Manicure Monday: Island Diamond Sunset

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

Who likes glitter and thermals? I do! For this Manicure Monday, I’m wearing a fun double-thermal and an opal glitter. This is three coats of Digital Nails‘s Island Sunset with one brushed coat of China Glaze’s Luxe and Lush, as well as one coat of Rica‘s Glossy Glam top coat.

Island Sunset is such a fun thermal polish. Thermals are always fun when they change colors with heat, but this one is double the fun because it changes at cool temperatures as well. It goes both ways! At its most neutral state, Island Sunset is a cool peach. Dipped in ice water, it turns a deep pink. Dipped in tea, it turns a warm yellow. I’ve been playing with my nails all day, submerging them into whatever liquids are near to see what color they turn. I have quite a few thermals in my collection, but this is the only three-way thermal. I love it.

Luxe and Lush is the perfect glitter for this polish. It’s made up entirely of iridescent shredded glitters. Depending on the light, the glitter reflects the warm peach and cool rose tones in the polish itself, which I think is really cool. In other lighting conditions, the glitter turns greenish-blue. It has every color I could want, but it doesn’t interefere in any way with the thermal polish; as the color changes in the thermal, the glitter and its many colors offers just enough glint and sparkle.

Seriously, how great is this look? I’m so excited about both of these polishes and I want to wear this combination forever. Also, I just got my pool cleaned and I can’t wait to see what it looks like underwater. It’s sparkly, summery, and just a ton of fun.

Island Sunset isn’t currently in stock, but you can buy other Digital Nails polishes in their etsy shop. I got my bottle of Luxe and Lush from Sally Beauty Supply.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Gosh’s Greed

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

This installment of Swatch Sunday is a fun one for me, because I finally have a chance to wear a polish I bought on vacation last year. Surely this is what it means to be a hoarder. I’m wearing one coat of Gosh’s Greed over Sally Hansen’s Black Out and OPI’s I just Can’t Cope-acabana, as well as one coat of Rica‘s Glossy Glam top coat. Please note: I took these photos about a day after I did this manicure, so there is some tip wear. Sorry about that.

Greed is a glitter polish with metallic gold hexes in various sizes, holographic gold glitters, and tons of cloudy gold shimmer. I used it here as a glitter topper, but I think that with multiple coats, one could achieve medium to full coverage. The polish applies very easily; the glitter is always even and well-distributed. The gold shimmer stands out very nicely on darker polishes; you can see how it warms up my black polish. It dries quickly; about five to eight minutes to be dry to the touch. It also dries with a smooth texture; with one coat of Glossy Glam, I feel no glitter ridges or bumps.

While I was on vacation last May, I had to duck into drugstores every other day or so. I’d forgotten to pack a lot of things like deodorant and dental floss, so lots of emergency drugstore runs occurred early in the trip. As I got further from Florida, however, the stops were more out of curiosity; Florida doesn’t have Rite-Aid stores, and I’ve only been in two my entire life. Same for when I got to New York and I saw Duane Reade stores. I had heard of Duane Reade, but only because the logo is printed on the back of my Walgreens card. I never thought I’d see one in real life, so when I did see one going through Penn Station, I knew I had to go inside. My powder compact was running low, so I went in to grab another one, but on my way in, I saw the Gosh polish display. I’d seen Gosh polishes on the internet, but again, it was something I never expected to see in person, so I grabbed a couple. I didn’t really get to look at it, since I had to be in and out in like five minutes, but I probably would have bought them all if I’d had the time to really check them out. An unrelated note: I don’t know how I can remember when and where I bought a nail polish one year ago, but I can’t remember where I put my keys.

I like Greed. It makes me feel fancy and rich, and not just because I went to New York to track it down. All the gold glitters are so luxe and shiny. It’s like my nails are wearing a haute couture gown. Perhaps there’s some truth in the polish’s name.

If you’re in the US, I have no idea where to tell you to get Gosh products, except for the Duane Reade in Penn Station. Sorry.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Clambake Sandwich

Posted on April 20, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

For Manicure Monday, I’ve done another jelly sandwich! I love this style; my nails always look so shiny and luxe, like special little jewels. This sandwich is made with three coats of OPI’s In True Stefani Fashion between Essie’s Clambake, topped with one coat of Rica‘s Glossy Glam top coat.

I have to tell you: I really love Clambake. It’s not one of the more popular Essie shades, and I guess I can understand why; I know people expect a more pigmented, fuller coverage polish, and jellies are duds. I think I also remember it being towards the bottom of the Walgreens Essie display and that’s probably a factor as well. I just think that, if you like jellies, perhaps this is one you should consider. It’s so squishy that you can see the squish from outside the bottle, and the color is really potent, despite the sheer coverage. It’s definitely unique to the Essie lineup, and pretty unique in my collection, too.

However, In True Stefani Fashion was a bit of a letdown. I mean, it’s a fantastic polish; it dried well, I got pretty good (but not complete) coverage in three coats, and it dried very quickly. In the bottle, it looks like there are more holographic silver glitters than there are. I thought it was all holographic glitter, which is why I picked it to go in this sandwich. Instead, I think it’s just the bigger square glitters that are holo, and the rest are just metallic silver. I mean, it ended up looking pretty good, but there’s just nothing like a jelly sandwich full of twinkling holographic glitters.

I added a bow. When I did that purple jelly sandwich a few weeks, I thought that, even with all that glitter, it still looked a little bare, so this time around I added a bow, just for a little something extra. It’s not the same orange as the polish, but I still like it.

Clambake is available wherever Essie polishes are sold; I got mine from Walgreens. I think In True Stefani Fashion was a limited release as part of the first Gwen Stefani collection, but it can still be found around online. My bow charms are from Claire’s.

Manicure Monday: Red Static

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

Manicure Monday!! I’m posting super-late because real-life not-nails stuff is a little more important right now. Updates this week, unfortunately, will be late if they come at all, and I do apologize. For right now though, let’s look at my new nails! I’m wearing Julep’s Rose and Nails Inc.’s Belgravia Place, each at three coats, topped with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

Julep’s Rose is a gorgeous creme whose color I can never quite pin down. Is it red? Is it pink? Is it the sweetest, ripest, juiciest raspberry? I have no idea, but I love the polish. It had good coverage at one coat, which I find unusual for a Julep creme. It also had a beautiful glossy shine, which I think the top coat dulled quite a bit.

Belgravia Place is a clear glitter topper with red and silver holo bar glitters. I decided after my bar glitter swatch on Sunday that I would wear this one as a full coverage glitter. I did get full coverage, but not without a price; I couldn’t get the tips smooth and free of jagged glitter, no matter what I did. I pulled away the offending bits with tweezers, I trimmed them with cuticle scissors, I filed down and wrapped with top coat whatever was left, and I’m still getting things snagged on them. You can see on my ring finger where some fiber of who-knows-what is still stuck to it. So frustrating.

I love both of these polishes, but I don’t feel good about this combo. In my office, Rose looks like a very red creme, but in other lighting conditions, it looks more pink, and the combo isn’t as cohesive as I’d have liked. I also expected something else from the glitter, like more red. I definitely thought I would have two very red shades here, and neither of them really lived up to my expectations. I don’t blame the polishes here, but I am a little disappointed, especially with all the work I spent trying to get this glitter to not cut me every time I scratch myself.

You can find Julep’s Rose and Nail Inc.’s Belgravia Place wherever these brands are sold. I happened to get mine from the Julep website and Sephora, respectively.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Finger Paints’s Sugar Cookie for Two

Posted on April 5, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

Swatch Sunday is fun today, because I’m using a brand I’ve never worn before. I’ve gotten a few Finger Paints polishes here and there at Sally Beauty sales, but this is my first time working with one. I’m wearing one coat of Finger Paints’s Sugar Cookie for two over China Glaze’s Pelican Gray and OPI’s I just Can’t Cope-acabana, as well as one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

Sugar Cookie for Two is a clear glitter topper with metallic bar glitters in gold, silver, and black. Application wasn’t as easy as I’d have liked it to be. I don’t know if the brush was just thin or the glitters just slip off the brush back into the bottle, but I had a hard time getting the glitter onto my nail. It didn’t spread well at all. I had to dip back into the bottle two or three times just to cover one nail. As a result, the glitter is really sparse in some places and clumpy in others. Overall, I got pretty good coverage with it, but I would have liked it to be more even. On the plus side, drying times were good, and the glitters feel smooth to the touch when dry. Also, the glitters are short bars, so they’re easy to work with. The longer ones want to hang off my nail like eyelashes, and I didn’t have that problem with these.

I really like this look, all complaints aside. The glitters are super shiny and reflect tons of light and color. The combo is a little jarring, maybe, but I think it makes my nails look like luxurious little cupcakes. I’m a little curious to know what it would look like as a full-coverage glitter; I’ve worked with all-bar glitter polishes before, like the Nails Inc. Feather ones, and three coats covers up pretty much everything. This might look really nice at three full coats, though I do wonder with how this one applies whether it could achieve full coverage at all.

Since I found Sugar Cookie for Two in a sale bin, it’s possible that it has been discontinued. Other Finger Paints polishes are sold at Sally Beauty Supply.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype JJ 1.1

Posted on April 4, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

Swatch Saturday is here again! It’s been a busy week for me; in addition to my usual weekly features, I’ve been working on the Wacie Nail Company launch all week, so I’ve done a mani every day since Monday. Crazy. Today’s swatch is of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype JJ 1.1. You’ll remember I wore this on Monday as part of my Manicure Monday post, and I liked it so much I wore it a second time. Also because it was next in the queue. I’m wearing one brushed coat of JJ 1.1 over Revlon’s Bare Bones, Deborah Lippmann’s Shape of My Heart, and Ciaté’s Sugar Plum, as well as one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

JJ 1.1 is a clear glitter topper with glitters that are primarily purple, bright pink, and deep blue. There are a few other multicolored surprise glitters in red, green, yellow, and aqua. The glitter applies very evenly, leaving a good variety of different glitters on the nail. I did have a little trouble with the glitter sliding into my cuticle, but I’ll say that’s a user error. Drying times were good; the lacquer was not gooey or tacky for very long. It’s very easy to use.

In the days since I wore this polish the first time, I found out this is a prototype of a custom commissioned by Jackie, who is also in the BEGLove Facebook group. It was made to represent the beauty of Texas wildflowers like bluebonnets and paintbrushes. It’s a really nice image, actually. I haven’t been to Texas yet, but I can’t wait to see the spring flowers there. I can only imagine how gorgeous they are. The flower concept kind of makes my cityscape image seems lame.

I guess less is more with this polish. Last time I put on two coats because I really wanted a truckload of glitter, but I lost a lot of the finer details. The smaller rainbow glitters are completely invisible. I can’t tell if I got any stars or any other fun shapes. I definitely prefer this look.

As JJ 1.1 is a prototype, I have the only bottle. Other BEGL polishes are available from their shop.

Manicure Monday: Skyglow and Yellow

Posted on March 30, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

Manicure Monday is here! I think this week was kind of a dud. My base polish was pretty hard to work with and the mani quality suffers because of it. I’m wearing three coats of Sally Hansen’s Quick Canary with two coats of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype JJ 1.1 on my accent nails. All nails are topped with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

I want to love this mani. I love the big clashing colors, and I love the glitter and how it overwhelms everything else, but I had so much trouble with Quick Canary that I’m put off the whole thing. I just could not get it to dry. I guess it needed to be thinned; the consistency was thick, but was still easy to apply, so I kept going and put down two more coats. Then I put on the glitter and top coat. Those dried, but Quick Canary was still wet, and so while I’m trying to clean up my cuticles, my top layers are sliding around on top of wet, gooey polish. Not cool, Sally. I did the best I could, but my cuticles are still a raging mess.

I’m glad the other polish behaved. Prototype JJ 1.1 is a fun glitter topper; I’ve nicknamed it Skyline because it reminds me of a night out in the city; the bright lights of buildings, the glowing sky, the feeling of being swallowed up by the tall buildings and swathes of people. I love the frenetic pace of huge and complicated cities, and wearing this polish is wearing that energy on my nails. It’s the one redeeming thing about this manicure.

Quick Canary is available wherever Sally Hansen polishes are sold; I got mine at Target. Prototype JJ 1.1 is a one-off bottle and is not available anywhere else. Other BEGL polishes are for sale in their shop.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Plum Tired of the Cold

Posted on March 28, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

The last winter polish for the season is finally here! This is Plum Tired of the Cold from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s 2013 winter collection. I’m wearing three coats here with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

The mini-decant is courtesy of Angela at Older Ladies Like Color Too.

Plum Tired of the Cold is described by BEGL as a “blackened plum shimmer base packed with gold micro hexes, red hexes, diamonds, and circle glitters, wine and burgundy hexes, and black hexes and holo dots”. When they say it’s packed, it’s packed. The glitter is varied but still even; I might not have gotten one of every kind of glitter on every nail, but I got one on each hand, which is often enough that I don’t wonder if they’re really in there. The base color itself is pretty dark, which means I could only get by with one coat if I really wanted to. The coverage is buildable and the color darkens with each coat. The formula applies evenly, even with all the glitters. The consistency was on the thicker side, but that’s expected in a polish like this. Drying times were good; the polish dries to a satin finish. Top coat really brings out the shine in the glitters.

While I loved this entire collection, the big glitter polishes were my favorites. Tacky Winter Sweater has to be my favorite because it’s pink, but I think this one is second fiddle. It’s a deep and rich color, which I love, and it’s full of shimmer and glitter and shine. It’s a beautiful polish.

Let me get in one last whine about how much I hate cold weather: I hate cold weather. Lately, it hasn’t been as warm as I’d like it to be; it’s been gray and rainy and hovering around 65 degrees. It sucks, but it isn’t cold. On the bright side, since this is the last winter polish, it means we’ll have BEGL spring polishes to liven up the rainy days. I can’t wait to wear them.

Plum Tired of the Cold has been discontinued by the maker and is no longer available. You can buy other BEGL polishes from their shop.

I did not purchase this polish, but it was not sent for review or evaluation.

Manicure Monday: Serenity Gray

Posted on March 23, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

Manicure Monday today is awesome! I got to pair a favorite creme with an insane glitter shifter. I’m wearing two coats of Sally Hansen’s Grey Area with two coats of Digital Nails‘s Serenity on my accent nails. All nails are topped with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

I almost don’t even want to bore you with the details of my gray polish. I know you’re not looking at it. You’re probably not even looking at these words, and I don’t blame you. Grey Area is a warm charcoal creme that’s pretty versatile. It’s one of the first polishes I bought to use for nail art, and it does everything well, even water marbles. It goes on opaque and smooth and glossy in one coat. It’s the best. I love it.

Serenity, the show-stopping glitter you see here, is one of the most exciting polishes I have in my collection. The shift is so strong and so dramatic, and occurs in any lighting condition. I cannot stop waving my hands around in front of my computer monitors, just to see it happen. It’s green-to-purple at most angles, and when a light source is directly in front of it, the purple-to-pink-to-gold happens. It’s incredible. I’m just going to stop writing now and let you drool over this glitter.

I really love this combo. The gray is dark and interesting, and the glitter just makes my eyes fall out of my head. It’s truly stunning. I’m also a little upset I waited this long to try it. Also, I’m trying the accent nails in a different place today because I saw other people do it and it’s cute.

Grey Area is available wherever Sally Hansen is sold; I think I got this bottle from Target. Serenity can be found in the Digital Nails shop.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Pink and Nude Watermarble

Posted on March 16, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

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.

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.

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.

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.

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Tag Archives: glitter

Manicure Monday: Island Diamond Sunset

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Gosh’s Greed

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Clambake Sandwich

Manicure Monday: Red Static

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Finger Paints’s Sugar Cookie for Two

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype JJ 1.1

Manicure Monday: Skyglow and Yellow

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Plum Tired of the Cold

I did not purchase this polish, but it was not sent for review or evaluation.

Manicure Monday: Serenity Gray

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Pink and Nude Watermarble

I bought these polishes myself.