OPI Bling Dynasty

           Last night, after fixing my messed up nails, I put on OPI Bling Dynasty from the Hong Kong Collection. I passed on most of the collection, because I felt they were a bit boring. But Bling Dynasty was one of the few standout colors for me, and I loved the name, so I scooped it up. 

Bling Dynasty is an old gold polish with gold and copper shimmer. The shade actually reminds me of mustard...I'm not a mustard eater, so I don't know exactly what mustard I'm talking about. But it's one of the darker ones. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

         I really like Bling Dynasty. The shade of gold is pretty unique in my opinion. Instead of being that cooler, brighter shade of gold that I think is more common, this one is warmer, darker, and it looks positively ancient. Like the kind of gold that you'd find on the death mask of a pharoah. In sunlight, the shimmer comes to life and gives the polish a subtle sparkle and shine. I wouldn't call it a must-have, but I'm a big fan of this color, which is strange, given how I feel about yellow. 

        The formula was fine. It was easy to work with and spread smoothly and thinly with no dragging or streaking. Bling Dynasty reached opacity in three coats, and dried really quickly with the help of topcoat. I think it's a tad bit brush-strokey...if I'm looking for them, I can see some of the strokes. But it's not very noticeable, and maybe someone with more skill wouldn't get them at all.

   In the interests of procrastination, I later decided to mattify this:

Sunlight, no flash.

I used one coat of Essie Matte About You.

Sunlight, no flash.

I love how it turned out. I think it looks just as pretty matte as it does shiny. 

Have a good night, guys! 

Nubar Unfaithful Red + Fauxnad

            Man...today was one of those days where halfway through, I had to stop and ask Jesus to take the wheel, because if not, I would have driven the car right off a cliff. I'm so le tired. But I just wanted to write a quick post about the konad that I did on my mani from yesterday, because I actually like this one. 

I used the little scrolly pattern from BM12, and stamped it on with China Glaze 2030. 

Then I put a little clear gem where the scrolly part was skinniest. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

      Lol, in all the frustration, embarrassment, misery, confusion and despair of today, my nails were the one thing that kept a smile on my face. And really, isn't that how it should be? 

Have a good night, everyone!

Vampy Week: Nubar Unfaithful Red

           Today, I'm wearing Nubar Unfaithful Red, from the Liquid Metals Collection. I'm not sure if it really counts...it ended up brighter than I expected, but whatever. I'm still counting it. lol!

Unfaithful Red is a bold, saturated, and slightly deep crimson red in a metallic finish. There's also an undercurrent of gold shimmer throughout, although the gold is way more evident in the bottle than it is on the nail. 

 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

      Unfaithful Red is super hot...I'm looking forward to wearing it again when my nails are longer. It has a little bit of that awesome quality where it's bright in the center and darkens at the edges of the nail, and the faintly gold shimmer is a wonderful little detail. I felt so grown up (in a good way) wearing this today...much less like the Zoloft blobby. I'm only a tiny bit sad because I would have preferred something darker. Maybe a little closer to burgundy. 

     The formula was also very agreeable. Unfaithful Red was opaque in one smooth, buttery, trauma-free coat. I used two coats for security and out of habit, but I think I would have been able to get away with just one. It was already glossy, but I put one layer of topcoat anyway. It also dried really fast...thirty minutes after application, it was just barely dentable. So yay for Unfaithful Red! 


Oh yeah, and there are only three days left to enter my giveaway!

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. 

Milani I'm Online

           Today is a great day! The sun is shining, finals are thisclose to being over, and my nails are looking like something straight out of Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Yes, today is surely a glorious day. ^_^

I'm Online is a cool and pale rose-gold foil. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

     I stan for Milani, and I'm Online is a pretty good example of why. It just looks so damn good! Because the finish is disrupted by all the shimmer, it doesn't look like Minx, but it still gives that, "Why yes, I do sprout metal from my fingers" look. I tried to make the gap as small as possible to preserve the illusion, lol! And while I don't know how I feel about the color on me, I can't deny that the overall look of I'm Online is really futuristic and beautiful. 

    About the application, I'm on the fence about that. The good news is that I'm Online is very opaque, as most foils are. These pictures are all with two coats, and one layer of Poshe. I think I could have gotten away with one, but I just did two for security. However, I did have to apply it twice. The first time, it looked horrible and gross. Brushstrokes and baldspots galore. I scraped that off, cleaned up, and then reapplied, because I was not gonna give up on my beloved Milani. The second time, it went on just fine. Smooth and easy, not a brushstroke in sight. The only difference was that the second time, I went more slowly and put more polish on the brush. The formula of this did seem a little...thick too. I wanted to put some thinner in it. 

   But despite the fact that I'm Online apparently has multiple personality disorder, I still think it's a good effort on Milani's part. Like I said before, on me, I'm not 100% sold on it. But I can recognize a pretty polish when I see one. 

And completely unrelated to this color or Milani, has anyone else ordered Nubar 2010? I placed my order on Monday, and they still haven't shipped it. My last order was shipped on the next day, and it was much larger than  the one I placed on Monday, so I'm concerned. Anyone else who has ordered from them, has your bottle come? 

Wet n Wild Caribbean Frost + Konad

           I'm not wearing this today, but I wanted to post a color that I wore recently, Wet n Wild Caribbean Frost, and the konad print that I did over it. So polish pics and review first, and then konad pics. And, I have to say that I manipulated these pictures..my camera was picking up the wrong color entirely, so I had to correct it to match what I saw on my nails.

Caribbean Frost is a metallic, sea green polish. It actually looks much like the waters in the Caribbean...clear and bright.

Natural light, no flash. 

Natural light, no flash. 

For comparison's sake, here's the unretouched version of the photo.

     Besides the fact that this polish does not get along well with my camera, I think it's fabulous. The color is beautiful and perfect for warm weather. And the formula is amazing. The pictures are all with only two coats of color, and there were no issues with dragging or brushstrokes. Dry time was quick, and overall, I can definitely put this into my category of nail polishes to put on when it's late and I need to quickly slap on a color and hit the sack. Not bad for 99 cents, man.

    

    After this was dry, I decided to Konad over it.

I used plate M57, and the circled pattern. 

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

    I stamped the pattern with Sally Hansen White On, and then topped it with one coat of Nubar Opulent Pearl, for a little iridescence. The pattern is smudged, but that's my fault, not Opulent Pearl's. The flakes show up when the picture is enlarged. But anyway, this definitely confirmed my suspicions about Opulent Pearl...it definitely needs to be put over lighter colors. 

   And I need to complain about Konad real quick.

Wtf, man?! Why the patterns so small for?! My thumb so looks so jank right now because I had to double stamp on it, and my nails are not especially long or anything. I think they're normal. They need to make the plates with full nail patterns bigger, so they can make the patterns bigger and so people don't come out with jank looking manicures. Shooo. *sucks teef*  (end rant ^_^;)