Wacie Nail Company: Debut

Posted on April 24, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

Hello readers! Today I’m showing you the second polish from the Wacie Nail Company launch. This polish is called Debut. I’m wearing three coats of Debut with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat. Debut is a dramatic and shining mix of silver flakies, small silver holographic hexes, and Spectraflair. This polish is my optimistic vision of the future: a little overwhelming, but bright and gorgeous and irresistible.

My long-term readers will know that I’ve been working on my own debut for a very long time now. It was about a year ago when I first told my boyfriend that I was thinking of starting my own nail company. I was shocked when he said it sounded like a sound and lucrative project; he usually dismisses my ideas as harebrained schemes and they are never mentioned again. I got to work immediately. I sourced all the materials I could, sought advice from anyone who would give it, and spent many hours mixing prototype bottles. I covered our souvenir Fiji tablecloth in glitter, I spilled dye all over our hardwood floors, and permanently stained a lot of my own clothing. However life, as it is wont to do, got in the way. More important things and other entrepreneurial endeavors took priority. Last fall, I decided there would be no more waiting, no more putting it off, no more wasted time. Wacie Nail Company would come to fruition. I got to work right away on some new polishes. Those polishes are Debut and Origin.

Alone, Debut dries to a smooth, metallic finish. A top coat is suggested for added shine and depth. Also, look how reflective it is. In the bottle shot, toward the bottom, you can see the polish reflecting the foot of the bottle. It also reflects a lot of light, which kind of drowned out the holo effect. It’s really much more impressive in person.

The following photos were taken indoors with the camera flash. One is my first attempt at a macro shot. While it was not a success, I think it really shows the spirit of the polish.

Debut will be available in the Wacie Nail Company etsy shop on Wednesday, April 29, at 2 PM EDT. Keep an eye out for the third and final launch polish tomorrow!

Swatch Sunday: Enchanted Polish’s March 2014

Posted on March 1, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

What’s this? Two holos in a row? Yes! This is another swatch I am totally thrilled to bring you, because it’s a polish I thought I would never own. This is March 2014 from Enchanted Polish; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat. All photos are taken outdoors in partly cloudy/overcast lighting.

March 2014 is a spring green linear holo with baby blue shimmers. I loved putting this on; the holo effect is very powerful right from the first coat. I reached perfect opacity in two coats. The formula was a little thin for me, but it went on evenly. Drying time was good. I’m really impressed by the holo effect in this polish; the rainbow really pops out in nearly every kind of lighting. Only when a room is really dim does it fail to show up.

I mentioned that I never thought I’d have my own bottle of March 2014. I hadn’t heard of Enchanted Polish until about March 2014, when I started seeing this exact color all over the nail blogosphere. It was beautiful, and when I found out it wasn’t for sale for very long, I just admired it from afar. I forget when exactly it was, probably the summer or early autumn, I happened to see it for sale in another blogger’s destash sale. I bought it for 24 dollars. At that time, it was the most money I’d ever spent on a bottle of nail polish. I felt guilty for days after.

I had really hoped for more sunshine, because I wanted to see just how big and crazy these linear rainbows get. I feel like this is a really good show for just overcast skies. I bet this is crazy stunning on a clear day.

Like I said, March 2014 is only available if you’re lucky enough to find someone selling their bottle. Subscribe to the Enchanted Polish newsletter to find out when the next restock is, so you don’t miss this year’s March polish.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Dawn

Posted on February 28, 2015 by Stacie Wacie

I really love today’s swatch! Dawn is a special small batch polish from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer, and I only have this mini bottle of it because someone was nice enough to decant it for me. I feel super-lucky to have it, and I’m excited to feature it on my blog. I am wearing three coats of Dawn with one coat of Digital Nails‘s Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That top coat. All photos were taken outdoors in direct sunlight.

Dawn is described by BEGL as a “pale pink linear holo with strong pink flash”. It applies evenly from the first coat, even though the first coat is on the sheer side; I got good opacity in two coats. The drying times were also quick. The formula is very easy to use; it’s not too thin or too thick. I was able to apply with lots of control. I didn’t take any indoor photos, but the holo effect doesn’t show up as well with indoor lighting. However, the pink flash is still quite potent. Outdoors is where I get the best of both.

My tastes have changed, I think. If you’d asked me a year ago if I’d ever write the words “I sure do love this dainty pink holo”, I’d probably scoff. Two years ago, before I even started this blog or even knew about indie polishes, I definitely would. It wasn’t that long ago I was dismissive of light pinks or nudes, and I wasn’t always a fan of holo polishes. This polish, though, is so sweet and dainty. It’s so ladylike. I keep looking down at my nails and thinking “Man, I’m so glad I came around to polishes like this.” I really do love this dainty pink holo.

As I mentioned, this is a decant from a full-size bottle. Once upon a time, I cart-jacked a BEGL prototype from Angela at Older Ladies Like Color Too. I felt bad, so I offered her a decant of it. She gave me this in return. It was a good trade. Dawn isn’t a currently available polish; I believe the last time it was for sale, there was one bottle up for auction during BEGL’s Depression Awareness charity auction in October. You can purchase other BEGL polishes from their shop.

News: Wacie Nail Co. for Depression Awareness

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

This is so exciting, guys! There is now a Wacie Nail Company polish you can actually buy. Yes! Julie, the owner of Wishes of a Blue-Eyed Girl and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer, is holding a huge charity auction, with dozens of rare, hard to find, and one of a kind polishes up for grabs. One of these is the first-ever Wacie Nail Company polish to actually leave my house. Blue Skies Ahead is a silver linear holo with rainbow flakies that turns blue in sunlight and glows in the dark. Yeah, it does all that! I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

Indoors, this polish is already really pretty. In the studio, the holo effect isn’t too obvious, but the rainbow flakies shine nicely. Then, when you go outside, this happens:

Did you see that? I had to make a gif, just to prove that it actually happens. It’s a subtle change, but it does change. Then, when you’re in the dark, this happens:

Crazy, right? It’s amazing! This polish glows really brightly in the dark, and glows blue rather than yellow or green. It only takes a few seconds to charge it up, and it glows for a very long time.

There is only one bottle of Blue Skies Ahead available, at it’s up for auction. All of the proceeds of this auction benefit I Need A LightHouse, an organization that raises awareness of depression and suicide prevention education. This is a cause that means a great deal to me, and I really hope you’ll help Julie and me raise lots of money for it. You can find Blue Skies Ahead and the rest of the auction here. Thank you so much.

2014 Birthday Nails!

Posted on October 10, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

It’s my birthday! I’m not going to do a proper write-up of all the polishes today, I’m just going to show this off because I am way too proud of it.

Here are the polishes I used:
Thumb: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Dawn Breaks
Index: Indigo Banana‘s Moonlight (Clair de Lune)
Cupcakes: P2’s French Kiss, American Apparel’s Neon Pink, Essie’s Fiji, Ciate’s Candy Floss
Pinky: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s If You’re a Seascape

I also want to take a moment to thank everyone who’s participating in the giveaway! If you haven’t entered yet, you have, of this writing, eight hours left to enter to win two Ciate polishes. The winner will be announced tomorrow! I’m so excited, this is my first giveaway and it is going gloriously well. I can’t wait to do this again.

Manicure Monday: Repurposed Top Coat with Resolute Glitter

Posted on October 6, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

It’s Manicure Monday! I had some fun with this week’s manicure. The holo polish I used this week wasn’t intended to be used as one, and I put a discontinued glitter topper over it. Here is Ulta’s Holographic “top coat” at three coats with Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Resolutions and Color Club’s clear coat.

This holographic top coat from Ulta originally came in a Nail FX set with three other top coats: there was a matte top coat, a UV-sensitive, a smoky top coat (which is a thin black jelly topper) and this holographic top coat. I bought this kit specifically for this holographic top coat, and I expected it would be something like a Spectraflair top coat. It’s definitely not suited to be a top coat. It is impossible to apply a thin and even coat over any polish. Thin coats are streaky and draggy, and even coverage requires at least two coats, and by then you’ve covered up whatever polish you were trying to improve. I gave up and decided to use three coats for full coverage. It looks pretty great this way. You’d never know it was meant to be a topper unless you specifically bought it for that purpose.

On the plus side, Holographic Top Coat does dry quickly. Application really took three coats, though. I was aiming for two, but even after two coats, I still had streaks and bald spots. Luckily, the third coat evened everything out. It would be a shame if it was still patchy, then it would be useless as both a top coat and a polish.

Resolutions is a glitter topper with mainly black hex and star glitters, but also contains blue shimmer and varieties of blue, pink, green and yellow glitter shapes. It’s a really fun look, especially with the silver polish; the look is cool, steely, and a little chaotic. Unfortunately, this guy is discontinued.

Final word: I’m surprised at how well I was able to take a crappy top coat and make a gorgeous manicure with it.

Wacie Wednesday: Stoica

Posted on October 1, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

This week’s Wacie Wednesday is a shimmery silver scattered holo called Stoica. Unfortunately, because it’s overcast outside (thanks, October), we won’t get to see just how holo it is. I kind of think that’s okay, because it’s nice anyway. This is three coats of Stoica with one coat of Color Club’s clear coat.

I made Stoica when I was bored in the glitter workshop. I wanted a silvery holo, but I had very little holo material left. Seriously, it was like the dredgs of the bottle, and I had a hard time getting it all out. I put mixing balls and some lacquer base in there, hoping it would mix in and pour out. It was actually crazy enough to work. I poured that into a bottle, mixed in some silvery-white pigment, and then I was done. It wasn’t what I wanted exactly, but I’m pleased with it.

Naturally, even though I managed to get it out, there’s not a lot of holo in this polish. There’s enough to see an effect, and it’s very faint. The color here is coming entirely from pigment. It’s a pretty tame polish, actually; save the little bit of holo, it would just be a silver polish. It’s one of those polishes that comes off as classic, but a bit dull, then the holo pops out and it’s something special.

I just have to prove that there is, in fact, holo stuffs in this polish. One photo was taken in the studio with the built-in camera flash, and the other was taken in my office with my cell phone. I promise it’s there.

I have four more Wacie Nail Co. one-offs I’m going to show on the blog. Then maybe something exciting will happen. Maybe.

Manicure Monday on Tuesday: Fun With Thermals

Posted on September 9, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

I’m always excited to share a first on the blog. For Manicure Monday this week, I’m wearing Tomboyish from Pretty & Polished, one of my first-ever indies, my first-ever thermal polish, and the first-ever thermal on the blog. I’m wearing three coats of Tomboyish with one coat of Digital Nails‘s Spectraflair top coat and Color Club’s clear coat.

The label got soft and peeled a bit from dipping the bottle into water to change its color.

Tomboyish is a deep teal-to-dusty blue thermal polish with a light sprinkle of holographic sparkle. The consistency is thick due to extra pigments, but it’s still very easy to use and apply. The first coat was very sheer, but coverage builds with additional coats. It dries quickly, and with a matte finish. In this regard, it’s very much like an ordinary polish.

Thermal polishes change color with heat, and that’s what makes this polish special. The teal color deepens when it’s exposed to cold temperatures, and it fades to blue when exposed to warm temperatures. Body heat is enough to effect the change, and it happens instantaneously; if I dipped my fingertips in cold water, the teal color would deepen, but would fade back to blue as they warm up again. If your nails are longer than your fingertips, you’ll often have a nice gradient effect; the part of your nail grown past your finger will be different than that’s closer to your cuticle. It’s an awesome, effortless look.

I wanted just a little bit more sparkle with Tomboyish, so I put on a Spectraflair top coat made by Digital Nails. The holo isn’t as strong as it would be if it was a holo polish, but being able to turn any polish I own into a holo is pretty cool.

I’ve had this polish for a long time, so I think the effect isn’t as potent as it used to be. The first time I used it, the light color was much lighter, and now it hovers somewhere in between. It’s still pretty cool, and it still changes, but not like it used to.

I love thermals, and I’ve got more in the pipeline. I can’t wait to wear them.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Discontinued Limited Edition

Posted on September 6, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

All right, I know it’s just barely September, and I know it won’t be Halloween for quite some time, and yet I’m wearing Halloween polish. As I’m going down the Polish List, I’ll be running into some seasonal confusion. It’s going to happen. It’s only going to be weird if we let it be.

This beauty is called Discontinued Limited Edition, and was part of Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Nail Polish Frights collection from last fall. As you can guess, this polish was a discontinued limited edition, which is truly horrific. I’m wearing three coats of Discontinued Limited Edition with one coat of Color Club’s clear coat.

Discontinued Limited Edition is a black linear holo with orange shimmer. It’s gorgeous, right? We all know black holos are amazing and perfect, but this one has a little extra, this bit of orange peeking out from the center of the linear rainbow. It’s not always obvious, and it doesn’t appear in all lighting conditions, but it’s glorious when it does. It’s just enough to make it subtly but unmistakably Halloweeny.

I found the consistency to be a bit thick, but this means it was opaque in two coats, and was still quite easy to work with. It dried quickly. It dries with a bit of a shine, and the holo effect was still pretty strong without the topcoat, but the topcoat really brings out the orange shimmer.

I only took outdoor photos today. Holo photos in the studio never turn out well, so I decided to not to bore you with them. It’s been mostly cloudy all day, but there was one somewhat-sunny patch in the backyard, so I went for it. It served me well, but I really want to see that orange shimmer in direct sunlight.

Wacie Wednesday: Dynamica

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

It’s always a great day to wear red! The Wacie Nail Company prototype I’m wearing today is called Dynamica; it’s a strawberry red jelly with a smatter of holo pigment. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

This polish is everything I love. It’s red, it’s holo, it’s versatile. Because I’m wearing three coats, it’s visibly opaque. The first coat is quite thin, however, and can be used for jelly sandwiches or similar looks. It didn’t occur to me until just now to demonstrate it with a layer of glitter beneath, but I may do that in the future. I want to wear this again soon.

Dynamica is yet another holo experiment. I was trying to see just how little holo pigment I could get away with using. As you can see, this is rather delicate for a holo; there are no intense punch-you-in-the-stomach rainbows here, and I wonder if it can even be called a holo. Because the polish is translucent, the holo particles from the previous coats shine through, but they are now red, not rainbowy. It doesn’t serve that purpose, it’s merely a little extra sparkle to complete the look. Even in the sun, it’s still very subtle.

It didn’t occur to me until just now that this is a very similar color to Maneater, a Wacie Nail Co. polish I swatched last month. I wish I’d thought of it in time to do a side-by-side comparison. I did use the same red pigment for both, but Maneater is more opaque and warmer than Dynamica. They look like dupes, but they’re totally not.

Finally, a day where the sun is actually shining! This is the first manicure in over a week it wasn’t storming while I was taking photos. I got super lucky this week.

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