My cable modem got struck by lightening last night, so our internet is toast. Hopefully, we'll be able to get a new modem this weekend. Otherwise, I may go mad without my intrawebs! I had planned to post the first two manis last night and do a recipe and the last mani today, but unfortunately, mother nature got in the way. So this will be a veeerrrrry long post. I promise to get into a regular routine next week!
I'm still working through my untrieds, this week (and probably will be for the rest of the month - or longer!), so I have several manicures to show you. I've been extra hard on my hands and nails lately, so my manis haven't been lasting more than a day or two. Every night, it seems, I'm working on my nails. The hubby just looks at me and shakes his head. One of these days, I'll be able to just hang out and watch TV with him without a bottle of polish in my hands! Hmm... I guess I might need to start wearing my SOGs again!
Speaking of TV, we're making our way through last season's True Blood. I can see why people hated that season. The witches and wussy Eric are driving me CRAZY!
Anyway, on to the manicures!
Manicure Number 4: An Explosion of Skittles
I have never really done a skittles manicure before, but thought I should try it this week to get some of these untrieds out of the way. I used mostly Color Club polishes from the Take Wing collection but had already used the blue (Sky High), so I threw in a Kleancolor mini instead. I chose the Take Wing polishes because they are so bright, and I felt they would be perfect for my end of the summer manicure.
All lined up!
I used the following base colors: Color Club Daisy Does It, Sparkle and Soar, Wing Fling, Fly with Me, and Kleancolor Shining Sea.
The Take Wing polishes are very shimmery. So much so that I caught myself staring at my hands all day at work. They are glass fleck shimmers with just a little flash of duochrome in each polish. They are all stunning, and I have decided to keep each one I used. I thought for sure the orange and yellow would make my hands look like death, but I was pleasantly surprised that they didn't. The Kleancolor went really well with the Color Clubs. It's also a glass fleck shimmer, but the flecks are chunkier than those in the Color Clubs. I'm almost sad I only have a mini of that little guy! He kind of rocks my face off.Party on my fingers!
I then topped the skittles off with 365 Days of Color Explosion. This little guy is a clear base with multicolor and multishaped glitters. It's a really fun polish, but I have decided to move away from wearing glitter top coats unless I'm really in love with them. They aren't really work appropriate, and sometimes I feel like a little kid when I wear them. [I don't need help looking young. People are constantly asking me if I'm in high school or college. I'm almost 30!]
So, the verdict is: I will keep the Color Clubs and Kleancolor, but will sell/swap the 365 Days of Color. I'm actually really enjoying weeding through my stash! I feel a sense of accomplishment when I toss a polish into the sale/swap pile! The Color Club Take Wing collection is a limited edition released this summer. I bought mine at Rite Aid, so you may still be able to find some there. You can also keep an eye out for the collection at Ross. I purchased the Kleancolor minis in a collection from Ross earlier this year. 365 Days of Color can be bought at her store here.
Manicure Number 5: Tale of a Nail Fail
I was so excited when I received my Hare order that I had to put one on immediately. I knew right away that I had the perfect underwear for Asteroid Turf, so I decided to wear it first. Unlike Daisy Does It and Sparkle and Soar, Hare Asteroid Turf actually did make my hands look like death. I was pretty surprised, too, because I can usually wear most greens. There's just something about this polish that made my fingers look yellow and zombie-like. Take a look and let me know what you think.
Hare Asteroid Turf and OPI Hot Fun in the Summer-Lime
Both polishes applied very well. HFITSL was almost opaque in one coat. There were some bald spots, so I went ahead and applied two coats. The formula for Asteroid Turf was perfect. The glitters spread easily without me having to do the dab technique. The base is very opaque on its own and would probably look great as a jelly sandwich without any underwear. Still, it made me look pretty awful. I asked the opinion of some friends at work and my hubby, and the overwhelming consensus was to sell the Hare.
See? Death.
Up close it looks nice, but don't be fooled!
I was curious if it was just the Hare since it was a bit darker than Hot Fun in the Summer-Lime, so I did a side by side comparison. Here's the outcome.
It's kind of hard to tell in this pic, but there is a difference. I promise!
HFITSL is a bit brighter than Asteroid Turf, which looked much better with my skin-tone. Needless to say, I was a sad panda yesterday.
So, the verdict? I will be adding Asteroid Turf to my ever growing blog sale, which should be updated by this Sunday. I'm really hoping that it will go to a good home. I will keep the OPI and plan to try it out again another day. Although, a word of warning regarding this bright shade: it stains like a mofo! I had that polish on all of 24 hours and my nails were orange when I removed it - despite having on Nail Envy, which has never stained for me before. Plus, it stained my fingers while I was removing it. I purchased Hare Asteroid Turf from Llarowe and HFITSL from ULTA. HFITSL was a limited addition shade exclusive to ULTA this summer, so you may not be able to find it anymore. Although, you may be able to find its dupe, Nicole by OPI One Time Lime.
Manicure 6: Opulent Fingers
After the Hare fiasco, I wanted to try something a little more neutral that I was certain would work well on my hands. At the beginning of the month, I went on a dusty hunt and came back with some seriously amazing polishes. One of those polishes was OPI DS Opulence, which is a dusty pink/mauve with scattered holographic glitter. The original generation of OPI DS polishes were straight up linear holographic, but the later iterations have either been scattered holo, like Opulence, or just pretty glitters. Most people (including myself) go crazy for the linear holographic DS's, but I'm actually really digging this scattered look, too. Unfortunately, the rainbow of colors is a tad hard to see in this polish, which is its only flaw.
This is a used bottle from a salon. The cap gives its age away.
Up close bottle shot. Sorry about the shadow. I'm a newb, lol.
Here's a blurry pic so you can see the rainbow of colors a little better.
Taste the rainbow... [Yes, this time I'm talking about real skittles, not mani skittles!]
Opulence applied very well. It isn't like those linear holos that dry so fast that they drag and wrinkle when you apply them without an aqua base. The dry time was average even with the OtD top coat. On the nail, it's still hard to see the rainbow shimmer, but it's there in certain light.
Nail Envy > Opulence x2 > Out the Door Rapid Dry Top Coat
The verdict? I'm seriously glad I snagged this guy while I was out dustying! [Yes, I plan to do my own post regarding dusty hunts with pictures and manicures using the various polishes I've scored. However, the linked site is AWESOME and is what I used to learn how to dusty hunt.] I had this in the potential swap/sell stash, but I am really liking this polish. I may change my mind in the future, but it's hard to give up a work appropriate polish that's just so pretty. I would feel confident wearing this to client meetings or court.
So, those are my manis from this week. Again, I apologize for taking sooooo long to post! Stupid lightening. Anyway, please remember to tell your friends to follow me so we can get that giveaway going! I'm itching to line someone's pockets (coat someone's nails?) with those gorgeous polishes!
Have you had a polish you love in the bottle look terrible on your nails? If so, which one(s)? Did you keep it or sell/swap it?
