Opals and Sea Lace

The Polish
BC: Nailtiques - Formula 2
Main: E.L.F. - Sea Escape, two coats
Glitter: Colors by Llarowe - Opals and Lace, two coats
TC: Seche Vite
Added a few hours later: Orly - Green Flakie Top Coat (Matte FX)

Hmm... this glitter... it has those pretty iridescent glitters, micro, hexes, and even cute squares.. and it has those delicate matte silver glitters (hex and square) like in Pirouette My Whistle. I recently purged PMW. This is definitely better, but is it better enough to keep? That remains to be seen. It certainly looks nice and galaxy-esque photographed here. We'll see where my mood leads me as I wear it.

Edit: I was all ready to purge it when I realized, "Hey, I should add a matte top coat!" And... well, that made it better. So.. I can't purge yet. Back to Purgatory Box.

Wear: Removed on Day 2

Crystalized

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Polish: Sally Hansen - Crystalized, two coats
TC: None

I generally forget how much I enjoy this polish. So soft and pretty!

Wear: Didn't record because vacation

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.

Curious, Yellow Misfits

The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Literary Lacquers - Curious Yellow, two coats
Glitter: Native War Paints - We're All Misfits, one coat
TC: Seche Vite

Uh.. yellow, huh? Yep, that's definitely yellow. Nearly a gold, too. You really ARE just trying everything now, aren't you, Holly? Well, alright then.

Neither of these polishes really seem like me, do they? We're All Misfits is pretty close, though. It's a nice, sparse glitter, just a splash of festive color. I bet it would make any creme pop, and it even does great over this shimmer. I could have used more coats to make the glitter more apparent, but this sparse look is super cute.

Curious Yellow is the shimmery, yellow-gold version of those nice white-silvers I enjoy so much. It's a little bold, but ALMOST a soft, gentle. It's really great for summer, but I think it goes back to the swap. Here's a shot of it by itself. It dried to a satiny matte, which was rather nice.

Wear: Some lifting on Day 4, removed on Day 5. (Longer than I expected to wear this, for sure, but life.)

Warm and Tulle

The Polish:
Treatment: OPI - Nail Envy
BC: CND - Stickey (left hand only)
Main: OPI - Warm and Fozzie, three coats
Accent: Sally Hansen - Teal Tulle, three coats (reversed on right hand)
TC: Seche Vite (over Warm and Fozzie only)

I don't know if I'm feeling this. Why do I still have VNL (visible nail line) after three coats of Warm and Fozzie? Gross. It's still nearly visible on three coats of Teal Tulle, too! Come on, guys!

This is Warm and Fozzie's second chance, so it goes directly into the purge box. Bye, Felicia.

Teal Tulle, on the other hand.. I was resisting wearing it because I figured it'd be tricky to work with. It's definitely not as awesome as Crystalline, but application was fine. It definitely needs at least three coats, which is unfortunate, but it's not a bad color. Think I'll keep it around for a little while longer.

Wear: Small chips on Day 3, peels on Day 4

A-Crush

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Sinful Colors - A-Crush, two coats
TC: None

A-Crush is a matte cornflower blue creme. Color was a bit tricky to capture, but it's closer to the first picture than the second two.

Application on this one was a little messy, but it's so cute, right? It's similar to Bikini So Teeny, so I probably don't need it. I hesitated buying it, but it was only $2, and it's matte~.. I'll probably just throw it in the main stash and deal with it later. >_>

Wear: Four days. Minor tip wear on day two, major cracks on day four

Flakie Champagne

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: New York Color - Pink Champagne, two coats
TC: Seche Vite
Added on day 2: Orly - Green Flakie Top Coat (Matte FX line), two coats (Shown in pictures 2-5)

I have to be in a particular mood to wear Pink Champagne anymore. It IS super delicate and cute, but I've been in the mood for more color recently. I just haven't been needing a palate cleanser.

I was pretty skeptical about putting on the flakie top coat at first, and even throughout that day. It really is just a matte top coat with some flakies in it. Nothing really interesting.

But after a while, I started noticing the flakies over the soft, sheer pink and the delicate gold shimmer.. the blue and green iridescent glitter.. They go so well together! They're both fine on their own, but together, they give such a transient, dreamy, effervescent feel. And the fact that it's matte just makes the whole thing seem even softer, smooth and satin-y. These pictures really just don't do it justice!

So, turns out, this flakie top coat I was having second thoughts about is actually a good deal after all. I'm already wondering if I would ever want just a regular matted manicure over a matted-and-flakied one.

Wear: Removed on day four with no noticeable wear.

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

Snowman Jizz

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Snowman Jizz, a franken, two coats
TC: Seche Vite followed by China Glaze - Matte Magic

Still playing around with this one. It's still not quite how I want it. A tad on the thick side, just a tad too sheer..

Plus, I've learned, I need to apply it over another white. On its own, it picks up a little pink from my hands and turns more strawberry than snow.

Wear: Six days! Even despite the matte, this wore like iron for some reason.

Matte Hottie

The Polish:
BC: CND - Stickey
Color: Sinful Colors - Hottie, two coats
TC: China Glaze - Matte Magic over Seche Vite

Oh my goodness, hey! I finally got this polish to photograph right! I, uh... I have no idea how I did it, actually. These pictures were taken immediately after I finished applying in the same backyard, with the same camera phone that I always use.

I wondered afterward if the matte had finished drying when I took them, so I went outside two hours later to take more, and they turned out horribly, as usual. I don't know what the deal is! I have no idea how I actually took good pictures for once, and it's so frustrating because without that knowledge, I won't be able to replicate it! It seems like I did the exact same things. Grrr.. :/

Wear: Peels on day two

Balloons in the Sky

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Balloons in the Sky, a franken, two coats using the matte technique
TC: Seche Vite
Matte: China Glaze - Matte Magic

Hmm... this one... I'm still not quite sure what to do with it. Its formula is poor, but I DID manage to get it on nicely using the matte technique (one coat, then a coat of matte before the next layer). Still a little bumpy and patchy, as you can see. I just don't know, guys. I could also just wear Special Snowflake or something.

Wear: Three days to peels

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.

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.

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.

Satin Crystalline

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Sally Hansen - Crystalline (Satin Glam line), three coats
TC: None

Crystalline is the white from Sally Hansen's new satin texture line. I knew it was cute when I first saw it, but for whatever reason, I put off buying it for the longest time. Maybe I was trying to be "good" or something, I don't know. Hehe. But I couldn't put it off forever. It had to be mine!

It's not just a plain white, either. It's full of pink, blue, and teal micro glitter that gives it a sort of iridescent effect. Plus, it's super soft and nice to touch! I wore it without top coat this time around so that I could touch it, but I want to put some Seche Vite over it next time, since I've seen it look utterly gorgeous top coated in swatches.

Wear: Six days! Crystalline wore like iron on me! Mattes are notoriously chippy, but apparently satins are superior. Three coats took quite longer to dry than mattes normally do, too, though, and after these pictures were taken, I smudged one of my nails pretty bad. I'll have to use quick dry drops next time I want to wear it without top coat.

Hallucinating Raindrops

The Polish:
BC: Duri - Rejuvicote
Hallucinating Raindrops, a franken, two coats
TC: China Glaze - Matte Magic

I've thoroughly enjoyed this franken on my toes, so I thought I'd give it a chance on my nails. Turns out I don't like it here as much, but that's okay. It's still great for toes.

Besides, isn't the bottle just lovely?

I just couldn't achieve color accuracy on my photos, however. I've been taking the pictures inside, in the brightest room of my house, since it's overcast-y winter now, but they never turn out exactly right. The color is a slightly lighter, prettier grey than what shows here. Plus the glitters had a great depth that didn't show up, either. Maybe it's time for a new phone with a better camera...

This last one was with the top coat, by the way. Matte Magic isn't really all that matte (or magic) after all. Maybe next time, I'll try two coats of this? Would that work?

Wear: Four days. Pretty good for a matte, right?

Retry Skittles

The Polishes:
Thumb:  Essence - Grey-t to be Here - three layers
Index: Cover Girl - Gold Rush (Boundless Color line) sandwiched between OPI - Sweet Heart
Middle: Raindrops franken dupe over Revlon - Phantom Angel (Masquerade collection) - two layers each
Ring: Wet n Wild - Star of the Show (Fast Dry line) over Orly - Au Champagne - two layers
Pinkie: Sally Girl - unnamed iridescent glitter over Sally Girl - Coconut - two layers

Again, taking advantage of Nail Board's Skittle week, I decided it was a good time to go through some polishes I hadn't worn in a while in hopes of purging some.

Grey-t is one of my favorites of the bunch. I adore the wide brush, the smooth formula, and the cute color. Perhaps others may be frustrated with the sheerness--I used three coats to cover the nail line. But I'm not one of those people. Nail lines don't bother me, and for everyday wear, two coats is fine by me.

Oh my goodness, my finicky Sweet Heart again. Your poor bottle is so muggle abused. And look at those bubbles! Yeah, it's not the greatest polish, and the old, thin brush may be sub-par, but I just can't bear to get rid of it yet. No one would want her. There's not much left, and it looks fine sandwiching glitter. I'd much prefer to just use as much as I can and then toss.

Gold Rush, again, is a perfectly reasonable glitter. Nothing spectacular about it, but it looks fine in a sandwich. I initially tried to leave it as a topper, but I just don't prefer that look. I had to add another layer of Sweet Heart.

Phantom Angel has been concerning me for a while now, as I've gone through my stash. It's a bit on the pearly side, and I don't like pearls. It's a sheer white, which I like, but, honestly, I have enough sheer whites, and those ones aren't pearls. Purging this one.

And here's my first Raindrops franken dupe attempt. There's not much left because I poured most of it into another franken glitter. I just wanted to see what it would look like on top of something else. *shrug* It's okay. In the shade, you can see the flakes from Glass Slipper, though, which are pretty.

Oh, Star of the Show. How I love-slash-hate you. I love your stars. I hate how sparse they are. You know, I have other star glitter. It's tough for me, but I suppose it's time to give you up. Purge.

Au Champagne is another one I have trouble with. I always hate it when I'm thinking about it. A frosty white? Sounds terrible. But on the nail, it somehow works, especially with two layers. I guess it has enough self-leveling power to settle the brush strokes into a fine matte. It's especially tolerable if I'm only wearing it as undies. Keep.

And my Sally Girls. Coconut has a creme finish that's just barely frustrating to work with, but the lovely coconut scent totally makes up for it. And the pretty pastel blue color.

And the iridescent glitter--actually one of my favorites from this batch of polishes. Simple and cute. Love it. <3

After I came back inside from taking pictures, somehow I found myself putting Seche Vite over top without thinking about it. After two nails, I said, "Wait. What am I doing? I'm not actually going to wear this, am I? To work?" (I'm a teacher at a private school.) Then I told myself, "Whatever, no one cares," and finished the Seche Vite. Somehow my index finger still got dented, anyway, so I probably won't wear it past a couple of days.

Purge number this time around: Two. I guess it's better than last time!

Silver and Champagne

Orly - Au Champagne
Sally Girl - unnamed silver hex glitter
China Glaze - Matte Magic

What? A white pearl? Why do I even own this? Don't I know that I hate pearls? ... Oh yeah. The girls on the forums made it look so nice. So let's give it a go.

Au Champagne actually isn't that bad, for a pearl. Yeah, it's streaky, to be expected, but it IS pretty. And matte, the streak is hardly noticeable at all.

Also to be expected, the Sally Girl glitter involved a bit of fishing. Meh. Oh well.

As for the stained cuticles... before this mani, I started to put on a dark grey and realized immediately that it wasn't for me. I removed it quickly, but it still stained. Boo. Not sure what's up with my pinkie nail, either. The same thing happened last mani. I'll have to buff it out, whatever it is.

Wear: Two days. Lasted through one shower and died in the second. But for some reason it seems like it wore better than the NYC stuff. Dunno. I'll have to do a comparison.

Also, I put this picture on Reddit, as I occasionally do when I'm feeling affection for my current mani, and I got downvoted. Sure, I got more upvotes than downvotes, so my overall score was still positive, but it still hurt. I asked for some constructive criticism and got told that I needed more coats of polish and better application that "covers the whole nail." So.. this is just a reminder to me--I do my nails for myself. I don't do them for those people, and I don't even do them for anyone else that may be reading my blog. I do them for myself, and I do them the way I like them. Everyone else can stfu. <3