Franken, Felix in Amore

So, I had this theory:  frost-ish shimmers + clear would eventually chill the eff out once you threw in enough clear.  In fact, I presumed that enough clear in a shimmer would eventually allow the shimmery particles to float in a sheer base.  I also figured that enough coats of a sheer would eventually make it opaque, thereby creating a softly shimmery pastel jelly. Yum yum!

I was mostly thinking these things because I had this horrific hate relationship with Sinful Colors' Sharon's Heart.  Remind me to show you a picture sometime soon, but it was 1) really bad with my skin tone, 2) a color my mother used to like maybe six years ago, 3) weirdly twee, and 4) flashed a sick green. I liked the hint of green in Sharon's heart, and wondered if it would be preserved if I tested my theory on it.

Not necessarily, but I liked the color anyway:  the result was Felix in Amore (latin for Lucky in Love), which I would consider remotely successful.  The color is a sheer pink with gold shimmer that took three coats for opacity. 

It's not, by any means, an original color:  I imagine that Felix comes really, really close to NYX Jillian, and is even a kissing color to the ever-popular ChG, Strawberry Fields (SF is glass-flecked, though). I'm proud of it nonetheless, and it's nice to own a pink for the ever-dreary professional-color future. And this is such a fun color during the summer! This is the color that a friend of mine chose to wear on our Disneyland escapade, where our hands looked like this:

The downward hand is hers, wearing Felix in Amore with a Dazzled by Gold tip (she called it her princess nails since it looked as though she had a tiara on each finger). The upward hand is mine, wearing OPI's Absolutely Alice, of course. :P

pa A45

I've been really into sheers with glitter lately, so I figured I'd try putting on one of my favorites to see how crazy I can be. This is paA45--and I forgot how many coats it was.  I am tempted to say four... but I'm not sure.

This manicure reminded me of japanese nails, in a weird way--sheer, and sparkly, and so ridiculously feminine.

:) I kind of love it.

Funky Fingers, Moonwalk

When I took these pictures, it was in the midst of tons of June Gloom unhappiness, but I'd figured that since school was mostly over and it was, therefore, summer vacation, the sun would give out eventually while I was taking these.

Nope.

That said, though, I -have- seen Moonwalk under direct sunlight and it is glorious. Here's a pic in flash, since that's about all I could manage:

Moonwalk is a deep, no-frills black interspersed with tons of holo and silver glitter.  The effect is very striking, and very sparkly. I couldn't take my eyes off it, really, when the sun came out. My favorite part, however, has to be the fact that this lovely is actually one coat.  The NOTD took two coats, however, cause I freaked out and wanted to be sure I didn't have any bald spots or anything, but the second coat was completely unnecessary. One smooth, quick to dry, easy to apply coat.

Mostly because these pictures are being largely uncooperative, let me show you some bottle love:

Nom.

RBL, Orbis Non Sufficit

Um, I love this color.  For many reasons:
1)  The Polish Addict was the first np blog that I read and really, really enjoyed.
2)  I studied Latin (am still, actually) as my language requirement in college and enjoyed it.  This was the color I wore for my last Latin final. It reminds me very cohesively of good and horrible times there.
3) Uh, it's green.

There is something very special about this murky green color, however.  It goes with nearly everything, in an understated and chic sort of way. At the same time, it's green, so it has a tendency to still attract attention. It's RBL and therefore the formula and application process is perfect, almost a hedonistic pleasure.  I applied ONS in one coat. It lasts for quite a while. It's lovely.

And, lastly, because I can't help myself:

Heehee. :)

NOTD: Glitter Underlayer

I was experimenting with layering glitter once and I figured that I wanted to actually wear something that was as understated as it was sparkly. I wasn't entirely sure what it would look like, or how I'd end up doing it, but I followed my instincts and put a coat of Nfu-Oh 119 over two coats of Color Club Sex Symbol.

This is what it looks like.

I like that this look is more cohesive than both jelly glitter and simply glitter itself:  I also like that it looks as though the smooth jelly overlay looks like it's faceted, and glints in different ways in the sun. I REALLY liked this mani, and it should be easy to replicate:  something sparkly at the bottom, a true jelly covering it.  I'll probably be experimenting with other glitters and jellies to see what kinds of looks I can come up with. 

:D

Still not dead, and a happy Independence Day!

Sorry, guys. I really, truly am.  My place has no internet due to all kinds of odd reasons and I'm not entirely sure when we'll next get it, but until then I'll throw together a bunch of scheduled posts.  :D Please forgive me!

Until then, here's my fourth of july manicure. :) I used a bunch of favorites to create this one:  two coats of Essie Jelly Apple for my base, a striper to create the, uh, stripes, and dragged my favorite blue, Nfu-Oh 119, to create the blue bit. Then I attempted to splatter with a striper; it didn't work. I still like it, though!

Here it is in shade.

Further off, shade and sun. :)

My manicure is inspired off of the CND Lookbook, which has myriads of different, beautiful designs.  I highly recommend looking through it! And have a wonderful, sparkly, bbq-y Fourth of July! :)

Sally Hansen, Green with Envy

Oh man. It's been a while, hasn't it? :) Sorry about that; I actually lived without internet for about half a week before I left for my parents' home, whereupon I spent most of it doing things away from the computer. This is the first time I've had time for myself, and I've never been so grateful for all of the pictures I've been keeping in the vault for such an occasion.  Sorry, everybody.  I'll try to let you all know if something like this will ever happen again.

Anyway, on to what you're here for! This is Sally Hansen's Green with Envy, a squishy green creme with jelly-like consistency.  Nothing to complain about here--this lovely applied perfectly in two coats and I performed little to no cleanup for it.  The brush was a liiittle bit stiff, like most of the Xtreme Wear line, and you had to apply lightly for the sake of perfect application. It may streak, depending on the wearer.

More pictures:

 Awesome.  Green with Envy is perfect for summer.

Oh, before I forget! I also wanted to thank you all for the suggestions and comments. I haven't ordered anything yet--further research seems to ask me to buy my first Lippmann polishes, as well! (Aaaaaaaah!) It's that limited edition All That Jazz set.  Looks awesome. So does Across the Universe.  What do you all think?