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.

The Worst Possible Danse?

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: OPI - Care to Danse?, two coats
Accent: Rainbow Honey - The Worst Possible Thing, one coat sandwiched between CtD?
TC: Seche Vite

Ah, there's nothing quite like a fresh, elegant OPI Ballet collection manicure with an accent sandwich of dainty glitters. *happy sigh*

Just as gorgeous in the shade!

Wear: Six days, then peels.

Make Mine a Holo Coconut

The Polish:
BC: CND - Stickey
Color: Sally Girl - Coconut, two coats, followed by one coat of Lacquerhead Polish - Make Me Holo
TC: Seche Vite

Rain on a day I choose to wear a holo, wouldn't you know it. I wanted something bright, summery, and cute, and not that I dislike the rain, but it definitely doesn't show off my nails very well. Bah.

Anyway, I love Coconut, even though it's slightly streaky, because it just smells so good. Plus, it's an adorable shade of pale blue. (I have two backups I bought for about fifty cents each once when Sally's was having a red tag clearance sale.) I was debating whether I wanted to put Fairy Dust or a linear holo over it and wound up with the linear. Fairy Dust, I'll choose you next time, promise!

Wear: Five days, then chips.

Summer Blue Skittles

The Polish:
BC: CND - Stickey, except under Nyx
Colors, in no particular order, all one coat each:
Sinful Colors - Cinderella
Sinful Colors - From Sheer to Eternity
Zoya - Nyx
Northern Star - Lunar Glow
L.A. Colors - Glitter Bomb, layered over Cinderella
TC: Seche Vite, except over Nyx

I've been seeing a skittles look involving one texture nail, one holo nail, and the others the same (or similar) color but one with a layer of glitter, and I really wanted to give it a try. Didn't care much about application this time around, 'cause I knew it was going to be bad, what with Lunar Glow being so dark and all. I should try not caring about application more often--it's quite freeing!

Also, I picked up From Sheer to Eternity, one of SC's new summer colors, even though I was skeptical about it being too similar to Cinderella. Upon comparison, they're definitely not dupes, as Cinderella has those nice pink microflakes, but definitely too similar for me to justify owning both. I wound up returning Eternity.

And here's both hands. I think I like the order of my right hand better.

Wear: Glitter Bombed Cinderella started peeling at day 4, so removed everything.

Dandy Lyin' Snow

The Polish:
BC: CND - Stickey
Color: China Glaze - Dandy Lyin' Around, one thin coat
Glitter: Cameo Colors - Let It Snow
TC: Seche Vite

Oh so pretty and sparkly! I layered Dandy Lyin' Around as thin as I could, leaving just a smooth layer of shimmer, and then dabbled on the glitter. So delicate!

Yes, Let It Snow still stinks. It almost made me feel sick after a while. Stupid indie makers, creating such pretties with such smelly bases. Grr! :/

But.. look how pretty... ;-;

Wear: Four days.

Shining Seas

The Polish:
BC: American Classic - Gelous
Polish: Pure Ice - Shining Seas, two coats
TC: One layer of Gelous, followed by a layer of Seche Vite

While at Walmart recently, I found Shining Seas and her green sister, Sea Glass, and couldn't make myself put them back. Shining Seas is a mix of two sizes of iridescent glitter in a blue jelly-ish base. The base is paler in bottle than Sinful Color's Hottie (and thus probably OPI's Last Friday Night, which Hottie's a dupe of) and comes out less opaque.

I wore Sea Glass first and didn't even take a picture--I had decided I didn't like it. I put on Shining Seas next, assuming I would feel the same about it. At first, I guess I did, but slowly, it grew on me. Somewhere along the way, I decided I loved it. Two coats is just a pale tint of blue and sparkle, just barely noticeable, delicate and cute. <3

My right hand came out slightly darker because the layers were just a little thicker, so here's a picture of my rarely-seen right hand, too.

Wear: Four days. (I remembered to record it this time, yay!)

Popular

The Polish:
BC: CND - Stickey
Color: Revlon - Popular, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

One of my favorite Revlons, a polish I wear when I can't decide what to wear. The base covering some of the silver glitters is occasionally annoying, but it doesn't matter too much. Still looks nice!

Wear: Four-ish days? I forgot to record it.

Social Star

The Polish:
Treatment Coat: OPI - Nail Envy
BC: CND - Stickey
Color: Sinful Colors - Social Ladder, two coats
Accent glitter: Black Cat Lacquer - Lucky Star
TC: Seche Vite

Gah, I love this combination! So delicate and pretty, like a princess!

 Wear: Four or five days. I didn't record it. :/

Something Simple, take 2

The Polish:
BC: CND - Stickey
Polish: Initial Lacquer - Something Simple, two coats
TC: One layer of Gelous followed by one of Seche Vite

This polish is sooo pretty, but I've yet to do justice to it with my subpar application and photography skills. I don't like to use a cleanup brush because I've completely messed up acceptable applications with it in the past and had to redo the whole thing. Instead, I try to tell myself that I'll just get good enough with experience that I won't have to clean up. Manis like this, however, tell me otherwise. *groan* No, polish, you don't belong on my cuticles! Meh. I'll get it eventually.

Wear: Three days.

Textured Solitaire

The Polish:
BC: None
Color: OPI - Solitaire (Bond Girls collection), two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Here's me giving Solitaire a second chance. I tried to top coat it, but the SV did next to nothing. I guess it made the awkward texture a little more bearable, but it wasn't smooth like I was hoping for. I should have used Gelous. I was considering getting rid of it, still, but I guess it can stay around a little longer. I need to try it with the Gelous, after all. Plus, someone on MUA's Nail Board suggested wearing it on toes! That sounds pretty! (Pussy Galore, however, IS going into the swap box. I just can't imagine wanting to wear a pink like that again.)

Adding a close up because it shows the texture better, even though it's less color accurate.

Wear: Four days. The SV kept it from coming off weird like last time, at least a little, until then.

Nail Junkie

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Sinful Colors - Nail Junkie, two-ish coats
TC: Seche Vite

Aww, this polish is adorable. Pretty iridescent glitters in a teal-leaning greenish jelly. Unfortunately, the formula wasn't quite as great. It was a bit streaky, nearly impossible to get even, especially since I'd prefer to have thinner layers and once I get a little excess on one nail, I have to add another layer to all of them. But the prettiness makes up for it, probably! The perfect mermaid polish. I can't wait to wear it on my toes, hehe.

Wear: Bah, forgot to record.

Ice under my Shoes

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Undies: Wet n Wild - Break the Ice (Megalast line)
Glitter: XOXO Nail Candy - Goody Two Shoes, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

Ugh. The pictures didn't turn out so bad, but I feel like this was a wreck of a mani. I had to redo it because Break the Ice was separating over the base coat, OPI Spotted style. The second try wasn't much better, obviously, because I used the same base coat (I didn't realize it was the culprit until then), but I made it work.

Goody Two Shoes has a pink tinted base, so the pretty white shimmer from Break the Ice got lost underneath it, unfortunately. But it's whatever. It was a good try.

Wear: Removed after two days.

Moonlit Waves

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Rain City Lacquer - Moonlit Waves, two coats
TC: Seche Vite

I've been doing really well these past few months. I haven't bought nearly any polish at all. But... then Oh Three Oh Four posted these swatches of Rain City's Spring Sea-quinox collection, and I knew I HAD to have Moonlit Waves.

Moonlit Waves is a gorgeous mix of gold and silver holo glitters in a blue jelly base. One coat was very sheer, but the color came out nicely in two. Smooth formula, no fishing for glitters, all around super pretty.

Also looks very nice in the shade!

Wear: Four days.

Disco Ball

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - Colorstay Base Coat
Glitter: Sally Hansen - Disco Ball (Xtreme Wear line), two coats
TC: American Classics - Gelous, followed by Seche Vite

Aaaah, the iridescents! I decided against undies today--the pink of my skin made a cute enough backdrop, especially since the top coats gave it a completed.... polished look, hah. Made for a very simple, cute manicure.

Wear: Four days

Lunar Cinderella

The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Undies Color: Sinful Colors - Cinderella, two coats
Glitter: Jordana - Lunar Lights (Glitters line), one coat on index, middle, and ring fingers; two coats on thumb and pinkie
TC: Seche Vite

This is the first thing I've worn Lunar Lights over, so I wanted it to be special, not just a creme. I chose Cinderella because it's been a while since I've worn it, too, and I knew the pink shimmer in it would add even more depth. It turned out nicely.

The trouble came when trying to take pictures. In bright light, I had the same trouble I had with the iridescents in The Worst Possible Thing. But, remarkably, they turned out just fine in the shade! Super pretty. At least I'm getting some photographing skills under my belt! :) Now to work on my application skills, still. Here's a pic taken in the light, just for contrast.

Wear: Gah, forgot to record.

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.