Manicure Monday: Summer Preview

Hello, reader! Welcome back to the blog! I’ve got a pretty basic glitter look this week, and it’s one I’m really into. Neons and glitter are pretty much my whole summer, and I’m ready to get it started. For this look, I used Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Look at These Assholes and Lynnderella‘s Are You Bouquet?.

Let me preface this by saying that my camera did not want to cooperate with the neonness of Look at These Assholes. At all. I did some color correction and got it pretty accurate, which in turn makes my skin look a little weird, but I’ll take it. This is a deliciously bright neon.

NEON

Are You Bouquet? actually watered it down a little. Even though it’s a glitter topper, it’s in a slightly milky white base. I’m a huge fan of white glitter toppers, and I love this one in particular for the random pops of color. Also, you can’t really tell, but I used a matte top coat over this to highlight the iridescent glitters in there too.

Look at These Assholes has been discontinued by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer; other BEGLs are available in their online shop. Are You Bouquet? was a limited edition from Lynnderella; other Lynns are sold on their website, eBay, and Amazon.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: The Thing About Mermaids

Happy Monday! Today’s look is all about Lynnderella‘s The Thing About Mermaids. It’s my first time using this limited edition polish, and I feel like I don’t give my Lynns enough love, so I’ve dedicated this week’s nails to this one. I’m wearing one coat of The Thing About Mermaids over two coats of Orly’s Teal Unreal.

The Thing About Mermaids is incredible. It’s a monochromatic teal glitter mix, save for the silver starfish-shaped glitters that are a stark holo silver. It has every great glitter shape: the starfish in both silver and teal, hearts, triangles, lighting bolts (which were new at the time, I remember), flowers, and then some good old squares in hexes in varying sizes. This polish is just so shiny, and looks incredible over Teal Unreal. I’m kind of in love with this mani.

Teal Unreal helps make this look a success. I wanted a creme that was exactly the same shade as the glitter, and I think I got pretty close. Because it’s so close, I got the cohesive and sparkly look I wanted.

All the other photos were taken in cloudy conditions outdoors. The sun came out so I could get this one!

The Thing About Mermaids was a limited edition polish; other Lynnderellas are sold on lynnderella.com, Amazon, and eBay. Orly polish are sold in stores.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Bless This Glitter Mess

Happy Monday, reader! I’ve got another messy glitter mani to share, because I can never say no to glitter. This is Lynnderella‘s Unicornament over a Maybelline vintage mystery polish.

I’ll start with Unicornament, since it’s clearly front and center in this look. This is probably my favorite-ever Lynn, because there’s so much happening in it. All that color, glitter, shapes, and bling in an iridescent base, it’s irresistible.

I felt a little bad covering the base polish up, because it really is a nice polish. It’s a warm pink — or cool red, I can’t tell — with silver flecks. I’ve had this polish for at least ten years, and believe it or not, it still applies really well. It could have done with some thinner, but it wasn’t thick enough that I thought it was necessary. I’ll have to do another look with it soon so that it gets its due.

Maybelline polishes are sold in stores. Lynnderella polishes are available on their website, Amazon, and eBay.

I bought these polishes myself.

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.

Manicure Monday: Pink Wonder

Happy Monday, reader! Today is the first day I’ve had off since Thursday. My retail job is getting busy since there’s only a week left to shop for Christmas gifts — and I’ve barely done any shopping. Today, though, is for ignoring my responsibilities and doing my nails and maybe having a bubble bath later. For today’s relaxing look, I used Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Watch the Walls over Lynnderella‘s Baby Pink Pink.

It’s 80 degrees out in December. It feels like summer, so it’s summer on my nails.

I’ve been kind of self-conscious about my shorties lately. I even bit one down because it was jagged, and I was really disappointed with myself after that. As a recovering nail biter, it is always so hard to grow them out past this stage, because it’s really easy to slip into biting again. One day at a time, I guess.

I bit this one so far down it hurt. 🙁

Glitter will help me get there. Watch the Walls is still one of my favorite BEGLs, and likely even my most used; the bottle is about two-thirds full at this point. I like seeing the empty out, because the polish is getting the love it deserves, but it’s sad to see it go. Once these polishes are gone, they’re gone. In this instance, I paired it with Baby Pink Pink because they both have an icy blue shimmer that stacks nicely.

Watch the Walls was discontinued by Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer; other BEGLs are available from their online shop. Baby Pink Pink was a limited edition; other Lynnderellas are available from eBay, Amazon, and Lynnderella.com.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Pastel Belle

Happy Monday!! My Manicure Monday look today is a pastel wonder. This is Lynnderella‘s Custard Candy Cake and Literary Lacquers‘s My Secret Garden. This look is easy and cute.

It’s overcast today, so the photos are a bit dark.

So I was hoping Custard Candy Cake was just a tad more opaque. In the bottle, you can see it’s a cool pale yellow, but it brushes on very sheer, leaving lots of shimmer but not a lot of color. I’m wearing three coats here, and while the opacity increased a bit, it’s still very sheer and pale. It’s not what I wanted, but it’s still kind of chic, so I like it.

My Secret Garden was one of the first LitLacs I ever bought, and it’s still one of my favorites. It’s a pretty basic topper with lots of color and just a bit of sparkle. The colors are a little too bright for the base, and I feel like that might be washing out whatever color is there, but you don’t want to hear me say negative things about nail polish, do you? No. I’m sorry I focus on the negatives a lot, but I just write about what I see and I should probably try to stop that.

Custard Candy Cake might have been a Lynnderella limited edition because I don’t see it in stock; other Lynnderellas are available on their website and eBay. My Secret Garden isn’t currently stocked, but other Literary Lacquers are for sale on etsy.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Glitter Shapes on Nude

Welcome back! I had swatches to show you this weekend, and I had this fantasy that I could write and promote two blog posts while also cleaning my house for my birthday party, attending my birthday party, and then cleaning up after my birthday party. I will be getting you the swatches this weekend, at least. If you missed my birthday manicure on Instagram, you should check it out. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, even if it’s a little more Christmas than I wanted it to be. Anyway, Monday’s here again, and here’s a new mani! This is Julep’s Alexandra, mattified, with a shiny dollop of Lynnderella‘s Golden Lining.

I don’t often like the look of matte nails. I like them on other people, of course, but I always feel like I’m sucking the life out of the polish when I mattify it. Alexandra, though, looks amazing mattified. The pale almond is great on its own, but it’s even more stylish with the matte finish.

Trying to capture the matte/shiny here, just got glare

I didn’t like Golden Lining mattified, so I used an extra bit of top coat over the — I don’t know what to call this shape. Ruffles? Dollops? Scoops? — to make the glitter sparkle. It’s still not as shiny as I hoped it would be, like the contrast between the matte creme and the shiny glitter isn’t as dramatic as I imagined it would be, but I still rather like it. Golden Lining is a beautiful polish and it pairs wonderfully with Alexandra. I’m probably going to use it again this weekend.

I can’t find Alexandra on the Julep site, so it might be discontinued. Golden Lining may also be discontinued, I don’t see it on the Lynnderella site. I also used Essie’s mattifying top coat and Seche Vite.

I bought all of these products myself.

Manicure Monday: Pink Dreams and Real Talk

Hello there. After six months without new content, wacie.com has returned! I have to admit, it’s a little strange to go through this process again. I don’t quite remember how WordPress works. I don’t quite remember how I used to go about taking the photographs. I got a little less meticulous with nail care since I stopped blogging and I don’t quite remember how to avoid ugly cuticles. I hope you’ll bear with me while I readjust to all this.

I burned my finger making crepes. It’s healing up!

Look how empty this bottle is. I’ve only used this polish like twice.

So, for the first time in six months, here’s Manicure Monday. I’m wearing Lynnderella‘s A Whiter Shade of Maybe over Julep’s Audrey with two coats of Seche Vite. Photos were taken indoors and in direct natural sunlight.

I have missed sharing my nails with you, reader. I still painted my nails a few times a week while I was on my break, but I stuck to some pretty basic looks like this one: one shade, one glitter, very little nail art. I didn’t do a whole lot of nail art to begin with, but I’ve missed it and can’t wait to delve back into it.

I know this combination is a little weird. I wanted dainty, and I got it, but the glitter is sort of invisible here. There are faint pink glitters that blend right into the base color, but the shimmers stand out where they normally might not have. I’m pleased with it. After wearing dark colors for a few weeks straight, it’s a great palate cleanser, too.

So I want to talk a little about the blog and where it might be headed. Before my lens failed in March, I was putting a lot of time into the blog, posting three or four times a week. I was working so hard because I wanted to compete. I wanted to see if I could make it as a full-time blogger. This break gave me a long time to think about why I was blogging, who I was doing it for, did I still find it fulfilling or not. I still plan to blog, but on a much more casual level. I want to try just exploring my nail polish stash and maybe try a personal blog concept again instead. I’ve also had time to reevaluate other parts of my life, and I suppose we’ll just see where blogging falls in with my new goals.

Audrey is out of stock on Julep’s website. A Whiter Shade of Maybe is for sale on Lynnderella.com.

I bought these polishes myself. Real talk is totally real.

Manicure Monday: Accidental Mid-Mod

Hey, reader! Happy Monday! Today’s mani reminds me a lot of an older one, where some glitter on just a couple nails was a fashion statement. Man, accent nails seem so quaint now. For this look, I used Julep’s Dianna and Lynnderella‘s Seven Swans Swimming.

It’s been a long time since I’ve worn a creme unfettered like this, and I have to admit, I really like it. Cremes are so underrated. I used to pass over them so often, but when you really think about it, they’re the perfect finish; they’re color and shine and nothing else. This shade in particular, Dianna, has been a ton of fun to wear so far; it’s that perfect midcentury modern robin egg blue. Like I said, underrated.

I chose Seven Swans Swimming for my accent because the shimmery blue base it’s in was about the same color as Dianna, and some of the glitters are, too. The glitter mix is fantastic in this polish; pink and white are the perfect companions to robin egg blue, and the shapes add a lot of variety. I know the snowflake doesn’t quite belong there — tomorrow’s high temperature is 83 degrees F — but it’s cute. It’s kind of mid-mod, too, now that I look at it. It could be a classic winter in Florida mani as well — winter motifs in summer colors — that’s mid-mod too, isn’t it?

The following photos were taken in direct sunlight. The fine shimmer in Seven Swans Swimming gets washed out, but you can see the glitter in greater detail. You can also see the shine of Dianna in all its glory.

Seven Swans Swimming is available from Lynnderella.com. Julep is sold in stores.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Lime Sherbet With Sprinkles

Welcome to Manicure Monday! Today’s look evokes images of springtime, doesn’t it? I’m so ready for spring. For this look, I used Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Queen Lime Rose Zinnia with Lynnderella‘s Bridezilla.

Queen Lime Rose Zinnia is probably the newest BEGL I’ve worn yet, and maybe also one of the most interesting. The shade itself is already very cool; it’s this delicious lime sherbet green (get it, cool?), but then there’s these pink-to-gold shifting flecks that add contrasting shimmer. It’s so gorgeous. It dries with a satin finish to boot. It’s an incredible polish.

You know what else has a beautiful pink-to-gold shift? Lynnderella’s Bridezilla! I actually paired them for this reason; the matching shimmer unites both polishes in a really cool way. The shimmer you see here is likely more from Bridezilla than Zinnia; I sponged a little extra shimmer on the tips after adding the glitter. Also, I do apologize for how sloppy the glitter looks. I always do this! I try to make sure I have enough glitter, and then I end up with too much. It’s a fun glitter mix, though, right? I love that there’s so many different shapes in it. They stick up off my nail and get snagged on things, of course, but I can deal with it for a day or two.

The following photos were taken in direct sunlight outdoors. Everything is so bright out here! The shimmer doesn’t seem as intense, but it’s pretty potent wherever the light hits it. You can see the shift pretty well out here, too.

Queen Lime Rose Zinnia is not currently in stock; see the Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer shop for other polishes. Bridezilla might have been a limited edition Lynnderella; other Lynnderellas are available on their website and on eBay.

I bought these polishes myself.