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: Flowers with Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in Wet Cement and L.A. Colors Color Craze Minis

This week’s theme for the Golden Oldie Thursday Challenge is flowers.  I wasn’t too inspired by this theme at first, mostly because the ideas I had seemed like they would take forever to do and I just have practically no free time anymore.  I finally realized that I could do a simple flower mani using a dotting tool as I’ve seen so many other bloggers do.  That made me feel much better about tackling this challenge!  I still had to do the mani over a couple of days, but I did it.

I used Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in the color Wet Cement as the base color for this mani.  This color is a medium, cool-toned grey shade that works well as a neutral base for nail art.  Although I like the color, the application of this one wasn’t great, probably due to its age.  It took forever to dry, and I ended up with sheet marks in it even after letting it dry for a few hours before going to bed.  These seem to have evened out somewhat with the top coat, but it still took too long to dry IMO.  I used two coats of it as the base for this mani.

To add the watercolor flower look, I used two L.A. Colors Color Craze mini polishes that I’ve had for a few years.  I know I bought them in a set of mini polishes, but the shade names aren’t on the bottles so I’m not sure what they’re called.  One is a bright medium blue shade and the other is a vivid pink shade.  These had a thinner consistency that I would normally use with a dotting tool, but I kind of like the somewhat watery, almost painting-like it effect it gave the flowers, so I think it worked out in the end.  I used my normal base and top coats for this mani as well.  The top coat did end up smearing the flowers a little in some places, but that is mostly because I wasn’t patient enough to wait until they had completely dried before I applied it.  The streaks are not really visible to the naked eye, so I’m not sweating them.

Have you ever used this simple technique to create a flower mani?  I like how it turned out.

I purchased Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear in Wet Cement a couple of years ago from a drugstore for somewhere around $1.50.  I purchased the L.A. Colors Color Craze minis a few years ago from Cherry Culture.  I’m really not sure how much I paid for them, but the brand is generally inexpensive.

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: Ruffle Mani with Hard Candy Vibe, Trailer Trash, and Angel

Oh hai!  I’m back again after another extremely busy week.  I’m really hoping things die down enough that I’m able to post more than once a week soon.  As awful as it is, I just haven’t been able to make my nails my top priority lately. :-p

This week’s Golden Oldie Thursday Challenge (details about the challenge can be found on my original blog post about it) theme is ruffle manis!  I hadn’t done a ruffle mani before, so I was really looking forward to trying it out.  It ended up taking so long that I only did it on two accent nails, but it looks great!  I decided to use some Hard Candy mini polishes that I purchased ages ago for this one.

Vibe is a one-coat black creme polish, Trailer Trash is a metallic silver, and Angel is a metallic gold polish.  Despite being very old, all of these applied easily and dried quickly.  They also all had excellent coverage; I only used one coat of the black on the ‘plain’ nails, and it covered beautifully.  And these lasted forever.  I wasn’t able to change my polish all week (and yes, it drove me nuts), and most of my nails only had mild tip wear at the end of the week.  I was very impressed with the durability of these polishes.

The ruffle mani accent nails worked out pretty well, but they took a really long time to do.  I ended up adding to it a little at a time during the day and then trying to do other things in the interim.  I do like how it turned out, but I doubt that this is a design that I’ll do that often for that reason.  I used my normal base and top coat for this mani, and the top coat did smear the ruffle mani a little bit.  There was no way I was going to do it over again, so I apologize for this imperfect mani, but that’s the way it goes sometimes, isn’t it?

Have you ever tried the ruffle mani look before?  Do you have any time-saving tips for doing one?  I do like the way it turned out, and if you average the time that it took to do over the amount of time that I wore it, maybe the time it took can be justified a little…

I purchased these mini Hard Candy polishes several years ago as part of a set.  They are no longer available for purchase at this time.

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.

GOT Polish Challenge: Skittle with Black and Red Glitters

Today’s Golden Oldie Thursday Challenge theme (details of the challenge can be found in my original blog post about it) is a skittle mani!  I liked this theme because it allowed me to choose more than one of my older polishes to use again.  I decided to try a few of my old glitters to see if they still suit my fancy.

I used four polishes in this skittle mani to transition it from black on one side to red on the other.  The polishes used are NYX Girls Frizzy Spots, a black jelly base with small and medium-sized silver holographic glitter; Naild’It Unique Polish in Girls Gone Wild in Camo, a multi-colored glitter mix of matte and shiny with red, pink, green, silver, brown, yellow, orange and black in a clear base; Naild’It Unique Polish in Strawberry Whine, a multi-colored matte glitter mix in tones of red, pink, white, green and a hint of purple in a sheer red jelly base; and China Glaze Dynasty, which has a tomato red base with lots of small holographic glitter.  I applied all of these over a glitter base and used a fast-dry top coat for the photos.

Do you ever wear skittle manis?  I don’t often wear a different polish on each nail, but I do sometimes, especially when I’m testing out polishes in a destash.

I purchased all of these polishes from different online stores.  If you’d like to know where I got a particular one, just let me know and I’ll try to figure out where I bought it.