I love the Claire’s chain stores, you ladies already know that. The thing is Claire’s is in the mall right at the bus terminal that I frequent, and Icing is way out of the way that it’d take quite a while to get to. That’s why you see more Claire’s hauls than Icing’s 🙂

In the weekend, the bf drove me to Icing to browse around as it’s gonna be a trip for a long while. I was excited to see more than a shade or two of polishes at the sale corner (which is not always the case). I got:

From L-R: Blue Goose, Sandy Beach, Van Gogh, Lady Lucky (matte) and Blackout.

The first 4 shades were CAD2 each, as part of the 5 for $10 sale – I got a pair of earrings to make to 5 items. I like the diversity of this group, bright/ neutral, shimmer/ matte, and 1 black, all cool tone though 🙂

Blackout is a highly sought-after shade but somehow I never found it in store before (I might overlooked it). This time I saw it and grabbed it right away, paid CAD5 (full price) for it.

I had enough with bare nails in the last few days, so I picked out Van Gogh to paint. I had bought a few colours from Icing before but they are still in the untry bunch, so this is My very first… Icing mani.

Van Gogh is an interesting colour to photograph.

With the flash, it appears a little more blue than IRL. On my nails, it looks like a greyish shade with a hint of blue, and in the bottle, it looks a bit more beige. I can’t say I know what to call it.

The finish is a beautiful and smooth chrome, reminds me of the China Glaze chrome collection a while back. Opacity is great too, would have been ok with 1 coat if not because of the brush. More on that later, but for now, let’s just say I love Van Gogh for what it is – an awesome nail polish. I don’t even care if it doesn’t go well with my skin tone, lol.

And, about the brush. I unfortunately picked up the bottle with a crappy brush. Looks like someone took the brush and smashed it on the ground, as it all flared out all 4 directions. It is wide and thick at the same time.

However, somehow the brush did not stop me from having an even application. After the first coat, a few spots at the corners of the nails were a bit sloppy but 1 more coat and it was beautiful all over. I can’t imagine how much better it would get if the brush is in great shape.

All in all, my first experience with Icing polish is an A (A+ if with a good brush). If you live near an Icing store, check out their sale and get a few of their nail polish. That is all 🙂