London Pixie

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Orly - Pixie Dust, two coats
Accent: Zoya - London (Pixie Dust line), two coats
TC: Seche Vite

While planning, I had considered wearing Tomoko as an accent, but I wound up with London instead, and I'm so glad I did. They go perfectly together, and the combination is a perfect transition to fall. (Not that that matters much to me, since I just wear whatever I want, whenever I want. Just try an' stop me! Muahah!)

Sure, I could have gone with a third coat of Pixie Dust to alleviate a few little patchy bits, but that would have been at the risk of too many layers. Including top and base coat, four is just about perfect for me. Also one of these days, I'll learn to wrap my tips. Whatevah, I do what I want! :P

Wear: Six days to peels.

Whistling Blue Sands

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Shimmering Sands franken, two coats
Accent: Sally Hansen - Something Blue (Diamond Strength line), two coats
Accent Glitter: OPI - Pirouette My Whistle, one generous coat
TC: Seche Vite

I've been in a bit of a polish rut lately and not sure of what to wear, so I just grabbed these ones kind of at random. Something Blue was more similar to my franken than I'd like for an accent, so I topped it with glitter. Not that the pictures show it or anything. Maybe PMW wasn't the best glitter over a sheer silver. Meh.

So I wound up with yet another merely acceptable mani. I mean, it's pretty enough, just not awesome. Oh well. I'll get back into the groove of things soon enough.

Wear: Four days until chips and peels that I couldn't help but pick at.

Catch Me Dancing

The Polish:
BC: Sinful Colors - Base Coat
Polish: The Lady Varnishes - Catch Me Dancing, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Meh... well, this isn't what I wanted. I didn't have any thinner with me when I went to apply this one, though it needed it, but I was already committed to the mani.

But I'm not sure if thinning it would make it any better--I think I would still hate it. I wore it last over another polish (though still a sheer one), but it's still not great. (Zoh my goodness, that peelie in the link! Eeek!) Plus that "jasmine" scent is terrible. Bleh.

My instinct is to purge it immediately, but I suppose I'll give it one more chance. I sure was excited about it a year ago. *shrug*

Wear: Two days. I used my hands a lot on day two and chipped my polish immediately. That night, the polish on my pinkie nail peeled off in one piece. Usually a base coat that doesn't agree with one's body chemistry causes that, but I've used my friend's SC before without event. Huh. *shrug*

Celestial Dairy

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Jelly: Sephora by OPI - Dear Diary
Glitter: Revlon - Celestial FX
TC: American Classics - Gelous, Seche Vite

Sandwich went like this: one coat of SOPI, two fished coats of Celestial, one coat of SOPI, one coat of SOPI, one coat of Celestial (fished on ring finger), one coat of SOPI (two on ring).

Hmm... not sure this turned out like I wanted it to. I dunno. I was playing with layers and think I added too many. Nine coats (eleven on my ring finger!) are WAY too many coats for me, personally. I kinda just want to take it off immediately.

Wear: Three days to peels.

Adorable Bomb

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Undies: L'Oreal - B. Adorable (Bijou Facets), two coats
Glitter: LA Girls - Glitter Bomb (Color Craze), two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Just kinda threw this together when I wasn't quite sure of what to wear. It's not awesome, but it works. I should have taken pictures of B. Adorable by itself, since I don't have any pictures of it alone yet. Next time.

Wear: Peels on day four prompting removal.

Wrapped in Plastic

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Basecoat
Color: Hare Polish - Wrapped in Plastic, two coats
TC: one coat of American Classics - Gelous, one coat of Seche Vite

Wrapped in Plastic, from Hare's Twin Peaks collection, is a pale blue jelly with a mix of white and iridescent copper square and hex glitters and some teal-ish microglitter thrown in. I was soooo excited to put this polish on, you guys! It's so super pretty! My photos don't do it justice!

But what's this? Chips on day two? Huh. That hasn't happened in a while. I wonder if I should try a different base coat next time I wear it.

Wear: Chips continued to get worse from day two. Removed at day five.

Sidewalk's End

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Basecoat
Polish: Literary Lacquer - Sidewalk's End, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

Sidewalk's End is a medium grey linear holo, my first Linear Lacquer. Application was smooth; polish, sheer--just like I've come to expect with linear holos.

I debated for a long while whether to grab this one or not. It seemed like it might be a little dark for me. It is maybe slightly darker than what I normally wear, dark enough to look awkward with one or two coats, like I can normally get away with, but it's still pretty. I like greys, and I like holos, so Sidewalk's End is a winner. I think I may try it next time over a white.

Wear: Removed on day five with slight wear.

Blue-berry Sweet on You

The Polish:
BC: None
Polish: Nicole by OPI - Blue-berry Sweet on You, two coats
TC: None

Textures are so great when you just need to throw something on and go. Getting ready for a vacation, I didn't have enough time to put on a regular mani, so I had to go with a texture. Apply and go, yay!

Wear: Well.. honestly, because of vacation, I wore this for six days... even though it started to chip on day three and just got worse every day. Shhh, don't tell anyone... :/

Opals and Coconuts

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Undies: Colors by Llarowe - Coconut, three coats
Glitter: Colors by Llarowe - Opals and Lace, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Guys, this is seven. SEVEN. layers on my nails. I can't. I can't even. There's no way this is going to last more than a couple of days. It's just too thick.

Opals and Lace is a gorgeous mix of matte white and iridescent hexes, squares, and microglitter. It's so gorgeous! I was second guessing myself while I layered it over the white, but it wasn't a problem at all. I assume this glitter's just going to be beautiful over everything.

Coconut, however, was not my cup of tea. I'm not sure why I went through a phase of "I like Tutu, so I should buy ALL the jelly whites!" when I could have just stuck with what I knew I liked. It and Leche are going in the swap box.

Wear: Removed on day 4. Lasted longer than I expected, honestly! Though I haven't been changing my polish often, regardless.

Food Fight!

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Girly Bits - Food Fight (August A Box, Indied), two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Food Fight is a blue-grey, slightly red leaning crelly with small iridescent hexes and holo microglitter. It's the perfect rain cloud color--I just so happened to wear it the day a friend wore rainbow skittles, which made us both entirely too happy. :)

I wanted this polish so bad when I first saw swatches. I wanted it enough that I immediately went to the Facebook swapping groups and found someone with a box subscription that was willing to sell for $11, more than I typically spend on a single polish.

Turns out, it's a little on the thick side of a crelly. And a bit dark on me. So my poor application skills are apparent. I even tried to use the clean up brush again. No avail.

But you know what? I don't care. Sure, my pictures aren't as pretty as the other bloggers', but that's okay. I have a pretty polish, and that's what matters.

(Okay, I'm not actually sure who I'm trying to convince here, you or myself. Hah.)

Wear: Removed at five days with slight wear.

Glass Star

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Undies: Sinful Colors - Glass Pink, two coats
Glitter: Rainbow Polish - Shooting Star, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

Well, the plan was to redo an old mani and post new pictures, showing off my much improved photography and/or application skills, but that's not quite the way it happened. Turns out I'm not quite there, yet. Plus, it was overcast all weekend, and when I finally got a spot of sun, my polish had chipped. Hah, oh well.

I do like this combo, though. It's a little sparse, sure, as Glass Pink is probably meant to be a topper and certainly not undies for a glitter, but that's fine. Just another instance of my preferred look: princess nails. <3

Wear: Removed at five days with minimal wear.

Calla Lily (No pics)

The Polish:
BC: Sinful Colors - Base Coat
Color: Revlon - Calla Lily (ColorStay line), two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Ugh. No doing nails in poor lighting. Lesson learned. No pics because my application is too poor to show off. Like, really. I even missed SV on half of my thumb nail. What the heck, guys. -.- I actually have marginal pictures from before for this one, though, here. I believe it's only one coat in those pictures.

Wear: Removed on day seven with slight tip wear. I was itching to change it sooner, but I got busy with work and didn't have time. So I just had to deal with poor application all week! Meh, no one noticed, anyway. Just bugged me, is all.

Hallucinate

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Glitter: Wet n Wild - Hallucinate (Wild Shine line), two coats
TC: One coat of American Classics - Gelous followed by one coat of Seche Vite

Hallucinate is a simple iridescent glitter in a clear base. I've shown SH Disco Ball here, and it's very similar. The main difference I can tell is that, while the pictures of Disco Ball are acceptable, I could NOT get a good picture of Hallucinate. Grrr.

The last time I wore Hallucinate was a couple of years ago, back when I first started getting into polish. At that time, I didn't know how necessary it was to wear a good top and base coat, so I just wore Hallucinate on its own. It peeled after 24 hours, and I swore it off as being bad with my body chemistry. Now that I know better, I thought I'd give it another shot.

I know it's probably weird to most people (or most nail polish people, at least) to wear a glitter like this on its own, but I like it. Just another simple, princess nails manicure like I love! Too bad I can't capture it properly.

Wear: Six days to peels. Not only did this mani surpass 24 hours, it wore like iron!

Rococo Grandeur

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Hare - Rococo Grandeur, two coats
TC: American Classics - Gelous, one coat, followed by Seche Vite, one coat

This indie has been on my wishlist for quite some time, and thanks to a RAOK from a wonderful fellow nail boarder, I finally get to wear it! I put it on yesterday and have been admiring it ever since.

Rococo Grandeur is a pale grey-blue crelly with blue microshimmer and white, gold, and pink glitters in hex, square, and little circles. It's adorable up close where you can make out the different glitters, but also delightful from afar. I just love the pretty color and the sparkly glitters!

I couldn't get very good pictures, unfortunately. I'm not sure why it didn't want to show color accuracy. But I got excited again cropping them, so apparently they're good enough!

And again, another crelly glitter that remained slightly bumpy, even after Gelous and Seche Vite. I wonder how people deal with this... It's just frustrating to me to have bumpies on my nails (when I'm not explicitly wearing a texture polish). It makes me want to pick at it. Meh.

Wear: Five days, peels started at four.

Tiny Tangerines

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Polish: Sonoma Nail Art - Tiny Tangerines, two coats
TC: One coat of American Classics - Gelous, followed by one of Seche Vite

Tiny Tangerines is Aroma in Tacoma's pink little sister. It has the same glitter in a nude base look, but a pale pink base and white, pink, aqua, purple, and iridescent glitters. The glitters were more finicky than I remember AiT's being, but maybe I'm just misremembering it. It's also still just a little rough, even through Gelous and SV, but that's probably because I had to dab the glitters on to get them to stay where I wanted them. Regardless, I super love the look. Very cute!

I decided after one day that I think maybe the glitters are too much for a whole mani. When I wear it again, I'll probably only wear it as an accent with a plain, sheer pink for the rest of the nails.

Wear: Four days, glitter chips at three.

Satin Sheets

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Polish: Revlon - Satin Sheets (Sweet Nothings collection), two coats
TC: Seche Vite

After two not great manis in a row, I NEEDED a palate cleanser. I sure do love my sheer shimmeries. <3

Satin Sheets isn't my favorite sheer shimmery, though. Probably because it's such a vanilla color, yellow tinted, rather than pure white. It's still pretty, though, with its red shimmer. It'll do!

Wear: Four days.

Soft Pinks Comparison

The Polish:
Base Coat: CND - Stickey
Thumb: Wet n Wild - Sugar Coat (Megalast line) two coats
Index: Essence - Cotton Candy (Nude Glam collection), two coats
Middle: New York Color - Prospect Park Bloom, two coats
Ring: Rimmel - French Lingerie, two coats
Pinkie: Essie - Adore-a-Ball, two coats
Top Coat: Seche Vite

It's been a while since I did a comparison post, so I thought I'd do another one now. My camera felt otherwise. I'm not sure why it's been prissy with me lately, but these pictures definitely show it.

Hmm... I have many soft pinks. Many. Why? I'm not even sure. I thought I liked them at one point, but now I'm starting to question myself. These pinks are all near dupes, with the exception of the Essie, which is slightly more jelly like. The rest, though... they're all pretty much the same. The only difference I could tell was that the NYC is slightly more pink than the others. The rest all have very similar colors, formulas, consistencies... even brushes, as the Megalast, Essence, and Rimmel brushes are all pro-wide.

When I brought it up with a friend, he said, "So you need to get rid of four pinks, is what you're telling me."

No...

Yes... :/

*sigh* Yes. Yeah, he's right. I really don't hardly even like these ones at all. My favorite of the five is probably the Essie, surprisingly. For the rest, I like the bottles and the brushes (well, except for the NYC), but I've been fooling myself into thinking that I like the polish itself.

I don't.

So I'm going to put all four of them into the purge box right now before I talk myself out of it.

... Three. I need to keep one, don't I?

... Nope. All four. Right now. Done.

As for the mani, I put some iridescent glitter over it, but I'm not going to show you. The application of the pinks was too terrible to show up close. Yep. I made the right choice.

Wear: Removed at four days because I was tired of it.

Sea Glass in the Sea

The Polish:
BC: Nail-aid Extreme Steel Hardener
Undies: Sally Hansen - Sea (Smooth & Perfect line)
Glitter: Pure Ice - Sea Glass, two coats
TC: New York Color - Matte Me Crazy, two coats

Meh, I'm really still not sure what I think about this polish. I put it on when I first bought it and hated it so much, it didn't even make it to the blog. I decided to try it with undies this time, but I'm still just not sure. I really like it in the bottle.. those iridescent glitters are so cute. I'm just... not... sure... :/

Plus, the matte didn't even matte properly. I even added two coats, and it still wasn't very matte. Meh.

Wear: Three days, peels at two.

Lunar Lights, as Seen from South Molton Street

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Nails Inc. - South Molton Street, two coats
Accent: Jordana - Lunar Lights, one coat sandwiched between base color
TC: Seche Vite

The other day at the thrift store, I was lucky enough to find two partially used bottles of Sally's Beauty Secrets brand pure acetone for seventy five cents each. Lucky! But on top of that, I also found little Miss South Molton Street for fifty cents. I knew that Nails Inc. was a good brand, and it looked like it was in pretty good condition, so I was excited to get it.

Molton is a deliciously sheer, pink jelly, a near dupe for You Callin' Me a Lyre?, though the latter leans just a touch more coral in the bottle. This is one coat by itself.

And here's some glitter in a delicate jelly sandwich! Sandwiching it tones down the harsh yellow that iridescents get when layered over light colors. And the result is so cute! My husband said, "I couldn't even tell that you were wearing nail polish." That's okay--my polish is mostly for my own sake, anyway.

Wear: Five days until chips, leading to peels.

Lady Muck

The Polish:
BC: CND - Stickey
Color: Butter London - Lady Muck, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

This is only the second time I've worn Lady Muck, which is a little surprising, considering how much I like it. The first time I put it on, I was ecstatic. This was definitely the best polish I had at the time.

It's hard to tell, not becoming distracted by my poor application skills, but Lady Muck is just the perfect blue-grey with a hint of shimmer. So beautiful! <3 But unfortunately, just enough of a creme finish to keep me from being able to apply it neatly. These pictures just makes me kinda mad at myself. Bah.

Wear: Five days. Chips starting on day 3, peels starting on day 5.

Green Holo

The Polish:
BC: CND - Stickey
Color: Urban Outfitters - Green Holo, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

It's summer in the midwest, and I definitely need some holo to go with my 90+ degree weather. UO's plainly named Green Holo was the first linear holo I got, and it just may be my favorite. It's so BOLD! Just look at those rainbows!

I wore it while running a garage sale this weekend and kept getting distracted by my nails. Whoops!

Wear: Four days. Chips on day two, but I didn't want to remove it yet. Not sure if the chips were from applying a treatment coat the day before I put on the polish and not removing it first or if they were from working at the garage sale.