The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: The Polish Bar - Summer Seas, two coats
TC: Seche Vite
These are some nice pictures today, and color accurate, but in the shade it's such a lovelier cornflower blue than in the sun. I really need to pair it with Feeling Gloomy; they would match perfectly!
Wear: Ugh, forgot to record >_< I think it was closer to 4-5 days than 2-3 days, though.
The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Undies: Different Dimensions - Excelsior!, two coats
Topper: Love, Angeline - Stone Table, one coat
TC: Seche Vite
I've mentioned my inability to capture the beautiful unicorn polish that is Stone Table, and today is another example of such, unfortunately. Let me assure you, she is beautiful, especially over Excelsior! I want to wear her alllll the different ways.. over grey, over blue, in a jelly sandwich, by herself again... She's just so cute!
Wear: Some slight lifting on Day 2, removed on Day 3
The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: China Glaze - White Cap, three coats
TC: Seche Vite
Aaaah.. that's nice. A soft, gentle shimmer. Love. <3
Unrelated story: I was going to do my nails Monday evening, but my husband and I got back too late from dinner with his parents. He didn't want to go to bed yet, so he tried to encourage me to stay up with him by doing my nails, anyway.
Me: No, if I do nails right before bed, I'll get sheet marks.
Him: That's okay. Maybe it'll be the new thing.
Me: What? No, it's already a thing, and not a good thing.
Him: That's just because you haven't made it a fad yet. "Sheet nails." You can say, "These nails are the sheet!" and "Ahhh, sheet. This is mah sheet right here!" Think of how trendy you'll be.
Me: Hmm.. I'll consider it.
The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Glam Polish - Spellbound, two coats
TC: Seche Vite
Added a few hours later: American Classics - Gelous, Seche Vite
Still not 100% feeling this one. It's super pretty, but it's SUCH a hungry glitter. I only remembered after a while, so I'm not sure how it would have been if I Geloused it immediately. Maybe I'll keep it around to find out.
Wear: Picked off on Day 3 because of anxiety (probably started with some minor lifting that I couldn't leave alone)
The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Sally Hansen - Crystalline (Satin Glam line), three coats
Topper: Orly - Mirrorball, two coats
TC: Seche Vite (one coat over the SH and another over the Orly)
This is a bit better. It's still not quite what I want, but it's definitely better than what I tried last. Mirrorball is cool because it's both a linear AND scattered holo, and being over white really makes it pop. Maybe I still like it better as an accent? I just don't know what I want! Go away, dumb anxiety! Stay out of my polish!
The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Sally Hansen - Crystalline (Satin Glam line), three coats
Accent: Scofflaw Polish - Seagulls Screaming "Kiss Her, Kiss Her!", three coats
TC: Seche Vite
Hmm.. all of that talk about how "I'm going to love every mani" with my smaller stash, and here I am with a mani I don't love. :/ Honestly, I think it's the contrast of the accent. I DO love both of these polishes, just maybe not together? Maybe I need some glitter or something over Crystalline? I'll decide what I want to do with it tomorrow.
Wear: Removed the Scofflaw on Day 2, but kept the SH for next mani
I've been feeling the urge to purge recently. I've also been through a depressive episode, so I didn't want to make any lasting changes until it passes completely and I know I'm 100% in charge of my decisions. But.. I really, REALLY wanted to get my stash down.. So, time for a temporary solution!
Step 1: Get a box.
Step 2: Pull ALL your polishes onto the floor and put them in a big pile. (Okay, not PILE, per say, 'cause I hate when polishes aren't right-side-up, but put everything in one big group.)
Step 3: Pick a handful of your very favorite polishes and put them to one side.
Step 4: Pick a couple of polishes that have been frustrating you lately, or are not-as-great sisters, and put then to the other side.
Step 5: Continue through the rest of the stash!
Here's what I wound up with:
62 polishes + 13 untrieds into the box
35 Indies + 41 commercial + 7 untrieds back on the shelf
That's a stash of less than 100! Eeek, I'm so excited!
The box will go at the bottom of my closet, and I'll check back in after a couple of months. I'm sure that some of them will come back when I start to miss them, but maybe a majority of them will end up permanently purged! We'll have to see!
Here's how my stash looks now. That's commercial on the left (with minis on the bottom shelf), indies on the right, and untrieds on the top shelf of the indies shelf.
The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Essie - Bikini So Teeny, three coats
Accent: Lacquistry - Amazeballz!, three coats
TC: Seche Vite
I think this is maybe the third time I've worn Bikini So Teeny recently. It's just such a cute summer color! Amazeballz, on the other hand, which got a lot of love on the MUA Nail Board... isn't really my thing. I guess because it's gold? I just much prefer silver. Why isn't there a silver version? That's okay; Mirrorball and other scattered holos work way better as an accent, anyway!
SO: *takes my hand while talking about something, then looks down and stops mid-sentence* HOLY CRAP! Now THAT is an accent nail! *tilts my hand back and forth to catch the light and makes some sort of sci-fi sound effect noises before going back to what he was talking about*
...guess HE liked it, at least. :3
Wear: Removed on Day 6. BST started chipping on Day 5, Amazeballz! started lifting on Day 6.
The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Sally Hansen - Air (Smooth & Perfect line), three coats
Glitter: Indecisive Lacquer - Sugar, one coat
TC: Seche Vite
Hmm... Okay, this isn't quite what I wanted, either. I wanted more sparkly silver, less blue. The sparkly blue is cute, though, I suppose. Cinderella-y. I probably could have used more coats of Sugar.
Regardless, I'm considering getting rid of my S&Ps, finally. They're not great polishes. They're only usable under glitter, I'm thinking, and then I still need three coats. Meh. I'll think of something.
The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Sinful Shine - Prosecco, three coats
TC: Seche Vite
Uhm.. hmm... my second time wearing Prosecco, I don't like it as much as before. It's got that lovely gold shimmer that's pretty irresistible, but the main color is so strange. Such a weird beige-mauve.
I mean, it's a fine color. It alright. I just don't love it. And I decided a while ago that my collection doesn't have room for polish I don't love. So.. into the swap box it goes. Maybe it can find someone who loves it.
The Polish
BC: CND - Stickey
Main: Essie - Bikini So Teeny, three coats
Accent: Milani - HD, three coats
TC: Seche Vite
It definitely feels like spring, and that calls for an elegant cornflower blue with silver holo accent. Yes! This is exactly what I need in my life right now. <3
Wear: BST started to chip on Day 3, removed on Day 4
The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: Hare Polish - Rococo Grandeur, three coats
TC: Seche Vite
My Easter color for this year, Rococo Grandeur is a reliably adorable color. It's such a cute pastel blue with pink and gold glitters (even squares!) I love it every time I see it.
My bottle, however, seems to be getting a little... clumpy. You can't tell from the pictures, but this polish was fighting me. I'm not sure thinning it will fix it, but I guess I'll have to try. :/
Wear: Chips in under 24 hours, removed on Day 2 with more lifting
The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Blue Eyed Girl Lacquer - PDTS 3.7 (prototype), two coats
Accent: Lacquistry - Amazeballz!, three coats
TC: Seche Vite
Still no pics because my phone/camera hates me. I've been having a difficult time with my polish hobby lately. This mani looked adorable when it was done, but it turns out it still wasn't what I needed to bring me out of my funk. I smudged my accent nail two minutes after finishing it, and my camera wouldn't save any pictures.
Wear: Some lifting started on Day 2. I thought it was just one nail that I didn't clean up around the cuticle very well, but then more and more of them started lifting, and by Day 3, every nail with the holo had chipped at least a little. Frustrating. :/ The Amazeballz lasted a bit longer, though.
So.. I DO need to take a break. I'm struggling to get joy out of this hobby, and that's the main goal of it. Yes, there IS the thing about sticking with something and growing over time and developing a skill, but if this is a chore for me right now, I don't need to push myself to existential crisis mode. I want to purge a little, but not everything. I want to have a nice, maintainable stash and see if it's possible to do my nails WITHOUT cataloging everything. That's an interesting thought.
Knowing me, I'll probably be back, so see you after the break! <3
The Polish
BC: New York Color - Strip Me Off
Color: H&M - Midnight Mystery, one coat
Glitter: LA Colors - Glitter Bomb, one coat
TC: Seche Vite
Midnight Mystery is actually a nice one-coater blue, similar to SC Rainstorm. I liked it more than I expected to, and the glitter over it gave a nice galaxy feel.
The Polish:
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Color: KB Shimmer - Shade Shifter, three coats
TC: Seche Vite
Uh.. Hmm... The polish goddess hasn't been with me recently. Check out this streaky mess. I've never had a duochrome I enjoyed, and this is no different.
Maybe over black? I'll give it another chance and see how it works over black.
The Polish
BC: Revlon - ColorStay Base Coat
Main: Illamasqua - Raindrops, two coats
Accent: Milani - HD, one coat over Raindrops
TC: Seche Vite
Raindrops was one of my favorite polishes, and I had lemmed it for over a year. Recently, though, it just hasn't been getting much love. It's such a pretty blue-grey shade, sheer with those beautiful glass fleck flakies.. but even putting it on today, I was a little bored. Turns out all it needed was a layer of scattered holo on the accent nail! That's all it took for me to fall in love again. These pictures seriously doesn't do this mani justice. <3
Here's Raindrops by itself, too. Also pretty. *nod*
And here's a random story: My husband was test-driving a Charger the other day. He decided against getting it, but it did spur this interaction:
Me: What do you think?
Husband: ... What do YOU think of it? *obviously not wanting to influence my opinion*
Me: Uh.. It's a car. I don't know..
Husband: What do you like about it?
Me: That's like me asking you what you like about this polish.
Husband: The sparkles, duh. At least the ones that aren't taco-Ing.
Me: *dies laughing* I can't believe you remember that term! It's been a while since I've used it.
Husband: Of course. -I- pay attention to the things you like.
Me: *sigh* Okay.. The dash is.. Dash-y. It's very dashing.
Husband: Yes. Okay, now we're getting somewhere.
Live Swatch of just Raindrops:
Wear: Removed on Day 3 with some lifting, especially on the accent nails, probably because of the thickness. Perhaps I shouldn't have put more polish on after the SV? Or perhaps I put too thick a coat on the second time around. Regardless, the lifting was super unfortunate. :/
