Nails of the Week: End of Summer Glitter

Hello, reader! It’s that time again where we reflect on the hot beautiful summer we spent at work and nowhere else. I didn’t make it anywhere this summer, and I’m actually taking my first trip to the beach this summer. It’s August, but I’m trying. My nails aren’t too summery, but I like how they turned out. I’m wearing Model City Polish‘s Awaken to Spring over a gradient of Literary Lacquers‘s Little Sleep Song and Sweet Heart Polish‘s Summer Breeze.

When I first started planning this look, I was just going to do a base of Summer Breeze. It’s a very dainty shade of blue, and has a smattering of holo; it would have been the perfect undies on its own. At the last minute, I decided to go for the gradient. It’s very subtle; you can hardly tell it’s there, but that’s the look I wanted.

Awaken to Spring is a beautiful glitter topper with rose, aqua, and copper glitters. I love the sparkle in this; it’s colorful but still kind of subdued. It’s perfect over this gradient.

Model City Polish doesn’t make polish anymore (sad). Little Sleep Song and Summer Breeze were box exclusives; Literary Lacquers and Sweet Heart Polishes are available from their respective etsy shops.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Tuesday: Jade Rainbow

Welcome back! I’ve got a green look to show you this week for Manicure Tuesday. The striping tape wasn’t on my side, but I’m happy with the look I got. I used Philly Loves Lacquer’s Fortunate Rainbow and Elevation Polish‘s Yeti’s Healing Vibes.

I always feel a little sad talking about a brand that’s closed down. When I got into indie polish, PhLL was one of the brands I saw everywhere, and it took me ages to try them; I only have box-exclusive polishes from them, and never bought any of their core releases. That said, it was a huge shock to me when they closed up. I love every PhLL polish I have, and I regret that I didn’t go for more of them.

This Elevation Polish was a limited edition made to benefit the American Himalayan Foundation after the devastating earthquakes in Nepal in 2015. It’s a beautiful creamy jade with fine little rainbow flakies in it. It’s gorgeous! I know Elevation is a controversial brand now, but this is one polish from them I’m really glad I bought.

Both of these polishes are limited editions that have since sold out. Philly Loves Lacquer no longer makes polish. Elevation Polishes are sold in their online store.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Smoky Marble

Welcome back to Manicure Monday! Full disclosure, I’m not super happy with these photos, but because I love how this marble turned out, I’m posting it. It’s been raining here for a week straight, and even though I was in the middle of washing dishes, I had to take advantage of a brief moment of sunshine. My nails are wet and flat here, the tips of the nails are all chewed up-looking because I didn’t do a great job trimming, but I’m happy enough with the result to post it. My polishes are Enchanted Polish‘s October 2014 and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Niagara Sunrise.

I paired these two because they both have a strong and warm shimmer that complements the other. October 2014 has this lovely olive shift, where Niagara Sunrise’s is a soft but fiery orange. October 2014 also benefits from being a holo. These two have so much dimension on their own, and some of that gets lost in this marble, but I’m happy with how it turned out.

I did a dry marble for this. I poured a thin stripe of each polish onto a Ziploc bag, marbled them together with a dotting tool, then let it dry overnight. I tweaked the drip marble method a bit; as cool as drip marbles are, I feel like marbling it with a tool gives me more control over the way the colors mix. By the time I’ve gotten what I want with a drip marble, the colors are so blended together I can’t tell them apart.

Enchanted Polishes are sold on their website. Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers are sold in their online store.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch: Bee’s Knees Lacquer’s RIP Nameless Horse

Hello, reader! Welcome back! Today on the blog, I’m continuing my swatches of polishes I scored at The Indie Shop Atlanta 2018! This is a Bee’s Knees Lacquer event exclusive called RIP Nameless Horse. I know this is a Walking Dead reference — they made quite a few polishes with this theme — and having never seen the show, I really have no idea what it’s referring to. Feel free to school me! I’m wearing three coats of RIP Nameless Horse with one coat of Seche Vite top coat.

RIP Nameless Horse is a brick red holo polish with some iridescent flakies. As with the last Bee’s Knees I swatched, application was very nice with this; the polish has a thicker consistency, but it also covers very well, almost opaque on the first coat. The holo flame is also pretty strong, even indoors. The polish dries with a glossy finish; I used top coat for extra shine and protection.

Before The Indie Shop, I knew Bee’s Knees was popular; I offered my services as a polish fairy/pack mule, and Bee’s Knees was the only brand I was asked to shop from. Between #ForClementine and this polish, I’m starting to see why. These polishes are intense. They glow. They have such a big payoff. I love using polish like this, because it’s really a dream to use.

RIP Nameless Horse was an event exclusive for The Indie Shop Atlanta; other Bee’s Knees Lacquers are available on their website.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch: Envy Lacquer’s The Indie Shop #4

Hello again! I have more swatches, and this time, it’s an Indie Shop Atlanta exclusive 2017 VIP exclusive! I know we just had the Indie Shop again, but I have so many polishes from last year’s show that I haven’t even used yet, like this one. This is my first-ever Envy Lacquer, The Indie Shop #4. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

The Indie Shop #4 is a deep cool green polish with green shimmers, both iridescent and colored flakies, as well as some holo. Application was easy; the polish consistency is great, and the flakies and shimmers get distributed easily on the nail. The polish dries quickly and with a satin finish; I used top coat for extra shine.

I love this polish. It’s a bold jewel tone, and the flakies look like confetti. This is a pretty unique addition to my collection! Polishes like this is why I keep going VIP at the Indie Shop. I can’t afford to miss out!

Envy Lacquers can be found on their website.

This polish came in the VIP bag for The Indie Shop Atlanta 2017.

Manicure Monday: Purple Holo Romance

Happy Monday! This post is going up a little late. Today was my day off and I was lazy all day. There’s a lot of fun happening this week though; The Indie Shop Atlanta is this weekend, and I’m putting my mani together for that. I’m dying to go! I hope I’ll see some of you there, and I can’t wait to show off my haul. That said, let’s dive into my mani for the week! This is Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Fare the Wind with Lynnderella‘s If the Shoe Fits.

Fare the Wind is way prettier than I remember it being when I swatched it three years ago. The purple is a nice mid-tone purple; it’s a strong shade, but the holo doesn’t overpower it, and the blue flakies in there don’t get lost. The sunshine overpowered it a little, but you can still appreciate it. I love this shade, and I love digging out shades that are a couple years old and were possibly forgotten about. In a community like ours, where we’re always excited about whatever new polishes are on the horizon, it’s important to shop our stashes and give love to polishes we have (she says, as she prepares to max her credit card out at TIS Atlanta).

This is actually the first time I’ve used If the Shoe Fits. I fell in love with it when I bought it, and then I forgot about it. I’m actually wearing it here over Fare the Wind, and it’s so shimmery that I didn’t need to wear it over anything. I’m a sucker for anything with heart-shaped glitter in it, so this was an easy buy for me. Can’t wait to use it again!

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers are available from their online shop; they’re currently closed, but will return soon. Lynnderellas are sold on eBay and their website.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch: Enchanted Polish’s Ice Castle

Hey! It’s another swatch this week! Let me preface this one by saying that this is not my best work, and I’m aware that these photos are not up to my personal standards. The day I took these, it was cloudy outside, and I’m not great at getting a good holo shot indoors except for under certain lights, and well, this is what happened. This is Enchanted Polish‘s Ice Castle; I’m wearing three coats alone and two coats over Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Lighthouse on the Lake.

Ice Castle is a sheer holo topper with blue-to-purple shifting pigment. Application was good; the polish is super easy to use, has a great consistency, and the holo effect is actually pretty strong in the right lighting. It gets good coverage at three coats, though it is still quite sheer. I used top coat for shine.

This isn’t a swatch as much as it is a reminder that this polish exists. I feel like it’s a pretty ubiquitous polish, a common one to find in any indie polish collection, but I never see anyone using it. If you have it in your own collection, consider this a challenge to get it out and use it. If you don’t, use something you’ve had for a few years. I want to see your oldies!

Ice Castle and other Enchanted Polishes are available in their online shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Light and Magic

Happy Monday, reader! Today’s look was an experiment in combining matte and glossy finishes to create some texture, and I think I did well. My polish here is Monster Polish‘s What’s Wrong With This Jumper?; I used Seche Vite for the glossy elements.

I swatched this polishes ages ago, and I swore that when I did a proper manicure with it, I would take advantage of its natural matte finish. It’s a beautiful polish either way, so I thought doing this would give it the best of both worlds; you get the most holo on the shiny parts, but the matte softens it. This is the kind of nail art this polish was meant for (though maybe not this execution).

Unfortunately, this has already started to chip. I should have used a coat of top coat before the last coat, and ultimately, before I added the nail art, but I’m running low and need to conserve what little I have. I definitely plan to try this again in the future with another beautiful matte polish.

In the shade. The contrast between gloss and matte is most evident here.

Monster Polishes are for sale in their online shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Cotton Candy Clouds

Welcome back to another swatch! I have to admit, I miss my regular posting schedule, but now that I work weekends almost exclusively, I just get them done when I can. Swatch Tuesday doesn’t have the same ring as Swatch Saturday, I have to admit. Anyway, this is Cotton Candy Clouds from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer, an Addicted to Holos box exclusive. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

Cotton Candy Clouds is a pale lavender holo with green shimmers. Application was pretty typical for a BEGL holo; the formula is designed to be opaque in as few coats as possible, and this one definitely does; I got an almost-opaque first coat and the second was enough to even it out. The holo isn’t too strong because the base is so well-pigmented, but it’s definitely there, as is the green shimmer. The polish dries to a smooth and somewhat glossy finish; I used top coat for shine.

I miss the Addicted to Holos box. So many amazing polishes came from that box, and since they haven’t posted since 2016, I’m guessing it’s been shelved. There are so many boxes now, as well as the Polish Pickup, that a lot of these smaller ones got squeezed out, which is sad. I’m especially sad because it was one I bought routinely.

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer polishes are available from their online shop; the shop is on hiatus while the maker is on maternity leave.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch: ellagee’s Elva

Hey, reader! I’ve got another swatch for you. This is ellagee‘s Elva; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

Elva is a sheer blush pink holo with iridescent flakies. Application was easy; the product consistency is easy to work with, and the flakies spread out well over the nail. The first coat goes on very sheer, and though coverage does build with additional coats, nail lines are still visible even after three coats. You can’t see it so well in these photos because my nails are short, but it’s there. The polish dries to a smooth and glossy finish.

Elva is such a delicate polish. The sheer polish gives way to a powerful holo effect, and in the shade, you can see the flakies come out. It’s versatile, too; you can wear it alone as I have here, one coat alone for a small bit of sparkle, or use it as a topper. So many options!

Elva was discontinued by ellagee. As of this writing, ellagee is on hiatus.

I bought this polish myself.