Pink for Spring

 Here is Pahlish Suzie, Do You Copy? Which I believe refers to a television show.

Three coats

It's a frothy pink shimmer and flakie combo with a very strong blue flash:

I am pretty sure I didn't capture it very well, but you get a drift of the blue shimmer. 

It's an older one, from 2019's For The Love of Polish Box. FtLoP box is a trio of polishes curated as a monthly sale on the Polished for Days site. It's the first week of each month with Polished for Days and Pahlish holding down the fort and a guest creator adding the third polish. There is a theme and often it's a nice trio. Worth checking out a Polished For Days. 

I love the doll pink verging on coral around the edges along with the blue. Nice!

You may be able to find this on a blog sale or perhaps a Facebook sales page. 

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Of Wands and Spells and Things

 Here is a sweet polish from Glam from a Potions and Spells collection that references Harry Potter.

Having not read any of the book nor seen any of the movies the reference is lost on me, but that doesn't deny that this is a beautiful polish!

Collection came out in 2019 and is now no longer on Glam's website. I love Glam a lot, but this was the only one that I knew I needed.

Glam Vulnera Sanentur translates to "wounds being healed" (thank you https://en.eprevodilac.com)

Three coats and very shiny metallic gold flakes and iridescent flakes awash in a sanguine hue that leaves me delighted!

Here is another shot:

Contextually I have no clue. My background is in things like "Le Morte d'Arthur". Though there could be a metaphor tying it all to the famed "dolorous stroke"

Honestly who knows and most people don't nor care, so enjoy the polish!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Brighten UP

 Bluebird Lacquer is a brand I know from Polish Pickup but I am not certain where I got this one, as my research shows it was for another "special finish" kind of group, so I may have gotten this on a blog sale. Hmm. As my collection burgeons and shifts, I really am trying to play catch up.

The polish is Can't Pee Tamed, a play on the moniker "Unicorn Pee" which is a nickname for the red to green shifting mica pigment that is both rare, and yet, oddly, somewhat rather prevalent. For being out of stock, I still see it popping up everywhere.

In most images you will find (if you google it) that it is rather deep, so maybe the blue in mine faded because it's decidedly a red shade. Though I did put it over Sally Hansen Salon Manicure in Cyclamen (old, discontinued square bottles) that really pushed it brighter.

I really can't see the Red/Green shift as much, but here's another shot:

You can see the flashes of red. And you can see in the bottle it's really not very dark at all, but certainly cooler.

I believe this is two coats over the Sally Hansen Cyclamen. 

It's got some pretty flakies inside as well, that add to the dimension.

I think this is one of those "you need to find it on a blogsale" kind of polishes. Sigh!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Fair Neon Green

Let's jump in.

Fair Maiden Limey Bean:

Neon green fluorescent shade with a red/orange to green flakie (the traditional flakie) that is densely packed and has some large enough sizes to show up with a pop.

Now a few caveats. I did put mine over white. It is definitely a BRIGHT LIME GREEN that makes no apologies. Love it!

It needed 4 coats to get real opacity, but I think three might have done well enough. 

I'd almost be upset if the formula wasn't so absolutely great. I mean GREAT. You all know I wrestle with stuff that won't dry on me, but does well on others. Well I am wearing the heck out of this baby and zero tip wear (my biggest bugaboo with natural nails) and not a dents.

My layers are:

• Two coats of a ridgefiller frankened with a nude
• Two coats of white frankened with a base coat to sheer it out very slightly and make managing the polish better. 
• Four coats of Fair Maiden Limey Bean

That is a lot of coats. I know. 

On my left hand the ridges on my ring finger are so popping that this didn't even do a good job, but on my right hand all is well.

Normally I would have given up and trashed it because I know I would have gotten a mark, a scrape, or a dent in the polish, but no, nothing. 

Neons are tricky as can be and this one is in the realm, but Fair Maidens formula dried well, never got fussy over the top of the ridgefiller (thin applications and dried well) and the white polish (same process).

YAY!!!

This was from the Polish Pickup from May 2020. A bright spot in a dark year.

It may show up on a blog sale or or facebook destach post. I really recommend this a lot. I have a handful of neons in comparison to many of the polishes I own and that's because they are not really giving me much win.

Thanks again for reading my little nail polish journal.

Money, Success, and Layering

Green, green, green. I love it.

Here is a great one, Revlon ColorStay Gel Envy High Stakes:

Two coats of a cool mountain green. These are great for stamping and I pulled this one out of the stamping drawer to wear.

No top coat here, but lots of love. A faint shimmer visible on the bottle, but not really on the nail, unless I give it the blast of light.

Still found on eBay, and worth the price.

I topped it with ILNP Success:

Bright grass green to silver shift, that has a pink shift in there, too. Not really easy to see. 

This is two coats, and I love ILNP, but sometimes they don't make the most dense flakies. The now closed Indigo Bananas really was the best at this. As a topper, it's just right. If you need coverage, you need to sponge the flakies on.

I did put them over white to see them a bit better:

Two coats again. The green to silver is super apparent, but the pink is really toward the tips and more difficult to see in my photo.

I've got a color corrected Lumi cube that has been a blast, but shifty polishes are still a bit of a challenge.

I recommend hunting down the old Revlon ColorStay Gel Envy, I think only a couple haven't been able to be used as stamping polishes and the formula is both easy to work with and dries much better than the old Revlon formula. Now they've rebooted the line: fewer polishes and a new label. They've added another one called HD Snap!, which seems like a quick dry type in bright colors.

Meanwhile ILNP still has Success and eBay is your stop for old Revlon Gel Envy.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Many Joyful Things Combined

Nailed It! is an indie maker based out of Hawaii, and their shop is a treat.

I found this polish on the monthly Hella Handmade Creations site last year. It's a monthly limited edition buying site with a window of time to shop, though they offer holdovers of extra stock in inventory.

It's small and curated and lovely to see the excellence present. I highly suggest checking it out.

This polish is based on Howl's Moving Castle, a Studio Ghibli gem of a an animated film about a wizard and his saving grace, Sophie. A Heart's a Heavy Burden is actually a quote from the climax of the film, and this polish does a wonderful job embracing it.

A Heart's a Heavy Burden by Nailed It!:

A shifty blurple, full of pink and blue shifting glitter and a lot of holographic sparkle.

I have three coats, no top coat.

Here is a blurry holo shot:

Hard to fault this medley of holo, flakie, and even shimmery polish.

Check out Nailed It! And Hella Handmade Creations as there really are a lot of goodies still available and coming up. I love how the makers create their own themes and work their magic. 

I completely adore this polish and while it's a limited edition gone the way of the dodo, it may show up on a sale site on facebook or someone's instagram or blog sale. Hard to say. 

The homage to Howl and his heart is perfection. Simply lovely.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

A Little Green Sparkle If You Please

Pop Polish "I'll Grow Back"

I put a couple coats over a Milani silver glitter to add to the sparkle.

Lovely metallic flake with large platinum flakes that take no prisoners.

It feels like a holiday polish with the red and blue and some gold, but it's just beautiful.

Here is an indoor shot:

Better under the indoor lights for my iPhone, that's for sure!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Happy Hooooowloween!

Here is a quick delight: Fair Maiden Mind Freak over the top of Color Club Orange Revenge.

The shards are all metallic orange, but when the light doesn't reflect back to the eye/camera, they turn black and it's a great combo.

This is two coats of Mind Freak over the top of two coats of Orange Revenge. I love this a lot!!!

Wanted to add, I put polygel on to my nails, of course the chase begins with filing and shaping, but I like the way they look right now, nubs be darned!

Thanks so much for reading my little nail polish journal!

Marching Forward, Carrying the Old on Our Shoulders

Here's a kitchen sink of layering that I won't say didn't turn out just right.



Here's a combo that I really enjoyed:

This is in the sunshine.

I admit my cuticles are so dry, many apologies.

It's so weird how my camera couldn't pick up the depth and play with the flakies.

The layers:

• Revlon Top Speed Emerald
• Color Club Lady Liberty (blogged here)
• Sally Hansen Aisle Be there (blogged here)
• Finger Paints Motley

I really liked it.
Sally Hansen Aisle Be There is a pretty oddly shaped flake, almost a semi glitter, like a flake of pearl or something akin to it, I have nothing like it, really. Sadly this whole line has gone the way of the Dodo. You might find it at the dollar place, or ebayland. You never know. Worth a look. Unique.

Here's Revlon Emerald all alone:

I call this more of a Kelly green, but it works out as a nice base.

And now we have it with Color Club Lady Liberty:

I confess this was the scene-stealer for me! I wore this for several days and just adored it. Well done Color Club!

Here it is again:

Here it is with flash. Loved this a lot.



Thanks so much for reading my little nail journal!

Pop Culture

Pop Polish has been quietly performing in the indie world and selling on Etsy for quite some time.

A few years ago I made and order and my eyes are still bugging out of my head.

There are constantly turning out stunning collections, retaining great mainstays, and gardening the world of color, flash, and iridescence for polish fans like me.

I was particularly excited to see Pop now working with Hell Handmade Creations. HHC, located here, is one of those great limited run sale sites. So you have a short window in which to buy a one off polish made especially for the sale. This exposure to more indie buyers is great.

I found a wonderful flakie combo of UCC flakes, holo shards, micro gliltters and some shiftiness I couldn't catch on my photos.

Here's I'll Grow Back:

Two coats over an Elevation polish that is medium green (I keep forgetting to write down the name of the polishes. Never fear, I am keeping a journal now, so I won't be grabbing at air like this again!!!)

I really love the party going on here.

Here's another photo:

The red sparkles against the green cause my heart to thrum. Very beautiful.

There is a lovely large silver flakie that is a perfect accent. 

Here's an out of focus shot so you can get the drift a bit better:

I wore this for a solid week, no topcoat redo's and it was just as perfect day one.

Removal wasn't difficult, either.

You may find this on a blog sale, its not part of the regular Pop lineup, but they have a lot of great stuff, so do check them out!

Thanks again for reading my little nail polish journal!

Moonstruck

Illyrian Moonchild is a delightful flakie rich sheer polish that is Tiffany blue.

I put it over SinfulColors Mint2BCool, a blue mint creme with a small blue glass fleck running through it.

They complement each other well.

Here's the combo:

The pink and blue opalescence of the flakies is best under a focused light like flash, halogen or good ol' sunshine.

I am crazy about it!

Here you can see that it is more subtle if the pink iridescence doesn't pick up:

I am a little star struck by this brand, so it's hard to be biased. 

My only real bias is that I love translucent or light flakies and I am not going to blog too many contrasting flakies, but I have a ton I need to layer, so just shut up, right?

Meanwhile, the shop is re-opening the 27th of July, so you may enjoy this fairy tale of a shade.

Not affiliated, just a fan.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal.