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!

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!

Mining the Past: Color Club Love 'Em Leave 'Em

When I first got into nail polish I had a terrible habit of buying Color Club collections because they were so inexpensive.

I think part of it was fandom for several great bloggers and also Ross had them for super cheap.

The bloggers have moved on, Ross seems to have as well (heck even Color Club!)

Yet I still have drawers of untrieds.

Here is one from a 2009 or 2010 Color Club Wild at Heart collection called Love 'Em Leave 'Em:

I topped it with a virtually invisible Revlon Glimmer Gloss Banana Blaze.

I couldn't catch any glass fleck pops, nor did I really get a handle on the very subtle holo flame.

I call this scattered, but it does produce a faint warm red/orange flame that is a delight.

I think in order to emulate the current indie trend of multiple layers of depth, I'd have to layer it (It's two coats, pretty dense, so not really a good direction) or add a lot more Glimmer Gloss.

Many people call this a nude, it definitely is a golden nude. I will be moving this over to my stamping polishes because it covers very well.

Polygel Notes

I'm adding this section to just pass along things I learn.

A few things in this post.

Thickness

I notice that thickness is an issue. Since this photo, I've been filing with a coarse file (not labeled, but pretty coarse, 150? Who knows I know only from sanding my deck!) It removes a lot of bulk and helps them be less "bubble" shaped.

Lifting

In the past I didn't have much lifting, but now that I am polishing my nails more, I do get it between fills. Historically I found that it never produced a problem, but about two weeks ago, I had a lot, so I soaked and removed Polygel from 5 nails (different hands) and reapplied it. It took forever. For. EVAH! I mean after 3-4 solid hours, I had to slap on a nude and just deal with reapplication the following day. I so wanted an electric drill!

Reapplied and though I have a touch of lifting, I am not seeing as much. I will play around with some super glue, though, or something that can just prevent moisture from getting under the nail.

That brings me to...

Brown Spots

Prior to Thanksgiving, I had found that the natural nail under the Polygel that was on my pinky had somehow came undone. It was firm against the nail because it was past my nail bed, so in the 1/3 inch that extended past my bed - free edge -  the nail could be pulled away and would snap back.

I thought nothing of this, but a few days later the nail was in need of replacement, and somehow was tender. I removed the Polygel and found these light brown spots that caused divits in the nail bed. I discovered it was a bacteria making a home. Yikes.

Cleaned it up, filed it down, and haven't had a problem since. This is why if I have lifting, I file/soak it off. No easy access parties for the bacteria!

That's all for now, I like the more flat profile, I think it looks better than the old ones (above), but it's still a learning curve for shaping and filing. 

Thanks for reading my nail polish journal!

Prim and Proper

Bye and bye I knew that Zoya would produce a blue that I would love so much.

Prim is just that shade.

Prim is a beautiful metallic "velvet" blue according to Zoya. I call it a dusty cornflower, or muted periwinkle.

Metallic is a tough finish. The particles are super fine, so it can show brushstrokes, which mine definitely does. It also shows flaws, so in a lot of ways it's like a chrome. I think this is why I love foils, because you get the metal, but a highly forgiving finish!

I think it shows my old nail damage too much, so I tossed on a couple coats of Sally Hansen Hard as Nails Watermelon Crystal, a sheer glass fleck.

Prim would be wonderful for stamping, it just covers so well.

Zoya has been kicking up the colors. For me they've replaced OPI as my "go-to" for exciting collections and interesting salon brand finishes.

Their sales - which seem to be at least two big ones a year at this point - bring their price point much lower than most drug store brands, save just a few. I will say that they are worth a look. I buy through the sales and though turnaround is often a product of high volume, I get the loot and life is good.


I will be stamping more, it's just that my nails are a really wonky and weird, so I am just pushing through until things grow out more.


Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Layering Surprises

When I layer polishes and discover something completely new, it really makes my day.

The base is a franken I made from a polish called Revlon Snow Bunny (blogged here) that ended up looking like a dupe of China Glaze Blue Island Ice Tea (blogged here)  but less sheer.

A blue that I made from adding some Pacific Blue and a few other things, but ending up a pale glass fleck that was quite pretty.

Here's the result:

This is two coats, but it really covers, so I have a lot love for this little glass fleck bomb.


Then I added about 2 layers of SinfulColors Pinkie Glitter. It's an iridescent small and micro glitter in a bright pink jelly base.

Suddenly my polish was a beautiful blue lavender. What? Hello!

I loved this so much I wore it for 3 days then redid it and wore again for another four. Wow.

Topped it all off with Cover Girl City Lights (akin to Revlon Holographic Pearls) and couldn't stop staring at it for the whole week.


Here's a third iteration showing Different layers:

Left to right:
One coat SC Pinky Glitter
Two coats SC Pinky Glitter
Three coats SC Pinky Glitter
Four coats SC Pinky Glitter
(all topped with CG City Lights)

The thing is that you can see how it goes from blurple to a lavender. This photo doesn't show the change as well, but you can see that two to three coats really seals the deal.


The best part, that isn't imparted in my photos is that the glitter layers and plays hide and seek beneath the holo topper.

Mesmerizing.

Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!

Trio of Color Club Toppers

Back in 2014 Color Club did a "Made in New York" holiday collection. I only picked up the toppers, as the bases felt all to frosty and far too familiar in my collection.

I've blogged three here, with some new-to-the-blog bases, with a hold out for another day.

Big post, so enjoy!

First up is Lady Liberty.
She's a green glass fleck that pushes into a neon seafoam shade. I've never seen seafoam in any shade of green, but hey, it's a color that seems to be tres popular, wouldn't be surprised if Pantone brings it on next year.

Her it is over a deep green.

This is a rebottling of a trio of Walmart no name minis that came out years and years ago for their Halloween costume section. I snapped them up and truth be told, it's hard to top this green. Maybe Essie Going Incognito.

Here it is alone:

As a topper, Lady Liberty works very well. It needed another outing, I think it's a great polish.


Here is Lady Liberty over IBD Cashmere Cutie, a purply orchid pink.

Since it is glass fleck instead of shimmer, it picks up the light much more readily than say a Pure Ice Heart Breaker. The green is less visible in this finish when the bright light hits it.
If I were trying to get a strong green effect over pink, I'd probably layer both.

Meanwhile, zero complaints on this one. If you only get one of this set, this is the one, it's the most unique of the bunch.


Next is Color Club Concrete Jungle

I put this over Zoya Frenzy.
Concrete Jungle is a silvery topper, fairly dense, with a combination of colors like pink, blue and a smattering of green. I find it a bit of a muddy silver with a pull into the aqua territory.

Here is Hard Candy Frenzy alone. It's a nice little polish, it's got a deep turquoise thing going on and I really haven't found one Hard Candy that disappoints. It's yet another winner.

Three easy coats and a glossy finish! Available on eBay and worth the price!


Here is Concrete Jungle over Elle Elle/Elle2Elle/LDL 207. A beautiful red creme I don't think I've blogged before, but doesn't seem to have its own photo.

You can see the density of the topper means that it can looks a little patchy: going on thicker here and there, so it is helpful to either thin or use it over a similar shade. Over the blue, I love, over the red, I'm not seeing a much excitement You can see the blue and pink in there, but it's scant.



Finally Color Club Million Dollar Listing

Here it is over OPI You Don't Know Jacques

A pretty golden sand shade that has beautiful pink shift that is hard to capture.

I find OPI YDKJ to be more of a yellow based taupe, and this works out very well.


Here's a better combo: over Essie Topless and Barefoot

Here the soft gold shimmer plays up nicely in the light. I'd call this "office ok" sparkle.

Very nice!!  I definitely recommend this pretty sandy champagne shade.


There is a pink one, Bright Lights, Big City that I'll post soon. It's pretty as well.

Thank you for reading my little nail polish journal!

Purple on Purple

I blogged about Maybelline Colorama's Purple Party here.

It's a kind of frosty, a bit sheer and kind of walking that line between a layering coat and just needing undies.

I used Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme as a base then lobbed on two coats of Purple Party, finally topped it with Tru Passion from Color Club's Glitter Vixen collection.

Enough chatter, to the pix.

Because the black brings out the blue - though my photo pulls a bit more blue, it's slightly more lavender - the Tru Passion shows up as almost a pink on the top.
Cool combo!

This is after about 4 days of wear. I must confess I'm impressed by the wear here, too.

Tru Passion has a lavender purple glitter and a tiny sprinkle of holo thrown in.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

When Layering Goes Ooooh! AAaaaah!!!

Flip the bad into good. Make lemonade. Carpe Nail Polish! ("sieze the nail polish!")

We had a spate of rain. As an aside, around here it's dry farming. Elevation is about 2500 feet, so winters are cold and summer hot, but it cools off nicely at night. There is wheat, beans and lentils (are lentils beans? Heck if I know, but they are tasty with cracked wheat!) out here by the mile. When I ride after harvest it's like the face of the moon in a cut wheat field, and I can go for several miles before I see another road.
Rolling hills means it's not the plains, but a unique geology of deep soil layered over basalt. Many geologists actually come here because there is so much geological history.

When a rain storm comes in, it comes from the west or south west and it often starts with wind, then lightening and thunder. A couple years ago in June we got 2 inches of snow. Hail is almost always the preamble to a bit of rain if a thunder storm brings it in.

By the time it settles in, you've been smelling the rain for at least an hour and, know it's been coming and it's a calm lull as the rain patters down, like a lullaby.

Here's my layering homage to rainstorms with hail and a bit of a kick.

Start with a 3 coat layer of WetnWild Rain Check. A gray periwinkle (Periwinkle? Did someone say periwinkle? Now I've got three bottles of it!)
A few bubbles, and very faint on the first coat. I was worried, but it built up nicely. Shimmer frost? It's a little frosty for sure.

Then I layered on a coat of Maybelline Silver Spells. Someone on the MUA NB posted a manicure with Silver Spells and it was a HOT lemming of mine, I was lucky to find it on eBay.
One coat. And you could probably put any silver hex glitter, the new Revlon glitters would work, too!

It's an amazing combination alone! I wore it one day w/some top coat.

Then I cracked out Sally Hansen Silver Lining. It's one of her new Salon polishes in the bulbous bottle. Quite the polish alone, but a much better layering polish.
This is one coat, too. I feel any sheer silver would work, but Silver lining has that blue/silver thing with the particles that worked especially well with the WnW base.

WOW!!!

I took these photos on a rainy day. It was still gorgeous.

A couple days later the sun came out.

SCHWiiiiing!!!!!

How 'bout dat?

I mean, come on!!!!

Match made in heaven or what?????


Can it get better?

Well, yes, ironically, IT CAN!!!

I took a bottle of Maybelline Express Finish Violet Water and put it over the top.

Someone call an ambulance because I think I am going to pass out!!!!

The pale violet color kills!!!

Now I've been wearing this whole thick layering thing for about 5 days, there are cracks in the polish but no chips and tipwear is nominal. Very impressive. I've been riding every other day, even had sunstroke, and that includes me getting my head dowsed so I can cool down. (why I am riding in 90 degree heat is beyond me. I'm a total idiot) So, in a nutshell, I'm handling a lot of water between me getting dowsed, my horse getting sponged off, and showering because, hey, horses stink!

Here are the photos of it with 2 coats of Maybelline Express Finish Violet Water (all the way from the UK, I never found it in Dollar Tree)

The cracks, I think, are from NYC shiny top coat, but it's been  about 8 days on this manicure, and no chips. I put a coat of Borghese Perfetto to "melt" the cracks together, then another of the top coat, so it's going to come off soon, but I have to say, I was reluctant to remove it!

A close up:

She-BAMM!!!!

ps I realize now, that the cracks are from a New York Color Shiny Top Coat that I was using on it, I've used it on several other manicures and it cracked, wrinkled, and messed up a bunch. I drained the bottle and will use the empty for frankens. Still, even with the crack, that Borghese Magnetico base coat has been worth every dime I paid at Ross, it's been a stellar sticky base coat, I rarely have a chip, and I wore this manicure for about 8 days and it never pulled or chipped.

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Rainbows and Unicorns!

I found a manicure on the Makeup Alley Nail Board that I was entranced by.

Hey! (I thought) I could do THAT!

This is the blog link:

All Lacquered Up CosmoProf Round Up

I won't post the photo because I don't have permission to do so, however if you scroll down you will see a dark charcoal manicure with some holographic glitter on top.

So, below, is my copy:

I used the following:

1) no name dark charcoal shimmer. This was in a 5-pack at Ross. I've used the nude before as well as the gold (the seashell post w/gold over pink). This was 3 coats and MAN(!!!) did it dry fast! I secretly want to find out WHO manufactures these polishes! They wear well, dry fast and are easy to use! This is why I am not a brand snob. You never know what you will find out there!
2) Cover Girl City Lights. A good standby! Generous with the glitter!
3) Borghese Perfetto, this is for trying to drag the holo glitter down into the nail a little more. Not 100% success, but still, practice doesn't hurt!


Close up:

This was all taken under a daylight corrected lamp, so the holo glitter doesn't quite stand out.

But, it was fun trying out something new!

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Fingernail Sunshine!

Here is an Elle Elle nail polish, #432, that is a golden yellow shimmer. It feels metallic. It also is a frost. Hmmm. Maybe a brushstrokey shimmer? A metallic frost? BZZZzzt! You have no clue! Do you?

Nope!

Anyhoo...

I like yellows in the summer, and in particular  gold, so when this came in a nine pack from Ross, I figured it's a workable color! 

I also had the Sally Hansen "money" frosts, this one is Fil-a-Greed Frost. A sheer warm golden peachy gold. Though, so sheer, it's just not altogether much of a presence.

Here they are:

Here's a little more detail on the names.

Put them together:

Wow! Sunshine on my nails!

The glitter is the actual pay off, the rest of the Fil-a-Greed appears to be lost. I can find no irridescence (seen alone when I swatched) or anything else. But hey, what the heck else am I going to do with those pesky Sally Hansen "money" frosts? I have a carload! I should have just calmed down, bought one or two, then swatched them. No. I go NUTS. I've redeemed one as a topcoat, but really, they are my albatross! When I see them for $4.99 on eBay I want to laugh madly, because I see the sad betrayal by anyone who buys these! *muahahahaha* ...ahem!

Whatever you want to call the finish, it's a unique yellow, perfect for summer sunny days. Elle Elle dried well and wore nicely. Sally Hansen kind of took a bit longer to dry once applied. However, with patience, drying drops and some more drying drops, I like the glitter payoff that ensued. Happy ending!

Thanks for reading my pesky little nail polish journal!

Holo For Homebodies

The now-rare Kaleidoscope collection by China Glaze may be the stuff of legends, but it never had a light pink holo.
So I layered one.

Here are the ingredients for cooking up your own treats.

2-3 coats of a sheer/frosty pink that is fairly light. This is Elle 2 Elle by LDL (European brand found at Ross, these packs are $4.99 for 9 polishes, and because they are made for EU markets, they are 3 free! Plus they are loaded with fun nail polish action at a price that makes it just all the more fun to use them for frankens or goofball layering experiments), it's a frost, but so sheer, it looks like strawberry juice
2-3 coats of a sheer creamy color, this one is L'oreal's Private Party. It's got some gritty glittery stuff in it, too.
3-4 coats of Cover Girl City Lights.

Here's the fresh-out-of-the-oven goodness:

I topped it off with a quick dry. LDL polishes dry quickly enough, too. I like L'oreal in general and this polish suited well.

Here's a little close-up!

(mmmmm particle goodness!)

Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

The Fix...

...is in.

 I confess that I went crazy when I saw the Essie Art of Spring collection.

Hooooooweeeeeee!! Artistic references!!!! Lavender!!!! Subtle corals I can add to my collection!!!! Cool Box!!!!! Daaaaance!!!

 Weeeeelll...so far three of the polishes are just about as dull as dust and my love affair is over.

Am I fickle? No.
Do I love Essie's application? I still have a warm spot for ya, hon!
Am I sprinting out for the summer collection? Let's just say I found "Froggy" green at Diamond Cosmetics and it suits my need for a tropical green. This whoooole "rare" "htf" "vhtf" "discontinued" hype seems to stir the pot and next thing you know eBay scalpers are selling polishes for $100 a bottle, like we are in some sort of bubble market. (though I confess I have a few that I covet and have paid some rich prices by nail polish standard, let's just say I've got a $27 polish cooling her heels in my stash, I'm not an innocent, I just don't like the faux hype)
So.
Madam Essie can cool her heels until she gets a better bunch of ideas. I can see why she's selling out to L'oreal.

I tried the famously frustrating T'art Deco (yes, I know I am spelling it wrong, but I just like it better this way)

 So what to do with T'art Deco?

Three coats here, dried well, and I can't complain too much about the application, though some people say it's thick, I guess I'm used to nursing the old Sally's and Maybellines. You can see some visible nail line here, too. To me, though is that it's darker on my nail than in the bottle. Hmmm. Huh?
It goes from soft canteloupe to a darker color that is nearly orange. Like a creamsicle with anemia.


So I cracked out a little army of top coats:

Revlon Glimmer Gloss in Banana Blaze, WetnWild Rock Solid Pretty in Pink (very strong apricot/orange with diamonds, supposedly, and loads of flash), and Revlon Glimmer Gloss Apricot Freeze.

To work, soldiers!

Now, that's a simmering, deep, shimmer. It took it deeper, and a bit juicier. My kind of cooking! I can't see wearing it any other way!

Sorry Miss Essie! I had to modify that polish, it was in need of "go big or go home," for sure!!!


Thanks for reading my little nail polish journal!

Summer Candy

I sometimes think I need "Blogging For Dummies" or something like that. I recently sent a lady some sets she bought from me, as well as a pile of freebies. I admit most freebies were polishes I wouldn't wear, but some were things now I think "dawg, what was I thinking???"
I just saw that she has a new blog. Hell, it's not just a blog it's a multi-media extravaganza with additional pages, music, blogroll, etc. By comparison my blog looks like I build it with Tinker toys. (I actually loved my tinker toys as a kid, I think they helped me with Organic Chemistry and spacial relationships of functional groups, chirality and bond angles)
So thank you to those who bear with my blog basics and pretty terrible cuticles.

On a brighter note, and gosh, that was a total downer to start an entry out, wasn't it? Here is a Spring 2010 Essie nail polish Van D'go. I know there are a dozen blogs with the photo, it's a creme with a strong apricot color, in some darker tungsten light it looks almost orange. People have been complaining about it on the nail message board. I confess that application is frustrating: thick, streaky and hard to work with. The second coat I just admist I junked heavily on because it was being such a TOTAL BUTT!
However, Essie does one thing for me that other polishes don't do: DRIES LIKE A DREAM!!! TOTALLLY!!! Excuse my shouting, but I am forever nursing old Sally Hansen polishes into a decent lifespan (longer than the 10 minutes it takes me to put my top coat and drying drops away after I think my nails are dry). This polish just dried, and voila! Happiness!
I wore it for a day before it snagged it and got a chip.
So I grabbed a top coat for layering. I used WetnWild Rock Solid's Pretty in Pink. This is more of an apricot than a pink, by any stretch of the imagination.
It also made the polish darker and a lot more orange! Never mind the micro flakey glitter particles! Yes!

Here's a closeup:

I need to figure out why my photos look flatter in the area of color when I edit and upload.

Otherwise, love that topcoat! Quick to dry and adds a lovely element to the Essie. I also have to give a big hand to Essie, even though application was hard, and I snagged it and chipped a bit, I definitely have to say that drying time is a huge selling point for me....indeedy!!!

Thanks for reading my whiney little journal today!!! Sorry for the gripefest!

Green Fog aka Layering Over Black

When the Dollar Tree got a bunch of Sally Hansen opals, I grabbed them up. I have about 8 of what looks like at least 14 colors.  They are super sheer. What to do? Layer?

I really need to sit down and do a bunch of swatches of this.  The results surprised me on this one.

This is a base coat of WetnWild "Black Creme". Truly a dollar is never better spent than on a good black creme, and this one is it. Covers beautifully, resisted chipping and tip wear.

I put a coat of Sally Hansen "White Opal 01" over the top. These photos were taken on a day in which the sky couldn't decide on sun or clouds so put them in a bowl, stirred them and you got flashes of both. I was out with my mom walking the dogs and I grabbed a few shots.

The downside: if the brushstrokes aren't thin and well regulated, it gets milky and murky. In some light it looks like you've got a coating of milk on your fingers.

The upside: the green shimmer! It's beautiful! It is foggy and murky, which reminds you of a horror movie.

Of course the WetnWild dried very quickly, and the Sally Hansen dried oh-so-slowly, and caused a wee bit of balding when you put the brush down.

You can see the murkiness. on my middle finger, above, there is some uneven application and so it isn't as transparent as it should be.

A better view of how it looks when the light hits it correctly. Nice! I love those pine greens. Yummy!

Yes, a blurry shot! I think it shows how nice it did look at the right time.


So, do look down the road for a full swatch-fest of these, I might weed out a few that are just not me. It's so funny how without black underneath they are so blah.


Thanks for reading my journal!