Tag: Indie

 
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Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary

I saved the best for last from September’s Polish Pickupthis 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”.

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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 “Raspberry Pop”.

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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…

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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”.

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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?

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Oddities

Alchemy Lacquers “Oddities” is the third polish I’ve tried from September’s Polish Pickup. It’s inspired by the medicinal plant garden at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia.

There are not enough chartreuse nail polishes in my collection. This one is even better than the usual chartreuse ones, because there is a shifting shimmer that shifts from purple to red to orange. I tried several different angles and lightings, and this is the best pic I could capture of that shimmer.

This is two coats of “Oddities” between Vibrant Scents Double Bond Base Coat in “Island Petals” and Vibrant Scents Top Coat in “Island Petals”.

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Hair Raising

It was so hard to choose which one to try, but I finally decided on Danglefoot Polish “Hair Raising” as the next polish to try from September’s Polish Pickup. “Hair Raising” is inspired by past hair disasters, and boy do I have a few! I love how the polish shifts from a fuchsia shimmer to bright blue in the sunlight!

This is two coats of “Hair Raising” over Vibrant Scents Double Bond Base Coat in “Island Petals” and under Vibrant Scents Top Coat in “Island Petals”.

I don’t think I’ll get to all five of them before Halloween…but it’s always a good time for spooky nails!

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The Saw is Family

No one will be shocked that the first polished I picked to try out from September’s Polish Pickup is Sweet & Sour Lacquer “The Saw is Family”. I mean, a Texas Chainsaw Massacre nail polish…DUH.

I love the way this polish is put together. The base is a blood red crelly, with a mixture of black and blue iridescent glitters that make it look like a bloody saw blade. I am in love.

This is two coats of “The Saw is Family” over Vibrant Scents Double Bond Base Coat in “Island Petals”. I kind of screwed up on the top coat. I did a coat of Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber and then automatically grabbed Glisten & Glow Top Coat instead of the matching Vibrant Scents Top Coat. Oopsies.

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Polish Pickup September 2023 – Haunted History

I cannot remember the last time I spent $65 on nail polish…but I couldn’t resist September’s theme, “Haunted History.” I’ve got to celebrate Spooky Season!

Danglefoot Nail Polish “Hair Raising” ($13) is inspired by past hair disasters…I’ve had a few of those myself.

Sweet & Sour Lacquer “The Saw is Family” ($13) is inspired by The Texas Chainsaw Massacre…supposedly based on a true story, at least according to the kids in my daycare. (For those of you NOT from Texas, it’s not…Ed Gein notwithstanding.)

Alchemy Lacquer “Oddities” ($12.50) is inspired by the medicinal plant garden at the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia. I am intrigued. And it’s NOT red!

Baroness X “Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary” ($13) is inspired by…guess who…Bloody Mary.

Lilypad Lacquer “Haunted forever” ($14) is inspired by…an image on the web. Not sure which image, hmmmm…

I seriously had to limit myself to just 5…I wanted at least 15 other polishes. Which one should I try first???

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WHOA

I admit, Swamp Gloss “WHOA” appears suspiciously similar to “Revved up Like a Douche”, but it’s not supposed to be?

“WHOA” is a thermal nail polish – the part of my nail that is attached to my flesh (like, most of it) is supposed to be WHITE! Right after I painted my nails, the polish was mostly white, with a thin strip of turquoise at the tip…but when I woke up the next morning…BLAM, no more thermal action. I don’t know what made it not work…hmmm…Here’s some swatches of what “WHOA” should look like, from Nicole Loves Nails.

I would be more irritated, but I like the 90s Taco Bell vibe. “WHOA” is inspired by the King of WHOA himself, Keanu Reeves and was originally from Polish Pickup April 2021 – The Nineties, but made a reappearance in July 2023 – REWIND.

This is two coats of “WHOA” over Vibrant Scents Base Coat in “Island Petals” and under Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber and Vibrant Scents Top Coat in “Island Petals”.