Charmingly Purple

 ILNP, the very successful boutique brand, has been curating tidy little collections of loveliness for about 10 years now.

I have been remiss in posting, but here's a beauty.

 A scattered holo that, in three coats, really showed up as a softened blue tinted purple. Delightful.

Still available at ILNP.com

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Blurple Semi Holographic: ILNP Mila

 Pretty steely blurple that has a lot of metallic texture, and some scant holo.

Pretty and full of metallic holo pieces that do a semi-holo scattered finish that is hard to capture.

Here is a shot under flash:

Three coats. 

My camera pulls pretty warm, I guess it's trying to compensate for the flash. It's not got a gold flash.

You can see some of the holo on the pinky and the bottle.

I have mixed feelings. Pretty, but the holo payoff doesn't warrent all the stuff mitigating the purple. 

I know. Fussy!

This is still available at ILNP!

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Hot Summer

Oh yes, talking about the weather. Not.

Here's Esmaltes da Kelly's Hella Handmade Creations from June 2020:

 Loads of holo and blue glitter in a bath of holo particles.

It's very much a "fun in the sun" polish, and a bit shy under my lamp.

I mostly know Esmaltes da Kelly from stamping plates and polishes, but she definitely turns in some beauties on the Hella Handmade Customs and Polish Pickup.

Thanks for reading my nail polish journal!

The Subtle Party

[Insert clever Hank Williams New Orleans Song Quote] 

This is a beautiful polish by Fair Maiden called Fais Do Do. It's from a blog sale and further research reveals it was from a "polish con" event. 

Let's get into the swatches:

Two coats over a nude, that you can see on the pinkie finger, and a pretty lavender with some holo and flakies and some color shifting pigment.

I love the pastel shade and here it is out of focus so you can see the holo:

The holo is gentle, but not shy. It's not a wildly holo, but the beautiful pastel quality is just amazing. 

I feel kind of silly posting "virtually impossible to find" polishes, but I am determined to get this stuff swatched!

Thanks so much 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!

Of Gleams and Songs

Whenever I get a polish with a pop culture reference it's safe to say I need to look it up.

Native War Paints The Gleam In Your Eyes Is So Familiar from Polish Pickup 2018 was no exception.

In fact if it weren't for searching I would have guessed "modern era vampire/monster/paranormal franchise".

The hook in Video Games got me, too, so at least I'm not "whooo??" (insert clip art of granny in a rocking chair with square glasses and a gray bun).

Meanwhile, why haven't I worn this delight sooner?

A delightful pink rose with some lavender tossed in, my flash photo here doesn't show the perfectly beautiful blue glass fleck that gives a pronounced blue flash.

I am mesmerized.

Easy three coats, and a healthy holo with a scatter that leans toward a nice soft flame of warmth.


I am crazy about the formula, too. Dried very nicely, three days later I am seeing no wear or any issues.

For some reason I don't have a lot of this brand, why I do not know!

It was a one off for the Polish Pickup (www.polishpickup.com) back in 2018 (August).
If you aren't familiar with this check it out, it's a pop up type shop with limited edition samplings from an ogling array of makers. You may want to hide your credit cards. Shipping is a flat $3.

Don't blame me if you are gazing at your nails and sipping ramen broth for a few weeks.

Just saying!

Oh and Native War Paints does have an offering this month (check it out here).

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Emily de Molly Reflection

Here is a semi-green, a blue clover green that pulled extremely blue when photographed.

Pretty as can be and two coats that were super easy to use.

A scattered flame and a readiness to show holo makes this such a win. Not a huge fireball of holo, but a beautiful shade and a respectable holo showing.

Playing with my old Lumix because it can be easier to use and does a better photo than the iPhone.

I am loving my A6000 by Sony, but the quickie jpeg file is too small and so frustrating. Perhaps it's just me and the menus. eep.

Here is some polygel info, and a photo I normally would ditch, but there is a great image of polygel "snot"

Take a look at the index finger up in the left hand corner. This is a result of the slip breaking down polygel and causing it to get on your skin. It is interesting how slip (what is basically perfumed alcohol and acetone) must be balanced: too much and you get this, too little and the brush just grabs on and causes brush marks. 

This goes away after a while, but really shows that I got a bit zealous. This was my non-dominant hand applying it and control was an issue.

Meanwhile, liking the more flattened polygel enhancements and loving the much easier grow out: less obvious and easier to fill.

Filing is also mitigated because there is less of a hump.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!!!

GREEEEEEEEENS FOR MAAAAAARCH!!

Yes, yes, yesssss...you've tolerated liverish shades for long enough.

Here's an emerald green from Colors by Llarowe: It's Your Destiny.

One coat. One. I am so serious.

It's juicy and luscious.

It isn't a scatter, but it's flame is blue, and my phone camera did it no justice, zero.

It's in the sun here, and though a little blown out, it gets the gist of things.

Dense formula that was highly forgiving in my growing out polygel, and this is without cleanup it was a little flow-y, but not over-flowing and it is a bit challenging on an uneven surface. I did a stand up job, to be honest.

Here it is under a lamp:

I put this on back on the 3rd and am still wearing it. I used Seche Vive and a mix in of some other top coats, and after a lot of use, am experiencing tip wear, but I am typing on my tips sometimes.

I can't fault this. 

It's from the 2017 August Polish of The Month. If you love green, you need to find this one, wow. A pretty stunning color.

Keep an eye on blog sales. I have nothing that approaches a dupe in the holo arena.

Sorry for the full on drool, but it's really that nice.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Pahlish To-to-ro? and Don Deeva Stripper Glitter

Polish names always make me laugh, but I thought the combination of such a wholesome household nameas Totoro from Studio Ghibli and Don Deeva's offering was kind of a hoot.

Very simple, Pahlish To-to-ro? is a sweet mauve with a dash of holo that spices things up. There is a pink shimmer along for the ride, too. It is from the December Polish Pickup, it's theme Enchanted Forest. I think of shadowy glens and perhaps a few fungi and ferns as well.

I think that the Don Deeva Stripper Glitter is amazing.

This is a more shadowed photo with daylight corrected light. It shows the Don Deeva off very well.

With flash now, the soft grayed out lilac is apparent.

Three coats of Pahlish, two of Don Deeva

More flash...what's not to love.


Find these on blog sales or Facebook destash or swap trade pages for the various purchasing groups.

Not impossibly obscure to franken, but a delight to have.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Portal Referenced Pahlish

I love Pahlish, an indie if you are not familiar with the brand, and so I will happily accept the polish names that have so little that relate to my life and understanding.

All I know is that this one, Material Emancipation Grill, refers to a game called Portal.

I think I heard about it years ago, but, truthfully, forgot.

My gaming tastes are more to Backgammon (I play on a phone app, and so far have maintained my own, a top 25 player) and Oxyd (you can find a dos emulator, and it is a very tricky game, that is so simple).

Here's Material Emancipation Grill

This is a favorite. It is from the October Polish Pickup Pack and I kind of wish I had a backup!

Delightful.

Three easy coats, not top coat. Look at that pink shimmer!

The deep hydrangea blue shifts a bit, and I couldn't catch it.


A side note: I am really just fed up with looking like an Oompa Loompa in my photos. I am not that orange!!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Up With Up Colors

Digging around through my holos and found a couple I think I partially blogged (here), but didn't really show the polish alone. A nice stamping holo, due to the fact that it's not scant on the nail after you've stamped it.

Up Colors is a Brazilian brand that I managed to get when holos were still not a thing again here in the US.

Seems like it has old "big 3" and is pretty smelly, but it is a scattered holo and there is a good density.

All are without a top coat.

Azul Disco

Beautiful peacock blue with lots of holo scattered about.

Two coats. Very good coverage.

Here is another photo:

This is more subdued, but it's a beautiful shade.

Verde 350 Degrees

Very amazing.

Almost a flame. This is two coats, too.

Another shot:

This is more of a washed out image, it's such a great shade of green.

I couldn't find any Up Colors anything, even translating into Portuguese and finding some Pinterest pages didn't really yield much.

I know they weren't cheap for me, and I think I've tried to blog sale them, but now I am keeping them for stamping.

Well the green one is a standout!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Taffeta Darling, by Indigo Bananas

Let's get to it!

Indigo Bananas is a fabulous indie with a great eye and a fun suitcase of ideas I love to see get unpacked.

Here's an oldie, Taffeta Darling.

A grayed down gentle lavender that is composed of a glass fleck and a holo that is called a "glass fleck holo chrome".

Still available, by the way on the Indigo Bananas site.

It's so dusty and gentle, it reminds me of the hand tinted photos of grandmother in her suits in those impossibly perfect outfits people wore for simple errand running and shopping.

In the shade you can see the chrome a lot more.

I think my photos just don't do it justice, but it's not a purple monster, it's so delightfully demure by comparison to many others.

My nails were still growing out ans showing the hard won effort of my enthusiastic filling to get this long.

Pure delight wearing this guy.


I thought I'd stamp over the top using Hard Candy Rumor Mill.

While I am not 100% sure I like the intensity of the design, or the shade. I like how the holo peeks out. I don't know if I will add Rumor Mill to stamping polishes yet. It did handle pretty well, but it's not opaque so it feels a little muddy.

Meanwhile here's the delightful plate:

Found on eBay and a really nice bunch of designs. I used the square in the top center, it's so big, but really worked out.


Altogether I love how Indigo Bananas made this finish and used such a subtle shade of almost oyster purple.

I think this plate may no longer on eBay, but the water marbling design is plenty available with a simple search. There are many of these designs around, too, which is pretty neat.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Nubar Gem

Here's another one from the vault of oldies that I needed to swatch.

I think this came from a blog sale years ago.

It's a lovely polish, a maroon/taupe with holo glitter.

Here it is:

Three coats and definitely a bit slow to dry on me. I won't say I don't like it, but it seems like it's not giving me the payoff that I really wanted for the effort.

This is a shimmery metallic mixed with holo and so it can't be too dense or you won't see holo, you will see lumps. They do a good job.

I looked around for Nubar but found a couple Facebook pages and very little else. If they're in business, it's not in the retail nail polish business. Interesting.

This is probably around online at various places to buy All The Things, but really, it seems like it's hard to find any more.

I love the warm shimmer, I love the holo. A pretty finish combination.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Milani 3D Holographic

I think these came out in late 2009 or early 2010.

There are six polishes in this sweet little scattered holographic collection. A few months ago I did swatch one of them and though, DANG! I need to do the rest!!



Here we go! (No top coats, btw!)


Milani 3D 510

Two coats of Solid Gold Dancer loveliness.

A combination of lamp and flash brings out the sparkle and some scant holographic.

If you love gold, and I confess I do, this one is a treat.



Milani Cyberspace 512

Beautiful watery aqua blue. Love the coverage but was three coats this time. No worries. The payoff is beautiful.

Perhaps my favorite!



Milani Hi-Res 514

Plum purple that pulls warmer on my nails.

Three necessary coats, but the job was done. Nice!



Milani HD 513

Three coats and just divine. This is under lamp and flash, but at an angle to really pick up the holo.

I love this one so much.

Unlike the rest, this seems to have large holo and some smaller holo, so it has a little bit more of a flash.



Milani Hi-Tech 511

This delightful peridot is a three coater and shot with a flash, strong flash.

I love it and it was such a nice one to wear.



Milani Digital 513

Three coats, but really a bit more sheer than I'd have liked.

This pink coral warmed up on my fingers, but didn't disappoint in the soft scattered flash department.


I tried it as a topper over Sally Hansen Sultry Fuchsia

Sultry Fuchsia is a bit deeper and ranges more into the berry shade, but you can see the base in the Milani is sheer and virtually vanishes and the holo particles just scatter around and behave like a holo topper.


There you have it, a set of very well considered holos.

These are available on eBay and Big South American River, and fairly affordable.

They were the beginnings of holo after a hiatus and so everyone was excited.

For my part I'd say I love some more than others, but they all do a nice job for scatters.



Wanted to add a side note: during the summer my nails grew very long and I was so happy that a lot of the damage from Polygel had grown out.

Sadly I had a big break, and discovered that at their longest (back in the CbL Marilyn post) they were too weak to support the length and were subject to flipping backwards (the nails-on-a-chalkboard feeling for me).

I then discovered a smile crack that ran through the lower 1/3rd of my middle finger, so I knew I bent something forward, but I also didn't realize I'd cracked the nail in the bed so far down. Yikes.

Where am I going? Well, last night I reapplied the Polygel. Muscle memory kicked in and it wasn't super hard to apply, even with my non-dominant hand.

The support is just something I will use for a while and it does make things more 'firm' in my nail, so it's less mobile.

Next steps of course: work on filing, work on less thickness, and work on maintaining a length that feels good.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

So Nice, I Wore It Twice

Somehow in my surfing, I picked up Colors By Llarowe Marilyn The Legend in a destash. This is a Polish Pickup 2017 offering and quite a lovely pink packed with loads of holo microflakies (I am not sure what the term for these are, but it's glass fleck sized holo flakies)

This is a beautiful pink, but a little bit of an application issue for me. 

Here it is in May:

This is in sunshine. I love the holos, but they really don't produce holo, but a glassy metallic random reflection now and again.

Three coats - necessary - and my cuticle flooded pinkie shows that the applicator (me) is less than perfect.

Here it is in early August:

This is under my lamp, so it's a little brighter pink. I would say that this is the perfect pink summer polish.

I will say I did have issues with some of the application, but not impossible. I didn't do cleanup, again, so you can see did soup around a bit.

I may move this along. I am not 100% in love with the formula, though I own my application errors, the visible nail line after three coats was frustrating.

I wanted to add that I had a bad break on my pinkie after this and had to cut things down. The weird thing was that my middle finger had a shallow "smile" crack along the middle, so while it didn't go all the way through, it certainly wasn't a healthy looking thing. I am going to pop the polygel on this weekend.

This one you may find around destashes, it's a gorgeous pink, that's for sure!!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!!

Beam Me Up! By Essence

Essence Out of Space Stories was a fun, little, and affordable collection that came out in 2017. I have to admit that it's about the first Essence collection I grabbed, and I don't think all the ones they had on their US site were the same as in store or on their EU site, so go figure.

Though, I am happy with what I found, even if the duochromes are a little unimpressive after comparing them to my old Sally Hansen and the various indie offerings.

Here is a real win, though, Essence Beam Me Up!

Here in the sunshine it's a red leaning pink with a scattered holo that doesn't really flash as strong as I'd hoped, but it's a pretty shimmer that does catch the light enough to give a pretty semi-rainbow effect when conditions are right.


Here it is under lamp and flash:

Much more pink with the blue correcting light of the flash and a daylight corrected lamp. this is a few weeks later when I wore it again.

Two coats and I was good. The brush was a little small and wonky, so that's a bit of a let down.

Since I had such good luck with application, first coat is a great covering coat, I wanted to try stamping with it.

Here it is over white. I am using my Moyou London Plate Arabesque 03. Moyou, by the way, just rocks.

I had some wobble issues, but the plate stamped beautifully. I used a soft jelly stamp, one I found on eBay. These pick up very well, but man, they will "float" if you are not spot on.

As a stamping polish, perfection!!! It pulls so neon over the white! Surprise win!


Essence no longer carries this line in their US or EU site. In fact their EU site seems to have lines that are not carried here in the US. As a side note the the US site has Catrice makeup. Dang! If only they would carry Catrice polish!!!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Stamping it Up

Wanted to play with a stamping with a holographic, but haven't had one I wanted to sacrifice to the stamping gods.

I'd gotten a couple of Up Colors polishes in a huge sale from an online etailer quite some time ago and wanted to used them. I quickly discovered that they were very un-three free (dibutyl phthalate) and I figured I needed to just use it up.

Here it is over Zoya Zanna

I think it's a good stamping polish. I used a negative space plaid and though there are some gaps, it did a nice job.

Zoya Zanna, wow, what a gorgeous orchid pink, I love it a lot. I must have purchased it during a sale, but I love it a lot. Went on like a charm.

Up Colors is out of south america, but I am not sure if it's a Brazilian brand. I know that it's not a super unique holo. I have it in blue (here) and green. It does have a strong holo, so the color is subservient to the holographic power.

Thanks so much for reading my little nail polish journal!

Soft Glam

The Australian indie Glam Polish has turned my head since I first discovered them.

I have a lot, I mean a lot. Most are holo. I've had one that at first was a dud, but I've reswatched it and it needs to be reblogged because over black it is much better.

Meanwhile, here is a pretty scattered holo in a hyacinth blue called Glam Batch #2.

Three coats, but two are just fine.

An easy formula.

This scattered holo has also a blue shimmer and a lot of purple pigment.

The batches were polishes that weren't out in an officially named collection capacity, sort of like shopping the back room: it's there, it's a test, and it's gone.

This is a beautiful shade with the side note of holo and holo flakes. Then the blue shimmer. Nice!


If you want this one, check out blog sales and people destashing.

Glam Polish has a tonne of gorgeous stuff, though!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish blog!

Milani Scattered Holo

When Milani threw out their small 6-piece collection it was fairly low key news. This was before the indies hit the ground running and killed it with a ton of linear holos, also prior to the Color Club holos which were fairly epic.

I know that there is also the fact that it wasn't super traditional holo, but a very subtle scattered type of holographic.

I have them and I love how they look, but they do need sunshine to really get them to sing.

Here's my last entry for Greens for March, Milani High Tech:

I love the peridot jeweltone and it's gorgeous.

Three coats, no top coat and a combination of flash and lamp bring out the scattered holo beauty.

It's a challenge to wear this holo in anything other than good lighting, but it yields a gorgeous result.

Still available on eBay, which is a nice thing. 

Thanks so much for reading my little nail polish journal!

Old, Yet New

Nubar Reclaim

Two coats and quite the luminous glow The flam is mostly green and blue with some gold around the edges. It's metaphoric!

I love how it looks and have been wearing the heck out of it all day.

My nails are still recovering, but this really just made my day.

Nubar seems to have circled the drain. I see it on Walmart, though. I have seen it on Beautylish. I am a little confused. They did have some questionable collaborations with reality television that did not enhance the brand one single bit.
Sadly they no longer have their own website and their facebook looks more like a wealthy lifestyle type of thing now.

However fear not. The indies have your back. There are a ton of beautiful holographic greens out there now. KBshimmer comes to mind. I think that with some poking around you can find a lot of dupes for this one, but I also think it might pop up on eBay, etc, too.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!