Barielle Blossom

        Hello guys!! For today, I have a polish that I was lemming for like a million years, so I'm excited to wear it and show it to you guys. Meet Blossom, from Barielle's Wildflower Collection!

Blossom is a pale but saturated peachy pink creme. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light. no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I really love Blossom's color. It's very cute and ladylike, and satisfies the intense craving I've been having for peach and coral polish. I don't know why, but I just really want to wear them. And I like that Blossom is probably more wearable for most people (including moi), because it leans more towards pink than orange.

    However, Blossom was again kind of hard to work with. It was thick and gluey, and needed three coats to be opaque and streak-free. And really, I'm kind of reaching a point of annoyance with Barielle over this. It's easily solved with thinner, but I'm lazy in my soul and don't want to go through the trouble of thinning the polish. I have to open the bottle and then pour it and shake it and test it....ugh, I don't want to do that stuff!! Whyyy? *rolls around in bed*

But enough whining...time to go find something productive to do with my life. Have a beautiful evening and thanks for reading!!

Barielle Falling Star

      For today, I have Barielle Falling Star from the All Lacquered Up Collection. 

Falling Star is a saturated deep periwinkle creme base, filled with small copper hex glitter. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Falling Star is pretty and I was happy to see that it didn't look like toad skin at all. Barielle chose a rich, flattering and eye-catching shade of blue, and the copper glitter creates some beautiful contrast against it. I also like the amount and size of the glitter, because it allows the glitter to be a noticeable accent without being garish or looking like a craft project. 

    Formula-wise, Falling Star was not as bad as Sweet Addiction, but it was still uncomfortably thick and gluey. I used two coats for opacity, and was relieved to find that with topcoat, it dried pretty smoothly, but I'm still gonna drop some thinner in it.

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a great Tuesday!!

Barielle Sweet Addiction

         A little bit ago...maybe in May, Barielle had a one day 50% off sale. I'd been interested in their stuff for a while, so when that happened, I went and placed myself a little order. Sadly, it was too early for me to get anything from their new collection, but I still thought it would be fun to make this Barielle Week around here. So to kick it off, here's Sweet Addiction from their Sugar Rush Collection. 

Sweet Addiction is a slightly dusty jade green creme. 

I couldn't get the dustiness to come out on the screen, and I think it may be a bit greener than it looks in my pictures. My camera clearly can't play nicely with greens. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I fell in love with Sweet Addiction's color right away. The smoky but still kind of bright shade of green was so pretty, and it looked so cheerful and sweet that I couldn't help but smile when I looked at my nails.

    However, the formula was kind of bad for me. It was very thick and gluey, and it was so hard to get it to level correctly, which I feel comes across in the pictures. It also bubbled like mad. The upside is that Sweet Addiction dried quickly and was opaque in just two coats, or one thick coat if you were a good polisher. 

    Although Sweet Addiction gave me hell, I'm not quite ready to let it go. It's so pretty, you know? So I think I'm gonna drop some thinner in it and try again later. If it works out better, I'll update this post with new pictures. 

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a happy happy Monday!! ^_^

Milani Hi-Tech

     Hi guys! So as some of you know, I've been trying to clean out my stash to make room for more children for the sake of my sanity, and I'm happy to announce that I'm finally ready to have my blog sale! I made a little tab up there for that, so feel free to check it out!

On the nail polish front, today, I have Milani Hi-Tech from their 3D Holographic Collection. 

Hi-Tech is an electric lime green polish with a strong holographic effect. I know the pictures all look more celery green, and I reallyyy do not know why or how that happened, but it's brighter and more yellow than it looks here. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Okay, so since I have bombarded you with a million pictures, I'll keep the writing portion short. Hi-Tech is amazingly beautiful, and is a really good example of why you can't count drugstore polish out. The color is so bright and lovely, and the holo is uber strong....my camera dulled it, but in person, it's stunning. If you love holo greens, you gotta pick this one up.

     However, Hi-Tech's formula gave me a tiny bit of trouble. It was a little gluey feeling, and initially, I had trouble with bald spots. But after three coats, everything seemed to be okay. Next time I wear this, I'll have to try it over some kind of Aqua Base. And I used Seche Clear Base as a topcoat. It didn't dull the holo at all, so huzzah. 

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

The Hungry Asian Fender Bender

       Hello guys! For today, I have another franken from The Hungry Asian sale. This time, it's Fender Bender. 

Fender Bender is a ton of tiny lime green, fuchsia, and bright blue glitter in a clear base. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     Fender Bender is pretty, but it's not quite what I wanted. When worn opaque, it comes out much darker than I thought it would be and I can't see the individual colors as well as I hoped I would be able to. I do love that it's super sparkly, and I enjoy how in terms of the sparkle, you can get individual colors (like you see blue sparkle, green sparkle, etc. all at one time) but that's not quite enough to make me fall in love. Before I relinquish it to the purge pile though, I'm definitely going to try it layered over other stuff to see if I can't bring some brightness to it. 

    Fender Bender's formula wasn't bad though. It needed four coats to be opaque, but the polish went on smoothly and dried fast, without too much grit. One layer of topcoat was enough for it to be smooth and shiny. 

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

Nina Ultra Pro Swatches

      Ahh these past few days have been such nail fail. I don't know why, but it's like every swatch and every picture is doomed to be terrible. And I found a split in my nail, which made me mad because I haven't gotten one in ages. So I think I'm just not gonna bother with my nails until Friday, and then I'll try again. In the meanwhile, I have a couple of Nina Ultra Pro colors from the backlog. 


First up, there's Never Glum Plum.

Never Glum Plum is a slightly dark purpley-grey creme. 

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

      lol, I kind of miss these nails. But anyway, Never Glum Plum is a great color. It's a little dark, a little smokey, a little purple-y and a little grey, all of which I like. I also think it's very flattering and chic, especially as a fall and winter mani. 

     Never Glum Plum applied well. I only needed two super smooth layers for opacity, and the formula was pleasantly thin. 

Next is Emerald City. 

Emerald City is a straightforward shimmery emerald green.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

    I applied Emerald City fulling expecting to not like it. It seemed like it would be generic and a little blah, but I think I was wrong about that. In sunlight, it turned out to be much richer and deeper than I expected. However, when I look at Emerald City in comparison to other shimmery greens that I have, I probably won't want to wear it much, just because the actual color isn't as interesting as the others. So it goes in the purge pile. 
    Formula-wise, Emerald City was okay. It was a bit thin, so care was required, but it was opaque in three coats and dried quickly.


And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a great Wednesday! 

Nfu-Oh 40

        For today, I have Nfu-Oh 40 to show you guys. This one is a do-over, because I've posted on it before, but those pictures really sucked butt.

Nfu-Oh 40 is a clear base, full of duochrome multi-sized flakes. The flakes show mostly shades of green and blue, although at extreme angles, I've also gotten purple out of them. And I layered Nfu-Oh 40 over Orly Star of Bombay.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Natural light, no flash.

Sunlight, no flash.

     I don't have too much to say about Nfu-Oh 40, except for it's awesome. The way that the greens and blues shift and dance across my nails at the slightest movement is mesmerizing, and I love that the color change is obvious at all times. Looking at my nails, I'm reminded of sea turtles. Sea turtles that have been eating radioactive waste or something, which of course is not a good thing, but if it made them glow or gave them superpowers, would be kind of cool. 

    Nfu-Oh 40 also had a really nice formula. The flake payoff was good without my needing to swirl the brush, and the base was thick enough where the flakes don't fall out of suspension, but not so thick that it was tough to apply. My only complaint is that for a layering polish, Nfu-Oh 40 dries kinda slowly, but that was remedied by a good quick-drying topcoat. And the pictures are with two layers of Nfu-Oh 40 over one coat of Star of Bombay. 

And that's all from me today! Thanks for reading, and have a great Sunday! Ahh I can't believe the weekend is over already though.  -____-