More Color Club Poptastics

    Hi guys!! First of all, Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a satisfying 2011, and that 2012 will be even better. To be honest, I'm really anxious about this year...this spring will be my very last semester as an undergrad and I don't know what to do next. I've been in school literally for as long as I can remember. So this will be...interesting, I guess.


Secondly, I have to say sorrrryyy again for being such a bad blogger lately. It's partially because I've been busy and partially because my heart isn't in polish and blogging so much anymore. I think I'm getting bored with it all...it just feels kind of futile, you know? I'm trying to get reinspired and fall in love with polish again, but idk...it's just not happening. And then it doesn't help that my nails are staging a rebellion. 


But anyway, I spent the holidays wearing mattes that I've worn already, so I don't really have anything nice to show you all. I did get a few other polishes from Color Club's Poptastic Collection swatched though, and can show you guys those. And all pictures are in sunlight, with no flash.


First up is the collection's namesake, Poptastic

   Poptastic is a pretty and bright neon pink. It's sweet and wearable, but not anything special and if it didn't come in the box set, I probably wouldn't have it. Formula-wise, it was okay. A little thin maybe, but not overly troublesome. Pictures are with three coats of polish and one layer of topcoat.

Next is Almost Famous.

      Almost Famous was a surprise for me because I really like it, despite my general aversion to yellows. I think it's just so bright and sunny that you can't help but like it lol. Formula was also surprise, in that it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I used four coats of polish, but they went on pretty smoothly for a yellow. There was some streakiness and whatnot, but they covered up pretty nicely with more coats. 

Last is Wham! Pow! (their punctuation, not mine):

     Wham! Pow! is probably my favorite of these three. The shade of orange has a bit of extra red to it, which adds interest, and I love its level of brightness. It isn't a retina-searing polish, but it's still substantially bright, which makes it fun but still wearable. Application was also quite easy...three easy coats and I was all done. 

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading and listening to me whine, and I hope your holidays were all perfectly lovely!

(Lame) Halloween Mani

   For Halloween, I wanted to do something cool and interesting, but I didn't have any time. I hate how there aren't enough hours in the day. So I will just show you guys the nails that I slapped together, and we can just move on to more fun things. Like CHRISTMAS!! Eeeee. 
Also, all pictures are under an Ottlite with no flash.

This was three coats of Color Club Wham! Pow! (damn unnecessary punctuation), with one thin layer of China Glaze Black Mesh on top. 

      So yep...that was it. Orange creme with black crackle. Way unoriginal, but it came out well so there's that. And it was the first time that people have stopped me to try to guess my nail color! I embarrassed myself with the first person because I assumed she was also a nail fiend and started blabbing away until I realized that she was staring at me like I was some kind of sick freak. I played it cool with the other people though, so lesson learned.

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

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! 

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!

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! 

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!