Black History Month Nails!

    With February drawing to a close, I wanted to do a nail look to commemorate Black History Month. I always plan to do a really pretty and complicated look for this, because BHM is near and dear to my heart, but then I'm always too busy and end up rushing it at the end. This year was no exception unfortunately, but I did like what I ended up with.

It was as easy as it looks LOL.

I started with two layers of China Glaze Go Crazy Red and let that dry for about twenty minutes.  Then I put a thick layer of Gelous on my ring finger, let it get tacky, put in the green and black gems, and finished off all my nails with a layer of Barielle's quick drying topcoat. 

Easy peasy. 

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Close up of accent nail.

I hate how I always get bubbling with jewels. -__-

Ottlite, no flash.

    After finishing it and thinking about it, I do wish that I had done some things differently, because it did come out kind of overly simple, and doesn't really read Black History Month. Like, I feel like you would have to think about the colors to get the connection, which isn't good. The one I did last year was more obvious, so I think I liked it better. But besides that, I think this came out pretty well and enjoyed wearing it. I also got some good wear out of it...I've had it on since Monday, and it still looks pretty presentable, so I am satisfied. 

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

I'm going to go watch Coral Reef Adventure in IMAX at the Smithsonian, so I'm really excited. ^_^

Diamond Cosmetics Chainmail Charm

    I've been having serious holo cravings lately. I don't even know why, but I want to see rainbows goddamnit. But anyway, I decided to take Diamond Cosmetics Chainmail Charm out for a drive and see if it would satisfy my desire.

Spoiler alert: It didn't. 

Chainmail Charm is a charcoal black - brown with a mild holographic effect. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

This was the most holo I could get it. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Look at them lies. 

Sunlight, no flash.

      Oh Chainmail Charm. I bought it a while back from a blog sale, and it was one of those things that I wanted to save for a special occasion.  Thank God I didn't go through with that plan, because this polish is such a dud. You get some holo at random times, but most of the time, there wasn't really much of anything. There was some, which my camera removed mostly (you can get a glimpse of it on some fingers), but it wasn't much. It's really painful too, because it looks great in the bottle. And then the brownish-black color is kind of weird. Ugh...my desire is so not sated right now. 

    Formula was really agreeable though. It was opaque in two coats and dried pretty quickly, so I was pleased about that. I'll probably get rid of it though...can't have a holo that won't work for its keep.

If you have Chainmail Charm, do you like it? Or is it lame for you too? 

And that's all from me today!

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Catherine Arley 673

   Hi guys! I'm sure many of you remember the Catherine Arley craze that hit the nail world last year, and although I generally try to stay out of the flow of those kinds of things, this time, I broke down and ordered some Catherine Arleys. Like five thousand years later, they arrived, but I was really over their shit at that point, so they sat in my room for another five thousand years, unloved and untouched. That all came to an end recently, because I finally decided to take 673 for a test drive. 

673 is a mid-toned red-based purple with a mostly scattered, but still vaguely linear holographic effect. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

I left it a little out of focus to bring out more of the holo. 

Natural light, no flash. 

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I am kind of underwhelmed by 673.The holo effect is kind of mediocre, and the base color isn't particularly pretty or special on its own either, although it is flattering on the hands. And then there's the whole having a number for a name thing, which sucks, because now I have to come up with a new name for it. If I could do it again, I don't think I would include it in my order. 673 is adequately pretty, but I'm just not sure that it's worth the wait or the hassle, unless you actually like the more subtle scattered holo look. 

    Formula-wise, it was pretty good though. I used some aqua base under there (the stuff that Jessica sells with their silver holo polish) and it slid onto that really nicely and effortlessly. I used three layers for full opacity and depth of color and put some topcoat on top. It dried quickly and without incident, so that was nice. 

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

Revlon Mistletoe (Part 2)

    Hi guys! A while ago, I wore Revlon Mistletoe from their new holiday collection and hated it. It was gross and ugly and I just did not like it at all. I couldn't return it because I lost the receipt, (-____-) so I just added some thinner to it and gave it another go. Here's how it went:

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I didn't have the textural issues again, so it turned out much better. Besides adding the thinner, I made sure to wait like five minutes between coats this time, and I guess both of those helped out. But I still don't like Mistletoe...it still looks a bit on the flat side to me, and the color is a so muddled and uninspiring. But I've learned my lesson...no more impulse buys and no more losing receipts. x_x

But that's all from me today. 

Thanks for reading, and have an awesome Saturday!!

Zoya Holly

       Hi guys! Like five hundred years ago, I posted Rina from Zoya's Gems and Jewels Collection. Today, I have her companion color, Holly. Also, excuse my awkward nubbins...I'm trying to sort them out, but my nails (not so) secretly hate me. -__-

Holly is a pretty straightforward green metallic shimmer. The name for it escapes me right now, but it's the same shade of green as a really lush Christmas tree. 

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    Holly is quite pretty. The metallicy finish of it makes it look really smooth and sexy, and the shimmer gives it a nice bit of depth and richness. The shade of green is also nice to look at, and very appropriate for the season. However, I find it kind of hard to be excited about Holly, because it does feel a little generic. I can understand why Zoya would make it, because it does round out their lineup nicely, but because I have so many shimmery greens already, this one doesn't quite stand out for me. But if you don't have many greens and need to fill a shimmery-green-shaped hole in your collection, you could do way worse for yourself than Holly. 

    Holly's formula was okay. It needed three layers to be opaque, but they dried quickly and went on with no incident. 

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

Revlon Mistletoe

       Hi guys! Today, I have the nail blues. Not only did I break a nail and have to nubbinate them all, but I am also wearing a polish color that is displeasing and highly disappointing to me. Here's Mistletoe from Revlon's new Spice it Up Collection.

Mistletoe is a blackened green creme base packed with green and gold microshimmer, as well as larger silver and gold flecks.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Ottlite, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

   I fell crazy in love with Mistletoe in the store, and while I was applying it, I was still excited. But when it dried on the nail?

     

     It just looked like a sludgy mess to me, and lost quite a bit of the sparkle from the green and gold shimmer. To be fair, it does have its flashes of prettiness, but most of the time, it just looks uninteresting and flat. And to make matters worse, it has this gross visual texture. I can't really feel it when I touch it with my fingers, but it looks...bumpy and ripply, even with multiple layers of topcoat. Honestly, it reminds me of diseased toad skin, and I think I want to take it back to the store and get my $6.29 back. I already have Edyta, which is similar but prettier, and at least it actually reads green.

   Mistletoe was okay to apply though. The formula is thick and well-pigmented, so I only needed two coats for full opacity. It also did the Top Speed name justice and dried quickly. I don't know what to do about the texture though...two layers of topcoat didn't make it smooth enough, and I don't believe in using more than that on something that won't pay off. 

If you have Mistletoe, what do you think of it? I don't see too many reviews of it up, so I'm not sure if I'm crazy or if this is really as terrible as I think it is.

But anyway, that's all from me today. Thanks for reading, and have a great Monday!

A-England Sale!! Also, A Bit of Spam

Hi guys!! Sorry for poofing again, I've been really sick and then had midterms to boot. As a result, my nails look like absolute crap. So instead of showing you guys something new today, I thought it would be fun to be a polish pusher instead.


So to that effect, A-England is having a sale!! They recently got to 7000 fans (yay!) and because Ms. Adina loves us so much, she's reducing her gorgeous creations to 7 pounds (about $11 if you're American) for one glorious weekend. I might not be getting anything because of some unforeseen expenses, but it's a really good opportunity to test out the brand or pick up some lemmings.


Now for some spam. 
First is King Arthur:

Next is Merlin:

Then Lady of the Lake. I was hoping reswatch this sometime this weekend, but for now, this will have to do:

And my personal favorite, Tristam!

In summary, A-England makes awesome stuff and they're selling them for less this weekend, so if possible, you should get some. Yeah. 

But that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a beautiful Saturday!