Funky Fingers Finds at Five Below in Maryland

 I am currently visiting family and attending a conference on the east coast and even though Five Below stores are finally open in my area, they haven't really changed up the kinds of polishes they carry at my stores.   I walked into a Five Below today and picked up these three pretties.

First up is Heart Attack which looks so indie, right?  This polish is full of white, pink, hot pink and red glitters of various sizes and shapes, even hearts and giant hexes suspended in a clear base.  Certainly very Valentine's Day.  

 Here is Heart Attack over Midge, which I'll share later.

Next is another glitter topcoat called Lady Charlotte.  Since my first name is Charlotte I had to get it.  Lady Charlotte has metallic pastel pink, pastel purple, and micro taupe glitter.

Again, I put Lady Charlotte over Midge to show off a swatch.

Last, I have been looking for Midge and finally found a store with it.   Midge reminds me a lot of Zoya's scattered holo Blaze that is a bit more fuchsia than red in color.  This polish sparkles like crazy and the only thing better than a holo polish is a holo polish that doesn't break the bank.   At $1.67 plus tax (3 polishes for $5) you can afford this polish and a couple more without any purchase guilt.  I'm kidding, of course, nobody gets purchase guilt with nail polish ;)

I snapped this dud of a photo and the realized the out of focus aspect really showed off the holo effect.

Overall, I think these polishes turned out pretty good on quality and value l and I hope that Five Below/ Funky Fingers continues to come out with interesting glitter topcoats and holographic polishes.   Someone please tell them that neon polish is over? 

Holo Club Franken Nails to distract me during jury duty...On my birthday :(

The county I live in decided to hand me a Christmas present...jury duty on my birthday, tomorrow.  I fear that tomorrow will be a tedious event whether I am picked for a jury or not.   Might as well have some shockingly holo'd out nails, right?

For this manicure, I chose to use Color Club Over the Moon and a franken I mixed a few months ago with a shimmery light blue base with gold, green, pink, and blue glitters of varying sizes and matte orange club glitter.  I call it Club Med.  

I think I shall be suitably entranced by this manicure while contemplating meting out justice!

Super Quick Mani: Another Chirality Mystery Polish and a Peita's Polish LE

I know, I know-- it has been a while.  Since I last posted many, many milestones of epic proportions have occurred.  For one, I am now fully graduated with a masters degree.   Additionally, it wasn't just my last semester of grad school that was making me feel very tired and nauseated.  (drum roll)

We found out we are expecting our first child at the end of June!  Perfect timing right?  Well, let me tell you...all my good intentions to begin blogging again went to the wayside during the duration of my first trimester because I couldn't handle strong smells.  BBQ, citrus, nail polish, cleaning supplies, etc made me want to hurl. 

In two years I have never had as many sets of naked nails as I have these last 14 weeks.   But I do feel better, the holidays were great, and the fumes don't bother me as much so I painted my nails tonight and took pics.

Onto the polish...

You know I adore Chirality polishes, especially the Mystery ones.   This was my most recent Chirality purchase and its a beauty.  The color is a sooty violet holo that I am calling Burnt Amethyst.  Its an understated scattered holo with highly pigmented color.  Chirality polishes can be purchased here and more specifically you can get your own mystery polish (at your own risk) here.  Of course, you may or may not get a holo!

Also, although I didn't mix up a lot of polish in the last few months, I did participate in a polish maker swap with a handful of ladies from Austrailia, Denmark, Brazil, Canada, and the United States.  Peita of Peita's Polish participated as well and sent everyone a special matte and metallic glitter topcoat full of purple circle glitter varying finishes and sizes.

I do love circle glitter and it works well with the Chirality Burnt Amethyst polish.  Take a chance on either of these indie brands and you won't be disappointed.  You can buy Peita's Polishes here but just be aware that since Peita is in Australia, your shipping will be steep, $15 for just one bottle. Dotti, as far as I know, is not available to buy but keep an eye out and she may post it or a similar polish!

As for bebe, we don't know if it will be a boy or girl yet but that should be easy to figure out by my next ultrasound.  Maybe I'll announce with a franken!  We'll see.

Nabi Ocean Blue Holo

A while back a polish friend posted a link to an eBay store that was selling sets of Nabi holos and they were selling for cheap CHEAP with little or no shipping!  I bought 12 of them and I think I got a great deal.

Today I am showing you Ocean Blue.

Something that stood out to me about the Nabi holos were their attempt to appear identical to Layla's collection of hologram effect polishes.  Laylas they aren't buuuut...I am suitably smitten with them anyway!

Ocean Blue is a teal-ly Caribbean blue that pops and shimmers.   The effect to me is more scattered but not unattractive.   Also, in my experience, Nabi polishes tend to stink but the smell from these is doable:)  On to the swatches....

First, I have to say that this is one of the best looking swatches I have done in a while and the polish is pretty awesome too.  I am a sucker for teal polish so throw some holo in there and I gotta have it.   There were many other holos to choose from and I chose the one that stuck out the most to show you first! Save some monies and get some of these holos.  Search ebay for the seller and I hope you like them!

--Char

More Holo Nail Art: Holo Cirlces

 Playing again with my new Color Club Halo Hues! This time I used Miss Bliss, Eternal Beauty, Beyond, and Cosmic Fate.

I started out with two  coats of Sally Hansen's InstaDri Mint Sprint.   Then I added random triple arches in black, purple, and yellow-green Halo Hues.   Last I accented open spaces with dots of Cosmic Fate. 

This manicure surprise me with how great it turned out.  As you probably know, sometimes nail art can go horribly wrong or incredibly right.   This is decidedly right!

Note to self:  use more holos in nail art!

Chirality Holos

Last night I sat down and had a massive swatchfest of Chirality's gorgeous holographic polishes.

Below I have Bloodshot, Just Before Dawn, Katydid, Kale, Cu2+, Apollonia, and The Symbiote.  Chirality polish are 3-free and are available in size 15ml and 7ml bottles with stainless steel mixing balls.

Bloodshot is a juicy red with subtle holo.  Frankly, I blame my photog skills on this pic because it doesn't do this polish justice.  Its very depth-y and striking on the nail and you don't see red holos like this every day.

Next I have Just Before Dawn.   I asked around my some of my nail polish FB groups during Halloween for a very orange holo and was pointed to Chirality.   This polish is bright, holo-ful, and you won't be able to stop looking at your nails.  Orange typically isn't my color due to my complexion but I think this orange would look good on anyone.

Up next is Katydid, a vivid green holo that has a million sparkles.  I generally avoid this shade of green but like Just Before Dawn, Katydid would look great on anyone.  And I kinda love it.

I waited to buy Kale last, but not before I was inundated with pics of wonderment from nail polish friends that bought this polish.  It is super green with an incredible holo finish.  Kale is a must have.  I don't think you will find a holo of this color anywhere else and one really should have a holo polish in every shade!

Another polish that kept plaguing me with gorgeous swatch pics was Cu2+.  This is MY. FAVORITE.  Hands down.  Its all teal-ly and has amazing holo craziness going on.  If you can only get one Chirality holo, I highly recommend this one.   It needs to be on your shelf.

I am always a sucker for purple so Apollonia was one of my first Chirality purchases.   It does not disappoint.  Its a lovely deep holo purple and the rainbows shooting off your nails will mesmerize you periodically.   Purple holos are something I've made it my duty to collect and this one should be in your purple holo collection.

Last, The Symbiote is a black holo polish that rivals Cu2+ and Apollonia for holo sparkle.  I own a couple of other black holos but The Symbiote's holo is so gorgeous and understated that I am much more likely to use for everyday wear than my other black holos.

Coverage: All of the Chirality holo polishes provide complete coverage with two, thin coats.

Price:  Very reasonable

Viscosity: Not too thick or watery, perfect application

Quality and Consistency:  For the coverage and price alone these polishes should be purchased but in addition, they are each resplendent and extraordinary on their own.

Verdict:  Run over to Chirality's shop and buy some!

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!

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!

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.

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!