If you'll recall, instead of doing swatches of new collections, I prefer to try to use all of them in various nail art techniques. I am not particularly fond of swatching and find that this method suits my area of expertise best. I also think that doing it this way provides people with some applications for these collections that they may not have considered! Hopefully soon I will have posts ready for you guys that use the rest of the colors.
My first look is a leopard print! If you want to check out my tutorial for doing leopard print, here it is. I only use a dotting tool to achieve this look, so anyone can do it!
I have been doing a lot of these lately, but what makes this one special is the glittery base. I used two coats of China Glaze I'm Not Lion, which, um, I love. First of all, I love the consistency. It's not thick or hard to apply at all. Second of all, I love the density. Full opacity in two coats? Yes please. Third of all, I love the color, a champagne-y pale gold. Finally, it's just so SPARKLY.
It's a little gritty, but way less gritty than I was expecting it to be. I applied one coat of topcoat before continuing with the rest of my nail art. By the end of the manicure, I had applied two coats of topcoat, and that was enough to tame the glitter pretty well.
Then I added the lighter pieces of the spots in China Glaze Desert Sun. I have seen this color described as butterscotch on a lot of blogs. It's very warm and reminds me of caramel. Something about the color is really comforting to me. Desert Sun is a creme and was easy to use in this nail art.
Finally, I added the irregular markings on in China Glaze Call of the Wild. It's a dark brown red-leaning creme. This one gets a bit sheer around the edges, almost like a jelly. It's difficult to explain, because it is definitely a creme... You can kind of see at the edges of some of my spots where it gets thinner, clearer, and redder.
It seemed appropriate to start off my "On Safari" nail art with an animal print manicure. The base color was being truthful when it said "I'm not lion!" (get it, cause it's leopard?) ... *crickets*
And here's a bonus blurred picture so you can see the sparkle in I'm Not Lion. It's definitely got holo glitter in it, but still has a nice even texture when not in direct sunlight!
I hope you'll stay tuned for the rest of my On Safari nail art looks!
The China Glaze On Safari collection is available now at salons and beauty supply stores nationwide. Individual polishes retail for $7 MSRP.
The products in this post were sent to me by the manufacturer or their PR.