GOT Polish Challenge: Neon with Neener Neener Nails Shades Needed!

This week’s GOT Polish challenge theme is neon.  I thought I would love this theme, but then as I was going through my nail polish I realized I don’t really have that many true neons in my collection.  The first one I chose only looked neon in the bottle, not on the nail, so I had to find time to do another mani, and this one hasn’t worked out too well, either. 😥

I used Neener Neener Nails Shades Needed! for this theme, since it is a very bright yellow jelly base with various sizes of iridescent glitter in it.  I used this once before when I first got it a little over a year ago, and at the time I couldn’t decide if I hated it or if I really hated it. 😀  But I decided to keep it and give it another try, and I’m definitely convinced now that it is not for me.  The jelly base of this one has a tendency to be very gloopy, and the glitter just adds to the mess factor of the look.  I used three coats because the base is so sheer, but there is definitely still a VNL.  I don’t want to be overly critical, so I’ll suffice it to say that this one is just not my cup of tea.  And I mean it this time. 😛

So…what do you think?  I do love bright colors, but the texture of this one is just not for me.  Into the “give it away” pile it goes!

I purchased Shades Needed! from the Neener Neener Nails Etsy shop for $5.50.  I can’t tell if this brand is still around, honestly.  The Etsy shop doesn’t seem to exist anymore, at least.

GOT Polish Challenge: Tropical with Pretty and Polished Rainbow Sparkle

This week’s Golden Oldie Thursday challenge theme is tropical!  I wasn’t quite sure what to do with this one, but then I thought that an oceanic blue would be a good tropical inspiration.  I chose Pretty and Polished Rainbow Sparkle.

Rainbow Sparkle has a medium blue jelly base that is a touch darker than a true cornflower blue shade.  In this base are tiny holographic glitters, medium-sized blue, pink, and green hex glitters, and large green hex glitters.  The glitter in this has definitely faded since I purchased it two years ago; the pink glitter was much darker when I bought it, and now it is really barely pink at all.  That being said, I still think it is an absolutely beautiful polish, so I won’t quarrel too much about that.

The photos show three coats of Rainbow Sparkle over a glitter base.  I used my normal top coat as well.

Isn’t that blue just stunning?!  It really does remind me of a beautiful ocean.

I purchased this mini polish from the Pretty and Polished Etsy shop for $4.75 a little over two years ago.  It doesn’t look like they offer this color anymore, probably because of the bleeding glitter.

GOT Polish Challenge: Hot Pink with Absolute! Neon Nail Color in Fuschia

This post is even later than I intended, and I’m sorry for that.  I didn’t get much time off from work in the past two weeks, so even though I was able to find time to do the hot pink challenge, I wasn’t able to find time to post it.  Until now!  Better late than never.

Last week’s Golden Oldie Thursday Challenge theme was hot pink!  I love pink and I love neons, so this was a fun one for me.  I decided to use a bright pink polish that I hadn’t used in a couple of years, Absolute! Neon Nail Color in Fuschia.

Fuschia is not exactly an accurate description of the color of this polish.  In the bottle it looks more like a bright, cool-toned pink color.  On the nail, however, it actually takes on a much warmer hue, and it really takes on the look of an orange-leaning pink neon.  In the photos you can see that the color in the bottle looks different from the color on the nail.  Some of the photos do make the color on the nail look redder than it does in real life; it really does look orangey-pink IRL.  It really is a bright and fantastic color, and I received lots of compliments on it while I wore it.  Because the color is so bright, I did a half-moon mani when I wore it so it wouldn’t look too garish.  The photos show two coats of Fuschia with my usual base and top coats.

(Please forgive the odd shape of my index finger nail.  I break my nails all the time at work, and rather than cut them down to the tiniest nubs, I’ve been trying to just file down the break in order to hang on to a little more length.  That does result in some odd nails shapes sometimes. :-/)

What do you think of this mani?  I love the way it turned out, and it was nice to wear bright, fun nails for a few days.

I purchased this polish 3 years ago from the Nicka K online shop for around $1.50 during a sale.  It is still available for purchase there.

GOT Polish Challenge: Coral with Essie Carousel Coral

This week’s Golden Oldie Thursday Challenge theme is coral!  I knew right away which polish I wanted to use for this challenge.  I’ve been using Essie’s Carousel Coral for years and years as a go-to shade for spring and summer.  This is one of the few polish colors that I’ve used entire bottles of and purchased again because the color is one of those “just right” shades.

Carousel Coral is a warm, medium-toned coral shade that has a squishy, almost crelly finish to it.  I used two coats of Carousel Coral for the photos; it is the tiniest bit streaky, but that would likely be evened out with a third coat (I just didn’t have time for it).  I also added accent nails of American Apparel Glitter nail polish in Constellation.  This has a clear base with long silver string glitter that I thought would add some interest to the look.  I used my regular base and top coats for this mani.

What do you think of this shade?  Isn’t it just a nice, bright, happy shade for spring?  It’s been a staple color for me for at least a decade.  I just love this one!

I purchased this bottle of Carousel Coral a few years ago at a beauty supply store for $6.00.

I purchased American Apparel Constellation from their online shop for around $6.00.  It looks like they no longer offer this glitter, but they do have several other glitter shades from which to choose.

GOT Polish Challenge: Pastel with Jindie Nails Swoon

Well, we’ve made it to spring (sort of) which also means we’ve made it to the second quarter of the Golden Oldie Thursday Challenge!  The theme for this week is pastel nails.  How perfect for the season!  I decided to use Jindie Nails Swoon for this week’s challenge.  This is the first polish I ever bought from Jindie Nails, and I hadn’t used it since I got it two and a half years ago, so I thought it would be a perfect choice for the challenge.

Swoon has a pale blue crelly base with large neon yellow, blue, and pink matte hexes, medium-sized blue metallic circle glitters, and tiny blue glitter.  The base color is quite translucent on the first coat, but it builds pretty well.  I ended up using four coats for the photos, but I probably could have gotten away with three.  I really wanted it to last because I knew I wouldn’t be able to photograph it right away, so I added the extra coat hoping it would turn into polish armor.

The application of this polish was not terribly difficult.  I did have to fish for glitter a little bit, but the size of the large matte hexes makes it so that not so many are needed for full effect.  Even though I bought this a while ago, the application and dry time did not seem to be affected at all with time.  I used a glitter base coat and two coats of top coat for the photos.

I didn’t have time to take the photos until a couple of days after I did this mani, so my nails are not pristine in the photos, unfortunately.  My job is extremely hard on my nails, and my index fingers and thumbs tend to take the brunt of it, so you’ll notice that my index finger had some nicks in it and missing glitter by the time I was able to take the photos.  Oh, well.  I’m learning to make do since I no longer really have free time.  As long as I’m enjoying myself, I’m not going to worry about whether things are perfect.  Join me in that!  It feels great. 🙂  Now for the photos.

What do you think?  I’ve learned by now that I tend not to prefer very large glitters in polishes.  But it was nice to try one that I hadn’t used in a while!

If you’re curious about what the next several weeks of the GOT Polish challenge have in store, check out the schedule!

I purchased this mini polish from the Jindie Nails Etsy shop for $4.75.  They have since moved their online shop, and a reformulated version of this polish is still available there.

GOT Polish Challenge: Yellow/Peach with Scofflaw Nail Varnish Insert Lemon Pun Here

This week’s theme for the Golden Oldie Thursday Challenge (details about the challenge can be found in my original blog post about it) is yellow/peach!  I don’t have many yellow polishes, and most of the ones I do have aren’t really that old, but I did find one in my collection that I purchased almost exactly one year ago.  And she’s a beauty!  This week’s challenge will feature Scofflaw Nail Varnish in Insert Lemon Pun Here.

Insert Lemon Pun Here has a bright, shimmery yellow base.  In that base are medium-sized green hex glitter as well as small green, orange, and gold glitter.  The combination is gorgeous and so eye-catching.  This was the first Scofflaw Nail Varnish I ever purchased, and I remember that it was one of the only colors still available in their online shop when I was looking, but I’m not sure why.  It is such a beautiful and unique polish!

The application for this one was easy peasy.  It dried quickly between coats, and the glitter was evenly distributed in the polish as it applied.  I used 3 medium coats for the photos over a glitter base.  I also used my regular top coat for the photos.

Don’t you just love this polish?!  I really couldn’t get enough of it.  I got so many compliments on it while I was wearing it, too.  I tend not to buy yellow polishes because I assume they won’t work well with my very pink coloring, but every time I wear one I love it.  I’m going to have to rethink my attitude toward yellow.  It’s been so good to me. 🙂

I purchased this polish from the Scofflaw Nail Varnish Etsy shop for $8.50.  They have since moved to a new online shop.

GOT Polish Challenge: Purple with China Glaze CG in the City

First, let me apologize for the lateness of this post!  A lot has been going on in my life lately, and it is all generally really positive, but the result is that I have practically no free time.  I haven’t been able to do my nails as much as I used to do, and I didn’t have a chance to photograph/blog about them even when I did.  In truth, things probably won’t slow down for some time, but I am going to try to continue writing blog posts when I am able because I enjoy it so much.   And to top it all off, I broke 4 nails this week!  I realize that I’m going to have to keep my nails shorter now.  But I can work with that!  So my GOT Polish nails are late this week. They may be late again next week.  I hope eventually to figure out a schedule so that I can start posting them on time again soon.

Back to the matter at hand!  (And yes, that pun was intentional.)  This week’s theme for the Golden Oldie Thursday Challenge (details about the challenge can be found in my original blog post about it) is purple!  I love purple, even more than I actually admit to myself.  I have purple accessories, purple clothes, a purple coat, and loads and loads of purple nail polish.  From that heap I chose China Glaze CG in the City for this week’s purple mani.

CG in the City is from China Glaze’s Fall 2011 Metro Collection.  The color of this one is difficult to pin down; it appears to have black, tan, silver, and purple glitter in a clear base.   To me, the overall effect appears lavender on the nail.  I hadn’t worn this one in a long time, and I found the color as hard to describe this time as I did when I purchased it.  It does have a dusty, aged purple look that I find quite pretty.  I also think that it’s not too splashy if one wanted to wear this to the office.

The application for CG in the City is not difficult.  The glitter is quite fine and provides for even coverage.  I used three coats of CG in the City over a glitter base for the photos.  I used my normal quick-dry top coat as well.

Isn’t the glitter combination in this one unique?  Even though it defies description, I do like the look of it.

I purchased this polish a few years ago for around $3.00.

Swatch and Review: Yogurt Series No. 4

It’s always difficult for me to choose nail polish when the weather is dreary, and this has been quite a dark weekend here.  I finally settled yesterday on an untried glitter polish that seemed like it would be a bright and cheerful contrast to the darkness outside.

Born Pretty Store Yogurt Series No. 4 has a blue-green jelly base with a few different colors and sizes of glitter.  There are large silver hexes, smaller copper and purple hexes, and some thin silver bars.  It’s an interesting combination and not one I’ve seen before.

This polish is not terribly difficult to apply, but the glitter does have a tendency to ‘bunch up’ on the nail a little bit, so some care does need to be taken when applying.  The base color is quite translucent, which allows great visibility for the glitter, but it also allows for a VNL.  It’s not terribly noticeable because of all the glitter, but it is definitely there.  The bar glitter does have a tendency to curl as well, which is a real bugaboo for me.  I only applied one coat of top coat, so perhaps this could be lessened were one to apply multiple coats (as you know, something I’m not really willing to do).  The polish dried quickly, but it does have a strong ‘nail polish’ scent, which will be off-putting for those with scent sensitivities.  I used a glitter base, three coats of polish, and my normal top coat for the photos.

This polish is definitely a bright contrast to this weekend’s weather.  It’s not quite my cup of tea, though, so I’ll probably be adding this one to my “find me a new home” pile.

I purchased this polish from Born Pretty Store for around $4.00.  Definitely search online for a coupon code if you intend to purchase from there, because there are lots of 10 percent off your purchase coupons for this store floating around the interwebs.

 

GOT Polish Challenge: Orange with Rainbow Honey Hoof Wrassle

Today’s Golden Oldie Thursday Challenge (details about the challenge can be found on my original blog post about it) theme is orange!  I just love the color orange, so I was looking forward to going through my orange polishes this week.  I decided to do a mani with an orange glitter that I purchased a couple of years ago, Hoof Wrassle from Rainbow Honey’s Equestria Collection.

Hoof Wrassle has a rich burnt orange base.  It’s the tone of orange I associate with autumn, and it could remind one of turning leaves.  Added to this is plenty of glitter; there are large golden-orange hexes, bright orange squares, and smaller gold, orange, and what appear to be red holo glitters.  There may be some others as well, but these are the prominent ones in my eyes.  The mixture of the deep orange base with all of the bright flashes of different tones of orange glitter reminds me of a painting of a field of orange flowers.  I’ve enjoyed looking at its nuances on my nails today.

In spite of the large amount of glitter in this one, it was not difficult to apply.  There was no sinking glitter to speak of, and it came out of the bottle easily.  It also didn’t drag or stick to the brush as glitter can do.  Rather, it applied in two easy coats without incident, drying quickly in between coats.  I used a glitter base and a fast dry top coat for the photos.

It really is a unique and pretty polish to which the photos aren’t quite doing proper justice.  I think adding the shinies to this earthy orange base makes for a nice contrast.

I purchased Hoof Wrassle from Rainbow Honey a couple of years ago.  It looks like it is not currently available.

Swatch and Review: Shleee Polish Mary Jane Holland

I’ve been dying to try out Shleee Polish since I first heard about the brand a couple of months ago.  I just couldn’t resist anymore and bought a couple of polishes from this brand last week.  I don’t know why I waited so long!  They are all gorgeous, and I couldn’t wait to try them.  Of course I chose a green one, Mary Jane Holland, to try first.  This color is from the Shleee Polish Lady Gaga inspired collection.

Mary Jane Holland has a bright, grassy green base that has a prominent yellow gold shimmer.  Added to this is just enough linear holographic sparkle to mesmerize you.  I love all shades of green, but this is one of my favorites.  It’s not a shade that you see every day, especially in nail polish colors, so I’m just loving getting to look at it all day.  It’s truly gorgeous.  I really can’t say enough good things about it.

The application for this one was easy.  The consistency was perfect for me; I didn’t find it too thick or too thin.  It dried quickly and the opacity was quite good even after just one coat.  I used two coats for the photos.  I used an aqua base with this one, and I did not use top coat.

Now…the photos.  I took so many.  I really, really love this polish, so I went a little overboard.  It was so hard to narrow them down, but I did.

Are you drooling yet? 🙂  I am so in love with this polish!  I can’t get enough.  The others that I purchased are equally amazing.  Shleee Polish is definitely my new favorite polish brand.  I want them all!

I purchased Mary Jane Holland from the Shleee Polish online shop for $11.00.  It was worth every penny!