Monthly Archives: July 2015

Manicure Monday: Cinna-man of My Dreams

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Welcome back! We’ve got another simple manicure done with a textured polish for this week’s Manicure Monday. This is Cinna-man of My Dreams from Nicole by OPI. I’m wearing three coats without top coat.

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Cinna-man of My Dreams is a cool rosy bronze textured polish. Application went well; the glitter was dense and evenly-distributed. I reached full opacity in two coats. The texture isn’t as coarse as some texture polishes are; as this is part of the Gumdrops collection, I suspect they were going for a fine sugar texture rather than the chunky glitter one the Liquid Sands have. The drying times were good; my nails were dry to the touch in about five minutes.

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A surprise in this polish in the shifting shimmer. I’m not sure what color it is in its natural state, probably bronze or rose, but when it’s front-lit, it turns a rich gold. It’s evident both on the nail and in the bottle. It’s my favorite part of this polish, just because it was so unexpected. It makes me wonder if I’ve just overlooked it in all my other textured polishes. I love it.

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The Gumdrops collection may be discontinued. Nicole by OPI is sold in stores nationwide; I got mine from Target. My bow charm is from Daily Charme.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Lancôme’s Etincelle D’argent

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Welcome to another Swatch Sunday! I’m really excited to bring you this post. I love department store polish because it’s so luxurious and overpriced; it really makes me feel like the fancy lady I’ve always wanted to be. My selection this week is Lancôme’s Etincelle D’argent; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

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Etincelle D’argent — or Silver Sparkle — is a dark silver metallic microglitter polish. In direct light, a purple-green shimmer is discernable. I can’t tell if the base is clear or gray, because the glitter is so dense. It applies a bit like a Liquid Sand or other texture polish; the glitter is dense enough that it’s easy to get a clean cuticle line, and very little got on my skin or cuticles. It dries quickly and with a textured glitter finish. I added top coat for smoothness, but the texture is still palpable through one coat.

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I really love wearing this. For a monochrome microglitter, it has a lot of dimension. The glitter is metallic and catches a ton of light. It’s a gorgeous polish for sure. Confession, though: this particular bottle cost me $15, and though I do acknowledge that this is a lot of money for 6ml of polish, I don’t feel bad about it at all. This is why it’s so fun for me to wear. Yeah, it’s frivolous. Yeah, I probably could have gotten a similar polish for a fraction of the price. Nah, I don’t feel bad about it in the slightest.

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Etincelle D’argent was actually a holiday limited edition and isn’t sold anymore. Other Lancôme polishes are sold in department stores. I got mine at Belk.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype FOJ 1.0

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Happy Saturday, reader! I have another fun Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer prototype to show you. This is FOJ 1.0; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

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FOJ 1.0 is a white crelly polish with glitters in white, blue, and holographic silver, as well as some fine red glitters throughout. Application was easy; the crelly went on evenly and the glitters spread well. Drying times were good. It dried evenly and with a glossy finish. I still used top coat for extra shine and smoothness.

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I like this polish, even though it’s not terribly exciting. The white glitters blend into the crelly pretty well, avoiding detection. The same is true for the holographic glitters; they’re pretty when they’re not too obscured. The blues and the tiny reds stand out pretty well and add a small touch of color. As it said, it’s nothing groundbreaking, but it’s still pretty fun to wear.

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FOJ 1.0 was a one-off prototype and is not for sale. Other Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer polishes are available in their shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Opal Sandwich

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Happy Monday! I’m excited and nervous to show you today’s manicure. It didn’t turn out quite the way I envisioned, mainly because I expected to have longer nails when it was time for it. However, I get to tell you about a brand new Wacie Nail Co. polish, and that’s cool! For this manicure, I’m wearing Revlon’s Heavenly between layers of Wacie Nail Company‘s Whitewash, topped with Seche Vite top coat and Hard Candy’s Matte-ly in Love matte coat.

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Heavenly is one of my favorite glitters, and if you’ve been reading for a while, you’ve seen it on the blog like five times. It’s just the right topper for when you want a little iridescent sparkle. It looks great all over or as a gradient, and its appearance changes over different colored polishes. It’s truly a versatile and beautiful polish.

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I made Whitewash because I wanted a white jelly polish. I actually made this quite some time ago as a franken, long before I’d even really started Wacie Nail Company. I checked a lot of etsy stores and didn’t see any, so I just made one for myself. Today is the first time I’ve used it. It’s still on the creamy side, and maybe it’s just not possible to have a true white jelly, but I quite like the way it layers over glitter. I hope to have proper swatches of it alone soon.

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Heavenly and Whitewash, along with the matte top coat, create a look that’s soft and opalescent. I really love the look, but I wish some things were different. Maybe I should have used an opaque white base. I used three coats of Heavenly to ensure I had a good glitter cover, but it’s still very translucent; I can see where my nails are still stained from a lime green polish I wore a few weeks ago. I wish my nails weren’t so short, because the whiteness and the shortness make my hands look grubby. It’s still a cool look, but today I don’t feel like it suits me.

Revlon is sold in stores nationwide. Whitewash will be available soon from the Wacie Nail Company etsy shop.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: LA Colors’s Animated

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Welcome back! I’m excited to be wearing a red polish for this week’s Swatch Sunday. This is Animated from LA Colors, worn at three coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat. Also, unfortunately, I had a break and now my nails are awkwardly short. Please bear with me for the next few weeks while they grow back out.

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Animated is a red polish with a matching shimmer. Application was good; the product consistency was thin but well-pigmented. After three coats, though, I never really achieved full opacity. I can still see the moon of my thumbnail through the polish. The shimmer effect is very subtle, but does stand out more in certain lighting conditions. The polish dries quickly and with a glossy finish.

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I paid a dollar for this polish, and I’m really impressed with it. I had no issues at all with it. The color is vibrant, and the polish wears well; I’m actually on my third day of this manicure and it looks exactly the same as in the photos. I cannot believe this only cost me a dollar. It’s definitely one of the best dollars I’ve ever spent.

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LA Colors is sold at drugstores and other shops. I got mine from Dollar General.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Prototype MW 1.8

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Another Saturday, another swatch! Today I’m wearing Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype MW 1.8; this is three coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat. Let’s have a look!

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Prototype MW 1.8 is a nude creme with fine holographic gold glitter. It applies like a French pink might; the first coat is very sheer, but builds in opacity with additional coats. The glitter is deposited easily and evenly; the sheer polish covers the glitter, but not enough to remove its holographic effect. At three coats, the glitter looks like cinnamon sugar in my polish. The consistency is fantastic and applies well. It dries quickly and with a glossy, smooth finish.

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I am having a blast wearing this. Nude polishes always make me think my nails look longer and expertly manicured, so I get excited when I have the chance to wear one. This polish is a fun take on a dainty and classic look.

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Prototype MW 1.8 is a one-off bottle and there aren’t any others like it. Other Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer polishes are available from their shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Jinx

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Welcome back, reader! It’s been a long time since I got to wear a Liquid Sand polish; I’d forgotten how fun and pretty they are! This is Jinx; I’m wearing three coats without top coat.

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Jinx is an orange-coral polish with tons of gold shimmer, and of course, a textured finish. The application with these is always tricky for me; The first coat goes on cleanly, and then with continued use, the brush that’s full of glitter and polish fans out wider than my nail and it makes a mess. At least the glitter is fine and cleanup is easy.

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As you may remember, Jinx was part of the Bond Girls collection from 2013. I remember I really struggled with this collection; I’m not a fan of the 007 films — I’ve never actually seen one, in fact — so I felt a little weird about buying them. Eventually, I justified by telling myself it’s not the inspiration that matters, but the polishes themselves. This led to the dilemma of which one I was going to get, and whether I could justify spending my grocery money on the whole collection. I ended up finding an Amazon seller selling the whole collection for about $35.

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This is one of the best Liquid Sand polishes I’ve used yet. A lot of them seem to lean hard to either visible texture or tons of glitter, and this one lands right in the middle. It’s obviously textured, but it’s not the main focus of the polish. The glitter and shimmers are there, but they don’t take over the look, either. It’s perfectly, beautifully balanced.

Jinx and the other Bond Girl polishes seem to be discontinued by OPI, but are probably still available in shops and online. My bow charm is from Claire’s.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Kunimitsu’s Lucky Goldfish

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Happy Sunday! I’m so excited to bring you this Sunday’s swatch. I bought this polish ages ago and I’m just getting to try it out. I’ve been looking forward to it for so long! This is Lucky Goldfish from Kunimitsu; I’m wearing four coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

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Lucky Goldfish is a royal blue jelly with metallic orange glitters. Application was easy; as a jelly, the first coat was expectedly thin, but coverage built with added layers. The product consistency is good; the lacquer is just the right thickness and distributes the glitter well. The jelly is thin enough to show the glitter from previous layers, giving it a proper jelly-sandwich look. Drying times were good, and the polish dries with a glossy finish and smooth touch. I used top coat for extra shine and to bring out the shine from the glitters.

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When I saw this polish had orange glitter in a blue base, I knew I had to have it. You may know that I’m a huge fan of complementary colors, and when I saw two in one bottle, I fell in love. The colors are bright and gorgeous; the blue absolutely glows, and that’s thanks in part to the orange glitters. This is also why the orange glitter stands out so strongly. Both parts work together to create a fun and colorful look.

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Lucky Goldfish and other Kunimitsu polishes are available from Kunimitsu’s etsy shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype Summer 1.1

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Happy Saturday! Swatch Saturday is upon us once again. I’m done swatching the 2014 Fan Favorites collection from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. I’ve got a few one-off prototypes to try out, and then we’ll get into the Far From the Sun collection from last summer. This first prototype, Summer 1.1, is a non-final version of a Far From the Sun polish. I’m wearing four coats of Summer 1.1 with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

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Prototype Summer 1.1 is a clear-based microglitter polish with glitters in red, orange, gold, green, pink, and violet. Application was all right; the lacquer-to-glitter distribution was fantastic, I got an even mix with each coat. This isn’t a polish where you get flooded with lacquer but only with a little glitter. At three coats, I didn’t have the full coverage I wanted; there were still some small holes through which I could see my bare nail. It dries quickly and with a textured glitter finish. I used top coat for smoothness and extra shine.

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Summer 1.1 is a fantastic polish. There’s just so much color in it. All of the different glitters complement each other well, and the many colors add dimension. In the sun, this is especially obvious; it’s almost difficult to look at, there’s so much sparkle. I don’t know if you’ve ever moved a ring or something with a gemstone in it to watch all the facets glint in the light, but this polish has that effect. This is definitely one that dances in the light when you move your fingers. I love it.

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Prototype Summer 1.1 is not available, but as of this writing, there’s one bottle of Sail Her Don’t Sink Her, a very similar polish, left in the Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Blue Opal

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Welcome to this week’s Manicure Monday! The weekend is over, and we’re back to work! My look is week is something simple and fun; I’m wearing Julep’s Claire with Finger Paints’s Psychedelic Hue, topped with Seche Vite and Hard Candy’s Just Matte top coats.

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Claire is my first Julep polish, acquired even before the blog started. It may also be the Julep I’ve used the most, because it’s now about three-quarters empty. A couple years ago, when I discovered watermarbling, Claire was one of the few polishes I had that really spread out in the water, so most of it got used for that. I loved the watermarbling process and I would sometimes get out the cup and toothpicks out just to make designs. I’d dip in anything handy — lighters, lip gloss tubes, compacts — just to entertain myself. I quit when I saw how much polish I was wasting. I love Claire a lot; I got away with two coats today instead of the usual Julep three.

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Psychedelic Hue, like the rest of the Finger Paints Kaleidoscope flakie topper collection, is just amazing. The flakies contained are primarily in blues and greens, but I do see some pink and purple at some angles. This topper makes my nails look like priceless blue opals. The flakies were very easily applied; I didn’t get too much excess lacquer, and pretty good coverage on one coat. I still used two, just for over-the-top flakie goodness.

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I used the matte coat here — for the second week in a row, how unusual! — for maximum flakies visibility. With just the Seche Vite, the colors from the flakies were pretty obvious, but the definition of the individual flakes were mostly lost. I wanted to see the colors and the detail at the same time.

Overall, I think this is a fun look. It’s simple and not very flashy, but it’s a ton of fun to look at.

Julep is sold at julep.com, though Claire is out of stock. Finger Paints is sold at Sally Beauty Supply, though Psychedelic Hue has been discontinued.

I bought these polishes myself.