Summer of Untrieds Day 15: Pink

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

Day 15 of the Summer Untrieds Challenge calls for pink, so I went with something I’ve had for ages and have never tried: My first-ever China Glaze! I grabbed a bunch of these vibrant glitter crackle polishes during a huge Sally Beauty sale last summer (or maybe the summer before?), and I’ve only used one of them until today. This is one coat of Glam-More over two coats of Ciaté’s Amazing Gracie, topped with one coat of Seche Vite.

As you can see, Glam-More is a glitter crackle. It’s pink, pretty, and totally passé. I just can’t say no to glitter, though, in any of its forms. This was actually quite thick when I opened it, but I took care of that with some thinner. It went on easily after thinning and the crackle effect occurred almost immediately. I think it’s a bit pinker in person; it looks purplish in the studio. That’s a bit misleading.

I’ve never used Amazing Gracie before today, so I’ll say something about it, too. It’s a soft, sheer nude that’s perfect for a French mani. It dries quickly and with a nice shine. I fear these polishes a little, because they always come out streaky, and since they’re so translucent, you can never correct it with another coat. That happened to me a little, but isn’t noticeable under the crackle.

I really love how dense the glitter is in Glam-More. It’s basically a clear crackle with glitter; there’s no pigment at all, that’s all glitter! This is especially obvious in the sunlight/outdoor photos. I regret using such a delicate base color, though; I feel like a darker color would have done more for it. Actually, looking back, I made that mistake the last time I used one of these crackle polishes. Why didn’t I learn?

I feel a little weird wearing this. I know I’m late to like every nail trend ever, but this is crazy. It’s like a nail polish time capsule.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s The Scoobies

Posted on April 5, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

Today’s Swatch Saturday is all about The Scoobies, a glitter topper from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. I’m wearing two coats of it over two coats of Essie’s Sand Tropez, I Am Strong, and Navigate Her.

The Scoobies contains a ton of glitter: various sizes and shapes of red, copper, silver, and black hexes, red squares, holographic silver moons, red hearts, black stars, and shiny, tiny pink/purple sparkles. There’s a lot of fun in this bottle. As you can see, it’s only about half full. I’ve enjoyed this one many times since I bought it. I love the eclectic mix of glitter, the texture created by the fine sparkles, and the edgy color combination. I’m sad that I’m already running so low on it; I knew I should have bought a backup bottle when it was on sale.

The Scoobies was part of BEGL’s Once More With Feeling collection, a set of polishes inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As the collection was mostly holos, I admit I didn’t grab too many of those colors. I kinda regret it now. As you might guess, this collection has been discontinued, and the last bottle of The Scoobies sold a month or so ago. Check the BEGL store anyway, you might see something you’ll like.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Custom Gin and Tonic

Posted on March 15, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

I’m sharing with you today one of the most unique polishes in my collection. At some point, perhaps intoxicated, I thought that a nail polish mimicking the crisp, bubbly appearance of gin and tonic would be a really cool thing to have. I thought about making it myself, but it would be many months before I started blending my own polishes, so I commissioned a custom polish from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer. I don’t think it could have come out any better. I’m wearing two coats of Gin and Tonic over L’oreal’s Broadway Boogie and The New Black’s Black, as well as two coats of Seche Vite.

Gin and Tonic is a glitter topper with loads of iridescent glitter, white dots in large and small sizes, and green crescent moons. The combination really does evoke the effervesence of the cocktail. I forget whose idea the moons as limes was, but it was totally genius.

I’ve worn this before over nudes, but I wanted to try over black this time, just to see what it looked like. I’m not liking it as much. The iridescent glitters look awesome on the black, but the moon limes get lost. Besides, the iridescents aren’t really the point anyway. They’re meant to add a little something extra to the nail without totally taking it over. I guess this means it’s not as versatile as it could be, but it suits my purpose and my tastes well enough. The only problem with it is that it makes me wish I was drinking a gin and tonic.

Manicure Monday: Neutrals and Glitter

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

This week’s Manicure Monday is a masterpiece. No really, I am way too excited about how this turned out. I had my doubts about pairing these two polishes, but they look so fantastic together that I can’t believe I didn’t do this sooner. We’re looking at Sally Hansen’s Natural Sienna and Digital Nails’s Xiao Mei Mei. I have on two coats of each, topped by two coats of Seche Vite top coat.

Natural Sienna is a shimmery, chocolatey brown that I like a lot more than I thought I would. I always skip over browns and neutrals because they’re not bold enough for me. I grabbed this one out of a sale bin thinking “Meh, why not”, and I like it a lot. The formula is thin but covers well. My only complaint here is the brush; it’s one of those wide brushes that’s almost as wide as my whole nail, and I tend to make a mess with those. Otherwise, this one is totally worth the two dollars I paid for it.

Digital Nails’s Xiao Mei Mei kind of steals the show here. Xiao Mei Mei is a nude crelly with orange, pink, and brown glitters. As you can see, it’s very sheer; my nail line is visible if you’re looking for it. I don’t even care about that. What I love about this is its simplicity; there’s just enough color to support the glitter, and it never detracts from it. Bonus: the nude would be my perfect nude if it didn’t have any glitter in it. It blends perfectly with my natural nail color.

My favorite thing, though, is how well these colors pair. The neutrals, the deep colors, the glitters, they all complement each other so well. Totally gorgeous.

I didn’t see Natural Sienna on Sally Hansen’s website, so it may be discontinued. However, Digital Nails has Xiao Mei Mei in stock, so grab it while you can.

Manicure Monday: Scattered Glitter Over Khaki

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Stacie Wacie

This week’s manicure is a gorgeous one. I have on Julep’s Kennedy and China Glaze’s Scattered and Tattered. Note to self: do more glitter and nude pairings.

Kennedy is a khaki creme. The last time I used it, I compared it to unblended foundation. There’s just not a lot to say about this one. It’s far too yellow to be a nude, at least not on me; I’m sure this is a perfect nude for someone. The formula is standard Julep fare; the first coat was thin and streaky, but the second evened everything out. I think I still had a slightly visible nail line, but the glitter covers it well. Overall, despite the odd choice khaki is for a nail color, I like it. Before I put the glitter over it, my nails look lengthened and smooth. It’s like nail mascara.

The real star here is Scattered and Tattered. This is a clear base full of black and red hexes and slices. I’m wearing one coat here, and you can see that it applies well and the glitter spreads evenly. I love these China Glaze glitters so much that I bought as many as my boyfriend would let me. I think there’s only one I’m missing, and once I figure out which one it is, I’m going to grab it. I just really love this look. It’s part pop art, part graffiti, part granite countertop. I definitely want to do this again.

Julep's Kennedy and China Glaze's Scattered and Tattered

Julep’s Kennedy and China Glaze’s Scattered and Tattered

Manicure Monday: Last Mani of 2013 Green Gradient Celebration

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Stacie Wacie

Happy almost-New Year! I accidentally have sparkly nails for New Year’s Eve!

I used three polishes to get this look. LA Colors’s La Creme is the pale nude you see at the bottom of the gradient there. Man, was it impossible. It was very sheer; the first coat was horribly streaky, and the second coat didn’t even anything out. The lacquer itself was very thin and tended to pool in my cuticles. It was only until I started sponging on the gradient that the color began to even out. Because this foundation coat was so uneven, the gradient took more time and more polish to get right. Usually I can get away with two rounds of sponging; some of these nails took four. The glitter here, the real star of the manicure, is Sinful Colors’s Call You Later. I prefer those big in-your-face glitters to these fine ones, but as long as it sparkles, it’s good in my book.

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LA Colors’s La Creme, Revlon’s Posh, Sinful Colors’s Call You Later

Stay tuned for a New Year’s Eve post tonight or tomorrow. Spoilers: my New Year’s resolution is to blog about more than nail polish.

Manicure Monday: Orange and Nude Sparkly Starburst

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Stacie Wacie

I feel like orange is a color that doesn’t get enough play. I only have a few orange pieces of clothing, and I only have a few bottles of orange polish, even though I have hundreds of bottles of polish. I guess it’s unpopular because it’s so bright and attracts a lot of attention, but that’s exactly why I like it.

This week, I made a starburst thing with orange polish over striping tape, nude, and holographic glitter. It was inspired by a stamp plate I have, with stripes fanning out over the nail. However, in all my test runs, I absolutely could not get the stamped design to cover my nail the way I wanted, so I tried it with the striping tape. I like this look, but I wish I’d used more pieces to make more lines, to make the color and glitter beneath slightly more noticeable.

Intentionally blurred to show off the glitter.

Intentionally blurred to show off the glitter.

I worked with some great colors with week. The nude is Naked, from Urban Decay’s (now very rare) Naked nail set. I hated neutral nail colors before I got this set. Naked is such a subtle but gorgeous shade that I felt a little bad that I was going to cover up most of it. I added the Fairy Dust glitter on impulse; I thought a soft sparkle would make the nude lines stand out more. The orange is an Insta-Dri color called Heat Flash, and it’s fantastic. I got great coverage in one quick drying coat.

Urban Decay's Naked, China Glaze's Fairy Dust, Sally Hansen's Heat Flash

Urban Decay’s Naked, China Glaze’s Fairy Dust, Sally Hansen’s Heat Flash

I love this mani, but there are a few things I’ll do differently next time. First, I want to strike a higher contrast between the colors. I really want the starburst pattern to stand out, so I’ll use black over white or light blue over dark blue. Next, I’ll use more tape and add more lines. Maybe I’ll add rhinestones to the vertices to give it something extra. For now though, I’m pleased.

Manicure Monday: Gold and Nude Half-Moons

Posted on July 1, 2013 by Stacie Wacie

So I’m back from my work trip, and it’s time for another manicure.

My long, beautiful nails made it through the conference, but broke one after the other when I got home. My index fingernail tore off while I was washing my hair Saturday morning. I broke a thumbnail turning the crank to shut a window. I broke the other thumbnail cleaning for a surprise houseguest. I gave up and preventively cut all the rest. I miss them. I miss how they made my fingers look long and slender. However, my hands are much more functional now.

Julep's Kennedy, LA Colors' Cactus, Revlon's matte top coat

Julep’s Kennedy, LA Colors’ Cactus, Revlon’s matte top coat

I’m not sure if I wrote about this yet, and I’m kind of ashamed to admit it, but I’ve bought almost a hundred bottles of polish in the last month or two. The nude (maybe it’s a khaki) was one of the newest ones; I was totally out of control and bought the whole Julep set because I couldn’t choose just one Maven box. It reminds me of unblended foundation. The burnished gold came from my initial dollar store haul when I was first living on my own.

For whatever reason, I have some major tip wear, and I only did them yesterday. I blame the matte top coat.

Manicure Monday: Nude and Gold Gradient

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Stacie Wacie

So my nail disaster this week was a rare event: I emptied a bottle.

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Satin Sheets.

I’d had this bottle for a while, almost ten years probably. I got the whole collection of them when Walgreens had them on sale for two dollars a bottle, once upon a time. I’d been using them occasionally ever since, just wearing them over my naked nails to give them a hint of shimmer. When I got into nail art and multiple colors, I struggled to find a way to preserve that natural, minimal look while still getting some attention. I tried to work it into this gradient, and towards the end, I didn’t have enough polish left to finish it. I had my heart set on this gradient, so I took it off and started with another color. I kind of feel like a jerk. Not only did I run out of the polish, I wasted what I had left. Sorry, Satin Sheets. You still had a good run.

So I started over with a crème nude. I still wonder what it would have looked like with the sheer white, but I think I like what I ended up with. The first coat of Whipped was so sheer that I thought it was a jelly, but turned opaque with another couple of coats. Rare and Radiant has a lovely green color in the bottle, but appears mostly gold on the nails. It also appears I didn’t blend my pinky nail very well.

I was trying to get the green shimmer to show up. It did a little bit.

I was trying to get the green shimmer to show up. It did a little bit.

I like gradients. I like them a lot. I feel like it’s the best look I can get with minimal effort. I always manage to screw up taping, dotting is tedious and prone to mistakes, I don’t have the patience for freehanding anything. With gradients, I just dab a sponge on my nail, and that’s it. I still get to try surprising color combinations; I just don’t have to work as hard for them.

Bonder, Whipped, Rare and Radiant, Out the Door

Bonder, Whipped, Rare and Radiant, Out the Door

Now I’m off to recount my polish bottles. I was somewhere around 250 the last time I checked, but I need to make sure that’s accurate, especially now since I’m down one.

Manicure Monday: Neutral Gradient

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Stacie Wacie

Here’s another entry into the “I thought this would turn out better” files. Generally, I like the colors, and I always like how my gradients turn out, but I kind of expected more from this color combination. The brown is too cool for the nude, and looks purple in direct sunlight. That’s not really what I was going for.

This is another case where the quality of my polish is far lower than the quality of my top coat. I don’t even know the name of that Maybelline polish; it lost its labels long ago. I think I got it in that same outlet shopping excursion as last week’s old-as-dirt Maybelline polish; it’s all goopy and thick and was hard to coax out of the bottle. I used Seche Clear this week because I couldn’t get the Bonder bottle open. I bought Seche Clear by accident, thinking it was Seche Vite, but it’s not a bad base coat. This is the first time I’ve used it in a full manicure.

I don’t typically do neutral colors like this. They’re understated and don’t pull much attention, completely the opposite of my personality. I keep telling myself that nudes and neutrals don’t have to be boring, and even though it’s a nice change from the bright colors I usually wear, it doesn’t really feel right. One thing I do like is how shiny they are. I can see myself in them. Thanks, Seche Vite.