Color Club Twiggie

   Hi guys! It's been a really messed up week for me, but it's finally over and I am relieved. In celebration, I thought I'd show you all something cheerful and bright today, so I chose Color Club Twiggy from the Poptastic Collection. 

Twiggie is a super bright, bordering on neon green creme. The shade of green is kind of tough to describe..I guess I'd call it a cross between mint and lime. That also sounds like it would make a delicious cold beverage.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

   I really like Twiggie. It's bright and fun, and I love how unique it is. However, I did find that it was a little bit stark and chalky against my skin. I would have preferred if it were just a smidgen softer so it could be more wearable for me, but I'm still going to keep it. 

   Formula-wise, Twiggy was tough but not impossible. It went on pretty smooth for the most part and the pigmentation was okay, but I found that I had trouble getting it to level out around the edges, which is always very frustrating for me. If you're a better polisher though, you may not have that problem. It also dried to a waxy finish, so you're gonna need topcoat on this one. Pictures are with three coats of polish and one layer of topcoat.

But that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Friday! 

Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Traffic

   Hi guys! For today, I have Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Traffic. 

Traffic is a bright, school bus yellow creme. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

Sunlight, no flash.

    I'm not sure why, but lately, I've been more and more into yellows, and Traffic is a pretty one. It features a rich and full-bodied shade of yellow and made me want to paint smiley faces on my nails. I also feel like it doesn't look horrible on me, so yay for that.

    However, Traffic had a horrendous formula. And I know that a tough application is par for the yellow course, but Traffic took it to a whole other level. I needed five coats (yes five) to calm the streaks and bald spots, and by then, my nails were so thick and unattractive that I ended up taking this off soon after taking the pictures. So as much as I like the color, I'm going to purge this one. The thought of dealing with it again makes me want to cry. 

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone is having an awesome weekend! 

Color Club Pucci-licious

   Hi guys! Not too long ago, I was puttering around Ross when I stumbled upon one of those Poptastic Collection sets. It seemed to be fully intact, so I scooped it up and brought it home. My plan is to work through the set over the next couple of weeks and I thought it would be fun to get the party started with Pucci-licious. 

Pucci-licious is a bright and saturated deep lavender creme. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

  For some weird reason, I have like no purple cremes, so Pucci-licious is definitely a welcome addition to my little family. It does dry a shade or two darker than it goes on, but the finished product is fabulous. It's so pretty, rich, and flattering, and it made me smile every time I looked at my hands.

   Pucci-licious was a little tough to apply, but not too bad. It was a little streaky, but after three coats, that goes away. It also dried with a waxy finish, so topcoat is necessary to make it look good. The pictures are with four coats and one layer of topcoat.

And unrelated to this color, Barielle is having a one-day promo with 30% off and free shipping! There's another code (FBFLASH30) that will stack with the promo and give you an additional 30% off. I placed an order, so maybe we will have another Barielle week soon?

If you get anything, I'd love to hear about it! Because I'm nosy in my soul. ^_^

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone is having a fantastic day!!

China Glaze Flip Flop Fantasy

     Hello guys! With the weather being so rainy and dreary here as of late, I thought it would be nice to show you all a color that is the exact opposite. So behold Flip Flop Fantasy, from China Glaze's Poolside Collection.

Flip Flop Fantasy is a coral-pink neon creme.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

   Flip Flop Fantasy is fabulous. It features a unique, pretty, and super-flattering shade of the coral, and I love how it glows, especially in the shade or under artificial light. 

    Its formula was also pretty good. I used one layer of China Glaze White on White as a base and then did three layers of Flip Flop Fantasy on top. I did experience a little trouble with streaking on the first two coats, but by the third, everything was nice and smooth. And as with all neons, it did dry to a satin-y finish, so topcoat is a must if you'd like it shiny. 

If you'd like a chance to win your very own bottle of Flip Flop Fantasy, make sure to enter my 400 Follower Giveaway! It's one of the prizes, donchaknow. ^_^

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

Diamond Cosmetics Plum Pie in the Sky

    Hi guys!! So I'm home from Florida at last and although it was lots of fun, I'm glad to be home. Mostly because I missed internet and blogging. ^_^ In the upcoming week, I hope to show some pictures from vacation and to finally finally do that 400 follower giveaway I've been mumbling about for the last month or so. But in the meantime, I have another Diamond Cosmetics polish from my backlog. This time, it's Plum Pie in the Sky from their Fall 2009 Collection!

Never Glum Plum is a deep blue-based purple creme. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

   I've really fallen in love with Diamond Cosmetics' cremes, and Plum Pie in the Sky is no exception. I love the richness and depth of the color, and the creme finish really helps accentuate the opulence of the shade. It's also nice that it always retains its purple-ness, even in lower light. 

    Formula-wise, Plum Pie in the Sky was really good. It was perfectly smooth and opaque in two fast-drying coats, and didn't bubble or act weirdly in any other way. 

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Sunday!! ^_^

China Glaze Orange Knockout + Lightning Bolt

      You know, one thing The Phalanges Files has been missing this summer is neons. I have very few neons, probably because I don't really buy polish in the summer and that's when all the neons come out. But one of the few that I have are China Glaze Orange Knockout, and I'm going to show that to you today. Yay!

But sorry about the craziness that is my skin...my camera just freaks out man. 

Orange Knockout is a neon, traffic-cone orange creme.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Orange Knockout will always have a special place in my heart because it was a gift from my friend Sayra. She's an awesome nail tech and used to blog at Totally Nailed It!, but stopped a few months back, which was sad. But yeah, she sent me this and even though it's not the most unique thing in the world, I love it! It's such a pretty and fun color to wear and there really is nothing like burning out the retinas of innocent bystanders with your nails. 

      It was also very easy to apply...I went with three coats for full opacity, and Orange Knockout went on nice and easy with no tomfoolery of any kind. 

After enjoying Orange Knockout for a while, I used China Glaze Lightning Bolt on top, and followed that with a layer of Essie Matte About You. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

      Orange Knockout was great on its own, but with Lightning Bolt, I really love it! It's like a radioactive creamsicle and me gusta! 

And that's all I've got for you guys today!! Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone is having a great weekend! 

Diamond Cosmetics Under the Willow Tree

    Hi guys! I'm still in Florida and am having a great time, but unfortunately, I am also still at the hotel of death/no wi-fi. Happily though, we were able to find an internet cafe nearby, and I finally got to set up some posts to publish automatically. So if everything goes as planned, it shouldn't be so dead around here. And even better, we're going to a different place on Saturday so fingers crossed for internet!

For today though, I have Under the Willow  Tree, from Diamond Cosmetics Fall 2010 Collection.

Under the Willow Tree is a rich and deep midnight green creme. 

It actually looks more blue than green to me. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Under the Willow Tree is stunning, and I'm expecting to have it in heavy rotation this fall and winter. The shade of green is unique, chic and sophisticated, and I love its ultra-smooth creamy finish. I also love how it looks on my nails and can see it flattering a wide variety of skin tones. 

    Under the Willow Tree also has a perfect formula. It applied like a dream...smoothly and easily, with no dragging, bubbling or other such things. It was also pretty much opaque in one silky coat, but for the sake of security, I went with two.

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

Shooting Shoots

       Sorry about missing yesterday! I was languishing in the cool air (heat wave begone!) and literally did nothing all of that day. But today, I have the final installation of Barielle Week. Huzzah! But since I didn't have a new color to show you guys (only had six colors), I decided to do some quick and simple nail art with one of my favorite Barielles, Shooting Star.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

           To do this, I started with two layers of Shooting Star and then used China Glaze 2030 to stamp on the bamboo shoot pattern from Konad Plate m66. I wanted to use a bronze polish, to match with the glitter, but it turns out I don't really have one. *softly weeps* But anyway, even though I feel like this looks a little unfinished (like there should be something else on there), I'm still happy with it and I think it looks pretty darn good.

And with that, Barielle Week is all done! Thanks for reading, and have a happy day!