Baby, you're a firework?

4th of July "firework" manicure, sunlight

Just doing a quick post to share my 4th of July manicure. I started with 2 coats of Sinful Colors Snow Me White. It's an old bottle, so my index finger came out especially lumpy. I repainted that nail with the red I used in this manicure, a Sally Girl snowman red from last year's holiday.  I've tested it on a nail wheel and it's super close to China Glaze Ruby Pumps.  Anyway, I intended the "splatters" on my nails to look like fireworks, but I don't think I was all that successful. I think part of the problem is that my nails are so short that I couldn't fit too many "fireworks" on there.  I'm still glad I did it, it was a new technique I learned from this youtube video from cutepolish. I think I may try it again later with a different color scheme.

4th of July "firework" manicure, shade

Check out more pictures and see the cute Sally Girl snowman polish, after the jump!

Heat Index of Emerald City

Jelly sandwich with China Glaze Heat Index and OPI Lights of Emerald City

It's pretty sweltering here in California and in much of the west, so this is a good time to show you pictures of China Glaze Heat Index. Heat Index is one of the jelly neons from the 2013 China Glaze Sunsational collection.  It's a neon pink jelly finish polish.  Since I wanted to take advantage of the jelly nature of this polish, I decided to try a jelly sandwich with it. I did 2 coats of Heat Index, then added 1 coat of OPI Lights of Emerald City and then topped it all off with a last coat of Heat Index. I'm really happy with how my jelly sandwich turned out, and am looking forward to playing around with the neon jellies in this collection.

 I actually love the fact that the sandwich hides the iridescent glitter in OPI Lights of Emerald City. There's something about the combination of matte white with the iridescent glitter that I'm not huge on, so hiding that glitter and having the large square glitter peek through is a look I love. I thought the formula for Heat Index was pretty typical for a jelly. I used 3 thin coats in the overall look after testing things out on a nail wheel.

How will you be wearing your neon jellies?

Jelly sandwich with China Glaze Heat Index, OPI  LoEC, and bad cuticles

If you're feeling brave, join me after the jump. I'll have more pictures of this manicure, cuticles and all, as well as a foot picture where I compare Heat Index to China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy. Join me after the jump, if you dare!

Mystery Forever 21 mani

Glitter Forever 21 polishes layered over black Forever 21 polish

I have a quick post to share with you from a while back. So far back that I don't remember all the details, actually. It's a good manicure for this to have happened with, because Forever 21 polishes are all unnamed mysteries. All I can tell you is, I started with a black nail polish with holographic particles. I think it's the one shown in this post  at Moondancerjen's Nails. Then, I added a glitter topcoat from the same brand. Sorry to have such a small amount of information. :(  But hey, it's not like Forever 21 gives us a lot to go on.....

Glitter Forever 21 polishes layered over black Forever 21 polish, shade

Accidental accent ombre

Ombre nails with dotted accent nail, sunlight

Here's a manicure I did with a black, white and grey polishes.  I call it an accidental accent because the way I ended up with a pinky accent nail was a total fluke. I had done all my nails in the same pattern as my pinky, but I did something too soon after topcoating everything and my pinky is the only nail that remained unscathed. Rather than completely starting over again, I stuck with the same color scheme and did an ombre on the other 3 nails.  Find out what polishes I used, and see another picture, after the jump!

Ombre nails with dotted accent nail, shade

From the Nail Vault: L'oreal Lickety Split with Sation Men-ipulation

L'oreal Lickety Split with Sation Men-ipulation glitter on top

I'm going to start using the "nail vault" label for the 15 or so polishes I owned before I became a laquerhead.  L'oreal Lickety Split is one of the oldest polishes in my collection, and I can only find this other post about it. Because of the way Google Translate works, I'm not sure about the exact content of the post, but I can tell you that the pictures are awesome!

L'oreal Lickety Split, a polish I've owned for years

 I'm pretty sure I got L'oreal Lickety Split at Big Lots back in the day, and it was in a 2 pack with a dark purple polish.  Even back then, I was drawn to teals and purples, LOL!  I really like this kind of color, it reminds me of polishes like China Glaze Deviantly Daring and Color Club Metamorphasis, both of which I also own.

Join me after the jump to see a few more pics and learn more about Sation Men-ipulation.

Quick Post-China Glaze Ingrid with Nina Holographic topcoat

China Glaze Ingrid with Nina Holographic, shade

Here's a quick post of a mani I did a while back. Unfortunately, I didn't get many pictures of it even though it was super pretty. It's China Glaze Ingrid with a glitter gradient on the bottom. The glitter on the bottom is Nina Holographic Topcoat. How's that for a descriptive name? Holographic Topcoat is a gold glitter with lots holographic particles. As I mentioned the other time I posted this polish, Nina Holographic topcoat is a supposed dupe for Butter London Tart With a Heart. Unfortunately, the only store with testers of Butter London polishes in my area never has a bottle of TWAH. If I ever get a chance to swatch a tester, I'll do a comparison. I've seen pictures and it's pretty close. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy seeing this manicure.

China Glaze Ingrid with Nina Holographic, sunlight

Shell-o, is it me you're looking for?

China Glaze Shell-o with Verity Deep Violet tips, natural light

I didn't have great expectations for China Glaze Shell-o. It's a neon coral-leaning pink and a jelly finish polish to boot. Those things awesome.  However, neons tend to be streaky in and of themselves, and some jelly polishes do, too. I was afraid that the combination of neon and jelly was going to mean a nightmare of polish to apply. Luckily, Shell-o way surpassed my expectations. While it's not the easiest polish in the world to apply, it definitely has a buildable formula.

China Glaze Shell-o with Verity Deep Violet tips, sunlight

I paired China Glaze Shell-o with a cult nail polish favorite, Verity Deep Violet.  It's a purple jelly polish that's quite nice on its own. Added to the tips of Shell-o, it worked great and made for a fun look. I used 2 coats of Deep Violet over 3 coats of Shell-o. Learn more about how Shell-o applies, what polishes I think it's a mix of and see more pictures, after the jump.