Manicure Monday: Cognac Sparkle

Happy Monday, reader! It’s been too long since my last post. I knew November would be a busy month for me; all in this month, I’ve gotten a job, written a novel (almost done!) and cooked a huge Thanksgiving dinner. I knew something was going to have to give to get everything done, and unfortunately, it ended up being the blog. I’ve got lots of swatches to catch up on — I’ve been painting, just not posting — so I’ll have lots of content coming up. Some of it’s from when my nails were still long and pretty (rip).

Today’s look was done with Butter London’s Tea and Toast, OPI’s Muppets World Tour, and Orly’s French Tip Guides.

I have this thing about Tea and Toast, like it’s the ugliest color in the bottle, but I absolutely love it on my nails. It’s really stylish, but I always have this apprehension before I put it on, like I’m about to do something terrible, but it always comes out lovely.

I picked Muppets World Tour for this look because I wanted something that would still have a lot of shine without covering the base too much. As it turns out, this polish had more glitter in it than I expected, and it’s hard to see the half-moon and naked nail underneath. On the whole, though, I like the look. It sort of looks like a gradient instead of a half-moon, and glitter is the best. No arguments here.

Unfortunately, I think both these shades are discontinued. Butter London and OPI are both easy to find in stores.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Glitter on Clementines

Hello, reader! Bad news, I broke a nail, and I had to cut them down short. It’s the first major break I’ve had so far this year — the last time I had them this short, it was February — and I’m pretty bummed. Luckily, the two polishes I used today look great on tiny baby nails. For this look, I used Digital Nails‘s Faraday-Glo and Kunimitsu‘s Beautiful Theory.

I can’t say no to neon orange. This is a great shade. It’s super bright even without undies, so much so that my camera struggled with the color quite a lot. Classic neons. There’s a fine blue shimmer in here, too, which was a bit hard to see. I covered it up with glitter.

Beautiful Theory is a fantastic topper. I had a hard time getting the shapes out, but on nails for ants, it’s not a bad problem to have. The iridescent glitters make the polish, though, and especially makes it pair well with bright orange. Depending on the angle, they look purple or pink. It’s really cool.

So tiny!

Digital Nails polishes are available in their etsy shop (though as of this writing they are taking a break). Beautiful Theory isn’t currently stocked, but Kunimitsu polishes are also for sale in their etsy shop.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Cold Blue Hearts

Happy Monday, reader! Today’s mani was my first successful-ish look with vinyls. I had a sheet of tiny heart vinyls, and it’s been so long since I got them that the company who made them has since closed up. The first time I tried to use them, I messed up and just did not get a good look. I messed up this time, too, but not as badly. For this look, I used Ellagee‘s Cyrena and Sweet Heart Polish‘s Summer Breeze.

Cyrena is a sister polish to Liliana, which I wore recently and loved. This is a cooler icy blue version, complete with the same iridescent flakies, strong holo, and jelly-like opacity. Summer Breeze is about the same color, but with more pigmentation and less holo. I wanted a look that was more or less light blue monochrome. I think I got it pretty close.

So, about the vinyls. I don’t know if it’s because the cutouts were so small, or because my nails are small, but I had a really hard time getting good crisp lines, especially at the tips of the nails where they narrow and curl up on themselves. For the most part, you can tell the hearts are hearts, and only a few look blobby. This is because I added the tips to cover all the ones at the tips that were less defined. I freehanded the tips, and they’re a little sloppy, especially on the right hand, but I can deal with it.

Cyrena has been discontinued by Ellagee; other Ellagee polishes are available on their website. Summer Breeze was a box exclusive and is no longer for sale; other Sweet Heart Polishes are sold on etsy.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Crystal Knockout’s Pegasus Landing

Welcome back to Swatch Sunday! Today’s polish is a new-to-me brand called Crystal Knockout (formerly DazzleGlaze). I loved meeting them at The Indie Shop in Atlanta; they’re from Florida, and I always like meeting the neighbors. They were selling a big range of products, even making their own jewelry. I regret that I didn’t buy any of the jewelry. Anyway, so here’s their VIP bag contribution. This is Pegasus Landing on its own (three coats) and over both China Glaze’s White on White and Sally Hansen’s Black Out (two coats) with one coat of Seche Vite.

Pegasus Landing is a shimmery white gold with gold glitters and rose gold flakies. This was very easy to apply; the product consistency good, even with all of the glitter in it. The bigger glitters was a little shy, but with repeated coats, I still got a good amount on my nail. I did a terrible job at showing the rose gold aspect of the polish; it was probably my favorite thing about it. The polish dried well but I did wish I’d used a second layer of top coat.

I didn’t expect this polish to work so well on its own, but I definitely prefer it alone than over white or black. I love how well the gold stands out over the black, but it’s definitely best without undies. I don’t really have any other polishes like this one, so it’s got a cool uniqueness factor. Lots of polishes like this with really creamy shimmery bases and chunky glitters don’t work, but this one does.

Pegasus Landing was an event exclusive. Other Crystal Knockout products are sold on their online shop.

This polish came in an event VIP bag.

Swatch Saturday: Bluebird Lacquer’s Realm of the Fae

Welcome back to Swatch Saturday! Today’s post is late and I do apologize, but it may be the norm for a while. Just bear with me! Today’s post is all about Realm of the Fae by Bluebird Lacquer; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

Realm of the Fae is a deep purple holo with a pink/orange shift. Application was great; I had perfect opacity at two coats, and the product consistency is very easy to use. The holo effect is best in sunlight, but the shifty shimmer is best indoors. The polish dries quickly and with a smooth satin finish. I used top coat for shine.

You guessed it, this polish was an Indie Shop Atlanta exclusive. There were so many! I like this polish a lot. The holo isn’t too strong so it doesn’t overpower the shimmer, and there’s just enough shimmer in it to add dimension to the look. It’s gorgeous.

Realm of the Fae was an event exclusive. Other Bluebird Lacquers are available on their website.

I bought this polish myself.