just two

Aren't there some kind of potato chips where they're like, "you can't have just one?" Or something? Is it Ruffles? Anyway, I couldn't get just one of these Roughles from Nicole, so I got three. Now I want the last one (pink, Rock the Look), but I have no idea where to find it. 

Looking at these on my nails I kept thinking of popcorn, stucco houses, and candy. The formula was great and they dried quickly. 

These pictures came out sort of dark and the colors look a bit more saturated and less pastel than they did in person. It may have been because I did them indoors, so I did not include a lot :( 

On What Grounds? Indoor light.

Sand in My Shoe. Indoor light.

Sand in My Shoe bottle. Indoor light.

the new no

I love to say no and so I'm telling you, "no, this is the color of the year." Whatever color of yellow this is. OPI released two new yellows like this (punch in the face yellow?) in their Brazil collection. One of which is in "mini only" form and that made me punch things.

Formula, perfect two coater and great staying power from CbL (Colors by Llarowe). Holo-tastic in all light and mega compliments. Also great staining power. VERY staining of yellow.

Does this title even make sense? I don't know. But I think I've seen other colors coming out like this and: Awesome. I should post more pictures but: Tired. 

Woodstock. Sunlight.

Woodstock. Sunlight.

Woodstock. Sunlight.

Not Electric Eel

I post one amazing shade-shifting green and I need to post another one. Here's another incredible find and another favorite from last year. I recently picked up Enchanted Electric Feel trying to find an electric green linear holo and wow, I am really in love. 

Check out the insane duochrome shift and linear holo. I could use some pointers on how to pick up holo in pictures, but in real life this polish is very holo-y distracting and shifts from a bright yellow gold to lime green to a light blueish grey. I highly recommend picking this up, as it's still fairly easy to get a hold of, if you're into these colors :) 

(middle nail broke D:)

Electric Feel Sun.

Electric Feel Sun.

Electric Feel Sun.

Electric Feel Shade.

Electric Feel Shade.

Electric Feel Shade.

Dirt Rainbow

Here's something that I think I may have seen a long time ago, or maybe just in my mind and thought, "wow, I could never do that," or "how is that even possible?" After recently trying my first gradient which was precluded about a month prior to seeing my first gradient tutorial (tutorials intimidate me, like nail art), I decided to try a tricolor gradient. 

Tricolor Gradient + OPI Black Shatter. Sunlight.

 Rainbow Gradient + OPI Black Shatter. Sunlight.

The colors in the mani are OPI Fly and Did it on 'Em from Nicki Minaj collection and Essie Flirty Fuschia (summer '09 neon, if anyone wants to swap something for Funky Limelight, let me know, one of my two readers...my boyfriend or a relative?). 

I just got rid of Save Me (the cool mixed bar glitter from Nicki Minaj collection) and would actually like to try Super Bass shatter. I had Pink Friday as well, but after attempting three or four applications, I could not deal with it's formula. Considered Metallic 4 Life as well, but removal of black polish + heavy glitter looks like a nightmare O.o

I was never a huge shatter fan (even in the 90s!) but I think there is a place for black shatter. Maybe a glitter shatter?

Here is what I consider to be the fail safe gradient tutorial--nailasaurus

Way Late to Spring

Yes, I'm over a month late for Spring, and two years late for this collection but I wanted to show do some Spring colors from the China Glaze Up and Away collection. Pastels and brights like that have been a hit for the past couple Spring seasons and tend to move into some Summer brighters and neons, so that might be a good path to take :)

First up in this series I will post Lemon Fizz. While the color may be quite cute, I found the application to be quite messy both times I tried :/ 

The consistency was interesting. I found it possible to make coats thin, yet it required thick coats to get even coverage. I'd call it chalky, which seems common in pastels. 

Back in the day I seem to recall this brand of makeup called "Jane" (this brand can still be found sometimes, in some discount outlets) that had a color called Taxi. Lemon Fizz reminds of Jane's Taxi. It's not good on my yellowy skin, but as my Taxi shades and Lemon Fizz can attest to, I seem to love yellows, even if yellow pigments seem to make polish application a bee. 

Honestly, it's a good thing my pictures turned out a little blurry, cos my application is pretty uh-uh. Sadly, I couldn’t wear Lemon Fizz as a mani because it was so challenging to appy I couldn’t even apply it on my dominant hand! 

Lemon Fizz. Sun Light.

Lemon Fizz. Artificial Light.

Here Goes Nothing

Let's start this post with a few disclaimers such as:

I'm going to be in a state of trial and error for awhile. So if anyone is reading, please bear with me, my nail shape and length, pardon my paint jobs, and likely my sad, needy ew-ticles (cuticles :-(). This blog will exist in part, to help me learn to better paint and care for my nails, take better nail photos, as well as to showcase my own personal adoration for the artistry of polish and expression through color, textures, and general shininess. Here we go :)

That being said, Welcome to My Little Blog!!
It's small, but mine.  

Pretty and Polished for this post, accented by a favorite Revlon Streetwear from grade school, Taxi. For the following photos coats are as follows: two coats of Jawbreaker and three coats of Taxi, all polishes were layered over a basecoat and topped with Poshe topcoat. 

Jawbreaker was my first and ultimate indie polish lemming (especially that I've been able to complete). I traded Dior Saint Tropez, in box for it. I was obsessed with all the swatches of JB because even though I don't necessarily like my pics as much (and I am SURE to do it again as a full mani for pics :D), the swatches I saw truly looked like a jawbreaker candy. 

Jawbreakers never tasted good to me, but surely a cool, retro effect to be able to recreate in a polish, and an incredibly original idea. Not to disappoint in person--probably better, actually. Like many white polishes, mine seemed to goo up a bit over time, and I added a bit of thinner with no issue. Jawbreaker (the polish) is packed with smallish green bars (no issues with mine), GIANT red squares (my bottle has it's own shot glass and I store it upside down in it because the GIANT red squares tend to sink to the bottom due to their weight and do require a bit of fishing), red, blue, yellow/gold hex glitter, and tiny lavender/purple glitter, in a milky-like white base. 

I <3 JB and totally intend on doing a post devoted entirely to it, soon. The first time I wore it, if you can believe it, it stayed on for five days with the most minimal tip wear.

After seeing some Revlon Streetwear polish bottles on a blog, I was struck with immediate nostalgia and one word came to mind: "Taxi." I remembered this polish and after searching, came upon it. It seemed to have thinned a lot over time as it took three coats of very careful application to get a non-streaky, solid look. But holy subtle shimmer!!!

I seriously recommend allowing maximum dry time between coats as well. IMO it's worth all the waiting. It dried to a gorgeous, eye-burning bright truly taxi-yellow with somewhat of a plasticine quality and a super subtle shimmer nearly worthy of RBL.

Pretty and Polished Jawbreaker and Revlon Streetwear Taxi. Sunlight.

Pretty and Polished Jawbreaker and Revlon Streetwear Taxi. Shaded Sunlight.

Pretty and Polished Jawbreaker and Revlon Streetwear Taxi. Artificial Light.

Pretty and Polished Jawbreaker and Revlon Streetwear Taxi. Shady artificial light.

Jawbreaker bottle macro <3

Jawbreaker.

Revlon Streetwear Taxi. Flash (trying to show the extent of the shimmer).

Revlon Streetwear. Taxi.