spacing out

Lilypad Lacquer Rainbows in Space is a very holo blackish purpleish saturated blue. It's not quite blurple but not quite blue either, however depending on the lighting its hue was different. 

Rainbows in Space. Sunlight.

Rainbows in Space. Sunlight.

Rainbows in Space. Sunlight.

something fishy

and delicate, soft, and ethereal. This is the quality, albeit in a different shade, that I was looking for in Glitter Gal LAAF and was able to achieve eventually, though I forgot how (I think it was two coats over one coat of OPI Don't Touch My Tutu!). Even more appropriate that in the colors soft sweetness it was created to honor the memory of young beauty blogger Talia. Part of the proceeds went to a children's cancer foundation. 

This polish was also a really great formula (not thick or chippy, 2-3 coats) and just beautiful all around--it would be great if Enchanted did a benefit polish once a year. This is last year's and I am one year behind, but the photos are also oldies. 

A Little Fishy Told Me. Sunlight.

A Little Fishy Told Me. Sunlight.

A Little Fishy Told Me bottle. Sunlight.

Holo Golightly

Here's a very special light blue holo that came as a gift from an amazingly talented, generous, clever...the list goes on...friend :) This creation comes from Emily de Molly and only a few were made as part of a custom order. 

My first EdM polish applied perfectly. Very smooth and not too thick--beautiful color and great to apply (what do I always say about Australia and nail polish? Only the best.). Like so many holos, I had a bit of trouble capturing it and the holo was more intense irl :) I tried some different angles to get different holo effects.

I was extra delighted when I flipped the bottle over and saw the name...Holo Golightly (how terribly clever!!) Oh girl...you've really outdone yourself! (thank you)

Holo Golightly. Dark with flash.

Holo Golightly. Sun.

Holo Golightly. Sun.

Holo Golightly. Sun.

Moving on...

I might as well just get all of these out of the way. Holiday disappointments happen every year, what would the holidays be without them? You think your SO is getting you something special. Or anything. And you get...a laser pointer. Or nothing. You get a perfectly wrapped box and inside is...oh, what is it, it's heavy...is it that...nope. It's a GPS. Well, it's the thought that counts, really. Surely you don't hit the nail on the head every time either. 

This liquid sand was one I was looking forward too, but it turned out oddly bling-y and in these colors it looked sort of like an overdone Chanukah celebration or maybe a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader uniform. It took me about a month to realize the name, "Kiss Me at Midnight," referred to New Year's Eve. Soooo I guess bling isn't entirely inappropriate. 

Kiss Me at Midnight. 
Ring finger has one coat of It's Frosty Outside. Outdoor.

Closeup of Texture.

Another quick one from CbL in the original bottle (the full size one), though you can't tell because I forgot to take bottle shots on both posts--good job. Hopefully I'll remember to add some. 

Bad is a chrome metallic duochrome shimmer that morphs from multiple colors--grey, blue, violet, even a bit of green with fine pink and turquoise sort of and maybe other colors of shimmer, check closeups for shimmer. Both time this polish chipped on me overnight, I've found wear on most metallics to not be great, though. 

Bad. Sunlight.

Bad. Sunlight.

Bad. Sunlight.

On the rocks

After an unintended hiatus for midterms and finals (this class has a lot of tests!) Here's a new liquid sand that I didn't like as much as I thought. It chipped a little too quickly (though maybe it's me and the dry weather) and lost its texture, or did I imagine that? 

The sunlight brings out more shimmer depth (golds, pinks, and other colors). I'm wondering how others are feeling about recent OPI collex...I'm not sure how I'm feeling about a lot of the recent OPI collections including San Francisco and Holiday (so much red), but I am really wanting to get the holiday sands! PS. Is this my first "blurple?" I think yes.

Alcatraz Rocks. Indoor Sunlight.

Alcatraz Rocks. Indoor Sunlight.

Alcatraz Rocks bottle.

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.

Enchanting

This polish looks like magic in a bottle. I had to have it and I'm so anxiously awaiting the next Enchanted restock. It's over black here and I think that makes it look a bit more potent. I'm lazy, so that was a pain, but it only took took coats after that and it was just striking indoor and out. I don't think I've ever had more compliments...pic heavy.

Time to Pretend. Outdoor Light.

Time to Pretend. Outdoor Light.

Time to Pretend. Outdoor Light.

Time to Pretend. Outdoor Light.

Time to Pretend, bottle. Outdoor Light.

Time to Pretend, bottle. Outdoor Light.

A big thank you! :)

This is a very special post! I want to give a big thank you to all my facebook friends for voting for me and the amazingly talented Wing Dust Collections. She can be found on facebook as well, here https://www.facebook.com/WingDustCollections and at Llarowe. 

I actually won this polish! I've never won anything that I can think of. I want to say thank you to Wing Dust for this generous gift and I hope the creator feels these pictures do her amazing and entirely unique creation, Steel Town Girl, justice.

I have to say that for a holo and for any polish really, the application on this was just flawless. I used Nfu-Oh aqua base, but I didn't have to. It was a smooth application, even with the beautiful steel blue shards and generous helping of chunky gold flakes. 

Another crazy thing about this polish I would not have expected was the staying time. I wore this for four days with no chipping or peeling O.o whaaaaa? Unheard of with a holo. I did use G+G Hk Girl topcoat. 

It is much more holo-y irl, and in the light box for some reason it did not photograph as holo as out of the lightbox (click to make bigger!!). 

Steel Town Girl. Natural Light.

Steel Town Girl. Natural Light.

Steel Town Girl. Natural Light.

Steel Town Girl. Natural Light.

GTL

I had a lot of trouble at first with this one going on and because it was so gorgeous, I was worried that I would. It had that “eating itself” problem that holo polishes tend to have, though it's not a holo. Somehow I thought to use an aqua base with it and it applied perfectly. This is 3-4 coats—it lasted a long time and I didn’t want to take  it off, it's so perfectly coastal. This Dollish Polish is great for a mermaid! Gym, tan, laundry, and beach :)

Gym, Tan, Laundry. Natural Light.

Gym, Tan, Laundry close up. Natural Light.

Gym, Tan, Laundry bottle close up shot. Natural Light.

Just in Case

I haven't posted enough texture manis...here's one more OPI Liquid Sand. Pretty much the same formula and such--it was a bit more sparkling in the sun than some of the others--it reminded me of Lynnderella "Thank Blue" or "I Don't Mean Rhinestones..." if they were texture polishes, ha. 

BUT! STAIN ALERT! At least when I used one coat of base. Consider yourselves warned!

Tiffany Case. Natural Light.

Tiffany Case. Natural Light.

Tiffany Case. Natural Light, Shade.

Tiffany Case. Natural Light, bottle.

Oh...

So these pictures are absolutely terrible. But I adore this color. I know it gained a mini cult status in the "nail world," so I picked it up at Walgreens. I figured since it was a pastel it would be a pita, but it wasn't so bad. 

I only used three coats and it is not completely opaque, however it's a sheer jelly-ish formula and I like the sheerness of it. I let the coats dry a lot in between each one to make sure that it wouldn't be too goopish. 

I left this on for three days with minimal tip wear and it wore really well. It does make me look a little red, but not nearly as red as in the photos. These just turned out so badly :( I definitely foresee wearing this and posting more in the future!

Cinderella. Artificial Light.

Cinderella. Artificial Light.

Doh...

I realize I only did four posts last month! Boo. Hoping for more this month despite holiday madness. 

Here's Nicole Just Busta Mauve, a Target exclusive. I would love to have the other glitter colors from this collection. See Scrangie's swatch of this, it's much better than mine. I probably should have used four coats and she may have...I only used three and there's some vnl. I think a dreaded four coats would have given a bit more depth and color here, as the polish was surprisingly sheer.

I found this to be a pretty awesome and different glitter. If I remember correctly it's a super concentrated fine tiny plum (I don't see mauve but I guess it could be dark mauve) and cobalt blue microglitter in a sheer base. I'm going to double check this though.

Double awesome is that even though it's a glitter, it has a duochrome effect. Yes! It shines warm plum, deep copper, and a strange sort of grey in different lighting. Amazing. Have you been tempted by any of the awesome Nicole colors lately? I love some of the holiday colors.

Just Busta Mauve. Natural Light.

Just Busta Mauve. Natural Light.

Just Busta Mauve, blurry sparkle. Natural Light.

Just Busta Mauve, close up. Natural Light.

Just Busta Mauve. Bottle shot. Natural Light.

It's so easy...

wearing green :) Actually this color's application wasn't that easy as the brush was just unpleasant. I can't explain why except that there was this one bristle that was uneven and maybe it was sort of unwieldy. Otherwise it was a nice thin formula (it did require three coats) and while some people are not fans of thin formula, I do prefer them. I believe any bubbles are from the evil bottle of Poshe and while it is one of the first metallic finishes I've worked with, I had few issues with brush stroke. 

It is one of the limited edition shades for fall from the Maybelline "Color Show" line and I had a hard time finding even this one LE shade, even right after the release. Oh big city living. Avante Green didn't disappoint though and flashed blue, green, and gold in different lights. I know we're seeing many of these multichromes (the first ones released recently I can think of were Lippmann's Mirrored Chromes released awhile back) and there is one from China Glaze that echoes Avante Green (or vice versa) in case this one is out of stock. 

Speaking of Lippmann, I do believe this line released a polish very similar to Lippmann's Sugar Daddy mirrored chrome called Pink Cosmo. If only I could find it!

Avante Green. Overcast Natural Light.

Avante Green. Overcast Natural Light.

Panorama Edition! ;) Avante Green. Artificial Light.

Avante Green. Bottle Shot (is it just me or are bottles getting smaller?).