Swatch: Formula X for Sephora’s Demolition

Welcome back, reader! I’ve been slacking on my swatches, but I’m still working on them. Today I have a glitter topper someone once told me was “terrifying” because it looked difficult to remove. This is Demolition from Formula X for Sephora; I’m wearing one thick coat (basically two) over Marc Jacobs Beauty’s Shocking (pink), Butter London’s Tea and Toast (taupe), Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Lighthouse by the Lake (blue), a nameless vintage Maybelline (brown), and Sally Hansen’s Sun Kissed (orange).

Demolition is a clear-based glitter topper; the glitters are hexes of various sizes and pastel shades, which focuses largely on pastel pink. Application was good; the polish consistency is a little on the thick side, which is necessary to carry these chunky glitters. It dries quickly, though, and with a somewhat textured finish; top coat is definitely required for a smooth-to-the-touch finish.

I know these chunky glitters have fallen out of style, but I am still about them. I was super excited to find a polish like this from a mainstream brand as well; they had several color variations on this formula and I bought several of them. It wears pretty well despite being on the thicker side; a lot of heavy glitter toppers like these are quick to chip, but not this one. My only real complaint is that it takes quite a bit of top coat to smooth it down.

The Formula X brand was discontinued by Sephora.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch: Bee’s Knees Lacquer’s Cozy in There?

Welcome back, reader! Today, I have the last of Bee’s Knees Lacquer‘s Walking Dead trio from The Indie Shop Atlanta. This one is called Cozy In There?; again, I have no idea what this is a reference to. I’m wearing three coats of Cozy in There? with one coat of Seche Vite.

Cozy in There? is a pale cool nude with a golden shimmer, multichrome flakies, and a little bit of holo. As is true with all of the Bee’s Knees I’ve worn so far, this one is an absolute dream to apply and use. This one needed two coats for full opacity, but everything else is spot-on; the product consistency is perfect and is very easy to apply. It dries with a smooth, glossy finish.

I love this polish. The nude base is merely a vehicle for all the other good stuff in here; the multichrome flakes lend a colorful finish to the polish, and the shimmer and holo add dimension and complexity. Something that’s true for this polish, and the trio as a whole, is that all the colors are oddly safe for work; RIP Nameless Horse is probably the boldest of the three, but they’re all nice neutrals with lots of fun additions. I feel fortunate that I was able to snag these for myself (and a couple other people!).

Cozy in There? was an Indie Shop Atlanta event exclusive; other Bee’s Knees Lacquers are sold on their website.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch: Finger Paints’s Psychedelic Hue

Welcome back, reader! Even though I’m swatching a lot of new stuff from The Indie Shop Atlanta, I still have some swatches in the slush pile waiting to be published, and this is one of them. This is Finger Paints’s Psychedelic Hue; I’m wearing one coat over Sally Hansen’s Grey Area (gray), Deborah Lippmann’s She Bop (pink), and Zoya’s Chantal (nude), as well as a coat of Seche Vite top coat.

Psychedelic Hue is a clear-based flakie topper with green-to-blue shifting flakies. Application was good; the flakies distribute very easily over the nail when brushing it on. The product consistency is on the thin side, but the flakies suspend very well. Drying times were good, and the polish dries smooth to the touch. I used top coat for extra shine.

I adore flakie top coats. This one’s pretty basic as far as flakie toppers go; of course, this one’s been around a while and they’ve come a good way since then. I wanted to show this one over a few different colors, and unfortunately, the bright natural sunshine kind of washed it out over the lighter colors. With the lighter shades, the individual flakies aren’t as defined, but the shine and iridescence are still visible. Over the darker color, it looks fantastic; everything is nicely defined and exciting. The following photos were taken in the shade, attempting to show off the color better over the lighter colors.

I believe Psychedelic Hue was discontinued by Finger Paints; other Finger Paints polishes are available at Sally Beauty Supply.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Desert Gradient

Happy Monday, reader! I’ve been in the mood for nail art, so here’s some nail art! And really I mean that I finally remembered to buy some sponges so I can do some gradients. I’ve missed them! For this look, I used Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Thrill Me to the Marrow (pale pink) and Robo-Aggression (gray), Pepper Pot Polish‘s The Big Fuzz (peach), and Elevation Polish‘s Sample JY #26 (glitter).

For the gradient, I put down two coats of Thrill Me to the Marrow, then started a three-color gradient, only my nails are too short for three colors to really show up. You can see there’s a faint bit of coolness at the bottom near the cuticle that immediately fades into warmth from The Big Fuzz. In a way, it actually turned into something cool, but I’m still a little sad it didn’t get more visibility. The Big Fuzz and Robo-Aggression worked pretty well here; the peach was a little on the sheer side and I worried about how well it would show up, but it did the job. Robo-Aggression is a gray creme rockstar.

Sample JY #26 is the main polish I wanted to use, and it’s a pretty typical Elevation topper. I’m a huge fan of the metallic round glitters they use; they remind me of coins. The polish has three different colors of them: gold, silver, and copper, as well as black and white hexes and squares. It’s the perfect topper for this gradient.

The BEGL shop is still on hiatus, but plans to return soon. The Big Fuzz was an Indie Shop Atlanta exclusive; other Pepper Pot Polishes can be found in their etsy shop. Sample JY #26 was a prototype; other Elevation polishes are available in their online shop.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Silver Splatter

Happy Monday! Over the weekend, I attended The Indie Shop Atlanta, and today, I’m not using any of the polishes I bought. I had a great time at the event, and I posted my haul photos on Instagram; I hope to get a more detailed post about the event up this week. For today’s look, I used Butter London’s Bumster, Essie’s Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Low, and Julep’s Braiden. I also used liquid latex for the first time today, more about that later.

Before I started today’s look, I really didn’t know where I was going with it until I started, I just knew I’d be using some silver over a nude base. Bumster is a great neutral; I’m a huge fan of these neutrals that lean a lit yellow or green, they’re just the slightest bit ugly. I wish I used these shades more.

I don’t know why I thought silver for this, other than I thought the shine and shimmer would look amazing with the neutral creme. I’m also not sure why I went for a splatter mani, but I kind of like where it went. I didn’t originally plan to use Braiden, but Jiggle Hi, Jiggle Low didn’t add enough contrast.

Here’s where the liquid latex comes in. Over the weekend, I bought my first bottle of the stuff from Ribbits Stickits. I put it around each cuticle and extended it down to my knuckle, because I’ve done this before and I know the mess it makes. I wasn’t a fan of the smell. I did a second coat, because I’d heard in passing that this makes it easier to peel off. It ended up sticking my fingers together and peeling off prematurely. Also most of the mess ended up getting on the parts of me that weren’t covered, like my palms and wrists. This was a messier-than-usual splatter, and got polish on everything on my desk, from my computer monitor, my phone, my clothes, you name it. Despite everything, liquid latex is the game-changer everyone told me it was going to be.

Butter London, Essie, and Julep polishes are sold in stores. Ribbits Stickits liquid latex is sold in their online shop.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Low-Key Celebration

Happy new year, reader! I’ve got my first manicure of the year, and my hands are so cold I barely got it done. Seriously, I’m so cold, my hands are wrinkly. For this look, I used Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Flash Forward Fantasy with Nails Inc.’s Princes Gardens.

This is a pretty basic look, and I think my nail game is off to a good start this year. Of course, it’s cold and dark outside, which means I couldn’t show you the gorgeous shift in the base polish, but I love that it’s almost a mannequin polish on me. I like that the glitter went on without overpowering the base shade, which is definitely a plus on short nails like these. I don’t have a lot to say about this look. I’m so cold.

Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers are available from their online shop. Nails Inc. is sold in stores.

I bought these polishes myself.

Throwback Swatch: Bluebird Lacquer’s It’s Fall Over Me

Right, so during the month of November, I was insanely busy with starting a new job, starting a volunteer job leading writing groups for National Novel Writing Month, actually writing a novel for National Novel Writing Month, and cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for nine people. Now that novels are finished and Thanksgiving is over, I’ve finally got the time to share the swatches I’ve been collecting.

This first one is It’s Fall Over Me from Bluebird Lacquer; I’m wearing two coats over e.l.f.’s Smoking Hot (red), Butter London’s Tea and Toast (tan), Sally Hansen’s Black Out (black), China Glaze’s White on White (white), and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Lighthouse on the Lake (blue), topped with Seche Vite and Essie’s Matte About You matte top coat.

It’s Fall Over Me is a clear-based glitter topper with iridescent shifting glitters of various sizes. The shift is definitely reminiscent of the flakies in Essie’s famous Shine of the Times. Application was easy; the product consistency is wonderful in that it’s not thick enough to be goopy and difficult to use, but it’s not thin enough that it drips off the brush. The glitter delivers very easily, but I definitely wanted more than I got on my first coat, so I used two. In the future, I might try sponging it on to get that heavy glitter coverage without the thickness of multiple coats of lacquer. I used two coats of top coat as well, just to smooth down any glitter texture that was left.

I bought this at the Indie Shop Atlanta, and it had my heart as soon as I saw the bottle. I am such a sucker for these opalescent kinds of glitters, because there’s always something going on with it; it’s the easiest way to give a look dimension and style without getting knee-deep in nail art. It also looks interesting over any color, even white, which is obviously not the ideal undies for this polish, has a unique effect on it.

When I was talking to maker Lou at her booth, she told me I had to try it with a matte finish, so I did, and here are the photos of that. I definitely prefer the glossy finish, but I have to admit that the glitter looks pretty cool mattefied. I feel like the matte finish makes the shift a little less dramatic, but it still does happen, and still looks pretty cool.

Unlike everything else I’ve shown you from my Indie Shop Atlanta haul, this is a polish you can actually still buy! As of this writing, It’s Fall Over Me is for sale on the Bluebird Lacquer website.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Cognac Sparkle

Happy Monday, reader! It’s been too long since my last post. I knew November would be a busy month for me; all in this month, I’ve gotten a job, written a novel (almost done!) and cooked a huge Thanksgiving dinner. I knew something was going to have to give to get everything done, and unfortunately, it ended up being the blog. I’ve got lots of swatches to catch up on — I’ve been painting, just not posting — so I’ll have lots of content coming up. Some of it’s from when my nails were still long and pretty (rip).

Today’s look was done with Butter London’s Tea and Toast, OPI’s Muppets World Tour, and Orly’s French Tip Guides.

I have this thing about Tea and Toast, like it’s the ugliest color in the bottle, but I absolutely love it on my nails. It’s really stylish, but I always have this apprehension before I put it on, like I’m about to do something terrible, but it always comes out lovely.

I picked Muppets World Tour for this look because I wanted something that would still have a lot of shine without covering the base too much. As it turns out, this polish had more glitter in it than I expected, and it’s hard to see the half-moon and naked nail underneath. On the whole, though, I like the look. It sort of looks like a gradient instead of a half-moon, and glitter is the best. No arguments here.

Unfortunately, I think both these shades are discontinued. Butter London and OPI are both easy to find in stores.

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.

Swatch Sunday: Bliss Polish’s VIP in Atlanta

Swatch Sunday!! This is a polish I’m very excited about. It’s my first-ever Bliss Polish, and it’s the first of the VIP exclusive polishes I got when I attended The Indie Shop Atlanta in March. TIS was so long ago; it was shortly after that when my lens died, and I only got to review one of my scores before going on hiatus. I had this fantasy that I was going to swatch everything I bought and get a lot of hits for VIP swatches, but alas. This is VIP in Atlanta; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

Full disclosure: I thought this polish was called Up in Atlanta for months. I mean, Atlanta is up from Florida, after all.

VIP in Atlanta is a cool pinkish-taupe holo. Application was good; the consistency is silky and easy to work with, but I think I’d like it if it was just a tad thicker. I had no problems with it at all. Coverage builds very gently with complete opacity in two coats. The polish dries to a glossy holo finish.

I am so excited about this polish and I feel so guilty writing about it today because I wish it wasn’t an LE so everyone could have it. I love nude polishes when my nails are this length, because it makes them look even longer and more elegant. The holo is bonus.

VIP in Atlanta was a VIP-exclusive shade for The Indie Shop Atlanta. Other Bliss Polishes can be found on their website.

I bought the VIP ticket that netted me this polish.