Tag Archives: red

Manicure Monday: Nail Art Ripper-Offer

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For today’s Manicure Monday, I attempted some actual nail art! A couple of weeks ago, Reddit user chill_out_dont_pout did an adorable mani with geometric shapes and negative space, and I’m totally biting her style. For my copycat mani, I used OPI’s Metallic 4 Life and Essie’s Toggle to the Top for the stripes, Fantasy Makers’s Night Glow as the base, and Seche Vite as my top coat.

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It’s been a really long time since I’ve done anything this intricate and time-consuming. For the past several Manicure Mondays, I’ve just been laying glitter down on accent nails and calling it a day. Inspired by that Reddit post, I decided I would buckle down and do some real nail art. I had the time, and I wanted to use this glow-in-the-dark polish but had no ideas for it, so it was a perfect coincidence. It was so easy to make this pattern my own; I used two glitter jelly polishes I really loved, made one edge longer than the other (by accident) and added rhinestones to the vertices. In all, I probably spent three hours or more on this look.

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Of course, I could have done a better job. My lines aren’t clean or even, and Night Glow was actually a big mess to work with; it was goopy and kind of dried out, so I put some thinner in. It wasn’t enough. I put in more. Even though it felt dry to the touch, I guess the under-layers never fully dried, because even though I waited an hour before I started taping, I still pulled up polish. Thankfully, thanks to a stealthy fourth coat of Night Glow and the power of Seche Vite, you can barely tell!

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Night Glow, as you might have guessed, glows in the dark. However, I am terrible at glow-in-the-dark nail photography, so here are some glow fails.

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Thanks again to /u/chill_out_dont_pout for the nail inspiration!

Swatch Sunday: Julep’s America

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Happy Sunday! My swatch today is a patrotic offering from Julep, simply called America. There’s a part of me weirded out by shows of patrotism like this, especially between holidays, but it’s so glittery and flashy that I almost don’t care. For the post today, I’m wearing three coats of America; the first six photos are taken without top coat. All photos were taken in direct sunlight outdoors.

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America is a clear-based glitter topper that consists mostly of fine red metallic glitter, but also contains larger blue and silver glitters and silver stars. Application wasn’t bad; the product consistency was pretty thick, edging on goopy; three coats of goopy polish isn’t fun for anybody. After it dried, which was about five minutes after each coat, it left a finely-textured crust of glitter. I did add two coats of Rica‘s Glossy Glam to smooth it out, which looked fantastic, but added yet another thick layer of stuff to my nails. The tips shrank up right away.

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Patriotic or not, this is a gorgeous polish. The red glitters shine like ruby slippers, and the blues and silver stars are bonus. In fact, it’s entirely possible I bought this just because it has star glitter in it. With or without top coat, this polish is very shiny, especially in sunlight. It’s just a ton of fun to wear. The following photos were taken with top coat.

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America may be discontinued by Julep, as it’s out of stock on their website.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: I Love Nail Polish’s Nostalgia

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As promised, here is the second Swatch Sunday post for today. With this, I’m all caught up. This polish is a doozy, so make sure you’re sitting down! I’m wearing three coats of I Love Nail Polish‘s Nostalgia with one coat of Rica‘s Glossy Glam top coat.

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Nostalgia is a deep pink-to-deep green multichrome polish. The color shift is very dramatic and occurs easily in any lighting condition. The color turns dark green when frontlit, rosy or red when backlit. Between the extremes is a lovely gold. Application was easy; the product is just the right consistency and went on smoothly. It dries quickly with a metallic finish. I added topcoat for extra shine, but it doesn’t detract from the polish’s original texture.

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I gotta tell you, this is the first time I’ve used a multichrome, and I am in awe. I’ve never worn anything like this before. It’s the coolest thing. I could swirl my fingers around all day and see a color I haven’t seen yet and I would never get tired of looking. I don’t even know what else to say about it. It’s beautiful and awesome.

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ILNP’s multichromes have been around for a while now, and I know there are other companies doing similar things, but I’m not completely over this look. This is easily the most exciting thing I’ve put on my nails in a really long time.

Nostalgia and other I Love Nail Polish polishes are available at ilnp.com.

I bought this polish myself.

Weekday Swatch: Formula X for Sephora’s Pyrotechnic

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It’s another weekday swatch! This is the last one until I’m caught up. Pyrotechnic from Formula X for Sephora is the last of my red manis from last week. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Rica‘s Glossy Glam top coat.

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Pyrotechnic is basic red creme. It was easy to apply; the mini brush was just the right size for my small nail beds, but the square top was hard to hold at times, and though it comes off, the small brush cap underneath wasn’t any more comfortable. The polish itself is a nice consistency, on the thinner side, but still easy to work with. The first coat can be sheer, but coverage builds with multiple coats. It dries with a glossy finish, and with good drying times.

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I got this mini of Pyrotechnic as a 100-point reward from Sephora. I love red cremes to death, but I rarely buy them because I have so many already. At this time, the Formula X polishes were just coming out, and because I was curious about them, I went for it. Compared to Sephora by OPI, I don’t really think they’re much different. I love the bottle and packaging, and I definitely like it better than Sephora by OPI’s weirdly-shaped bottles, but I think the polish itself is pretty comparable. Also, I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: if you’re really in the market for a red creme, this might be a nice one to have, but if you don’t want to drop ten dollars on a nail polish, it’s totally fine to look elsewhere.

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I admit that this mani looks a little rough. I did it Friday night, I think, at 1:30 in the morning. I’d spent the week working a booth at a trade show, and by Friday, I was a few days in and still had a few days to go. It was a rush job; I was exhausted and I was trying to get my nails done as quickly as possible so I could sleep. It’s only now that I’m seeing the pictures do I realize what a crap job I did. I mean, they looked great in person, but the pictures just make it look sad. The stained cuticles in particular, I promise they weren’t really that red. That’s all on me and my sleepiness and not the polish’s fault.

Pyrotechnic is available from Sephora and sephora.com.

I bought this polish myself.

Weekday Swatch: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype HFT 1.1

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I know I don’t usually post in the middle of the week, or this late at night, but I have a couple of swatches I did for last weekend and didn’t have time to post because of work stuff. For what would have been last Swatch Saturday, this is Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype HFT 1.1. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

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Prototype HFT 1.1 is an orange-red jelly with metallic and holographic gold glitters in various shapes and sizes, as well as some red dot glitters. The formula was good; it was a little on the thick side, but was still easy to work with. The glitters were pretty sparse, I didn’t get a lot on every nail, but the ones I did get are pretty good. The jelly opacity is good, too; it was able to cover my nail lines without obscuring the glitters. It dried quickly to a glossy finish; top coat really brought out the additional effects of the glitters.

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This is the second of three red manicures I did last week, and even though I had a ton of fun wearing all of them, this was my favorite. It has so much pop, so much bold color; my skintone really sets it off. The glitter emphasizes the color without detracting from it. I got tons of compliments for it. It was definitely a blast to wear.

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As HFT 1.1 was a prototype polish, there is only one bottle and I have it. Other Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers are available from their shop.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Red Static

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Manicure Monday!! I’m posting super-late because real-life not-nails stuff is a little more important right now. Updates this week, unfortunately, will be late if they come at all, and I do apologize. For right now though, let’s look at my new nails! I’m wearing Julep’s Rose and Nails Inc.’s Belgravia Place, each at three coats, topped with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

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Julep’s Rose is a gorgeous creme whose color I can never quite pin down. Is it red? Is it pink? Is it the sweetest, ripest, juiciest raspberry? I have no idea, but I love the polish. It had good coverage at one coat, which I find unusual for a Julep creme. It also had a beautiful glossy shine, which I think the top coat dulled quite a bit.

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Belgravia Place is a clear glitter topper with red and silver holo bar glitters. I decided after my bar glitter swatch on Sunday that I would wear this one as a full coverage glitter. I did get full coverage, but not without a price; I couldn’t get the tips smooth and free of jagged glitter, no matter what I did. I pulled away the offending bits with tweezers, I trimmed them with cuticle scissors, I filed down and wrapped with top coat whatever was left, and I’m still getting things snagged on them. You can see on my ring finger where some fiber of who-knows-what is still stuck to it. So frustrating.

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I love both of these polishes, but I don’t feel good about this combo. In my office, Rose looks like a very red creme, but in other lighting conditions, it looks more pink, and the combo isn’t as cohesive as I’d have liked. I also expected something else from the glitter, like more red. I definitely thought I would have two very red shades here, and neither of them really lived up to my expectations. I don’t blame the polishes here, but I am a little disappointed, especially with all the work I spent trying to get this glitter to not cut me every time I scratch myself.

You can find Julep’s Rose and Nail Inc.’s Belgravia Place wherever these brands are sold. I happened to get mine from the Julep website and Sephora, respectively.

I bought these polishes myself.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Toasty Warm

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It’s another winter polish this Swatch Saturday! This is the next-to-last of the Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer winter collection from 2013. This is Toasty Warm; I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Alter Ego‘s She Shines top coat.

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Toasty Warm is a deep and rich blackened red with red glitters. It applies very easily; it was almost opaque on the first coat, and had perfect coverage on coat two. The glitters are suspended well in the polish; there’s no digging for it or struggling to even it out. The polish consistency was just right, not too thick or thin. It was pretty quick-drying; it reached its dried satin finish in about five minutes. I added a top coat to really bring out the beautiful amber shimmer.

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I have a deep affinity for these dark and vampy colors; they’re so dramatic and striking. They also shine like crazy with top coat on. I love this a ton. I wore these colors a ton when I was younger, because I wasn’t allowed to wear black nail polish. Every time I wear a deep color like this, 13-year-old me is giving almost-30 me a high-five.

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It’s a little weird wearing it this time of the year, though. As I write this, it is 83 degrees outside. It’s sunny, it’s warm, it’s gorgeous. “Toasty warm” doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel right now; right now, I do not have socks on. I do not have on a hoodie or long pants. It did not take my 13 year old LCD monitor 25 minutes to warm up. This is the beginning of the year for me, when I can crawl out of my flannel and wool cocoon and bask in the sunlight. Unfortunately, I understand that a lot of you got snow on the first day of spring. I am so sorry. Hang in there, my northern buddies. This too shall pass.

Toasty Warm is long discontinued and is no longer for sale from the maker. Other Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquers are available from their shop.

This polish was a gift. It was not sent by the maker, nor was it sent for review or evaluation.

Swatch Sunday: Emerald & Ash’s California Stop

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Swatch Sunday comes to you in a more timely manner today. I’m excited to show you California Stop from Emerald & Ash. It’s from their textured Road Trip collection. I’m wearing three coats without top coat.

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California Stop is a brick red jelly with shimmer and reflective silica beads; the silica beads are what gives this polish its texture. The texture is fine and still pretty smooth to the touch. I thought the drying times were good; my nails were bathroom dry in about fifteen minutes. Applying it was tricky; with all the beads and reflective goodness in it, the brush widened quite a bit, and was wider than my smaller nails. This made application on my thumb really nice, but made a mess on my pinky. I don’t blame this on the polish, just on my small hands. I got perfect opacity in three coats, though those who use lighter coats may need more.

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Inspired by the ever-present red stop sign, this color is the exact shade of sun-aged red found in signs all over my neighborhood. To me, it evokes childhood memories of being in the car with my mother, driving around in my grandparents’ suburb, seeing the faded signs, the palm trees in every yard, and the sun in my eyes. Now that I think about it, that car was the same color as those signs.

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The polishes in the Road Trip collection were the first textured indie polishes I’d ever seen, and I just thought they were really cool. They aren’t as coarse as mass-market textures, and they are beautiful in their shimmery monochrome simplicity. Also, at the time, I was getting ready to embark on a two week long road trip with a friend, so I was all about road tripping. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get any of the polishes until recently, and by then, three of the seven were out of stock. It’s a shame, because there really isn’t anything else like them in my collection.

The reflective effect works best in dimmer, direct light, so in bright midday sunshine, it’s not as obvious. Out here, you get the shimmer and color of the polish, but not the reflective effect.

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California Stop, as well as three of the other Road Trip collection polishes, are still in stock on the Emerald & Ash website. They are clearance priced, so it’s likely quantities are limited.

I bought this polish myself.

Swatch Sunday: Disney Villains Varnish in Cruella de Vil

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For Swatch Sunday this week, I got to do something I rarely get to do: wear a red creme polish. I know I’ve talked lot about how red cremes are my favorite, but I don’t wear them often. I’m glad one turned up in the queue. This is Cruella de Vil from the Disney Villains Varnish set. I’m wearing three coats plus one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro.

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Cruella de Vil is a pretty run-of-the-mill red creme. What you see is what you get with it. The consistency was just right; it was wet enough that it was easy to apply, but not enough to flood into cuticles. It dries quickly to a glossy finish; I added top coat to make it super-glassy and to protect the color. The one thing that sucks about this polish, though, is how smudgy it gets. You’ll notice the stained cuticles; it also stained my cleanup brush. It also would have turned my top coat red if I didn’t wipe the brush off between applications. My cuticles actually look worse in photos than they do in real life, but it’s still frustrating to look at. I spent ages trying to get all the red off and it just wouldn’t come off. That’s a pretty big issue for me, but other than that, this is a lovely red creme.

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Cruella de Vil is no stranger to the blog; it was part of the first-ever mani I posted, and has been featured in a few others since. I love the polish, but to tell the truth, it’s not really any different from any other red creme. There are probably others that aren’t as smudgy, but considering price (this came in a set that was pretty pricy, if I recall correctly), quality, and availability, this one isn’t worth seeking out unless you really love the Disney Villains motif.

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The Disney Villains Varnish set has been discontinued, unfortunately, so this polish and its sisters are no longer for sale. I bet you can find them if you look hard enough, though.

This polish was a gift, but was not sent for review or critique.

Swatch Sunday: Digital Nails’s Run You Clever Boy

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This is exciting! For today’s edition of Swatch Sunday, I’m wearing one of my first-ever Digital Nails polishes. I got this little mini bottle of Run You Clever Boy with the very first order I ever placed. I’m wearing three coats of it with one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

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Run You Clever Boy is described by Digital Nails as an “oxblood jelly polish with … green to red shifting microflake pigment”. I found this polish very easy to apply; as it is a jelly, the first coat wasn’t perfect, but I had perfect opacity at two coats. The maker warns that two coats will still show a visible nail line, but I didn’t encounter that. Despite that, it’s still really squishy. It dries very quickly and with a glossy finish. You’ll still want a top coat to bring out this crazy-awesome shift and additional jelly shine.

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I adore this polish. I feel pretty close to it, as it’s one of my first-ever indies, but I’ve only worn it twice, including now. There’s just nothing else like this in my collection. Depending on where the light is, it looks like two totally different polishes. Facing the light, the shifting pigment is red and blends right into the jelly base, giving it a beautiful ruby sparkle. When the light is behind me, the green pops out and the wow starts. It’s way more fun than it should be to keep moving my nails around to watch the shift. It’s just way too cool.

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Unfortunately, Run You Clever Boy was recently discontinued. I know, I’m right there with you; it was gone before I had a chance to get my own full-size bottle. It is an absolute tragedy.

I bought this polish myself.