Earth Week 2012 + Polar Bears!

      Hi guys! So Earth Day is exactly one week away, on April 22, which means that it's time for Earth Week around here. Last year, I did a week of nail colors based on endangered species and people seemed to like it okay (plus it was fun to do) so I thought it would be good to have that as the theme again. I can't promise a post every single day, with the way my life is going nowadays, but I'll do my best lol. 


The first animal we're gonna look at is one that everyone is probably very familiar with, the polar bear!

      Polar bears are really great animals. They live in the Arctic Circle and spend most of their time strolling across sea ice and swimming in the ocean. They eat mostly seals, although they will eat other kinds of meat if they can't find what they normally like. They're also very smart and surprisingly gentle, unless they are hungry or someone is bothering them, which is when they can get angry and vicious. And since they are huge and powerful creatures, the last thing anything wants to deal with is an angry polar bear. Unfortunately, these guys have alot to be angry about. The ice that they depend on for pretty much everything is quickly becoming a thing of the past thanks to climate change, as as a result, polar bears are starving to death or are having trouble caring for their young properly. Of course, this means fewer polar bears in the future, so if we don't want to lose these guys forevah, we have to take better care of the Earth so it won't be so damn hot anymore. 

I don't think my nails came out quite as cute as I intended, but here they are:

   To do this, I started with two layers of Color Club Pretty in Platinum, and then applied a layer of Studio M Fast Play on top. When that dried, I used Color Club Where's the Soiree and a dotting tool to draw the bear faces. Then I put topcoat on, and that was it. 

 In retrospect, maybe I should have left the faces off? Or made the lines finer? Or put on ears? Something. 

Oh well though..what's done is done and that's my polar bear look. 

To wash the sight of my nails from your eyes (even though what has been seen cannot be unseen), here are some gratuitous shots of adorable polar bears doing adorable polar bear things:

I love this. 

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 Chunky Red Glitter

         So yesterday was my sister's birthday, and although the real celebration won't be until today, I still wanted to wear something sparkly and fun on my nails to celebrate the occasion. I also need to get through my Diamond Cosmetics stuff, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and wear Diamond Cosmetics Chunky Red Glitter, layered over Color Club Pretty in Platinum. 

Chunky Red Glitter is made of large and small red hex glitter in a clear base. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Chunky Red Glitter is a basic polish, but it has lots of impact. In lower light, the glitter is glowy and kind of takes on a two-toned look, where some glitter looks brighter and some looks darker. And in sunlight, there's no sparkle, but it's still pretty flashy and reflective. This particular combination kind of reminds me of chicken pox or peppermint, but I still like it, LOL. 

    Formula-wise, Chunky Red Glitter was a bit tough. The base was a little thicker than I would have liked, and to get the type of glitter payoff that I like, I needed to swirl the brush and sort of nudge the larger glitters into place. The good news is that it dries super quick and was surprisingly smooth. The pictures are with two layers of Chunky Red Glitter over two coats of Pretty in Platinum, and as always, a generous layer of topcoat to seal the deal.

And that's all for today! Thanks for reading, and have a gorgeous Friday!

Uncle Sam's Tuxedo

    Happy Fourth of July guys!! For Independence Day, I did a tuxedo mani with a bit of an Uncle Sam twist. 

So this was actually pretty easy to do. I started with two layers of Color Club Pretty in Platinum, and then drew on the suit with Zoya Kimmy. I used Funky Fingers Alice and a bobby pin (I lost my brushes and dotting tool...maybe they got left at school) to make the tie and then put a gemstone in as a tie pin. I finished it by using the bobby pin and Pretty in Platinum to make a vaguely lapel-ish thingy, and sealed everything up with a thick coat of Poshe.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Even though this came out janky (as usual), I actually like it. In person, you can't really see all the mistakes, so it looks better. And the sparkliness from Kimmy and Alice make it really festive and fun, and distracted people from noticing how many hot dogs I shoved into my face. I'd like to try it again though when I actually have some real tools, because I wanted a bow tie and not a neck tie. 

I'm gonna go away now because I'm still in a haze from my hotdoghamburgerothermeatsvegetablefruitsodaicedtea rampage this afternoon, and can't really think clearly or even breathe right.

Thanks for reading, and I hope everyone is having a fabulously amazing Fourth of July! And if you don't celebrate this particular holiday, I hope your Monday was fabulously amazing all the same. ^_^

Zoya Phoebe + China Glaze Lightning Bolt

         Today, I have Phoebe from Zoya's recently released Mod Mattes Collection. I was actually wearing it yesterday too, for Autism Awareness Day, but the weather sucked, so I couldn't take pictures. But better late than never, right? 

Phoebe is an electric azure blue polish with really fine silver shimmer, all in a matte finish.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

And some shots of her with topcoat:

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Okay, I love Phoebe. The shade of blue is bright and fun without being too much. And the silver shimmer is a beautiful touch. Phoebe is unmistakably matte, which is good in my book. I mean, if you're gonna be a matte, commit to it. But the silver shimmer cuts the finish a little, giving Phoebe a nice bit of dimension. With topcoat, Phoebe perks up a bit and the shimmer is more prominent. It actually reminds me a bit of China Glaze Blue Sparrow with topcoat.

    Applying Phoebe was hellish. The consistency was fine, but it was so streaky! After four tries, I managed to get a relatively smooth finish by using really generous coats, working fast, never going back to correct a brushstroke, and using a very light hand with the brush. Also, Phoebe was surprisingly sheer for a matte, needing three coats to be fully opaque. On the upside though, it didn't dry as fast as most other mattes I have, which gave me a bit of time to work with it.

But today, Phoebe was struck with a Lightning Bolt, courtesy of China Glaze. 

Ahh, how I yearn to call this polish White Lightning. 

Self explanatory. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I really like this combo...it reminds me of acid wash jeans! I really wanted them when I was a kid, but my mom wouldn't let me. She always bought the boring Wranglers from K-Mart. The ones with the tapered ankles that give you diaper butt. :(

   

And that's all I've got for today! Thanks for reading and enjoy the rest of your weekend! 

ETA: For the love of all that is good and holy, please wear a good base coat with Phoebe. I lazily skipped it and now my nails are a disgusting shade of green-blue.  ;_;

China Glaze White Cap

        For today, I have China Glaze White Cap from the Anchors Away Collection. 

White Cap is a very sheer ivory base, stuffed with gold iridescent glass fleck shimmer. As well as gold, the shimmer shows bits of orange and lime green, depending on the light. I couldn't capture it in the pictures but you can definitely see it in person.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I felt so irritated with my camera while trying to take pictures of White Cap, because it just could not pick up the details in the polish. So the pictures are lame, but White Cap is awesomeness. In person, the shimmer catches the light and gives the nails this lovely golden sheen.  Within the sheen, you can see the individual bits of gold, orange, and green shimmer sparkling. It's so lovely, and made my nails look like abalone shells on crack. Another plus is that the golden iridescence kind of cuts and softens  the whiteness of the polish, making it much more palatable for people like me, who can't really get with white polish. China Glaze really did a great job with this one.
   I also found White Cap's formula agreeable. It's extremely sheer, and my nails are gross and stained, so I prepped them with one coat of Seche Ridge Filling Base and one coat of Essie Limo-Scene. Then, I applied three coats of White Cap, followed by one layer of topcoat. Even though it was kind of alot of work, I didn't mind, because White Cap was quite easy to work with. It wasn't streaky or draggy and even though the formula was thin, it wasn't watery or uncontrollable. I really think that White Cap would make a great addition to anyone's polish collection...it's so versatile and pretty.


And that is all I've got for today! Thanks for reading!