Manicure Monday: Skating French

For Manicure Monday, I wanted to do something different. I love Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Skating in the Snow alone, but since I’ve already worn that it way before on the blog, I felt like I should try something new with it. Enter the french tips. I’m wearing two thin coats of Skating in the Snow over tips painted with Sally Hansen’s Hard to Get, topped with Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat and Hard Candy’s Mattely in Love matte top coat.

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When I swatched Skating in the Snow a few months ago, I really loved the way it looked at one coat, and I wanted a look like that, something sheer and delicate that still retained the glitter crelly spirit of the polish. One coat was too thin, but two are too thick, and the tips don’t show through as well as I’d have liked. You can see the differences, though; you can see how opaque the color is at the tips, and where the crelly is most obvious. It’s not too apparent in photos, but in person the distinction is much more noticeable. You can also see where my cuticles are STILL stained from Cruella de Vil, but that’s neither here nor there.

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I don’t know why I chose a matte finish for this. It’s something I thought of at the last minute. I think it was an extra effort to make this manicure different from the swatch. That, and I rarely use matte top coats. I just kind of felt like it.

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Skating in the Snow has sold out since the last time I featured it on the blog, but you can buy other Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers from the BEGL shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Disney Villains Varnish in Cruella de Vil

For Swatch Sunday this week, I got to do something I rarely get to do: wear a red creme polish. I know I’ve talked lot about how red cremes are my favorite, but I don’t wear them often. I’m glad one turned up in the queue. This is Cruella de Vil from the Disney Villains Varnish set. I’m wearing three coats plus one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro.

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Cruella de Vil is a pretty run-of-the-mill red creme. What you see is what you get with it. The consistency was just right; it was wet enough that it was easy to apply, but not enough to flood into cuticles. It dries quickly to a glossy finish; I added top coat to make it super-glassy and to protect the color. The one thing that sucks about this polish, though, is how smudgy it gets. You’ll notice the stained cuticles; it also stained my cleanup brush. It also would have turned my top coat red if I didn’t wipe the brush off between applications. My cuticles actually look worse in photos than they do in real life, but it’s still frustrating to look at. I spent ages trying to get all the red off and it just wouldn’t come off. That’s a pretty big issue for me, but other than that, this is a lovely red creme.

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Cruella de Vil is no stranger to the blog; it was part of the first-ever mani I posted, and has been featured in a few others since. I love the polish, but to tell the truth, it’s not really any different from any other red creme. There are probably others that aren’t as smudgy, but considering price (this came in a set that was pretty pricy, if I recall correctly), quality, and availability, this one isn’t worth seeking out unless you really love the Disney Villains motif.

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The Disney Villains Varnish set has been discontinued, unfortunately, so this polish and its sisters are no longer for sale. I bet you can find them if you look hard enough, though.

This polish was a gift, but was not sent for review or critique.