Matching a Mani to the Sparkliest Bag I've Ever Owned

While travelling in New York over Christmas, I kept an eye for...something.  Something unique, something you don't see often, something that stood out.  While wandering around Brooklyn, I found the thing that I was looking for.  It may not be practical but oh man, is it sparkly.  Covered in a perfect gold-red-fuchsia-pale pink gradient of flat sequins, this bag had to be mine.  When I got it home, I of course had to honour it with a glitter gradient of my own.

I wanted to bring in the silver reverse side to all the sequins so I started this mani with two coats of Sally Hansen Celeb City.  I'm not really sure why now as I've tried to put glitter on this before and it never quite looks right.  Anyway, on I went with my usual technique, using Sally Hansen Invisible in very thin layers to stick the glitter on.  Again, I've had luck lately in first laying a strip of glitter down the centre of my nail then building out either side.  Once done, I added two coats of Seche Vite.  I was then silly enough to take a shower before taking photos so that's why the tip of my ring finger's a little mangled.  Once I fixed it, using my glitter fixing process, it didn't look too bad.  So much fun taking photos with this bag though.

The Verdict: Love the bag, would love the mani more if the pink didn't bleed quite so much.  Yay for sparkles for everyone!

Sunset Gradient Maze Nails!

So I may have mentioned that I'm not working right now.  My company kinda collapsed a bit, but that's ok cos we were compensated.  My life right now is me, sitting at my computer at strange hours of the day and night, talking to my cat and occasionally my boyfriend.  It also means for some weird reason that my impulse control has gone out the window.  I dyed my hair from a box which is a terrible idea if you're blonde and when one too many nails broke on my photo hand I got fake nails.  Wooo! It's kinda hard to type but I'm digging them a bit.  They're all long and not too thick.  They're long enough now that I feel comfortable totally copying an amazing design Chalkboard Nails did the other day.  I'm not kidding when I say copied.  Go look at her stuff.  Not afraid to say I both love her and hate her a bit, she's too good!

Anyway, for these nails I finally got the makeup sponge gradient to work properly.  Turns out a white base is a really good idea.  I started with two coats of L.A. Girl Delicate then painted stripes of American Apparel Neon Yellow and Neon Blue, with Urban Outfitters Hottub in the middle on a sponge.  I then just dabbed it on my nails.  The colour choice was incredibly inspired as you get a wonderful yellow-orange-pink-purple-blue sunset gradient.  I added a coat of Seche Vite cos it never hurts then freehanded the maze design using LA Colors Art Deco nail art polish.  I thought about using tape but that's just too much work.  A final coat of Seche Vite and I'm done!

The Verdict: Man, this design is amazing, I wish I'd thought of it!  I also don't mind my new fake nails even though they woke me up last night cos they're taking a bit of getting used to.  Yay gradients!

Pink to Blue Ombre Mermaid Nails

Ok so yeah, I know I just did this kind of manicure but it's totally different, I swear!  I found more pink glitter so the colours blend together nicely and I spaced the glitter out more!  Pretty much though it was the Reddit Monthly Meetup on Saturday night and I wanted sparkly nails.  What more can I say!

To start, I did the usual two coats of Rimmel Black Satin.  Someone remind me to get a new bottle, cos it's getting a bit gluggy.  Anyway, next you'll need a think swipe of your non quick-dry top coat, I'm currently using Sally Hansen Invisible.  You almost can't apply this thick enough because you need to reallllly smush the glitter in there, so no bits stick up.  If I even have one piece of glitter sticking up, I can maybe go six to ten hours before I'mma need to get rid of it.  It's the main reason I trim all my glitter to fit, so it's nice and smooth.  I've found that with the big pieces of glitter, start in the middle with a column in your colour run, then just build out either side.  I also find the top coat will apply better if you leave a tiny gap between each piece.  Once you're done, you really can't apply too many coats of Seche Vite.  I think this is three? Yeah, sounds about right.  Make sure you run the top coat along the edges of your nails too, it'll stop the edge pieces coming off.  

I should go to bed now, so sleepy, hence the tone of this entry!  But look, sparkly: 

The Verdict: I would normally call this just a colour gradient but it feels very ombre-y to me so I'm going with that.  And sparkly.  So sparkly.  Yay!

Review: China Glaze Holographics in a Dot Gradient

Hello!  Again, not dead, just still trying to find time for getting home after work at like 7ish, going to the gym, making dinner, doing my nails, taking the photos, editing them and writing the post all in the one night.  I used to have a good system where I'd take the photos at night and write the post at lunch at work but damn my new socialable co-workers!

Anyway, like any person who ranks how awesome something is by how rainbow and/or sparkly it is, I was pretty damn excited to see the new China Glaze Holographic polishes show up at my local beauty supply place.  I mean, you all saw how great the OMG Collection was, right?  Yeah, this isn't that great.  Not by a long shot, especially with the stunning effort Color Club is putting into their new holographic polishes which I just found at the Winners on Spadina.  Run on sentences, hooray!  I very nearly bought all twelve of the China Glazes on the spot, thinking at the time that the fluorescent lighting in the store must be the reason they weren't that holo.  Nope, not the lighting... 

So having picked up Infra Red, Galactic Grey, Sci-Fly By, Strap on Your Moonboots and Take a Trek, I wanted to find a way to incorporate them into the one manicure.  Giving I'm a little short time these days, a dot gradient fit the bill perfectly.  I started with my usual two coats of Rimmel Black Satin then, using a smaller dotting tool, I did my dot rows, starting at the cuticle and working upwards.  I don't have the greatest lighting for holos - it's set up for smooth, even light - but there aren't rainbows.  All you see is the texture you get with these polishes and the teensiest hint of rainbow and that's it.  

The Verdict:  I was so excited about these polishes and they're just so not exciting in person.  I mean, they're still interesting polishes but compared to Color Club Halo Hues 1 and 2, well, it's not even a comparison.  You'll see.  I have the new Halo Hues and if it weren't for already having done the mani, I wouldn't even know the China Glaze existed.

Re-review: Nerd Lacquer All of Time and Space, Warrior Ethos and Event Horizon

It's no secret I think indie polishes are awesome.  I love them for all their sparkliness, uniqueness and that they're just made by people.  In their houses.  Sometimes though I just have to go back to the indies that started it all for me, the irreplaceable Nerd Lacquers.  I'm lucky enough to own about a dozen and I thought I might let some of my favourites see the light of day.  Let's take a look at Warrior Ethos, Event Horizon and All of Time and Space.

Back in early 2011 when you could actually buy Nerd Lacquers, there was nothing else like it around.  There were a handful of Etsy sellers but not much beyond that.  It was the sparkliness and all-around differentness that drew me in.  Warrior Ethos was one that especially caught my eye.  It's a beautiful, blood-red jelly polish with black, iridescent and red glitters of all sizes.    With these kinds of polishes, you need three coats to let the glitter build up in layers, getting a real sense of depth.  

I don't even have words to describe how much I love Event Horizon.  Look at the macro shot on my thumb, look at how much glitter is packed in there!  There's too many different kinds to name, suspended in a deep blue-green jelly.  Just like Warrior Ethos, the more coats you add, the deeper the polish looks.  This one has a whole bunch of holographic silver glitter in there so not only is gorgeous, it's sparkly too.

Finally, at least for today, we have the much softer All of Time and Space, an awesome mix of pink and silver glitter in a mint green base.  This one has more of a frosty finish than the first two but it's that pink shimmer that's mixed in there with the glitter that gives it a different kind of dimension.  I feel like this looks almost like Monet's Waterlilies, although that could just be me stretching to find another way to describe how much I love this polish.

The Verdict: It's been well over a year and just no one has been able to come close to making the same complex polishes as Nerd Lacquer.  I don't mean to disparage other brands - they do their own thing - but Nerd Lacquers were just such an amazing mix of glitter and perfect base jellies, flakies, everything.

I'm also posting this because I'm sad the Ninja Polish site crashed when these were going on sale again recently.  Doesn't hurt to take a look at the originals!  Speaking of, I have reviewed all these before but let's just say I'm a bit better at doing this now.

Rainbow Glitter Snakeskin Nails!

I kinda like to showboat a bit at the Reddit monthly meetups.  I love the attention I get when I make my nails extra sparkly.  So I usually show up late because I'm trying to cram as much glitter on my nails as I can.  Let's take a look at this month's effort!

Yep, the closest thing to hand when I took these photos was my wind-up plastic kangaroo.  That's how I roll.  Anyway, I knew I wanted to do something with rainbow holographic diamond glitter this time but am a bit sick of a black base.  The advantage of using un-needed glitter from an indie polish seller is that it doesn't bleed, colour-wise, so Urban Outfitters Tiny Shirt it is, a wonderful neon pink creme.  After applying three coats (two would have been fine, but you need a thick base for the glitter to sink in to) I went to work using my usual technique.  You have to be careful with this glitter to make sure it's sunk as deep into the top coat as possible, without having it overflow.  You do this, and your glitter isn't going anywhere.  Except on the ends.  Because it's hard to get the half pieces to stay.  But whatever.  And yes, I did trim the glitter for both my cuticles and then ends, but it's worth it and not hard if you have small sewing scissors.

 

The Verdict:  The pictures came out kinda weird because the pink is so neon, and I took these photos the next day.  These were super awesome in person though, and I'm not kidding about the rainbows on my desk.  Mmm sparklies. 

Abstract Glitter Mosaic!

You might have noticed by now but I love glitter.  Matte, holo, metallic, all shapes and sizes, doesn't matter as long as it's not iridescent.  I hate iridescent glitter because you can't do anything with it and it keeps showing up in 12 packs I buy.  Anyway, favourites of mine are my pots of gold and silver holo glitter, the ones with the black lids.  Nice and evenly shaped and super sparkly, it's really good for my glitter mosaics.  My silver glitter, however, tends to stick together in almost a sheet which is super annoying if you're trying to get a piece at a time.  I decided to run with it this time, so let's take a look at an abstract glitter mosaic.

I started as usual with three coats of Urban Outfitters Hottub which is a really strong bright pink creme. Goes well with the silver glitter.  When the three coats were done - you don't really have to wait for them to dry here - I covered my nail in my slowest drying top coat.  You don't want to use something like Seche Vite as the glitter won't stick because the top coat is too good at its job.  I'm using Wet 'n' Wild top coat I found at the dollar store.  Anyway, starting at a corner, I used an orange stick to pick up the glitter.  Because of the way this stuff sticks together, I'd get between six and a dozen pieces in a sheet or a chain.  I have no idea how you do this is you didn't get the specific sticky batch I did.... but look, sparkly!  You'd be able to get the same effect by carefully shaking the glitter onto your nail, I guess.  I'm tired and appear to have lost my point.... sparkkklyyy

The Verdict: Man, Vines are really good at getting across how sparkly a thing is, especially when my lightbox is where sparklies go to die.  Short of using a flash or a halogen lamp, has anyone had luck accurately capturing holo glitter sparkly inside?  

Review: Crows Toes Heartless

I've talked about this before but I have a bit of a problem with indie polishes.  I love them, I order way too many off the internet but when it comes time to use them I get a bit stuck.  There's only so many times you can find a complementary base colour, whack the glitter on and then talk about the composition and the consistency.  Odds are, someone's already done it, and probably done it better.  So I feel the need to get creative with it which is hard which is then why I don't post them that much.  ANYWAY, I did actually do something interesting with a very sparkly pink polish from Crows Toes, so let's take a look. 

To start with, I applied three coats of my current black, Essence Back in Black and topped it off with a coat of Seche Vite because I wanted it to dry faster.  Once it was dry and I had waited five more minutes after I thought it was dry, I cut out my zig-zag piece of painter's masking tape and applied the glitter.  Heartless (the polish) is pretty thick so I just needed the one coat to get this level of opacity.  The glitter itself is amazing, super sparkly with different sizes and shades of pink holographic glitter.   Once done, another coat of Seche Vite applied, and I'm done.

The Verdict:  Love the polish.  Heartless is just so sparkly and pink, how could I not love it? It applies well over black too, not patchy, which is always a bonus.  I'm not super sold on the design, but it'll do.  SPARKLYYYY :D