Category: Nails
Red Licorice
I think I’ve got a new favorite red nail polish. If you haven’t been paying attention – SHERRY – my original favorite was Zoya “Sooki”…but more recently, I’d say it was Atomic Polish “Redrum”…until now, that is.
Meet Holo Taco “Red Licorice”. It’s a strawberry red linear holographic polish…and I cannot get enough. (I had to google the different between linear and scattered holographic nail polishes. Basically, the linear holographic make a rainbow in a line and the scattered is an all over rainbow effect? Help!)
This is two coats of “Red Licorice” over Holo Taco Pink Smoothing Base Coat and under Holo Taco Glossy Taco Top Coat.
Miss Runway
Emily de Molly “Miss Runway” is inspired by a dress (probably for a masquerade ball) because it’s from January’s Masquerade Polish Pickup.
“Miss Runway” is a magnetic polish and although I did get what I thought were adequate results with the ring magnet, they are not striking enough to be picked up in picture. I counted to 30! and it still wasn’t long enough…I need to practice, because in the sample pics, I should be able to get a more striking light blue magnetic effect. Arghhhhhhhhhh.
This is two coats of “Miss Runway” over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Tropical Oasis” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Blackberry Passionfruit“.
Year of the Snake
So…I already mentioned that my reading comprehension is shall we say – lacking? Allow me to explain…
I was so excited to try the Le Mini Macaron Lunar New Year Nail Polish + Sticker Collection – Year of the Snake. I opened that sucker up and started in with the red one (after a base coat, of course). My first thought was that this stuff sure is goopy. Thick and goopy. I soldiered on. After two thin coats, I started adding stickers to each nail. The stickers slid around a bit, but I’ve seen that before. Surely a coat of Glitter Grabber would help…it did not. Now the red polish has turned to jelly. I make a last ditch effort with my top coat…and the polish totally liquefies. I have red jelly glitter shit dripping from my nails and I have to pick my daughter up from work in 10 minutes. I quickly remove the polish so I can touch my steering wheel. While I’m waiting for her to get done closing down, I start googling…I have made a grave mistake. This gel polish requires a UV light to cure. I do not own a UV light, nor am I interested in getting one. I just spent $40 on stickers.
Ultimately, I redid the manicure using Atomic Polish “Redrum” starting with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat, two coats of “Redrum”, my $40 stickers, Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber, and Glisten & Glow Top Coat. About half of these fucking stickers decided to lift off, but the other half stayed nice and flat. What’s the secret? Someone MUST know!!!
There is a happy ending though – my son’s girlfriend does have a UV light, so I gave the polishes to her. I kept the stickers.
P.S. I’m saving some of the extra snake stickers for Reputation (Taylor’s Version).
Polish Pickup January 2025 – Masquerade
In anticipation of Mardi Gras (which is rather late this year – March!!!), January’s Polish Pickup theme is Masquerade.
DRK Nails “Nothing to Hide” ($13.40) is inspired by a Masquerade – Mardi Gras colors!
Emily de Molly “Miss Runway” ($13) is inspired by a dress. It’s magnetic!
Cuticula “Dance with Me” ($13) is also inspired by a Masquerade…but different colors.
Penelope Luz “Secret Allure” ($13.50) is inspired by a mask…for a Masquerade Ball. It’s also magnetic.
With all these magnetic polishes, I purchased a Ring Magnet ($6).
I cannot wait to Karma Chameleon all over the place!
Glow So Bright
Kathleen & Co “Glow So Bright” is the last polish I picked from November’s Nostalgic Toys Polish Pickup. It’s inspired by the Lite Brite, which contains the 3rd most painful toy part to step on after Legos and Barbie heels. I never owned a Lite Brite, but my sister had a Lights Alive, which was WAY better, because you didn’t have to worry about those dumbass pegs.
I love a good black polish with rainbow microglitter…but I feel like I buy one every month and maybe need to back off? We’ll see if I keep on buying them…
This is two coats of “Glow So Bright” over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Tropical Oasis” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Blackberry Passionfruit“.
Play Rosé
Oh, you noticed that the background of my nail picture isn’t my yard?
What is it, you ask? It’s my CAR…Holo Taco “Play Rosé” is a perfect match for my new rose gold colored car.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from Holo Taco. This particular polish is a finely textured holographic micro glitter. I got full coverage in two coats and it lasted like a champ. I went SNORKELING IN COZUMEL and didn’t get any chips. What?
I am a Holo Taco convert – thinking I might be adding a new bottle with every Ulta order…
This is two coats of “Play Rosé” over Holo Taco Pink Smoothing Base Coat and under Holo Taco Glossy Taco Top Coat. The top coat did not make the polish 100% smooth. It was still a bit pebbled, but not dramatically.
Holo Snake Ulta Haul
I was SO excited about this Le Mini Macaron Lunar New Year Nail Polish + Sticker Collection – Year of the Snake ($40)…that I didn’t bother to fully read the description. The included nail polishes – “Magic Noire”, “Serpentine Sheer”, and “Lucky Red” – are GEL POLISHES. They require a UV light to cure…fuck that noise. I guess I paid $40 for some really cute stickers…
My disappointment was mitigated by the fact that Ulta carries Holo Taco now! I started with just a few products: Holo Taco Pink Smoothing Base Coat ($12), Holo Taco Specialty Nail Polish “Play Rosé” ($14) and Holo Taco Glossy Taco Top Coat ($12). I cannot wait to try them!
I was able to use a $3.50 off $15 coupon, as well as qualify for a Free Beauty Break 4 Piece FENTY Gift with $60 purchase, which included Fenty Beauty Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Blush in “Peach Face”; Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer in “RiRi”; and Fenty Beauty Hella Thicc Volumizing Mascara in “Cuz I’m Black”, all in a cute makeup bag. Not sure about the peach blush, but I’ll use the rest.
$1,044 to Diamond in 2026.
Truly Truly
Sure, I love Barbie…but I was OBSESSED with Jem. I had the doll – just the original Jem – but none of her friends. She was so much more expensive than Barbie! And none of Barbie’s clothes fit, because she was so much bigger…If she wanted to change her clothes, she often had to borrow Ken’s. I know what that’s like…I was buying mens jeans until 1999-2000, which is about the time that Old Navy started carrying bigger sizes and longer lengths. Jem was my soul sister.
Garden Path Lacquers “Truly Truly” is from November’s Nostalgic Toys Polish Pickup and is inspired by the truly outrageous Jem. I cannot find the words to describe every thing in this polish – so I stole this description from the maker: Truly Truly is a clear base filled with blue holographic microglitter, pink-blue-gold shifting large particle Aurora shimmer, and a mix of purple, pink, and blue matte circle glitters in various sizes and small matte hot pink hex glitters. To me – it looks like Jem’s original dres – see pics here.
This is two coats of “Truly Truly” over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Tropical Oasis” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Blackberry Passionfruit“.
Oh, for Oz Sake
This is it!
The FINAL OPI x Wicked polish…I didn’t expect it to take this long to get through all of them, but with all my Polish Pickup purchases, it was gonna take three months to get through 12 polishes.
I suspected that OPI x Wicked “Oh, for Oz Sake” would be a “Tokyo Pearl” dupe and I was half right. Although a bit more sheer, it does look like a dupe…except the OPI is more sheer and does not have quite as bad an issue with brush strokes. It DOES lean pink, but nothing wrong with a little pink.
Thank you, and hallelujah – I’ve found the perfect white pearl polish! Maybe not perfect…I did get a bubble on my ring finger…let’s just pretend that was intentional…
This is two coats of “Oh, for Oz Sake” over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Tropical Oasis” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Blackberry Passionfruit“.
Dressin’ Up
Yes, it’s another one from November’s Polish Pickup – Nostalgic Toys!
Crystal Knockout “Dressin’ Up” is inspired by Barbie & the Rockers and their song…Dressin’ Up (not to be confused with Dress You Up by Madonna). You can take a listen HERE. I listened to the song…and it did not ring a bell at all. I must have had the cassette, because I saved my money to buy Dee Dee – she had the leopard print leggings, so obviously she was the best.
“Dressin’ Up” was really thick and difficult to apply evenly. I don’t think the issue was with the polish itself – the brush was fucked up. The tip was uneven and slit in two, almost cloven like a goat’s hoof. The flakies also had a lot of texture – next time I need to add a layer of Glitter Grabber. It was not at all like the other Crystal Knockout polishes I’ve tried…so it’s probably just a fluke.
Oh, and did I mention that it is a THERMAL polish? The sample pics online look more dramatic than mine, but it was cold as balls outside when I took the picture, so it wasn’t a dramatic color change.
This is two coats of “Dressin’ Up” over Cuticula Mic Drop Base Coat in “Tropical Oasis” and under Cuticula Limitless Top Coat in “Champagne Toast“.