (and I'm sure that wasn't Deborah's inspiration. LOL), but that's one of the reasons I bought it <blush> so that's okay.  :P

Sweet Dreams is currently available at Deborah Lippmann's website, as well as Nordstrom.com (they must have gotten it after I ordered from HSN).  I got mine from HSN.com, where it still available for $16, rather than the $18 elsewhere.

OPI My Address is "Hollywood"

While I was in the middle of my "30 Days of Blues", I kept saying that I was gonna need a week of boring pinks after I finished wearing so many blues.  So, that's what I'm going to do.  All this week, my manicures will be untried pinks in my collection.  

Today, I have for you one of the pinks from OPI's 2011 fall Touring America collection, My Address is "Hollywood"...

My Address is "Hollywood" is a salmon pink with pink and gold micro-shimmer.  I have seen swatches of this one where it looks very rosy.  However, on me, it was definitely salmon.  

Honestly, I'm kind of torn on this one.  I find the color itself to be a little boring.  That said, it's the shimmer in this one that makes me like it (be sure to enlarge the pictures, so you can see just how pretty this shimmer is... the bottle in the second picture is a great example).  

The formula was a little thin, but nothing unmanageable.  I was able to reach opacity in 3 coats.  

Also, I wanted to mention that when I first saw this color last year, I was a little perplexed by it being in a fall collection, as it seemed much more summery to me.  However, now that I am wearing it in the middle of spring, I definitely see how this would be more appropriate for fall.  Yes, it's a pink, but there is a warmth to it, that makes it seem much more fall-ish.

My Address is "Hollywood" is still readily available and OPI's polishes retail for $8.50.

My Address is "Hollywood" was sent to me for review.