Claire's - itty bitty teeny tiny bright pastel yellow

Today I have one that is from the same Claire's mini haul as my previous green one.

This color messed with my camera a little - I had a hard time with it.  As you can see, it's really difficult to read the bottle text, too.

Basecoat:  Salon Sciences Instant Artificials (1 coat)
Color:  Claire's itty bitty teeny tiny bright pastel yellow (3.5 coats)
Topcoat:  Seche Vite (1 coat)

Here it is outside, under partly cloudy sky:

This is a bright yellow, so of course application was not good.  This polish is a decent consistency, if a little on the thick side.  I didn't really have any trouble controlling it, and cleanup wasn't too bad.  It does dry matte like most neons, though I think this leans a little more to the "bright" side than the "neon" side.  This was pretty streaky, too, but that's par for the course.

I have nothing planned for this weekend.  I might try to do a comparison or two on Saturday, though.  I am also working on my photo skills - my inside hand pictures pretty much all are terrible.  Since my outside photos and my bottle pics are not blurry, I have a theory that my problem is that I'm moving.  This turns out to be partly correct - I left my camera on the tripod for this post and it helped, but the other part of the problem is that my camera is focusing on the heel of my hand.  I guess I could get my husband to take the photo, but it seems like there should be a way to fix this.

Have a great Friday!

Comparison: Color Club Wild Child and Essie Pretty Edgy

OK, in my defense, these looked pretty close in my office.  Unfortunately, these are not even close to being dupes, unless you never, ever go outside, and you never sit under bright lights, either.

I think it's pretty obvious which is which, but just in case - index and ring fingers are Wild Child, middle and pinky are Pretty Edgy. 

About the only similarity they have is that they are both green jellies.  In no way is Wild Child a dupe for Pretty Edgy.

Next!

Color Club - Wild Child

Wild Child is one of my oldest untried Color Clubs. In the bottle this looks a little bluer than it photographs.
I always thought this was a creme, but as soon as I started applying it I found out it's definitely a jelly.

Basecoat: Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (2 coats - please don't stain!)
Color: Color Club Wild Child (5 coats!)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 coat)

I'm going to have some tip pull - it's time to thin my bottle of Seche, so in order to avoid the little strings that ruin my finish, I'm using bigger globs than I really mean to.

Application was great - the consistency is a little more fluid than I'm used to with Color Club. It has a squishy, juicy look on the nail.

I actually think this might be pretty close to Essie Pretty Edgy. I have a mini of Pretty Edgy, so I'll compare them before I take off Wild Child this weekend. Wild Child applies more green than it looks in the bottle - it's pretty fascinating, actually. It's darker green than it looks in the photo.

Anyway, I did five coats but I still have VNL. I wish I could learn to love VNL.

Have a great rest of the week!

Zoya - Paz

I wore this from Saturday through Monday. Zoya Paz is a neon orange. I would call it a jelly, because it has that kind of squishy feel without the usual neon streakiness.
I opted not to use a white basecoat (I don't own a Zoya white anyway), but because I hate VNL so, so much, I might use a nude basecoat next time. This photo is outside, under overcast skies:

And this is inside, in a lightbox.

Basecoat: Zoya Ridge Filler (1 coat, for opacity)
Color: Zoya Paz (4 coats)
Topcoat: Zoya Armor (1 coat)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 coat)

This wore really well for the short time I wore it. Application was great, as it usually is for Zoyas. Cleanup was a breeze, too. I still had VNL but I was able to overlook it. Next time I would use a nude base, though.

I acquired Paz in the 2010 Zoya Exchange. I was trying to use my oldest untrieds, but now I'm just picking anything I feel like wearing.

I didn't think this was very similar to Say Cheese, but I had a friend that I saw on Friday night and again on Saturday night, and she swears they are the same color, even though Say Cheese has shimmer and Paz.... doesn't.

Nina Ultra Pro - Say Cheese

I wore this at the end of last week and took it off Saturday. I didn't look at my photos before I took it off, so unfortunately the only photo I have is terrible.

Say Cheese is a neon pink with shimmer. I compared it previously to Color Club Electro Candy, but they are not really dupes. Here is my one terrible photo of this. This is what it's like in Texas - you go outside with sunglasses on and they fog up. I obviously didn't wait long enough for my camera lens filter to de-fog completely. This is in full sun.

Basecoat: Salon Sciences Fiberglass Network (1 coat)
Color: Wet N Wild French White (2.5 coats)
Color: Nina Ultra Pro Say Cheese (3 coats)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 coats)

Application was typical for a not very pigmented neon. Sheer and streaky. The color payoff was good and the shimmer is pretty obvious. I had major tip pull (too many coats) but I was due to file my nails anyway, so it wasn't a big problem.

I found this in a summer neon endcap display at Sally. Speaking of Sally, I bought a bottle of Instant Artificials that came with a tiny bottle of Fiberglass Network. As it turns out, I am using the Fiberglass Network way more than I am using Instant Artificials. I picked up a full size bottle of Fiberglass Network. Oh, well!

Coming up in a few minutes - Zoya Paz

China Glaze - Pool Boy Toy

I actually put this on Monday night, and I didn't get around to taking photos until last night.

Today I have China Glaze Pool Boy Toy, from the Poolside collection. I feel like this polish doesn't fit in with the rest of the Poolside collection. I mean, I get why this is in a collection named Poolside, but it seems to be the odd man out of the rest of the colors.
Pool Boy Toy is a bright shimmery blue. It dries matte like most neons but I wouldn't really call this a "neon". It reminds me of Shower Together, but I think Shower Together is a little darker than Pool Boy Toy, and of course doesn't have the shimmer.
Basecoat: China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
Color: China Glaze Pool Boy Toy (4 coats)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 coat)

I did four coats of Pool Boy Toy, and you can see that it is still a little sheer. I had some dragging issues because I didn't wait long enough for my second coat, or I might have gotten away with three coats.

I'm planning to wear something eye-searing tonight, but I don't know what it is. It'll be a surprise to all of us :)

Have a great day!

Nubar - Hot Fuchsia

Today I have Nubar Hot Fuchsia. This is a bright fuchsia. I wouldn't call it a neon, but it did dry matte as most neons do.

Application was nice - perfect consistency. I flooded my cuticles a couple of times, but cleanup was pretty easy.
Basecoat: Nubar Foundation (1 coat)
Color: Nubar Hot Fuchsia (3 coats)
Topcoat: Nubar Diamont (1 coat)

I have a tiny bit of VNL if you look very closely - it is much more evident in photos. I think I'm either going to change this tomorrow night or Tuesday - depends on how much ironing I get done tonight :)

In other news, I finally had to suck it up and buy a second Helmer. My stash is reorganized - I have three untried drawers, and I've organized by color - a drawer each of red, orange, yellow, pink, green, blue, purple, and silver/white/black. I have one empty drawer right now but my pink drawer is close to full - how did I get so many pinks? I am going to have to go through my spreadsheet and update my drawer listings, too.

Have a great week!

Claire's - Green pastel mini

Today I have a itty bitty teeny tiny baby Claire's mini. Like, .25 oz baby. This was part of a multi pack of minis that are basic rainbow colored pastel creme minis.

This was surprisingly difficult to capture accurately on camera.

Basecoat: Salon Science Fiberglass Network (1 coat)
Color: Claire's itty bitty teeny tiny baby green pastel mini (3.5 coats)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 coat)

Please to ignore my not-totally-soaked-in cuticle oil and the place where I stabbed myself with tweezers on my middle finger.

About my basecoat - my bottle of Instant Artificials came with this tiny bottle of Fiberglass Network. Seriously tiny - I mean, my color was .25 oz - this was .14 oz. I decided to use it for my basecoat tonight, and I think I really like it. It dries to a unique texture I've never seen before but it really did seem to help my polish apply better. If I still like it when I take this off I'm definitely going to get a full bottle.

Application was pretty terrible, but still better than I expected. I did a mini swatch of this before put it on and was surprised to find I wouldn't need a white basecoat. Bonus! This polish was thick and a little streaky, but I would have only needed the standard three coats if the brush wasn't so terrible. I didn't have any wild brush bristles but the brush as a whole was hard to control with any accuracy. I did have to be careful with dragging and bald spots but I'm still surprised I didn't need more coats.

This color looks a lot more neon in photos than it is in real life. It is still pretty bright, but it may look that way to me because my hands are tanned. It is definitely a warm weather color, but I bet this would be cute as part of a spring or Easter mani.

I am thinking about putting a coat of either Orly Twilight or China Glaze Fairy Dust over this tomorrow. We'll see. I'm thinking if I do I may not post a picture, because it may be very hard to capture on camera.

Thanks for reading!

Orly - Gumdrop

This is Orly Gumdrop. It's the Orly that has been in my untried stash for the longest time, though I have Orlys that are probably older. From older collections, definitely.

I don't tend to buy a lot of Orly polishes because I find the consistency is usually pretty thick and annoying to apply. Gumdrop was no different.
Basecoat: Orly Ridge Filler (1 coat)
Color: Orly Gumdrop (3 coats)
Topcoat: Poshe (1 coat)

I think it's funny that the photo shows VNL, because it's definitely not visible in real life, at ALL. This is an interesting color. I think it is dustier than For Audrey and Mint Candy Apple, but not as dusty as Dirty Sexy Money. I actually like this color, and I didn't like DSM - so much so that I gave my bottle to my mother. I'm not sure that it goes well with my summer tan - the picture looks OK but in real life it makes my hands look washed out.

I feel like if the formula had not been quite as thick I could have gotten opaque coverage in two coats, but I needed three. As thick as this polish is, I have no bubbling at all, which is fantastic. I still have some not-level parts, but I don't think it would have been an issue if I had used Seche instead of Poshe. I almost want to do a minty green comparison but I don't have any colors I haven't already seen swatched a million times next to all the other minty greens :)

I'm planning to change my polish again tonight - maybe something super-bright. I've been posting this week from work and taking the photos the night before, though, so I think I'll be limited by time - I don't want to deal with needing a white base coat. I'm thinking about Nubar Hot Orange, but my toes are China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise, and I think that would clash too much. I've seen swatches of Hot Orange that look nice and opaque and others that look like it needs a white base, so we'll see.

It's Employee Appreciation day at my company. Last year, they let us leave at 2:30. I'm hoping they do it again today - I need to make an Ulta run to pick up some things. If I can avoid dragging my ever-patient husband with me, I will. I'm still on a polish no-buy with the exception of my wish list, so I'm hoping to pick up at least one of those.

Have a great Tuesday!

Color Club - Explosive

This is more like it for a summer mani.
Explosive reminds me of China Glaze Sun Worshipper, except I think Sun Worshipper is a little more neon. If I have time I'll compare them this weekend. Explosive is one of my older untried Color Clubs. I did a swatch of this and determined that I needed to use a white base, but I'm not sure that I would do it again - I have major tip pulling that was evident before I even went to bed. I might just live with the VNL next time.

Basecoat: Salon Science Instant Artificials (1 coat)
Color: Wet N Wild French White (2 coats)
Color: Color Club Explosive (3 coats)
Topcoat: Color Club Vivid Color Intensifying Topcoat (1 coat, worthless - would skip it next time)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 coat)

Application was pretty difficult - Explosive was thin and runny. I had a hard time controlling it well. Lots of cleanup was needed. As I said earlier, I have major tip pulling with this and I'm probably going to take it off tonight. I do like the color, though I think it is a little streakier than Sun Worshipper. I accidentally applied it pretty thick in a few spots, but I don't have any bubbles at all, so that's pretty nice.

China Glaze - High Hopes and Glacier

I've actually already taken this off - I put this on Saturday morning and wore it until Sunday night.

This is another layered mani designed to use up untrieds faster. It's more subdued than I usually like for summer.
This is a nice color. I don't care for it all that much, but I might like it better in the fall or winter - I just prefer brighter colors in summer.
High Hopes is a medium orangey-coral-y color. I did three coats and you can see I still have some VNL.
I actually got a photo in the sun before I applied Glacier, but after that it was not light enough outside.
Glacier is one of the glitters CG released last year. It's a multi-colored opalescent glitter in a clear base with very subtle micro-shimmer. I used two coats on top of High Hopes.
Basecoat: Salon Science Instant Artificials (1 coat)
Color: China Glaze High Hopes (3 coats)
Color: China Glaze Glacier (2 coats)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 coat)

I could feel some tip pulling with this many coats, but it wasn't visible at all. I felt it was boring so I took it off Sunday evening.

Nubar - Lime Green and 2010

Well, this is a Hot Mess if I ever saw one. I think Lime Green just looks wrong with my skin. I love the color so I'm gonna wear it anyway :)

Lime Green was kind of a pain to apply. My first coat was really thin - this might have been part of my problem. I would have been better off to do thicker coats. As a result, I had some streaking and bald spots. I knew after the first coat that this color was Not Right for me :)
This is three and a half coats, and you can see I still have some VNL. I added two coats of 2010, hoping it might look less terrible on my skin, but no such luck:
Now it looks like a shiny Hot Mess.

Basecoat: Nubar Foundation (1 coat)
Color: Nubar Lime Green (3.5 coats)
Topcoat: Nubar 2010 (2 coats)
Topcoat: Nubar Diamont

Think I'll have to do a new one Saturday. Have a great Friday!

OPI - Red Hot Ayers Rock

I went outside the "untried" this week, since I'm not going to be able to change it until Sunday. Red Hot Ayers Rock is the only polish for which I have a backup bottle. I love, love, love this color. Despite its name, it isn't a true red - but it almost is. It's a hot orange-coral shade. When I put it next to my pinks, it looks red, when I put it next to my reds, it looks pink. This is a really difficult color to capture accurately on my camera.

Inside, no flash:

Inside, with flash:

See? Looks red. Outside, these are probably the most color accurate photos I was able to get. This is in full sun.
Basecoat: OPI Ridge Filler (1 coat)
Color: OPI Red Hot Ayers Rock (3 coats)
Topcoat: OPI Top Coat (1 coat)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 coat - only because I have laundry to be done before 5 - I didn't want to risk denting this)

Pardon my mess - obviously, I didn't clean up my cuticle oil off my polish as well as I thought I had. Application was a dream. It was a tiny bit thick, but nice and opaque and I didn't really have any problems controlling it. I went three coats but I could have gotten away with two.

Have a great week, everyone!

Comparison: China Glaze IDK and Milani Hi-Res

As promised, I did a comparison today of China Glaze IDK and Milani Hi-Res.
In the bottle I can tell immediately that the glitter and holo is going to be the difference. The base colors for both of these are just about identical.

I have 3 coats of Hi-Res on my index and ring fingers, and 3 coats of IDK on my middle finger and pinky. Here they are in the sun.

Hi-Res has holographic glitter - the individual pieces are holographic. IDK has an overall holo effect. Coverage on both was fantastic - Hi-Res covered totally in three coats, IDK only required two, but I did three for consistency. If you happen to catch a glimpse of these in the shade they are almost identical, but when the sun comes out they're definitely different.

Fourth of July nail art: Orly - Star Spangled and Royal Navy

First of all, I don't understand how you girls with the 3D nail art wear it multiple days. This is already driving me crazy and I've just finished it. No worries, I have tomorrow off so I'm changing it anyway.

I used Orly Star Spangled and Orly Royal Navy. I had some clear crystal stars that I used.
I am pretty happy with the way that this turned out.

Here it is outside under partly cloudy skies.

The total damage:
Basecoat: Orly Ridge Filler (1 coat - please please please don't stain!)
Color: Orly Star Spangled or Orly Royal Navy (3 coats)
Topcoat: HUGE GOBS OF SECHE VITE.

Both these colors are really pretty. In the bottle Royal Navy's glitter looks a little more teal than blue but on the nail it's perfect. Star Spangled's glitter is more obvious on the nail.

Tomorrow I plan to compare China Glaze IDK and Milani Hi-Res, then the usual mani for the week.

Have a happy and safe Independence Day!

Milani Hi-Res

Chrla wore very well. I had only a tiny bit of tip wear, and it might be because I slapped on a coat of Seche before I went to bed. When I took it off I had light staining, but a cursory buffing got rid of it with no problems. I'll definitely wear it again, but I would probably use the ridge filler basecoat to try to prevent that.

This is Milani Hi-Res, from the 3D Holographic collection. I wanted something that was going to dry quickly and apply well. I thought about going with a neon instead but I didn't feel like dealing with streaks.
The holo in Hi-Res is the type that comes from the individual glitter pieces being holographic, not that they show any discernable pattern. This is pretty similar to China Glaze IDK (I think, it's in my untried pile), but the holo pattern isn't as defined. If I have time Sunday I will swatch IDK and do a comparison.
Basecoat: China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
Color: Milani Hi-Res (3 coats)
Topcoat: Seche Vite (1 coat)

Inside, this looks like a light to medium purple with silver micro glitter. There is almost no holo in this indoors. Application was pretty standard for a holo - I had to be careful about bald spots and drag, but it wasn't too bad.

Tomorrow I am going to a bicycle maintenance class at REI, then the Rangers game, so I am not going to have time to do another post then. I am planning to do a new mani Sunday. If I have the right nail art (I need to look through my stash) I am going to do a patriotic one, but I'm not going to go out and buy more nail art just for that. So, it'll be a surprise what comes up on Sunday. :)

Have a great weekend!