Gloomy Sea and Sky

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Grey: Fancy Gloss - Feeling Gloomy, two coats
Blue: The Polish Bar - Summer Sea, two coats
Lavender: The Polish Bar - Serene Skies, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Loooove <3 These are three of my favorite polishes, and I've been meaning to do a skittlette with them for a while now. They all have the same supposed-to-be-holo-but-are-just-pretty-shimmers-in-practicality formula, and their shades are a similar muted, greyed opacity. They look so pretty together, and I'm so happy!

Wear: Lifting started on Day 4, removed on Day 6

Cool Mirror

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Main: Sinful Colors - Cool Grey, two coats
Topper: Orly - Mirrorball, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

Hmm... is this a mediocre mani? I know I definitely like it more than the previous one.. but I guess it's another one I'm gonna have to think about. It doesn't help that my photography skills are currently at a low point.

Wear: Removed on Day 5 even though I was tired of it a lot earlier. It's been a busy week. I decided not to purge because it's just a grey, you know? Back into the box-of-everything. I DID convince myself to purge the previous two I was considering, though!

Winter

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

Winter is a dark grey with holo microglitter. I've had something similar before.. in fact, I frankened it. (Ugggh, those pictures are really difficult to look at!) When I got this one, I was afraid I'd get something similar. But no, surely people who actually make polish can do it better than me, right? First coat was thin, and I thought maybe it'd be similar after all. But the second coat leveled it out it out beautifully.

After that, I remembered, Oh yeah.. I also got something similar a while ago and destashed it because it wasn't as good as Feeling Gloomy, which I adore. Do I actually need this?

Yes. The answer is yes. This is a lot darker than Feeling Gloomy. It has the same speckled look in regular lighting that I like, but.. this is almost a black. In fact, because this is called Winter, maybe they were going for a snow-falling-against-the-night-sky look? Anyway, super digging it, and it totally gets to stay in my stash.

Wear: Didn't record :/

Wrapped in Plastic

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Hare Polish - Wrapped in Plastic, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

Oooh, light box! My mother-in-law, or "back-up mother," as she likes to be called, got me a light box for my birthday, just in time for the winter. Yesterday I waited a little too long to take pictures of my nails, and it was dark by the time I realized, but never fear! Light box to the rescue! It.. kind of highlights flaws in my application, doesn't it? XD Does it also make my hands look weird? Eh, oh well. I'm sure I'll get used to it. :P

Wear: Removed on Day 4 with some chips

London

The Polish
BC: None
Color: Zoya - London, three coats
TC: None

Hey, remember that time that I super loved London? Yeah, that time has already passed. I don't know what happened. I keep finding that I don't enjoy all the things I used to love... :( I was trying to go through my stash and pull out everything I wanted to destash for the winter swap this year, but.. I don't think that's happening. I think I still need to pause because I'm not in the best place mentally for destashing. I'mma just stick with the ones I'm already super enjoying these days. So be prepared for some more swatches of things you've already seen recently! :P

Wear: Removed on Day 4 with some tip wear

Where Oh Werewolf

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Color: Sinful Colors - Where Oh Werewolf, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Where Oh Werewolf, a nice grey creme with silver shimmer, is my pick from the 2016 Halloween collection!

Wear: Removed on Day 3 with slight lifting so that I wouldn't anxiety pick at it

Altruism

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

I really do love this polish. Three easy coats and such a delicate, soft-grey holo with purple-pink shift. I was having a tough day, and Altruism made it better. Thank you. <3

Wear: Removed on Day 5 with some lifting

Wrapped in Azucar Wool

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Model City - Wrapped in Wool, two coats
TC: Seche Vite
Topper: Silly Bee's Chickadees - Azucar, one coat added a couple hours later
TC: American Classics - Gelous

Well, this is cute! I guess Wrapped in Wool is okay. It's no Feeling Gloomy, but I like it topped with Azucar. (It reminds me, strangely enough, of a mani with ANOTHER Fancy Gloss which I did NOT so much enjoy.) What I'm learning is that I just DON'T really like little, sparse, holo glitters. *shrug* Here's Wrapped in Wool on its own. Kinda cute, right?

And here, have a live swatch, too.


Wear: Removed on Day 3 with some anxiety picking at a very small amount of lifting

Pink Sugar

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Sinful Colors - Glass Pink, two scoats
Topper: Indecisive Lacquer - Sugar, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

Something simple and delicate to wear during an extended weekend vacation. I couldn't decide which one, so I picked both!

I thought at first that the Glass Pink didn't seem to add much, but in just the right light, it DOES look more pink than usual. Super cute. <3

Wear: Some slight lifting starting on Day 4, was able to leave it until the morning of Day 6! Go me!

Foggy

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Mentality - Foggy, two coats
TC: None

Hmm.. no. This grey is too much of a silver for me. I like the shimmer, but I almost wish it were more pronounced. And for being a matte polish, it's ridiculously shiny.. :/ Purge.

Wear: Removed immediately. I tried to like it, I really did. I even did my other hand! But I couldn't last half an hour.

Etoiles d'eau Salee

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Scofflaw Nail Varnish - Etoiles d'eau Salee, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

Hmm... This polish... Google Translate says it means "Salt Water Stars," and it's a soft white-grey with... blue and holo microglitter? It's hard to discern, in the pictures and even on the nail. It's cute, but it's definitely got the formula of a white. I'm trying to decide if it's cute enough to be worth it, but if I have to think about it, that means it's not, right? I don't have time for anything I have to fuss with. I want to love everything I put on, so this one goes.... right into purgatory. >_> Okay, look, I can't just toss into the swap box after one wear... *sigh* I'm hopeless. ^-^;

Wear: Removed on Day 3 with a little chipping

It's All Surfers Now

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Essie - Pret-a-Surfer, two coats
Accent: Tough as Nails Lacquer - It's All Over Now, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

I don't normally do purples OR Essies, but I've been liking Essie cremes more and more recently, so I thought I'd try this blurple. I THINK it's blue enough for me not to hate it on my nails! Also kept the accent from last mani, 'cause it's super cute irl.

Day 2, ignore the dry skin, but this is what it looks like normally.

Also, look! More live swatches! Whaaaat! :D

Wear: Slight lifting starting on Day 3, removed on Day 4

Armed and Polarized

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Essie - Armed and Ready, three coats
Accent: China Glaze - Polarized, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

I'm starting to like Essies more and more lately now that I'm getting better at applying cremes. Armed and Ready is.. a bit difficult to describe. It is, at times, in different lights, olive, brown, or dark grey. There is a gold shimmer that shines in the bottle and outside but hides completely indoors. I tried to take a number of pictures to catch the various perspective of colors, but I'm also navigating a new phone (Galaxy S7), so it was tricky!

Polarized doesn't match as well as I had hoped because I hadn't accounted for the gold shimmer in Armed and Ready, but I still enjoy it more that I probably would without an accent nail. It REALLY didn't want to be photographed, though. Polarized is a foil-y silver with.. what appears to be red, green, and silver hexes. Swatches online show that when it came out in 2012, there were a lot more colors, but they must have faded. I thought it would make a good silver for an accent nail, but.. it's just kinda plain. If I want a silver accent nail, I have so many better ones to choose from. It's difficult for me to put this perfectly fine silver directly in the purge, though, so purgatory box for now and will probably be purged later when I can be more strict with myself.

Wear: Removed on Day 4 with a chip from a peelie and some anxious picking. :/

Make My Gray

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: KBShimmer - Make My Gray, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Hmm.. not too sure what to think about this one. It's an adorable mix of grey, teal, and hot pink (I know it kinda looks coral. It's actually hot pink) hex glitters in a white jelly base, but it seems a bit... thick. Maybe it needs some thinner? Or maybe I just needed a layer of Gelous under the SV.

Wear: Glitter sticking out drove me crazy until I picked it off on Day 1. Removed on Day 2. Yep, definitely needed some Gelous. Plus it had somehow not completely dried down to the bottom layer...

After All This Vanilla?

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Base: KleanColor - Vanilla Villa, two coats
Topper: 365 Days of Color - After All This Time?, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Meh, not the best combination. I don't actually really like this topper much on many things, but I DO enjoy randomly remembering that it glows in the dark when I go to bed. Also, it's been stormy here, so a subpar indoor pic has to suffice today. (Those are actually holo hexes, regardless of how they look here.)

Wear: Some very slight lifting on Day 3, worse on Day 4, but life happened and I had to keep it on until Day 5. :c

Feeling Gloomy Again

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Fancy Gloss - Feeling Gloomy, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Aaah. There we go. Nice and grey again. *happy sigh*

Wear: Removed on Day 4, chips at Day 3

Heavenly Cloud

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Reverie Nail Lacquer - Cloud Burst, three coats
Glitter: Revlon - Heavenly, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

Five pictures of this mani, even though I didn't enjoy it. I can never get Heavenly to look nice irl.

This is how it normally looks. Just kinda strange...

Much better in the shade.

I guess I need to try it over a dark color, but I just don't have that much patience recently.

Wear: Removed on Day 2

Sidewalk's End

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Literary Lacquers - Sidewalk's End, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

We've been having a lot of partly cloudy days recently, so to match, a grey holo.

So pretty! One can never get enough of that holo!

Wear: Removed on Day 6 with minimal lifting

Coal and My Mirror

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Lumina Lacquers - Coal in My Stocking, two coats
Accent: Orly - Mirrorball, three coats
TC: Seche Vite

I feel very stylish wearing these two colors together! They are both elegant, and they work really well together! I'm not sure that I love Mirrorball on its own, so I may try it layered over another grey or silver creme next time I wear it.

SO: The silver one looks especially good with your ring. I like to imagine that they were all the same color, but when you put on the ring, it transformed.

Me: Hehe. Magical, transformative.

SO: You say it like it's a specific type of polish. "I have my holos, my magical transformatives, ..."

Me: Yes, exactly!

Wear: Slight tip wear on Day 3, chips on Day 5

Long Winter's Nap

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Girly Bits - Long Winter's Nap, three coats
TC: American Classics - Gelous followed by Seche Vite

From the swatches online, I thought that this polish was probably blue, but putting it on, I can tell you that Long Winter's Nap is absolutely grey with blue, aqua, silver, and blue-purple iridescent glitters. Even with the Gelous, this polish still dulled pretty quickly. But those glitters! Those iridescent ones, especially!

Live swatch video!:


Wear: Removed on Day 4 with some lifting. Removal of all those glitters was a pain. I need to get a new scrubby tub.