Cosmar Quik Nails Brush-On Gel Nails Kit

           Well...this will probably be a kind of boring post. But I am still excited, because I finally put gel on my nails! I've been meaning to do it for a long time, to help strengthen my nails. I notice that they'll grow fine, but then bam...they crack for no reason. I was too scared though, because I did read that even if you're gentle and careful, nail enhancements ALWAYS ruin your nails in the end. 
         But today,  I saw a little crack in the corner of my thumbnail, and that pretty much made my mind up for me. I cut the crack off and then put the gel on. Here are my naked nails right before:

Sorry for the dry cuticles...no lotion or anything. :(

And here they are after:

I used Cosmar Quik Nails Brush-On Gel Nail Kit, and each nail has three coats of gel.

I bought the kit for three dollars, thanks to clearance and extra care bucks.

It does come with tips and glue, but I left that stuff alone because they scare me. I just washed my hands, dried them thoroughly, and starting applying the gel to my natural nails. I didn't buff beforehand because I have thin nails already, and I didn't want them thinning further. 

And this is to show how thick they ended up, which wasn't thick at all. 

    So far, I really like them! They were easy to put on, and it took me about thirty minutes to do all my nails. The gel was clear and thin, so my nails still look like mine, just way shinier and healthier. I also love how much stronger my nails are. They still have a bit of give though, which is good. The bad news is that some of them feel...ridge-y. Most of them are super slick and smooth, but a few of them have like vertical ridges. I think that's user error though...hopefully with practice, I'll get more consistent and nicer results.  The ridges are removable with a buffer, but I'm going to leave them there. Just when I put on polish, I'll use a ridgefilling base. 

  My plan is to wear the gel for a week, leave it off for a week, and then reapply it for the next week. By giving my nails frequent breaks and not buffing them, I'm hoping to grow my nails out without weakening them.  But we'll see how that works out. 

 I'm leaving my nails colorless for today, so I can keep an eye on them and see how they hold up. I still have to finish my hair, and that's generally the ultimate test, because there're mad steps involved and my nails can take a bit of a beating from the process. But I'll have something on for tomorrow. 

And that's all I've got on this glorious Saturday evening. I hope everyone's having a fun and thoroughly productive weekend! ^_~

ETA: LOL, my nails are no moah. I went to go rinse the conditioner from my head, and after I was done, I found these:

Ring Finger

Index Finger

I wasn't rough at all either, but what else should I expect from a $10 marked down to $3 kit? LMAO. 

Since I can't return the kit (clearance, plus I bought it ages ago), I'm just gonna soak these two off and replace them. My other fingers still look good, so hopefully, they'll be fine for the week.

Finger Paints I'm A Survivor

            LOL, I totally bombed that test. Like, I opened the booklet, read through the exam, put down the pencil, and silently asked Jesus to take the wheel. He politely declined...too busy napping in the backseat or something. So I finished my test, turned it in, and with my life crumbling around my ears, I went to ceramics to work on my thingy. And then I returned to my lair to paint my nails. I chose Finger Paints I'm A Survivor, from the Breast Cancer Awareness Collection because it looked like it would cheer me up. And hay, it worked! ^_^

 I'm A Survivor is a deep hot pink creme base packed with small, flat silvery-white shimmer. This picture looks crazy, but I couldn't get a better one, because my camera was so freaked out by being that close to the color. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash. 

     So, there are good and bad things about I'm A Survivor. Let's do good things first. The color of the polish is really nice. The shade of pink is deep enough to be flattering on many skin tones, but it's bright enough to be a happy-making polish. The shimmer isn't particularly noticeable...like, it's not Strawberry Fields status. But it's visible enough to make a statement, both in sunlight and lower lighting conditions. My only complaint about the color would be about the base...I would have preferred a jelly base, instead of a creme one. I mean, the creme is okay and pretty, but I just feel that a jelly would have been better. 

    Finger Paints also gets a thumbs up from me because of the name they chose. I'm A Survivor is such a good and upbeat name. It carries so much meaning, even to those who haven't necessarily had their lives touched by breast cancer, but have survived other things. And it fits in well with the color, which is always a bonus for me. 

    And of course, Finger Paints created I'm A Survivor to commemorate Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and that's a great thing. I don't think that the proceeds from the collection goes to breast cancer research or anything...if I remember right, Finger Paints already has a set pledge. But even so, it was a sweet gesture for them to make this. 

   But the bad thing about I'm A Survivor was the formula. I really don't want to complain about this polish, but here at The Phalanges Files, we strive to keep it all the way realz. While the formula wasn't horrible, it also wasn't any fun. It was a bit streaky going on, and it felt like....thick and sticky. The good news is that it was highly pigmented, and was opaque in two coats. A more careful person might be able to get away with only one thick coat. I ended up with three coats though because I used one extra to get it smooth. Also, it dries really fast, so yay!

  And that's all for today. Enjoy your Friday night! ^_^

 (Icon courtesy of  lizbot)

KoFauxnad + New Children!

            I have only a quick post today, because I have a test tomorrow and I am soo not prepared. I've been studying, but I feel like I know nuftin. LOL.  So first, I'm gonna show my NOTD, and then I'm gonna show the goodies that Jesus, USPS, and Fed Ex collectively dropped upon my doorstep today. And then I'm gonna go run, study, and pray a little. 


  So first, the slight ooglayness:

Yesterday, I didn't have time to do a whole color change, so I just did a quick konad + fauxnad (kofauxnad?) job over Emerald Sparkle. First, I stamped on a full nail floral pattern from BM16, using Nubar Conserve. It looked really good at that point, and I should have left it alone, but noo...not I. So I used China Glaze Robotika to stamp more flowers from Konad S9 at the tip.

Sunlight, no flash.

The little girl from S9 also came out to play. And so did a little bow-shaped gem that I go from Rite Aid. I don't remember the company though.

Sunlight, no flash,

Detail on ring finger.

I stamped her on with Color Club Pretty in Platinum. 

     I kind of like how this came out. The background was my favorite part, and the flower tips were my least. It probably would have looked better on some longer nails...on my little ones, it just looks cramped. Or what would have worked better is if I started the flowers closer to the edge. Whatever though. It wasn't really ooglay, so I'm happy. 

   And any unhappiness I may have felt was washed away at the sight of the emails from the package depot. Look what finally came!

Ahhhhhhh!!!! *swoons*

I do have to say that I'm getting a touch of cold feet about Mash...it's more brown than I expected. I'm just hoping that enough gold comes out to where it doesn't look crazy on me. And Zulu looks like perfection. 

And this is a minor complaint, but sheesh Nars. Tree killers much? They use so much unnecessary packaging...there was like a booklet in each box of polish that had some advertisement about their topcoat and basecoat. And they had the nerve to print that little advertisement in every language known to man (I'm pretty sure they had heiroglyphics and cuneiform too), so the booklet is huge for no reason. And then there was a random square of paper with some quote from Francois Nars about makeup. Okay, whatever, I don't even wear makeup like that, soo....why did I need this? They could have printed it on the box if it was that important. I'm ranting now, but seriously...unnecessary packaging just gets on my nerves. 

And then my swap came in!

Ahhhhhh!!! *swoons again* I had to give up two of my children for this little guy (girl?) but it was worth it!

So pretty! I took these in the dying light of the evening, so it doesn't look all the way right, but in person, it's super spectacular. Love!

And a big shoutout to Steph from Imperfectly Painted for encouraging me to find someone to swap with, because truth be told, I had kind of given up on this one.

What is that noise, you ask?

Ohhoho...tis the death rattle of lemmings. Such a magnificent sound, no? ^_^

China Glaze Emerald Sparkle

           I woke up so grouchy this morning. I was grouchy because on the rooftop next to my window, there was a man riding around on some kind of construction machine. At 7 am. And my first class wasn't until 11am. But as I stared death through my windowpane at him, I realized that the sun was shining! Instantly, I was filled with good cheer, because it meant that I could fully enjoy and get some decent pictures of my current mani, China Glaze Emerald Sparkle from the Loves You Snow Much collection.

Emerald Sparkle is a ton of small, square emerald green glitter suspended in a vampy emerald green jelly base. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

         Ahhh I love Emerald Sparkle! I've worn it a few times, and it really never ceases to captivate me. It just has so much depth to it. The glitter is so sparkly in the sunlight, and in lower light, it still manages to stick out from from the base. It looks like fireflies in a swamp. And I really appreciate that China Glaze thought to make the base so much darker than the glitter, because I feel that it really gives Emerald Sparkle that extra edge. Like if they had made the base of Dorothy Who? closer to navy, and the base of Ruby Slippers closer to burgundy, I think I wouldn't be so disinterested in them. Anywho, the bottom line here is that Emerald Sparkle is a staple green, and unless you just don't like green polish, everyboday needs this one in the stash. 

     I don't have any complaints as far as Emerald Sparkle's formula goes. Despite being a gloriously squishy-looking jelly, it went opaque in only two coats. I did do three for these pictures, because with jellies, that's my standard minimum number. Even if it looks opaque in two, I like to put on one extra coat, just for security. Those three coats went on pretty easily, and I had no trouble with dragging or streaking. I used one layer of topcoat for extra sparkle and shine, but not for smoothness, since Emerald Sparkle was already smooth to begin with. 

    Man, I wish I had some long nails. This would look sooo good on some long nails. 

And that's it for today! Have a wonderful night, everybody! ^_^

Nina Ultra Pro Molten Ruby

           Bleh more horrible weather today. Which means more horrible pictures of my current mani, Nina Ultra Pro Molten Ruby. I was planning on putting MAC Bad Fairy on top, but with the weather being what it is, I figured that would be a waste, and decided to just wear this alone instead. I'll probably have to revisit it too.


      But before I get to the pictures, I wanted to talk about something actually important. As we all know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I'm not going to give a big speech, because a bunch of other blogs have talked about how important this month is wayyy better than I ever could. But for my part, I'm going to place a special emphasis on pink polishes this month, and I will also have a link at the top of every page that I am seriously begging everybody to click once daily. For every 45,000 clicks at that site, one woman will get a free mammogram that could save her life. Just think about that...you could help keep one less mother, sister, aunt, cousin, friend, niece, wife, grandmother, and woman from being lost to this horrible disease. All you have to do is literally lift a finger. It really only takes a second, so please click it. And if you have a blog or facebook or whatever, please put the link somewhere on it, so as many people can get access to it as possible. Thanks!!

  Okay, here's Molten Ruby:

Molten Ruby is a shimmery magenta duochrome that flashes an orangey-copper color. However, in most lights and at most angles, I didn't see the duochrome. 

Artificial light, with flash.

This is the magenta that I saw most of the time. It's pretty, but not particularly exciting. 

Natural light, no flash.

And here is when the more duochrome-y look comes out, which is pretty and exciting. I noticed this more in lower lighting. 

Natural light, no flash.

To really see the duochrome, I had to tilt my hands alot.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

             
         Hmmm....Molten Ruby...what can I say about it? It's a pretty polish, although I don't think it looks good on me. The dominant shade of magenta isn't as vibrant as I wanted, and I just don't think it flatters my skin at all. Additionally, it's disappointing that Molten Ruby wasn't a stronger duochrome, because I actually really liked the coppery color. It's so sad that my favorite part of the polish is AWOL about 85% of the time. For these reasons, I probably wouldn't be too keen to wear it by itself...it's quite far from ooglay, but it's not one of my favorites, either. However, I do feel more confident that Molten Ruby will serve as a nice base for Bad Fairy, and it would look great under a Konad pattern. I also think that a thin coat of this would be pretty layered over a black or some other darker color. 
       Application-wise, Molten Ruby was really nice to me. The formula was quite smooth and thin in a good way. Like, it was thin enough to spread easily, but not so thin that opacity was an issue. On the contrary, Molten Ruby was opaque in only two coats, which makes me think that it would also be good for stamping Konad, and not just as a base for a design. 
         
    And that's all I have for today! Have a great night! 

China Glaze Strawberry Smoothie

            Isn't it crazy how fast the weekends go? It's like you blink and it's about to be Monday again. I hate that.  But this post is not supposed to be about hate. It's supposed to be about Strawberry Smoothie, from China Glaze's collection of fifty specialty glitters and shimmers. They had quite a few blingy colors in there (some of which I desire), but Strawberry Smoothie is of the softer and more demure variety.

Strawberry Smoothie is a shimmery Pepto pink polish. Ha, try saying that five times fast. ^_~

 The shimmer isn't particularly obvious, in that you can't see the individual bits. Instead, they work together to give Strawberry Smoothie a becoming pearlescent finish.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

       Color-wise, Strawberry Smoothie is wonderful. The shade of pink is really cute and sweet. It's one of those pinks that just makes you feel all feminine when you've got it on. I also love the pearl-y finish. It gives the polish this...luminescence that is just so great to look at. Finally, I think the finish and color worked together to visually lengthen my nails. I was looking at them all day, thinking that they looked longer today than they did yesterday. 

      However, Strawberry Smoothie has one fatal flaw, and unfortunately, it was really off-putting. The formula is heinous. Applying it was so irritating because it refused to go on evenly. It just streaked up like crazy. I got around that a bit by really loading up the brush and letting it dry between coats, but there's still some visible uneveness. But worst of all were the bubbles. I let my polish sit for about ten minutes before putting on topcoat, to keep the topcoat from getting contaminated, and in that time, little bubbles had already started forming. They just kept on getting worse too...not all my fingers are afflicted, but the ones with them are really bad. It's a shame, because I really do like the color, but now I don't  want to wear Strawberry Smoothie again. :(

   

  (Icon courtesy of  lizbot)

Beauty Treats Galaxy

           Ohh thank Jeebus for Friday. This weekend is going to be lots of work because I have a big test on Monday, but for now, I'm just preparing to luxuriate in the fact that I don't have to step into a lecture hall for two whole days. But before I do that, I thought I'd quickly post about Beauty Treats Galaxy, which is what I wore today.

Galaxy is pretty much a bunch of small, square silver glitter in a black base. The base was hard for me to pinpoint...I didn't want to call it a creme because it was a little too translucent for that, but it's not a real jelly either. I guess I'd call it a jreme. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Why yes...that is a bag fat chip on my middle finger. It's not the polish's fault though, I think. I know that nail has been peeling for a while, so that may be what it is, especially because my other nails are chip-less.

Sunlight, no flash.

          I've been looking for a perfect black polish with silver glitter for kind of a long time. I just want something that reminds me of the night sky in my mom's home village (it's so gorgeous).Do any of you have favorite black/silver glitters? I think Orly Goth is a popular one, but I haven't tried it. But I digress. While my desire has not been satiated yet, Galaxy comes pretty close. The base is a pure inky black, and the glitter sparkles proudly but subtly. Additionally, there is some depth to Galaxy, where you can see some of the glitter from previous layers. It's all very nice and pretty, but I don't think it's exactly exactly what I want. There's a little too much glitter. 

       But Galaxy applied nicely, was opaque in three coats, and dried really quickly. I think it cost me $2, so for the price, I'm happy with what I got. 

      Beauty Treats is kind of an obscure brand, so locating it could prove difficult. I know that I've seen it in Mandee and Fashion to Figure. Also, some BSS's and NSS's may carry it.

   
  And completely unrelated to anything in this post, the re-released  Nars went on sale today. But that's not news. I just wanted to share this coupon code I found for free shipping on orders $25 and up. It's 25FREESHIP. I'm not sure when it expires, but it worked this morning, so it's at least working through today, so for people who wanted to grab some goodies, there you go! :D

  And that's all I have for tonight, so I'm about to go luxuriate all over my bed. n_n

Have an awesome night!!