Yes, they're real...

thank you, they're genetic and unattainable. While some things, like a Van Damme middle split may be, I don't believe lovely spike-ish nails to be. However, they may be inconvenient and inappropriate for one's lifestyle.

I could write a novel on my relationship with my nails and our trials and errors and the ridiculous things I've done to try and keep them in shape.

In my opinion, asking a nail fanatic who is trying to grow hers (or his) out if one's nails are natural is the highest of compliments. This is when I know I have succeeded ;)

I remembered Teas-y Does It is the last color I wore before our very painful break up :( 

Some pre-break spam.

Lynnderella Deep Blue Seeing (I think!?), a Milani white.

Sally Hansen Garnet Lapis Prism, OPI Black Onyx

Lynnderella Bride of Franken, OPI Mrs. O' Leary's BBQ

And in September:

Breaking up is hard to do.

Noticeably, they are the longest in this last picture and that of course compromises their strength. And while I did like the way they looked at the time, I have to admit looking at the picture, perhaps they were maybe about 3mm too long. I can their weak spots in the pic and that makes me sad :(

They've been growing back pretty well, but I still feel like I'm wearing nubs. 

What was your worst break? What finger was it on? Nail friends and myself seem to concur they happen on pointer and thumbs. Not surprisingly, these seem to be the most frequently used fingers.

jo'mean it's only $7?!

I was lucky to find this and a couple other Illamasquas for $7 at the JCP Sephora sale! Awesome! 

After seeing getting this for a friend and seeing many swatches, I actually thought it was a purple that might work for me and a gorgeous color in general. One of those "neon pastels" that is so interesting. I think they describe it as "electric lilac." 

Formula? Perfection. Color? Amazing--a bit hard to get a good pic, better to see in person.

Not really a fan of any of my glitter attempts. Did the crop to give an idea of how it looks sans toppings.

Jo'mina. Sunlight.

w/Lynnderella (l-r) Evermore, Magic Fairy Stars, LLL

Jo'mina. Love, Lace, and Lilacs Sunlight.

Jo'mina. Bottle. Sunlight.

V-Day Mani!

I wanted to do a fairly festive Valentine's mani, but I don't have any really Valentine-themed polishes. I decided to layer a few--OPI Elephantastic Pink, Sephora by OPI Be-Claus I said So, and Lynderella Love, Lace, and Lilacs. 

It turned out looking interesting, but not terribly Valentine-y because Elephantastic Pink turned out more corally on me than pink. Even a little orangey in some light. It was a little sheer and I used three coats. 

LLL was better than it's ever been and I noticed that it has a faint white shimmer. Beautiful. 

Elephantastic Pink, Beclaus I Said So, and Love, Lace, and Lilacs. Natural Light

Elephantastic Pink. Natural Light.

Elephantastic Pink, Beclaus I Said So. Bottles, Natural Light.

jelly and glitter spam

I haven't left--I've just been working on pics like crazy. I hate imperfect pics and mine are far from that, but I think I've been getting more fervent in my obsession with details.

So without over thinking it, here are some craptastic pics of a jelly and glitter experiment that I didn't really like. Sandwich fail. OPI My Pointe Exactly and China Glaze Pizazz and some of Sinful Cinderella and Lynnderella New Year's Eve Eve.

I found some pics of a really old jelly glitter combo I did as well, so here's that. OPI Don't Touch My Tutu (a serious must for jelly sammiches) and Dollish Polish Hylian Princess.

My Point Exactly and Pizazz. Artificial horrible light.

My Point Exactly and Pizazz sandwich. Artificial light.

Don't Touch My Tutu and Hylian Princess. Natural Light.

Cinderella and New Year's Eve Eve.

Cinderella and New Year's Eve Eve.

Another for my redo list...

is another beautiful Lynnderella. I want to redo it with at least one more coat of topcoat and over a darker green. The first time I used it I put it over Barielle Date Night and that was gorgeous. Here it is over Sinful Colors San Francisco, which I don't think looks as nice. The middle finger is actually three coats of All Hallow's Eve on it's own.

I'm really excited to try this over Illamasqua Rampage--AHE has multiple shades and shapes of green glitter--spring green, dark green, emerald green, chartreuse and probably more. It also has black and gold glitter and some tiny glitter in different sizes.

I decided to do an accent finger with a little bit of Inner Space because it's an awesome color.

All Hallow's Eve, San Franciso, Inner Space (index finger)

Lynnderella All Hallow's Eve and Sinful San Franciso

50 fairy stars

-->It’s been a challenge to write this post—not because it’s hard to describe the content, but because the holidays can be stressful for many, because I had a birthday, I missed my monthly blogging goals due to stupid hospitalization, and because it’s the end of the year and here I am with a lot of beautiful, wonderful things in a time of turmoil. Isn’t it strange how tragedy and loss can bear beauty? 

This year has given much.

Magic Fairy Stars is a polish I was fortunate enough to get from Lynnderella and all the people of Lynnderella (and the help of the ever marvelous and wonderful special amazing thanks to Joni most faithful blog reader). The proceeds from this polish are being split between two charities in NY and NJ communities affected by hurricane Sandy.

Here it is shown over RBL Grunge, though it looks great over a variety of shades.

This beautiful polish features a ridiculous amount of glitter shapes and sizes. There are squares and hexes of course and a large dose of beautiful tiny stars--also thrown in is a dash of moons and large-sized stars. I wish these pictures were better, but I swear if you click on the FULL SIZE they look better.

Magic Fairy Stars, Grunge. Natural Light.

Magic Fairy Stars, Grunge. Natural Light.

Magic Fairy Stars. Macro Bottle.

New Year's Eve Eve already!?

I'm lucky enough to have two new and beautiful polishes to show today--New Year's Eve Eve from Lynnderella's Season's Glitterings collection over Nicole Up and Kim-ing Pink (dupe for OPI Pink Friday).

I love the color of Pink Friday but had a ton of issues with the formula. I'm not sure if the Nicole formula was much better or if I'm just more skilled now. The polish isn't terrible to apply, though it's streaky and takes at least three coats to even and still has a somewhat chalky look. Also, it chipped like a beotch (sorry for the tip wear!) after half a day. But this color can't be beat!

New Year's Eve Eve, December 30th, I think ;) From Lynnderella's website: "363 days of glitter. We expected it to have some relationship to The Glittering Crowd, and it does. But the addition of new matte and satin glitters add an extra whallop. Just like 2012."

The satin glitters are really different--I think these were used in Sweets to the Sweet as well. A sort of pearlescent effect. A beautiful rainbow of glitters in a clear base which is great for anytime of year, really. The main differences I notice between NYEE and tGC is the satin glitter, diamond glitter, and yellow flowers. Of course the overall color scheme is also different. I haven't actually worn tGC yet either, but will compare soon <3

Up and Kim-ing Pink. Artificial Light.

New Year's Eve Eve and Up and Kim-ing Pink. Artificial Light.

Up and Kim-ing Pink. Artificial Light.

Lynnderella New Year's Eve Eve. Artificial Light.

Not Quite Yet...

I forgot to use China Glaze's new green holiday polish which I can't remember the name of and grabbed Wet n' Wild Poison Ivy from their Fall Pick Your Poison collection, one of the most beautiful greens I've ever seen. 

Some issues with Poison Ivy are that it has the WORST BRUSH EVER. In the world ever. See picture. Then if you want to clean up with a brush, it stains skin really badly so you walk around with greenish black skin for a day. I'm considering switching the bottle out, because then it would almost be the perfect polish :)

I'm almost on to holiday colors, but not quite yet, so right now I'm sorry that reader(s) will have to settle for seeing another Lynnderella Inner Space mani. I was going for a subtle gradient effect here. I still haven't done pictures of this with the perfect base color (I've got to ration my Inner Space from now on and save it for perfect bases ;p), but I *loved* it with Lippmann's Fashion. What do ya like to wear with multicolor glitters?

Lynnderella Innerspace, Wet n' Wild Poison Ivy. Natural Light.

Lynnderella Innerspace, Wet n' Wild Poison Ivy. Bottle shots. Natural Light.

Wet n' Wild Poison Ivy. Bottle shot. Natural Light.

Wet N' Wild bad brush! :(

Grass-fed

I'd had an acute lemming for this color--seeing it at stores--I used to dislike it, though now, I really can't remember why. It wasn't quite what I was looking for, yet now, it seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. I wanted it so much I considered Revlon's Posh--quite similar--then finally ordered it on eBay for $5.

It's a fairly evenly applying creme-jelly hybrid that required three coats for full coverage. I hate applying more than three coats, so you know it requires the three ;) 

As for the color itself, I asked a colorblind "friend" what color this was from a distance in a somewhat dim setting and he said, "blue-ish green." It can look blue in some lights, but is a pretty even green. It reminded me of the two greens I photographed the bottle with--Prismacolor Grass Green marker and colored pencil (not quite a match). Brilliant and vibrant.

Pretty Edgy. Bottle Shot and comparison.

Pretty Edgy. Sunlight.

Pretty Edgy and Happy Holo-daze accents. Sunlight.

Lynnerspace

Just realized it's actually been over a week since I posted O.o Zomg, I am sorry--and why am I sorry? Because I actually have FOLLOWERS :D Thank you so much everyone who has become a new follower or was an early follower <3

I've actually been having bad luck with manis lately, not sure what it is! Though I just got a new Wet n Wild Halloween polish--Poison Ivy and will put this up soon. It's one of those dark green shimmer stunners. 

Here is one of the manis I considered to be not such a good one, though I discovered some good things. Deborah Lippmann's My Funny Valentine, which could be, in a pinch, a one coat red.

Inner Space is a really versatile multi-glitter and I think has the potential to look amazing over many colors--some thoughts are white, nude, dark greens, dark blues, black, deep red shimmers maybe. Being that it is called "inner space," it has stars in it. I actually didn't know that until one appeared on my finger. You cannot really see it, but it's on the far right of my ring finger. 

One more thing about this paint job--it's two coats of Inner Space, but the bottle goes fast, as I've only used it for a one-coater before. I assume that it's because you can only fit so much glitter in a little bottle.

Lynnderella Inner Space over Deborah Lippmann My Funny Valentine. Artificial Light.

Lynnderella Inner Space and Deborah Lippmann My Funny Valentine. Artificial Light.

Lynnderella Inner Space. Artificial Light.

It's been awhile: Chunky Rainbow Sugar (bit pic heavy)

Another major lemming I'd given up on getting. But then...you know. See below. It just happened. What can I say about the polish that has been my number all time indie lemming of all time since I’ve had indie lemmings which has really only been about six months but still six months is a long time to want something think about if you liked a guy for six months or wanted chocolate, okay?

I could list (and have listed) about twenty of the glitter shapes, colors, and sizes that are in Sweets and not be done. However, duplication would probably be lost, even on the most desperate (me!). 

As much as its maker has lost popularity in the public polish eye due to recent unpleasant events, on its own, it is still full of unique pieces I haven’t come across anywhere. The white glitter are not just white—they are white with a faint pinky/gold iridescence (in this light) and some of the whites are semi-sheer. The pearlescence (not a word, apparently) in these pieces is really different, it makes me think of wedding confetti. 

There is also an extremely faint particle shimmer to the sheer milky base that has a color shift so imperceptible that I really can’t tell you what it is or if I’m imagining it or if it’s part of the infamous “purposeful” glitter bleeds.

 This is two coats of Sweets over one coat of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu.

Sweets to the Sweet. Sunlight.

Sweets to the Sweet. Natural light, shaded.

Sweets to the Sweet. Artificial Light.

Sweets to the Sweet. Macro thumbnail shot. Sunlight.

Sweets to the Sweet. Macro bottle shot. Sunlight.

 

I did get more compliments on this polish than any others so far, which irked me a little, I mean, this was not, inevitably, my best polish job, what with having to spread and chunk on the glitters, don't get me wrong, application could have been much worse. 

But it didn't smooth out even after Gelous, Poshe, and Poshe ;) However, the amazing swapper who sent this to me told me about polishes finding their forever homes and this one has. Unless of course you are prying it from my cold, dead, hands.