Author Archives: Stacie Wacie

Throwback Swatch: Dainty Digits Polish’s Stream of Enchantment

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Welcome back, reader! I still have swatch posts to catch up on, so I’m getting through them. This is Dainty Digits’s Stream of Enchantment; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

I love handwritten labels.

Stream of Enchantment is a sky blue polish with shifting flake glitters. Application was easy; the product consistency was just right. As you can see, it’s on the sheer side, so there’s a lot of visible nail lines (when my nails are this long, I don’t mind it), but it works well with layering the glitters. The polish dries to a smooth finish; I used top coat for extra shine and protection.

This is my first Dainty Digits Polish! I got to meet maker NeNe at The Indie Shop Atlanta and bought her event exclusives. I love them! She did two different takes on the same polish, a day version and a night version, just changing the base color. This is the daytime version, and it’s so cheerful. I love it. I was hoping the glitters would be bigger, but there’s a lot of them, and the sheerness of the polish helps you see every single scrap of it. This would definitely be a great base for nail art.

Stream of Enchantment was an event exclusive. Dainty Digits is now Baby Girl Lacquer; other polishes can be purchased from their online store.

I bought this polish myself.
I have an extra bottle I’m saving for a giveaway!

Throwback Swatch: Bluebird Lacquer’s It’s Fall Over Me

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Right, so during the month of November, I was insanely busy with starting a new job, starting a volunteer job leading writing groups for National Novel Writing Month, actually writing a novel for National Novel Writing Month, and cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for nine people. Now that novels are finished and Thanksgiving is over, I’ve finally got the time to share the swatches I’ve been collecting.

This first one is It’s Fall Over Me from Bluebird Lacquer; I’m wearing two coats over e.l.f.’s Smoking Hot (red), Butter London’s Tea and Toast (tan), Sally Hansen’s Black Out (black), China Glaze’s White on White (white), and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Lighthouse on the Lake (blue), topped with Seche Vite and Essie’s Matte About You matte top coat.

It’s Fall Over Me is a clear-based glitter topper with iridescent shifting glitters of various sizes. The shift is definitely reminiscent of the flakies in Essie’s famous Shine of the Times. Application was easy; the product consistency is wonderful in that it’s not thick enough to be goopy and difficult to use, but it’s not thin enough that it drips off the brush. The glitter delivers very easily, but I definitely wanted more than I got on my first coat, so I used two. In the future, I might try sponging it on to get that heavy glitter coverage without the thickness of multiple coats of lacquer. I used two coats of top coat as well, just to smooth down any glitter texture that was left.

I bought this at the Indie Shop Atlanta, and it had my heart as soon as I saw the bottle. I am such a sucker for these opalescent kinds of glitters, because there’s always something going on with it; it’s the easiest way to give a look dimension and style without getting knee-deep in nail art. It also looks interesting over any color, even white, which is obviously not the ideal undies for this polish, has a unique effect on it.

When I was talking to maker Lou at her booth, she told me I had to try it with a matte finish, so I did, and here are the photos of that. I definitely prefer the glossy finish, but I have to admit that the glitter looks pretty cool mattefied. I feel like the matte finish makes the shift a little less dramatic, but it still does happen, and still looks pretty cool.

Unlike everything else I’ve shown you from my Indie Shop Atlanta haul, this is a polish you can actually still buy! As of this writing, It’s Fall Over Me is for sale on the Bluebird Lacquer website.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Dark Water

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Welcome back to Manicure Monday! You find me today with the shortest nails I’ve had all year. My last break was already devastating (curse you, fitted sheets), and now something else has happened to completely finish them off. This is China Glaze’s Black Diamond and Digital Nails‘s Leviathan.

I’ve had these Digital Nails starship glitters forever, and I’m just getting around to being able to appreciate them. They’re beautiful! The shift is just too impressive not to rave about. I realize I am so late to this party, but shifters, man, they’re amazing.

I feel a little bad for Black Diamond, because it’s a lovely polish on its own. It’s got this subtle gunmetal shimmer to it that the glitter completely obscured. I did plan a glitter gradient to get the best of both words, but there just wasn’t room for it on these tiny nails. Glitter wins every time.

China Glaze is sold in stores; I got this particular bottle at Sally Beauty Supply. Leviathan and other Digital Nails polishes are available on etsy, though they’re currently closed.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Cognac Sparkle

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

Manicure Monday: Red and Gold Splatter

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Happy Monday! I want to preface this by saying this is probably going to be the last laid-back Manicure Monday for a while. After today, I dive into writing a novel and possibly starting a new job — fingers crossed! In any case, things are going to be busy and I’m nervous and excited. These nails look like I feel. For this look, I used Deborah Lippmann’s Single Ladies and Essie’s Good as Gold.

I wasn’t totally sure what I was going to do with this look when I started it. Single Ladies is a really squishy polish; it look three coats to get rid of all the streaks. I thought about taking advantage of this and doing a pond mani or something similar, but I didn’t want to cover the pretty metallic gold effect of Good As Gold. The classic gold and red was very necessary here.

Index finger, Ring finger

I’m pretty happy with how this turned out. Splatter manis are such a mess, and I kind of wished I had some liquid latex or something. I’ve really got to invest in some, it would make life so much easier.

Single Ladies and other Deborah Lippmann polishes are sold in stores; I got mine from Sephora. Essie is available pretty much everywhere.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Colors by Llarowe’s Genofeva of Brabant

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I’m excited about today’s Swatch Sunday. It’s another VIP polish from The Indie Shop Atlanta! Genofeva of Brabant is Colors by Llarowe‘s contribution to the VIP bag. It’s my first CbL, and I’m not sure I’ve ever worn a polish quite like this. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

Genofeva of Brabant is a cool-toned rose polish with a strong rosy glow and holo glitter. Actually, this polish has a holo finish that I can’t quite describe. It clearly has glitter in it, but there’s a slight allover holo in it too, like a scattered holo. I’m not sure, but I love it. Application was great; even though there’s a lot happening in this polish, the product consistency is velvety smooth. I had a great first coat, and full opacity at the second. It dries to smooth satin finish. I don’t usually talk about how easy it is to remove a polish, but I was surprised at how easily this one came off. I expected to struggle with the glitter, but it just comes right off.

I failed to capture the holo effect in this polish. It just looks like silver.

This is one of my top five polishes from Indie Shop Atlanta. I was so excited to swatch this because it was probably the first polish that caught my eye, even before the event, and I don’t really have anything like it in my collection. I’m also excited to finally be trying Colors by Llarowe! I got a few others from the event but this is the best one.

Genofeva of Brabant was a VIP exclusive. Other Colors by Llarowe are available on their website.

I got this polish in a VIP bag at an event.