Category: Nails
Polish Pickup November 2023 – Fairytales & Folklore
It was so hard not to buy 20 polishes this month – I LOVE the Fairytales & Folklore theme. Most were based on stories and legends, but there were quite a few Taylor Swift (Folklore) polishes. I thought I got a variety of polishes…turns out that the three I picked are primarily GREEN.
MJ Lacquers “Oz” ($12.75) is a black crelly, loaded with every color of glitter, iridescent flakies and shimmer. The green flakies are the most prominent aspect in the polish. Of course, it’s inspired by The Wizard of Oz.
Adored Colors “Baba Yaga” ($12.50) is a green shimmer, filled with earthy glitter. It’s inspired by the witch of Slavic folklore.
Psyche Minerals “Shapeshifting in the Moor” ($13) is a glittery multichrome polish that shifts all colors of the rainbow. It’s inspired by the pรบca – a celtic goblin.
I couldn’t pass up another bottle of Baroness X Acetone Antidote in “Chocolate Croissant” ($8). As soon as I opened it, I wanted to eat it. I didn’t.
Mrs. Always Right
I received essie “Mrs. Always Right” in a National Nail Polish Day promo earlier this year. I love a good terracotta polish, especially if they have more of a mauve/rose tone. I call this shade “Lolita”, after the OG Kat Von D shade.
This is two coats of “Mrs. Always Right” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Urban Turkey Skittles
Like I said, Rogue Lacquer “Urban Decay” inspired me to dig out my “actual” vintage Urban Decay polishes, I was relieved to find that they were all usable and none had dried up – hallelujah!
Since it was right before Thanksgiving, I decided to do a simple turkey skittle mani. Starting with my thumb, the polishes are Urban Decay “Asphyxia” – a shimmery lavender with a hint of blue fire, Urban Decay “ID” – a sheer coral shimmer with fine glitter throughout, Urban Decay “Baked” – a chromed gold, Urban Decay “X” – a bronze duochrome that shift to purple; and Urban Decay “Gash” – this was THE color for polish in the 90s, a dupe for Chanel “Vamp”.
I did two coats of each polish over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Does it get Eddie Vedder?
LynB Designs “Does it get Eddie Vedder?” was my other pick from October’s Polish Pickup. It’s inspired by Weird Al parodies, Pearl Jam…and sweaters?
I could’ve swore this was a light purple polish, but all the descriptions refer to it as gray. Are my eyes getting that bad? In any case, it wasn’t the base color that drew me to this polish – it was that ELECTRIC BLUE SHIMMER. I could not stop looking at my hands.
This is two coats of “Does it get Eddie Vedder?” over Vibrant Scents Double Bond Base Coat in “Island Petals” and under Vibrant Scents Top Coat in “Island Petals”. I feel like I should’ve gone for three coats to get rid of that pesky visible nail line.
Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary
I saved the best for last from September’s Polish Pickup…this is Baroness X “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary”. (I assume it’s only repeated twice, because if it was called “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary”, all HELL would break loose.)
I was totally astounded at the beauty of this nail polish. In most lights, it looks like a dull, black polish – not even shiny. But when light – or the sun especially – hits it just right, it burns a brilliant red. I puzzled for days on how to photograph this polish and finally came upon the solution in my car. I mean…why the hell not?
This is two coats of “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary” over Vibrant Scents Double Bond Base Coat in “Island Petals” and under Vibrant Scents Top Coat in “Island Petals”.
Urban Decay – An Homage
I’ll just come out and say it…Urban Decay Cosmetics is not what it used to be. It used to be edgy and controversial and fun…and now? Now, your mom’s makeup bag is full of Urban Decay and you’re buying whatever starlet puts their name on makeup this week…Bobbie Millie Brown, Selena Gomez, Billie Eilish all have beauty brands.
Rogue Lacquer “Urban Decay” is from October’s Polish Pickup and is inspired by Urban Decay Cosmetics – specifically their nail polish – from back in the 90s. I still have a bunch of bottles, and now I want to dig through them and see if they are still any good…Oooh! I have a project for tonight, since I am officially “on vacation” – no work and no school until the Monday after next!
This is two coats of “Urban Decay” over Vibrant Scents Double Bond Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber and Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in โRaspberry Popโ.
Polish Pickup October 2023 – 90’s Grunge
I might be addicted to the Polish Pickup…I keep telling myself that I can stop any time…
October’s theme is 90’s Grunge, which is right up my alley. It was a struggle to pick just a few of these!
Lyn B Designs “Does it Get Eddie Vedder?” ($13) is inspired by her love of Weird Al parodies, Pearl Jam, and sweaters. It’s a grey crelly with a shocking blue to purple shimmer.
Rogue Lacquer “Urban Decay” ($13) is inspired by…90s Urban Decay nail polishes. I still have a few of them – I hope they’re not all dried up. “Urban Decay” is a brown toned purple jelly base loaded with purple, magenta and orange flakes as well as a subtle flash of gold glass flakes.
Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Raspberry Pop” ($10) is a scented top coat. I cannot wait to see how it smells!
Stay tuned to see these polishes…
Bugs ‘N Kisses
It’s the tenth day of November and I am JUST now getting around to talking about my actual Halloween nails…but Marching Band Season is over…just in time for Mariah Carey to thaw out and start telling us the only thing she wants for Christmas.
I purchased several spooky set from this Halloween’s drop, but Color Street “Bugs ‘N Kisses” is my favorite. What is there not to like about red glitter spiders and webs? This set is a good match for October’s ipsy bag, too!
Technically, spiders are NOT bugs – they are arachnids…but I’ll let it slide this time.
Haunted Forever
Halloween may be behind me, but I still have spooky nails to share…
Lilypad Lacquer “Haunted Forever” is the fourth polish I snagged from September’s Polish Pickup. I wasn’t expecting to LOVE it so much! I just thought it would be an interesting fuchsia polish…the depth on this polish is AMAZING. Lilypad might be one of my new favorite indie makers…
This is two coats of “Haunted Forever” over Vibrant Scents Double Bond Base Coat in “Island Petals”, topped with Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber and Vibrant Scents Top Coat in “Island Petals”.
Beetlejuice Nails
My sister-in-law posted some really groovy Beetlejuice Nails on her Color Street page, so I had to do my own version…a combination of Color Street and regular polish…
Beetlejuice means black and white, but also purple and green. For the purple, I used two coats of Danglefoot Lacquer “Hair Raising” – I was just dying for an excuse to use it again. I almost used Alchemy Lacquers “Oddities” again, too – but I wanted a brighter green. I went with three coats of Sinful Colors “Sour Apple Killer” for the green. I even got an ant-spider-baby-skull! I used Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat on the painted nails, topped the ant-spider-baby-skull with Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber, and topped the painted nails with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
I’ll never try to paint stripes again, as long as I have Color Street “Between the Lines”. I used Color Street “Swiss and Tell” for the white. One of the new sets I got was “Mi Cultura”, a floral overlay from the Hispanic Heritage Collection. I took a chance and placed “Mi Cultura” strips over a nail I had already painted with regular nail polish…it was ready to slide off my nail, but a thick coat of Glisten & Glow Top Coat glued that sucker down.
All in all, I think it turned out well…a few nails are a little sloppy and crooked, but would it be Beetlejuice without sloppy and crooked?