A Week Solid

I don't talk much about top coats or base coats, or chipping for that matter. Generally I am hard on my nails: horse stuff, clacking around on a keyboard, household chores, etc, seem to be really just how it goes.
I try to do the "jewels not tools" but I'm the go to lawn-mower, leaf-blower, and dog-doopy picker-upper, so my hands do work.

I will say that I think it depends a lot on people's chemistry when it comes to how things "stick", but I think that some basics work for everyone:

• oil - find, absorbant like jojoba or sunflower or almond, etc. 
• biotin - it does strengthen your nails, but you also won't go from 0.25mm thick to 0.75mm thick, but they will grow.
• moisture - the stuff of life, don't underestimate it
• respect the limits of your polish/gel/etc. Meaning, as was recounted to me, don't used your strong thumb nail to pry of anything.

Right now I'm back in polygel for what seems like "good", but that could change. I am getting somewhat better at filing, though I won't say mine are showroom ready, I am getting my head around the shape much better.

I was out of town and really hate doing my nails in hotel rooms (too small, smells are fun for others in your proximity, and weather differences mean who knows about drying...plus, who wants to do their nails on vacation. I don't!)

I wore Color Club Nomadic Nude and topped it with a very old WetnWild Rock Solid clear glass fleck topper called Sparkling Diamonds.

I layered a lot of glass fleck, then Seche Vive (a nice top coat!) and some Borghese extender (super old, from a Ross clearance pile), which did the job.

The rough edges are jumbo applications of top coat. My goal was to ride this baby through a solid week.

And guess what? It worked like a charm! There isn't much I can add except that the Rock Solid was loaded with a pretty pink/green shifty little shimmer. It bumped up the pedestrian nude into a dressy little number for day to evening.

I guess my weak effort at a thesis here is that price isn't a strong arbiter of value in nail polish, top coats, and base coats. What works is what works.

I think this combo is doable, just hit eBay up. Sparkling Diamonds might be dupable, but I am not 100% sure. Nomadic nude is also on the 'Bay, so really no worries.

Though I think any nude with a glass fleck topper is a wonderful way to sass up what is normally considered fairly bland.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Reblog: WetnWild Darkest Green

Have no fear, March will be greens. Greens, greens, and more greens, that is.

In the meantime, I pulled out a polish that I love a lot. It's an oldie and blogged what feels like 100 years ago here.

Here is is again, WetnWild Crystalic Darkest Green

This polish really is just stunning.

It's a green that is so dark and lovely yet always green. After further examination the jelly the shimmer swims around in is a gorgeous dark, dark green, not black. Yay!

 I found this at the Dollar Tree when it was packed to the gills with the good loot, I have backup of this one and just love the shimmer pop of forest green when the light hits it.

It's two to three coats, comfortably giving good coverage.

A loose-ish formula, but not wholesale sloppitude.

It's old and I couldn't even find a photo on line, so I think it's long gone. There's probably a pile in some landfill somewhere. Sigh.

Vamps are perfect for winter, but this one gives a peek of something other than black.


Thanks so much for reading my little nail polish journal!

Farm Curtains

Good news, I have other computer access so I can keep posting, yay!!

Been thinking of farmhouse curtains with this stamping plate. I will post a photo of it in another blog entry, it's a pretty one that I found on eBay, and it has a lot of variety.

American Apparel Downtown L.A. stamped with Wet n Wild black

Two coats of American Apparel Downtown L.A.

I won't lie, the black was supposed to be really dark. I don't think I shook it enough, because last time I used it, it was great! Dang!


Here is a version using Sally Girl Periwinkle as the base then stamping with American Apparel Downtown L.A.

I like how AA stamps, but the topcoat whipped it's heiny and dragged across the pattern.

Not the win I was hoping for.

I love how both of these remind me of curtains from a bygone era.


Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!

Green Tree, Gold Garland

I've since let go of my old WetnWild Craze collection from back in 2009, but I did keep Morbid.

It's deep shimmer reminds me of the PNW coastal forests that are so deep and dark and full of beauty.  Recycle if you can, there is so much clear-cutting out there that it's just unsustainable.

Back to the polish...
I topped it with Essie Rock At The Top from their Luxeffects collections.

Three coats of Morbid, then one of Essie RATT.

It's topped with one coat of top coat, but it is lumpy, so it just goes with the territory. I think if I added a few more coats, or had a specific glitter topper, it would be more glassy.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

The Not So New Neutral

I don't often pick up WetnWild polishes these days, but I did see this one and was enamored with it's subtle grace.

WetnWild Bite the Bullet

Three coats, no top coat. Though I think two coats would work just fine.

I love this little mauve delight. Though you can see I over applied on the index on the left, it really was easy to work with. 

I often think drugstore polishes have the hardest row to hoe since they often have to perform in less than perfect conditions.

Still available at your drug store!

Color Club Give Me a Hint

From the Color Club Alter Ego collection, this guy has been underutilized. It's a pretty little mousy mauve that has been on the "oh I don't need this" pile a few times. Only to be pulled back because the color is just amazing. 

Still on the Color Club site, so still available! It's a classic, very cool toned, but feeling autumnal at the same time.

American Apparel Dynasty

This is a bit more pink than it is in real life, but it is very subtle and extremely beautiful.

The formula, well, super nice. 

Here's a comparison

Left to right:

American Apparel Dynasty

Color Club Give Me a Hint

WetnWild Bite the Bullet

Truly a trio worth having!

Of ocurs if you can only get one, get the American Apparel. You can see how smooth and luxe it looks when done. I am using a Milani ridge filler, which is pretty nice, and it serves to smooth things out, the AA really takes it to the next level.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Pink Roses

Wanted to reuse a plate I'd posted about here. It's the XY11 plate (still available on eBay with a quick search using XY11 and narrowing down the category)

It was full of interesting things and I thought these negative space roses were super nice!

Good ol' CND Raspberry Pink stamped with WetnWild black creme.

My new stamping polish, for sure!

I love how the roses pop.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Summer in the 80's

It's hot. Shorts are short. It's how it is in summer.

Zingy shades that can take the heat are de riquer. 

Sure, everyone is pining for autumn. Not yet. Not just yet. 

Milani Totally 80's topped with Zoya Tangy

I've blogged Zoya before, but didn't capture it's zip. 

Here's Milani Totally 80's alone

This is a neon collection from Neon from quite a few years ago. Now long gone, a pretty jonquil yellow that ostensibly is a neon shade. 

Tried some stamping...

I wanted to try some angular stamping, definitely feeling that geometric action from that decade.

From my Cici Sisi set. 

This is probably the last time I will stamp with the Milani art polish I though might work out to be something like a a great stamping polish. Notsomuch. Bummer. 

Meanwhile, I've just been experimenting with WnW black creme and it's a great replacement. This can live out its life as a normal black nail polish. Ah well. Live and learn.

Wanted to toss out another anglular stamping...

This is the same Cici Sisi set, and it's over WetnWild Mint Fusion, blogged here.

Very pretty stamp and I think it's a good size for my nails. 

Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!

Ghoulish Water Marbling

Here are a pair of water marbles that are just right for the season!

First off, I've picked up some latex body paint on Amazoid and put a bit into an empty striping polish container. It's pretty much life changing - when I use it right! I'll discuss it a bit more with each photo.


WetnWild Inferno and Borghese black

I love the color combination.

I had WnW Inferno as a base coat, which means that it supports the orange in the water marble, because over a black base it would be far to sheer.

Now, you can see that I dipped my fingers deep into the  water marbling jar and got it all over. When I used the latex paint I painted closely around the nail, leaving a bit of the edge, an down to the first knuckle...well, you can see I passed the knuckle.

It has to be said that nail polish remover isn't a complete panacea for removing pigment once it gets into the cracks of your skin.



Sally Hansen Snappy Creme and Leather Creme

Totally brings out the yellow in Snappy Creme. I think it looks a bit like decaying flesh, but I'm not much into zombies and such. Though it does have that melting face thing, which I do like.
I guess I still go out to the barn by myself and think I'm in World War Z or something and once I turn on the barn lights I'll see a herd of zombies in the barn aisle.
RUN!
(unless they don't like horse pooh, in which case I'm safe if I hide in the muck heap.)


This time around I pretty much covered myself down to the second knuckle and did not get it all over me. Still, I had leftover black and orange on my hands.

My experience with the latex body paint was successful, inasmuch as I learned that it's really helpful when I apply enough to cover my fingers.
Nice!

Thanks for reading my little nail journal!

Shiny

There. I admit it. I just binge watched Firefly. Kind of wonder if it was a bit ahead of its time. I am sure if it had not been on the Fox network, that the internet tv, Netflix, Hulu, etc, would have offered a home for its gallows humor and intense characterization. You finish wanting more. Rare, since I'm a cinephile and not really into TV much at all.

Meanwhile, I wanted to usher in some autumnal manis and wanted to pay homage to a blogger who no longer blogs, but left a big wake of beautiful manis.

Chloe's Nails as a blog is now inactive, but there were some genius matte/shiny nail art I wanted to try. Try I did.

Here's a link to one post that has, unfortunately, had the photo stolen and is frequently seen on eBay (that's why I don't suggest ever buying from sellers who used stolen photos, scum)

My efforts aren't quite as perfect, but here's a shot:

The base is a no name Markwin's polish I found at Ross back in 2009 or '10. It's been rebottled into an old Essie, but make no mistake, it's just as good. Three coats. On my ring finger you can see a bit more of the deep plum.

I mattified it with New York Color matte top coat. Cheap and effective.

I then stamped it with Pueen Sumptuous Elements plate 02. I used Milani black nail striping polish, which doesn't an ok job, but I think I am learning to mellow on the scraping intensity, too. 

Hope you enjoyed! And definitely take a peek at Chloe's blog, she is an artisan and hope picks it up again.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Another Big Glitter Post

Back in 2011 WetnWild did a limited edition collection called Ice Baby. It was under their Coloricon line, which seems to no longer be in production as a nail polish line, but still as a makeup line. They had a good run under that name for polishes, coming out with the Be Jeweled collection, blogged here and here.

There was a lot of buzz around the collection because it was one of the first drug store lines that came out with a bunch of great glitters that seemed to emulate a lot of what was happening with indies. 

Around that time I was at the local mall and went into a Rue 21 and hit their little polish display up and found a four-set of some very nice glitters by Dare, who is made by Anise.

Then the WnW Ice Baby came out at Rite Aid and when I saw the polishes, I realized I had some dupes from that set, so instead of buying the whole collection, I just tried to fill in the blanks.

OK, so much preamble. Let's get busy.

I put these over white and tried to achieve a bit of coverage, but didn't labor over it.

No top coat. I'll discuss finish because I think these were texture, at least the WnW seems to be.

WetnWild 24 Carat

This is a very fine and small bar glitter that is sort of the bar glitter version of OPI's Gift of Gold because it has gold bar glitter and then a rich copper bar glitter mixed in to give it a bit more dimension. The gold is fairly neutral, but the copper warms things up.

This is three coats. The texture of normal glitter polish.

Peeve on this polish? Gold is in karats, diamonds are in carats. Moving on.

Edited: upon closer inspection of the photo the fine glitter in this is actually a soft pale rose pink! Many apologies!


WetnWild Back Alley Deals

Beautiful glitter combo. Purple fine glitter that is very dense mixed in with a larger magenta glitter. When you mix it with the smaller glitter, though, my camera sees purple, or violet rather than magenta.

If this is supposed to be a texture, I'm not sure. It is like regular glitter and not terribly bumpy.




WetnWild Diamond in the Rough

I have to admit when I add a gray glitter to my collection I am very pleased. This is a neutral gray fine glitter peppered with a holographic small glitter. There is a texture to this, but to be honest, it works as a texture, without, though, the intense "dry" glitter look that some impart, nor the real shiny bumpy type either. Some help I am, right? To be honest if I were going to wear this, I'd just toss on a top coat and run.

Three coats, good coverage.





WetnWild Rockin' Rubies

I apologize for the white showing around the edges on this one. Eep.

Three coats here. A fine glitter that is mixed with a pink iridescent glitter. Clever combination that melds well together. I like this one a lot.




WetnWild Give Me A Price Quote

This is the final WetnWild offering in this post.


It's a three coater green gold that is pure bar glitter. It's not bad, but not a complete thrill-a-minute for me. I probably could play around with some layering, though and it would be more of a pleasure.

Texture is pretty flat and normal for glitter. Three coater.

Edited: I was looking at this photo again and realize I was wrong: it's not pure bar glitter, it's a bar glitter with a fine glitter of the same glitter mixed in. Many apologies!



Dare no name purple glitter

This vibrant purple is full of very fine glitter and some medium sized glitters all of the same shade of violet.
This one doesn't seem to have a corollary in the WnW Ice Baby collection, but I wanted to throw it in.
Three coats, normal glitter texture.




Dare no name blue glitter

While I'm not entirely sure if this is a dupe of WnW Cost Is No Issue, if I recall when I brought my bottle to the store, it seemed very close. (yes, I was that full on nerd for this one)

Three coats. Lots of find turquoise glitter and a bright blue larger glitter that pushes into cobalt but also appears aquamarine blue, too. Very pretty and I like this one a lot.




Dare no name dark blue glitter

I apologize for lack of a better photo. This is a nice glitter polish. Bright blue packed with magenta glitter. Dead on dupe of Believe Me, It's Real.

Three coats and a bit lumpy, but really seems like normal glitter. I think a top coat would have enhanced this one a bit more. I may start wearing top coats more frequently.

Meanwhile, love this one a lot.




Dare no name lavender

A dupe of WnW It's All In The Cut and I love the lavender and pink glitter, it's so nice. Good coverage in three coats with a bit of holographic mirror going on with some of the glitters.
Love this one, too.



On the whole, I think these are cool glitters and love the combinations.

The Dare polishes seem to come out seasonally and with small sets containing different variations. I haven't followed them closely, but a browse on eBay seems to produce sparse results.
The WetnWild polishes, though, are around, but not cheap. Falling into the indie price range, eep.

Ultimately it boils down to who makes what. A perennial question. Does WetnWild and Anise share the same production? Why did Anise come out with identical polishes at the same time as WetnWild?
Interesting.

Going through a period of just swatching like mad, so thanks for your patience on the oldie-but goodies!

Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!

WetnWild Color Icon Be Jeweled Part 2

Back at you with part two of the WetnWild Color Icon Be Jeweled collection.

Let's finish these up with the last two in this small 5 piece collection.

Part 1 is right here.

The Crown is Mine

Three coats. This is a very similar color to Jewels for Your Highness, but it's more actual purple and looks more gray shifting than pink.

I love this one quite a bit, though I could not wrangle much shift. It goes into the pink zone, but more like an orchid pink.

Subtle glitters, too.

I couldn't get this color shift very well. It looks like there is some blue, I just didn't capture it!



Speak When Spoken To

Soft blue that shifts over to lavender/pink.
Three coats.

You can see the pink around the edges.

Glitter is also pretty much blue and purple.

I really like this one as well.


In summary these are quite sheer on the first coat, but these build quite well, to the point where they need nothing beneath them to support the coverage.

These are still readily available online if not in the official WnW pantheon of colors.

 I recall WnW did a similar prism glitter in a lollipop shaped bottle that was in an upside down display. Not sure if it's the same. They are not shy about relabeling the same polish, for sure.


I love that these do double duty: Over black, navy, etc they'd also pop since they are initially so sheer.

I think layering these over a duo chrome of the similar color shift would be something rather amazing. Hmmmm...rubs chin!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

WetnWild Color Icon Be Jeweled Part 1

WetnWild always seems to surprise me.

Their black creme is a 99 cent dream of a polish: it covers in one coat!

The first Color Icon set that I got was back in 2009 or 2010 and it's still got many favorites that I enjoy wearing. 

So when the 2012 set of sparkly glitters came out - Color Icon Be Jeweled - it was very exciting!

Similar to the China Glaze Prismatic collection - which I didn't buy because I got the WnW's, these are a mix of small glitter with a micro glitter that color shifts. Pretty amazing!

The first time I tried to blog these was just under the lamps. Well, that would have been fine, but there wasn't enough oomph to show any color shift and worse some of the colors began to look alike.

So I redid them outside on an unseasonably warm day with some sun coming and going. This is from May, I'm still catching up with photos, but since I recently had a bad nail break, I'm fine.

Enjoy!

Born Into Privilege

A tarnished silvery green gold shade that really also has a smoky feel to it.

Three coats.

I like they way the multi-colored glitter throughout makes it look like confetti.

It feels like a New Years Eve party!

In some light it almost looks like a pale spring green as well. Very beautiful!

I really liked all of these, the only thing is that they are a little "crunchy" and feel like a cousin to a texture, but a top coat solves all issues.

Bow In My Presence

Three coats again, a bit dark because of my camera, however this is a very pretty pale peacock blue. Same array of small confetti glitters.

The sun popped behind a fat cloud that decided to hang out for too long. 

The only sun shot is the bottle shot.

I'd run in to see if I could catch the color change better  under my lamp and when I went out, she was a goner!

Softer light here equals a softer blue. Also the last photo you can see how it shifted over to orchid purple. It also goes warmer into teal as well. Quite the set of chops, this one.

Jewels For Your Highness

One of my favorites!

Three coats and this time more of a purple glitter throughout the purple shifting to pink micro glitter base.

The glitters are more of a purple, blue, silver, and pinkish purple. Not a confetti with multiple colors.

Brilliant metallic wall of sheen. Like a glitter that holds its own without holes or in need of a base? This does it!

It is more a pink to purple shift, but in some photos it almost looks coral. 

Excellent!

Part two soon!

These can be found on eBay and Amazon, which is a good thing. Apart from China Glaze and WetnWild, I can't recall anyone else using these color shifting micro glitters, can you?

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Random Franken of Markwin Polishes

I'm going through some older files that haven't been edited and found a few that I'd like to publish. I think I'll be doing that for a few weeks, too. Hopefully I'll build some momentum again!

Back in 2010 Markwin - WetnWild's parent company, among other things - came out with sets - as I am sure they do every year - that showed up at Ross.
This one had a fuchsia, gold, charcoal, silver, and a little nude (that I really still like) among its offerings.

I've not worn these much, I passed many along to an acquaintance - even this one I've got the photo of - as I'm really trying to tone up the old collection. We'll see how that goes.

Meanwhile I poured some of the gold shimmer into the fuchsia shimmer and tried to create a gold shimmer effect.

Three coats, somewhat slow to dry, but nothing bad. Not seeing the golden shimmer as much as I'd hoped, but not a bad showing.

Here's the bottle shot:

As you can see, in the bottle there is a lot of tasty potential I wasn't able to get on the nail, hence its exodus to a new home.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal.

Old Wallpaper

Here is a layering/stamping mani that I wanted to share.

Many layers, some bumps, but I wore it for a week and it was a pleasure to look at all the time!

The base is white, then about 3 coats of Princessa Tangi My Nite - a sheer glass fleck that I blogged about here. 

More difficult to see is the WetnWild pale blue Rain Shower, blogged here, that I wanted to add as a shadow. The first time I did this I just used the WnW polish and it was more of a faint, but the antique effect really was nice!

Then I used one of the Milani nail art polishes I found at the Dollar Tree (I bought a bunch, these are really pigmented, handle great for stamping, and you need very little). I admit it was so fresh.

Then I added another layer of Princessa.

I lost count of coats, ah well.

Here's the plate and the Princessa:

I found this one at Nailart Und Mehr, the lady was very nice letting me email my order. I got this one because of the horseshoe, but this one has some other elements that are nice, particularly the one on the right.

Here's the Princess, again.

Hope you enjoy!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Gitch Yer Witch On

Hey folks!

Stamping. I suck.

Yet I love it. I own a lot of plates! Bundle Monster, Pueen, and Nail Craze (Etsy) to name a few.

Yet, like any nascent stamper, I persevere.

Persevere I tell you! Perse-freaking-vere!

WetnWild Nail Craze Inferno - three coats.
These are all from a plate I ordered through a German etailer: T23.
Really a superb plate.

It's really crisp and fun to work with.

This is without a topcoat. I actually used a cotton swab to remove a few failed attempts before finally getting it right. Yay!

This one was a bit more of a mixed bag.
Color Club Orange Revenge. Not even sure when I got this, but it was in a Ross set. It's a near neon orange. Needed about 4 coats, dried very satin and a new take on brush strokes for a cream: it left an impasto effect, so it was not self leveling at all.
Also, you can see through it if you enlarge.

Plate T23 at work on the index and ring finger, also the pinkie.
I think the spiders in the center and the web were Bundle Monster 13. Note that they look more like ticks than spiders, I couldn't get the legs to come out on this one.

Of course I have to say by this time I was a little frustrated by my big chunky tick thing and just gave up on clean up.

I had purchased - years ago - one of those stamping machines at Ross. I cannibalized it for plates, parts and polishes.
The polishes, thinned, are rather good.
The stamper is super squishy and easier to manage.

I still need a lot of work, but I like the results!

T23 plate was great. I purchased it through Nailart-und-Mehr.de. I ended up emailing her and she put together the plates I wanted and let me Paypal, versus going through the cart. Nice!

Here are the polishes I used:

I love Orange Revenge for a base, really makes that Halloween vibe feel like it's here.

Thanks for reading my nail polish journal!

Marvin Gay Said it Best

I bet you're wondering how I knew,

'bout a polish with such a hue.

Sitting on the sale rack,

thought I'd pass on it but I came back.

Now it's a three coater that could do two, 

it has a gorgeous pink that's cast blue.

WetnWild's [heard it] Through the Grapevine.

Hey, that's what you get growing up in the early 70's and your best friend's dad had one of the finest soul/funk collections on the planet.

Ok, this was a Megalast color that WetnWild put out in these eensie teensie bottles some time after they'd abandoned their tall rectangular bottles of a full 15 mL. These 9 mL bottles barely caught my notice, but I did see this one on the sale rack and had to have it.

WetnWild now has a new iteration on the Megalast bottle. On eBay there are a ton of this color in the new bottle. Not sure if it's still at the drug stores or not!


Next I took a bottle of NYX Girls polish, CN244, a deep gray glitter and popped a coat over it:

Sadly NYX dumped that line. Even before they stopped it, this bottle with the little faux diamond that is so cute was an earlier version of the "girls" line until it was finally a goner.

Man, I miss these NYX girl polishes. I don't have many, but every one I do have is such a win. I don't have a cool gunmetal glitter except for this one. It's fabulous. Of course in our current trend of crazy cool glitters, this one may seem tame, but it's pretty unique as far as glitter shades.

Clear base and a medium sized hex. Nice!

I love how it pulls light purple on the red-purple of Through The Grapevine.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!