Length Check!

           Happy Memorial Day to everyone! I haven't been blogging this weekend because one of my best friends (we call each other twin) graduated from my old high school, and I had to head to Connecticut to be there for her. I had a good time, except for that I busted ANOTHER nail and wasn't at home, so I couldn't save it. This time, it was the middle finger of my left hand. I'm thinking about if I want to put a fake nail on it, or just leave it alone.
            But that's not the point of this post. The point is that I finally finished my bottle of Barielle Growth Activator for Natural Nails, and I have opinions and comparison pictures. The pictures are from Friday, so they don't reflect my newly nubbinated nail. Haa, try saying that five times fast. ^_~

This was my right hand on March 15th.

This is my right hand on May 28th.

This is my left hand on March 15th.

This is my left hand on May 28th.

    lol, overall...I am less than impressed. My nails are longer, but they are also ridiculously weak and bend way too easily. So even assuming that my growth has been due to the wonders of Barielle, I haven't seen any added strength, and without the strength, the growth is a waste. Because it breaks off anyway. Additionally, this is a crummy base coat. My nails are all stained and yellow. Bleh. And finally, I kind of feel like my nails have grown a perfectly normal amount for two months, so I'm not even sure if the Barielle even did what it said it was gonna do.
    But looking forward, tonight, I plan on trimming down my nails a little, and then I'm starting them on Duri.  And I need to stop being so clumsy. My right hand is the one that I use to do stuff, and it's also the one that's all broke down and busted up due to my own foolishness. lol, it's worse than when I started. The left hand is busted too, but that's not my fault. u_u

China Glaze Cosmic

            Cosmic is another one of my previously forgotten China Glaze specialty glitters.I put it on for today because it's my mommy's birthday and I wanted to be festive.  But the best laid plans and all that jazz. 

Cosmic is a black creme base, densely packed with multi-sized silver and holographic hex glitter. There's more silver than holo, I think. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

       Cosmic is loud. It is loud and in your face. And it gets in the faces of all the people who are around you too. Normally, this would be fantastic, because few things are better than exorbitant amounts of glitter, but Cosmic takes it too too far. There is just too much glitter here. Yeah, I said it. There's too much. If the glitter was finer, or if it were sparser, I'd like this more. But that said, part of it is my fault, because I did wipe down my nail with a bit of acetone. Before I did, there was barely any sparkle at all, because the glitter was trapped under the base. Normally, a little acetone fixes that and makes the polish looks better, but not this time. :(

     The formula for Cosmic was not so pleasant either. It was pretty gloopy and thick, so application wasn't the smoothest. On the upside, it was opaque in two coats. But back to the downside, the glitter here is really gritty. In these pictures, I used three coats of Out the Door Top Coat, and I could still feel the glitter through it. The mani looked rough too. Granted, OtD is not the thickest TC available, but I used thick coats. I just think it shouldn't have felt or looked as lumpy as it did. 

    Overall, I think that Cosmic was a good idea that just wasn't executed in the best way. I'm going to take it off and find something else to do with my nails, because Cosmic took a flying leap over the line of festive and has entered obnoxious territory. Her party isn't until later tonight, so I have time. Hopefully, my next idea will be better. 

Later:

   I decided that I wasn't being entirely fair to Cosmic, because I didn't show pictures of it before I wiped it with acetone. With Meteor Shower, that was okay, because it looked better. But since Cosmic got uglier afterwards, I should have shown a picture from before. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Cosmic does look better here, but I still think it's ooglay. lol!

China Glaze Meteor Shower

            Yesterday, I was rearranging my stash and making sure that all my untrieds were actually untried when I ran upon a little cluster of China Glaze glitters in a forgotten corner of the bin. I had to laugh at myself, because the China Glaze specialty glitters were one of the very first polishes I ever bought. Milani Ruby Jewels was the first (boring, I know), OPI Mad as a Hatter and Absolutely Alice were the second and third respectively, and then I got the China Glaze glitters next from VNS. That was four months ago, and it's really sad that in all that time, the only one I've worn is Atlantis. I felt so bad that I decided to wear Meteor Shower for today, although if I had remembered to check the weather, I might have continued my neglect a little longer. Today is rainy, cloudy, and cold...perfect weather for me, but not so perfect for showcasing glitter. Bleh.

Meteor Shower is multi-colored square and hex glitter in a midnight blue creme base. There's way more square glitter than hex, and the colors that I can see are blue, green, and orange/copper. 

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, with a gentle flash.

Natural light, no flash.

ETA (5/28):

Sunlight, no flash. It's bright and sunny this morning, so I took some quick pictures before removing Meteor Shower

Sunlight, no flash.

Blurred to show the sparklies.

     Even though it doesn't come across in the pictures, Meteor Shower is pretty and sparkleh. When I turn my fingers, all the different colors of the glitter wink at me from the inky base, and it's so nice to look at. I think it would have looked more like an actual meteor shower if the glitter was gold and holo, but there's nothing wrong with it the way it is. That said, Meteor Shower did require an extra step to reach its full potential. It is one of those glitter polishes where the glitter is a little too heavy and ends up just submerged in the base, so that you can see there is glitter in the polish, but the glitter can't sparkle and shine. To fix that, I let the polish dry to the touch, and then I used a bit of napkin dipped in acetone to gently swipe each nail, thus liberating the surface glitter. I didn't take before and afters, but it really made a big difference. To finish, I put on two layers of topcoat, which really enhanced the sparkle and smoothed out the grittiness of the glitter. 

    The formula of Meteor Shower was okay. All pictures are with two coats of color and two layers of topcoat, and application was trauma free. 

    Also, I very shamefully broke my no buy today. I'm so sad to say it, but damn son...I'm weak. See what had happened was, I was in Walgreens getting pizza rolls and nail polish remover, when I walked by the Sinful Colors display. I wasn't going to stop because I was just looking for Hidden Treasure, but I noticed a little display on the floor. So I went over, and it was the St. Patrick's Day display that I thought I would never see in my lifetime, chock full of Green Oceans. I've been hunting Green Ocean since March, so I didn't even think about it before snatching up two bottles and marching to the register.  While I was waiting in line, a little voice in my heart was telling me to put it back, but I just couldn't bring my body to do it. I felt good right after I paid, but the shame hit me hard while I was walking home, tenderly stroking the bottles in my purse.  I'm not so so mad at myself though, because they were cheap and there was no guarantee that they'd be there in August.  Besides, tomorrow is another day.   But I wonder...has anyone ever successfully completed a no-buy? If so, how in the heck did you do it?! Tell me....tell me the secretss....

China Glaze Let's Groove

           Today, I had a strange craving for purple polish. I normally try to save my purples for special occasions, but for some reason, I just needed to have something purple on my nails today. So after a bit of deliberation, I decided on another relatively recent acquisition, Let's Groove from China Glaze's Retro Diva Collection.

Let's Groove is a red-leaning purple with tons of violet shimmer and bits of blue shimmer speckled throughout. This picture is a little washed out, but the shimmer and stuff is visible when the picture is enlarged.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. This one is truest to color.

Natural light, no flash.

       Let's Groove is such a hot color, and a perfect example of why I love China Glaze. The name sucks (they need to take a line from OPI's book), but the color itself is on point! It's a deep, rich purple that proudly proclaims its purpleness, and the shimmer makes it glow with a light all its own. Looking at my nails, I think of plush purple velvet. And not the kind of velvet that pimps use to make their suits. I mean the good stuff. Like the stuff that they use in The Tudors' wardrobe department.  

       The formula on Let's Groove was lovely too. To start with, it was very well pigmented. The pictures are with two coats of color and one layer of topcoat, but I honestly would have been fine with just one coat. I only used two out of force of habit. Additionally, applying Let's Groove was a breeze. It flowed off the brush right onto my nails with little to no effort on my part. Dry time was also good. I used Essie Good to Go (I really love that topcoat) and it was dry to the touch within ten minutes. 

Later:

I was just too bored, so I went back and matte-ified Let's Groove.

I used one coat of Essie Matte About You.  

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. Peep that shimmer.

      I liekz it.   ^_^

Orly Poison Apple

            After like a week of duochromes, shimmer, glitter, jelly, and all sorts of other flashy thangs, I felt like I needed to stop and cleanse my palate, so to speak. For that purpose, I broke out one of my recent acquisitions, Orly Poison Apple, from the Once Upon a Time Collection. 

Poison Apple is a tomato red creme. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

       I actually got Poison Apple from a giveaway that was held at Lacquer Ware for Tips and Toes. I also got some goodies for my feeties and some candy, which I promptly devoured.. But the bottom line is that I did not buy Poison Apple for myself, nor would I ever have in a million years. I don't like red cremes for myself, and when I see them in the store or online, I automatically ignore them. Which is why I'm really happy that this was a giveaway prize, because it would have never found its way to my door otherwise. And that would be sad indeed, because Poison Apple is quite lovely! Not only is it rich and creamy, but it also has some orange, some brown, and a touch of grey, which keeps it from being too plain. I probably won't wear it this summer, but it's the perfect color for fall. 

      Additionally, Poison Apple boasts a perfect formula. It was completely controllable and spread easily and smoothly. There was no streaking, dragging, or any other sort of tomfoolery. And Poison Apple is really well pigmented. The pictures are all with two coats of color and one layer of topcoat, but I think it would be possible to get the same result with one thick coat. It dried to a shiny finish, but I put on topcoat just because.

 

Blog Award + Ooglay Fauxnad

            Man, I can't sleep. So I'm here to clog up the blogosphere with a post of random and nail-related things. First order of business is a blog award, because I actually won one (homophone shout out) thanks to Lacquer Ware for Tips and Toes! I don't want to be all mushy, so I'm just going to say that I really appreciate this award, and that it means alot to me. I'm also really grateful to anyone who takes out time to read my nonsense, because there are like a bajillion blogs out there, so nobody has to pay attention to mine. So thanks, people! ^_^

Very pretty, no? 

     The rules for this award says that first, I have to tag ten other bloggers for the award. I wish the number was higher...even though I'm still new-ish to blogging, there are so many blogs that I've come to love and stalk. The ladies of the nail blogosphere truly amaze me with their creativity and great personalities! Here are my picks, in no particular order:

Pinkginger's A Thing of Beauty

Susie's Home and Hobbies

Skulda's Claws

ANOTHER Bottle of Polish?!

Nailstah

Little Music Boxes

Nail Junkie

Nails Beautiqued

Nikki's Nails

Imperfectly Painted

A Black Woman's Guide to Surviving Any Money Crisis

 (Not a nail blog, but I enjoy reading it)

Yeah, I picked eleven. Say something. u_u


The rest of the rules are as follows:


Make a post about the award including the picture and mention the person who gave it to you.

Put the award on your blog.

Let your nominated 10 know you've awarded them by leaving a comment. 


Second order of business is to post some fauxnading that I did over Scherer Calypso. I wanted to remove it, but my sister wanted to go to IHOP (and what a disaster that turned out to be), so I just stamped over it to kind of...refresh it. Again...what a disaster that turned out to be. lol!

I used the Bundle Monster plate BM20, and stamped on the pattern using Color Club Where's the Soiree? Then I put one coat of Finger Paints Floatin' on a Cloud, and sealed the whole thing with one thick coat of Out the Door Top Coat.

Natural light, no flash. 

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

   I think I would like this a whole lot better if I had just left off the glitter. I don't know what it is with me and glitter, but I just cannot leave it alone. If there's any possible way for me to use glitter, I will use it. Even when I'm about to take off a polish, I'll think to myself, "Maybe I should try some glitter." And then I'll put on the glitter, look at it for a while, and then remove the whole thing. Smh, I need help! The good news is that this mani did make me laugh all day. Whenever I looked at it, I'd think of RuPaul shouting "Extravagaaahhnzaahhh!!" and then start cracking up. Only Jesus knows why such an image would come to my mind, because my nails have nothing to do with RuPaul whatsoever. Just one example of why I worry about my brain circuitry sometimes. 

Scherer Calypso

           Good morning to everyone! I hope the Monday blues aren't hitting folks too hard. I'm personally feeling a little down about my nails, because they refuse to cooperate with my dreams. Can you believe that I broke another nail over the weekend? This time, it was thanks to my little cousin who swears that he's a stuntman. He was showing me his flying kick, and of course, he kicked the pinky nail right off my left hand. I picked the fool thing up off the floor and glued it back on, because I really love that nail and I wasn't going to give up on it. I'm so mad. Not at him, but at my nail. Man, this sucks. *roars*
        Now that I've got that out of my system, I can talk about what I really meant to talk about: Scherer Calypso, from the Chameleon line. 

Calypso is a frosty duochrome. Its main color is a silvery-lavender, but it shows green and blue as well. 

Also, I replaced my patch! It's not perfect, but it's better, so I can stop complaining about it.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash. This is a really unflattering angle, but I wanted to show the color change. 

Natural light, no flash.

      Calypso is such a beautiful duochrome. The color change is obvious and fun to watch, although I'm not too keen on the frosty finish. 
      Although Calypso is beautiful, applying it sucked! There was lots of cuticle drag, the polish felt too thick and it wasn't easy to spread, brush strokes were visible, and the bubbles were horrific. All my fingers looked like this:

     I tried to ignore it and go about my day, but no ma'am. I had to take that mess off...it was just too ooglay. When I reapplied it, I was ridiculously slow and meticulous, and that helped some, although I still have bubbles and some visible brush strokes. I'm not surprised though, because Blue Sky gave me some application issues as well. Additionally, wear is horrible. I've been wearing this application for two days now, and I'm already getting cracking and chipping. 
    Overall, I'd say that I'm pretty much torn about Calypso. I love duochromes, and colorwise, this polish is a real winner. But putting it on was just too hellish for me to honestly say that I like Calypso. So I guess I'll call it a draw, and say that I feel meh about this one. I won't be getting anymore Chameleon polishes because I can't do it with the application. But I will say that I sincerely hope that CQ or Scherer reworks the formula on them, because these polishes are really quite lovely. It's a shame that something like formula would be what sinks them.