Chinese Dragons

Happy May, everyone! This is a mani I did over spring break back in March. I really liked it and had a hard time convincing myself to take it off later even though I felt like it was time for a change.

I used Borghese Stellare Notte with Nfu Oh 38 layered on top. I really like the flaky look and I wanted to try and do something that would look like scales. Dragon scales! ♥

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Chinese Imperial dragons have five claws and carry a pearl, so I stuck on a little white "pearl" on my index fingers.

I really liked the way this looked different in different lights/angles. Stellare Notte is really quite beautiful! You can see in some of these pictures that it looks purple, while in others it looks green. I've heard it described as looking like a beetle, and that seems about right. It's a duochrome, but it's not as smooth a transition as the Nubars are. More grainy, but in a good way. It's very fun to play with and was a nice contrast to the warm-tone flakies.

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Color Club Wild at Heart

After I swatched Wild at Heart, I immediately wanted a backup. When I received the backup, though, I realized they were a bit different. I applied one to each hand, and was surprised to see that the holo in them was inconsistent. I apologize in advance for my camera's poor macro, but I thought you could get the idea from these pictures, so I thought I would share. All pictures were taken without topcoat, as I didn't want to alter the effect. Unfortunately I got a lot of tipwear because I didn't use topcoat. :(

This was my original bottle. The holo is present but not strong.

My backup bottle. Holo was much easier to detect here.

Scattered Holo Closeup:

Linear Holo Closeup:

Scattered Holo:

Linear Holo:

Scattered Holo (partial sun):

Linear Holo (partial sun):

Both are more holo than they appear. The newer Wild at Heart has much stronger linear holographic particles, the older one has weaker, scattered holo. I noticed the backs of the bottles were different, as well, so I assume they are simply from slightly different batches. Neither are holo like the China Glaze OMG holos, but they're still gorgeous. I much prefer darker colors, so Wild at Heart is a favorite for me regardless.

Until next time!

Sakura

This is a mani I did a few weeks ago in anticipation of the cherry blossoms that show up in spring all around my campus. :) I used Sinful Colors Dancing Nails and stamped plate s9 with Island Girl Pineapple Plantation. Pineapple Plantation is a really nice white for stamping with. I wouldn't want to paint my nails with it, since it looks really stark and chalky, but it's quite thick and is easily picked up by the stamper.

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You'll have to enlarge the pictures to see, but I also put a layer of Nfu.Oh 38 on top of Dancing Nails before stamping. The effect was pretty subtle. I didn't want to put too many layers and make the surface rough. I enjoyed wearing this, even if I wish the pink would have come out a little warmer and less metallic. I originally bought it to stamp with, but the formula wasn't thick enough... :( This plate is one of my favorites, though, so I liked having it on my nails anyway!

Essie Pop-Art Pink

I tried Essie for the first time. :)

I wanted to try a jelly, so I used Essie Pop-Art Pink, but it came off as more of a pastel cream. That might have been my fault, though, since I probably should have stopped at three coats instead of putting on a fourth. I applied it in kind of a rush, though, so it was streaky and I wanted to even it out. I think someone who was more careful than me could get this to a really pretty light pink semi-jelly.

I thought it needed a little something extra, so I put a coat of China Glaze Treasure Chest on top.

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Lacquermuse told me it looked like cupcakes at a five-year-old's birthday party! I think she's right! ♥

Celebrating Earth Day: Zoya Suvi

Happy Earth Day! Today I thought I would share a polish from Zoya, since they are known for being more eco-conscious. I chose Suvi, a lacquer I got from the Green Friday sale back in November. Suvi was thick and a bit goopy, but very pretty. The base is actually charcoal with an intense amount of green shimmer which turns it into a blackened emerald green color. I like how soft the Zoya brush is. With a little thinner I think it would be a dream to apply. This is three thick coats with no topcoat.

As you can see, I chopped my nails down to nothing. They feel very very short, I'm not sure I like them. They looked alright when I was filing (they were bare) but once I put some color on them they looked ultra-short! I hope they grow back soon!

Speaking of Zoya, they have brought back their famous Nail Polish Exchange for a limited time! From today until the 30th of June, you can trade in your old/unwanted colors for brand new Zoyas of your choice, and Zoya will properly dispose of the polishes sent to them. Unfortunately I think this is available only for those in the continental US. Find out more here.

Not only is it Earth Day, but it is also the birthday of my sweet "wild" abyssinian Gil. He turns 6 years old today! I thought I would show you a candid we took of him a few months ago. He has a special towel for when he eats catnip because he can be very messy with it!

Are you going to exchange some old polishes for some new Zoyas? What's on your list?

Until next time~!

Wet 'N' Wild Shield

Sorry if anyone clicked on the dead links that just appeared; we were editing tags and scheduling future posts and there was a error. :(

This post is real and clickable, though! ♥

I bought Wet 'N' Wild Shield at Rite Aid a few weeks ago and finally got around to trying it out. It's not quite as silver as it looks in these pictures. It's a little bit more bronze, but it has a nice metallic finish and shine to it.

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Application was very smooth with this and I really liked the orange flecks that were in the base. They didn't really shine or act like glitter or flakies... It was almost like I had drawn them on the polish after I was done painting it on. Very interesting!

Color Club Wild and Willing

I cut my nails short. Actually, I cut them even shorter a few manis after this. It will be even easier to tell my and Lacquermuse's posts apart! Now that I've warned everyone, let's move on to the pictures...

This is Color Club's Wild and Willing, stamped with Jordana Black with Konad plate m77.

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The polish really does get both of those colors! Ignore how gross my skin looks in the second one, but that's the sort of greenish orange the polish is most of the time. When the glitter this polish is just packed with is at the right angle to catch the light, it turns that brighter orange of the flash picture. It will even go a bright pink that you can just see hints of in the top picture. It's really quite a stunner.

The glitter that I mentioned makes up the bulk of the color in this polish. You can see it coating the side of the bottle in these pictures. I was really uncertain about this color at first because at one coat the glitter just made my nails look gritty and dirty. It really starts to come to life after the second coat! I think this is four coats, but three would have been sufficient.