lots of christmas trees!

1,000 to be exact. I haven't posted yet this month because I've been busy preparing for the Spring semester/finishing up Winter and it's giving me a lot of anxiety. 

I also I had to cut my nails. Twice--once I did it out of anxiety, because I knew I would have to do it for school and I just wanted to get it over with, but then they grew back! The next time was yesterday, when I actually really hacked them off. I'm trying not to think about it. 

So to cheer me up, here's this, a polish like I've never seen from the fabulously talented literary lacquers. A foresty jelly green linear holo with little twinkle holo glitters. For a jelly, it didn't take as long to dry as I expected, which was nice. This was a limited edition holiday color available with purchase, but maybe it will be rereleased or she will be able to find an extra? She has amazing customer service.

1,000 Christmas Trees. Direct indoor light.

1,000 Christmas Trees. Direct indoor light.

1,000 Christmas Trees. Direct indoor light.

1,000 Christmas Trees. Indoor light.

I'm Drinking Stars and 1,000 Christmas Trees.

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.

Vampy Vesper

Vesper is my last bond girl Liquid Sand from OPI, I thought I had posted it, but I hadn't. I think this might be surprise my favorite. My bf picked this out. It looks really ugly and brown in the bottle--but don't be fooled ;) The black glitter effect in the dark purple sheer polish is just beautiful and gem-like. 

I think it takes about 18 hours to dry into the gorgeous blackened purple--so give it a chance before dismissing it as a plain black. The longer it dries, the lighter it gets. I've worn it twice already and I love it. It takes 2-3 coats to get fully opaque.

Pardon the tip wear. 

Vesper on a grey day. Sunlight.

Vesper on a grey day. Sunlight.

Vesper on a grey day. Sunlight.

Vesper, bottle shot. Sunlight.

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.

bond...bond girls

I couldn't wait for these Bond Girl OPI Liquid Sands to be released. My sweet bf got some for me when they first came out. These two are Pussy Galore (pink with pink shimmer) and Solitaire (white with silver glitter).

I super dig them both and find myself wanting to grab them over and over, *but!!* there is one caveat about the light, textured colors, at least for me. They catch dirt and show it really easily, and it doesn't seem to want to come off :( so it has about 1 full day to maaaaaybe 1.5 days of wear at most.

Can I just lodge one complaint about the sands and the OPI brushes? The sands tend to fluff up the bristles and the OPI brush is already pretty big, so it can make it a bit unwieldy. As for the formula on these two, they're great. A bit more sheer than the previous ones I've tried, and Pussy G has a frosty base, which I noticed started to get a little strokey if I wasn't careful. For these reasons, I also think it would look great layered over a similar color. Cute, cute colors, great for spring and I can wear the white one year round :)

Pussy Galore. Sunlight.

Pussy Galore. Sunlight.

Solitaire. Sunlight.

Solitaire. Sunlight.

dahling

Another new one, though apparently not even the newest (slow down, people!!), it seems I just can't keep up with new kittens and school. But I didn't want to keep going until it reached an entire month without a post. This beautiful black polish from the Zoya Pixie Dust collection is called Dahlia and was gifted from a lovely polish friend. 

I sort of held off on posting because I wanted to take a shot of the bottle before I posted it and I couldn't find it when I was taking pictures *kicks self* bottle shot to come. In the bottle it just looks like a boring black and silver glitter polish.

These Pixie Dust polishes seem to really sparkle when the light catches them and then dull a little in the shade, giving two different looks. My boyfriend commented on the black several times and actually seemed sad when I took this one off, "it's like you've got asphalt on your nails!" Cute. 

more texture

Another textured polish from Zoya, Vespa from the Pixie Dust collection in a pale celadon or maybe pale pistachio that I feel like I've been seeing a lot of lately in polishes and otherwise.

Best application I've had from a Zoya yet. I even liked it a bit sheer in one coat, so I did one coat on one hand and two on the other. I had someone remark on how sparkly it was, even in dim lighting. I did really enjoy wearing this one and it wore quite well. Can't wait to try the black one!

Vespa. One Coat. Sunlight.

Vespa. Two Coats. Sunlight.

Vespa. Bottle. Sunlight.

Fiat 500 that reminds me a bit of Vespa :)

I'm SO BORED

With everything else--so I really hope I have time to do my nails tonight :) and so on that note, let's start the month off right, with this new Liquid Sand from OPI, called The Impossible, I think. 

One of the only blue-based (it is, right?) pinks I've ever works on me, ever. It reminds me so much of cherry chapstick brand chapstick. I was expecting to hate this, but it was way more beautiful than I expected and wore really well. Not too bad to remove, either. I'm wondering if any of the other texture polishes drastically differ in their look or feel.

The Impossible. Outdoor light.

The Impossible. Outdoor light.

The Impossible, index finger with topcoat. Outdoor light.

The Impossible. Outdoor light.

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.

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.

Gobble Goblin

I'll call this my Thanksgiving mani though it wasn't. China Glaze Glitter Goblin and Essence Colour & Go Gorgeous Bling Bling. 

Glitter Goblin is an indeterminably colored (to me) little glitter (not micro glitter though?). The only glitter I can really determine the color of in this polish is the deep orange/red ochre colored glitter. The other glitter may just be a very holographic silver that flashes green, purple, and a bit gold. It's surprisingly sparse and patchy in application despite it's super glittery nature. Here's three coats. GG was SO HARD to remove. SO HARD! Also, it dried to a fairly gritty finish so I used two coats of my favorite HK Girl Top Coat (see picture) after waiting for it to dry a bit

Gorgeous Bling Bling is...well, a strange name for this polish. It does have yellow gold flakies and a bit of a shimmer, but it's not the polish I'd think of when I hear "bling." The base color is a somewhat burnt orange and reminds me a little of that Crayola crayon, "Bittersweet." The formula is great though--super smooth, opaque, and easy to apply. I love these Colour & Go polishes because even though their staying power is pretty bad, they dry faster than anything else I've used. I hope you've been able to try some, even if it's a funky color like this one ;p

Have you been seeing a lot of these orangey colors lately? RBL Santa Fe, OPI Schnapps Out of It...perhaps there are more?

Glitter Goblin and Gorgeous Bling Bling. Natural Light.

Glitter Goblin and Gorgeous Bling Bling. Natural Light.

Glitter Goblin and Gorgeous Bling Bling bottles. Natural Light.

Glitter Goblin and Hong Kong Girl Top Coat!

Green Room continued...

I’ve been having Nail Issues lately! Wouldn’t ya like to have my problems ;) (actually probably not if you’re a nail blogger). The last three polishes I’ve worn, including this beauty, have given me some "tip" issues, but I’m starting to suspect it’s my bottle of Poshe—it’s given me nothing but trouble and bubbles since I bought it at Sally’s. It may have just been old and it’s not getting any younger—I believe it’s causing super shrinkage :( See sad, sad pics—polish has only been on for 12 hours!

/end rant onto the good stuff:

Tonight I bring you a beautiful new green from Sally Hansen Insta-Dri and while it was not Insta-Dri for me, I could tell from the bottle that it was going to be worth the wait, long or short. Check out the bottle pics.

An amazing npf (nail polish friend) who knows I’m a green fiend and sent me this beauty, a deep forest green jelly, very sheer but opaque enough in two coats, peppered with almost indistinguishable flavors of glitter. I’ve counted purple for sure, blue/teal or turquoise, or gold/lime/silver, but it’s hard to tell on the latter color because the sheerness of the jelly may be tinting the lighter glitter.

I found application to be smooth and not at all jelly-streaky and I found two coats did well, though I know some like super opaque coverage. I love this color so much, I really want to do some nude/green nail art with it, but I’m not sure it will work out because of the sheerness? I tried a nude gradient over it last night, but the nudes I tried were too sheer (boo). Looking forward to another post on this one!

The tip wear or shrinkage on this is embarrassing :( small pic.

In a Flurry. Bottle Shot. Flash.

In a Flurry. Bottle Shot Macro.

PS. I will not run out of green puns/green themed titles! Watch me ;)