Tag Archives: full coverage glitter

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s ‘Murica

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Welcome back to Swatch Saturday, reader! My swatch today is a real oldie, but a fun polish nevertheless. This polish, ‘Murica, was a patriotic polish released alongside another polish called Glory. Unfortunately, I missed out on Glory, but here’s Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s ‘Murica. This is three coats of ‘Murica with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

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‘Murica is a clear-based deep blue microglitter polish with red and blue star glitters and red shimmers. Application was easy, though while the base was clear, it took me many coats to achieve full opacity. The first coat went on almost like a glitter topper; the coverage was very thin and lots of bare nail was still visible. Of course, coverage built with each additional coat, so it ended up not being a huge problem. It was actually kind of interesting to find out, since I learned it could be worn as a fine glitter topper pretty easily. The polish took some time to dry since I put it on a bit thick, and it dried with a fine gritty texture. I added top coat for shine and smoothness.

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The glitter is super shiny, so there’s a lot of issues with focus and glare in these photos. I don’t think I did it a whole lot of justice. You’ll just have to take my word for it that this polish is beautiful. Even though it looks like it’s all one color, there’s so much going on in it; there’s enough variety in the glitter for the polish to have lots of dimension and depth. It’s not just blue, there’s cobalt blue, ocean blue, and navy blue, as well as the red glitters adding contrast. It’s a really cool look. I did mention that there are star glitters, but none of them made it into any of my photos; there were some, but they were covered by the final coat of polish. I like this polish because its inspiration are only obvious if one knows it. Otherwise, it’s a barely patriotic but totally wearable glitter. It’s beautifully done.

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‘Murica has been discontinued by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. Other BEGLs are available from their online shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Sail Her Don’t Sink Her

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Happy weekend, reader! I trust you’re all having a fantastic Saturday. This Saturday’s swatch is Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Sail Her Don’t Sink Her, which is from last year’s Far From The Sun summer collection. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

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Sail Her Don’t Sink Her is a clear-based microglitter polish with pink, purple, red, gold, and orange holographic and metallic glitters. Application was easy; because it is a clear base, it took me all three coats to achieve this level of opacity. The polish dries with a textured finish; it’s not too rough or bumpy, but it is a fine grit. I used top coat for extra shine and smoothness.

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This polish looks so simple in the bottle; it just looks like a lot of glitter swimming around together. On the nail, the complexities really stand out. The colors just come together so well, so organically, that it’s hard to believe someone actually created it. This polish is full of sparkle and it’s hard to stop looking at it. It’s gorgeous and I love it.

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Sail Her Don’t Sink Her, unfortunately, has been discontinued by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. Other BEGL polishes are available from their shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Julep’s America

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Happy Sunday! My swatch today is a patrotic offering from Julep, simply called America. There’s a part of me weirded out by shows of patrotism like this, especially between holidays, but it’s so glittery and flashy that I almost don’t care. For the post today, I’m wearing three coats of America; the first six photos are taken without top coat. All photos were taken in direct sunlight outdoors.

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America is a clear-based glitter topper that consists mostly of fine red metallic glitter, but also contains larger blue and silver glitters and silver stars. Application wasn’t bad; the product consistency was pretty thick, edging on goopy; three coats of goopy polish isn’t fun for anybody. After it dried, which was about five minutes after each coat, it left a finely-textured crust of glitter. I did add two coats of Rica‘s Glossy Glam to smooth it out, which looked fantastic, but added yet another thick layer of stuff to my nails. The tips shrank up right away.

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Patriotic or not, this is a gorgeous polish. The red glitters shine like ruby slippers, and the blues and silver stars are bonus. In fact, it’s entirely possible I bought this just because it has star glitter in it. With or without top coat, this polish is very shiny, especially in sunlight. It’s just a ton of fun to wear. The following photos were taken with top coat.

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America may be discontinued by Julep, as it’s out of stock on their website.

I bought this polish 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.

Wacie Wednesday: Dang! (Again)

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Get ready! I’m showing you the last Wacie Nail Company polish that’s part of the official launch. Even better, you can buy it today! We’ve seen Dang! as a glitter topper and as an ingredient in a jelly sandwich, but never on its own. In this post, I’m wearing three coats of Dang!, with and without top coat, in party cloudy outdoor lighting.

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Dang!, as you remember, was a glorious accident brought on by boredom and a spark of creativity. Maybe it was just the desire to make something with what I had. Anyway, I was bored in a room full of glitter, so I threw all the holographic glitters I had into a bottle, shook it up, brushed it out, and said the word — “Dang!”This is actually how it happened. This is the story of one of my favorite Wacie Nail Co. polishes, and one of the only ones so far to make it out of prototype limbo.

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Dang! dries with a matte glitter finish and a somewhat coarse texture that can be smoothed down by top coat. The following two photos do show Dang! with top coat.

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Dang! and other Wacie Nail Co. polishes can be purchased from the Wacie Nail Company etsy shop.

Wacie Nail Company: Origin

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If you follow me on Instagram, you might remember that I posted a few polishes that would be in the first Wacie Nail Company release. That was a few weeks ago. Well, the release is imminent, and now’s the time to show you what I’m going to stock for the very first time. This polish, Origin, will be one of the original three Wacie Nail Company polishes. I’m wearing three coats in every photo. Origin is a full-coverage glitter polish, made up of fine purple holographic glitter in a clear base. It’s a pretty simple polish in nature; it’s not a wild mix of dimension and color. It’s just one glitter, loaded up in a bottle, as an homage to a humble beginning.

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I had just turned twelve years old. Nail polish had just started coming in colors like blues and greens, and even though I was a hardcore nailbiter, I was very interested in nail polish now that it was coming in colors other than matronly mauves and corals. My older sister had given me a nail polish much like this one for my birthday, and I fell in love with it. I’d seen purple polish before, but not any like this; this one was all glitter, all shine and sparkle, and it was all mine. I put it on, wore it until it chipped off, and then I put it on again until the bottle ran dry. This was my first real nail polish love. I made Origin because I wanted to recreate that feeling of being entralled by something new and exciting that belonged only to me.

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Alone, Origin dries to a matte glitter finish, and has a fine texture. The following photos are taken with the camera flash.

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The following photos were taken with two coats of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

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The following photos were taken with the camera flash.

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Origin will be available next Wednesday, April 29, at 2 PM EDT from the Wacie Nail Company etsy store. I’m so excited, I can’t wait for you guys to meet her!

Manicure Monday: Pink and Nude Watermarble

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For the first time on this blog, I tried a water marble. I’ve actually tried some before, but circumstances kept me from finishing them. This mani didn’t turn out quite the way I imagined it, but it’s growing on me. My water marble was done with L’oreal’s Broadway Boogie and Sinful Colors’s Timbleberry. I have one nail each with Broadway Boogie, Timbleberry, and Ciate’s Love Letter. All nails are topped with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

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At first I was just going to do a gradient with these colors, and then put the glitter on top. I’m so glad I did something different. Gradients are just so easy; they’re my fail-proof nail art look. I used to be hooked on watermarbles and did them constantly, but as I started to wear more indies, I just got used to laying down glitter and calling it a day. It feels good break away from that.

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A quick word about the polishes I used: Broadway Boogie, a warm nude creme, really lengthens my nails. Timbleberry, a bright warm pink, is very vibrant, though faded a little in the marble. Love Letter, a shifting pink-to-orange microglitter, complements the warm and cool tones in this look.

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I would love to do another look like this. I used to do so much nail art, and now I barely do any. I kind of miss it.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Ciaté’s Love Letter

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For today’s Swatch Sunday, we’re looking at more delicious shifty goodness. This is Ciaté’s Love Letter. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Speed Coat Pro top coat, also from Ciaté.

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Love Letter is a clear polish — I think it’s a clear base, it’s either clear or very, very lightly tinted — with a boatload of gold to pink-shifting shimmer and pink glitters. I think maybe this was meant to be a glitter topper, but I tried it at three coats to see what I would get. At three coats, I have full and even coverage. Application was easy. Drying time was very quick, and the finish is smooth and unexpectedly, delightfully metallic.

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Yeah, I was not expecting this at all. I didn’t think the coverage would be so full, and I didn’t think the shift would be so pronounced. I am completely gobsmacked. Seriously. I don’t think I have anything else to say, except that I don’t think I ever want to wear this as just a topper. That would be cheating it.

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You can find Ciaté’s Love Letter online at CiatéLondon.com. I happened to get my bottle from Sephora, but I longer see this particular polish on their site. They do still carry Ciaté, though.

Swatch Sunday: Butter London’s West End Wonderland

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Swatch Sunday is super late this week. I got distracted with mimosas and quiche and a bunch of long-neglected housework after. I’m wearing my first-ever Butter London for the swatch today! This is West End Wonderland, which I was lucky enough to get in a swap. This is three coats with one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro.

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West End Wonderland is a full-coverage glitter; it’s a clear base packed full of superfine gold and copper glitters. Because there’s so much glitter, I don’t recommend it as a glitter topper. It spreads so evenly and so thickly (even when you use a light hand!) that it would obscure the base color quite a bit. Like a lot of jam-packed glitter polishes, it dries very quickly. It does have some texture when dry, but since the glitter grade is so fine, it’s not rough or unpleasant to the touch. Make sure you stay in the lines with this one, though; that glitter is tough to clean up with a brush.

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I really like this look. Since I’m already seeing Christmas items in department stores, I’m thinking about what a fantastic holiday polish this is. It’s perfect for this season, really. Gold is a classic color for autumn and winter, after all. Something else I like about this is that it’s glittery, but it’s not overtly so. Personally, this is not really my style, but if you’re one who doesn’t like a lot of glitter, this may be for you. Also, I didn’t get a chance to photograph it in the sunlight, but West End Wonderland is beautiful in the sun. It’s not wildly shiny like a lot of glitters are. This one is pretty modest.

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Final word: I really love these Butter London glitters. They’re like grown-up versions of a nail polish I had when I was younger. My sister gave it to me when I was in like fifth or six grade; it was the first glitter polish I ever owned. If I remember correctly, it was fine purple holo glitter like this, and it dried with a really gritty finish. It was a pain in the ass to take off, but I always put it right back on again. It was also the first time I ever used the last drop of a nail polish. I dearly loved that bottle.

Wacie Wednesday: Decadence

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It’s Wacie Wednesday, and this week I’m wearing a sister polish to Opulence, the gold and silver glitterbomb I wore a week or two ago. This is Decadence, a full coverage glitter with fine red, silver, and turquoise holo glitters. I’m wearing three coats of Decadence with one coat of Color Club’s clear coat.

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I call this a sister polish to Opulence because it was made with the same intent, to learn how different glitters work and compliment each other. I also love the trend of full coverage microglitter polishes among indie makers, and I wanted to try to replicate that look in my own way. I also have some pretty limited glitter selections, and that’s why I’ve used such an odd color combination. I basically mixed every glitter of this size and shape into a bottle. I’d do it again.

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Decadence goes on a bit thick, naturally, because there’s so much glitter in it. It does dry quickly, though, and with a fine gritty texture. It’s still textured with one coat of top coat, but it’s a bit smoother than without it. I also probably could have gotten away with two coats, because these glitters cover pretty well.

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Outdoors, this is stunning. Sunlight is, for a lot of manicures, the ultimate complement to this polish. Everything is so glittery and shiny and blinding. It’s gorgeous.

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Not looking forward to taking it off, though.