Tag Archives: blue

Manicure Monday: Brown and Color

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Another week, another Manicure Monday! Today’s mani is interesting — to me — because both of the polishes I used are ones I’ve used before. Since I have well over 1,100 bottles of nail polish, it’s rare for me to go a Monday without using something new. LA Colors’s Twisted Affair and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Prototype PFCS 1.0 have been featured on the blog, but not together. I love how well they pair! I’m wearing two coats of Twisted Affair and one generous coat of PCFS 1.0 on my accent nails, all with one coat of Rica‘s Glossy Glam top coat. Also, to explain the exposed tip on my middle nail, an emergency occurred that required me to don a pair of gloves right after finishing the manicure. Thankfully all the other nails escaped unscathed.

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So yes, the manicure. Twisted Affair is a color I like a lot, even though it’s a bit odd. In the bottle it looks like a cool milk chocolate, but in certain lighting conditions t looks bruised and sickly. I don’t mind that it’s occasionally ugly, but when it does, it needs a little help. This is why I chose PCFS 1.0 as the accent; it’s just so complex and colorful. I love looks that are colorful and neutral simultaneously.

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Twisted Affair applies easily and with good color: I expected it to be streaky and thin until the third coat, but I got full opacity in just two. The drying times were nice as well; I definitely bumped a nail on my desk a couple of minutes after I finished painting it and it didn’t dent or smudge. PFCS 1.0 took a little more work; I had to let the bottle sit upside-down for a while to get all the sunken glitters out, and really went at it to get good coverage. This manicure looks exactly as I imagined it would, but I am a little upset by the one that got messed up.

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Twisted Affair and other LA Colors polishes are available all over the place; I got mine from Dollar General. Prototype PCFS 1.0 was a one-off and is not available, but other Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers can be purchased from their shop.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Hard Candy’s So-So Sequin

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Here comes Swatch Sunday! I’m wearing another polish I bought while I was on vacation last year. This is Hard Candy’s So-So Sequin; I’m wearing three coats with two coats of Rica‘s Glossy Glam top coat. All photos are taken outdoors in direct sunlight.

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So-So Sequin is a full-coverage glitter polish with fine lilac holographic hex and larger metallic teal hex glitters. The glitter is pretty dense, so I don’t recommend it as a topper. Because it’s so dense, the consistency of the lacquer is thick and was difficult to apply to my smaller nails. The coverage is pretty even, as is the glitter distribution; both glitters brush on easily with no fuss. The drying times were fantastic, and it did dry with a gritty texture, which is why I used two coats of top coat. Even then, it wasn’t entirely smooth, but it did help quite a lot.

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Story time: Like with last week’s story about Greed, I forgot a lot of stuff when I went on vacation last year, and while I was buying the essentials, I was also buying nail polish. This purchase happened on the second day of the trip; we were driving through some forgettable small town in North Carolina, and we passed by a Wal-Mart. I never go to Wal-Mart, but I needed a toothbrush and deodorant, so we stopped. I also took this opportunity to grab a few Hard Candy polishes. Black Tie Optional and its cohorts have been all over the nail polish internet for years, but since I don’t really shop at Wal-Mart, I hadn’t had the chance to try any of them out. I bought this one and three others. I also left my phone in the bathroom and had to go back inside to grab it.

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Now that it’s consistently sunny here, I knew I had to take these photos outside. This polish is definitely shiny, and the photos don’t really convey that. Maybe the glitters throw too much light, but there’s a very strong holographic effect from the glitter; it even makes a linear effect like Spectraflair does. It’s amazing. And blinding. I love it.

So-So Sequin and other Hard Candy polishes are available from Wal-Mart stores and walmart.com.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Girly Bits’s Blue Eyed Beer Drinkin Music Lovin Lawyer

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For Swatch Sunday, I’m wearing my first and — so far only — Girly Bits polish! This is Blue Eyed Beer Drinkin Music Lovin Lawyer, a collaboration with Julie from Wishes of a Blue-Eyed Girl to celebrate the blog’s first anniversary. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Rica‘s Glossy Glam top coat.

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Blue Eyed Beer Drinkin Music Lovin Lawyer is a deep royal blue jelly with iridescent microglitters. From the first coat, the polish has fantastic coverage and rich color; it builds with each additional coat. Even though I have three coats on, you can see my visible nail lines. This is the first time I’ve seen it though, so I think it only occurs in harsh, bright lighting. The glitter spreads evenly and comes out of the bottle without any fuss. The consistency is just right, even with all the glitter in it. Drying times were good as well; my nails were dry to the touch in about five minutes. It dries with a smooth and glossy finish.

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This polish is definitely a winner in my book. I love the way the color and glitter play together. The color on its own is already deep and powerful, and then the glitter just makes it. There’s not so much glitter it makes the polish bumpy or coarse, but it’s just enough to make it sparkle. It’s so lovely. I also love that it was a blogger collaboration; I love seeing makers and regular folks working on things together. I feel like it really strengthens the indie community. The reason I even have this polish is because it’s a collaboration. And if you’re wondering why it’s a mini bottle, this is a decant from my friend Angela at Older Ladies Like Color Too. See? Community!

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Blue Eyed Beer Drinkin Music Lovin Lawyer and other Girly Bits polishes are available from the Girly Bits website.

Manicure Monday: Cracked Blue Frost

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Hello, readers! It’s Monday again, and I have another mani to show you. I’m wearing China Glaze’s Crackle Glaze in Oxidized Aqua over Julep’s Char, topped with one coat of Rica‘s Glossy Glam top coat.

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For a Julep polish, Char, a deep blue creme, is pretty good. I had almost-opaque coverage in one coat; I guess these darker colors use more pigment, because I never have to struggle with the darker colors, only the light ones. It dries with a beautiful gloss. One thing I do notice, however, is the smell; Julep polishes generally have a mild smell, but this one is way different and much stronger. I suspect the pigment is the culprit; I have a similar shade from OPI that has the same odd scent. I’m looking forward to wearing Char on its own.

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Over Char is Oxidized Aqua, an icy blue crackle polish. This is the part of the mani I don’t like so much. You know how it is with crackle polishes; you sacrifice many tiny cracks for good coverage. I wanted good coverage, and so I have one or two cracks on each nail, which looks pretty silly. Also, I had to redo some nails because the crackening never took place. Overall, I guess it isn’t that bad. I can talk about how lame the polish is, but I only have myself to blame. I didn’t have to use it.

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Let’s talk about the new top coat! I got a bottle of Rica’s Glossy Glam in the March/April Beauty Quartet Box. I’ve heard so many good things about this top coat and I see it everywhere, so I’m excited to have the chance to try it out myself. I’ve used it in two manis now (the first is one you’ll see later this week) and I’m pretty happy with it so far. It doesn’t feel totally dry after five minutes, so I’ll have to remember to give it ten. The shine is beautiful, and my nails are so smooth; I don’t feel any of the cracks or ridges from the crackle polish when I touch my nails. I find that impressive.

Char is available wherever Julep polishes are sold; I got mine from their website. Crackle Glaze appears to be discontinued by China Glaze; I got mine at Big Lots. Glossy Glam is available from their etsy shop.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Snowfall at Dusk

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Hello! Swatch Saturday is late today due to website maintenance. If you were here earlier and the site was down, I apologize. That said, Swatch Saturday is digging into the rest of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s 2013 winter collection. Yeah, I know. It was 80 and sunny and springtime now, but here we are. This polish is called Snowfall at Dusk; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Alter Ego’s She Shines top coat. Also, that’s lotion stuck in my cuticles. Sorry.

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Snowfall at Dusk is a cornflower blue jelly with various shades of blue glitter in hexes, dots, and squares. There are also white snowflakes in the bottle, though I didn’t get any on my nails. The formula was fantastic; the glitters and the color apply easily and evenly over the nail. It dried quickly. It dried completely smooth, even before top coat. The jelly is a great translucence; you can see all the glitter through all the coats. It’s a fun and easy polish to put on and wear.

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I really like this polish. I love the blue winter motif, because it’s seasonal without being holiday festive. Blue is also a pretty cheerful color to me; sometimes winter is just so gray and dreadful and any pop of color, even one this soft, is a welcome sight. This polish says to me “Hey, it’s cold and wet and you’re miserable, but we’re gonna get through it”. That said, winter in Florida is over and I could not be happier.

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I even got some pics in the sunshine! This polish almost looks like it wants to melt out here. The jelly is beautiful; you can see right through it. The glitters shine so well. Glitter in direct sunlight in the best thing in the universe.

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Snowfall at Dusk has been discontinued, but BEGL‘s most recent winter collection is still available in their shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Teal Glitter Gradient

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I started this Manicure Monday with no real plan. I had a glitter and a bright base color, but I didn’t really know what to do. I thought at first I would use some nail vinyls to create a pattern, but I screwed it up. I tried stamping and blew that, too. I didn’t want to do a gradient because I always do those, but here we are. I used Sinful Colors’s Nail Junkie (how appropriate) and Essie’s Naughty Nautical, as well as two coats of Digital Nails‘s Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That top coat.

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Naughty Nautical is a teal polish with fine rainbow shimmer. Nail Junkie is a thin teal jelly with many colors of fine iridescent glitters. I paired them together thinking I would just wear Naughty Nautical as a base for Nail Junkie, but I thought that was boring and forced myself to do some nail art. It’s not as intricate and ambitious as I wanted it to be, but I like the look I got. I acheived it by putting down two coats of Nail Junkie, then doing the gradient. It looks like the glitter is sponged over the teal polish, but that’s not the case. I also considered painting another coat of glitter over the gradient, but I decided that what I had was enough. You can also see the nail with the stud has no gradient; it’s only the base color and glitter.

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I’m pretty happy with it. It’s been a while since I’ve done anything nail-arty and fun. I really want to do more of that instead of just painting glitter over a base. Also, I’m really embarrassed by how dry my hands look in these photos. I put lotion on before I took them, I swear.

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You can get these polishes wherever Essie and Sinful Colors are sold. Mine are from Walgreens.

I bought this polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Elevation Polish’s Pitaraq

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Hello, reader! For Swatch Sunday this week, we’re going to look at Pitaraq by Elevation Polish. I’m wearing one coat of Pitaraq over two coats each of Maybelline’s Poolside, OPI’s OPI… Eurso Euro, and Marc Jacobs’s Midnight in Paris with one coat of Digital Nails’s Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That top coat.

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Pitaraq is described by Elevation Polish as a shimmer topper; it consists of a clear base packed with blue, silver, and white flakies and blue shimmers. This topper is very easy to apply; one brushed coat is enough to cover the nail in wintry shimmer. The consistency is perfect; it’s not thick or goopy like toppers sometimes are. Drying times were good; I didn’t notice any excessive or prolonged periods of wetness or stickiness. It’s really easy to put on and use.

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Inspired by the icy winds of Greenland, Pitaraq evokes, to me, the fierceness and cruelty of nature, as well as inclement weather and extreme conditions. It’s like an ice storm in a bottle. The cremes I used for undies were completely transformed; they are now shimmery, metallic, artcic versions of themselves. This is such a fun topper; even though it looks tame and demure in the bottle, but it really packs a punch.

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Because spring is coming, we’re getting more sunshine, and so I’m able to start taking outdoor photos again. Look at this in the sunshine! It’s crazy. Every flakie reflects light and makes it super shiny. It’s absolutely mesmerizing.

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As of this publication, Pitaraq is for sale at the Elevation Polish shop, though it has been discontinued. Act soon if it’s something you’re after.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Complementary Glitter

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Manicure Monday!! I love my mani today. I’m wearing three coats of Color Club’s Sparkle and Soar, one brushed coat of Digital Nails‘s Aguamenti, and one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

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Sparkle and Soar is a shimmery orange polish with golden glass flecks and a hint of gold-to-green duochrome. Application was pretty easy, I didn’t have any problems with it. The consistency is fine; it’s thick due to the amount of shimmer/superfine glitters, but it’s easy to control. It dried pretty quickly, and to a satin finish. With a top coat, the shimmer becomes that much more vibrant.

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Aguamenti is a glitter topper with a truckload of metallic and holographic glitters in various shapes and colors. There are dots, hexes, squares, and bar glitters in blue, aqua, teal, and green. The maker says the base is slightly tinted, but I can’t tell. The application here was super easy for a glitter like this; the large glitters were easy to find and brush on, never getting lost in the smaller glitters. Also, sometimes it’s really hard to get good and even coverage with a polish like this, and that’s definitely not the case with Aguamenti. I could just brush it on and get this without any manipulation or glitter-placing at all. It’s awesome.

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I really like the way this paired together. I was going for something complementary; I wanted a glitter that would make the color pop a little more, and vice versa. The gilded orange is so rich and bright; the glitter glistens like jewels. I knew I would love this look, but I really surprised myself with how much I like it.

Sparkle and Soar is sold on the Color Club website, and wherever else Color Club is sold. Aguamenti is currently in stock in the Digital Nails shop, but has been discontinued. Definitely be on the lookout for these polishes.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Blue Bomb

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For Manicure Monday this week, I pulled out a crackle polish that had been languishing in the collection. For this look, I’m wearing P2’s Blue Bomb over Essie’s Mint Candy Apple, a dusting of China Glaze’s Fairy Dust, and Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

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I know we’ve seen crackle polishes on the blog before, and each time I’m always conflicted about wearing one; it’s something between “Man, this is super cool” and “Dude, what was I thinking?” I mean, I like the look in general; I always get compliments on crackle polish whenever I wear one out, and I like how unpredictable it is and how two nails never look exactly the same. I feel pretty meh about this look, though. I even tried to dress it up with Fairy Dust, which was a last-minute impulse, and even then it’s like 2010 called and asked for its manicure back.

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Individually, I love these polishes. Mint Candy Apple is a nice baby blue creme that was opaque in two coats. Fairy Dust is the most beautiful kind of subtle. Blue Bomb is special to me because it’s from Germany and I got it in an awesome Reddit swap. I normally like it, but today I’m not feeling it so much. I guess that’s a really rude-as-crap thing to say about a gift. Sorry.

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Final word: It looked better in my head. It also looks nicer in person, because the glitter is more glittery.

Swatch Sunday: Deborah Lippmann’s Happy Birthday

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It’s time for another Swatch Saturday. For this edition, I’m wearing one dabbed coat of Deborah Lippmann’s Happy Birthday over two coats each of Disney Villains Cruella de Vil, Color Club’s Almost Famous, and Ciate’s Offshore, along with one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

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Happy Birthday is a clear-based glitter topper with a rainbow mix of metallic glitters. The glitters didn’t spread well just brushing them on, but dabbing gave me much more coverage. There’s a ton of glitter on each nail, but you can still see the undies. The glitters are very shiny, and very much so with top coat. Drying times were very fast. I’m pretty happy with it.

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I am still a huge fan of these rainbow glitter polishes. Remember when OPI had that Muppets collection with Rainbow Connection? Would you believe I don’t have it? Would you believe that I had gone to Ulta, picked it up, held it in my hands, and then PUT IT BACK because I “didn’t need it”? That was the biggest mistake of my life. Somewhat luckily, the rainbow glitter fad caught on, and every brand had their own version of it. Deborah Lippmann’s take on it is pretty nice. It’s a good consolation prize.

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I got my mini bottle of Happy Birthday in a set with She-Bop. I don’t think this set is around anymore, but you can buy full sized bottles at Sephora, Ulta, and (I think) Nordstrom. The good news is, as I mentioned, every brand has their version of this polish now, so you don’t have to drop twenty dollars on this particular one.

Also, quick apology for my cuticles. Every undies polish I used for this mani stained the crap out of my cuticles, and I didn’t notice just how bad it was until I was processing photos. I do apologize. I’m quite embarrassed by them.