I'm back!! and China Glaze - White Kwik Silvr

Mom went home from the hospital yesterday and is doing very well, but unfortunately she lives 30 minutes away, so I won't be getting to visit her much.  Thank you all so much for your kind words and well wishes - you have no idea how much I appreciate it!

So now that I'm back... omg, where to begin?  I have tons of pictures I haven't posted and I have been hauling like crazy because I've been stressed and that's what I do!  ;)  I haven't had the chance to swatch anything though, so there is a huge backlog of polishes waiting to be tried.  Hopefully I can get to them verrrrrry soon.  :)

I actually managed to wear the same polish for 12 days - yes, 12! with only one little touch-up, so that's what I'm going to start with today to ease myself back into this.  I wish I had taken shots of this before I took it off - I couldn't believe how well it held up after 12 days of me!  I normally have no luck with China Glaze - if I can make it more than 48 hours with no chips, I'm happy.  White Kwik Silvr only had a few small chips after 12 days (if you don't include when I hit my pinkie at work day 2 and chipped part of my nail off - that was my one touch-up).  I don't know if it was my basecoat/topcoat combo or if it was the non-B3F formula or what, but this one was like iron!

Even though I have Frosty from the 2010 'Tis the Season collection, I've been lusting after White Kwik Silvr forever.  I finally broke down and ordered it from an etailer a couple of weeks ago.  It arrived a couple of days after my mom got sick and it was perfect timing.  I was really down that day and it felt so good to get a big box of goodies in the mail!  I figured this was a great work-appropriate shade and *hopefully* it wouldn't show too much damage since I didn't know when I would get the chance to do my nails again.  I didn't expect 12 days!

It's a hard little bugger to photograph, let me tell you that.  It's not just a straight white shimmer, there are little bits of color in there, much like Sally Hansen's Fairy Tale Ivory and China Glaze's Knotty.  It's subtle, but it gives it a little something extra to keep it from being just a bland white.  I thought it would be a dupe to Frosty, but they are a bit different, and to be honest, I prefer White Kwik Silvr.  I didn't do a comparison, since ALU did - check out her post here (scroll down a bit). Fantastic photo - she really captured what I'm talking about - there is a warmth to WKS that Frosty doesn't have... which is appropriate, since it is named Frosty!  ;)

Sorry for the scary hand, but honestly, this was the best shot I could get of the glass flecks.  My camera freaked out on this one a bit and couldn't get a nice crisp shot no matter how many times I tried.  For all my raving about how well it held up to me and the hell I put my hands through, the best part was that I really loved the color.  It's elegant and classic, which are not words I usually use to describe anything about me, on me, near me, etc.  ;)

Now... onto the not-so-hot stuff... this is a really sheer polish.  It took 5 coats to get what you see here.  Dry time was great though, being old formula non-B3F.  It did stay on 12 days, but by day 9, I had some major tipwear and a couple of tip chips, plus my right index had a huge crack in it.  I was afraid I would hit it and the polish would all come off in one piece, but it stayed put, just looked awful.  Fortunately, only I noticed.  Polishes like this are great for those times when you don't have time.  Chips aren't very noticeable and this color goes with everything!

I think I'll be getting a backup of this one... and I only currently have 1 other backup.  It's Orly's Galaxy Girl, if you were wondering!  ;)  I think I am getting a backup of Barielle's Elle's Spell and possibly Urban Decay's Bruise (pretty sure it is my fave color, ever!), but I don't usually do backups.  I think that I will be wearing WKS often though and since it is long discontinued, I need to get it now while I can!

Basecoat: Beauty Secrets Moisturizing Basecoat

Topcoat: Essie Good to Go + Beauty Secrets Fast Finish

Number of coats: 5