Solitarily Nyxed

The Polish:
BC: None
Main Color: OPI - Solitaire (Bond Girls Liquid Sand collection), two coats
Accent: Zoya - Nyx (Pixie Dust), two coats
TC: None

I've never been on a No Buy before, but with all of the polish I have, I decided to try it. A polish Facebook group I'm in is doing it for six weeks, and I'm joining in, too. The day before it started, I decided it would be easier if I hauled right before, so I went out to see what I could find, and lo and behold, an OPI Bond Girls mini set on clearance! I'd been wanting to try Solitaire and Pussy Galore, so I picked it up immediately. It also came with Jinx, which I gave to a red-loving friend, and Vesper, which is going straight into the swap box.

I've been going back and forth on Solitaire ever since I put it on. I just can't decide if I like it or not. It's a pretty color, but I'm not sure if it's doing it for me or not. Honestly, I don't think the texture is working for this one. It doesn't seem to be as good a quality as other textures I have. It's not bad enough to get rid of, and I'll definitely wear it again, but I'm glad it's a mini, at least.

And as for Nyx, I'm not really feeling the love, either. Even though I already had two blue texture polishes, I wanted to get it as one of my three from the Zoya promo because it wasn't like the other two. It was muted and greyed, but still sparkly and pretty. So I'm not sure why I'm not feeling it now. Maybe I had just gotten too used to used to the brighter ones? Oh well, we'll try again later.

Wear: Three days, and then Solitaire seemed to lose its texture to wear..? All of the texture polishes I've worn aren't quite as "textured" after a couple of days, but this one had visible wear. Hmm...

Stone Table

The Polish:
BC: Duri - Rejuvicote
Color: Love, Angeline - Stone Table (This is the End collection), three coats
TC: Seche Vite

Polish people, please allow me to introduce one of my new all time favorite polishes. Her name is Stone Table, and she's beyond adorable.

Stone Table is a white crelly with iridescent glitters and a strong green flash, but just saying that doesn't capture how wonderful she is. Seriously, it's like something straight out of a story book. One coat is like a light dusting of pixie dust, and two coats is pure magic. <3

My poor photography skills don't capture how perfect it is, either, unfortunately, so you'll just have to take my word for it: Stone Table is nothing short of amazing. I guess the only way it could possibly be better is if it was glow in the dark, but I could always layer that in. Regardless, Stone Table is perfect. We're gonna be friends for a long time to come. <3

(And here's a shot in bathroom lighting, which isn't as good, but shows the green flash and colors from the iridescents better. So pretty!)

Wear: Six days. Not only is she gorgeous, she also wore like iron on me.

London

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

Zoya had a promo for the new year, three polishes for $12 shipped. They normally sell for $8 to $9 each, so I couldn't help but pick up some Pixie Dusts, their line of textures. First up is London, a dark grey with silver microglitter. I wasn't sure if this grey would be too dark for me, but I decided to give it a shot. It may not be a polish that I wear often, but I think I like having it in my collection, at least.

Blurred to show shimmer. No bottle shots because my indoor lighting turned the swatches green--I had to take these pictures at work the next day during my plan time. Also, aaaaaah, why do my hands always look so RED!? So frustrating!

I don't normally wear black (I'm more of a brown girl), but I put it on to match my polish. Looks alright, right?

Wear: Five days, though tip wear became noticeable on day four.

CtA proto

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - Colorstay Basecoat
Color: Blue Eyed Girl Lacquers - CtA 1.2 (prototype), three coats
TC: GCSV (50% NYC - Grand Central Station, 50% Seche Vite)

Oookay, this didn't turn out as expected. I know pastels are traditionally tricky to work with, but I've had such nice luck in the past. Three coats and it's still a streaky mess? Boo.

 

CtA 1.2 is a pale lavender creme with weak linear holo. And it's going in the swap box. I know there are techniques for dealing with finicky formulas, such as sandwiching thin coats between layers of top coat or using a makeup sponge to apply the last layer, but I just don't care enough to try that hard. The color wasn't what I was expecting, and I just have many other polishes that I love more. So I'll let someone else have it.

Wear: Removed after two days.

BEGL Blue Holo

The Polish:

BC: Duri - Rejuvicote

Color: Blue Eyed Girl Lacquer - PDTS 3.7 (a mini prototype), two coats

TC: Seche Vite

Here's another beautiful prototype from Blue Eyed Girls Lacquer. I must say that I like this one more than the other, though, but that's just because this one is blue! And what a gorgeous, soft shade of blue this is, with just the slightest tint of green and a lovely, strong linear holo. So pretty!

Wear: Three days. Turns out it wasn't the basecoat that was fighting with my last mani; it was the fact that I had oiled my nails and then hadn't waited long enough to paint my nails. Sad, since this was such a pretty mani.

Aroma in Tacoma... is Cookies!?

The Polish:
BC: Duri - Rejuvicote
Color: Sonoma Nail Art (Formerly Tacoma Nail Art) - Aroma in Tacoma, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

I adore this polish. Look how lovely the base. Look how sweet the colors of glitter. So simple and pleasant. And... it looks like delicious COOKIES! <3

AiT has an excellent mixture of glitters (small white and gold, medium white and bronze-y brown) in a jelly milky nude base. The first layer goes on very sheer, but two coats is perfection. Three coats would have probably deepened the nude more, but I was satisfied at two. Gah, and isn't she perfect!? Aaah, the simplicity. So. Much. Love. for this one. <3

Wear: Three days, peeled from the base at two (as you can see from the pictures). :( Must not have liked the Rejuvicote? I'll have to try again with a different base.

Edit: Nope, I was wrong. It was that I oiled my nails and then didn't wait long enough to paint them. Grrr. Lesson learned.

Rainy Day Magic

The Polish:
BC: None
Color: Rainy Day Magic, a franken, three coats
TC: New York Color - Grand Central Station

Inspired by Dreamy Lacquers - A Touch of Grey, Rainy Day Magic was supposed to be a grey crelly with scattered holo. I'm not sure what happened, but I know the three layers probably covered up the the holo with my multiple layers. One layer is rather thin, but I'll try it next time I use it. It's such a nice concept, I definitely don't want to give up on it.

I didn't have a grey of appropriate color, so I used what I had, a darker grey, Maybelline - Gray-T Glamour, and mixed it with a white, Sinful Shine - Wisp. Then I added some sparkle, both Sephora by OPI - Meet Me at the Disco and CoverGirl - Goddess, which are near-dupes. I wanted to make sure that it had enough clear to have that nice jelly-look, so I let both glitters sit, then poured, getting much of the base, rather than adding clear.

I debated adding this last picture since it's not color accurate, but at least it shows some of the sparkle, so you know I'm not making it up! More luck next time wearing it.

Wear: Removed at three days.

Fizzy Blueberry Rock Candy

The Polish:
BC: CND - Stickey
Main Color: Julie G - Blueberry Fizz (Gumdrops collection), two coats
Accent: Julie G - Rock Candy (Gumdrops collection), two coats
TC: None

Two pretty texture polishes by Julie G, my first ones of this brand. Not too much to say, for once. They're both pretty colors with a great, silvery sparkle. Textures are nice and even, not too lumpy or thick. Good coverage in one coat, deeper color with two. Both solid additions to my texture collection.

Wear: Three days, and then I got some acetone on them while working on a franken. Whoops.

Blueberry Smith

The Polish:
BC: Duri - Rejuvicote
Color: Silly Bee's Chickadees - Blueberry Smith Smoothie, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Guess who won a Silly Bee's Facebook giveaway! It was me! :D Melissa, the owner, posted a scavenger hunt to her page, and I just so happened to refresh right when she did, so I was able to run to her blog and find the answer quick. Lucky! The prize was one free polish of my choice, so I chose Blueberry Smith Smoothie, a polish I had admired on Oh Three Oh Four.

It's a yummy-looking white crelly with blue, green, and white glitters. I really need to get a top coat for hungry glitters, because I've been wearing them more and more. This is definitely one I need it for. Gelous has been recommended, I've just yet to pick it up.

I really want to try this matte next time! I know it'll look great that way, too!

Wear: Removed after two days because I just wasn't feeling it. Or maybe because I WAS "feeling it," and that was part of the problem. I'll try again in the spring, after I have some Gelous.

Absynthe Makes My Clothes Fall Off

The Polish:
BC: Duri - Rejuvicote
Color: The Devil Wears Polish - Absynthe Makes My Clothes Fall Off, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

The first of two The Devil Wears Polish mini holos I got from a blog sale, neither of which are sold anymore, according to the shop, Absynthe is a soft teal linear holo. The holo is pretty strong, but the polish a thin, needing three coats for complete coverage. It also shows imperfections, so I know that next time, I'll want a more ridge-filling base.

The names of these make me a little uneasy, but that's okay. No one ever asks the name of what I'm wearing, and if they did, I could just tell them the brand name. It doesn't keep me from blushing in private, but at least I don't have to share with the class!

Wear: Peeled off on day five. Should have removed the night before.

The Worst Possible Air

The Polish:
BC: CND - Sticky
Main Color: Sally Hansen - Air (Smooth & Perfect line), two coats
Glitter: Rainbow Honey - The Worst Possible Thing (Equestria collection)
TC: Seche Vite

The Worst Possible Thing is a polish I've been admiring since I first got really into polish more than a year ago, so when I found a mini on a blog sale, I bought it immediately. Unfortunately, it I don't make it look as good as the professionals do. Maybe I needed to put it over a darker color, but that's probably not the only thing. Where are the shards/flakes in their swatches, I ask you? They seem to be all over mine. Pointless Cafe's swatches, too. I looked REALLY closely at the first two and finally was able to spot some. I have no idea why they show so much more on a lighter color than on darker... Right. Anyway, lesson learned. TWPT is goes over dark colors only.

I tried and tried, but I just couldn't take a good picture last night. Finally I just gave up. On a whim a couple hours later, I tried in the bathroom. Great success! ... Well, maybe not great, but definitely better than it had been, at least. And then I took some pictures outside this afternoon, too, and they were also slightly better.

Here's a crazy out of focus shot that I decided to keep because I love the colors. It probably won't last long, but I currently have it set as my desktop background, haha.

Dawn was trying very hard to get my attention last night when I was trying to get a good picture. Here she scoffs.

Apart from the thing with the polish I mentioned above, I was also disappointed with the tiny nub of a brush that comes with the mini bottle. Judging from the website and recent blogs, they've changed mini bottles since this polish has been released, but that doesn't help me now any. Oh well.

Wear: Removed at four days. I wanted to do a wear test for Sticky, but I got too excited for other polishes and wanted to change. Oh well.

Blue Does NOT Want to Be a Millionaire

The Polish:
BC: Duri - Rejuvicote
Color: Wet n Wild - Blue Wants to Be a Millionaire, three thin coats
TC: Sinful Colors - Quick Dry

Although I don't normally wear blues of this shade, the scattered holo tricked me into picking this up when CVS had their end of the year sale in December. For one dollar, might at well give it a try, right?

Wrong. I've decided that I dislike it. Someone on NB warned me ahead of time to wear undies with it, but do I listen? Hardly ever. But I don't think that I'd like it much better with undies, anyway. I dunno, I just don't like undies at all, really.

It's got a nice sparkle, but that's about it. Okay, it looks alright from afar, I suppose. Maybe I might save it for when I have nubs. Or for frankening or something. Or maybe one of these days I'll actually wear it over something else. Who knows.

Wear: Removed after a few hours.

Heavenly Leche Angel

The Polish: 
BC: Duri - Rejuvicote
Main: Jelly sandwich with one coat of Silly Bee's Chickadees - Leche, one coat of Nicole by OPI - Heavenly Angel, and another coat of Leche
TC: Sinful Colors - Quick Dry

Well, this was pretty much a failure of a mani. I've seen jelly sandwiches with flakies work before. Here's one from Sincerely Stephanie, here's one from Chalkboard Nails, and here's one from Ivana Thinks Pink . So I know it's possible. It just didn't work here.

Also, did I mention how much I hate flakies? I've had the thought before, but now I know it's true. Flakies just aren't for me.

(Also I had forgotten how small the Silly Bee's brush is. But it's fine, I suppose.)

It's important to learn from our mistakes and move past them. So what did I learn here? Just that I'm not gonna wear flakies again, I guess.

New Polish Rack

I love the polish rack I was given for my birthday, but it was already too small for my stash when I got it. I considered purging until it fit, but then I hauled a lot instead. So I decided to just buy a second one.

If you don't have one of these guys yet, seriously consider it. It's cheap on Amazon, it looks great, and setup is effortless. Just place the four screws in the holes and hand-tighten the nuts--took me literally less than three minutes.

What took a lot longer was the reorganizing, which I tried for an hour before I got it the way I wanted it. Here are the final results:

Rack 1: Higher ends and favorites. Indies on the bottom three rows. Then OPI, BL, and Illamasqua. Next is Revlons, SH CSM, and Zoya. Top row is WnW Megalast, China Glaze, Urban Outfitters, and Orly.

To the side are untrieds along with removers, files, cuticle oils, and other miscellaneous nail stuff.

Rack 2: Lower end drugstore polishes, etc. Bottom row are frankens, Color Workshop, and Sally Girl. Next is LA Girl and LA Color, Confetti, and Essence. Then some L'Oreal, Cover Girl, KleanColor, and WnW Fastdry. Then SH DS, NYC, and NOPI. Second to last row is all SC, and top row is SH S&P and Essie. (Yeah, I'm not as fond of Essie as other girls are.)

To the side are top coats, base coats, matte TCs, and treatments.

Very pleased to have everything in its place finally!

Goodie Two Shoes

The Polish:
BC: Duri - Rejuvicote
Main: XOXO Nail Candy - Goodie Two Shoes
TC: None

I just put this polish on quickly to swatch, not really thinking about it but considering in the back of my mind all of the poor indie decisions I've made recently. This, however, was not one of them. This polish is adorable, and I loved it immediately.

Goodie Two Shoes is a mix of pastel pink, yellow, and blue glitters--two sizes of hex and two sizes of square, all in a milky base. It might look cute over a pale, milky white or pink, or it might be perfect two coats on its own. Either way, it'll be great, and I'm excited to actually wear it come spring.

Let it Snow

The Polish:
BC: Duri - Rejuvicote
Main: Cameo Colours Lacquer - Let it Snow (Holiday collection 2012)
TC: None

Happy New Year, polish people! After the unfortunate event that was Fancy Gloss's Marry Me, I was hoping to recover my love for this type of polish with Let it Snow, a seasonal polish released last year that I picked up from a blog sale. And you know what? It smelled almost as bad! Oh, the disappointment. This has me rethinking indie polish all together. I think I better stick to the bigger, more well known indie brands from now on. (Well... except for in the case of blog sales... those are hard to resist.)

I was so disappointed that another pretty was stinky, I didn't even top coat it. I would have taken it off right away, but I had somewhere to be. I just left it for the night and then removed it in the morning.