Nails of the Day - ORLY Bubbly Bombshell

ORLY Bubbly Bombshell

I know, another simple mani and another ORLY polish. They make some ridiculous glitters, though, let's be honest. For some reason this photographed strangely. It's fairly spot-on, but I think it's just a bit less fuchsia and more Barbie-pink. That's actually why I wanted to do it: one of my coworkers has super sparkly Barbie-inspired nails this week and I wanted to emulate them. Her nails are actually what made me finally decide to do my own even though she pays to have hers done. I wanted to have the pretty length that her acrylics give her, but I hate fake nails. I decided to grow my own, and use polish to my advantage.

Anyway, this is three coats (annoying) with a matte accent. The accent, which is on the ring finger, isn't that obvious in the photo. I'm going to blame it on how sparkly the polish is : ) I used NYC Matte Me Crazy, which is actually been really good so far. I had used ELF's Matte Topcoat, but it smells horrible and takes forever to dry. I used NYC's New York Minute fast-dry topcoat on the rest. I'm trying to see if the terrible tip wear I've been experiencing lately is due to my topcoat/polish or if it's just my lifestyle, which isn't that labor-intensive. Meh. We'll see. Also, sorry about the cuticles and the polish everywhere. Unfortunately, ORLY's glitters and shimmers are near impossible to clean with my little make-up brush. Tomorrow I have the day off, so hopefully that means some more catching up on Halloween nails and finishing my costume.

Nails of the Day - ORLY Luxe

ORLY Luxe

I have been eyeing ORLY Rage for a really, really long time. I finally bit the bullet and bought it last week because it was getting toward the end of ULTA's buy two get one sale. This allowed me to get Luxe, which was a polish I had debated purchasing when I got my first haul from ULTA, as well as a dark brown polish. I have to say, I ADORE Luxe. It's so shiny. Unfortunately it didn't last very well through today. I don't know if it's the polish or me or some combination of the two, but it's really annoying. It's not too bad since I change my polish daily, but this one was so pretty I'd have been okay wearing it for longer. If anyone has suggestions, let me know. I used Seche Vite over it. Maybe that's the problem?

Halloween Challenge Day #1: Trick or Treats

Close-up of a Mary Jane with the icon on the front.
Courtesy FrontRowEats.com

Today's theme is "trick or treats." We're supposed to do Halloween candy nail art. I based mine on my favorite childhood Halloween candy: Mary Janes. I used the Halloween version for inspiration.

Halloween Mary Janes
Courtesy of EasyBaked.net

I started with a base of Sinful Colors "Black on Black" on every nail. I then painted a candy shape on my thumbs using two coats of a mix of Sinful Colors "Big Daddy" "Black on Black." Using just "Big Daddy" this time, I covered the black on my ring fingers, resulting in a brown-ish orange. Finally, I took a small art brush dipped in "Black on Black" and drew "MJ" on the candy and the Mary Jane girl on my ring finger.

I think this is actually a really cute mani! It's one I'd be okay with wearing outside of the house (I'm super picky). My art isn't gorgeous, but I'm getting better.

I'm late on the challenge, but I plan on catching up by the end!

Nails of the Day - China Glaze Luxe & Lush over Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam

I've been staring at these all day. I adore Luxe & Lush, but it's annoying when the flakies don't stay flat. I've had a mad crush on Khloe since I got it. It's the perfect dark blue-green, and the application is flawless, despite that it's just a mini bottle.

Glitter Swatches Pt. 1

All things glitter, y'all! I love all things sparkly, and my collection reflects that.

Let's dive in! Each color is represented by one coat each over white (ULTA Snow White) and black (Sinful Colors Black on Black), and one coat on the middle finger, two on the ring, and three on the pinkie.

Finger Paints "Easel-ly Amused"

I love this glitter. It goes on easily (punny), and the color is beautiful. It's almost a purple-blue.

Finger Paints "Gourd or Bad?"

I really like the bar glitters and the color combo, but I'm not so much a fan of the application. It goes on WAAAAAY better than WnW's Fergie "Hollywood Walk of Fame." You kind of have to dab, but it's worth it as you can tell. The formula's a little thicker, especially if you want better coverage. It takes a bit to dry.

Finger Paints "Hue Left a Message?"

LOVE this glitter. It's super opaque compared to the others and really only needs a couple of coats by itself. It's almost a warm, gold-like rose pink. J'adore. All the above FP glitters dry to a grainy texture, but they dry wicked fast.. When a topcoat is added, they become insanely sparkly and it solves the graininess.

Finger Paints "Purple Palette"

This also goes on well. The color isn't as intense as either "Easel-ly Amused" or "Hue Left a Message?," but it's still very nice. This is a lighter purple.

Sinful Colors "All About You"

I love the warmth of this glitter topper, and it's pretty decent by itself. It dries quickly and looks pretty great.

Sinful Colors "Nail Junkie"

This reminds me of mermaids. I really like it, but for some reason I never use it. It has several different sizes and colors of glitter, all cool blues and greens. It's in a blue/green-ish jelly base, so it's better on it's own or over a color you don't mind covering up.

Sinful Colors "Pearl Harbor"

I actually really adore this topcoat. It's opalescent and I really like it over China Glaze's "Jungle Queen."

Sinful Colors "Queen of Beauty"

Meh. It's a silver topper. It dries quickly. It's your typical Sinful Colors polish: better quality than decent, but not as good as great.

Wet n' Wild Fergie Collection "Glamorous"

I adore this one. Apparently it's a dupe for a Sephora by OPI polish, but it costs literally half as much. This formula dries at a medium rate, and it looks absolutely adorable layered over almost any creme. It's fun to use in jelly sandwiches, too.

Wet n' Wild Fergie Collection "Hollywood Walk of Fame"

Great in theory, soooo annoying in practice. It takes a lot of dabbing to get even a couple of stars on. The formula is thick, so takes a long time for the polish to dry so that you can more effectively add more. I'm sad it doesn't work because it's really pretty.

Wet n' Wild Fergie Collection "Ruby Red Slippers"

This is okay. I like it, it does the job, but it's nothing special. I've been avoiding purchasing ORLY's and China Glaze's red glitter toppers because I have this one, but I think I'm just going to splurge and toss this one. It goes on smoothly, it definitely has glitter, and it dries really quickly.

Yay Nails!

I adore getting my nails done. I like selecting the color, I like the hand massage, and I like not having to worry about whether it will be done correctly or not. Unfortunately, I make minimum wage, and I work a super labor intensive job. This means my nails get mutilated the day after I get them done. It's super expensive to have pretty fingertips all the time.

After reading /r/redditlaqueristas and getting inspired by all the lovely ladies there, I decided to give painting my own nails a try. It was disastrous to start, as I expected it would be. My cuticles were covered in polish, my nails were awkward shapes, and I couldn't do a design to save my life. I had two nail polishes: OPI Don't Know Jacques and OPI Rumple's Wiggin, which has since disappeared. The more I saw on /r/redditlaqueristas, the more I wanted to do. I started collecting polish and working on my manicures, but I'd chew or peel it off the next day. Then I started to get more serious. I realized that painting my nails is cathartic. It makes me feel great when I pull off a nice manicure and even more so when someone notices. I went from throwing polish onto my nails to not even having to do cuticle clean-up.

I've already improved a lot, and I want to improve some more! I'm going to start out by going through my previous manis, then I will start doing the 30-Day Challenge, the Halloween Challenge, and the 52-Week Challenge, documenting some swatches and random nail designs throughout.

NOTD:

Octopus

ORLY "Rage"

Sinful Colors "Black on Black"