Hi Iridescent

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Essie - Hi Maintenance, two coats
Accent: Sally Girl - unnamed iridescent glitter, one coat over the Essie
TC: Seche Vite

Hi Maintenance has such a nice formula. So nice that it amazes me every time I put it on. It's not streaky at all, self-leveling to a T, and super glossy. It's practically a dupe for OPI's You Callin' Me a Lyre? It's just strange because every other Essie I've tried hates me. *shrug*

I AM getting a little tired of these light pink manis for a while, though. I'mma leave them for a while after this, I think. Get some more color in here and play around with layering.

Wear: Removed on day four with minimal chips.

CC Kismet

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

Kismet is a gorgeous green-leaning gold with a strong linear holo. The formula is just right with perfect consistency, though in normal/dim lighting, it appears a little patchy, like two coats isn't enough. It's pretty similar to the Urban Outfitters holo I have, and I think I remember someone saying once that they may be made by the same company.

I'd been hearing for the longest time about how Color Club holos are the best holos, so when I got a swap offer from someone with Kismet, I didn't hesitate to get it. Gold isn't typically my color, but it's such a great polish that that doesn't even matter.

Wear: Five days, chips on four

Solitaire or Social?

The Polish:
BC: CND - Stickey
Main: Sally Hansen - Social Sea-n (Diamond Strength line), two coats
Accent: OPI - Solitaire (Liquid Sand line), two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Huh. I'm... not quite sure what to think of this one. It would make a lovely shirt.. but I'm not positive that I like it as a polish. It's a pretty, shimmery, sheer blue, which sounds right up my alley, but it's also got a touch of metallic in its finish. I dunno...

But I've been depressed lately and have hated anything and everything on my nails. I've been overly critical of my application and photography skills (these pictures just make me kinda sad). I may need to take a break from my tiny stash and put on a good favorite I know I can count on. For now, Social Sea-n stays.

Wear: Chips on day three, but couldn't remove until day four.

Bait Me, Princess

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Sally Hansen - Bait Me (Triple Shine line), two coats
Glitter Accent: Liquid Sky Lacquer - Ice Princess, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

What? A pearl? Why would I even purchase another pearl? Because it was on sale for $1.30 at Ulta. I figured that was cheap enough to experiment. It wasn't awful, but like I expected, it went straight into the swap box after I put it on. I just don't do pearls.

Ice Princess, on the other hand, is super adorable. I really should have put it over all nails, but I wanted to leave some of Bait Me plain to convince myself that I really didn't need it. I'll layer Princess over more things soon enough.

Wear: Four days to peels

Fairy Sands

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Shimmering Sands, a franken, two coats
Topper: China Glaze - Fairy Dust, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

Sheer, lovely Shimmering Sands. I wanted something else with it, and I don't use Fairy Dust much, so I decided to go with it.

I think it's actually because I don't really like Fairy Dust all that much. I know, I know--heresy. It's fine, really, but the tiny holo glitters only show up in a particular light, and they NEVER show up on pictures. Meh. Whatever.

Wear: Four days to peels

Fairy-Peach Maintenance

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: The Devil Wears Polish - Suck My Peach, two coats
Accent: Essie - Hi Maintenance, two coats
Accent Glitter: China Glaze - Fairy Dust, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

This is about as Valentine's-y as it gets, up in here. I don't really do holidays, but when I'm trying to decide what to wear, sometimes peer pressure is easy to fall victim to. So here's a nude holo and a sheer pink with Fairy Dust. There. I did it. :P

Even pretty in the shade! Although you can tell where my accent nail got a bit smudged. Oh well.

Wear: Five days to very minor peels. After last mani when I noticed peels were actually removing the top layer of nail, I removed as soon as I noticed the first peel with this one.

New Year's Resolution Organization

Remember how my New Year's Resolution this year is to use up some minis and play with my frankens more? Well, check out what I did to help me with that:

The other side of the closet still has all my indies and nicer polishes on it, but this side, I cleaned out the shelf and put all of those drugstore polishes off to the side, covering them up (yes, with a tissue) so that I couldn't see or think about them.

These are the only polishes I'm gonna allow myself to use for a while. It's like I'm pretending to have a tiny stash! :D

Bottom shelf is all the minis.

Next up are frankens.

Third shelf are full sized bottles I have back ups of, so I can still use those, too.

Fourth shelf are untrieds, which I can use once and then add to the rest of the stash.

And fifth shelf, of course, are treatments, oils, base, and top coats.

I'm excited! :3

Iridescent Matte Coconut

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Undies: Sally Girl - Coconut, two coats
Glitter: Sally Girl - unnamed iridescent, one thick coat
TC: Seche Vite
Matte: China Glaze - Matte Magic

Yuck. Cremes. Why do I even still own cremes? Blah. The matte made it a little better, I suppose.

Wear: Four days to peels.

Summer Seas

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: The Polish Bar - Summer Seas, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Summer Seas is a gorgeous, dusty cornflower blue creme. It has a very faint holo that I could hardly get to show up in general, let alone in pictures. It doesn't matter too much, though, because it's suuuuch a pretty color, oh my goodness, and the faint holo provides just a little bit of speckle-y shimmer.

The formula is a tad on the thick side, as cremes are wont to be, hence the poor application. I may try to thin it before I use it next. It's totally worth it, though. That color..! Even though it looks a little lobstery on me, still love it.

Wear: Five days. Minor tipwear starting on day two because I wasn't smart enough to wrap my tips. Minor chips on day four, but still nothing too noticeable. Peels on day five.

Blueberry Still Sweet on You

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

I ran out of time to do my nails before a weekend trip and needed something I could do in 20 minutes (thus, texture) at the airport (thus, something I wouldn't care about if it got confiscated by TSA).

I'm trying to use this polish up, so I wear it a lot on my toes, and I've worn it frequently on my hands a lot, too. It's actually kind of becoming a signature color because of how much I use it, which wasn't intentional, but it's fine.

Wear: Seven days, though I shouldn't have left it on that long. Slight wear on day five, noticeable on day six. Shh.. I was busy.. >.>

Give Me Iridescent, Now!

The Polish:
BC: CND - Stickey
Jelly for sandwich: Essence - Give Me Nude, Now!, one coat on either side of glitter
Glitter: Sally Girl - unnamed iridescent glitter, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

I got this Essence at an Ulta sale for fifty cents because I couldn't pass it up. I expected to just swatch it and throw it immediately in the swap box, but it's actually pretty nice. It's like Essence's version of 2% Milk.

I also expected to just put the glitter over the Essence and then matte it, but it was a lot more jelly-ish than I thought it would be, so I couldn't help but sandwich it.

Wear: Removed on day three.

The Hottie in my Dairy

The Polish:
BC: CND - Stickey
Under: Sinful Colors - Hottie, two coats
Over That: Sephora by OPI - Dear Diary, one coat
TC: Seche Vite
Second TC: China Glaze - Matte Magic, one coat

Well, this was an experiment. I'd already seen what happens when I layer Hottie over a sheer pink, but what would happen if I put the sheer pink over Hottie? Hottie's already pretty jelly-ish, but maybe it would be even more jelly sandwich-y.

Nope. Turns out it's barely noticeable. Oh well.

But! On day two, I added a matte layer over the Seche Vite, and ooooh my goodness. It's freaking gorgeous. My pictures just don't do it justice. I always forget about my matte top coats, but I need to use them more. Matted is DEFINITELY the way to wear Hottie. (First and fourth pictures are of matted, second and third are shiny.)

Wear: Small peels on day three, probably due to the matte. Mattes have given me problems with wear before, which may be why I never remember that I have them. These peels were really small, and I probably could have gotten another day of wear out of it, but I can't leave things alone once I know that peels are even starting.

BEGL's PDTS 3.7

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Blue Eyed Girl Lacquer - PDTS 3.7 (prototype), two coats
TC: Seche Vite

I've been aching to put on a holo lately. Aching, reader. I have a handful of untrieds that I normally try to get through ASAP after I buy them (Ulta sale), but I didn't even care. I knew what I wanted. Plus, 3.7 is a mini, so wearing it fits with my New Year's Resolution (use up the minis and play with frankens).

3.7 is such a sooooft, pretty blue color. I love it. Plus, check out that flame! *swoon* In normal light, the color leans a little more green. See the last post of this polish.

Uh.. five is more pictures than I normally try to put on one post, but forgive me. They were all so gorgeous, I just couldn't choose. The ones above and below are practically the same shot, but the above is slightly out of focus, showing just a slightly different color. Meh.. I know I don't really need both. Shhh.. >_>

And here's a farther away shot, too. Not really necessary, either, but I always find those interesting.

Wear: Peels and chips at day four.

Travel in Fog

The Polish:
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Undies: Sally Hansen - Fog (Smooth and Perfect line), one coat
Topper: China Glaze - Travel in Color, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Hmm.. pink shimmer. This is the second time I've worn Travel in Color, and I'm still not sure that I like it. I even put undies on this time, albeit sheer ones, but still enough to give it that weird naked look.

I like shimmer. I like sheers. They're delicate and pretty, and that's exactly what I want in my polish. But why would I ever choose a pink shimmer over a gold, especially if I have to layer this one and not Calla Lily? What would I ever even wear a pink shimmer over?

The only use I can even imagine for this polish is a shimmer skittles. I have a gold and a pink, and I gave away the green (Pure Ice - Mint Dream), but that's still only three.

Meh. Whatever. I'm over it. Purge.

Wear: Removed on day four with no tip wear.

Glitter Pointe

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: OPI - My Pointe Exactly, one coat on either side of the glitter
Glitter: Sally Girl - unnamed silver glitter, one coat sandwiched by MPE
TC: Seche Vite

The other day, The Daily Varnish posted swatches of Misty Morning, part of the Deborah Lippmann Whisper Collection, and I about died. In fact, my thought process went like this:

*-*!! 

No. No~.. *scolds* Breathe... nice deep breaths. 

We don't need this one, Holly. We've got both My Pointe Exactly and Raindrops. We don't need this one. 

*pats* Let's just keep moving on. You're okay...

So, suffice to say, I needed a nice dose of MPE to calm myself. I had worn Raindrops more recently, anyway.

Plus, I got to use a mini! It seems like I'll never be able to use up these Sally Girls.

Wear: Removed on day four. Slight peels on day three, larger ones on day four. I need to use my cuticle remover, as I assume that's what caused the short wear time. No complaints, though, because I'm on a kick again and was excited to change!

Glowing Iridescent

The Polish: 

BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2

Layer 1: Sally Girl - U Glow Girl, one coat

Layer 2: Sally Girl - Unnamed iridescent glitter in a pink base, two coats

TC: Seche Vite

Today on Holly's boring manis, a topper with no undies! I kinda feel like a little girl wearing this, two Sally girl polishes, a glow in the dark and a plain glitter.. hah. Definitely something I would give to a small girl that said she wanted to do her nails. But, meh, it'll work for a couple of days.

I was going to do white tips for a French mani, but I couldn't work up the nerve. Those things never work for me. So instead, I nubbed.

No pics because... well, it's really boring. And not a boring "my nails but better" look, either, just a "I'm wearing the polish of a five-year-old." I didn't even notice any glow! Bah. Disappoint. I'll need to layer it up next time.

Wear: Removed on day four with slight peeling. 

Hallucinating a Solitary Raindrop

The Polish:
BC: CND - Stickey (under accent only)
Main: OPI - Solitaire, two coats
Accent: Hallucinating Raindrops, a franken, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

First mani of the new year! What will it be?

Solitaire is another mini, so I may be wearing a lot of it coming soon, as I try to use up my minis. I also wanted to play with my frankens, though, so I consented to Hallucinating Raindrops as an accent. I recently decanted it into a new bottle and thinned it into a jelly using the excess liquid from a sunken glitter. I may use it more often, too, since it's now in a Megalast bottle.

Wear: Four days until the franken peeled. I was just going to remove it and add a different accent, but then the tip of one of the other nails chipped.

Snowman Jizz

The Polish:
BC: NYC - Matte Me Crazy
Color: Snowman Jizz, a franken, three coats
TC: Seche Vite
Applied on Day 2: American Classics - Gelous, Seche Vite

Uh.. excuse the name. That's kind of what it looked like when I first made it, and the name kinda stuck, even though I've been messing around with the formula. Still, even with my tweaking, it looks better in the bottle than it does on my nail.

Snowman is supposed to be a white crelly with two sizes of iridescent glitters. It's, uh... it's getting there.

Also, someone was mentioning on MUA's Nail Board that layering a streaky polish over a layer of matte could make it apply more evenly, and someone even mentioned that they layered matte, polish, matte, polish, top coat. I had attempted to try that out, but then got distracted. Oh well. Now I can try a wear test for Matte Me Crazy as a base coat. I'm expecting two or three days.

Wear: Peels at day two. Even though I didn't remove until the morning of the third day, I can't count it because of how significant the peels were on the second night.

Tomoko

The Polish:
BC: None
Color: Zoya - Tomoko (Pixie Dust), two coats
TC: None

Christmas nails. I kept considering pairing it with a green texture, or even dots using a friend's red texture, but finally decided against it. Simple is best.

Oh my goodness, dry skin, right? Winter, are you over yet?

Wear: Seven days. Tip wear starting at about five-ish, though only noticeable on one nail where I didn't get the second layer as thick.

Lunar Glow

The Polish:
BC: CND - Sticky
Color: Northern Star - Lunar Glow, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

I'm so pleased with my nails, you guys! <3 Usually I steer clear of darker polishes because they show my poor application skills so prominently (and chips, which means I can't keep it on for as long). I hated this one the last time I wore it because of those reasons, but randomly I reached for it last night.

I was soooo careful on my application. I put on three solid coats instead of my regular two, and I even wrapped my tips! Just... ignore the rough cuticles. It IS winter, after all. I actually oiled about four times during the day yesterday, but that didn't seem to make any difference.

Aaaand then I took a million pictures. I couldn't help myself. They were too pretty. ;-;

The above pictures were taken in the sun, so they're more color accurate, but inside I got allll of the holo to show!

Wear: Six days! Way longer than expected. Slight tip wear and chips started on day four, but nothing noticeable until day six.