Tag Archives: glitter jelly

Manicure Monday: Hello Dalek

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Happy Monday! Today is my birthday, but if you saw me on Instagram this weekend, you already saw the cupcake mani I did to celebrate. I’ll likely post a birthday mani digest post in the future, because I have a lot of other special manis I did while I was on a break from swatching. The polish I’m using to celebrate my birthday today is Digital Nails‘s Hello Dalek.

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Polishes like this take me back to the old days of indie polish. Remember when black jellies with chunky glitters were a new concept? It’s kind of sad to me that the indie polish world has moved on. These are still some of my favorite polishes to wear. The big red dot glitters were what sold me on Hello Dalek, but the glitter mix as a whole is so colorful and fun. It was definitely a must-have.

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Of course, I had to add something, and what’s better for a birthday mani than actual confetti? I had a small bag of birthday confetti on my desk, something my father sent me in a gift package. There were some large pieces of confetti that said HAPPY BIRTHDAY, and I tried cutting them the size of my nail and sticking them on, but they were much too rigid and wouldn’t conform to my nail. Instead, I used a couple of stars. They don’t lay flat, either; the points keep getting snagged on things, but I think it’s a fun look.

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In the sunshine, this polish doesn’t look fantastic, but I think that’s user error. I used three coats, and a fourth might have kept it from looking thin and uneven, but it’s only in strong lighting like this that it happens, so I’m not too bothered with it. Look at the variety of glitters here! This really is a party in a bottle.

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Hello Dalek is out of stock; other Digital Nails polishes are available from their etsy shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Bound to the City Life

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Happy Saturday, reader! I don’t say this often, but I am in love with today’s polish. It’s just so glittery! This is Bound to the City Life from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

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Bound to the City Life is a deep indigo jelly with fine holographic glitters. Application was very easy; the product consistency is on the thinner side, but is still able to support the glitter well. The first coat was a deep blue, but still needed additional coats for opacity and deepened color. Though a jelly, it does eventually reach a squishy but opaque shade of blue. The glitter is very fine, leaving very little texture when dry. The polish does dry with a glossy finish; I still used top coat for extra smoothness and shine.

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Bound to the City Life is the blue cousin to Noticing Face, another polish I wore recently and loved a lot. I love how deep the color is; it’s dark and dramatic, but obviously still quite blue. Everything about it is pretty perfect. These are absolutely my favorite kinds of polishes, and BEGL always nails them (hah, because polish).

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Outdoors, the blueness and the jellyness is most apparent. You can see all the way through it. Every bit of glitter is visible and sparkling, but the things you don’t want to see — visible nail lines, for example — are not visible at all. These photos were taken in direct sunlight.

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Bound to the City Life has been discontinued by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer; other BEGL polishes are available in their online shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Sweet Heart Polish’s Oh Look, A Firefly

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It’s Sunday!! For today’s swatch I’m excited to be wearing a new-to-me brand called Sweet Heart Polish. Based on Tinkerbell, this green jelly is packed with fairy dust. Let’s get started! I’m wearing three coats of Oh Look, A Firefly with one coat of Seche Vite.

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Oh Look, A Firefly is a lime green jelly filled with iridescent glitters and gold flakies. Application was good; the product consistency is perfect, being thick enough to suspend and distribute glitter without being goopy or sad. The green base is a very sheer jelly; nail lines are still visible even after three coats. The glitters are pretty fine and don’t leave a texture when dry, though it does dry with a satiny finish. I used top coat for shine and extra protection.

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This polish really is Tinkerbell in a bottle. It’s green, golden, and completely magical. I’m wearing it alone here, but it could be used as a topper over another green polish, maybe even a black one, and looks excellent with its original satin finish. It sounds like a really simple polish — it’s made with some pretty basic ingredients — but it’s a beautiful look and is a ton of fun to wear. Personally, I wanted more coverage, but that’s not a huge gripe at all, I can deal with the sheer.

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In the sunlight, the green looks a little washed out compared to the studio photos, but the glitter and sparkle is all there. These photos were taken in direct sunlight.

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Oh Look, A Firefly is the second half of a sold-out Peter Pan collaboration with Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. This duo is sold out in both stores. Other Sweet Heart Polishes are available in their etsy shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Noticing Face

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Welcome back to Swatch Saturday! Today’s swatch is a gorgeous glitter jelly from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. This is Noticing Face, and it’s one of my favorites from their massive Doctor Who collection. Yes, I’m still working through it! I’m wearing three coats of Noticing Face with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

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Noticing Face is a deep purple jelly with fine gold and purple holographic glitters. Application was easy; the product consistency was very nice to work with. The jelly isn’t streaky or too thin, but is still thin enough to let the glitter show through. My first coat was nearly full-coverage, which, how often does that happen for you with a jelly? The second coat evened everything out. The fine glitters dry with a slightly gritty feel, and the jelly had a slight satin finish when dry. I used top coat for extra shine and smoothness.

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This could be the most perfect glitter jelly I’ve ever used. The color is deep and still squishy, and the glitters add sparkle without overwhelming the polish. The gold glitters in particular are my favorite, adding a complementary element that’s still luxe and natural. It’s gorgeous.

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My outdoor photos don’t do it any justice, but of course, when I took these photos, there was a hurricane outside and it wasn’t very sunny. These photos were taken in mostly cloudly, somewhat hurricaney conditions.

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Noticing Face and other BEGL polishes are available in their online shop, though at the time of this writing, they are taking a break.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Siren’s Holiday Soirée

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Happy Saturday! I’m so excited to bring you today’s swatch, because I don’t have anything else like it in my collection. This is the Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Siren from December 2014, Siren’s Holiday Soirée. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Let me preface this by saying I have no idea what caused the huge chip. It’s not there in the sunlight photos, which I took first, only in the studio set that was taken later. Such is life with chunky glitter sometimes.

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We're number one! We're number one!

We’re number one! We’re number one!

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Siren’s Holiday Soirée is a raspberry jelly polish with red and pink matte glitters and blue/purple iridescent glitters. The jelly is very translucent, allowing all glitters from each coat to shine through. The product formula supports and distributes the glitters well, but isn’t thick. The polish dries quickly and with a glossy finish. Some glitters — notably, the iridescent shreds — don’t lie flat or hang off the edge of the nail, and so it can be rough to the touch, rougher than the typical glitter texture. I used top coat for smoothness and extra shine.

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I’ve gotta say, of all the BEGL Sirens I’ve worn so far, this is my favorite. I can’t get over the iridescent glow. Perhaps glow is not a strong enough word; these glitters are like little blue fires burning inside this bottle. I love the matte monochromatic glitters in here too, I love the texture and solidity they add, but the burning from the iridescents is just too beautiful.

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In the sunlight, the burning isn’t as strong, but it’s still there. In light this strong, you can see all the way through the jelly, and the matte glitters are more visible. I’m really impressed by this polish.

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Siren’s Holiday Soirée was a limited edition and has since sold out. Other Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers are available in their online shop.

I bought this polish myself.

HPB Presents: Goldfish

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Hello reader! It’s time for another Hobby Polish Bloggers link-up! Every month, members of this Facebook group choose a theme for a mani; each member’s mani can be as simple or elaborate as they want it, as long as it’s relevant to the theme. The theme for August is goldfish, and for my look, I used Kunimitsu‘s Lucky Goldfish and China Glaze’s Japanese Koi. See what I did there? I also used Seche Vite and Essie’s Matte About You matte top coat.

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My look was inspired in part by a look from Hey, Darling Polish!; it was just the right amount of cutesy without a lot of effort. A quick glance at my blue polishes led me to Lucky Goldfish, and it was a coincidence Japanese Koi was the orange I picked out. I stopped there because I couldn’t find any more polishes with fish-related names.

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The fish were done by stippling Japanese Koi onto the nail with a dotting tool, first into a teardrop shape for the body, and a wide triangle for the tail. Japanese Koi wasn’t quite thick/pigmented enough to competely blot out the dark blue, and coverage isn’t very even, but this is only really apparent in photos. It looked totally fine on the nail.

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In the sun, the glitters in Lucky Goldfish perk right up. I like to imagine the glitters are the many goldfish of a large school. I also love how this looks mattefied; as much as I love a good glossy finish, there’s no glare here to obscure the art.

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Lucky Goldfish and other Kunimitsu polishes are available from their etsy shop. China Glaze is sold at Sally Beauty Supply.

I bought these polishes myself.
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Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Siren Scales

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It’s Saturday, and you know what that means! It occurred to me a few days ago, while looking at my Instagram, that I’ve been on a pretty long blue polish streak. Today we’re extending it! This is Siren Scales from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

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Siren Scales is a deep blue jelly with blue, navy, and teal flakies. Application was easy; the polish brushes on easily and imparts good color and coverage on the first coat; coverage builds with additional coats. Most of the flakies are fine, but some are pretty coarse, and don’t lay totally flat on the nail. The product consistency is a little thick due to all the flakies. The polish dries quickly and with a satin finish; I used top coat for extra shine and smoothness.

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Siren Scales has an amazing glowing shimmer from all the flakies, and it really makes the polish, and sets it apart from the rest of the deep blues. The large flakies, though uncommon, add a fun texture with the occasional bump in the polish. I’ve enjoyed wearing this; it’s not the most summery shade, but it’s mermaidy, and that’s what counts!

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In the sunlight, the flakies really glow. It almost looks metallic. You can see the larger flakies in the outdoor photos a bit better than indoors.

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Siren Scales was released as a numbered limited edition in November 2014, and has since sold out. Other Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers are available in their online shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Rica’s Alchemical Seas of Hope

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Welcome back! Today’s swatch is a fun one; it’s my first-ever Rica polish! This is also a charity polish from the Lighthouse of Hope box curated by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. This is Alchemical Seas of Hope; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche vite top coat.

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Alchemical Seas of Hope is a green jelly with green and gold glitters, as well as a fine golden shimmer throughout. Application was good; even though there’s a lot of glitter in the bottle, there isn’t a lot that comes out on the brush. Additional coats deepen the jelly while only adding a few bits of glitter. I kind of like this look as is, but I wish there’d been more glitter. The green jelly is wonderfully squishy. The polish dries quickly enough and with a textured glitter finish. I used top coat for smoothness and extra shine.

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You might notice the edges on some nails to be ragged and chipped at the tips. I’m not completely sure what caused this. I can tell you that some nails have thicker coats of polish than others, and that might have led to easy chipping. Also, Seche Vite never seems to play nice with glitter jellies and crellies, shrinking the edges away from the tip of the nail. Either way, I do apologize for how terrible it looks. I didn’t really realize it was this bad until I took photos.

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As I mentioned, Alchemical Seas of Hope is a polish in a charity box called the Lighthouse of Hope. $60 from each box is donated to I Need a Lighthouse, a depression awareness network. Rica had this to say about their polish:

“I named it Alchemical Seas of Hope because sometimes depression can feel like you’re in turbulent seas. As hard things may seem to be, there is always a lighthouse of hope in the horizon. Don’t lose sight of that.”

The Lighthouse of Hope Box contains eight polishes from eight makers, including Rica’s Alchemical Seas of Hope. The box is $80; $60 of it goes to charity. It’s available from the Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer shop. Other Rica polishes are available from their etsy shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Toggle to the Top

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Happy Monday! This week’s look is just one polish, Essie’s Toggle to the Top! I’m wearing three coats of Toggle to the Top with one coat of Seche Vite.

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Toggle to the Top is a fairly unique polish in the Essie lineup. I can’t think of too many others in their core line that have glitter in them. It’s a rich and deep red, gorgeous on its own, but the glitter adds edge and dimension. It makes me feel super sexy.

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I kind of messed this mani up with my new brush. The old brush I used to clean my cuticles with eventually became so ragged I had to toss it, and I’m still learning how to work with my replacement. As sexy as I feel in this polish, I can’t stop looking at the mile between my cuticle and the polish.

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But yeah, I love this polish, and I wish Essie did more like it. I know they (re)released Starry Starry Night, and I failed to get in on that because I couldn’t find it anywhere. I don’t buy too much polish anymore, but that’s definitely one I’d snatch up if I had the chance. I’ve never understood why they shy away from glitter. The LuxEffects collection, while they still have a place in my heart, and kind of old and boring now. Toggle to the Top is a perfect example of an elegant glitter polish that isn’t overdone or tacky.

Toggle to the Top and other Essie polishes are sold nationwide. My bow charm is from Daily Charme.

I bought these products myself.

Swatch Sunday: Reverie Nail Lacquer’s Secret Garden

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Hope you’re having a good Sunday, reader! Today’s swatch is from a new-to-me brand, Reverie Nail Lacquer! I bought this polish because I’d seen Reverie around the nail polish internet, and being so smitten with the sheer amount of glitter in their polishes, I had to try one. This is Secret Garden; I’m wearing three coats of Secret Garden with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

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Secret Garden is a deep green jelly with, according to the maker, a “pastel rainbow of glitters”. Application is good; though the jelly is dense with glitter, it’s very easy to brush on and apply; you get a great amount of glitter on the brush, but it’s never clumpy. I could have stopped at two coats, or even just wear one coat over a deep green creme like Zoya’s Envy. Three coats was total overkill. Surprisingly, the glitter lies flat on the nail and very little texture is felt with top coat. The polish dried quickly and with a glossy-glitter finish.

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So I am astonished by how much glitter they packed into this bottle. It’s really incredible! There’s no dabbing or sponging to do here, you just brush it on and you get all the glitter you could ever want. I am so impressed by the formula. The intensity of the jelly color, the huge variety — as well as quanitity — of glitters, and the ability to apply it without issue, it’s basically my ideal polish. It may be the best glitter jelly I’ve ever worn.

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In the sunlight, you can see the layers of jelly and glitter interacting with each other. I mentioned wearing this over a creme earlier, and though you could do that, I don’t think I would. Seeing the layers of glitter is just so nice. There is nothing I dislike about this look.

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Secret Garden is out of stock; other Reverie Nail Lacquers are available from the Reverie etsy shop.

I bought this polish myself.