Frickin' Laser Beams

I have a tape roll of striping tape that I never find time to use.  My husband was away on business for a week, so after the kids went to  bed it was like Nail Heaven for me.  I painted my nails at least three times.  One of the manis was my first attempt at using a striping tape, and I loved the results.

Frickin' LASERS

This is two coats of ORLY Sparkling Garbage.  Make sure your base coat is dry before applying the stripers.  Over it is two coats of Revlon's Black Magic - it's my go-to black polish.  Smooth as butter and dries super fast.  Almost a one-coater.  Peel off the tape, and voila!  Lasers!

Sally Hansen Sugar Coat - Spare-a-Mint?

I am having a torrid love affair with Sally Hansen's Sugar Coat line.

I don't know what it is about it, but all the colors I've used have been just awesome.  I've never worked with such a smooth formula.  Despite the grit, it's incredibly easy to apply, perfect coverage in two coats, dries quickly, and looks just fabulous on.

I thought the texture would drive me crazy since I'm always smoothing my fingernails with my fingers (if that makes sense,) but it's actually not that  bad at all, almost therapeutic in a "squeezing a stress ball" kinda way.

My problem with the polish is that it chips insanely easy.  Because it's designed to be worn sans top coat, I guess that the fact that it's unprotected leads to chips.  You can see the start of a tiny tip chip in the above picture, and this is the morning after application.

Let's hope SH works out the kinks in this line, because it's a winner otherwise.

My First Lippmann

So, I had some PayPal saved up from some diaper bags and teething necklaces I sold recently, so I thought I'd treat myself to a Deborah Lippmann polish I've been lemming since I saw it a couple months ago.

Meet Glitter and Be Gay.

This magnificent glitter is from her Fall 2013 Jewel Heist collection.  It's a mixture of small and medium holographic glitters in gold and purple, that are just spectacular, both in sunlight and out.  

The formula was kinda crazy for me, but that's to be expected from a chunky glitter.  Usually to get a glitter gradient I do multiple cascading layers of polish on top of one another, but with this one I had to put a drop of polish onto the base of the nail and kind of spread it around, dabbing the glitters from the brush where I wanted them to be more sparse.  The accent nail is two brushed coats.

The purple is Sinful Shine Go Glossy.  I was pretty disappointed in the formula of this one.  The Sinful Shine line hadn't disappointed me until this -- usually coverage is great, needing only two coats.  I don't know if they tried to go for a jelly with this one, but the color is definitely a creme.  This is three coats here and if I squinted I could still see some uneven patches.  It was very watery and hard to control.  I have a similar color from LA Colors that I was going to get rid of once I got Go Glossy, but I'm glad I held onto it, as I'll probably reach for it again over the Sinful when I'm in the mood for a berry.

The base on the accent is Wet n Wild Fergie Collection's Gold Album.  What a fantastic gold!  I can't wait to pair it with black, maybe in a half-moon mani for the holidays.  Perfect, brush-stroke free coverage in two coats.  Super shiny shimmery!

Maybelline Color Show Brocades - Emerald Elegance

I saw someone post this to /r/redditlaqueristas, and I knew I had to have it.  I was lucky enough to find one lone bottle in a very picked-over color show display at my local Rite Aid.

This is Emerald Elegance from Maybelline Color Show's new Brocades collection.  It's absolutely stunning.  It's a very fine sparkly base chock full of small and medium hex glitters.  It's the perfect Christmas green.

Formula was a little rough on this one, however.  I did two coats, and by halfway through the second coat, the polish was really thickening up.  I had to do a few shake-ups during the mani to get it to even out a bit. It definitely dried with a bit of a textured finish, but two coats of NYCGCS smoothed it right out.

Grab this one if you can find it!

Fun With Top Coats!

I know yesterday I said that Sinful's Shock and Awe was bright enough on its own that it didn't need any nail art, but since I am pretty much incapable of leaving my nails alone for more than 24 hours, I thought I'd jazz it up a bit.

I put a coat of Revlon's matte top coat on, and then dotted some NYCGCS over it with different sized dotting tools.

I love the way it looks!  I'll be honest, I've never really been a fan of the matte finish, but I've seen this technique before and always wanted to try it. Very funky.

Shock and Awe

This is Sinful Colors Shock and Awe.

Are you shocked and awed? Got this baby on clearance at Target for $1.38. It's an electric periwinkle creme that's insanely blue but leans a little on the purple side, too. 

Normally I like to have an accent nail or some nail art, but this color is so bright and funky it doesn't need any extras. 

The formula was a little thicker than I like, but nothing too horrible. This is two coats with NYCGCS topcoat. 

Color Club - Gift of Sparkle

I wore this mani for a few days last week. It's one of those incredible, insane polishes that are just impossible to photograph.

It's a warm plum, packed with shimmer and holo glitter. It really comes alive in the sun, but looked great under fluorescent office lighting, too. 

The formula was the gloppiest of gloppy. Very difficult to work with. It also ate up two coats of NYC Grand Central Station (my go-to topcoat, I'll sing its praises later), but the end result was so worth it. 

Obligatory Intro Post

Well, hello!

A little about me:  I'm a 30-something working mom of two incredible kids.  Doing my nails has always been a way to de-stress for me, to give me a little bit of time for myself a couple times a week.  I'm not big on makeup, my hair's in a perpetual ponytail, my clothes are 3-year old clearance rack bargains, but I always feel just a little bit prettier and more put together with a beautiful manicure.

I've always loved polish and nail art, but in the last six months or so, the big has really bit me big time.  Lately, I've been a regular poster on the /r/redditlaqueristas on reddit, and I've admired the blogs of my fellow laqueristas.  I thought it'd be fun to keep all my manis in one place.

And there you hae it!