Tag: Fingernails
Astros Nails
I can be a baseball fan, just for one day.
There are few sports as boring as baseball, but as soon as I found out that my son’s Junior High School Band was invited to play the National Anthem, I got uncharacteristically excited. I don’t own any Astros gear, but I do have fingernails…
I don’t normally mix brands like this, but it was necessary to get the colors just right. I started with Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat, followed by two coats of the brightest orange I own – Sally Hansen “Sweet Nectar”. I then painted a swipe pattern that my daughter had done on her own nails last week. I used Julep “Brigitte” for the white and Julep “Dyani” for the blue. I painted the swipes freehand, with the nail polish brush – so they are far from perfect. I wanted some stars, so I then topped with Sinful Colors “Star Studded”. The finishing touch was Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Since I used the brushes from the nail polish bottle, there was far too much polish pooling in the edges, by my skin. Oh well.
I was gonna hold a baseball in the pic, but I couldn’t find one around the house. I used my mom’s opal egg instead. This might be my new nail pic thingy.
Beach Vibes
Sometimes, the idea in your head just doesn’t materialize…and that’s OK. Not every nail polish look is going to be perfect.
Even though it’s not perfect, it’s not bad. It’s giving off definite Summer Beach Vibes. I wanted to try the new polish I got in one of my gazillion Target Beauty Boxes this month – Sinful Colors “Galax-sea”. But it is a glitter with a clear base, so what would I put under it, to hide my stained nails??? Sinful Colors “Coco Bae”!
Starting with Sinful Colors Base Coat, this is two coats of “Coco Bae”, one and a half coats of “Galx-sea”, and finishing up with Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Sugar Flamingo
Can you believe Julep “Cadance”? It looks like pure, pink sugar.
“Cadance” is another sugar textured polish from Julep. There’s a subtle glint of gold underneath the flamingo pink – this might be the most perfect textured polish I’ve ever used.
This is two coats of “Cadance” over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat. Oops, I’m running low on Base Coat! I better add to my next box!
By the way, There’s a My Little Pony named Princess Cadance…but she’s light purple, not flamingo pink. There really isn’t a pony that’s this shade of pink – Pinkie Pie is a cotton candy pink. Why do I know this???
An Oldie, but Goodie
I’m still reaching deep into my stash. I had gone for a pedicure last week and picked a bold turquoise shimmer by OPI (forgot to ask the name) and wanted to go full mermaid. (ALWAYS go full mermaid.)
I dug around and came back with Sally Hansen “Mermaid’s Tale”. I did a quick search on my site – last time I wore it was 3 years ago. That’s too long for this beauty.
This is two coats of “Mermaid’s Tale” over Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat. I don’t remember this polish pulling back from the tips of my nails so much – I am thinking it’s the base coat? Ugh, it’s annoying.
…and then I remembered a possible reason it’s been so long when I went to take the polish off yesterday. It took about 45 fucking minutes to take this polish off. 45. Fucking. Minutes. Ain’t nobody got time fo dat!
Feeling Witchy
I don’t know why, but I’ve been having the urge to dig into my polish stash lately. I don’t know what look I was going for, I just wanted to play. No…I did kind of have an idea. I wanted something in a matte jade green…
Somehow I absolutely mis-remembered what the finish was like on the SpaRitual Luminaries – why did I remember them as matte? I dunno…I guess I could have used my matte top coat, but then I was sleepy and just wanted to go to bed.
I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat, and then two coats of Deborah Lippmann “Defying Gravity”. I alternated Luminaries, starting with “Citrine Luminary” on my thumb and “Opaline Luminary” on my index finger. I didn’t even use a top coat, because I kept waiting for the polishes to get more matte.
I have to say though, “Defying Gravity” might just be my favorite green polish. It’s vibrant, but muted. I don’t feel like a goddamn leprechaun when I wear it. Maybe because it’s so similar to my eye color.
Betcha I’m a Unicorn
Usually, I’m not impressed by milky nail polishes – ESPECIALLY milky glitters – see China Glaze “It’s a Trap-eze”. But it turns out that I really like Funky Fingers “Betcha I’m a Unicorn”.
“Betcha I’m a Unicorn” has a pinkish white milky base – it’s almost iridescent. The glitters are varied – white dots, holographic squares and dots, light blue bars and holographic/white shards. AND the polish is loaded with glitter – no fishing.
This is two coats over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat. The best part about this kind of light polish – I swear, I could’ve worn it for a month because it camouflages chips and edge wear so well.
I am in love with these Funky Fingers polishes from Five Below. I wish they’d hurry up and release some new ones!
Blue Steel
I call this look…Blue Steel.
Julep “Ida” is described as blue heron matte shimmer, but to me, it’s Blue Steel. This is quite a unique polish. I have load of steel, gunmetal, stone – all sorts of metallic gray polishes – but nothing like this blue/gray metallic polish.
Matte polishes can be pretty hit or miss and Matte Metallic polishes are difficult to work with, but “Ida” was a breeze to apply. This is just two coats over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat.
I feel like I need to find Magnum and Le Tigre polishes, too.
Space Glam
Oooh…Space Glam!
Essence Cosmetics “Space Glam” is a complex nail polish. The gold shimmer hits you first, but the base is a duochrome, color-shifting wine to mauve to lavender.
This is two coats of “Space Glam” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
Come to think of it, this polish seems really familiar. I wracked my brain and figured it out – it’s very, very similar to Zoya “Faye”. “Faye” is a tiny bit less gold and more mauve, but they’re very similar.
Sally Hansen 3D Design
When it comes to nail decals – or anything that is supposed to stick to the nail, like nail wraps or even nail stamping – I am deeply skeptical. In trained hands, sure…but most are hard to get the hang of using. I was pleasantly surprised by Sally Hansen 3D Design Appliques. I picked the Floral design, but they also come in Geometric and Knit Sweater patterns. They were an absolute snap to use.
I started with Sally Hansen Double Duty Base & Top Coat and then a single coat of Sally Hansen “Hot Magenta”. (This bottle of “Hot Magenta” is one of my older polishes – the date on the bottle is 2008.) I then carefully peeled off the decals and placed them on my nails. I went in with another coat of “Hot Magenta”, topping with Glisten & Glow Top Coat. The results were amazing – the clear decals took the polish like a champ. They are mostly idiot proof, although I did manage to tear one of the decals. I was able to place the two pieces back together on my nail, so it wasn’t noticeable at all.
Each package comes with 16 decals for $7.99. (Why not 20, so I can get two full sets?) $7.99 is a bit pricey for one and a half manicures worth of decals, but it’s about the same as Jamberry wraps, which go for $15 each and provide 2-3 applications. I might get more of these if I can find them on sale somewhere…
They’re After Me Lucky Charms!
I couldn’t let St. Paddy’s Day pass without a pretty green mani…
I pulled out an oldie, but goody – Julep “Tatum”, neon chartreuse chrome. This is two coats over Julep Oxygen Bonding Base Coat.
I had intended to use the gold clover decals in this month’s Julep box, but I couldn’t figure out how that was supposed to work. The label said ‘nail decals’, but they were on a white card like skin decals…and the instructions said to apply to clean, dry skin. Go home, Julep – you’re drunk!
Instead of the gold clovers, I decided to try out Julep “Desiree”, a high-gloss holographic top coat. I only used it on my ring finger, but you can’t even tell – the chrome effect is too reflective. I need to try it again on a creme polish. I topped with Glisten & Glow Top Coat, but the bottle is getting too old – it is getting to thick to cover smoothly and I got SO many weird bubbles. Good thing I have a fresh bottles stashed…