Using some new winter polishes

So, I really wanted to use my OPI- The Man With The Golden Gun gold leaf top coat, so here is what I whipped up:

Direct sunlight

 

Just look at that shine! The green I used was China Glaze- Winter Holly which is from their Holiday Joy Winter 2012 collection. And the blue is China Glaze- Water You Waiting For from their Cirque Du Soleil Worlds Away collection that just came out in the beginning of the month. I feel like I say this a lot with every manicure I do, but I am freakin obsessed with it! Here are some more photos:

 

In the shade

 

 Ultra closeup shot

These glitters are some of my favorite from China Glaze. Partly because you would expect since the glitters are so finely milled they would go on kind of sheer, but they are anything but that. They are PACKED with glitter. The two colors are not the same consistency, but they are pretty similar. Water You Waiting For has much bigger glitters mixed in which gives it such a wonderful texture. I made sure to get some shots of it without the gold leaf and a top coat:

 

Indoor lighting

Here you can definitely see the difference in textures. The blue reflects much more light and you can see how grainy of a texture Winter Holly is. Winter Holly is pretty much the same consistency of the ULTA exclusive glitters they had last year, and I think one of the glitters from their On Safari collection for fall this year was the same too.They both apply like butter.

I have two thin coats pictured here, and when it came to applying the Gold Leaf, I was pretty disappointed. I couldn't get much glitter on the brush unless I screwed the cap completely on and shook it up; still that wasn't enough. And when it came to actually applying it, I had to use the dabbing method. I kind of want to try the Jessica or Zoya one, but they are just so damn expensive! But all in all I got enough on my nails to give it an awesome affect :)

As far as top coat, the way I got such a beautiful shine was I used two different top coats. First I applied a generous amount of Gelous- Advanced Nail Gel Coat. It is actually a base coat, but I've heard from many different bloggers that it makes a great top coat for those chunky gritty glitters. Not only does it add a beautiful shine, but it also makes it sooooo smooth. I love the feeling of smooth glossy nails. Then after that I topped it off with Seche Vite Fast Dry Top Coat, my holy grail!