Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Electric Icicle

It’s another wintry delight this Swatch Saturday! Today we’re looking at the second half of the winter duo Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer released last year. We saw and loved Untrodden Snow; let’s have a look at Electric Icicle. I’m wearing two coats of Electric Icicle over Sally Hansen’s Hard to Get, Essie’s Marathin, and Julep’s Dianna, as well as one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro.

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Electric Icicle is a clear glitter topper made with “bright blue holo hexes, rainbow iridecent hexes and squares, silver holo hexes and tiny diamonds, and blue holo stars”. I wore two coats because the all the good shape glitters were hanging around toward the bottom of the bottle, and my first coat was a bit thin on the glitter. Application was pretty easy apart from that; the glitters spread well and didn’t clump. The base dried quickly. I had no problems with it.

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I gotta say, this might be the best winter glitter topper I have. I’ve got a few that have icy blue glitters with silver, and even though they’re very pretty and they shine a great deal, they don’t have a whole lot of color. Electric Icicle is the best of both worlds. The metallic and holo textures of the glitters — especially the silvers — give the look some iciness, but the blue and iridescent glitters give it a lot of color as well. This is a mix that is all about winter, but doesn’t let winter bring it down. It’s amazing.

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I nearly swatched this on the pink and blue I used on Wednesday, Mint Candy Apple from Essie and Martha from Julep. They’re really soft but bright colors that make the perfect base for any glitter topper. I was afraid that it would look like the same mani two days in a row, so I went with Marathin from Essie and Dianna from Julep. I chose Dianna because I wanted the blues to be kind of homogeneous, and since Dianna is a dusty color, obviously a dusty rose would complement it. I almost feel like I should have chosen gray over white, but the glitter looks so perfect over white that I’m glad I didn’t.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Untrodden Snow

It’s the first Swatch Saturday in November! I’m wearing a wintry white from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer called Untrodden Snow. This is three coats with one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

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Untrodden Snow is a white polish with icy blue shimmer. I achieved a good opacity with it at three coats; I still don’t feel like it’s fully opaque, but I still got really good coverage. The first coat was really soft and sheer, thinly but evenly. The shimmer didn’t capture so well in the studio, but it’s actually very potent. Drying time was quick and cleanup was easy. Polish dried semi-glossy. It was very easy to work with.

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This is a really dainty white. Lots of whites look like wall paint or Wite-Out on the nail, and thankfully this is not one of them. I almost wanted just to leave the first coat by itself, because it was so sheer and delicate. I’d recommend two coats with this, I think, so as to maintain the softness but still have lots of coverage. The blue shimmer adds even more softness and gives it just the right amount of sparkle to make this polish sparkly and unique.

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It almost feels weird even wearing this polish in the sunshine. I almost expected it to melt! It looks great in direct sunlight. For some reason, though, it looks like it’s leaning more toward cream than white.

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When this polish was available, it was only sold as part of a duo. The other polish, Electric Icicle, is my swatch for next week.

Wacie Wednesday: Millefleur

Today’s Wacie Wednesday post is super exciting, because my brand new Wacie Nail Co. labels are making their debut on the blog! I am really excited about these, because labels were the last big hurdle to get over before I could finally open my shop. Now that I have them, Wacie Nail Company is super close to opening. We’re only five months behind schedule! To celebrate, we’re going to look at a new Wacie Nail Co. polish called Millefleur. I’m wearing one coat over Sally Hansen’s Hard to Get and Essie’s Mint Candy Apple and Navigate Her.

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This bottle of Millefleur was kind of a dud. The name suggests it’s only flower glitter in this bottle, and the swatch suggests that as well. It’s not true, though. Besides the holo red hexes, there are holo red hearts. There are pink glass dots in addition to the pink slices, hexes, and dots; those are also nowhere to be seen on my nail. I don’t know what the deal is with that. The flowers came out easily, but everything else was at the bottom, I guess.

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There’s a lot I could have done to improve this polish. Thinning it would be the best for it, I think; the consistency was too thick and dry time was rather long. It would probably help the elusive glitters distribute a bit more evenly. I’ll definitely keep these things in mind when I’m reformulating it. Maybe some color variety would help too; I do admit that I just dumped every pink and red glitter I had into one bottle. It could definitely do with some iridescent glitters, or maybe some Spectraflair. As it is, it’s rather one-dimensional, but that’s an easy fix.

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I’m really excited about where Wacie Nail Co. is and where it’s going. Big things are coming up, so watch this space for the big news. For real this time!

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Guided by Starlight

I’d originally planned to wear this Christmas beauty last weekend, but I chose to forego the weekly swatches so I could wear my birthday cupcakes during the whole birthday weekend. Sorry! I believe this one was worth the wait. This is Guided by Starlight from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer, worn at three coats with one coat of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro top coat.

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Guided by Starlight is a white crelly with gold and silver holo hex, dot, square, moon, and star-shaped glitters. Inspired by the Christmas holiday and the birth of Christ, this polish was designed with a celestial motif. Despite this, I think it’s a pretty wearable polish year-round. I’m not sure I’d recognize it as a holiday polish in other months of the year, even though all the signs are there. This would look fantastic on someone with a great tan.

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Application went well, but I feel like three coats was maybe a tad unnecessary. The crelly is a bit more solid than in typical glitter crellies; between that and the large quantity of glitter, the consistency was rather thick. I suppose thinner would solve this problem, but I think I like the way it looks this way. The added coats cover the holog effect from the glitter, but not the glitter itself. It’s so cool.

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I didn’t notice how opaque it is until I went outside. I really love this! It’s so creamy, so sparkly.

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So I ran out of the Color Club clear coat I was using. I really liked it. It dried quickly, it held up well, and it didn’t pull or shrink. It’s also a shame, because I have no idea where to buy it so I can replace it. On the plus side, though, I get to try something new, and pull something out of my stash. I’ve got a few bottles of Ciate’s Speed Coat Pro, as a result of buying so many caviar nail sets on sale at Sephora. It’s okay, I guess. I gave it five minutes to dry after applying it, and it still felt a bit wet and sticky. With the Color Club coat, I would have been ready to go after five minutes. I was a little afraid to get started with it still sticky like that, but everything went well. Everything else about it is fine, though: I still get a high shine and it feels durable. We’ll find out soon enough. I hope this is something I can keep using. I seriously have five bottles of this stuff.

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Wacie Wednesday: Snowcrush

Snowcrush is the newest Wacie Nail Company polish! It is a clear glitter topper with white shreds and iridescent hex glitters. I’m wearing one coat over China Glaze’s Pelican Gray, Ciate’s Candy Floss, and Sally Hansen’s Limestone. All nails are topped with one coat of Color Club’s clear coat.

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I love the look of all-white glitter toppers. They’re so effortlessly elegant. The white shreds you see happen to be the only white glitter I have, so I dumped a ton of it in a bottle, and used some fine iridescent shreds to fill it out. This is definitely a pretty simple polish, but it’s really pretty. For as little thought as I put into it, it has no business being this pretty right out.

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White toppers also have the benefit of looking amazing over any color. As you can see, I wore it with some very bright polishes. Over black, the iridescent glitters would really shine. Over white, it would look like freshly-fallen snow (or at least what I imagine freshly-fallen snow looks like. I live in Florida. I wouldn’t know).

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In the sunshine, this is crazy. You can’t see how much sparkle is coming from the iridescent glitters, but trust me, it’s blinding. I love iridescent glitters because they sparkle in any lighting condition.

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Final word: this polish is a win. I love white glitters (they’re pretty over everything), shred glitters (they create the illusion of variety, even though it all came from the same bag), and iridescent glitters (shiny!). I’m really looking forward to making a batch of it this share with everyone.

Swatch Saturday: Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer’s Skating in the Snow

Thanks to Swatch Saturday this week, it’s winter in August! As I write this, my phone says it is 101 degrees outside, but Skating in the Snow from Blue-Eyed Girl Lacquer is keeping me cool. I mean that figuratively, of course; I’m so sweaty you don’t even know. I am wearing three coats of Skating in the Snow alone with one coat of Seche Vite.

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Skating in the Snow is a white crelly with lavender and blue hexes, iridescents, and pink and blue dots. Applying this was pretty easy; some glitters sink, but that’s easily rectified with shaking and keeping it upside down for a minute or two. Otherwise, it can be tough to get the glitter to spread evenly. Apart from that, this polish dries quickly, cleans up easily, and is semi-opaque at two coats. Three coats, seen here, was a little too much. I covered up all the glitters from previous coats.

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I’ve lived most of my life in Florida, so I can count all the times I’ve ever seen snow on one hand. I’ve been ice skating exactly once. I can imagine this polish as a winter scene, though: revellers in candy-colored snow suits, surrounded by white, laughing and enjoying themselves. I’ll probably never experience such a thing, but it’s nice to think about, especially in August.

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In the sunshine, the crelly looks a bit more opaque. The previous coat’s glitters are harder to see, and the iridescents don’t shimmer so well. It’s still quite pretty, though. The whiteness makes my fingers look tan.

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Final Word: Skating in the Snow is still available in the BEGL shop, and it’s on sale! Don’t miss out on this soft but colorful polish.

Summer of Untrieds Day 27: Matte

We’re nearing the end of the Summer of Untrieds! Today’s theme is matte, so I went with Ciate’s Chalkboard Paint from the Chalkboard Manicure set. I’m wearing three coats of it with no top coat.

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Chalkboard Paint is a matte black creme. I had some issues applying it; in some places, it cracked, showing my bare nail underneath, like a crackle polish. Check out my thumb nail, that’s where it’s the most apparent. It’s also unforgiving; I tried to cover the cracks, but they just show through the second coat. However, it does dry very matte. It has no shine whatsoever, so it has that going for it, which is nice.

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The Chalkboard Manicure set also come with four chalk pens for nail art, so I got them out and doodled out a rough vintage roses design. Really rough.

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Wacie Wednesday: Wintergreen

This week’s Wacie Wednesday is all about Wintergreen, a sheer white with a strong pearly green flash. I’m wearing three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

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I kind of really love how this turned out. This is actually its second formulation; the first one was much more opaque, but thicker and more difficult to work with. I poured a lot of it out (like half) and replaced it with clear lacquer base, and now it’s beautiful.

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The green flash changes depending on the angle; it's not very obvious here.

The green flash changes depending on the angle; it’s not very obvious here.

I’m wearing three coats here, just because I always put on three coats for swatches, but I actually really liked this at one coat. I wish I’d taken photos of it then; it was sheer enough to see my nail line beneath, but the green flash was still very prominent. It was a very cool look just on its own. With three coats though, it’s still a little sheer, but the white is more apparent.

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It’s also not very apparent in sunshine.

I’m also rethinking the name a little. At the time (about a day ago) it seemed perfect, but wearing a polish called Wintergreen in the middle of July is a little weird.

Summer of Untrieds Day Four: Red, White, and Blue

When I saw the order of the day today, I knew exactly what polish I had to use. 1776 by Different Dimension is a patriotic-as-hell glitter topper with red, white, and blue stars, white bars, red dots, and tiny white glitters throughout. I bought this on sale last year, and it’s my first-ever Different Dimension polish, so I’m excited to be using it today. I feel like I cheated a bit on the challenge today, because I’m seeing a lot of intricate and ornate nail art pieces for this day of the challenge, and I just put glitter over yesterday’s creme polish. This is two coats of 1776 over three coats of Butter London’s Bumster, with one coat of Seche Vite.

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I did a pretty poor job applying this. I put it on in a hurry and didn’t expect the star glitters to be so tough to get out. I managed to get one star on my left hand, but it looks great there, so it’s got that going for it. Next time, I will definitely turn this bottle over and let the glitters redistribute themselves a bit better.

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It looks crazy awesome over Bumster, too. I loved Bumster on its own, and I felt a little bad painting over it, but I think these polishes compliment each other well. I love glitter over nudes, it’s such a simple look.

I thought I did a pretty good job cleaning up my cuticles, and then I went into the sun and took some photos. Nope!

I thought I did a pretty good job cleaning up my cuticles, and then I went into the sun and took some photos. Nope!

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Now that I’ve done this, it’s time to dive into July 4th festivities.

Wacie Wednesday: Eclectic

For this Wacie Wednesday, I’m sharing with you my first attempt at a colorful white crelly. This is Eclectic, so named for the variety of glitter, at three coats with one coat of Seche Vite.

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Eclectic is a white crelly with pink hexes and bars, lime green hexes and diamonds, black shreds, gray hexes, and iridescent hexes. There’s a ton of glitter in here, and as such, the formula is quite thick, even after adding a fair amount of thinner. I like this combination of glitter; the pink and green give a soft look, the black shreds give it some edge, and the iridescent glitter gives it just a touch of sparkle. Even after all that, though, it feels like it’s missing something. Maybe the colors should be brighter, or maybe I should just leave out the crelly and go for a glitter topper. I’m not sure yet. This one is by no means finished.

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Here are some photos taken in the sunlight. It looks a bit more lively here than in the studio.

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I also went through many names, too, before settling on Eclectic: Conflict, Quartz, Pastel Badass. I like the look of this one, but I feel like it needs more work, and maybe a better name.