Category: Nails

Don’t Go In There. It’s Haunted AF.
I took a brief break from thermals with Dam Nail Polish “Don’t Go In There. It’s Haunted AF.” from July’s Polish Pickup. It’s a blue/green shifting polish with a pink/gold shimmer.
This is two coats of “Don’t Go In There. It’s Haunted AF.” over Vibrant Scents Base Coat in “Island Petals” and topped with Vibrant Scents Top Coat in “Island Petals”.
The polish was originally part of the September 2022 Polish Pickup – Scary Vibes. It’s inspired by a spooky haunted house, guarded by pumpkins. I have never seen one, but I guarantee you I would not go in there.

The Toxic Bitch
Fancy Gloss “The Toxic Bitch” is THE most amazing thermal nail polish I’ve ever seen. It’s a tri-thermal – ranging from dark teal to bright green to chartreuse. It’s from June 2020 (Cocktails and Mocktails) and it based on a blue curacao (DUH) drink called “The Toxic Bitch”. I will drink ANYTHING blue, so I’m dying to try it. (It pretty much sounds like Electric Lemonade with tequila.)
I also figured out a better way to get thermal pictures. Instead of rubbing an ice cube on my fingers, I dunked my whole hand in ice water to get the coldest shade (dark teal in this case) and took pictures as my fingers warmed up (the fade from teal to green to chartreuse).
This is two coats of “The Toxic Bitch” over Vibrant Scents Base Coat in “Island Petals” and under Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber and Vibrant Scents Top Coat in “Island Petals”. The polish lasted phenomenally AND wasn’t a pain in the ass to get off – win/win. I need to try it again when my nails are longer!

In Sprite of It All
I know, I know…my nails are not NEARLY long enough to properly show off thermal nail polishes. Well, not long enough without help from a little ice. That’s right, I rubbed an ice cube across my nails in the second picture to show off the color change. It’s not nearly as amazingly beautiful in pictures, as in real life.
Anyway, the polish is Crystal Knockout “In Sprite of It All”, from July’s Polish Pickup. The polish is inspired by Spryte, from the Zelda cartoon. There is most definitely a fairy quality to the polish, although I was drawn to it because the swatch shots reminded me of an amethyst geode.
This is two coats of “In Sprite of It All” over Vibrant Scents Base Coat in “Island Petals” and topped with Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber, then Vibrant Scents Top Coat in “Island Petals”.

Polish Pickup July 2023 – REWIND
I absolutely LOVE that every July, Polish Pickup does a “REWIND” month that allows folks to have a chance to buy polishes that they may have missed out on from past months. Of course, the selection is dependent on what products the makers make available – I kind of went nuts on thermal polishes…
Crystal Knockout “In Sprite of It All” ($12.50) is a sparkly thermal polish. It’s from October 2022 – Sidekicks, and is inspired by Sprite from Legend of Zelda. I have never played it or watched any of the cartoons, so I’ll take their word for it. I just bought it because it reminds me of my birthstone, amethyst.
Dam Nail Polish “Don’t Go in There, it’s Haunted AF” ($13) is NOT a thermal polish. It’s from September 2022 – Scary Vibes, and is inspired by a haunted house with pumpkin guards (I cannot even visualize that, but whatever).
Fancy Gloss “The Toxic Bitch” ($13) is a TRI-THERMAL and is from June 2020 – Cocktails and Mocktails. I’ve seen the swatches and I am VERY excited to try it…there’s a surprise in this polish and I don’t want to ruin it!
Swamp Gloss “Whoa” ($13.50) is yet another thermal polish. It’s from April 2021 – The Nineties, and is inspired by the one and only Keanu Reeves. I mean…who else could “Whoa” be referring to? (If anyone says Joey Lawrence, I will SLAP them.)
Oh, and I got Vapid Wax “It’s Like RAYYYYEEEEAAAYYYYNNNN” ($5) – I love the scent of petrichor and rain in general, so this is going right into my bathroom warmer. This one was from March 2019 – Album Covers.
I went so crazy in July that I held myself back from even LOOKING at the August Polish Pickup last week…Not sure if I’ll purchase in September, but I already KNOW I am going to load up on spooky October polishes.

Tropic Like It’s Hot
I was surprised to get so many compliments on a nail polish that made my fingers look like highlighters.
I got China Glaze “Tropic Like It’s Hot” in a National Nail Polish Day Gift with Purchase. I now know why it was free – the brush was funky and the polish was streaky as fuck. It was from the Summer 2021 Havana Nights Collection, so it’s a few years old.
This is two coats of “Tropic Like It’s Hot” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Top Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat.

Reno Wedding Nails
…OH, not MY wedding. I got married in Vegas, like…twenty years ago. My niece got married in Reno last weekend. I was wearing a Barbie pink dress, so I thought pink nails would be too matchy-matchy, so I went for a rose gold type thing.
I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and two coats of Sally Hansen Color Therapy “Burnished Bronze”. I used a little bit of Funky Fingers “Supernova” on the tips for extra gold and pink glitter. A quick layer of Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber and I finished with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
I would’ve liked a better blend with the base of “Supernova” and “Burnished Bronze”, but I didn’t have time to start over. You git what you git and you don’t have a fit.

Wooaaaaaah Pigeon on a Chair
Okay, last polish from June’s Polish Pickup…because July’s will be in my mailbox today or tomorrow!
This is Danglefoot Nail Polish “Wooaaaaaah Pigeon on a Chair”. I haven’t personally heard this particular misheard Bon Jovi lyric, but maybe it’s from across the pond? Danglefoot is a UK indie brand, so I never would’ve gotten my hands on it without Polish Pickup.
I am always attracted to turquoise/red combos, so this turquoise polish with red/black flakies and and an orange/pink shimmer was MADE for me.
This is two coats of “Wooaaaaaah Pigeon on a Chair” over Vibrant Scents Base Coat in “Island Petals” and topped with Vibrant Scents Top Coat in “Vibrant Petals”. I think it would look SMASHING with a matte top coat.

Barbie: The Movie
Yesterday, I went with both my kids, LaLa and Miss Lisa to go see the Barbie movie in Lufkin…we’d been planning this for MONTHS, and I assure you…we were NOT disappointed. It was everything we wanted it to be, and more. But this isn’t knobbyverse, so I’ll save the rest of my thoughts for the official review.
Of COURSE, we all (except Logan) did Barbie nails for the film. After reviewing dozens of pink polishes, I decided that I wanted to do a combo of Color Street Nail Strips and a pink polish. I wanted to use Formula X “Astrolady”…but it was totally dried up! Even OPI Nail Lacquer thinner couldn’t save her…but I had a backup plan. Julep “Cadance” is a similar textured pink polish, just without as much gold sparkle. I painted two coats of “Cadance” over Vibrant Scents Base Coat in “Island Petals”.
The pink polish was an accent for black and white stripes and chevrons – I wanted to represent the first Barbie’s iconic swimsuit. There is NO WAY I could paint stripes, so I decided to use Color Street Nail strips. I started with plain white – “Swiss and Tell”. I then topped those nails with black and clear nail strips. I used “Between the Lines” for the stripes and “Keep Calm and Chevron” for the chevrons. Thank GOODNESS for nail strips!
I hope these nails last a few more days – I absolutely LOVE them.

You Can Dance, You Can Die…Havin’ the Time of Your Life
This is Lucky 13 Lacquer “You Can Dance, You Can Die…Havin’ the Time of Your Life” from June’s Polish Pickup – Misheard Song Lyrics.
I know…it’s a really long and awkward title…but that’s the thing about misheard song lyrics – while not always long, they are almost always awkward.
The real lyric from ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” is “You can dance, You can jive” – no seriously, that’s the real lyric. I had no idea until I looked it up. I think I thought the lyric was “You can dance, You can try” – but that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense either. “Try” makes more sense than “jive” though, right? RIGHT?
Looking at the bottle, I assumed it was a scattered holographic polish, but NO – I was wrong. It’s a dense red microglitter! I could’ve left it without a top coat, but I wanted to enjoy the polish longer than a day, so after Vibrant Scents Base Coat in “Island Petals” and two coats of polish, I topped with Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber and then a coat of Vibrant Scents Top Coat in “Island Petals”. Even using the Glitter Grabber, the texture of the glitter came through. I didn’t hate it.

Revved Up Like a Douche
Admit it, you thought the lyric was “Revved up like a douche”, too.
Originally written and released by Bruce Springsteen, the cover by Manfred Mann is the better known version of “Blinded by the Light”. This version includes the oft misheard lyric “Revved up like a deuce”…but wouldn’t if be more fun to be revved up like a douche?
Swamp Gloss Indie Polish “Revved Up Like a Douche” is from June’s Polish Pickup – Misheard Song Lyrics. It’s a sheer, but buildable crelly jam-packed with different shapes and sizes of glitter. It’s also giving me heavy 90s Taco Bell vibes.
This is two coats of “Revved Up Like a Douche” over Vibrant Scents Base Coat in “Island Petals” and under both Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber and Vibrant Scents Top Coat in “Island Petals”.