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Nail polish review and swatches: China Glaze - Anchors Away collection - Below Deck

With all due respect, I thinks it's time to let the putty/mushroom polish thing go. Everyone has made at least one now, right? Don't get me wrong: it's one of my favorite colors to wear on my nails, but damn! It's everywhere.

This one is a good one, though. Below Deck. It's part of China Glaze's Anchors Away collection. It reminds me of driftwood.

It's different from others I own in similar colors thanks to miniscule blue shimmer that isn't at all apparent once topped with topcoat, but helps give the polish a nice glow.

Wear is fantastic (it's China Glaze, after all) and while just a tad on the thick side, it applied smoothly.

Now, can we all stock up on these shades and give the new mushroom releases a rest, please? At least for a little while?

In case you were wondering how similar Below Deck is to other putty polishes, I have some comparisons after the cut. To summarize, though: they're all pretty damn similar unless you're a collector, in which case none are dupes.

China Glaze: Anchors Away collection - Life Preserver & Sunset Sail

Remember "Mannequin Hands"? That was last year's trend of polish that matched your skintone. I still say I can only carry this off if my polish has a bit of peach to it. Enter China Glaze's Sunset Sail (from their Anchors Away collection). It's the prettiest peachy-nude I've seen in ages. Just a tiny bit of shimmer keeps it lively, though it's so subtle it only serves to prevent a chalky look (I can only see it in the sun). Lovely! Warning: the first coat is a streaky mess. I found one thin coat followed by a second thicker coat is ideal. The result is smooth and even. _{(shown above left)}

I have a weakness for orange, even though it's not always flattering on my pale, pinkish skin. Life Preserver is a particularly Fall-like shade, which sounds weird for Spring but is actually spot-on trend and a refreshing change from pastels! It's a pumpkiny rusted shade China Glaze calls "poppy". Amazingly pretty, perfectly wonderful to apply. _{(shown above right)}

These shades make me feel like this:

PS: I'm so stuck in the accent nail rut at the moment! I did one mani with Sunset Sail + Life Preserver as the accent, and another with Life Preserver + Sea Spray as the accent. A full display & review of Sea Spray is coming soon.

 

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China Glaze: Anchors Away collection - Ahoy!

How pretty is Ahoy! From China Glaze's Anchor's Away collection? I love this raspberry color. Ahoy! is going to be in constant rotation around here. The glass flecks are incredible and really catch the light nicely. This was my Valentine's Day manicure. I love China Glaze!

China Glaze: Anchors Away collection - images

OooooooOOOOooooh! AaaaaAAAAAAaaaaaahhh!!!!!

Swatches on the way.

 

Christmas tips from The Nail Ninja

image sources are noted after the  jump.

The Nail Ninja is feeling jolly.

Well, as jolly as The Ninja ever gets, that is, which isn't saying much. She did, however, pull out a nice glowy rose gold shade with tons of glass-speck reflects. It's called Glow, and it's one of OPI's Designer Series shades (read: a bit more sparkly and a few bucks more pricey).

Gorgeous.
Approprite for any holiday festivities.
Get it.

The Nail Ninja asks: Whose nails are these?

 

These two stepped out recently to celebrate the launch of a new cranberry-flavored adult beverage.

The Nail Ninja: Holiday sanity check.

Shopping for the gifts. Cooking the food. Wrapping the gifts. Caroling the... carols. Roasting the chestnuts. Shoveling the snow. Admiring the lights. Stuffing the stockings. Ninjaing the missions.

Whew! The Ninja is overwhelmed!

Complete and utter sensory overload.

The last thing she needs is a loud & busy mani this week. She opted for ManGlaze's signature shade of matte charcoal, Fuggen Ugly. It has the most amazing multi-color minimicroshimmer that makes the polish look alive and not at all fuggin' ugly.

Wooed by the cheerful spirit of the season, The Ninja did elect an accent nail (all the rage with the kids these days) in China Glaze's glorious Sugar Plums from their "Tis the Season" collection (which is phenomenal).

What about you? Are you already rocking a holiday mani, or are you taking some kind of nail sanity check or downtime?

The Nail Ninja asks: Whose nails are these?

This gorgeously coiffured beauty sparkles as she signs copies of her work recently. The answer is after the cut!

The Nail Ninja asks: Whose nails are these?

This recently-single, dark-haired beauty wore this mani while partying in Vegas with some girl friends for her birthday.

Answer after the cut.

The Nail Ninja: Little Drummer Boy (by China Glaze) {nail polish review, pictures, swatches}

The Nail Ninja says: while deep blue isn't what one automatically thinks of for a holiday nail lacquer collection, it's kind of genius. This China Glaze blue, Little Drummer Boy, is just shy of leaning green, and it has a very pretty lighter blue microshimmer. Maybe you have similar blues, but a blue collector will enjoy the unique spin this shade brings to the table.

The only downside: what a pain to clean up. Medium-to-dark blue varnishes always stain The Ninja's cuticles and skin during removal. Were she not so distracted, she'd have remembered to slick on some cuticle oil before carefully sliding the remover-saturated cotton away from the nailbed. Whoops. Instead, she had to resort to a hearty scrubbing then a full manicure including cuticle remover. Sigh. She'd lile to say she'll do better next time, but it's doubtful...

The Nail Ninja: Sugar Plums - more than it appears (by China Glaze) {nail polish pictures, reviews, swatches}

The Nail Ninja says: It's a matter of record that The Ninja adores a plum polish. This one, Sugar Plums,  is sneaky, though. What appears to be a fairly typical, unassuming plum with miniscule silver shimmer is actually a radiant shade with a bit of holiday mystery. The secret? A resplendant multi-colored mini sparkle that comes out only when the time is right... sorta like Santa.

The wear and application are stellar, as always. Thanks, China Glaze! Swatches are 2 coats.

The Nail Ninja: Frosty {by China Glaze} (nail polish swatch, review)

The Nail Ninja says: Don't disregard Frosty, one of the holiday selections from China Glaze. It's ethereal and sheer with one coat, gloriously shimmery with two, and pristinely chic in three. Easy to apply, this pretty white polish glides on and wears well. Look closely and you'll note its resemblance to shimmering snow with a thin layer of ice on top.
_{Shown here with an overlay of Nfu-oh GS-7 as an accent nail.}

The Nail Ninja: Cheers to You {China Glaze Holiday '10} nail polish swatch & review

The Nail NInja says: here's your mermaid-style mani.

Blue-green mermaid goodness by way of Halley's Comet, from Orly's Cosmic FX collection.* What could be better? Well, The Ninja can answer that: SEQUINS. Well, not sequins, really. More like a yummy glitter from Nfu-Oh with tiny little holo shimmers and a more sparse showing of bigger holo bits in a clear base. The result? It's like a sequined teal prom dress with a mermaid fishtail hem. And that's rad.

_{*What? The Ninja said that despite her bemused reaction to the hype over these colors, this is the only color she liked from the collection. She's no hypocrite. ;)}

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The Nail Ninja: Zoya Flame, Holiday '10... more "multichromes"

Did you like the Orly Galaxy collection? The MAC Venomous Villains lacquers? The scads of similar enamels that seem to all be that foily, duo-/tri-/multi-chrome finish? Fancy some more?

The Ninja reluctantly admits that these are growing on her. She picked up the green from Galaxy and came upon Bad Fairy (won it) and saw similar finishes in a few of the OPI Burlesques (also won). She may be coming around and, while not the raving fan some others are, she at least now "gets it". Kind of.

Zoya's holiday collection, Flame,  gives lovers of this formula a few more shades to rock. And they're pretty nice!

PS: Earlier reviews call this collection "Fire and Ice". Same collection, different name. Weird.

Read on for more info, the review, and some swatches...

The Nail Ninja says you can keep your crackle topcoat. She won't be wearing it.

Fabulous. Another new trend to make us all look worse.

Thanks, beauty world. We have finally, The Ninja believes, skulked past the abhorrent dubious "trend" of chipped nail polish. Whose idea was that, anyway? The Ninja suspects we were Punked by lazy celebs (please say a return to this "trend" is being misreported).

At any rate, now that we briefly flirted with couture manicures in reaction (reference "the Ruffian", elegant exposed half-moon manicures, and even sculpted and pointed retro red tips a la Dita and even Rihanna). Must the pendulum swing from high to low again? Apparently so, The Ninja is dismayed to report.

Enter The Crackle Top Coat.

Apply it over a contrasting lower coat and it cracks to expose it.

What this has to do with the return of Mad Men-style luxe-and-retro glamour, The Ninja cannot explain. It seems to have little attachment to Fall's military trends, sleek menswear, or uptown urban jungle animal prints, as far as she can tell. A flash forward to Spring '11 gives no enlightenment as the floaty layers, feminine florals and edible pastels The Ninja spied on runways don't seem to cry "pair me with grungy manicures!"

It's not fair to say that The Ninja is not a fan of a high-low contrast, either. She firmly believes in the power of "dirtying up" an ultra-feminine piece a bit (a delicious matte, a sexy black, a grungy greige, a subversive olive, perhaps?). But don't mistake that for the need to drag things to the gutter (or middle school).

And that's where this crackle finish nonsense belongs, in The Ninja's esteemed (and always correct!) opinion.

If you disagree, you'll adore OPI's upcoming collections, which feature this crackle coat nonsense in the form of Shattered. Read more here and see it in action below. The Ninja refuses to acknowledge it any further.

PS: This "trend" already happened in about 2000. Can we leave it there?

Holo, baby! Where have you been all my life?! A nail polish review by The Nail Ninja. (Nfu-oh GS-14 with swatches)

The Ninja had thought it was impossible. She hasn't really seen a great black glitter polish. She's seen some good ones, but for the most part black pigments seem to eat glitter. Especially fine glitter.

Enter stage right: Nfu-oh GS-14
An inky black lacquer with gobs of fine holographic glitter.
She is understated in that dark polish way, yet once the spotlight hits her she simply lights up!

Let The Ninja be clear: this is not a holo polish. It is not solid hologram. It's definitely a black polish with small (eensey!) holo bits.

Let's take a look:

 

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Application is, as with all Nfu-oh enamels, flawless. Since The Ninja can't just pick them up at Ulta (they are an Asian brand; she purchases from Fabuloustreet) she tends to hoard them.

In order to extend the life of this one, she applied it over a black cream, Illamasqua Boosh. The swatches are one coat of GS-14 over 1 coat of Boosh. She tried Gs-14 on its own and two layers were opaque.

 

China Glaze holiday...

Like, whoa.

Nail polish. Jewelry. Nail polish jewelry! Ginger Kitty Designs.

I have several loves. Two are nail polish and jewelry. Naturally, you assume never the twain will meet, but wait a minute! They do meet in the capable hands of Ginger Kitty Designs.

You've maybe heard of her jewelry before, but if you haven't you're in for a treat. Even if you're not a huge polish junkie (but especially if you are) you'll love these designs.

Artist Tracey Barker creates one-of-a-kind, handcrafted jewelry that incorporates nail polish. Before I go any further, let's take a look at a few:

This one may be my favorite.
It's China Glaze's holographic polish Octa Gone Wild in a ring.
It was featured in Nails Magazine!

 

OPI's Mad as a Hatter.
Are you freaking kidding me?! Love it!

I'm not sure what color this is,
but does it really matter?
GORGEOUS!

So, this pendant is amazing, right?
In it, my favorite polish in the whole wide world:
China Glaze Coconut Kiss
(and OPI Ink and CG Octa Gone Wild and Emerald Sparkle)
It's a nail polish water-marbling technique unique to GingerKittyDesigns!


No wait... these might be my favorite!
China Glaze Nova.

A really cute nail polish bottle with your choice of "filling"!


Konad fan? She's got them, too!

Amazeballs.

I want to grab this handful and run!

 

I wanted to show you the newest pieces she's making (as if all of those other ones aren't tempting enough!). New (brand spankin' new) to the Ginger Kitty Designs line-up are stunning bracelets. Hold onto your hat, gals...

 
I know, right?

And do you want to know the crazy thing about these pieces? I mean aside from the fact that you can wear your favorite nail polish as jewelry. And the fact that you can pick your polish (she's got a list). And that you can have a custom-made matching set --- or a zillion different pieces to mix-and-match. The really crazy thing is: they're all really great prices*

*At the time of this writing, all items seem to be marked down 25%, so it's a perfect time to shop!

Please feel free to direct your holiday gift shopping towards Ginger Kitty Designs - this link takes you to her Etsy shop. Clearly, you'll want to order me something, but while you're at it get some for the rest of the people on your list!

Want to see more?
Check out the shop's Flickr photostream.
Ginger Kitty Design's blog.
Tweet with Ginger Kitty!
Ginger Kitty on Facebook.

Do you own anything from Ginger Kitty Designs?
Do you have your eye on something special?
What polish(es) would you pick for your custom piece?
Do you want my address so you can buy me something?