Tag Archives: Sinful Colors

Nails of the Week: Pool Blue

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Hi! So it’s been a minute since I posted last. I hit a busy spell at work, on top of my other projects, blogging was the thing that fell to the wayside. I have no idea how you girls with full-time jobs and children keep your blogs going so regularly! As you can see, a lot has happened to my nails since my last post. I broke a nail at work (rip) and had to cut them all down. That was a couple weeks ago. They were once shorter than this. So, to celebrate my return, here’s some nails! I used Sinful Colors’s Love Nails and Wacie Nail Company’s Wintrella.

Love Nails is an old Sinful Classic. I didn’t capture it so well in these photos, but it has this icy blue glow to it that’s absolutely beautiful. One downside is that it’s kind of on the sheer side; I’m wearing three coats here and my visible nail lines were only just covered. Regardless, it’s a polish I’ve had for years, and I love digging oldies out of the vault.

Wintrella is a glitter topper I made myself! It was one of my early attempts at polish making, and is essentially every blue and silver glitter I had at my disposal. I love icy glitters on icy blue, and this is a look that could work in the fall just as well as the summer.

Love Nails might have been discontinued by Sinful Colors; other SC polishes are sold in stores. I have four bottles of Wintrella, let me know if you want one!

I bought Love Nails myself.
I made Wintrella.

Manicure Monday: Purple for Days

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Hi, reader! My look this week is a classic gradient with glitter over it. For the gradient, I used K*Sea Gale’s Nails‘s Wisdom and KBShimmer‘s Excuse Me, I’m VIPurple; the glitter is Sinful Colors’s I Miss You.

So this is a look I love to do when I know I’m using a glitter topper. The gradient adds a little bit of complexity to the base. There’s nothing wrong with a solid base and glitter, because that’s a great look, too. I like the gradient because it’s a really subtle effect.

Widsom and Excuse Me, I’m VIPurple were both holos, and in the photos, you can’t really even tell. The glitter completely obscures the holo effect. That was a little disappointing, but the glitter is able to stand out, and that’s what’s really important to me. It’s a simple look, but there’s still something going on.

K*Sea Gale’s Nails is now Northern Nail Polish; Wisdom is still available on their website. Excuse Me, I’m VIPurple was an Indie Shop Atlanta 2017 VIP exclusive; other KBShimmer polishes can be found on their website. I Miss You was discontinued by Sinful Colors; other Sinful Colors polishes are sold in stores.

I bought two of these polishes myself.
I won Wisdom in a giveaway.

Manicure Monday: Reverse Monet

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Happy Monday, reader! My look today is an experiment; I’m using a fan brush for nail art for the first time ever! I bought a cheap drugstore nail art kit just for the fan brush in it, and I’ve finally gotten around to using it. For this look, I used a faded bottle of Sinful Colors’s Dream On, Kleancolor’s Neon Orange, and Island Girl’s Aloha Paradise.

I started this look off with a good base of Dream On. Like I said, this polish faded dramatically. It was once a vibrant neon purple that became the coral you (kind of) see here. Even when I got this polish, I wasn’t a huge fan of it; it takes all of three coats to cover all the streaks and leaves behind a cheap-looking flat finish. I love Sinful Colors polishes to death but this one was never my favorite.

I originally didn’t include Aloha Paradise in this look, but ultimately, the look needed something for contrast. Dream On and Neon Orange are both on the sheer side; obviously the coverage builds, but for nail art, something with good coverage is ideal. It didn’t look like anything without the teal to liven it up. After that, I just kind of brushed the polish back and forth over the nail until I started getting dry brush strokes. It looks amazing up close like this when you can see the brushy details, but from far away, it just looks like a brown mess.

Sinful Colors and Kleancolor are sold in stores. I found Island Girl in Hawaii.

I bought these polishes myself.

Manicure Monday: Purple and Radioactive

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Happy Monday, Reader! I’m so glad to be back, and your reception to the new posts has been absolutely wonderful. It’s almost like I never took a break! For this week’s Manicure Monday, I’m wearing Digital Nails‘s Curie-oser and Curiouser over Sinful Colors’s Verbena.

Curie-oser and Curiouser is, of course, a polish made in honor of Marie Curie, the scientist most known for her pioneering research on radioactivity. The polish name is an Alice in Wonderland reference. This is truly a Digital Nails polish. The white and black glitters are the most obvious and true-to-life in these photos, but the finer glitters, the fuchsia and aqua, definitely look bigger in the photos. It’s not a wild indie glitter mix, but it’s very pretty and has quite a lot of dimension thanks to the finer glitters.

Verbena is the perfect companion to the glitter topper. I really agonized over what purple polish to pair with the glitter, and had my regular reminder that no matter how much polish I have, I’m never going to have every single one I need. Luckily, I found Verbena at the bottom of the stash drawer; my friend had given me a bag of polish she didn’t want, I just tucked it away, and rediscovered it while I was putting this manicure together. These two colors couldn’t go better together, and I’m so happy I found it, and grateful to my friend for giving it to me.

One more word about Curie-oser and Curiouser: it glows in the dark. I mean, if you’re going to make a polish for Marie Curie, you’re basically required to glow in the dark. I’m wearing two coats of it here, so there’s a very strong glow. I can’t wait to go to bed an annoy my boyfriend with my nails!

Verbena looks like it might have been discontinued by Sinful Colors. Digital Nails is currently on a break.

I bought these polishes myself. One with money, and one with friendship.

Birthday Mani Digest 2016

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Welcome back, reader! As you know, I took a bit of time off these past couple weeks to celebrate my birthday. It was only supposed to be one, but the arrival of Hurricane Matthew led to everything being postponed. That madness is now over, and now I’d like to show you what my nails were up to during the downtime. If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen most of these lovelies already. I promise I will not be mentioning my birthday again until next October.

Birthday Mani #1: Pink Frosting With Sprinkles
Essie’s Good Morning Hope with Lynnderella‘s Icing Glass Garland

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The first birthday mani was a fun warm-up with an untried Lynnderella topper. I had a lot of fun wearing this; Icing Glass Garland was a lot more interesting in real life, however. There is a lot of iridescence and color-changiness. It doesn’t look like much over Good Morning Hope, but it still made for a fun and dainty look.

Birthday Mani #2: Cupcakes
Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer‘s Eleanor, China Glaze’s White on White, LA Girl’s Black, Orly’s Water Lily, P2’s French Kiss, Ciate’s Pillow Fight

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I always do cupcakes to celebrate my birthday, and this year’s mani was actually done in the middle of the hurricane. Even though the hurricane was an unwelcome birthday event (thanks, universe), we still had a good time. A lot of our friends live in evacuation zones and came to stay with us when the call came to evacuate, so we still had a party and ate food and played board games. It was not the worst experience.

Birthday Mani #3: Hello Dalek
Digital Nails‘s Hello Dalek

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This was last week’s Manicure Monday post, but I’m including it for continuity. Monday was my actual birthday, and it was a ton of fun to wear a party on my nails as well. When your birthday is on the worst day of the week, you have to party any way you can.

Birthday Mani #4: Glitter Frosting
Digital Nails’s Pandorica, Model City Polish‘s Sheena is a Punk Rocker, Wacie Nail Company’s Your Daring Escape, Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Walk Through the Tulips
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This look includes the polish I made myself for my birthday! Your Daring Escape is a silvery-white holo with holographic glitter and pearl pink and metallic silver flakies. I wanted a holo-meets-glitter-gradient look, but as the sun never came out that day, a lot of the beauty got lost.

Birthday Mani #5: Stripey Blue Frosting
Literary Lacquers‘s Bluestocking Romance, Hard Candy’s Sky, China Glaze’s Mosaic Madness

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This was the mani I got the most compliments on for sure. I’d always wanted to do this moving stripes design, and this was the day I felt like dealing with the striping tape. It came out so much better than I expected it would, though I’m a little disappointed it smeared a little with the top coat. I’d totally do it again.

I also want to take this time to share some birthday manis of years past. I realized at some point that I’ve been doing the annual cupcake mani for five years now; the annual cupcake mani predates wacie.com, even. I love doing little retrospectives like this; if I’ve learned anything from this, it’s that my cupcake painting skills have gotten only marginally better.

2012
Colors Unknown, but probably all Sinful Colors

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Look at this. I almost don’t even want to share this, but we all have to start somewhere, right? I do remember waiting practically all day for the dots to dry, and they still smudged when I put the top down. Not only was this before wacie.com came to be, but I think it was also before the days of quick-dry top coat. Those dark, dark days.

2013
Sally Hansen’s Mint Sprint, OPI’s Eurso Euro, P2’s French Kiss, Sally Hansen’s Hard to Get, Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Floppy. Hoppy. BUNNIES!

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These look more like mashed potatoes than cupcakes. This was my first birthday post on the blog. Going back and reading the post, about it, I completely forgot all that stuff happened! I do remember doing this mani in Boyfriend’s tiny Atlanta living space, trying not to bother him and his roommate with nail polish smell. I got acetone on his desk and ruined the varnish. I still feel bad about that.

2014
Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Dawn Breaks and If You’re a Seascape, Indigo Bananas‘s Moonlight (Clair de Lune), P2’s French Kiss, American Apparel’s Neon Pink, Essie’s Fiji, Ciate’s Candy Floss

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That P2 polish finds its way into every birthday mani, doesn’t it? I loved this look a lot. I totally wore it to a fancy restaurant. Here’s the post!

2015
Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Ocean Warmed by the Sun, Digital Nails’s Purple Reign, Nails Inc.’s Pudding Lane, Hot Topic’s Light Blue, Estee Lauder’s Black Plum

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This is last year’s mani, and the mani that celebrates the big 3-0. This was also one of the last photos I took on my phone before Drunk Me left it on top of the car and broke the camera forever. Good times!

Again, a huge thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday; I cherish all of you! Thank you so much for tolerating all of the birthday posts.

Pretty sure I bought all these polishes myself.

Swatch Sunday: Sinful Color’s Timbleberry

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Welcome back to Swatch Sunday! Even though I’ve worn a lot of Sinful Colors polishes over the years, I’ve never had the chance to dedicate a whole post to one. My Sinfuls are my workhorses; they’re always there for me when I need a basic creme or a dainty iridescent glitter. Timbleberry is the perfect example of a Sinful creme; it has great coverage, it watermarbles, and it’s up to whatever task you have. For these photos, I’m wearing three coats of Timbleberry with one coat of Seche Vite.

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Timbleberry is a bright pink creme polish. Application was good; the first coat was nearly opaque, and the second brought it up to full opacity. The product consistency was still smooth and workable, despite the polish’s age. It dries quickly and with a glossy finish; I used top coat for extra shine and protection.

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Timbleberry is one of the oldest polishes in my collection, and it’s been a part of a lot of different nail looks, though only a couple have been on the blog so far. It’s a pretty unique shade for being a creme; it’s a bright pink, but it’s juicy, warm, and in some lighting conditions, it’s almost red. It’s a great color.

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Unfortunately, Timbleberry has been discontinued by Sinful Colors. Other Sinfuls are available nationwide.

I bought this polish myself.

Manicure Monday: Cool Raspberry Swirl With Sprinkles

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Happy Monday, reader! Today’s look was done because I realized I don’t do watermarbles as often as I should. I used Sinful Colors’s Timbleberry (pink) as the base, Essie’s I’m Addicted (darker blue) and Mint Candy Apple (lighter blue) in the marble, and Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer Prototype PCFS 1.0 as the glitter accent.

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In a future post, you’ll read about the lack of watermarbling on the blog; basically, when I plan a mani, I’m thinking about what glitters will pair best with cremes, and other cremes are rarely considered. The fact is, I love watermarbling, and sometimes it’s just so hard to find a cool color combination, and also formulas that lend themselves to the process; nothing’s worse than discovering a polish doesn’t spread over the water and knowing I’ve wasted polish. I’d been planning to use Timbleberry for a while, and I had a Lynnderella topper set aside for it. At the last minute, I decided that I was going to watermarble instead.

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Mint Candy Apple and I’m Addicted were chosen because they just happened to be on my desk. I have them set aside for swatching some glitter toppers in the future. I saw them alongside Timbleberry and thought “Why not?”. The final outcome looks a little like a rocket pop, and more than a little like toothpaste, but I’m really happy with how it came out. My top coat smudged it a bit, but this is barely visible in real life.

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The glitter was the very last piece the look needed, and to me, it brings the whole thing together. I couldn’t stand the thought of not using any glitter, so I picked this one. The colors aren’t a spot-on match, but it’s pretty close. Overall, I think this ended up being a pretty cool look; you’ve got the bright-but-not-totally-neon bright pink, the cool blues, and a tiny bit of sparkle. I also lucked out having the bow be the exact same color as the blue in the mani.

Outdoor photo time! There’s no large difference among the colors here, but I got some okay macros. Try to see past the smudges. I also got a photo of a nail on my right hand; I always get the best swirls on the nails on the other side of the camera.

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Timbleberry might be discontinued by Sinful Colors. I’m Addicted also may have been discontinued by Essie. Both brands are sold in stores nationwide. Prototype PCFS 1.0 is a Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer one-off; other BEGL polishes are sold in their online shop. My bow charm is from Claire’s.

I bought these products myself.

Manicure Monday: California Pearl

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Happy Monday, reader! Today’s mani was done with Sinful Colors’s San Francisco and Lynnderella‘s Chef Kitty. I was a little disappointed with how sheer San Francisco went on, but I still I got a pretty cool look. More photos below!

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San Francisco is a polish I’ve had a long time; you can tell in the photos that the bottle is only about half full. I’ve had it for many years, and it was one of the first few I bought when I was just starting my collection. That said, I knew to expect sheer coverage from this polish, but I forgot just how sheer it gets. The color is a deep and rich shimmering emerald, but the nail line is still very visible, even after three coats. This is especially true in bright lighting conditions; see the outdoor photos.

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Chef Kitty is such a fun polish. It was my introduction to Lynnderella, and set me off on an exciting and financially draining journey. I think it’s a great addition to San Francisco; the green glitters are a little invisible over the green base, but the whites and the other colors stand out very well. It’s a great polish for adding a little extra color and sparkle without having it take over the whole manicure.

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Here are some outdoor photos. You can see how sheer San Francisco is, but you can also see how lovely its shimmer is. The glitter in Chef Kitty is a lot more defined. The pearls I stuck on to finish the look are much smaller than they appear in these photos.

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San Francisco and other Sinful Colors polishes are sold in stores; I got mine from Walgreens. Chef Kitty and other Lynnderella polishes are available on eBay and in their Storenvy shop. My pearls were purchased on Amazon, and my bow charm is from Claire’s.

I bought these products myself.

Manicure Monday: Confetti Disco

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Welcome back to Manicure Monday! Today’s mani is made up entirely of glitter, it’s kind of insane. Also, there’s some Wacie Nail Company restock info coming, so keep reading! For this look, I used Sinful Colors’s Queen of Beauty as the base, Digital Nails‘s Spectraflair top coat over that, and Wacie Nail Company’s Handful of Confetti for the glitter accents. All nails are topped with one coat of Seche Vite top coat. Also, these photos are taken outdoors in partly cloudy conditions.

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Queen of Beauty is a veteran in my collection; it must have been around 2008 when I bought it. When I started this manicure, I seriously doubted whether I’d have enough to get me through the whole mani. This polish is great because it’s so versatile; I don’t think it was intended to be worn as a full-coverage microglitter polish, because you can see some teeny-tiny gaps in coverage, but it works pretty well as one. It also looks great as a topper, which is how I’ve worn it in the past. Also, it’s shiny. It’s wicked shiny. Light bounces off this like you wouldn’t believe. You can see the glare in some of these photos. It’s the reason a lot of these photos are washed out and blurry. I love it.

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I got the Spectraflair top coat out because I wanted to take it just a step further. The chunky rainbow glitter has a slightly holo base, and I thought it would look weird with some of the nail being holographic and some not, so I thought the holo top coat would even it out. As it turned out, it was cloudy and you can barely see the holo effect in either polish. It’s pretty visible in the accent nails, but I think that’s because the accent glitter has Spectraflair in it as well. On the nails without it, you can barely tell. At least I know it’s there. It’s kind of a fun little secret.

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This set of photos were taken indoors in the studio; some with flash, and some without. This mani definitely looked better in the sun, but they always do.

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Handful of Confetti is making its debut today, and I’m really excited! I don’t want to say too much about it, because I have an entire post dedicated to it I’ll be posting on Wednesday. I love ridiculous glitter toppers, and I know they’re becoming passé in indie polish these days, but I still love them and I want to cling to them forever. I chose it as the accent for this mani because it couldn’t be more different from the base polish; every bit of glitter stands out from it, it adds tons of color, and it’s interesting to look at. I think it’s a pretty fun look.

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One more photo: here’s a shot of the bottle, just so you can see how empty it is. I haven’t come this close to finishing a bottle (of polish) in years.

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Queen of Beauty and other Sinful Colors are sold nationwide; mine is from Walgreens. Digital Nails polishes, as well as their Spectraflair top coat, are available from their etsy shop. Handful of Confetti will release Wednesday, February 24, at 2 PM EST; watch this space for more information.

I bought two of these polishes myself; I made one.

Manicure Tuesday Morning: Winterland Hottie

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Happy Monday! My post is late tonight because I just got back from a Christmas party, where these wintry nails were a huge hit. I know I said I never do seasonal nails, but I had the opportunity today and I took it. For this look, I’m wearing Indigo Bananas‘s Klein Trink Wasser as my base and Sinful Colors’s Hottie on top. All nails are topped with Seche Vite top coat.

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So last week I talked a bit about drugstore glitters as a gateway drug; back in the ’90s, Sinful Colors was where it was at. I don’t know if you remember, but Walgreens used to sell it, and they came in indie-style bottles, the barrel ones with the black caps. My mother felt uncomfortable buying something “sinful”. I wanted every color. It’s fun how some things never change; I love these glitter polishes as much as I did when I was younger. The polishes haven’t changed much, either; they’re the same iridescent glitter mixes they always have been. There’s something really nice about that. It might be the same glitter, but it’s a ton of fun finding new and grown-up ways to wear it.

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I love that indie cremes are becoming a thing. That’s not to say Klein Trink Wasser is a new polish; I actually bought it last year, and this is the first time I’m wearing it. I just mean that, even with a seemingly basic color like this one, you’d think that there’d be no more creme colors left without mass market dupes. As surprising as it seems, I don’t have anything like this polish in my collection. All my dark blue cremes are really dark, and all my dark blues are shimmery or glittery. It took me a long time to find a creme in this particular shade. Anyway, I think that the indie creme trend is amazing. Between the Creme a la Mode box and the Pipe Dream neons and brights, there are a ton of exciting cremes without mass market dupes. It’s really cool.

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I’m not sure I’ve ever worn striping tape on its own on the blog; usually I just use it like a vinyl strip. I’ve definitely never worn loose glitter, and that’s fun, too. The snowflakes were bigger than I wanted and they’ve been getting snagged on things. It also feels a little weird wearing snowflakes on my nails when I’m wearing a tube top and shorts. One more thing: I made a scented top coat to wear with this mani. I had a little vial of winter gardenia fragrance oil, so I made a top coat with it because it seemed appropriate. I’ll have these listed in the shop soon, along with a new Wacie Nail Co. collection.

Klein Trink Wasser and other Indigo Bananas polishes are sold on their website. Hottie and Sinful Colors are sold in stores nationwide.

I bought these polishes myself.