WInter Manicures

Winter is very dry in these parts, especially when the temperature dips below zero (Fahrenheit, not Celsius).

Inspired by the languid flakes of a winter day and the foil-y goodness of a mid-century Modern aesthetic, I stamped my nails:

I had to use my favorite foil: Princessa's Martian Jade for at least one outing this year, hence the green.
I used a BM plate, from a set, and enjoyed the unknown stamping polish a well as a second layer of Sally Girl Periwinkle to make the shadow. The effect isn't quite what I'd hoped, but I chalk it up to a learning curve. Mine is long and steep when it comes to stamping.

Finally I topped it with China Glaze Fairy Dust.

Next up is Sally Girl alone and topped with China Glaze Fairy Dust.

I thought that it was only fair to give Sally Girl her own outing. Well done! I thought I might not enjoy this polish, but for being in the tiniest bottle with the tiniest brush it went on smoothly, and worked out to be a lovely polish!
Topped with China Glaze Fairy Dust, it really is a delicate blue.
Not sure if they have this color at Sally Beauty, but I rarely go their, and I am sure there is a dupe in the offing.

Happy New Year!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Pie Crust Promises

I have to say, I wanted to post many more manis over the holidays, but combination of time crunch and not feeling up to par really reeled in many plans.

Anyhow, in the hopes that I can get several done by end of year, here is a layering combination that I found languishing in a folder, needing an outing.

Many layers at work, I'll post the pix then you can see how it wend down:

Base is a franken I made a few years ago, full of glass fleck shimmers that are now quite the norm, which is never a bad thing!
Next is an I Love My Nails, gotten in a RAOK/swap combo. I have to say the stars are sparse, but they are teal, and it was nice to get that color glitter.
Next is the old Cover Girl Ice Slicks. Packed with iridescent glitter that really never fails to please.
Finally old Cover Girl Boundless Color City Lights. I find that it is akin to China Glaze Fairy Dust, but a touch larger glitter. And, to be honest, a better formula.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Happy New Year!

Color Club Beyond The Mistletoe Collection Part 2

Here is part deux of Color Club's Beyond The Mistletoe Collection. A superlative little coterie of wonderful glitter polishes.

Here is a link to part 1

I've got three coats of base color, two of glitter and will highlight any base I've not blogged about before.
No topcoat!


First up is Candy Cane:

A pretty reddened purple mauve I've paired it with Diamond Cosmetics Meditate.
Candy Cane is a mix of pink, purple and silver glitter.
Delightful change from all the holo.


Next a reblog of a beautiful color that is hard to find a dupe for, Sally Hansen The Good Earth:

Blogged a while ago, it really seemed like it needed a proper outing again.

Topped with Color Club's Ginger Bread:

Ginger Bread is packed with gold and holo glitter. Love it over the deeper background, too.


Here's another one in need of a swatch, Ulta's Ban-Blue-Zled:

Largely a crelly, indeed a little bit of a translucent but not transparent.
I've since frankened this polish adding a passle of holo to it. Looking at this photo now I wish I had kept it as a creme!

Now topped with Color Club Jingle Jangle:

Jingle Jangle has no holo either but a light purple and a light blue glitter.
Pretty and reflective, but more springtime in this combo with the pale blue base.


I found my set at Ross. And my backups, now that I think of it. Excellent glitter set to have in your collection!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Color Club Beyond The Mistletoe Collection Part 1

Hey Sweet People!

I've been out of circulation for several days and want to jam in some manis before the holidays got away from me!

So, I've had Color Club's Beyond the Mistletoe for a year or so. Love it so much I have backups. The glitter are really a treat: packed with holo and metallic small glitter bits which kick up the dust in the sparkle department. It's a small, but excellent collection.

I've departed from the norm by pairing them with unusual bases. Many a blog has hit this collection hard with great swatches. I wanted to post my take. I'll post photos of colors of base cremes I've never blogged before, too.

As usual, bases are three coats, toppers are, here, two. No top coat. I guess you could call these "proto-sand-polishes" (hehe, ahem!)
I took these in the heyday of some great long, biotin-rich nails and some wonderful sunshine of a hot August day.

Beyond the Mistletoe

This is over Color Club's New Bohemian. A Delicious Tiffany blue that helps actualize BTM's pastel pine green shade of glitter. Mixed in is a heavy dose of holo.
Perhaps the best of the lot because of it's unique shade. There are a lot of blue, pink, and red glitters, but pine green? Few.


Holiday Splendor

This is a very popular color. Unlike the rest of the colors in this collection, this one has a colored base, in this case a deep teal jelly base. I think the glitters are actually identical to BTM, but the base dominates the glitter. I fully admit this one isn't my favorite, but I admit that I see the appeal.


Here I'll insert a base color I've not blogged, Diamond Cosmetics Twinkle Twinkle Periwinkle:

It is a dusty, understated pink with an infusion of blue to cause it to be filed under purples in my color organization. The bottom photo is closer, but it does have this ability to change slightly in certain light.
It has a shimmer that you'll need to enlarge the photo to see. Reminds me of Orly Lollipop, but much more washed out and somewhat more lavender.

Here's Color Club Sugar Plum Fairy over the top:

After you get your sight back from being blinded by the generous holo punch this baby packs, you will see that it has a great dose of purple glitter mixed into the silvery holo glitters. In the bottle I'd call it a cool mauve, but on the nail over TTP it just looks like a purple glitter. Win!
I didn't expect this at all and I think it's a top ten manicure for me.

Keep your eyes peeled for part two, coming in about a day.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!!

More Than A Feeling

If that title gives you an ear bug, I apologize.

OPI's offering for their Breast Cancer Awareness polishes this year included a pink and a glitter in a pink base.

Here is More Than a Glimmer:

Three coats over white.

The base is pink, and after three coats the pink does assert itself gently onto the palette of soft glitters consisting of a gold, silver blue, green and magenta hex as well as smaller glitter in the same color family.
Glitters are metallic, but the base seems to temper them and they come across very soft and a bit on the pastel side.

It's adorable, in a nutshell. Kind of off kilter for the autumn. Indie makers have dedicated themselves to making glitters, and they've carved out a knowledge base that OPI clearly tips its hat to - if they don't they ought to.

I found this on eBay after ogling photos. I did, however, see the complete set at Ross and passed on it (smacks forehead). It was $7.99. I paid a bit less just for the glitter. In a rationalization I will say I don't need another questionable-for-me pink. (What did Woody Allen say about rationalizations? We can't go a day without one?)

I am sure that there are bunch of glitters that could be very similar, so I am not sure if this is a must have. I love the pale pink, I have a hard time with pinks and this really is a win for me, so on that front, I give it a recommend.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Ring In Good Cheer

OPI Merryberry Mauve and the matching glitter topcoat have been in my "to do" drawer for a long time. Too long.

When I finally donned it, I realized one thing in sharp relief: it's very similar to Orly Fantasea.
Sheer, cool purply base, and a bronzy shimmer. Nice!!!
One can't have enough of those kinds of subtle and complex polishes.
Here it the link to my blog post about Orly Fantasea and L.A. Girl's dupe Enchanting.

Here is Merryberry Mauve alone

I didn't put it over black, but it's a definite contender for being "rather similar" if not "doggone close".

Meanwhile: it's sheer. That's OK. OPI has a little secret place in my heart: even their sheer polishes dry well. No baby-sitting a sheer polish until it dries.
Gorgeous. Luminous and glowing like a mauve ember in a Dadaist's fireplace.

Next the topcoat

Pretty, sugary top coat that looks more purple in the bottle but is a combination of a purple and a silver glitter. No holo like OPI's SugarPlum Yum.

No top coat on either, just a quick gander at gorgeous holiday polishes that finally got an outing!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

What? More Vamps? Kinda!

A few years ago I purchased Essie Pama on eBay. I really wasn't sure what the back story was, but later discovered it was a co-branding arrangement with a maker of a pomegranate liqueur of the same name.

I love pomegranates! They are like little balls of sweetness. A ripe pom takes a while to peel, but the results make it worth it. My method is to wash the seeds as they emerge, just drop into a bowl of water, to remove any residue from the bitter flesh that protects the translucent, delicate fruit.

Meanwhilst (thank you Life of Brian tape recording from the 80's) I should really talk about nail polish.

I felt like Pama was a super dupe-y.

Maybe. Maybe not!

Here are three polishes that felt close, but perhaps I was just swatching away, grabbed it and kept grabbing colors.

Here is a set of four, including Pama, that felt like they were related.

Sally Hansen Crimson Creme

Perhaps a little dark, but still in that realm. Ok, I'll admit it was a bit closer in the bottle. I have a comparison of all four colors so I'll discuss more later.

This is an older Sally Hansen, vintage bottle with a taller handle. I found this at that first blush of "Great Dollar Tree Swag" and I must say it's hard to dislike the color, but the formula was a bit of a challenge, and I felt it was kind of messy. Of course that could have been me. Ahem.

Three coats, no top coat. Glossy! Would benefit being thinned into a jelly, to be honest. And wouldn't you know I have two bottles. Loose formulas and deep shades make my world go around, letmetellyou.

Sally Hansen Tenacious Ruby

This is one of the Sally Hansen 10 Day No Chip polishes that were, again, at the Dollar Tree.

I have to admit that these need a good base coat and they don't actually seem to chip. I had one chip and blame a bad base coat/top coat combo. This is not too bad, but a bit slow to dry. The bottles are rectangular with gold caps, with a bold declaration of 10 Day No Chip(!), which is so unrealistic of a claim. Bold or fool-hearty? Well it was at the Dollar Tree. That tells the tale.

Three coats, no top coat. Extremely glossy.

Essie Fishnet Stockings

A brighter candidate for being similar. Not a favorite of mine.
Blogged here, and I will say that Maybelline Crimson is a nice Pama sibling, so peek at that better lit shot of this one and the Maybelline there.

Three coats, no top coat. Very glossy, not as sheer as the last outing, which is nice.

Found at Ross.

Essie Pama

Pama is decidedly a nicer polish than I thought. It's got a dusty feel, but not a muddy one.

Considerably warmer than what I think of when I think of either the outside or inside of pomegrantes, but a very rich color.

As my hand goes into shadow along the top, you can see that it turns a bit dark. Below in the horizontal shot there is implication of darkness, but still the color doesn't got black.

Odd. I've looked at this photo quite a bit, fearing somehow in editing I mistook the comp shot, but the edges, quirks, dabs, and blobs that occurred when I painted are consistent and the comp shot below is different.

Rich, dense, and luxe are three words that come to mind when I look at this shade. The finish, glossy, looks also velvety.

Three coats, no top coat. 

Honestly? Reminds me of the au currant trend of oxblood shades that are all the rage right now, not so much the pinky undertone of a pomegranate, or the magenta pink innards of the fruit. 

Finally a comparison:

Same order:

Sally Hansen Crimson Creme

Sally Hansen Tenacious Ruby

Essie Fishnet Stockings

Essie Pama

Personally I love the richness of Pama, but I do like Tenacious Ruby a lot, too.

Crimson Creme is a bit dark - the only real vamp of the lot.

Fishnet Stockings was less defined as Pama, and falling off my list of likes.  

Conclusions?

In the end, nothing falls close enough to call it a dupe.

I also will comment on photos. I feel my photos lack enough light, and I will admit I've rearrange things and lost a bit of my lighting set up. So, I want to apologize in advance for the dim feel. I know my light casts a green tint, but when I remove it in Photoshop Elements, I got too much pinkness in my skin tone. 

Back to working on lighting!

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

Thanks so much for reading my little nail polish journal!