Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype PCFS 1.0

Posted on January 3, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

Happy new year, readers! My first mani of the year is a Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer prototype. I’m wearing one coat of PCFS 1.0 over China Glaze’s Pelican Gray, Julep’s Martha, and Essie’s Mint Candy Apple, as well as a coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

PCFS 1.0 is a clear glitter topper with glitters in matte white, royal blue, pink, and holographic turquoise. Shapes include pink hearts, holographic turquoise stars and shreds, white rectangles and dots. There are also some iridescent glitters. Most of the glitters spread out evenly; rectangles and shreds came out easily, but the hearts and stars eluded me. Regardless, I still got a fun look and good glitter coverage. Drying times were fast. Application was easy. This was a pretty nice polish to use and wear.

Because this is a prototype with a prototypey name, I gave it a nickname: RETROLOVE. I don’t know why it’s all caps, but it is. These colors together just scream Miami Vice to me.

As this is a prototype, it’s a one-of-a-kind polish and there aren’t anymore in existence. Sorry! The BEGL shop will reopen on the ninth of January, with a new winter collection launching on the 12th.

Manicure Monday: Double Pink and Fairy Dust

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

Happy new year, readers! This is my last manicure for 2014. Yeah, I can’t believe it, either! I’m wearing three coats of Pretty & Polished‘s Pretty Chameleon, one coat of China Glaze’s Fairy Dust, and one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

Pretty Chameleon is a thermal polish that goes from bright pink to light pink with body temperature. Applying this polish was a dream; the consistency is thick, but this is typically the case with the way thermal polishes are made. Drying times were quick, however, and the polish dried with a matte finish. It’s a very easy polish to put on. There are also some scattered holographic pigments hanging around in it, which aren’t easy to see with the Fairy Dust on top. I really love thermal polishes. The effect occurs almost instantly, depending on how warm or cool my hands are. This is tricky when applying multiple coats; it’s one color on the brush and another color on the nail. It’s so fun, though!

Everyone loves Fairy Dust, right? This was actually the polish I wanted to feature today, but the thermal kind of stole the show. It’s such a beautiful polish, and I wish I had the chance to use it more often. Maybe it’s good that I show restraint and don’t put it on everything, even though I’ve been tempted.

Pretty Chameleon, cold

It’s a pretty tame NYE mani, but I’m happy with it. I thought wearing a thermal on nubs would be boring, like they would just always be the warm pink and I’d never get to see a change. Additionally, it was 80 degrees here today, and I was counting on cool outdoor temperatures to effect the change. I saw it change in the supermarket earlier, though, so that’s something.

Transition

See you guys in 2015!

Manicure Monday: Springtime in December

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

On this Manicure Monday, my manicure is all the things a December mani should not be. Not that I care. Pastels in December are totally cool. It’s warm somewhere. For this spring-forward mani, I’m wearing three coats of Sally Hansen’s No Hard Feelings, two coats of Formula X for Sephora’s Demolition, one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat, and one coat of Hard Candy’s Mattely in Love matte top coat.

No Hard Feelings is a lavender creme polish. It sounds boring, but it’s actually pretty nice. The formula is very nice; it dries in about five minutes, reaches opacity in two coats, and dries with a glossy finish. It’s a lovely color, and I felt a little bad dulling it with the matte top coat.

Demolition is the first Formula X for Sephora polish on the blog. It was also the first Formula X I ever bought; it caught my eye immediately because I thought it was an indie polish. No foolin! I don’t see many mass market glitter toppers like this, especially with hexes this big. Demolition has large hexes in pink and blue, and smaller ones in pink, green, and blue, and even finer ones in the same colors. It’s such a cool look. Of course, with glitter this large, there’s a bit of texture, even after adding top coat, especially since the bigger glitters stuck together and piled up on itself. It still looks awesome.

So in all, not bad. I am still not a fan of matte polish, but I think with the satin glitters, it’s okay. At least it’s colorful.

Manicure Monday: Peachy Glitter

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

It’s Manicure Monday, and this week I have the challenge/responsibility of showing you a mani I don’t really like. It’s like an accidental ode to my grandma. This is three coats of Julep’s Lynn, two brushed coats of LA Colors’s Tinsel, and one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

Lynn is a peachy pink with a slight shimmer. Application was okay; normally I’d apply two coats as a base for glitter, but I still had some patchy coverage and streaking by coat two, so I went for the third. Drying time took quite a while, more than fifteen minutes per coat. This might have been due to me adding thicker coats to get more coverage, and then not getting it. The consistency is on the thin side, and is pretty standard Julep quality. The texture after drying was pretty and glossy. There were some brushstrokes left by the shimmer, but they’re not very obvious.

And there’s Tinsel. Tinsel is a peachy pink jelly with iridescent glitters. While there appears to be a lot of glitter in the bottle, most of it doesn’t brush onto the nail so well. See that smattering of glitter? That’s all I got from two coats. It’s pretty and all, but it really looks like it’s missing something. Perhaps that’s why I don’t like either of these polishes, they’re lacking something special, and seem bland and outdated because of it.

Final word: I’m having a really hard time thinking of this as something other than an old lady manicure.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Prototype AG 1.1

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

Today’s Swatch Saturday polish is no stranger! We took a brief look at Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Prototype AG 1.1 on Manicure Monday, when I paired it with China Glaze’s Exotic Encounters. Today, it gets its own manicure! I’m wearing AG 1.1 over Raspberry Cordial from Ciate, and Black Out and Hard to Get, both from Sally Hansen. All nails are topped with one coat of Speed Coat Pro, also from Ciate.

Prototype AG 1.1, as we discussed before, is a glitter topper with blue-to-purple shifting pigment and white hexes, stars, moons, squares, rectangles, dots, and diamonds. As I mentioned before, the consistency is rather thick, but because there’s so much stuff in this bottle, it’s natural for it to be that way. Despite its viscosity, it does dry quickly, and with a satin finish. The glitter does spread well over the nail, but because the glitters are so large, they do tend to clump a little bit.

How gorgeous is this! I included a before shot of the black, white, and pink, just so you can see how this polish transforms a color. These are some pretty basic cremes in pretty bold shades. The shifting pigment comes along and softens them, making them pearly and delicate. It’s absolutely amazing. It’s probably the most beautiful the darker colors; on the black, you can see everything, like looking up at the sky on a dark night. You get the maximum shifting effect as well as glitter contrast.

You probably think I’m crazy to put a polish like this over white. Yeah, maybe I am, but I really love the way it turned out. The glitters are not immediately visible, but the shift looks incredible. I am a huge fan of this color-on-color combination. It’s intricate and dainty, like tatted lace. I think it’s astoundingly beautiful.

While this is a statement polish for sure, I also feel like it’s very simple as well. There aren’t a ton of colors competing for attention, there isn’t a crazy sparkly melange of glitter. Everything is consistent and and homogeneous, and I like that about it. It’s elegant without being over the top; it demands attention but isn’t loud or obnoxious. It is truly stunning. Unfortunately, this is a one-of-a-kind polish prototype and is currently unavailable. Sorry! In the BEGL shop, however, there is one OOAK prototype for sale. Grab it before it’s gone!

Manicure Monday: Green and Galaxy Glitter

Posted on December 1, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

Thanksgiving is over, and we’re back on schedule! I missed you guys! For this week’s Manicure Monday, we’re sticking with the usual glitter accent nails, but I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I’m wearing three coats of China Glaze’s Exotic Encounters, with one coat of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Prototype AG 1.1 on my accent nails. All nails are topped Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

Exotic Encounters is a deep jungle green creme. It’s rather dramatic; it dries so smoothly and with such a high gloss that it makes top coat nearly unnecessary. It does dry quickly, and achieves opacity in two coats. The consistency is just right, and application was perfectly easy. This polish was a total win for me. It’s an absolutely gorgeous shade of green, and it’s so shiny!

Prototype AG 1.1 kind of steals the spotlight. It guess it kind of deserves it. AG 1.1 is an icy blue-to-warm violet shifting polish with white glitters in various shapes and sizes. Each fun shape is in here: moons, stars, diamonds, rectangles, dots, and squares, along with some smallers dots and hexes. There are no hearts, but I’ll let it slide. It’s a bit thick, but it’s so loaded up with glitter and pigment that it’s expected. It goes on easily and is so much fun to wear. I’m very surprised by how it transforms a creme polish. It doesn’t even look like the same color with this shifty glitter madness on top of it. It’s amazing. I actually call it SPACELINGERIE in my own personal files, because it’s celestial, sultry, and leaves just enough to the imagination.

I almost feel like this look is a bit dull, since it looks like all the accent nails are having all the fun. That might be true. I love it, though. I simply cannot get enough of AG 1.1. It’s also my Swatch Saturday this week — surprise! — so look forward to it. It’s amazing.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Resolutions

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

It’s Swatch Saturday again! Today, I’m bringing you the second part of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s new year’s duo. Released early this year, 2014 and Resolutions were released alongside their winter collection. We saw 2014 last week, so today we’re looking at Resolutions. I’m wearing one light coat of Resolutions over Sally Hansen’s Hard to Get, Julep’s Martha, and China Glaze’s Pelican Gray, as well as one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

Resolutions is a glitter topper with primarily black and blue dots and hexes, as well as icy blue shimmer. There are a few colorful surprises: lime green diamonds, white blocks, black stars, purples, yellows, corals. I put on a very light coat, and I didn’t get a lot of the big colorful glitters. They’re kind of hard to fish out, and tend to hang out at the bottom of the bottle. A second coat would definitely have helped me out, and probably would have helped me get those big pink dots and hexes. Those are my favorites.

As always, this is a dream to wear and apply. I could have used a little more glitter on the brush, but that’s not too much of a worry. The base dries fast, and surprisingly, the glitter is flat and smooth on the nail, which rarely happens with polishes like this. Even the big glitters are glassy smooth. It’s nice.

Unfortunately, this is long discontinued, but a few of my favoritest BEGL glitter toppers are actually on sale in the BEGL store. If you liked this one, I think you’ll love those.

Swatch Sunday: Ciaté’s Love Letter

Posted on November 16, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

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.

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.

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.

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 Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Electric Icicle

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

It’s another wintry delight this Swatch Saturday! Today we’re looking at the second half of the winter duo Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer released last year. We saw and loved Untrodden Snow; let’s have a look at Electric Icicle. I’m wearing two coats of Electric Icicle over Sally Hansen’s Hard to Get, Essie’s Marathin, and Julep’s Dianna, as well as one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro.

Electric Icicle is a clear glitter topper made with “bright blue holo hexes, rainbow iridecent hexes and squares, silver holo hexes and tiny diamonds, and blue holo stars”. I wore two coats because the all the good shape glitters were hanging around toward the bottom of the bottle, and my first coat was a bit thin on the glitter. Application was pretty easy apart from that; the glitters spread well and didn’t clump. The base dried quickly. I had no problems with it.

I gotta say, this might be the best winter glitter topper I have. I’ve got a few that have icy blue glitters with silver, and even though they’re very pretty and they shine a great deal, they don’t have a whole lot of color. Electric Icicle is the best of both worlds. The metallic and holo textures of the glitters — especially the silvers — give the look some iciness, but the blue and iridescent glitters give it a lot of color as well. This is a mix that is all about winter, but doesn’t let winter bring it down. It’s amazing.

I nearly swatched this on the pink and blue I used on Wednesday, Mint Candy Apple from Essie and Martha from Julep. They’re really soft but bright colors that make the perfect base for any glitter topper. I was afraid that it would look like the same mani two days in a row, so I went with Marathin from Essie and Dianna from Julep. I chose Dianna because I wanted the blues to be kind of homogeneous, and since Dianna is a dusty color, obviously a dusty rose would complement it. I almost feel like I should have chosen gray over white, but the glitter looks so perfect over white that I’m glad I didn’t.

Wacie Wednesday: Wintrella

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

The last Wacie Nail Co. (for now) prototype I’ll be showing you is Wintrella, a glitter topper made up of silver and blue holo glitters. I’m wearing one coat of Wintrella over China Glaze’s Pelican Gray, Essie’s Mint Candy Apple, and Julep’s Martha. I’m also wearing one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

Wintrella has a lot of glitter in it. There’s very fine holo silver dust, tiny hexes, slightly bigger but still somewhat tiny squares, big silver hexes, bigger silver hexes, silver dots, blue dots, and silver hearts, but I couldn’t manage to get those out of the bottle. Again, they just sat in the bottle, mocking me. I couldn’t get too many of the dots, either, but at least I can prove they were in there.

Maybe I’m glad I didn’t get so many. The smaller glitters give a minimal look that’s already quite pretty. The big glitters look out of place. Maybe they’re not right for this mix.

Overall, I think it’s nice. I definitely want to take it back to the drawing board, but I think I’m onto something.

Wacie Nail Company news: I hope to have something in the store before the month ends. I have a couple of limited editions in the works, as well as a New Year’s Eve-themed collection next month. I’m so excited to be working on it, and I hope you’ll like it a lot.

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