BAM! A single ray of white light streams through a prism and explodes into a rainbow of colors on your nails.
That’s the idea behind these new Prismatic polishes from China Glaze. The limited edition launch of six eye-catching glittery nail polishes ($8 each) really improved my spirits this afternoon. The gloomy, gray sky looming over the Bay Area felt like a big wet blanket on my mood.
It was bringing me down… But then I started swatching. 🙂
Ray-Diant
Filled with glitter and holographic particles, these glimmering multi-colored metallics almost look like they’re hopping off my nails! — like they’re 3D powered, which is kinda cool.
As usual, China Glaze formulated the entire line, which bursts into professional beauty supply stores and salons in April, without DBP, toluene and formaldehyde.
In all of these swatches, I’m wearing two layers…
Polarized
Liquid Crystal
Prism
Full Spectrum
Optical Illusion
I usually get from 7-10 days out of China Glaze nail polishes when I wear them with a base and top coat, so I’m hoping for similar wear time from these. The last ones I tried, the Capitol Colours shades, lasted about that long with very little chipping.
Official color descriptions
Ray-Diant: Greenish-gold shimmer filled with specks of silver, pink, green, orange and blue
Polarized: Silver metallic sheen sprinkled with yellow, pink, orange and green glitters
Liquid Crystal: Bright blue holographic with purple tint dusted with silver, gold, green, pink and orange
Prism: Grape purple holographic gleams with pink shimmer and glitters with pieces of pink, blue, green, orange, silver and gold
Full Spectrum: Baby pink bursts into holographic magenta to party with silver, gold, blue, pink and green particles
Optical Illusion: Aqua green glimmers with a hint of purple filled with pink, yellow, silver, orange and green flecks
I’ve generally had pretty good luck with China Glaze’s glitter polishes. Some will last 12-14 days with just a few little dings here and there, mostly at the tips.
Like most glitter polishes, these require some elbow grease to remove, but here’s a trick that makes removing them a lot easier for me.
Since we’re on the topic of glittery nails, do you ever wear ’em, and if you do, what are your favorites?
I definitely wear them a lot more often now than I did back when I worked at my stuffy old legal gig in the city. Glitter like this would have raised too many eyebrows back then…
PRICE: $8 each
AVAILABILITY: Coming in April to beauty supply stores and salons
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: B+
Desperately seeking (easy) healthy dinner recipes
I could really use your help getting out of my current dinner routine… I’ve been eating too many frozen Lean Cuisines and take-out lately, because by the end of the day, I’m usually so tired that the last thing I feel like doing is preparing a meal.
If you can suggest any healthy recipes (ideally easy ones), let me know. I’m starved for ideas.
In other news, how’s your Thursday coming along? Are you wearing anything pretty on your nails? 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
When it comes to food, at the moment I’m really into beetroot cooked different ways! When it comes to nails, it’s Orly Purple Pleather. I’m crazy about Orly right now (Although, CG is great too;))
Hi Antonia,
I think beets are in season here, too. I’ve had a couple of yummy beet salads lately. So good with a little bit of cheese, olive oil, salt and pepper!
oh. my. I want them all. I love glittery nails and if anyone ever tells me I’m too old for them I will cry. I have to hunt these down ASAP.
hmmm, my easy meals aren’t usually that healthy, lol. stir fry is a good one. frozen veggies, minute rice or TJ’s frozen brown rice, and I usually do chicken breasts but oyu could do tofu or just lots of veggies.
when I need dinner fast I tend to do refrigerated ravioli (from costco) and sauc and garlic bread and salad. easy peasy. or wraps – in tortillas? sandwiches, salads, soups. do you like breakfast for dinner? whole wheat waffles and fruit and yogurt? eggs and faux sausage and ww toast?
Hi Tiffany,
Thanks for all these suggestions. My tummy rumbled about eight times as I read this! Now I want banana pancakes and eggs for dinner, LOL!
Re: stir fry. Do you use a sauce, or do you just season with salt and pepper?
breakfast for dinner is MY FAVE!!!
I usually throw together a sauce. like start with olive oil and garlic, then add veggies and chicken, then my fave sauce ingredients are soy sauce, orange juice, and honey. I’ll add orange zest if I’m feeling fancy 🙂
oh, plus a little cornstarch to thicken it up
Okay, cool. I usually have those things in my pantry, so I’ll be able to pull that off fairly easily.
Sometimes I wish it was like in The Jetsons, where you could just press a button and then, BAM, dinner!
I made a ‘orange’ chicken recipe the other day, but instead of just making chicken, I made stirfry.. I thought i was a bit better than a soya sauce packed sauce that I usually make.. its mostly orange juice, a bit of soya sauce, and some zest and garlic.. Tiffany’s comment reminded me of it! It was super yummy, but yes, a bit of flour was needed to thicken it.
p.s. thank you SOOOOOO much for the workout dvd tips on your other post. I need it. badly! I’m gonna see what I can find on netflix and then resort to amazon 🙂
You’re welcome! I did Jillian’s Banish Fat DVD again today and it kicked my butt! It’s tough, but in the best sort of way. 🙂
sounds perfect!!!
Her core DVD is tough, but she gives alternatives to the exercises for beginners, so you still might be able to do it. Some of the moves are CRAZY, though. I can’t even think about them without feeling sore.
BTW, I’ve heard great things about the Beach Body Turbo Jam series. I think I’m going to pick up one or two of those in the next week for a treat…
I like Prism!
Hi Vijaya,
I like that shade too!
Glitter, 3D, and rainbows? I’m sold!
Hi Michelle,
I know, right? Just add unicorns, LOL!
I’m kinda liking Liquid Crystal.
Did I tell you that I now have a blog about cooking?
http://thecatladycook.blogspot.com
I know I have a couple of easy dinners on there. My plan is to add more in the coming weeks. 🙂
Hi Chris,
You’re one busy lady!
Off to go check out your blog. I hope I get to see the kitties.
I’m thinking Liquid Crystal and Optical Illusion are going to be miiiiine! CG glitters wear like iron on my nails, they’re usually my go to vacay manis because of the durability and wear time.
I wish I had a suggestion for a meal, I’m on the lookout for more veggie friendly recipes since I’m currently battling a major carb addiction. When I’m wore out I usually make some pasta with pesto or pineapple fried rice (to which I add tons of water chestnuts – I love those things).
Hi Jessica,
Pineapple fried rice sounds delicious. I think I’ll try your trick with the water chestnuts. It’s genius! What do you usually put in your friend rice? I do eggs, random leftover veggies and shrimp.
Water chestnuts are the business! I put them in anything I can, anything that needs a little additional crunch. MMMmm.
I usually put in onions and red bells that I’ve sweated a little first to soften a bit and a smidge of smashed garlic – those are the staples but I’ll throw in any leftover veggies I’ve got. It’s an easy way to get rid of that last stalk of celery! Oh, and if you’re feeling up to it, I like to put a little grill on my pineapple rings for some extra yum.
I really want to see these in person! They look awesome in swatches, but glitter always looks better when you can see the sparkle.
Hi Emi,
I think you’ll fall in love when you see them in person. The sparkle’s so entrancing!
I can’t wait to see these colors in person! And I heart mushrooms – I bet that pasta dish would be great with some asparagus thrown in too 🙂
Hi Gotham Polish,
Ooh, good idea! I think they’re going to be in season soon, so yay!
Oh so pretty! I’m wearing a sheerish pale pink (Sally Hansen’s Shell We Dance?) on my nails. I’m in love with these kind of colors but I wish I could find out that didn’t require 8 million coats and didn’t take years to dry…. As for recipes, I’m in love with this pasta my vegetarian friend taught me! Just use wheat pasta (I like gemelli) and toss it with some olive oil and lemon juice. Then add cut cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella chunks. Top with lots of fresh garlic, salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and maybe some fresh basil. Delicious!
Hi Aileen,
That recipe sounds really delicious and so easy! Thank you for it. I will try it this weekend. 🙂
Really pretty colors. They remind me a bit of the Sally Hansen Gem Crush I am wearing on my feet now.
As for easy dinners, one I did recently was steamed mussels in a white wine garlic butter sauce. Not terribly healthy, but amazing, and really quick to make. Basically you steam mussels for 5 to 10 minutes (until they open up, 10 minutes is the max you should steam them so that they are tender and not rubbery) in a little bit of white wine (any wine will do), butter, garlic (to taste, just sprinkle it in and see how much you want/need), and salt and pepper (sauce should cover just the bottom of the pot you are using to steam the mussels). You can also have a separate saucepan going with more of the sauce. Lately I have been adding milk instead of more butter to make more of the sauce. It all takes 10 to 15 minutes at most, and is a really tasty dinner.
If I don’t feel like making anything elaborate, I make penne pasta with a meat sauce (Prego makes a great sausage one). That way, I’ve covered protein in my pasta dish. And I only use one pot, and it takes 15 minutes at most.
Love the swatches, they look great! And it looks like you will get plenty of ideas for dinners from these posts 🙂
Hi Katherine G.,
Thank you so much for these ideas! 🙂 These recipes are getting me excited about cooking again.
You should check out both of these sites:
http://budgetbytes.blogspot.com/
http://smittenkitchen.com/
They both have awesome easy recipes
Thank you, Anonymous! Bookmarking both of those sites right now.
I totally agree you should check out budgetbytes.blogspot.com
I’ve made a lot of of meals from there!
-TA
Hi TA,
Do you have any meals from that site that you particularly love?
Hey Karen,
Do you like Indian food? Because I’ve been using Smitten Kitchen’s recipes for chana masala, potato and cauliflower dish (can’t remember the name) and masoor dal and they’re all great (healthy and really cheap!). Once I got over buying the spices (try Penzey’s) I realized how economical it is to make Indian dishes at home. Plus you get to control how much oil/salt that goes into your food! (I find that sometimes, Indian places make their food way too greasy or salty for my liking).
I usually make a big batch on Sunday and eat it throughout the week after my nightly yoga classes. The stew types are pretty good on top of a bed of greens or just rice.
Salad wise I use this formula: greens + grains + veggies + fat + protein. I think it’s the right balance to feel full while still being healthy.
So on a bed on spinach, I’ll add some quinoa or bugher wheat or rice, all the veggies in the fridge, sometimes an avocado, cheese, chickpeas/tofu and a homemade balsamic vinaigrette or Lebanese salad dressing.
Hope that gave you some ideas!
Hi Jenna,
I love Indian food. Sometimes, though, the restaurants in my town tend to make their Indian food dishes with a lot of oil, which leaves my tummy very unhappy. Thank you bunches for the recs and for the place to buy spices! 😀 I’m really excited about going to the grocery and cooking up some healthy meals.
we eat very plainly from sunday evening til thursday evening. we alternate baked chicken and baked fish (boring, right? but it helps make me feel less guilty about eating well on the weekend). the sides vary – it can be brown rice sometimes, or a garden salad. depending on what i bought at the market the weekend before.
we used to stress so much about dinner but figured – we dont need to be so OCD about having something different every night. since we eat out most weekend, we decided plain during the week is the way to go. 🙂
the chicken and fish come from costco, the sides from my fave grocery store HEB or wherever i stopped by at during the weekend. 🙂
I love these polishes! Ill likely pick up either Ray-diant or Prism.
For recipes, I love Veggie Belly for healthy, Indian cooking. And I think you originally turned me on to Oh She Glows with their avocado pasta. Both sites have amazing recipes.
Also, once a week I pick up a prepared large portion protein from the grocery store – be it a rotisserie chicken or a marinated pork tenderloin. Whack it in the oven Monday night if it needs to be cooked and eat off it for the next few days. Sides are easily stir fried veggies (spinach is so easy), veggie salads, whole wheat pasta, rice or quinoa.
Okay I’m sold. Rainbows, glitter and holo are just about my favourite things in the world. Except for food!
These days I am doing this reverse mealtime thing so I eat cooked, proper food for breakfast – chinese/korean/japanese soup, a little bowl of steamed rice, egg or meat side dish and a couple of stir fries. For lunch I have a smaller portion of whatever I fancy – pasta, potatoes, etc, noodles, and for dinner I have a fresh fruit smoothie with mango, kiwi, peaches, oranges, grapes, frozen blueberries and milk!
Can’t beat an easier dinner than that can you? Hahaha!
A bit late here, but wanted to chime in with some healthy and easy dishes I’ve made for dinner lately.
Also, the nailpolishes are really pretty! 🙂
Light Swiss Chard Frittata
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/02/light-swiss-chard-frittata.html
Cilantro Lime Tilapia Tacos
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/02/cilantro-lime-tilapia-tacos.html
Southwestern Maple Glazed Salmon w/ Pineapple Salsa
http://www.onceuponachef.com/2012/02/maple-glazed-salmon-with-pineapple-salsa.html
Ground Turkey w/ Potatoes and Peas
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2011/05/ground-turkey-with-potatoes-and-peas.html