Wet n Wild Back Alley Deals

    Hey guys! So first off, I'm really excited because The Phalanges Files has broken 600 followers!! That's so crazy to me, and I'd like to thank all of you for hanging out with me and reading my senseless rambles. I was going to have a giveaway anyway, but maybe I'll make it a little bigger to celebrate lol. 

Finals are fully upon me, so today's post is a little blast from the past from the backlog.  This is Back Alley Deals, from Wet n Wild's Ice Ice Baby Collection. 

Back Alley Deals is made up of lots of small amethyst glitter, with larger bits of fuchsia hex glitter thrown in. 

Sorry for the bubbles, btw. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

       Although I don't think I like the name very much, Back Alley Deals is beautiful! The purple glitter is so luxe-looking and blingtastic, and the little bits of fuchsia add some nice interest. I also liked how delicate and feminine my nails looked with Back Alley Deals on, since sometimes, glitter can make your nails look clunky and weird. My only critique of this polish would be that I wish the fuchsia glitter offered more contrast against the base and I wish the polish came in the standard .5 oz. size, but overalll, I'm really happy with Back Alley Deals. 

     Back Alley Deal's formula was okay. The coverage wasn't awesome (I needed four coats for the opacity in the pictures) but the polish went on smoothly and dried quickly. It also needed lots of topcoat to be smooth and shiny. In the future, I'll probably layer it to conserve polish and time. 

But that's all from me today!! 

I hope everyone is having an awesome weekend, and thanks for stopping by! 

Wet n Wild Cougar Attack

     Happily, today's mani is more Halloween-appropriate. Here's Wet n Wild Cougar Attack, also from their On the Prowl collection.

Cougar Attack is a black jelly base stuffed with little copper hex glitter. I was rushing during application of this, so I layered it over Diamond Cosmetics Matte Black.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Although I initially had some reservations about how it looked on me, I ended up liking Cougar Attack. The name is dumb as hell, but the color is pretty to behold. The glitter is nice and sparkly, and it does give a really palpable Halloweeny/autumny feeling. It makes me want to eat some spiced applesauce and then jump into a pile of leaves. 

   Cougar Attack's formula seemed pretty agreeable. It went on smoothly, and didn't dry too gritty. I can't accurately comment on the opacity, since I layered it, but it seemed like it would be fine in about three coats. The glitter was quite dense, and with only two coats, my nails looked adequately covered in glitter.

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a fantastic Sunday!

Wet n Wild Correction Tape

      Hi guys! So it's getting to be Halloween time again, and while I'm not sure that I'll have time to do more hilariously ooglay Halloween nail art for you guys, I figured I could try to wear some of the Halloween-themed polishes that I have in my stash. So in the spirit of that, I have Wet n Wild Correction Tape from their On the Prowl Collection. Also, I've been wearing this for like a million years, so please excuse any signs of wear you see. 

Correction Tape is made of  medium-sized gold, fuchsia, and blue hex glitter in a clear base. There's also some black square glitter. Also, I've layered it over Diamond Cosmetics Concrete Jungle. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I love love love Correction Tape! The combination of colors is so fantastic, and I especially love the black bits of glitter. You can see the different colors better in regular light, but I still like Correction Tape better in the sunlight. The bits of glitter sparkle so nicely, and I can't keep my eyes off my nails. Apparently, neither could anyone else, because I got so many compliments everywhere I went. And that never happens, so yeah...Correction Tape is kind of a big deal.

    My only problem with this one was the pain-in-the-butt formula. The clear base is way too thick for the amount of glitter in it, so I couldn't just swipe on the glitter like a normal person. Instead, I had to painstakingly swirl the brush in the bottle and then dab it on the nail, which led to bubbles. On the upside, the polish dried fast and wore really well. It's not perfect, but for a rough five days, I think it looks pretty good!

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a fantastic hump day! Also, I'm curious...do you guys have any nail plans for Halloween? If you tell me, I promise not to copycat. ^_^

Wet n Wild Wild Orchid

        Yesterday, for like the millionth time, I accidentally scratched someone. I really want long nails, but I clearly don't know how to control them, because I always scratch the hell out of myself and everyone around me. In frustration, I filed down my nails (wayyy more than I meant to) and it made me sad. To cheer myself up, I put on Wet n Wild Wild Orchid. 

Wild Orchid is a ton of small, square holographic and silver glitter, floating in a deep violet jelly base. There's also some electric blue shimmer running around in there. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Wild Orchid is such a pretty color. With the holo glitter, the base color, and the blue shimmer, it's like if Sally Hansen Grape Going and China Glaze Fairy Dust had a baby! And it was only a dollar, which kind of makes it even better-looking lol. 

      However, Wild Orchid's formula was a bit annoying. It needed four coats of color for full opacity and depth, and it looked kind of rough without topcoat because of the glitter. On the upside, it dried pretty quickly and that made up for the four coat thing. 

     
And completely unrelated to this polish, E.L.F. is having a 70% off sale, starting from 1:00 PM EST and going until 2:10 PM EST. This is big because they made the maximum discount $100, instead of their regular $7.50. 
The discount code is 70FOR70, so if you want to try E.L.F. or need to stock up on favorites, there ya go!

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

P.S. I know that I mentioned possibly having some good news, but that didn't happen. Soon though, I promise! ^_^

Wet n Wild Teal of Fortune

Today's blue is Wet n Wild Teal of Fortune, from their recently released Spring Collection. 

Teal of Fortune is a blue-green jelly base, packed with small and flat blue, green, and gold shimmer particles. 

It's like if Zoya Charla and Sinful Colors Nail Junkie had a baby. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

      Teal of Fortune is awesome, and these pictures do not do it justice. The little flakes of shimmer suspended in the jelly base make it look like some sort of jelly fish (not jellyfish), and I love the little flecks of gold that come peeking through. And it sparkles like the surface of a swimming pool in the sun. I'm such  a happy camper with this polish, it's so pretty. 

      I found Teal of Fortune's formula to be a little bit thick, perhaps because of the composition, but it was still fairly smooth going on. I needed three coats for full opacity, and dry time was not very bad but it sure wasn't quick. Why do they put that lie on the bottle? Also, please double up on basecoat with this one...the staining was horrific. ;_;

And unrelated to this polish, you may have noticed that there is a new button in the sidebar. I generally reject requests to put ads up on The Phalanges Files, because I feel like nobody wants to be looking at ads all the time. But the Fresh Air Fund is an organization that I feel does really good work, and I know lots of people who could have used something like that growing up. So when someone from there contacted me, I couldn't say no. If you get a chance and are interested in helping them out with their stuff (they need donations and host families) please click the button to check their website out. And no, I'm not making moniez off this. n_n

And that's all for today! Thanks for reading!

Moah Greens! (For Less Green)

   Yep, more greens. Because they are wonderful and warm my heart. ^_^


First is Sally Hansen Jumpin' Jade.

 Jumpin' Jade is a deep jade green base with lighter green shimmer. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I purchased Jumpin Jade to avoid buying MAC Jade Dragon, and although I'm fairly sure that they aren't exact dupes, I am well satisfied, yea verily. The color is so pretty and the polish has this beautiful opulence and glow to it that I really like. My only real complaint about it would be the terrible name....they couldn't do better than Jumpin' Jade? Forreal though? :/

   Since this guy is part of the Insta-Dri line, the formula is fairly thick and really well-pigmented. I only needed two coats for full coverage, and really, someone could probably get away with one coat. It also dried really fast, although it needed topcoat for shine. 

Next is Wet n Wild Morbid. 

Morbid is a really dark, kind of mossy, blue-based green with lighter green and blue shimmer.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Morbid is amazing. It's so...cancerous and wicked looking, and although cancer and wickedness are normally awful things, when they meet polish, they become beautiful. As well as the base color, I love the shimmer...it catches the light so nicely when it's sunny and glows from the base when it's not. It's just a shame that Morbid is part of the Craze line, because it means that you only get a little bit of this awesome color at a time and it's in that terrible bottle with that horrible cap. I wish they could make it part of the core line and put it in a normal bottle.

     Despite the awkward application from trying to maneuver that stupid, stubby brush and round cap, Morbid's formula was surprisingly easy to work with. It went on easily and smoothly, and the pigmentation was great. I used two coats of color and one layer of topcoat in the pictures, and the coverage is perfect. Add in the ultra-cheap price and the availability of Morbid, and I really think that you can't go wrong with this deliciously macabre shade. 

Finally, we have New York Summer Amaranth. 

Amaranth is a bright grass green jelly. It was hard to capture the brightness in the pictures though, so it's really brighter than what you see. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Amaranth puts such a smile on my face. It's just such an adorable and cheery shade of green, I think it looks awesome on me (yeahhh conceited moment) and of course, I love the fun squishy finish.
     Also fun was the formula on Amaranth...despite it being a jelly, I only needed three coats to get the coverage in the pictures, and the polish applied smoothly with no streaks, dragging or other such tomfoolery. The only issue I faced with Amaranth was that it dried matte, but that easily rectified with a layer of topcoat. 


   This particular grouping of polishes may seem random, but I chose to put them all together because they're all nice and cheap! None of these polishes are over $5, yet all of them are beautiful colors with great formulas, proving that you can celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a cute nail color on any budget. n_n


And that's all I've got for tonight! Thanks for reading!!