I'm baaaack and Revlon Girly Swatch

So, I warned you that grad school was going to drastically alter my posting but I never planned on taking a month and a half hiatus.  I finished the semester with a hard fought 4.0 and maintained my overall gpa of a 4.0 so its all good! 

At any rate, I did NOT take a hiatus from buying polish and I have soo many polishes to share with you.   I actually hit over 900 polishes recently and most of those are unblogged!  Check out my ever-expanding stash list under my Polish Stash tab above. 

So, one of my newest polishes is Revlon's Girly.  Its glitterbomb in a pink base with light pink, fuchsia, and purple hex glitters and pink micro glitter.   There is no fishing for glitter with Girly BUT you may want to consider layering over another color.  My swatch below has 3 coats and it gets a little thick and unwieldy when it requires that many layers.   Still, its worth the drying time if you have it because Girly is a must have:)

Also, as you may notice, my nails are super short.  I am debating what to do about them but none of my options are great.  I may get falsies, give my nails a long break, or work really hard with some treatments and TLC to get them back in shape.  Something must be done...

Anyway, I don't know how often I will be back but I will try to post at least once a week with swatches or nail art and more often with polish purchases.

Thanks,
Char

Urban Outfitters Holographic Polishes

Yes, that's right, folks.  Urban Outfitters has three glorious holographic polishes on sale RIGHT now!

You get full coverage with these holo polishes in two thin coats.  Since I have yet to spy Color Club Holo Hues anywhere local, I had to have these.  A friend in a nail group reposted a pic someone had shared in another nail group and I went that same night to hunt these down.  (If you haven't joined a FB nail group, please do so you too can get the polish scoop!)

Each polish is $10 and I haven't seen them available online yet. UPDATE:  You can buy them here! My UO didn't have these polishes with their other polishes so you may have to ask one or two sales people about them.

Get ready for supa-holo-polish-goodness!


First we have Green Holo.  (very original names, UO, she says dryly) Its a very sage looking green but once you have it on, you can barely tell its green in the sunlight.  Its a very pale, silvery green in indirect light.

 Next, keeping up with orginality, UO named this beauty Pink Holo.   This polish is a pale pink, leaning towards pastel holo wonder.  I LOVE it.   LOOOOOOOVE IT!  and you will too if you buy it. 

 Last, is Silver Holo.  I have several different brands of silver holographic polishes and this one seems to work just as well as those that cost $12-$20 plus.  It covers well with only a couple of thin coats and it has enough holo wow factor that you will be staring at your manicure for days. I doubt you'd be disappointed in purchasing this.

Last, you know me...I can't leave my nails with just one kind of polish so I added one coat of Petites' Comet (a pink and silver micro glitter polish) on top of Pink Holo and OMG...even better.  I love how the glitter breaks up the holo just enough to tone it down but still keeps the rainbow actions in play.

Go forth and buy all the UO Holo polishes!

Different Dimension Right to Vote 2012

So the genius behind Different Dimension, Missi, made an offer a month or two ago.  Send her a shot of your polling place and she'd send you a election inspired polish for $4 total.  As I've said, Different Dimension is one of my favorite indies so I was all over this polish offer.  I snapped a screenshot of my voting place and within a week I was a happy new owner of Right to Vote 2012.

You know me...I love to embellish so I added my own style to the Right to Vote 2012 polish.  But don't let my mani or this awesome polish distract you from the message...VOTE, please!

Suede Leopard and Zebra Nails

So I am still loving my Avon suedes.  They really are perfect for winter AND soo reasonable at $3.49 each!  Here I've used Blue Royale, Sumptuous Rose, and Fuchsia Feel.  I then added freehand zebra stripes and leopard spots in Revlon Gold Coin.   One of my more understated animal print nails and I am loving these color combinations.

Different Dimension To the Moon and Back

Another lovely mix from Different Dimensions, this one is called To the Moon and Back.  The name of this polish takes me back to the 90s, riding the bus on school events and blaring Savage Garden's To the Moon and Back.  Ah, memory lane!  Anyway this polish has a cool shimmery blue base with dark blue and silver micro glitters and silver star and moon glitters.   I just noticed I missed some clean up but it doesn't take away from the beauty of this polish.  Yep, this one is a keeper! 

Different Dimensions Rainbows and Butterflies

Today I have a beautiful glitter from Different Dimension called Rainbows and Butterflies.  I cannot say enough about this polish.  Its sooo gorgeous on nails and the butterfly glitters are an added bonus.  This polish looks solid after two to three coats and you'll be staring at your nails a lot.  Don't stare and drive!  Different Dimension polishes are not disappointing and its one of my favorite indies right now.

And here it is on top of SH Salon Manicure Parrot.  Ah-mazing!

Jade Holographic Gradient Nails

I cant get enough of my Jades so I made a gradient with Black Magic, Violet Fascination, and Psychedelic.   Pretty sexy, I have to say!

October BCA Week 2, Mani Number 2!

Still on the decal kick I made breast cancer ribbon decals with the rest of the nails covered in Claire's hot pink candy shop-esque polish.  My accent nail is Color Club's Blushing Rose.

Holoween Dry Marble Manicure

Its a little late but here was my messy but fun Holoween Dry Marble mani.   These were actually decals I made on plastic and plucked up to put on my nails.  It was late at night so my cuticle clean up was dismal but there ya go.

Indies again...2 Chix Holographics and Glitters!

Just got these in and haven't had a chance to swatch them.  But I thought I'd atleast show the bottle shots!  Who doesn't love those? 

These are from the esty shop 2Chix which is not currently selling at the moment. Sweet Cheeks and Blue Monday are not customs but I don't think they are available for sale on the site.  If you decide you must have any of these, let me know and I can put you in contact with the maker or contact them on etsy!

Jade Holographic Patchwork Manicure

This is Jade Holografico season.  Sorry if I've given you holo envy or holo fatigue but the holo manicures will just keep coming!  I recently got in some ultra cheap nail tape from amazon (via some Hong Kong company) and really wanted to do a tape manicure with them.  I looked online and I thought the patchwork mani would work best to showcase several Jade holos as well as work for my shorty short nails. 

I cannot say enough about Jade holos.  Look how crazy beautiful the Jades made this manicure.   On top of that, this manicure was incredibly easy and took about half an hour.  Seriously!  Get you some Jades and/or show me your holo manicures!

Nails, Inc Pudding Lane

I was able to score a $10 Sephora gift card from a Wrapp app offer.   Since this Sprinkles collection polish has been on my list for a while I bought it first.  My husband proclaimed that it looks like a "formica table from the 60s or 70s!"  This is what I get for asking him about my manicures!  At any rate, I love the effect of this polish.  It goes on easy and covers great in just a couple of coats!

Jade Deja Vu

I have my 2nd Jade mani for you and all I can do is stare...its that mesmerizing!

One of the reasons I have started loving Jades so much is not only their holographic goodness but GUESS how many coats this is?  Only two thin ones!!  If you have a change to get some Jades, you should...worth the price or the hassle!

Kleancolor Sugar Coat

Got around to use Kleancolor Sugar Coat. 

I put on two coats of Wet N Wild Megalast Break the Ice.  Next I applied two coats of Kleancolr Sugar Coat.  There is something very ethereal about Sugar Coat.  There are a lot of indie polishes out there that Sugar Coat can easily imitate so try it out before you buy some expensive polishes.

Next, I wanted to see Sugar Coat mattefied so I applied some pink polish then applied two coats of Sugar Coat.  Last, I applied one coat of Nails Inc Westminster Bridge matte topcoat.  I definitely think that mattefying this polish brings out the extra prettiness of it!

My Brazilian Polishes arrived!!!

Several months ago I started chatting with a Brazilian girl in a Facebook polish swap group.  Maryna was wonderful and was able to get some of my most wanted polish lemmings.  Even with international shipping these polishes cost less than what I'd pay in the US, by far!

My first choices were these five colors of the Jade Holograficos:  Deja Vu, Violet Fascination, Black Magic, Psychedelic, and Hynose.

Next, I have been wanting a deep purple holographic polish so my friend picked up Hits Dionisio as well as some others I saw and liked, Fina Flor Transformer and Top Beauty Ultimate 3D Expression of Night.

Last, I found out that Maryna makes her own polishes!  Yes, folks, a Brazilian indie maker.  I demanded pictures and I asked for these beauties.   Can't wait to get these pretties on my fingers!

Without further stalling, here is Jade Black Magic.  I am officially addicted to these Jades!

I won a giveaway from Darling Diva Polish!!

So Daring Diva Polish had a giveaway recently and I won 2nd prize which was a $25 Starbucks gift certificate and 4 polishes of my choice.  My first greedy instinct was to grab all of her prettiest holographic polishes but I thought that would be very rude so I only let myself pick one of her most expensive polishes.    Besides, I've been salivating over Roller Girl and Soft Kitty so I had to get those!  I chose the following:

I had to try out most of these.  I started with two coats of Sinful Colors Hazard. 

The I applied two coats of Bitch Panties.  Seriously, holos really do it for me!

Next, I swatched Roller Girl.  I wanted to get a pic of this beauty quick and then send it off to my friend and its new owner, Rochelle, who recently started Roller Derby!  This polish took about 3 coats to get full coverage however, it was well worth it.  My nails sparkled like crazy all day!

Last, I had to put on Soft Kitty so I started with two coats of Color Club Blushing Rose.  I then applied two coats of Soft Kitty.  This one was hard to get a good photograph but I promise that the polish is very striking in person.

October Polish Haul and Breast Cancer Awareness Nails

Between the Sally's October Birthday $10 off  and free Copious credit I was able to get these polishes for very little money during my no polish buy! 

Last, this is October and that means BCA nails.   My "Save the Hooters" nails are week 1's BCA Wednesday's We Wear Pink manicure.   The own turned out sooo cute! 

Candeo Mallard!!!

Yes, yes...I finally own one of my I'll-die-if-I-don't-have-it lemming, Candeo Mallard and it was soooooo worth the wait!   Plumage is pretty too, don't get me wrong but I've waited soooo long for Mallard!

butter London Bonanza!

Coterie had the most awesome deal, three butter London polishes and a matte or regular top coat for $11 shipped after a couple of promo codes.

Week 39 of the Year of Polish Challenge: Holoween Dry Marble

So Dry Marbling...good in theory but not so good in application!   While the Dry Marble method saves you on cleanup you need a lot of time and patience to let the marbles dry.  Essentially, you paint on a clear coat on a plastic baggie.  Then you paint on your base color.  In my case, I used Wet N Wild Black Creme.  I let that layer dry and then painted on another very generous layer of Black Creme.  Before it dried I dropped dots of Layla Ultraviolet and Sinful Colors Clementine and swirled all of the colors together.   After letting the decals dry, I pulled them (GENTLY) off the plastic.  I painted my nails with a clear coat and the applied the decals to each nail.  I cut down the edges to fit my nails and cleaned up any straggly edges with acetone.   I don't think I would do dry marbling very often but I like the practice of making decals on plastic.   I will do decals again soon!

Week 40 of the Year of Polish Challenge: Suede Animal Print Manicure

Playing catch up on the Year of Polish Challenge while I am in the thick of fall classes. 

Today I used a few of my Avon Suede polishes to complete some Suede Animal Print nails.

I painted my nails with Avon Fuchsia Feel, Blue Royale, and Sumptuous Rose.  I then used Revlon Gold Coin to paint on leopard and zebra prints on my nails.   I like how understated yet modern the suede polishes make animal print.  I predict my winter toes will sport some Suede Leopard Print in the future, yes, I do!