Feelin' Mellow Yellow

I don't wear yellow very often, but I did find a few different swatches from over the past year, so I decided to lump them together into a giant yellow post-it.

Claire's.  Like all of Claire's minis, this has no name.  I wonder what it must be like to work at that factory.  "Can I have more of that color?  You know, the most recent blue?"  Anyway, it was not so good, as you can see.  Streaky!

Model City It's My Birthday.  I layered this over the Claire's polish, but its yellow base was opaque on its own.  I like this one, it's a fun, fresh take on the milky glitter polish with multi-color confetti glitter.

CrowsToes Asterope.  I love a good orange/pink/yellow multichrome, and this is excellent.  Great coverage, nice, easy shift.  The bottom pix shows more of the golden yellow.

LynBDesigns Quincy.  This was a polish I got a while ago, and it sat in my untrieds... for way too long.  I really like it!  The name is cool, too, from her line of polish that has boy's names.  This is a fun, unique polish!

Jessica Banana Peel.  I like Jessica polishes, and they did their best with yellow, but it's still a little streaky.  It's a different yellow, too - a little vintage, maybe?  Nice glossy finish, and I really liked it as undies for the next glitter.

Glitzology Princess Buttercup.  I think Glitzology polishes are pretty cool, but they are usually very thick.  This one applied very nicely, and I was surprised to find that the flowers came out without any digging.  I really liked the pale green glitters and how they looked against the base color and with the yellow glitters.  Probably my fave Glitzology polish to date!

Would you wear a yellow mani?  Do you like the yellow creme or a glittered look?

Candy Cane Striping

For fun and simple nail art, you can't beat dots or stripes.  For a festive look, I used a tutorial from Sassy Paints to make candy cane nails! 

Milani White On The Spot is the best white polish I've found for doing a whole nail.  It dries opaque and glossy.

I found this set of holiday mini scented polishes at Claire's and decided to use some of them for candy canes. What better way then to start out with a sweet mint polish?  I love a sparkle over white.

The red glitter from Claire's was cranberry scented, and it actually went well with the sweet mint.  Who knew.

The green glitter in the Claire's set wasn't thick enough to use with a striper, so I substituted Kleancolor metallic green instead.   If you're one who is sensitive to the smell of Kleancolors, try pairing it with a scented polish! mmm.

I used the Milani silver art striper to add a little glitter.  

They almost smelled good enough to eat!

Do you like using scented polish?  I wasn't interested in buying a polish just for the scent, but I have to admit, it's a nice addition.

My perception of Perception Nail Lacquer

When I first came across Perception Nail Lacquer, I almost passed it by.  I admit, it was a little snobby to look at the recycled bottles and just think that the seller wasn't serious because they didn't have real bottles.

But, I was liking the polishes I was seeing, so I kept looking around, and did a little research, and found some loyal followers of this new-to-me brand.

And, she got new bottles. So, the snob was satisfied.

All the polishes I picked up were glitters, so I found some undies I thought would go well.  I started with Sonia Kashuk Purparazzi (on clearance at Target).  I've tried a couple of her polishes, and love every one of them.  Great formula, great colors.  Being purple, this one was a tad difficult to photograph.  I think the bottle shot color is the most accurate.

I couldn't resist the name.  Unicorn Farts.  I mean, we'd all been lemming Unicorn Pee for so long, it couldn't be a coincidence...

Look at the glittah!

I loved this.  Pretty, but not sickeningly girly.  Subtle, but not demure.  Sparkly, but not blinged out.  The formula was really easy to use, too, and opaque in 2 coats.  Right hand.  

I had Tokidoki Stellina handy, and wanted to see how it worked with Unicorn Farts.  Nice formula, didn't work for me as an accent.

I tried a Claire's glitter pink and purple hexes that were small, but still larger than the Unicorn Farts microglitter.  I liked this look for an accent, but UF is too pretty to cover up completely in the mani.  

When I saw that Perception Nail Lacquer was releasing some more of a glitter I'd seen and liked, I jumped on it right away.  Wicked is just as beautiful as Unicorn Farts, same great formula, but deeper and more daring.

I started with a base of SOPI Eve-y on the Eyes, a deep violet with a little bit of purple shimmer in the bottle that didn't translate on the nail for me. Like most OPI of any variety, the formula was excellent.

Purples notoriously don't photograph well, so you may wonder why I paired this with Wicked, but it did seem to match some of the glitters in real life.  Wicked was opaque in two coats, anyway, so it really didn't need much help in the way of undies.  Isn't it be-a-u-tiful?

I love how seductive it looks.  These vampy-but-not-black colors are awesome, and I love jewel tones on me.

The last polish has a dark brown base, so I chose Color Club Nothin' but Truffle as undies.  I know it looks black.  It's brown, really.  I was a little disappointed in this color, and the application wasn't as smooth - it was rather streaky for a dark color.  I doubt I would wear this polish by itself, but I'm glad I had it for Rumplestiltskin.

 I will likely try Rumplestiltskin over a lighter brown next time to see if the polish changes, because this one was not opaque in 2 coats like the others.

For a quick comparison, here are bottle shots of Rumplestiltskin, Models Own Thunder & Lightening (middle) and Mixed Up (right).  Rumplestiltskin appears to have more colored glitter in a lighter brown base, as opposed to the grey-brown of Thunder & Lightening, or the black of Mixed up.  

So, what do you think of Perception Nail Lacquer?  Rumplestiltskin is part of a Fall 2012 collection based on the TV show Once Upon A Time, so check out her other offerings.  Perception Nail Lacquer can be found on Facebook, and has a shop on Etsy.

How much glitter?!?!

This post started as a serious look at some Butter London polishes, and then, well... you'll see.

First up is the gorgeous, but understated All Hail the Queen (or, as some call it, All Hail McQueen).  This is a beautiful nude with micro holo glitter scattered throughout.  If I ever needed a work-happy polish, I'd go with this one.

Luckily, no one really cares what I wear on my nails, so I blinged it up with Tart With a Heart.  These two go so well together.

 Very sparkly.

I tried it matte, but it didn't do much for me.  I liked it better sparkly.

Then, things got a little crazy.  If you're sensitive to sparkly, you may want to avert your eyes.  I layered on a no-name Clare's blue glitter.

And then, a pink Claire's glitter.

And then, Black Radience Girls Rock glitter in Swag Rock.  I actually like the larger colored circles against the crushed glitter blue/purple Claire's glitter.

 And THEN, I added Claire's Night Sky.  One layer of this was almost opaque enough to hide all the glitter underneath! I wasn't expecting that.

Claire's Bedazzled went on top of that.  Starting to look like a train wreck.

Like a train wreck, I couldn't look away, I couldn't stop.  On went Models Own Mixed Up and Thunder and Lightening.  I didn't realize how very similar those two glitters are.  Mixed up has tiny shreds of silver, and T&L has a brown base, but on top of all this glitter, the nuances were lost.

I started to put another layer of a pink Claire's glitter on my pinky and ring finger, but it just didn't show over the black, and I realized I had reached my glitter threshold.  My nails look ridiculous!

I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun, though.  Like stacking cards and wondering how far you can get before it all comes tumbling down!  What's your glitter threshold?

Summer's last hurrah - Sassy Saturday

On the first Saturday of the month, Shelly's Sassy Nails holds a nail art competition, and this month's theme is dots.  I did this mani using neons ONE LAST TIME... well, probably.  I really am ready for fall colors, even though we don't really get a 'Fall' here in Florida.

I started with a yellow I really like - Jessica Banana Peel.  Great formula for a yellow, and so pale and lovely.

I had a box of no-name Claire's neon glitter polish and I just started making dots.  Feels like a carnival!

 I really loved this, and it was perfect for a last hurrah for neons. 

 Have you sent away your summer colors yet?  Do you wear any color at any time of year?

Over-the-hill Birthday Party Nails

Recently, I helped celebrate a friend's birthday.  He isn't 40 - yet, but these nails would be perfect for an over-the-hill party.  I just pretended he turned 40! 

I started with a base coat of Revlon Black With Envy.  I loved the look of this, so shiny and smooth.  Not a Goth black, for sure.  More of a party black.

I then layered it with Sally Hansen Starry, Starry Flight.  I thought this would be a looser glitter, but it turned out to be almost opaque in one coat!

On top of that, I layered a no-name glitter from Claire's.  It's a mini from their collection of glitters.  It's mostly grey and black with holo glitters in a clear base.  It's one of my new favorite glitters, and I wish I could get it in a full-size bottle!

And, THEN, because inertia took over and I couldn't stop, I added a matte topcoat.  As the kids say, "ERMAGERD!"  I love matte glitter.  This is definitely a look I'll come back to.  

This is a mani that was greater than the sum of it's parts.  None of these polishes on their own were amazing, but together, they created a look that made me very happy - and got me a bunch of compliments! 

Have you created an amazing combination from just okay polishes?