Monthly Archives: June 2018

Nails of the Week: Silver Buttons

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Hello, reader! I’m actually getting my nails posted this week. Last week I completely neglected to, and the last few weeks I’ve been at late at it. As of this week, I’m calling the weekly nail art post the Nails of the Week instead of Manicure Monday, just because I’ve been sucky at getting it in on time. Hopefully this change doesn’t make me even lazier. For this look, I used Julep’s Braiden and Essie’s No Place Like Chrome.

Braiden is the Polish of the Week, so I’ll start there. I love the look of this polish alone; I still like textured polish, and the charcoal base of this coupled with the gritty silver glitter makes this an elegant classic.

I decided to pair it with No Place Like Chrome because I wanted to challenge myself. That, and I had no desire to put textured polish on my toes, because it would never come off. The nail art is a little lazy; I did a quick stripe of liquid latex on the bottom half of the nail, painted the tips with Braiden, and did a couple of dots to finish it up. Fun fact: this look doesn’t use any top coat.

Braiden was discontinued by Julep; other Julep polishes are sold on their website. No Place Like Chrome and other Essie polishes are sold in stores.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Purple for Days

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Hi, reader! My look this week is a classic gradient with glitter over it. For the gradient, I used K*Sea Gale’s Nails‘s Wisdom and KBShimmer‘s Excuse Me, I’m VIPurple; the glitter is Sinful Colors’s I Miss You.

So this is a look I love to do when I know I’m using a glitter topper. The gradient adds a little bit of complexity to the base. There’s nothing wrong with a solid base and glitter, because that’s a great look, too. I like the gradient because it’s a really subtle effect.

Widsom and Excuse Me, I’m VIPurple were both holos, and in the photos, you can’t really even tell. The glitter completely obscures the holo effect. That was a little disappointing, but the glitter is able to stand out, and that’s what’s really important to me. It’s a simple look, but there’s still something going on.

K*Sea Gale’s Nails is now Northern Nail Polish; Wisdom is still available on their website. Excuse Me, I’m VIPurple was an Indie Shop Atlanta 2017 VIP exclusive; other KBShimmer polishes can be found on their website. I Miss You was discontinued by Sinful Colors; other Sinful Colors polishes are sold in stores.

I bought two of these polishes myself.
I won Wisdom in a giveaway.

Swatch: Formula X for Sephora’s Demolition

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Welcome back, reader! I’ve been slacking on my swatches, but I’m still working on them. Today I have a glitter topper someone once told me was “terrifying” because it looked difficult to remove. This is Demolition from Formula X for Sephora; I’m wearing one thick coat (basically two) over Marc Jacobs Beauty’s Shocking (pink), Butter London’s Tea and Toast (taupe), Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Lighthouse by the Lake (blue), a nameless vintage Maybelline (brown), and Sally Hansen’s Sun Kissed (orange).

Demolition is a clear-based glitter topper; the glitters are hexes of various sizes and pastel shades, which focuses largely on pastel pink. Application was good; the polish consistency is a little on the thick side, which is necessary to carry these chunky glitters. It dries quickly, though, and with a somewhat textured finish; top coat is definitely required for a smooth-to-the-touch finish.

I know these chunky glitters have fallen out of style, but I am still about them. I was super excited to find a polish like this from a mainstream brand as well; they had several color variations on this formula and I bought several of them. It wears pretty well despite being on the thicker side; a lot of heavy glitter toppers like these are quick to chip, but not this one. My only real complaint is that it takes quite a bit of top coat to smooth it down.

The Formula X brand was discontinued by Sephora.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Summer Preview

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Hello, reader! Welcome back to the blog! I’ve got a pretty basic glitter look this week, and it’s one I’m really into. Neons and glitter are pretty much my whole summer, and I’m ready to get it started. For this look, I used Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Look at These Assholes and Lynnderella‘s Are You Bouquet?.

Let me preface this by saying that my camera did not want to cooperate with the neonness of Look at These Assholes. At all. I did some color correction and got it pretty accurate, which in turn makes my skin look a little weird, but I’ll take it. This is a deliciously bright neon.

NEON

Are You Bouquet? actually watered it down a little. Even though it’s a glitter topper, it’s in a slightly milky white base. I’m a huge fan of white glitter toppers, and I love this one in particular for the random pops of color. Also, you can’t really tell, but I used a matte top coat over this to highlight the iridescent glitters in there too.

Look at These Assholes has been discontinued by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer; other BEGLs are available in their online shop. Are You Bouquet? was a limited edition from Lynnderella; other Lynns are sold on their website, eBay, and Amazon.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch: Bee’s Knees Lacquer’s Cozy in There?

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Welcome back, reader! Today, I have the last of Bee’s Knees Lacquer‘s Walking Dead trio from The Indie Shop Atlanta. This one is called Cozy In There?; again, I have no idea what this is a reference to. I’m wearing three coats of Cozy in There? with one coat of Seche Vite.

Cozy in There? is a pale cool nude with a golden shimmer, multichrome flakies, and a little bit of holo. As is true with all of the Bee’s Knees I’ve worn so far, this one is an absolute dream to apply and use. This one needed two coats for full opacity, but everything else is spot-on; the product consistency is perfect and is very easy to apply. It dries with a smooth, glossy finish.

I love this polish. The nude base is merely a vehicle for all the other good stuff in here; the multichrome flakes lend a colorful finish to the polish, and the shimmer and holo add dimension and complexity. Something that’s true for this polish, and the trio as a whole, is that all the colors are oddly safe for work; RIP Nameless Horse is probably the boldest of the three, but they’re all nice neutrals with lots of fun additions. I feel fortunate that I was able to snag these for myself (and a couple other people!).

Cozy in There? was an Indie Shop Atlanta event exclusive; other Bee’s Knees Lacquers are sold on their website.

I bought this polish myself.