Battle of the red-hot flakies

Hello, Fireflies!

I love flakies.  Practically obsessed.  I want to BUY ALL THE FLAKIES!

So, it's no wonder why I have dupes.. or at least close cousins.  I picked these 4 polishes that all have a purple base with red flakies: Nfu-Oh 51, Color Club The Uptown, Layla CE 52, and Kleancolor Chunky Holo Purple.

Even though they are all similar, none of them are exactly the same!

Nfu-Oh 51 is pretty much the original of this type of polish.  The Layla comes closest, but has a more purple base, less blue.  The Uptown is lighter still, and the Kleancolor has almost no color on the nail.

Even the flakies are all a little different.  The Uptown has almost too many flakies - with 2 coats of polish, the flakies start to look like a whole layer, rather than individual flashes.  The Nfu-Oh has the finest, smallest flakies.  The KleanColor's flakies are bordering on glitter. Not to mention it has that hideous Kleancolor aroma.

Nfu-Oh has discontinued their flakie line, but you can still find a few floating around on Ebay and the like.  If the smell doesn't bother you, the Kleancolor is probably the cheapest option, and you could layer it over whatever purple base you'd like.  I'm not sure of the availability of the Layla, since Ulta stopped carrying their line.  The Uptown is part of Color Club's Winter 2013 collection, so it should be around for a while, and then it will hopefully end up in TJMaxx!

Have y'all seen other versions of this polish?  If you don't need them all, which would you choose?

Sunday Stamping - Ready for Autumn!

Who's ready for Autumn?

This girl is, for sure. Autumn in Florida is so nice - well, once hurricane season is over, anyway.  I look forward to turning off the A/C, opening the doors, burning some nice-smelling candles, and cuddling on the couch with my sweetie and a nice, soft blanket.

Hopefully, this mani will help get you in the mood for it, too!  I started with Urban Outfitters Girrl Like You, a nice pistachio green creme.

Oops, I forgot to take a pix of the plate.  It's Anna's Nail Art W228, a branch with 5 leaves on it.  I had some trouble getting all the leaves to pick up every time, so I did a scattered leaf effect.

I stamped first with Layla Softouch Effect 11, a tan with a little bit of pink shimmer to it, and then with Zoya Channing, a gorgeous orange metallic.

Here's the bottle shot:  Urban Outfitters Girrl Like You, Layla Softouch 11, and Zoya Channing.

What nail colors do you associate with Autumn?

Ah! Minty Fresh!

Hi, Fireflies!

I have an idea this week to do a bunch of comparison posts.  Let's see if I can make it all week!

First up, I wanted to go mint!  Seems like mint is a hot topic lately in the polish-sphere, so I pulled some of my mint untrieds to compare.

If you haven't yet heard of Lilypad Lacquer, you need to.  They are a newish Indie out of Australia, and her holos are really quite beautiful.  This is My Enchantmint

This is a crisp, green mint with a subtle linear holo.  Application is flawless.  I did not want to take it off... but I have more mint to show you!

I'm glad I was able to get Enchanted Polish July 2013.  It's a gorgeous mint with a nice subtle linear holo. 

This is a little bluer than the Lilypad, and not as opaque, but it is probably one of my fave EPs.

This polish, Enchanted Polish A Little Fishy Told Me is a charity polish for BASE camp in honor of Talia Joy.

I'm not sure if it's a traditional mint, really.  The blue shimmer is pretty, but it makes this polish look grey/blue.  I actually really like it, but I can see where people might be disappointed that it's not a Talia Joy mint.

This polish surprised me!  In the bottle, Layla Emerald Divine looks very light and pale!  It's actually an in-your-face gorgeous green holo.

Layla formulas are a little finicky, and usually apply better if you have an aqua base on, or have buffed your nails.  I find that a ridge-filling base coat works pretty well for me, especially since this type of mirror-chrome holo shows every ding and divot in my nails.

Urban Lacquer Mother Minter isn't a linear holo, but it's a lovely mint jelly with a smidge of micro holo glitter.

It's very sheer, and I would definitely recommend layering it unless you want to wear 4 coats like I am. 

Here's the bottle shot.  It never ceases to amaze me how similar these polishes can look in the bottle and be totally different on the nail.  From left to right, Lilypad Lacquer My Enchantmint, Enchanted Polish July 2013 and A Little Fishy Told Me, Layla Emerald Divine, and Urban Lacquer Mother-Minter

No dupes.  The Lilypad is close to EP July in color, but the finish is different. 

So, what do you think of all this mint?  Any faves?

Sunday Stamping - Turquoise Stone Saran Wrap

Hello, Fireflies!

I'm super-excited to show you this mani.  It was so easy and fun, and I love the way it turned out.  When have you ever heard me say that about a stamped mani?

Yeah, maybe never?

This one starts out with two gorgeous blues:  Layla Softtouch 10, a mermaid-type blue with gold shimmer, and Cover Girl Blue Hawaiian, a light blue creme.

Some of you may have noticed that I alternated the colors.  Go ahead and pat yourselves on the back! I only did that because I wasn't sure if I wanted to dab light blue over dark, or dark over light.

Here's what I discovered:  I preferred using the Layla darker base and dabbing the light blue over it, for two reasons.  One, I liked the darker edge where I didn't dab much, and two, dabbing the Layla meant that I got gold shimmer over my finger, and it's harder to clean up.  Word to the wise.

I have this Jumbo Cheeky plate that has no identifiers on it.  I took this squiggly line stamp and black and stamped over the saran wrap mani.

Then, I took a teeny-tiny brush and some Maybelline Bold Gold and dabbed in some of the larger gold chunks you sometimes see running along the veins in turquoise.

I think one of my fave things about this mani is that you can still see some of the gold shimmer, which gives it a really cool natural stone look.

This was way easier than trying to watermarble for me.  I have some OPI Black Spotted, and I might try to achieve the effect that way, too, instead of the plastic wrap (which, incidentally, I used a piece of a plastic grocery bag, and it was much better for me.)

Bottle shot:  Layla Softtouch effect #10, Cover Girl Blue Hawaiian, Finger Paints Black Expressionism, and Maybelline Bold Gold.

Have you tried any versions of the turquoise stone mani yet?  Which one do you like?

SoFlaJo is SoFlattering!

Today, I'd like to show you some polishes by SoFlaJo, a southern Florida girl.  Yay, Florida... :)

Purple Reign of Terror.  Technically, this came out with her Halloween collex.  I don't think it needs to be relegated to one time of the year, though!  In fact, I wore it a couple of days ago and received a compliment on it!  Even with my li'l nubbies.

This was opaque in two coats, but I love that it still looks like a jelly, and the holo bits are just floating around.  Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

The True Death.  Also from her Halloween collex, and I believe an homage to True Blood, this is another polish I loved and would wear year-round.  It's a charcoal jelly with red glitter.. but it also has a coppery feeling, too.  I have too many polishes that are black jelly with red glitter - this is completely unique, though.

Ballroom.  I never wear orange and pink together.. except on my nails.  Then, I can't get enough.  This polish has elements of both, but doesn't read as true pink or orange.  Maybe more of a rose gold?  It was really hard to capture the true color and shimmer of this polish, too.  It's gorgeous.

I used Layla Ceramic Effects 55, gold glitter in a orange-tinted base, to emphasize some of the orange tones.  Even with a gradient, this glitter is too opaque to be a layering polish.  It's pretty, but I just wanted an accent to Ballroom.  Really nice microglitter in the tinted base, though.

Hidden Gem.  Charcoal grey with blue flecks.  This polish dries a little matte, almost like a suede finish.

I thought it really came alive with some topcoat.  Look at the blue shimmer, it just takes this to another level.

I used some striping tape and Pure Ice Black Rage to create the tips.  This was my fave look!  So easy, too - just two pieces of tape across the tip of the nail.  I even used the same two pieces for the whole hand.  

If you'd like more info about SoFlaJo, she can be found on Facebook, and on her website.  Will you be trying the tape French tips or SoFlaJo polishes?

Stamping Sunday - Invasion!!!

INVASION!!

What better color to start with for an alien invasion than green?  I wanted to try my new Layla Ceramic Effect in khaki, and I was not disappointed.  Not sure it was totally worth the inflated price over other cremes, but it definitely applied like a dream.

I decided to play around with the acetone "watercolor' technique and add dark and light greys to the mix.  The dark grey is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Grey Area, and the light grey is Essence Grey-t to be here. 

An unexpected benefit to using the Essence was that, as the color washed out with the acetone, it left the pink shimmer behind, adding an other-worldly haze to the background of my alien invasion.

I used FNUG holos to stamp on my invasion.  Futuristica, the blue holo, was used for the ufos on my thumb, and the alien on my pinky.  Fantastica, the green holo, was used for the Space Invaders on my middle and ring fingers, as well as the rocket and ufo on my index finger.

 Are you ready for the invasion??

Kunimitsu - Nail Potions

A few weeks ago, I got the pleasure of meeting up with a couple of nail polish aficionados here in Daytona.  I had been waiting for a special occasion to wear my new Layla holo - Coffee Love.

I love brown, I love holo!  Unfortunately, I tried to protect it with a topcoat, and it was too thick and dulled the look, but it's such a complex polish it was still pretty.

One of the people I met at lunch was Jessica, the owner and creative spirit behind Nail Potions.  Kunimitsu was the name of her beloved cat, who has unfortunately passed from this world, but lives on in Jessica's heart and polish creations.  Kunimitsu's silhouette is featured on all the labels, with the star pattern she had on her chest.

Calico is a mix of brown, black, orange, and white micro glitters in a clear base - very reminiscent of a calico coat!  I layered this over Layla Coffee Love to make Calico Love! I really love these polishes together.  The orange is so colorful, but not overwhelming in this mix of glitters.

I'm not huge in the milky-white base glitter fan camp, but there are a few that I like, and these next two from Nail Potions are among my favorites.  Seal Point Siamese has blue, black, and holo microglitters suspended in the white base. 

I really love microglitters, and most of the polishes I have with them are very densely packed and opaque with glitter.  These two are very different because of the white base.

Flame Point Siamese has blue and holo microglitters, and adds coppery-orange ones to the mix.  It's a very soft look. 

I love the sophistication that these polishes have.  If you're interested in Nail Potions, you can find her on Facebook, and she has a shop on Etsy, as well.