Wednesday, February 24, 2016

THE "OTHER" HOLO TOPCOAT

When I took off the gray manicure from last night, I figured I may as well go forward with trying out the other holo topcoat.

I didn't really have any ideas in mind so I decided it would just be fun to play. 

I started out with a deep orange, China Glaze Bend Over Backwards. When that was dry, I put on one coat of the holo topcoat I bought on eBay, Spectraflair Holographic Topcoat

Immediately I preferred this one over the Pixie's Polish from yesterday's post. The formula is a bit thinner, and it didn't seem to add as much of a silver cast to the polish. Don't get me wrong; I do like the one from Pixie's. I just personally prefer the thinner, smidge clearer look.

It seems to me that I got a stronger linear holo effect with this one, but part of that might simply be a result of my base being a darker color. At some point I really will need to try the Pixie's Polish over a darker color. Perhaps when I take this off I'll re-do one nail just like this and compare. Or perhaps not. I don't want to lock myself into being ambitious. LOL
China Glaze Bend Over Backwards, MdU Violet, Uber Chic UC 5-01, Spectraflair holo topcoat
I think the topcoat made this polish really pretty. On its own it's kind of just another dark orange. The holo brightened it up and made it "pop".
China Glaze Bend Over Backwards, MdU Violet, Uber Chic UC 5-01, Spectraflair holo topcoat
I could have just left it alone after that, but heaven forbid I just wear a plain polish. I hate doing that!
China Glaze Bend Over Backwards, MdU Violet, Uber Chic UC 5-01, Spectraflair holo topcoat
I really struggled trying to figure out what to use on top of this orange. I tried using a purple holo polish for stamping, but it wasn't showing up very well.

I grabbed my MdU Violet, which is a dark purple and threw it on one nail using Uber Chic 5-01 for the design. 

Hated it.

I was just not digging the flatness of the dark purple on top of all that holo goodness. I decided the only option was to once again do a holo topcoat over my stamping.

This ended up being a grand idea because this mani is the shiznit in person. I've been staring at my nails a LOT today. I really love the purple over the orange, thanks to the holo topcoating.

So there you have it. My thoughts on the two holo topcoats I purchased. If you're in the market, I've given you the links, and they are both still being sold. 

Not that I'm encouraging anybody to spend money, of course. I would never, ever do that. 




Tuesday, February 23, 2016

NEW HOLO TOPCOAT

A few posts back I discussed holo topcoats. After wandering the web to find some, I ended up buying two on eBay. They weren't expensive, and I figured I'd try them out to see what I like.

On Sunday night I tried out this one from Pixie's Polish. Her swatches looked great, and the price was perfectly acceptable.
Square Hue Vice, Mundo de Unas Dark Gray,  Pixie's Polish Spectraflair Topcoat, Fab Ur Nails FUN13
I started with the light gray from Square Hue, Vice and then stamped using MdU Dark Gray and the FUN13 plate from Fab Ur Nails. Over that I did one coat of the holo topcoat.

It did make for a very nice holo effect, but as is often the case, it isn't quite as sheer as the first holo topcoat I purchased that I'm almost out of. I really wish there was a name on that damn bottle.

I'm not unhappy with the Pixie's Polish topcoat, but I do need to try it just over a color that has no stamping to see how much I really like it. If I'm feeling ambitious when I take this mani off, perhaps I'll try it over something darker on its own. For this one, I'm wishing I had done the holo and then stamped rather than covering up the stamp.

It's not a bad effect, especially in person. The stamping design is just super muted due to the topcoat. It's quite pretty in person.

Overall, I'd recommend it, I think. I like a linear holo the best, and this fits the bill even though it doesn't show that much in the photo.

One down, one more to try that I purchased on eBay from Spectraflair. I'll try that one soon so I can show you how good/bad it is.

Monday, February 22, 2016

WHOA, JULEP - WHAT A DAMN MESS

What a lovely weekend it was. Kev somehow has managed to have every weekend off this month, which is very rare and very nice. Saturday we decided to have a date night, which is also very rare and very nice.

First up, the movies. We seldom go simply because for most films, I'm perfectly content to watch them from the comfort of my own home when they hit either pay per view or one of the premium channels. Then there are those movies that are just better on the big screen. This time it was Deadpool. Loved it. 

After that we went out to dinner. I'm always up for a steak even though I wasn't really all that hungry after eating popcorn. I did manage to eat all of it, though. Kev ordered a pizza with the intent of having leftovers for lunch the next day. It was a great plan since he only ate three pieces. He brought the box into the bar area with him and then left it behind. So no lunch for him.

From there we went home to the dogs, fed them, hung out for a bit and then headed out to the casino where we promptly lost our asses. We should have stayed home. It was fun, though!

I also managed to clean out my makeup drawer and the cupboards in our bathroom this weekend, too, so I managed to feel productive as well as just having some fun.

A few posts ago I showed you the blue holo I had gotten from Julep, Tali. It's a great polish so I ordered a couple more of their holos.

First one I decided to try was this one, Viv.
Julep Viv holo, Essie Good as Gold, Dana 10
Once again, a beautiful polish. But what a complete nightmare. I was not having a good polish evening and between bumping a couple of them and some dog hair jumping on a couple, I had to start over again on several nails.

And that's when the trouble started. OMG. I've never seen such green fingers in all my life. I was horrified. When I was finally finished stamping with Essie Good as Gold and the Dana 10 plate, I spent another half hour trying to get rid of the disgusting mess on my fingers.

By the time I got done scrubbing with a toothbrush, first using toothpaste and then using baking soda, I still had quite the green tint going on. Except now I had sore fingers to go along with it.

I finally gave up and planned for some extra work in the shower the next morning. I used a ton of Julep exfoliating hand scrub and was finally satisfied that I could go to work not looking like the Grinch.

It took me two showers before I was comfortable enough with them to even take a photograph. It's a pretty polish, but I'm pretty disappointed with it because of the staining. I know I've had problems in the past with Kleancolor polishes staining, but I was not expecting that to happen here. 

Pretty annoying and certainly took the fun out of doing my nails that night. So I'm not recommending this one to anybody unless you are the perfect painter that never makes a mistake causing a do-over.

And that is certainly and obviously not me.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

VALENTINE'S - BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

I am officially ready for winter to be over. We had a week of brutal cold, and now that it has "warmed" up to the 20's, it snowed. Of course it did; Kev left this morning. I was silently begging Mother Nature to make it stop because my happy ass did not want to shovel after work. It did stop, but I did shovel on my lunch hour.

While Valentine's Day is just another day in February at my house, I did actually wear heart mani's last week. I don't need a February 14th holiday because I'm lucky enough to have a husband that lets me know every single day that he loves me. Sappy, but true. He is just that good.

So these are the two half-assed nods I gave to the holiday. They don't even matter enough to have their own posts.
Sally Hansen Color Foil Chrome Copper, MdU Black, Dana 2 stamping plate
This one was weird. I did two coats of Sally Hansen Color Foil Rose Copper, which looked quite pink when I put it on. Then when I put topcoat on it, it completely changed the color to a sickly not-quite-gold. I took it all off and started over. I then used this heart pattern from the Dana 2 stamping plate with my Mundo de Unas Black. 

Thrillsville.

I will say I was pleasantly surprised that nothing chipped off, even without a topcoat.

Before that, I had also done this mani that I wore for a couple of days.
Fresh Paint Shake it Off, Mundo de Unas Velvet, Uber Chic 1-01 stamp
We had just gotten back from Illinois and my buying spree, so I used Fresh Paint Shake it Off for the pink base. I used Mundo de Unas Velvet and the Uber Chic 1-01 plate for the hearts.

I bought the Fresh Paint at a Five Below store, and they were 3 for 5 bucks. I do own a few of those from a previous trip but have forgotten how much I like them. If I had remembered, I think I would have bought at least one of every Fresh Paint polish they had. I really love their formula, and you just can't beat a price like that.

That's my "note to self" for next time I'm near a Five Below which I assume won't be until the next time I go to Tyler's. So yeah, I'm guessing February 2017.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

PINK AND GIRLY

Last Thursday we headed off to Illinois to spend a few days with my daughter and her fam. I think this is the third year in a row that we've gone there in February. The last two times we had bone-chilling, unusually cold weather when we got there. Not surprising since shit weather usually follows me wherever I go.

It was a nice change to be there this time. They have no snow, and the temps were around 40 degrees which pretty much feels like a heatwave compared to home.

I love visiting there, and every time we do, I give serious thought about just packing up and moving to their neighborhood. They live in such a nice area that has a small town feel but has all the perks (shopping) of being in a big city. We got our shop on a couple of times, and I came home with a bunch of new shirts and sweaters and more nail polish than I've bought in months. I do love a bargain.

Zero was obsessed with me, as always, and Griffin was just beyond adorable, as usual. We went out for sushi on Saturday night, and it was amazing. Our plan had also included indoor skydiving, but they didn't have any open times for us to go. Evidently that needs to be planned in advance a little better. Lesson learned.

I even made sure to get a pic of Griffin with me, which are few and far between since I'm usually the one taking the pics. That and it's even more rare that I think I look decent enough in a picture to actually post it.
For real, how cute is this kid? I absolutely want to eat him up.

I had done my nails a few days before we left and ended up leaving this same mani on for an entire week. To say I was sick of looking at it would be an understatement. It got lots of compliments when we were shopping, though.
Zoya Dot, Mundo de Unas White, DRK Themes Enlaced stamp
I used Zoya Dot for the pink base and then stamped with MdU White and the DRK Themes Enlaced stamping plate. It turned out pretty much exactly as it was in my head, so I was happy with it.

As much as I liked it, I couldn't get rid of it fast enough when we got home Sunday night. When I was playing with Zero over the weekend, I had managed to loosen both of my index finger nails so I had to completely remove those.

Once I did that, I did a heart mani that I still have on now. I'm really missing the days when I had the motivation to do a manicure every night, but I just don't have the energy or inspiration. 

It took me two days to swatch and organize the new polishes I bought, and even that took a whole lot of effort. I easily bought at least 20 polishes, and while we were gone, my Square Hue and Julep came, so finishing it up was pretty time consuming.

On a super depressing note, when we went to Sally Beauty it was time to renew my membership, which costs $5 a year. This year it only cost me $2.50.

I'm still undecided whether I'm happy about that or horrified that I officially received my first "senior discount". I'm 56.....I don't feel like a senior.

Color me saddy-pants, I think.