On Wednesdays, the Mean Girls Wear Pink

I've probably mentioned that, as a little girl, I was only allowed to wear pink nail polish.  So, when I got back into polish, I rebelled a little at the idea of wearing pink.  I mean, why wear pink when I could wear BLUE?  or GREEN?  or *whisper* black?

So many rebellious choices, and I chose them all. 

And, by the way, I'm over 40, and it STILL drives my mother crazy when I wear crazy colored nail polish.  *evil cackle*

But, anyway, I decided that I liked pink again.  So here are some recent pink finds.

Illamasqua Pink Raindrops.  Oh, how we waited for this to show up on the UK website, paid our shipping costs, and then.. well, I like it, but I'm not sure it lived up to the hype.  It's not a pink version of Raindrops, as touted.  It is a pretty pink with flakies, but it's not a jelly. 

Smitten Polish Snowberry Gumdrop.  When I saw another blogger say about this polish that she wished this is what Pink Raindrops looked like, I knew I wanted it!  This is more of a crelly, with fewer, but larger white flakies.  I really like this.

365 Days of Color Make Me Laugh-y Taffy.  This is more jelly than I was expecting.  I would recommend wearing this with undies.  It's a thin formula that I think would take way too many coats to become opaque.  Ain't nobody got time for that.  This one has shredded glitters, too.

Feenix Pasadena Rose.  Pay no attention to the glittered ring finger, we'll get to that in a second.  Are you seeing that blue shimmer?  I hope you can find this in a blog sale, because Feenix closed its doors. 

Glitzology Priscilla. Ok, so you couldn't ignore the glitter.  But now I can tell you that it's Glitzology Priscilla.  It has a very sheer base - it might even be clear, but with a slight iridescence.  It looks like it was made to go with Feenix Pasadena Rose.  The blue shimmer plays nice with the pink and purple glitters, and the two sheer polishes together reach opacity without getting chunky. 

LynBDesigns Jarvis.  We're all guilty of buying at least one polish just for the name.  I have a friend whose name is NOT Jarvis, nor any derivation or similarity to Jarvis.  Yet, that is one of her nicknames.  She doesn't wear nail polish.  I knew she'd never wear this.. so I wear it for her.

Elixir Lacquers With A K.  And, we end on a hot pink note. This one is not for the shy and retiring.  It's bright and fun and shiny.  I have no idea what the K is, and why it has one.

I've included links in the polish titles to the Indies that are still with us.  If you'd like more information, you can find them all on Facebook.

Do you wear pink?   Do you wear a particular color when you're feeling rebellious?

Nubar Modern Matte

I have become quite the fan of Nubar polishes.  I first found them while looking for duochromes before every Indie and Brazilian brand was making duochromes.  They also have a couple of nice holos and some glitters, and so many others.  The collex I want to show you today is their Modern Matte collection.

Vital.  A wine color, leaning purple.  One of my faves of this collex.  Love that texture!

I decided to layer Liquid Lacquer Hellion over it.  This glitter didn't need undies, it covered Vital right up!  What a gorgeous jelly sandwich, too.

Prevail.  This was the polish that made me want to buy this collex.  Brownish purple matte?  oh, yes.  It didn't disappoint me, either.

 Oooh, shiny topcoat. Looks like I could go swimming in there.

Covering it with this glitter disappointed me, though!  Not one of my better choices.  I'm going to blame it on the alcohol.  This is Finger Paints Santa's Magic.  It's not a bad glitter, per se, it just does nothing for this gorgeous purple, and I'm sad it's covered up.  Luckily, we have the magic of the interwebs and you can scroll up to see it again in its purple glory.  You know you want to.

Avant-garde.  Red with a hint of brown.  This one didn't dry as matte as the others.  Or, I may not have waited long enough to take the pix.  I like the warmer-leaning, darker reds like this.

Again, I used a full-coverage glitter without meaning to.  But, wow-oh-wow, is this a great red glitter.  Red Nose from Elixir Lacquers.   When I put it on, I was thinking of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, but it's actually part of her bully-breed collex that supports bully breeds like Pit Bulls.  Personally, I like Pitties, and I think a lot of them get an undeserved bad rap.

Contempo.  Another red.  That was the only bummer of this collex - all the colors were from the same family.

I did a double layering experiment with this one.  First, a gradient of Butter London Chancer, which I thought looked really good with Contempo.

Then, I applied Orly Halo to the tips.  Up close and personal, I don't like it much, but in Real Life, it was okay.  I was going for holiday festive at the time.

If you're very familiar with mattes, you may have noticed that these are not super-matte, but more of a 'soft touch' satin finish.  They all applied so nicely, and I love that they transform with topcoat or other glitters.

If you'd like more information on Nubar, check out their Facebook page.  I found most of mine on Ebay, though Harlow and Co. does carry some Nubar.  What do you think of this collex?

Heavy Metals

Today, I want to show you some polishes and glitters in the same metal color family.  First up is OPI Number One Nemesis:

Part of the OPI Spider-man collection, this color, like most of them in that collection, had *nothing* to do with Spider-man.  So bizarre.  

Look at that complex mesh of glitters, though! So beautiful.

I paired it with Pahlish Sitting in a Tin Can that I bought from a blog sale.  It's my first polish with diamond glitter.  I haven't decided yet if I like diamond glitter.  Have you tried the "super secret" glitter technique by Otaku nails?  It does make it easier to get full coverage with glitter!

  
Next up, Rimmel Hard Metal.  This is a metallic steel grey.  I don't own too many Rimmels, as the selection around here is pretty limited, but I've liked the formula of the ones I've tried.  I just wish they had more colors.

Layered over Hard Metal is Elixir Lacquers Powder Keg, a mix of black and grey, and a glitter that flashes between blue and purple, in a dark base.  I don't know if Hard Metal is *needed* under Powder Keg, but I like the steel grey/blue undertone that it gives the final look.

Last is Daring Digits Girls' Night Out.  No undies for this one.  It's a nice, full-coverage glitter.  When you look straight at the bottle, it looks black, and then as you move it, the colors flash.  Unlike Powder Keg, which is monochromatic (with maybe some blue), Girls' Night Out has multi-colored or holo glitter. 

Likely, all of these polishes could be mixed and matched with each other and get similar results.  I love a dark grey, blingy polish, what can I say?  Do you?  What about those diamond glitters?

Indie Blue and Grey

I have been, as you may know, bitten badly by the Indie bug.  I love them.  I have enough glitter to wear from head-to-toe, and yet, there are combinations out there I still want to have. 

This Flormar 99 is a beautiful electric blue, but I wish I hadn't sent all the way to Bulgaria for it - there are plenty here in the US that are as nice.  It does have a nice shine, even without topcoat, though.

Does everyone have enough 'mermaid' or 'ocean' type glitters by now?  I have bought my share, and I think the key is to find the right combination for you.  Some have more teal, some more royal blue, some silver.  Elixir Lacquer Kind of Connery is a beautiful combination of blue, silver, and aqua glitters in a blue tinted base.  The silver glitter also flashes black, which gives it a dark depth that I really like.

From deep blue seas to grey, rainy skies.  I started with a layer of Wet 'n Wild Rain Check, a translucent blue grey shimmer. 

I may not have drunk the Kool-aid of the white base with glitter group, but I am loving the grey bases with glitter. Tough As Nails Lacquer It's All Over Now is a light grey base with silver, lavender, purple, and blue glitter.  

I made a jelly sandwich with another very thin layer of Rain Check - you can just barely see the blue shimmer on my middle finger.

Are you more partial to deep ocean glitter or rainy skies glitter?

Purple Daisies - inspired by Robin Moses

Another seafoam/mint green.  Why do I have so many of these?  This is Urban Outfitters Smush. It's nice, but it's about to become a part of something, dare I say, amazing.

I ran across an UO and just had to try their polishes, so I picked up this and a blue, and a couple of glitters.  Love the bottle, love the color.  I only did one coat, because I knew I wanted to pair it with another polish.

Can you see the green shimmer in Elixir Lacquer Miss Kitty's Meow?  It's the same color as Smush. 

I fell in love with this pairing.  I think this is one of those cases where the two polishes together made up something more than each polish alone.  While it's gorgeous plain, I felt the itch to add some nail art.

This is a design inspired by Robin Moses' Pink and Purple Floral Sunset.   I really liked how the viewer seems to be looking up from below the daisies that are framed against a beautiful purple sunset.

I dabbed a little of Ulta Quit Metal-ing, a shimmery pink, on the top corners of the background to give the illusion of a gradient.  I painted the flowers in SpaRitual Shoot for the Stars, a dark purple, and Rimmel Wild Orchid, a rich lavender.  Right hand:

What do you think?  Would you try the nail art, or just enjoy the magical Miss Kitty on her own?