I Reclaim my nails!

And to balance a rather negative post with a positive one I have for you Nubar Reclaim.  This is by far one of my favourite polishes to wear.  Anything green immediately captures my interest anyway, but add to it a strong linear holo and I am sold.

When I bought this I got it in a set of Nubar green polishes.  I love their sets, they are a wonderful value for any polish junkie.  They usually have a top coat and base as well, so you can start up any newbie as well.

Outside the holo really shines, and I have to say it is one of the more dangerous polishes to wear when driving.  I catch myself staring at it on a regular basis.  Just too darn pretty for it's own good.

A Ray-diant Illusion

I ended up with the entire collection of China Glaze duochrome glitter polishes, although I can't say they are my favourite.  They apply semi-sheer and dry pretty slow.  The main issue I have with these polishes is that they are too similar in shade.  Unless you are wearing them together you really can't tell the difference between the subtle colors.  Here I have China Glaze Optical Illusion and Ray-diant, and to be perfectly honest, I couldn't tell you which one is the main color and which is the accent.

The polishes are pretty, and I will definitely get some use out of them, but I can't say that they are on my "must track down" list.

Outside you can see the color shift a little more, but I really need a much stronger duochrome to keep my interest.  I guess I'm getting more picky as my stash grows, but these just didn't WOW me.

My Elephant likes Lasers.

 After a day or so I decided to add an accent nail of Up Colors Laser Lilas to my previous China Glaze Elephant Walk manicure.  Laser Lilas (which I am assuming translates to Laser Lilac) is a gorgeous purple holo that is exactly what I want in a color.  The holographic shimmer is not too intense, but it is linear, so it makes me incredibly happy inside.  Sometimes a holo doesn't need to be intense for it to give your nails that extra oomph they need.

Inside with the flash you can see the holo a little less, but it is still there.  I actually quite like the effect that holo polishes have in low light, sort of dusty and muted.  It's the ultimate secret.  You know that bland finish is hiding a magical shimmery surprise!

Walk like an Elephant

 I don't tend to love gray polish, but for some reason when I saw the China Glaze Safari collection I had to have Elephant Walk.  It applied in two gorgeous, easy coats, and had a fantastic finish.  While I was wearing this I kept thinking how nice it would probably look matte, but I never gave that a shot.

I am completely surprised at how much I liked this color on my nails.  It will definitely be in rotation for when I need something slightly calmer than my usual metallics and brights.

I wish I lived a Glamerous Life.

Recently Deborah Lippmann had a sale on a few of their pink polishes.  I picked up three, one of which was Glamorous Life, a nice nude frost that compliments my skintone quite nicely.  I was not expecting to like this polish much, but it ended up surprising me!

It applied evenly an didn't show brush strokes.  Inside it was subtle and shimmery.

Outside in the shade it's frost came out, but not in the bad grandma-ish way.

And in the sun it is full on shine!  I really like how it is similar enough to my skin color to look nude, but wasn't mannequin hands.

I shouldn't be so shocked at how much I like this polish, since every Deborah Lippmann I have tried has been amazing.  But I am so happy to have a nice palette cleanser that isn't too boring!

My Figs are in a Jam.

After such a letdown with my last manicure Revlon Fig Jam was a nice surprise!  This applied smoothly and was almost one coat.  The scent when it dried down was sweet like most of the scented Revlon polishes, but didn't really remind me of figs.

I was so happy with this color, it definitely turned out to be way nicer than I had expected.  I picked it up on a whim when it was in a clearance bin at one of my local drug stores.  It's peachy coral color has become one of my favourites for summer pedicures!

Nothing Else Metals, Essie?

I have another lilac foil for you to see!  This time it's Essie Nothing Else Metals from their new metallic collection.  I have to say, this time I am incredibly disappointed.  Of all of the foils I have worn, this was one of the worst.  Application was patchy and had a ton of drag.  The foil was not even, after shaking the bottle multiple times between coats I could not get the particles to disperse evenly.  This created some dark spots in the mani where there was no metallic foil to offset the purple base.  I tend to think I am pretty good at applying foil polishes, since they are my favourite, and I couldn't get this one to behave for the life of me.

Sadly, this color was close to the one I am looking for, just a tad bit lighter.  But with application as it was, I can't see it replacing my HG purple foil just yet.  Usually I like Essie polish, and it upsets me that this is the first time I have put it on the blog.  There are a lot of gorgeous Essies out there, just this is not one of them.

Strawberry Fields Forever

 This is China Glaze Strawberry Fields.  The gorgeous gold shimmer in this polish is enough to get me to wear pink.  I usually choose colors like this when I need a tried and true, easy polish after a long day.

You really can't look at this color and not smile.  It is cheery and makes you think girly thoughts.  Every once in a while I need a girly color to make me feel sweet.

Shady Donmar

Today I have a quick update for you with a gorgeous combination.  This is Nails Inc the Donmar collection, which consists of Chelsea, a dark burgandy base, and Donmar, the gorgeous flakie topcoat.  It applied beautifully and wore wonderfully.  Overall the set was definitely worth the ten bucks I scooped it up for when Sephora was clearancing them out!

On an unrelated side note, I am sorry I have fallen behind on these posts.  This week is pretty hectic, as I am filling in for my department's buyer while he is out of town.  Hopefully my life will go back to normal soon, and with it my blog posts. 

It's the age of Gingerbells?

 This was a quick touch up to a manicure of OPI Ginger Bells that I did after far too much chipping and tip wear to bear.  I was tired and just decided to slap a coat of Color Club Age of Aquarius that I got in a Birchbox.  If you look closely you can see the line from the chipping, but as I said, it was a quick fix.

I was trying to get a color accurate picture of AoA for you, but I really couldn't.  Anything neon is always so hard to photograph.  It's a gorgeous color though, and if I wore neons more I would definitely consider buying the full size.

M-I-C-K-E-Y mouse

 Sorry for the quality of these pictures and these nails!  I was on vacation and had so many chips after a week of surf nails that I needed a change.  I ended up buying remover pads from my hotel gift shop and they weren't very strong.  I ended up leaving the non chipped nails intact and just redoing the horrible ones.

I decided to use Funky Fingers Zeppelin and Wet n Wild Black for a semi half moon manicure.  It came out better in my head, but I didn't have any art brushes so I had to use the large one in the bottle.

Catch a Wave and You're Sitting on Top of the World

 This manicure is to this day probably one of my favourite things I have ever put on my nails.  My best friend took me to the Beach Boys 50th Anniversary tour when it came to my area and I had to do special nails for the event.

 I decided to do a beach theme with sand, waves and a surf board.  What would a Beach Boy's manicure be without their board?

 I couldn't stop taking pictures of these nails.  They made me so incredibly happy.  Every time I looked at my hands I smiled.  Honestly, I think I was shocked that I was able to produce something like this.

 On my right hand I left off the surf boards, and also the top coat, so you could see the awesome texture of the sponged waves.

I really loved how the waves turned out, even though the blue had a hidden shimmer in it, it wasn't too overpowering for the manicure.

I really need to work on my nail art more.  I enjoy the results, but it takes so much time.  And honestly, since I work with my hands, it only lasts a day.  If I have a few days off in a row I can do something fancy, but for daily wear it's just not practical.

The base was China Glaze Fast Track, with sponging of Color Craze White and Confetti Blue Bombshell.  The surf boards were done with OPI Big Apple Red and Need Sunglasses? along with the CC White.

I took this one before I cleaned up my edges or painted the surfboards.  Just so I would have an in progress picure to show off.  I'm probably more proud of this than I should be, but it was definitely a feat for me.

Shimmering Liquid Crystal

 This post is incredibly picture heavy, I will warn you now!  When China Glaze put out their collection of glitter multichrome polishes I had to have the entire collection.  I snatched up all but one from Sally's when they were released and have yet to find the lone straggler.

This is Liquid Crystal.  I wish I could discribe the color for you, but it shifts so much that it really is hard to pin point it as one color.  I would say the base is teal, and it shifts to green and purple and blue.

 This was the only way I could show you the beautiful pink/purple flash.  It came out in incredibly odd angles, which made for me twirling my hands around like a freak quite a bit while wearing this manicure.  I would stop in each new lighting and see what colors would show up for me.

 Outiside it was much lighter and definitely had more dimension.  The sun brought out a lot of nuances that you couldn't see indoors.

 This is my new favourite pose for showing off multichromes.  Being able to shoot that many angles at once entertained me more than it should have.  I'm sure it's been done before, but when I figured it out I was giddy.

Here, in the shade, you can see some silver and blue coming through.  It was definitely lightest in this lighting.  Overall the polish was a hit and I can't wait to wear more from the line.  Or to layer it over black.  I love polish with a lot of options!

I can be a bit of a Prima Donna.

 I know what you're thinking, "Another lavendar foil??!?"  Yes, another lavendar foil.  I have a horrible addiction to lavendar/lilac foil polish.  Once I actually swatch the polish that is the source of this obsession I will explain to you the entire reasoning under my collection of purple shiney things.

Now that that little thing is over I'll introduce this pretty little paint.  I am wearing Ginger and Liz Prima Donna.  I have to say this is on the top of my list of lavendar foil polishes, it applied easily and had a gorgeous finish.  I got it off of Hautelook which sometimes has some really interesting brands.  (Yes that is an invite link, you can use it if you want, if not I will not cry).  I don't know if they will have Ginger and Liz any time soon, but if they do you should look at them!

I'll be your Baby Goth Girl

This manicure is two coats of MAC Baby Goth Girl.  It has a really interesting shimmer that hides when you're inside, but the flakies come out pretty strong when you go outside.

MAC polishes can definitely be hit or miss, this one I think was a hit in my book.  It was incredibly easy to apply, which I know is surprising for a MAC polish. I have definitely experienced the bad side of the brand's polish selection and this was amazingly one of the better ones.

If you look closely at my thumb you can really see the gorgeous flakies that this polish hides.  I wish all MAC polishes were as nice as this one, which has become one of my favourite vampy shades.

Princess Tears of Joy

Today I am very happy to show you my very first A England color.  This is Princess Tears.  This is a gorgeous holographic color with a duochrome flash undertone. 

For how in love with this color I am you would think I would have more to say about it.  It applied wonderfully and was generally a wonderful polish.  I stared at it all the time and loved moving my hands around under different lights to see all the different dimensions of the color.

This shot is probably my favourite I got of this polish.  It shows quite a few of the dimensions and different colors that the polish can give off.  I love linear holos and this one definitely did not disappoint.  I can't wait to get my hands on a few more A England polishes!

Androgynie?

This is Orly Androgynie.  I don't have a ton to say about it, although I have enough pictures to do all of the talking.  This color was not anywhere near what I was expecting, and I was pretty disappointed.  All of the swatches online made this color seem alright, and I guess I just didn't want to believe something so pretty in the bottle could be meh on my nails.

Application was pretty easy, no complaints.  I did find that after a few coats the glitter from the first few coats would get completely covered.  I would have liked to see it either slightly more sheer (so the glitter would shine though) or more opaque (so I would need less coats).

Outside it was definitely more to look at, and I have to admit that when driving I had to sneak a peek once in a while.  I had to get pictures in the sun to show all of the pretty glitter that hides when you're inside.

Overall, I can't say this polish was worth it, but I am glad I purchased it to see for myself.  It's not on my must buy list at all, but I am sure I will get some use out of it, especially for nail art.