Uncle Sam's Tuxedo

    Happy Fourth of July guys!! For Independence Day, I did a tuxedo mani with a bit of an Uncle Sam twist. 

So this was actually pretty easy to do. I started with two layers of Color Club Pretty in Platinum, and then drew on the suit with Zoya Kimmy. I used Funky Fingers Alice and a bobby pin (I lost my brushes and dotting tool...maybe they got left at school) to make the tie and then put a gemstone in as a tie pin. I finished it by using the bobby pin and Pretty in Platinum to make a vaguely lapel-ish thingy, and sealed everything up with a thick coat of Poshe.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Even though this came out janky (as usual), I actually like it. In person, you can't really see all the mistakes, so it looks better. And the sparkliness from Kimmy and Alice make it really festive and fun, and distracted people from noticing how many hot dogs I shoved into my face. I'd like to try it again though when I actually have some real tools, because I wanted a bow tie and not a neck tie. 

I'm gonna go away now because I'm still in a haze from my hotdoghamburgerothermeatsvegetablefruitsodaicedtea rampage this afternoon, and can't really think clearly or even breathe right.

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone is having a fabulously amazing Fourth of July! And if you don't celebrate this particular holiday, I hope your Monday was fabulously amazing all the same. ^_^

Funky Fingers Icicle Lights vs. OPI Mad as a Hatter

             For today, I've got a comparison between Funky Fingers Icicle Lights and OPI Mad as a Hatter. All nails are fully dried with no basecoat, four coats of polish, and one layer of topcoat. And I left them gigantic, so if you do not fear my cuticles, feel free to click through.  

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Icicle Lights, Mad as a Hatter, Icicle Lights, Mad as a Hatter

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Icicle Lights, Mad as a Hatter, Icicle Lights, Mad as a Hatter

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Icicle Lights, Mad as a Hatter, Icicle Lights, Mad as a Hatter

  And some closer shots:

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Mad as a Hatter, Icicle Lights

Natural light, no flash.

L-R: Mad as a Hatter, Icicle Lights

Sunlight, no flash.

L-R: Mad as a Hatter, Icicle Lights

I blurred this picture to show the difference between sparkliness.

       The bad news is that Mad as a Hatter and Icicle Lights are not dupes.  Mad as a Hatter's glitter is multi-sized and features many colors, which Icicle Lights' glitter is all one size and only comes in two colors. Because of this, Mad as a Hatter appears darker, more opulent, more dynamic, and deeper overall than Icicle Lights. 

     Additionally, Mad as a Hatter is super blingtastic, while Icicle Lights can barely muster a sparkle. To me, this is a huge difference, because the sparkle along with the variations in color is what gives Mad as a Hatter that...manic look that endears it to me. Since Icicle Lights is missing that, it becomes easy to tell which fingers have which, particularly in sunlight. The Icicle Lights fingers are the ones where a band of silver sheen moves from one side of my nail to the other. And Mad as a Hatter fingers are the ones where every individual color of glitter catches the light at the same time and sets my nails on like...rainbow fire. The picture isn't very good, but I hope the last photo showed some of what I mean. 

    But the good news is that these guys are fairly similar, in that both are a silver-based, multi-colored glitter with the same dark cast to them. When I'm indoors and I hold my hand all the way out and let my eyes lose focus, they look the same. So if you don't look too much at the details, Icicle Lights could possibly act as a placeholder for Mad as a Hatter until you can locate the real thing. In any case, I'd really advise against purchasing Icicle Lights (especially off eBay) thinking that it will be a Mad as a Hatter clone, because you will be sorely disappointed. Icicle Lights is like...Mad as a Hatter sans its muchness. 

   If you've made it this far, then not only do I shake you warmly by the hand, but you also get a chance to win a little something something. I have another brand new bottle of Icicle Lights, and it could be yours if you want it. All you have to do is be a Phalanges Friend (I prefer not to call people followers), and leave a comment with your name and email address. If you were already one before this post went live, you get one extra entry. Anyone in the world can enter until 11:59 pm January 30, 2011 EST, and I'll be picking a winner on February 1, 2011. Yay! n_n

Funky Fingers Icicle Lights

           I haven't  really enjoyed a good glitter bomb in a little while, so I decided to put on Funky Fingers Icicle Lights, from their Christmas-themed collection.

Icicle Lights is purple-toned silver, red, and green small hex glitter in a clear base.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I don't really like Icicle Lights. The darker, more purple-y tone of the glitter is lovely, but that's like...the only good thing I can think of to say about it. It's just so flat. I only noticed the red and green speckles when I was indoors or in very mild sunlight, and the glitter does not sparkle. Even in the brightest sunlight, it just kind of...reflects the light back, so all you get is this boring silvery sheen. I bought Icicle Lights expecting a glittergasm, and I got the exact opposite. It's so disappointing too, because this really could have been a great color. All they had to do was use some glitter that actually sparkled. :(

    The formula was typical glitter fare...it went on okay and dried fast. For the pictures, I went with four thin coats and one layer of topcoat. However, in addition to being a lazy glitter, Icicle Lights is also a glutton for topcoat, because my nails feel like I didn't put anything on top.

    Also, I know that Icicle Lights is supposed to be a dupe for OPI Mad as a Hatter, or at least that's what they're saying on eBay. I'll have a comparison up for tomorrow, but in my humble opinion, they are not dupes. Icicle Lights is the closest I've seen anyone come to recreating Mad as a Hatter, and Funky Fingers gets props for that, but they are so not the same thing. 

But that's all I've got for today. Have an awesome Friday, guys! ^_^ 

Funky Fingers Gaga Glitter

           Ahhh it's the 22nd, already...where did the time go? October is almost over, and I still have a bunch of pinks I wanted to show you guys! So for today, I am wearing Funky Fingers Gaga Glitter, or Gaga for the purposes of this post. I'm not sure if the polish was inspired by the amazingly talented force of nature known as Lady Gaga. It's probably not. But it made me think of her, so when I saw it in Five Below, I snatched it up. Yeah, I'm a stan. u_u

Gaga is a deep but bright fucshia (with a bit of raspberry) creme base, with holographic and silver square microglitter. It makes me think of Barney, but it's not purple. And please excuse how crazy my hands look...I had to do some serious color correction on this. It still doesn't look quite right, but it's much more accurate.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

I could not capture any of the holo on the nail, but it's doing pretty well in the bottle.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

        I like Gaga...it's not worthy to bear LG's name, but it's okay, especially for a $2 polish. The base shade of pink is pretty and interesting to look at, although it may not be that flattering on some skin tones because of how warm it is. The glitter is also cute and fun, although I wish it were...more. I mean, looking at it, you can tell that there's glitter and there are flashes of rainbow from the holo, but they aren't as prominent and sparkly as I would have liked. 

       The formula was a little iffy for me. It had that weird syndrome where it's a little thick and streaky going on. Even right now, I can see little ridges on the edges of my nails, where it just never leveled. But they aren't noticeable to anyone but me, so I guess it's okay. Gaga was opaque in two coats, and dried to a matte and slightly textured finish, which one layer of Poshe quickly remedied. 

   And this is unrelated to this color, but I have a spot of bad (or good, depending on who you ask) news: I have to cut back on posting for a little while, starting this Monday. My camera is pretty much dead and gone, and it's reached a point where it's seriously frustrating trying to take pictures. Like, I felt like screaming when I was trying today. I can't afford a new camera at the moment, but I can't handle yet another source of frustration in my life, so you guys are gonna see a little less of me. I'm sad a little bit, because I like to work on The Phalanges Files and I love interacting with you lovely people, but at the same time, I think it will be a good opportunity for me to concentrate more on other things. Like actually graduating from college. And it will be good for you to not hear my ramblings or see my sausage fingers everyday. 

   I'll still be stalking blogs though, so noo, you aren't rid of me just yet. Ohohohoho. 

Have an awesome night, guys! ^_^

 (Icon courtesy of  lizbot)

Funky Fingers Moonwalk + A Giveaway!!

            Today, I got a chance to swatch my very last Funky Fingers polish, Moonwalk. I was planning on wearing it later, but then I was like...what the hey man. 

Moonwalk is a black creme with silver and holographic microglitter. I don't know what's been going on with these close up pictures...they all seem so washed out. Maybe something's wrong with my camera's aperture. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Moonwalk is what I wanted China Glaze Cosmic to be. There's a ton of glitter in this, but since it's so small, the glitter doesn't get sucked into the base and the overall look works far better, in my opinion. Its really quite sparkly and fun.

    The formula was nice too. Moonwalk was opaque in one coat, and wasn't gloopy or gross at all. However, it does need topcoat to really shine. The pictures are with one coat of Moonwalk and two layers of topcoat.       

    But incidentally, I think there are at least two versions of Moonwalk running around in the world. I call the one that I swatched today the new version because I bought it second. But I really don't know which one came first. Anywho, onto comparison pitchas!

The one on the left is the "new" version, and the other on is the "old" version. In the bottle, it doesn't look too different. When I saw the new one in Five Below, I was staring at it for like ten minutes, trying to decide if it was different from the Moonwalk I already had.

Label shot. 

From L-R: Old, New, Old, New.

Both versions share the fact that they are black polishes with silver and holo glitter, but the older version has larger, sparser glitter. I think the base is blacker too, although it may just appear so because more of it shows through. I actually prefer the older version too. I'm going to compare it to Cosmic at some point in my life, because they're definitely close looking, but for some reason, Old Moonwalk looks like twenty times better. Both of these are one coat of polish and two layers of topcoat.

 And finally, Susie at Susie's Home and Hobbies is having a nice giveaway! All of this good stuff can be yours:

Just go here to enter! 

Funky Fingers Alice

           Before anything else, I'd like to thank all the lovely ladies who kindly informed that other people have gone and are going through similar things and are not dead, and therefore, everything would in all likelihood, be alright. I really appreciate all the kinds words and support, and it means alot to me that you guys would take out time from your respective days to try to help me. Thanks guys! ^_^ 

          

        Today is gloomy and dark, and it's raining rats and frogs outside, but I love it. Rainy and cold weather is the best weather for me, as long as I don't have to go outside too much. Although I intended to wear something grey today, at the last minute, I changed my mind and picked something more cheerful: Funky Fingers Alice. Alice is a part of the Funky Finger's Alice in Wonderland Collection. I didn't buy any of the others that I saw in Five Below, although I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for Jester, which they didn't have last time I went.

Alice is a cerulean blue foil. Although it's not visible in the picture, the surface is speckled with silver. 

And I'm using my index finger because the foil pronounced every bump and ridge in my ooglay patch, and no one needed to see that. 

Natural light, no flash. 

Natural light, no flash.

Indoors, flash. 

        I really like Alice. I didn't really like the other FF Alice-themed colors, because they were a little plain and not so fitting of their characters, but Funky Fingers did a good job with this. The shade of blue is perfect. It's deeper than the shade OPI chose for Absolutely Alice, and due to the foily finish of the polish, it shows different darknesses across the nail. Really pretty. 

      I thought the formula was on the easy side too. It was a little thick, and I had to be careful to let the polish dry between coats, because if not, I got cuticle drag. But besides those two things, there were no problems, and drying time was reasonably fast. 

Funky Fingers Screamin' Fucshia + New Girls on the Block!!

            I'm a little blue today. First, I accidentally leaned on my flat iron and now my arm vaguely resembles a ball park hot dog, complete with grill lines. Second, my mother's minivan attacked me, and now my right thumb looks like this:

I miss having a usable thumbnail on my dominant hand.

    And lastly, I'm pretty anxious about school. My grades this past semester were great, but I still need lots of credits to graduate on time. I'm not sure that I can complete them, while maintaining my GPA and fulfilling my work study requirements.

      I'm trying to stay positive and calm, because if I work really hard, give up some things, and do a summer semester, I think I can manage. But I want to have  a meltdown, because I'm scared. So to cheer myself up (it worked a little) I decided to wear Funky Fingers Screamin' Fucshia.

Screamin' Fucshia is a highlighter-pink, neon creme. 

Natural light, no flash. The weather is so gloomy today.

Natural light, no flash.

        I like Screamin' Fucshia. It's a pretty, basic,  and inexpensive pink neon.  It's also a little more wearable to me than other neons, because it just doesn't seem that bright. The formula on it was pretty good too...it applied evenly and smoothly, but I think I would have preferred something more opaque. I'm wearing three coats of Screamin' Fucshia over two coats of Essie Limo-Scene, and I think I can still see a hint of VNL. I'm not sure if I should blame Screamin' Fucshia though, because Limo-Scene is already pretty sheer, so next time, I'll use SH White-On instead. It dried matte, but I put some Poshe on it, and everything was all good. It shrunk a little bit at the tip, and clean-up was a half-hearted effort, but it's shiny, soo...it's all good. ^_^

   And there are new girls on the block!

Meet Bebe, Adina, and...Adina. Yes...I accidentally bought two Adinas. >_< I'm struggling with myself about whether I want to exchange it for something or not. I guess it depends on how I feel about Adina on me.

And here's Mimi, Ki, and Charla.

      Such lovely ladies, no? ^_^

      Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go out and hunt Hidden Treasure today, because my mom made me stay at home and wait for the TV guy. So yes...my no-buy begins today and ends on August 17.  But if I happen to see Hidden Treasure in the store, I openly admit that I cannot be held responsible for my actions. 

    And this is why I like blogging. Can you believe I feel more calm about school even though nothing has changed?  lol!