Sea Temptress

The Polish:
BC: None
Color: Finger Paints - Sea Temptress, two coats
TC: None

I have such mixed feels about this color. It's alright, a duo-chrome-y white with green shift. It's one of those texture polishes that is texture by way of glitter, not the whole polish. So.. that's weird. And then the color thing happens to me, and it's not actually THAT pretty...

I just feel like, if anyone were enjoy this polish, it would be me. So I have trouble giving up on it. It's not a BAD polish.. it's just not that great. :/ I'll give it one more chance, I guess.

Wear: Four days to chips. Removal was a glitter pain.

Misty Altruism

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Mentality Nail Polish - Misty, two coats
Accent: Mentality Nail Polish - Altruism, two coats over Misty
TC: Seche Vite (over accent nail only)

Surprise holo! Ooooh, I love it! Altruism is silver-purple duochrome holo that reminds me of L'Oreal's Masked Affair. I don't have that one, so I can't compare. (They're probably not all that similar, whatever.) Also, I wore Altruism over Misty, so I'm not sure how it'd hold up on its own. Maybe it's sheer?

Misty is a very pretty matte grey with gold shimmer. It was lovely when I put it on, but after 24 hours, many nails had cracks throughout the polish, as though it were a crackle. Strange. I'd never had that happen before. Maybe the coats were too thick? I need to thin it before the next time I wear it and make sure my coats aren't too thick.

Wear: Slight wear on day two, chips on day three

Pastille

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Mentality - Pastille, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

What? Another green scattered holo? Why? I certainly don't need three of them. Meh. I'll decide later.

Wear: Removed on day five, chips on day four.

Joanna

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Julep - Joanna, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

Nope. Nopenopenope. Pearl finish. I'm out. It looked so pretty in the bottle, and even from far off, but I just can't handle a pearl. Purge.

Wear: Removed on day two

Maniacle and Intriguing

The Polish:
BC: Duri - Rejuvicote
Undies: Revlon - Intrigue (Brilliant Strength line), two coats
Glitter: Sephora X - Manaical, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

I'm not so sure about this blue. It's kinda dark and almost pearl-y. It works okay with the glitter over it, but I don't know if that saves it from the purge pile.

But look how glowy it is in the shade! Meh.. Still not sure that makes up for it. Think the blue still goes in the purge pile and the glitter can stay with me.

Wear: Removed on day three

Sugar Plum

The Polish:
BC: None
Color: Sally Hansen - Sugar Plum (Sugar Shimmer line), two coats
TC: None

I avoided the Sugar Shimmer line when it first came out because none of them called to me, but I found Sugar Plum during a local swap and thought, "Why not? Let's give it a shot." In the back of my mind, I guess I was hoping that it would be a surprise favorite, but nope. I disliked it just as much as I expected to. And I should have known, anyway, because I disliked Pussy Galore. Maybe I was just hoping that gold shimmer would save it.

When I put Sugar Plum on, the lighting in the room was not so great, and it almost looked like a My Nails But Better shade, hah. Definitely not a good shade on me. Back to the purge pile.

Wear: Removed on day three, which was longer than I had intended to wear it.

Guest Polishing: Galaxy Nails!

This doesn't really count as a true guest post because it's still me, Holly, writing, but I have nails that someone else did! These are my first galaxy nails, and the first time she's done galaxy nails. Firsts!

I'm not sure of which colors we chose, since they were her polishes, but I can tell you that we learned the gas clouds need to be made of cremes, like pink/purple is here. One of those silver clouds was supposed to be blue/teal, but the polish we chose was too shimmery. Lesson learned!

And here, have some flowers, since they're so in bloom right now in my yard.

Bikini Worshiper

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat, CND Stickey on toes
Main: Essie - Bikini So Teeny, three coats
Accent and toes: China Glaze - Sun Worshiper, two coats
Undies for accent and toes: Sally Hansen - Fog (Smooth & Perfect line), two coats
TC: Seche Vite

And now for something completely different! My husband and I took a trip to Kansas City last weekend. We went to Ikea (no, not for helmers) and the water park, so I wanted to have super cute summer time nails. I received Sun Worshiper in a swap, and I wanted to make sure I used it while it was still summer (it's back to work for me in two weeks :/). Nail board's been on another Bikini So Teeny kick, so I thought I'd pair it with that. Bikini So Teeny and Sun Worshiper? What perfect playing-at-the-pool colors could ever hope to exist?

Sun Worshiper refuuuses to be photographed. It kept coming out in pictures as a sort of egg yolk yellow, but it's actually completely orange. It's also water thin and very sheer, so not the best formula. It dries matte, as neons do.

Bikini is as adorable as ever. I still have a heck of a time applying it, because, you know, creme, but I'm getting better! Yay, practicing!

I even spent more time on my toes than I normally do, using cuticle remover and oil.

Wear: Five days, chips on four

Trenzalore

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Ellagee - Trenzalore, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

It's not like I don't already have some soft blue linear holos, but I couldn't resist this one, too. Everything I read about it online made it sound like it was the best polish ever. So.. maybe my expectations were a little too high.

Don't get me wrong. Trenzalore is adoooorable. It's such a pretty dusty light blue color, and I love it. It's just not the godsend I was expecting. It was slightly streaky to the point of needing three coats. Application was fine, just not remarkable. The holo is fine, just not remarkable.

Stupid expectations, why you gotta be so high? Trenzalore is a super pretty polish, and I enjoy it a lot. ;-;

Wear: Removed on day four with minimal wear. (So sad to take it off! But I was going on a weekend trip, and I knew it wouldn't last all the way through that.)

Snowfall (franken)

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Snowfall, a franken, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Hmm.. This wasn't quite what I was hoping for. It's just rather... boring.

Snowfall is roughly 2/3 an unnamed The Color Workshop glass fleck in a pink duo-chrome-y base with 1/3 Orly Au Champagne. The glass flecks are nearly invisible on the nail. It's got a nice shimmer, but that's about it, and it doesn't quite make up for the slight streaky-ness the Orly adds to it. It also dries slightly satin-y because of the Orly, but I chose to top coat it, anyway.

I don't love it, so it doesn't need to stay in my stash. Thankfully a friend really enjoyed it, so it can have a new home at her house. :)

Wear: Removed on day two for something new.

In Bare Form

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: KB Shimmer - In Bare Form, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

It only took me about five minutes to fall in love with this polish. KB Shimmer is a well liked brand in the indie world, so I knew I would.

In Bare Form is a wonderfully delicate linear holo nude. It applied like a dream, and I can't stop admiring it. Looks like I may need to get some more KB Shimmers in the future!

Wear: Removed on day five with minimal wear.

Princess Kitten

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Princess Kitten, a franken, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

I made this franken because apparently I forgot that I had Essence's Grey-T to Be Here, which I don't have any good pictures of but is a close dupe. *shrug* Oh well, still cute.

This franken is roughly equal parts KleanColor - Vanilla Villa and China Glaze - Travel in Color. I had it with more Travel in Color first, but it's too streaky to be that sheer. As is, I still had to wear three coats, which is more than I generally like.

Here's a picture with some random flowers that were in my yard. My husband and I don't do any yard work. We pay people to mow for us, and whatever comes up must be perennials.

Wear: Removed on day three with minimal wear.

Breathing HD Air

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Undies: Sally Hansen - Air (Smooth & Perfect line), two coats
Glitter: Milani - HD, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

Oh man, pictures just can't capture how much I love this mani. The soft blue with that glittery holo over it? Why you gotta be so non-photogenic, HD?

I was trying to do something similar to when I wore Sugar over Calla Lily here. I liked that one sooo much, the silvery holo over soft white. It DOES have that same delicate feel, but Sugar definitely worked better than HD. Sugar was a finer, denser glitter with a silvery haze-y feel while HD is almost chunky in comparison. Still gorgeous, just a little differently so!

Even beautiful in the shade!

Wear: Removed on day seven, though chips started on day five and were noticeable on six.

Shall We Catch Her Dancing?

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Jelly (layers 1 and 3): Sally Hansen - Shell We Dance? (Complete Salon Manicure)
Sandwiched (layer 2): The Lady Varnishes - Catch Me Dancing
TC: Seche Vite

Well, that was kind of a mess. I tried to do a little cleanup, but Catch Me Dancing was already drying, and I just made it worse. I need to thin it, but I don't have any thinner without heptane. (Heptane is bad for glitters.) Regardless! This mani HAS restored my faith in Catch Me Dancing. I was starting to think I didn't like it at all anymore, but turns out I just needed to put it in a jelly sandwich.

Wear: Removed at two days for something different.

Aerodynamic

The Polish:

BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat

Color: Mod Lacquer - Aerodynamic, two coats

TC: Seche Vite

Aerodynamic is a green scattered holo that I almost mistook for a linear at first. It reminds me a lot of Sparkling Garbage,  though opaque and with smaller holo particles. Jennifer lists it as turquoise on Etsy, but my bottle is definitely green. (I think it's an older version.)

More overcast skies and sub-optimal photo ops, boo! But at least the weather's been nice. Here's an indoor shot to show what shade I've been seeing most often, which usually looks to me like more of a hunter green. Yeah, the ones on the Etsy store must be an updated color. I definitely like mine. Though it's similar to Sparkling Garbage, it's different enough to warrant keeping both. :3

Okay, all of this talk about, "It's actually green," and then one of my male friends asked, unprompted, "It that teal?" Bah! Whatever.

Wear: Six days, though some chipping started on day three because I didn't use cuticle remover before this one.

Disclaimer: This polish was provided for my honest opinion. You can buy Aerodynamic at Mod Lacquer's Etsy store. 

Wired-Up and Energized

The Polish:
BC: white glue
Main: Mod Lacquer - Energize, three coats
Accent Undies: China Glaze - Dandy Lyin' Around, two coats
Accent Glitter: Mod Lacquer - Wired-Up, one coat plus a little dabbing
TC: Seche Vite

Bam! Welcome to pink world! If you've ever thought to yourself, "I wish there was a rave on my nails," have I got some good news for you. Energize is incredibly neon pink, and Wired-Up is a colorful confetti party just dying to bask in the black light.

I put on three layers of Energize just to make sure it was completely opaque. It dries a little matte, as neons do, but that's what our awesome top coats are for, right?

Wired-Up has a mix of neon yellow, pink, blue, and green glitters in three different sizes, hexes and squares. The base is slightly yellow, but I really want to put it in a squishy jelly sandwich. :3

And just in case you don't believe how glowy Energize is, here's a picture I just had to take as I was sitting in my dimly lit living room. Geeze. Someone get me a black light already!

Wear: One day. I wasn't sure that I wanted raver nails for every day wear, so I opted for the glue-as-base coat method this time. (I must have gotten it a little thin around the edges, because there was still a little pink frame around my nails hours after the middle had flaked off. Let this be a lesson to you, kids!)

Disclaimer: This polish was provided for my honest opinion. You can buy Energize and Wired-Up at Mod Lacquer's Etsy store. The best part is that her Electrified collection comes in an entire neon rainbow! Eee!

Cerulean Light Beam

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Mod Lacquer - Cerulean Light Beam, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Uggh, of course the day I want to wear a holo, a storm rolls in. It's been overcast all day yesterday and today. Curse you, fates! Above is a quick shot in a rare moment of not complete cloud cover, but the rest had to be taken inside. Here's even a picture I had to get out of the shower to take because I was enjoying it so much. :P

The formula was smooth, perfectly covered at two coats. It's got a nice linear holo and such a pretty ocean-blue color.

Here's hoping the storm lets up soon!

Wear: Seven days! Some minor tip wear starting on day four, but nothing noticeable until day seven when the chips started.

Disclaimer: This polish was provided for my honest opinion. You can buy Cerulean Light Beam at Mod Lacquer's Etsy store.