Holographic happiness

 

What feels like a very long time ago, but in fact was only a month, I tried to come up with a “Top Three” list.  On that list was one of my new polishes from the China Glaze Kaleidoscope collection, the first one I’d tried, It’s My Turn.

 

 

I tell you,  pretty much from the moment I opened this bottle I couldn’t wait to get it on my nails!  I am a sucker for holographic polishes, without a doubt, and you don’t see gold colored ones very often for some reason.

 

 

This is one of those colors I can’t stop looking at.  It made driving a whole new kind of adventure!  I put on two coats, and it glided on like a charm.  I wore this for three days without any chipping evident.

 

 

I even attempted one of Colette’s patented “multi-holo” views.

 

  

 

I don’t know if any picture could adequately show how beautiful this color is.  All of the collection is stunning, in fact.  You can find bottle pics of it here.

 

 

Sigh.  Isn’t it wonderful when something as minor as lacquer can bring such happiness?

Every time I think of “It’s My Turn” I think of Bon Jovi’s, “It’s My Life.”

 

 

I got these from Victoria Nail Supply, and they still have them in stock.  Make sure you check out Mary’s blog; if you mention it, you can get free gifts added on!

My own little disco ball – Epilogue

 

There’s a little epilogue to my tale of sadness

I was dragged down the street by His Royal Dadness

How long has it been that you’ve even thought of Bart Simpson’s “Deep, Deep Trouble”?  Maybe not long enough for some of you, but ever since I thought of this title, that line has been running through my mind.  So I thought I’d share:

 

 

Usually I don’t write about polishes I’m currently wearing so that I can give more of a full review – bumper-to-bumper, as it were.  But I was so excited to share Nova with you, I just didn’t want to wait!

Well, today I had a little strip of the polish pull right off one of one of my nails, so the whole mani had to go.  (Truth be told, though, I had another, better reason for removing this today, that I’ll tell you about tomorrow :)

Anyway, as Mary had warned me in a comment from the last post, this was less than a joy to remove.  beautyjudy was right, I wish I had felt to take it off with.  Unfortunately, I only had cotton squares.  You know what my nails looked like after nearly a half-hour?

 

 

Granted, that time was spent on both hands.  But that was using pure acetone, which works really fast with regular polish.  It never takes more than two squares, and often only one.  Not this time; I think the last stand was taken with piece number four.  It was a valiant battle, to be sure.

I even had to take some acetone to the back of the nail (see my middle nail?), meaning  I would  have to reapply my Breathe Life.  That’s okay, it needs to be refreshed from time to time, anyway.  (In case you’re curios, you can see what a single layer of it looks like on my ring finger, above.

So, these super glitters are great fun to wear, but they aren’t a whole lot of fun to take off.  In my personal opinion, though, they are totally worth it.

My own little disco ball

 

My manicure du jour (well, du “weekend”) is really a fun little number!  As you may recall, I purchased three glitters from China Glaze recently, and though I had been planning on another color for this weekend, I thought one of them would be good to wear because a couple of my nails have been feeling kind of weak lately, and glitter’s good for reinforcement.

I decided on Nova (#832) over Atlantis for the simple reason that there have already been two swatches (that I know of) of the latter at Body and Soul (note the new address!) and at Dizzy Nails (whom I learned of through Inbal).

And here’s what I got:

 

 

Check out this fun little gem!

 

 

 

As you can see, this is a clear base packed with gorgeous (as Brooke would say) Glittah!  (A rare example of when a flash shot way out performs a sunshine shot!)  This large glitter really does have personality; it looks fiery orange, medium blue, grass green, bright yellow, or blood red, depending on how you rotate it.  Here are a few blurry shots that hopefully show off the colors.

 

 

 

This look was accomplished in using four coats.  I can tell you already I am not looking forward to the removal in a few days time, and not just because this is so fun to look at for once.  But for now, I say it’s kinda worth it!

As is true for most glitters in a clear base, there will be a few bald spots as you start polishing.  In fact, if you wanted to wear this as a top coat over another base color you certainly could – it’s somewhat dense, but not to the point where you couldn’t see the color underneath.  I bet this would look great over an inky blue.  Kind of like a heavy, thicker-glittered version of Starry Starry Night.  Mmmmmm.  Heavy, thicker-glittered version of Starry Starry Night. 

 

 

Er, um, ahem!

Anyhoo, it took me, as I said, about four coats to get it to where I didn’t see any little bald spots.  However, once I looked back at the photos, I saw them.  I’m sure you can see them easily in the shots above.  The good news is, there’s so much sparkling going on, it’s hard to notice! 

I put on one coat of Poshe, and when I felt my nails a little later, they still felt a bit bumpy.  Remembering  wixology’s comment on my post about Yello-Out, where she said that it can slightly brighten a shade, I decided to used that as my final coat:

 

 

 

Maybe it’s only psychological, but I do feel like there is an ever-so-slight additional “pop” to these now.

Another cool thing about glitters is that they are really, really, really easy to work with!  Whatever got slopped up onto my skin (which, as you can see from the first set of photos, isn’t a whole lot) came off within a few hours of just plain daily living.  And any bald areas that I found (which took a lot of up-close inspection, as it’s hard to see through all of those sparkles!), I simply covered up with an additional daub of polish.

I haven’t yet noticed any tipwear, but that would be remedied by the same method.  Anyone who has any doubts about their application skills should definitely go to glitters!

The other benefit to them, as I alluded to before, is that due to the nature of having all of these little stiff square bits in your polish helps make the whole nail become a little stiffer than might be normal for you.  And believe it or not, I have extremely weak nails.  Using various tricks of the trade has caused them to improve., but still it felt like time for some extra reinforcements.

The downside to glitters, though, is that they can be a major PITA to remove.  Using felt, I’ve been led to understand, makes things go a LOT smoother, but otherwise, you need a lot of patience, and a bit of elbow grease to get the dang things removed.  Be warned!

The other potential downside to these is THEY ARE ABOUT AS SUBTLE AS THIS!!!!!!  If you aren’t comfortable wearing, for example, neons, then these really wouldn’t be your cup of tea, with the possible exception of as a top coat, as I mentioned before.  These nails WILL get noticed, as I learned from the very first person I saw after I had it on, who wanted to know what it was I had on my nails.  (Believe it or not, that’s maybe only about the second or third time I’ve been asked that, and the first time from a person I didn’t know.)

Then there’s the term my friend used.  “Those are stripper nails!”  Nothing negative was meant by it, but all the same, that’s not an adjective I’m filing away for my own personal description of this varnish.

But, as I say, if you prefer subtle nails, this just ain’t the way to go.

For me, though, they’re fun, and because of them I’ve had ABBA songs running in my head for two days now.  I know for a lot of people out there that would be torture, but I came to love ABBA after first seeing what has since become one of my favorite movies, Muriel’s Wedding.  So while I think of “Dancing Queen” and “Super Troopers,” I think I’ll regale you with this snippet that includes “Waterloo.”

 

 

(“Stripper nails,” indeed.  Honestly!!)

Announcements

 

Hello, all!  I hope this post finds you safe.  I don’t know if you’ve heard of the wildfires that are raging in Southern California (though now they are starting to get a handle on them), but my father – and the house I grew up in – were very close to the evacuation zone.  Being who he is, however, he never gave a thought to packing up, and his major concern now is getting the ash out of his backyard.  Dads, gotta love ‘em!

Anyway, I do have some lacquer-related news to share.  First of all, the lovely beautyjudy is having her very first giveaway!  And it’s not just any old giveaway, no; she’s giving away the Nubar Modern Matte Collection!!!

As has been established before, I’m not sure how much of a “matte momma” I am, but heavens to hamburgers (as Mayor McCheese used to say), even I am all agog about this!

 

 

So make sure you go over and enter, and be sure to stay for the posts; it’s really a very entertaining blog!

Next up in the World of Polish, I stopped in my local Sally’s today and was amazed to discover this display:

 

 

Immediately I went “Holy Guacamole!” and did a beeline straight for that gorgeous, gorgeous glittery green.  (I know, it looks blue here, but it’s green.)

I had no idea whether these were re-issues, or even current polishes on the market that they’re just repackaging, but I knew I hadn’t heard “Boo” about them on the internet.  (I have to admit, though, that I’ve been busy as late, and thus not able to keep up as much as I once did – sigh.)

As I picked them up and looked at the names, none sounded familiar.  As no one in the store seemed to mind, I took snapshots of the bases, rather than trying to hunt down pen and paper to take notes on the polishes.  So in order of the above photo, left to right:

 

 

You may have noticed that the shots of Atlantis and Nova look a little different.  That’s because I knew immediately that they were coming home with me, even though I am trying to at lease slow down my rate of varnish acquisition.  In the end, though, I just couldn’t say “no” to Medallion, so here’s the happy trio:

 

 

Sigh.

Once I got home and pulled up the ‘net, I checked out China Glaze’s website.  Not only was there no mention of the “Glitters and Chromes” collection, I couldn’t even find these colors listed on their color chart.  Weird.  Even a Google search of “China Glaze” “Glitters and Chromes” turned up empty.  If anyone can shed any light on the subject, I’d sure appreciate it!

But back to the subject at hand.  The chromes looked alright (as did that remaining glitter, Cleopatra), but they just didn’t thrill me quite as much as these glitters did.  I may or may not be quite “In Awe of Amber,” so to speak, but perhaps to round out an online order, whose prices are guaranteed to be lower, I may give in and add that one to the group as well.

And finally, speaking of online ordering, Nevertoomuchglitter just let me know that transdesign has Breathe Life in stock.  I know that there had been interest expressed in this color when I did my guest post on her blog, and as I had cautioned, it can be hard to find.  So anyone who is interested, head over that way and get your very own for $4.99 and help fund research for Lung Cancer in the bargain!  Personally, I find it to be a stunner of a shade, though I should warn you that, as it is a bit sheer, I often wear it with four coats.  (It’s also gorgeous over black, though, as I’ll show you someday.)

Anyway, I wanted to be sure and share with you all of these fun happenings!  I also have all of the colors together for your next vote, so depending on how late I have to work tomorrow night, it should be up either then or on Friday.  Friday, also, is the day that I will select a winner of the Wet N Wild Rustic, so if you want an (additional) chance to win, be sure to do so soon!

Bringing it down a notch

 

I know it must sometimes seem like all of the polishes I wear are either something I consider faboo or else dull old workaday lacquers.  But there are times I will pull out a “traditional” varnish that, I think, few people would notice.  An excellent case in point is  China Glaze’s Long Kiss (#87).

 

 

 

 

This is two coats, with the photos taken in the late afternoon with a soon-to-set sun.  While I find this to be a rather nice color, it is also not anything to write home about, nor to go to your nearest nail polish supplier and demand their entire stock of.  I don’t even remember how it is I got this color, as I had purchased it years ago, before I was slightly off-kilter for the flavor of a Pringle, as it were.

It is, simply told, a deep, rich color that I think can even be described as a “wine.”  I enjoy wearing it when I’m not really looking to “wow” anyone, including myself, but I want to have a nice color to look down at.  To tell you the truth, I’m all about the vampy colors.  Truly.

 

Close-up

 

As far as I can tell, Long Kiss is part of CG’s core line, and very easy to find.

Suspecting that this color might be easily dupable, I took a look through my collection and one of the first ones I came across was OPI’s beyond famous I’m Not Really A Waitress.  Looking at the bottles. INRAW just looks a little less shimmery, and maybe has a smidge of a  brown tone to it. 

Further investigation then turned up Orly Garnet Truth, January’s varnish from their “A Year In Rocks” collection, which definitely has glitter that LK doesn’t.  And finally, there was one of the two NYC nail glossies I got off of a clearance rack clear back in January.  No names to these, as far as I can tell, so it’s simply number 227.

INRAW, Garnet Truth, Long Kiss, 227; indoors with flash

Outdoors

The swatches below are one coat each, except for GT which got two due to it’s extreme sheerness.  Same order as above.

 

 

These are taken without clean-up, so you can see that LK was actually the messiest.  The closest dupe I have is 227, and I’m just not sure how easy – or hard – the NYC glossies are to locate.  As I said, I got them on clearance several months ago, and I’ve not seen them since, at least in my local drug stores. 

GT, probably because of the glitter, isn’t even close, and despite the bottle pics, INRAW isn’t even close; it’s far too warm.

You may remember my mentioning I’m a child of the Eighties.  You can’t get much more Eighties – at least not early Eighties, – than Hall & Oates.  Boy, does this song take me back!

 

 

So is this Kiss on your list?  Hee hee – couldn’t resist!

Amazing

How can such a little box . . .

 

(See?  Barely the size of my phone!)

 

. . . bring so much happiness??

 

Last six, right to left:  Milky White base coat, Sexsea, Sunset Glow, Emerald Sparkle, Platinum Silver, Bon Bon

With flash

 

All those shimmery, pretty ones with silver caps?  Those are China Glaze’s Kaleidoscope collection of 2006. 

 

Outside

 

And where can you still find this entire collection and some of these other (for me) hard-to-finds?  Victoria Nail Supply.

I learned of this company through Mary’s website, and in fact, I believe you still get that Milky White base coat or toe separators for free – check out Body and Soul for more information.

Anyway, onto more Kaleidoscope love:

 

It’s My Turn, Don’t be a Square, Rated Holographic

 

Spin Me Round, Visit Me in Prism, Let’s Do It in 3-D

Tickle My Triangle, How About a Tumble, Octa Gone Wild

Kaleidoscope Him Out, He’s Going in Circles, Sexagon

 

(Sorry that this wasn’t my best photographic work.  But you can see the colors, which is probably the most important part.)

I think I’ve said it before, I know I’ll say it again, but I’m just a sucker for holographic polishes!  They are almost-always my go-tos for when I need a varnish I know will cheer me up!  Some of the names, though, I’m none too fond of.  Octa Gone Wild reminds me too much of a particular franchise I find, frankly, disgusting.  I won’t go into it here, as when I started to, I realized I went a bit too far into an off-topic diatribe. 

But since, despite what Essie might think, I don’t buy colors for their names, I won’t belittle a lacquer for that reason, either.  They’re pretty, and I’m pretty darned glad to have them!

I poked a little bit of fun at Essie there, but that’s because it reminds me of a survey I was sent a link to today.  (I’m sure any of you that are on their email newsletter got the same one.)  As I filled it out, I chuckled more and more, and found more and more things that I wanted to share with you.

First of all, let me preface this by saying that I don’t think that lacquerheads like us are their target audience.  If we are, they’re a little off the mark. 

For example, one question posed was “How many bottles of polish do you have?”  You know what the largest number was?  Twenty.  Twenty!  I don’t know about you, but most of my groupings (work-related, glitters, green, OPI, etc.) include more than twenty, leave alone my entire collection!  We’re going to have to multiply that number by a bit to even get it close to a true representation for how many I have!

Here’s another question:  “How often do you change your polish?“ Your choices are once a week, once a month, or every two weeks.  I know that I am already rather unusual when I say I’ll leave a color on for up to five days, and here again even I can’t give a true representation!  Once a month?  Anyone I can think of from this particular community would rather eat the same meal daily for an entire month than leave one color on their nails for that long!

How about, “Where do you purchase polishes?”  You know how many online-related answers there were?  One.  Essie.com.  No other e-tailers listed, by name or by category.  So I had to resort to “other” and spell out my answer.

They then gave you a list of about seven polishes or so, and you were supposed to select your favorite from among that group.  As there was only one color I would ever pick, I didn’t pay too much attention to the list.  Again I had to select “Other” and type in Starry Starry Night.  I’m sure that I’m not alone in wanting them to re-release that color, but it wasn’t even mentioned.  Grr!

Here’s classic Essie thinking for you, too.  When they ask what colors you consider sexy, you can choose from red, neutral, or pink.  Doesn’t that just about sum up 98.2% of Essie’s line?

And finally, and the question I was referring to up above, there’s “Why do you purchase Essie lacquers?”  You could choose from: durability, color names, variety of colors, or bottle design.

I don’t know about anyone else out there, but it’s extremely, extremely rare that I will buy a color based on the name.  In fact, though I can easily imagine times where that might happen, it hasn’t actually happened to me yet.  And though Essie is branching out, I don’t really find that they do, in fact, have much of a “variety of colors.”  But that’s just one woman’s opinion.

Anyway, anyone who is not on their mailing list can find their survey here.  They say that as a reward, you get to see a preview of their fall colors.  All that happens is that they tell you what the link is at the end.  I’ll help ya out, if you don’t want to take the survey; it’s essie.com/seasonal.  You also get a free gift – a sensitivity base coat (though they don’t tell you that will be your gift at the get-go) – but it’s from a code you have to enter with a purchase.  (I’ll give you that, too; it’s freegift09, to be used at essieshop.com.)

It’s not a bad idea to take the survey, though.  Maybe if all of us that missed the SSN bandwagon when it first rolled out include that as our favorite color, we can convince them to release it again.  The survey took me maybe five minutes, if that, though I’m sure it was considerably shortened since I said that I didn’t have professional manicures done; my progress bar made a huge jump after that page.

And for what it’s worth, though I seem to be razzing Essie a bit up there, it’s not as though I have a problem with the polishes.  I have, I think, six (two I got for free), and I’m still trying to get my hands on Greenport.  But I haven’t actually worn any of them yet, so I can neither condemn nor commend their formula.

And, in closing, I have one more thing to share with you!  (See what happens when two days go by when I can’t publish?  But I felt the names were a perfect lead-in to the survey, and this next bit of news is both short and timely, so I’m tacking it on here.)

My Walgreens finally got the Wet N Wild Craze polishes in!  And they did it at the most opportune time; they’re buy one, get one free – that’s a dollar a piece!

“Hey Larry!”

“Yes, Balki?”

“Now we are so happy, let us do the dance of joy!”

 

 

 

Not all of them looked that appealing to me, either in person or in any of the online swatches (such as Nicole’s, whose I found very helpful), so four came home with me:

 

I’m sorry these are so blurry; I couldn’t get a focused picture, whatever I did.

 

Left to right, we have Inferno, Shield, Rustic, and what seems to be the standout, Morbid.  I didn’t really realize what tiny bottles these were – .34 fluid ounces – so I put them next to a Zoya, at .50 fl. oz., for comparison.

The BOGO sale runs through this Saturday, so Carpe Diem if there are any WNWs on your wish list!

And that’s all, folks!