Manicure Monday: Lavender Glamour

Posted on October 31, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

It’s Manicure Monday again! It’s Halloween, but I’m kind of glad to have the Halloween manis behind me. Lavender doesn’t scream (heh) Halloween, and I’m cool with it. For this look, I used LA Colors’s Bliss (lavender) and China Glaze’s Full Spectrum (microglitter).

When I paired these two polishes together, I was originally just going to use Full Spectrum as accent nails and leave the Bliss nails alone. I love Bliss on its own, and I love cremes, but my recent sort-of resolution to do more nail art inspired me to do the glitter swirls. For these, I just dipped a thin nail art brush in Full Spectrum, did a wiggly thing on the nail with it, and then more wiggly things in the leftover spaces. I put dots to fill up whatever space was left. The design is a bit clearer on the thumb nail than the others, but it’s still cool on the others. This was a mani where I could totally shut out the perfectionist and just be happy with however it turned out.

I kind of wish I was wearing Full Spectrum on its own. There is so much going on with this microglitter; though it looks silver primarily, there are fine glitters in many colors, as well as an allover purple shimmer. It’s just beautiful. I’ve had this in my collection a long time, and I’m glad I’m finally using it. There are blue and green versions of this polish, and I can’t remember if I have them or not, but I need them if I do. This is super beautiful.

In the sunlight, the glitter takes off. The colors are brighter and much easier to detect. These photos were taken in direct sunlight.

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LA Colors and China Glaze are sold in stores nationwide. My bow charm is from Claire’s.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: The New Black’s Gold Leaf Foil

Posted on October 30, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Welcome back for Swatch Sunday! Today’s swatch is of a mystery polish from The New Black I’ve just been calling Gold Leaf Foil. The New Black doesn’t label any of their shade names, which is kind of frustrating. I’m wearing Gold Leaf Foil over Sally Hansen’s Black Out (black), Octopus Party’s Universal Loner (red), and Indigo Bananas‘s Klein Trink Wasser (blue) with one coat of Gelous.

Gold Leaf Foil is a clear-based glitter topper with metallic gold shredded glitter. Application was easy enough; the product consistency delivered the glitter well enough and wasn’t too difficult to work with. The glitter itself was the troblesome part. The glitter pieces are unevenly shaped; some pieces are very large and others are barely there. The very coarse pieces don’t always lie flat, which sometimes leads to them getting snagged and/or pulled off. It does dry quickly and with a good shine; I used top coat for extra smoothness.

Coarse shredded glitter is probably my least favorite glitter shape. I mean, I love how they look, their shine and madness is unmatched. I love how this looks over the cremes. I just don’t like how these large glitters stick up. If you look at the sunlight photos in the next set, you’ll actually see that my pinky nail has more glitter on it than the studio set. That’s because, between the time I took the photos outdoors and indoors, the glitter actually got pulled off somehow. In the studio photos, you can just see where it used to be.

Here are the sunlight photos. I took these a bit late in the afternoon so it’s not the harsh sunlight I usually shoot in. Like I said, this is a pretty cool looking glitter, even if working with it is kind of annoying.

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So I can’t find a source on where to get The New Black these days. I got this set — this polish came with a black creme and a set of gold studs — from Ulta when it was in the clearance section. Sephora’s website has a two bottle set in their clearance section as of this writing. Other than that, they seem to have been discontinued.

I bought these polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Wanna Fall In Love Tonight

Posted on October 29, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Swatch Saturday is here again! We had so many special manis this month that I almost didn’t have time to swatch. Almost. The lovely BEGL I’m wearing this Saturday is Wanna Fall in Love Tonight; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Gelous.

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Wanna Fall in Love Tonight is a purple polish with an allover golden shimmer. Application was good; the color is well-pigmented and glides on easily, achieving opacity in two coats. The product consistency was very nice as well, being thin enough to manipulate without being floody or streaky. The one issue is that one may end up with brushstrokes in the shimmer if one isn’t careful. The polish dries with a matte finish; I used top coat for shine.

Indie polish is all about shimmers right now, and I feel like BEGL was ahead of the curve with polishes like this. I love constrasting colors, and having purple and gold in one polish is seriously exciting. It’s a minimalist kind of polish; it says all it needs to while saying very little.

This polish seriously glows in the sun. The golden shimmer really comes alive and just warms up the whole look. It’s very nice. These photos were taken in direct sunlight.

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Wanna Fall in Love Tonight has been discontinued by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer; other BEGL polishes are available in their online shop.

I bought this polish myself.

All Holos Eve: Silly Spiderwebs

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Today’s post is a special post! I’ve been trying to participate more in social blogger events lately, and I’ve wanted to do more nail art in general. so here we are, getting into the Halloween spirit with the All Holos Eve link-up. This was started by Jenne of Polished Pathology, and I can’t believe I’m actually doing a Halloweeny mani. For this look, I used Enchanted Polish‘s October 2015 and Dime Piece. All photos were taken in direct sunlight.

The All Holos Eve event is all about nail art with holos, which I admit I don’t do enough of. I’m always afraid to waste holo polish. The colors are so gorgeous on their own that they don’t often need art to make them pretty, and I don’t have great confidence in my nail art skills, so I don’t want to use my nice polishes on sucky nail art. I went with the spiderwebs because I’ve been seeing a lot of them, and handpainting them is novice-friendly.

Of course, some of them look like rib cages, but that’s Halloweeny too, right? There are no rules here! I have to keep reminding myself that nail art is not a competition — even though I want to win anyway — and that it’s fine to have silly spiderweb nails. I think they’re charming. That’s my takeaway from this, nail art isn’t scary and it’s cute when it kind of sucks. It’s liberating to say.

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October 2015 was a limited-edition mystery polish and is no long sold by Enchanted Polish, but as of this writing, Dime Piece is currently in stock.

I bought this polish myself.

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HPB Presents: Silly Halloween Cats

Posted on October 26, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

It’s that time again: It’s the Hobby Polish Bloggers linkup for the month of October! Every month, the HPB Facebook group gets together to do a themed mani. Of course, October’s theme is Halloween! I’d been seeing the cat tips around, so I decided to try it out myself. I used Zoya’s Chantal, the no-name glow in the dark polish from Rite-Aid, Sally Hansen’s Black Out, and Enchanted Polish‘s Ectoplasm.

I don’t really like doing holiday nails, so I wasn’t that excited about the theme. I went with the black cat tips because it’s more cutesy than Halloweeny, and also resembles one of my own cats. It fits the theme while also dodging it, and I’m happy about that.

I started with three coats of Chantal; of course, I wanted fewer but could never get it even until the third. I also used two of the glow in the dark, since the glitter is so sparse. I’m pretty happy with the art job I did with the cats; I did the head shape with the polish brush itself, did the ears and pupils with a thin art brush, and used the dotting tool to apply the iris. That part is a little wonky, but I’m happy everything else looks the way it should.

Remember I said I used glow in the dark polish? This part didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted, though it looks really cool in the photo. In real life it just looked weird. This photo was taken in complete darkness.

I got some sun shots, too! There’s not much to see here but the glitter. There’s not much, but this is a gentle reminder that it’s there. These photos were taken in direct sunlight.

And there you have it! I mentioned earlier that this mani looks like one of my cats, so I’ll leave you with a photo of that dear kitty. This is Quaker. She actually crossed the rainbow bridge last August at the ripe old age of 20. Sorry to bring this post down with a sad pet story, but this mani made me miss her.

Chantal and other Zoya polishes are sold at Ulta. Check Rite-Aids and other drugstores for the fun pumpkin GITD polish. Enchanted Polishes are sold in their online shop. Sally Hansen is sold in stores nationwide.

I bought these polishes myself.

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Manicure Monday: Pink Holo Stripes With Sprinkles

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Happy Monday! I dug deep for today’s mani. I didn’t feel satisfied just putting glitter over polish, so I got the holos out and the striping tape. I should do this kind of thing more often. For this look, I used Elevation Polish‘s Hitsujiyama Park (light pink), Literary Lacquers‘s Laughs in Flowers (pink stripes), Model City Polish‘s Pour Me Another (dark pink), and OPI’s Pink Yet Lavender (glitter). All photos were taken outdoors in direct sunlight.

With this mani, I just wanted something pink and flashy. I chose three pink holos of varying colors and holo strength; Hitsujiyama Park has the least holo and most opacity, Pour Me Another has a strong holo flame but is pretty sheer, and Laughs in Flowers has fine holo glitters mixed in to create a unique finish. These three polishes, when combined, create a distinct and cohesive look. I’m looking forward to pairing them again soon!

Pink Yet Lavender is a glitter topper, so I brushed it over the striped nails and sponged it on the others. I have to admit, this wasn’t quite what I expected when I started. In the bottle, the glitter looks more rose gold, likely due to the tinted pink base. On the nail, it pulls silver. I don’t mean to say I don’t like it, but I definitely expected more pink glitter, that’s why I chose all pinks for this mani. Pink Yet Lavender, at least, has some holo glitter in it that helps tie it all together. Also, sponging took a significant amount of product. You can see the fll line on the bottle; this is the first time I’ve used this polish and that’s where it is now.

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I am having a lot of fun wearing this, all things considered. The stripes add a fun visual, the glitter adds sparkle, and the holo pushes it over the edge. This took a lot longer than the usual Monday mani, but I’m glad I spent the time on it. I used to push myself really hard to do nail art, and I feel like lately all I’ve been doing is wearing glitter over a base, and that feels lazy. I definitely need to get out of my lazy mani zone.

Hitsujiyama Park and other Elevation Polishes are sold in their online shop. Laughs in Flowers was an Addicted to Holos box exclusive from March 2015 and is no longer available; other Literary Lacquers are sold in their etsy shop. Pour Me Another is also a long-gone limited edition; other Model City Polishes are for sale on etsy. Pink Yet Lavender is also discontinued; OPI is sold in stores nationwide.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Tenoverten’s Rivington

Posted on October 23, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Swatch Sunday!! I’m still excited to be swatching again. Today’s polish is one I’ve had unused in my collection. It was a souvenir from the flagship Sephora store in Times Square. This is Tenoverten’s Rivington; I’m wearing three coats of Rivington with one coat of Seche Vite.

Before I go any further with this post, I want to talk about some concerns I have with this polish and potential color fading. When I bought this polish, it was a deep turquoise, and as you can see here, it’s now a lighter jade. Comparing my own photos to swatches of Rivington online show a big difference. With this in mind, I’ll be reviewing the polish as I see it. If you own a bottle of Rivington, or any Tenoverten polishes, please let me know if you’ve encountered any fading or changes in color with your own bottle.

Rivington is described by the brand as a bright turquoise creme. Application was very nice; the product consistency is just right for a creme; it’s easy to work with and isn’t too thin or thick. The first coat was a little streaky, but the second evened it out pretty well. The polish dries quickly and with a very glossy finish.

I’d not heard of Tenoverten until the day I found this one. I’m sure I’ve told you all the story of how I was in NYC, lost my mind in Sephora, and had to be dragged out by my travelling companions. I picked up this polish because it was new to me. It’s a cool polish, and a cool brand; Tenoverten claims an 8-free formula, which I didn’t know was a thing, and the bottle presentation is really sleek and modern. The bottle cap itself is metal or something, because it makes an unusual but satisfying tinkling against the neck of the bottle. The only real downside is the price; $18 for a creme is a little expensive.

I’m a little bummed that the color doesn’t look the way I remember it, but I have to admit this is a pretty neat color. I love greens, and I love cremes. I’ll definitely try to work this into manis in the future.

Rivington and other Tenoverten polishes are sold online and in stores; see their website for the complete list of stockists.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Never Danced Like This Before

Posted on October 22, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

It’s Swatch Saturday!! For the first time in two weeks! It’s been so long since I did an actual swatch that I think I forgot how. To ease myself back in, I’m wearing a stunning sapphire holo from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. This is Never Danced Like This Before; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite. All photos were taken outdoors in direct sunlight.

Never Danced Like This Before is a deep blue linear holo with matching flakies. It leans indigo in some angles. Application with this polish was a dream; the product consistency was very easy to work with, and the first coat was practically opaque. Yes, I said one coat! I say practically because on some nails, there were still some bare spots that needed a second coat, but it was very nearly there. I definitely did not need the third coat I used. I’m really impressed with it! The polish dries quickly with a smooth, semi-matte finish; I used top coat for shine and protection.

So this polish is seriously amazing. The jewel-like blue, the holo, the extra sparkle from the flakies, the ease of use… There is nothing about this polish that isn’t perfect. The color is trendy and flattering for anyone. The only catch is that it’s discontinued, and I am so, so sad for anyone who didn’t get a chance to pick it up. Polishes like this are why I buy everything BEGL makes, even if I think I don’t want it, because I know I’ll regret it later.

As I mentioned, Never Danced Like This Before is discontinued by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. Other BEGLs can — and should — be purchased from their online shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Project Pan Update: October 2016

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Is one month in too soon for a Project Pan update? I feel like it could be, since it’s not like I’ve hit pan on anything yet. However, I do want to talk about the experiences I’ve had with the products I’ve chosen, and to share a few of the looks I’ve done since I started. See last month’s post for info about the products I’m using for this challenge!

Casualities
While I say I didn’t hit pan on anything, I did say goodbye to a few of the products in the initial lineup. If you saw my Empties Roundup for September, you saw that I did finish up the MAC foundation primer and Revlon setting powder I mentioned in the initial post. Of course, these products were well-loved prior to the post and were not long for this world.

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I replaced them! I bought an old favorite, Smashbox’s Photo Finish to replace the MAC primer. It’s not that I disliked the MAC primer, but I didn’t like the lotiony, moisturizery product consistency as much as the smooth, velvety one of Photo Finish. I also replaced the Revlon powder with NARS’s Light Reflecting Pressed Setting Powder. I don’t like it so much; I love the velvety feel of it between my fingers, but it doesn’t leave my face feeling like it. The first time I used it, it didn’t seem to pick up well with a brush, and as such did not apply well; my mascara actually bled onto the makeup under my eyes because the powder failed to set it. It’s not bad for midday touch-ups, though, so I’ll keep it in my bag. In the meantime, I’m using a MAC Studio Fix compact I’ve had sitting in my vanity.

Impressions
At first, I was nervous about these colors and making them work together. Now I’ve been wearing it out, I’ve gotten lots of compliments on it. People I’ve talked to really like the soft pastels mixed with edgy black. Of course, nothing earned more compliments than my blue lipstick, NYX’s Macaron Lippie in Blue Velvet. I definitely recommend this one if you’re still into the blue lips. Every time I wore it, I had tons of people asking about it, and one rude older lady at a bar who stared at me the whole night. It’s fantastic!

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Here I’ve compiled a few of the looks I’ve done since I started. If you follow me on Instagram, you likely already saw these as #fotd posts. I don’t think the looks will vary too much from these initial combinations. In every look, the pink, blue, and black are all represented pretty equally despite each one being different. The one that stands out most — due to being the least dramatic — is the glitter eyeliner look. It’s a fun change of pace from the heavy eyeshadows and bold lips. I’m really having a ton of fun with this look!

So next month I’ll post again, and hopefully I’ll be showing you less of my face and more of products actually being used. A lot can happen in two more months!

I bought these products myself.

Birthday Mani Digest 2016

Posted on October 19, 2016 by Stacie Wacie

Welcome back, reader! As you know, I took a bit of time off these past couple weeks to celebrate my birthday. It was only supposed to be one, but the arrival of Hurricane Matthew led to everything being postponed. That madness is now over, and now I’d like to show you what my nails were up to during the downtime. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen most of these lovelies already. I promise I will not be mentioning my birthday again until next October.

Birthday Mani #1: Pink Frosting With Sprinkles
Essie’s Good Morning Hope with Lynnderella‘s Icing Glass Garland

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The first birthday mani was a fun warm-up with an untried Lynnderella topper. I had a lot of fun wearing this; Icing Glass Garland was a lot more interesting in real life, however. There is a lot of iridescence and color-changiness. It doesn’t look like much over Good Morning Hope, but it still made for a fun and dainty look.

Birthday Mani #2: Cupcakes
Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Eleanor, China Glaze’s White on White, LA Girl’s Black, Orly’s Water Lily, P2’s French Kiss, Ciate’s Pillow Fight

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I always do cupcakes to celebrate my birthday, and this year’s mani was actually done in the middle of the hurricane. Even though the hurricane was an unwelcome birthday event (thanks, universe), we still had a good time. A lot of our friends live in evacuation zones and came to stay with us when the call came to evacuate, so we still had a party and ate food and played board games. It was not the worst experience.

Birthday Mani #3: Hello Dalek
Digital Nails‘s Hello Dalek

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This was last week’s Manicure Monday post, but I’m including it for continuity. Monday was my actual birthday, and it was a ton of fun to wear a party on my nails as well. When your birthday is on the worst day of the week, you have to party any way you can.

Birthday Mani #4: Glitter Frosting
Digital Nails’s Pandorica, Model City Polish‘s Sheena is a Punk Rocker, Wacie Nail Company’s Your Daring Escape, Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Walk Through the Tulips

This look includes the polish I made myself for my birthday! Your Daring Escape is a silvery-white holo with holographic glitter and pearl pink and metallic silver flakies. I wanted a holo-meets-glitter-gradient look, but as the sun never came out that day, a lot of the beauty got lost.

Birthday Mani #5: Stripey Blue Frosting
Literary Lacquers‘s Bluestocking Romance, Hard Candy’s Sky, China Glaze’s Mosaic Madness

This was the mani I got the most compliments on for sure. I’d always wanted to do this moving stripes design, and this was the day I felt like dealing with the striping tape. It came out so much better than I expected it would, though I’m a little disappointed it smeared a little with the top coat. I’d totally do it again.

I also want to take this time to share some birthday manis of years past. I realized at some point that I’ve been doing the annual cupcake mani for five years now; the annual cupcake mani predates wacie.com, even. I love doing little retrospectives like this; if I’ve learned anything from this, it’s that my cupcake painting skills have gotten only marginally better.

2012
Colors Unknown, but probably all Sinful Colors

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Look at this. I almost don’t even want to share this, but we all have to start somewhere, right? I do remember waiting practically all day for the dots to dry, and they still smudged when I put the top down. Not only was this before wacie.com came to be, but I think it was also before the days of quick-dry top coat. Those dark, dark days.

2013
Sally Hansen’s Mint Sprint, OPI’s Eurso Euro, P2’s French Kiss, Sally Hansen’s Hard to Get, Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Floppy. Hoppy. BUNNIES!

These look more like mashed potatoes than cupcakes. This was my first birthday post on the blog. Going back and reading the post, about it, I completely forgot all that stuff happened! I do remember doing this mani in Boyfriend’s tiny Atlanta living space, trying not to bother him and his roommate with nail polish smell. I got acetone on his desk and ruined the varnish. I still feel bad about that.

2014
Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Dawn Breaks and If You’re a Seascape, Indigo Bananas‘s Moonlight (Clair de Lune), P2’s French Kiss, American Apparel’s Neon Pink, Essie’s Fiji, Ciate’s Candy Floss

That P2 polish finds its way into every birthday mani, doesn’t it? I loved this look a lot. I totally wore it to a fancy restaurant. Here’s the post!

2015
Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Ocean Warmed by the Sun, Digital Nails’s Purple Reign, Nails Inc.’s Pudding Lane, Hot Topic’s Light Blue, Estee Lauder’s Black Plum

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This is last year’s mani, and the mani that celebrates the big 3-0. This was also one of the last photos I took on my phone before Drunk Me left it on top of the car and broke the camera forever. Good times!

Again, a huge thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday; I cherish all of you! Thank you so much for tolerating all of the birthday posts.

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Monthly Archives: October 2016

Manicure Monday: Lavender Glamour

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: The New Black’s Gold Leaf Foil

I bought these polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Wanna Fall In Love Tonight

I bought this polish myself.

All Holos Eve: Silly Spiderwebs

I bought this polish myself.

HPB Presents: Silly Halloween Cats

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Pink Holo Stripes With Sprinkles

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Tenoverten’s Rivington

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Never Danced Like This Before

I bought this polish myself.

Project Pan Update: October 2016

I bought these products myself.

Birthday Mani Digest 2016

Pretty sure I bought all these polishes myself.