FOIL TOPCOATS - BEST SO FAR

In the ongoing saga that is my shithole of a house, today my front picture window thought it would be appropriate to start leaking. It did this a few years ago, and if I'm not mistaken, it has something to do with the ice melting on the roof.  Figures it's finally warm out, and I don't even get to be happy about it. I call bullshit.

Whatevs. Not a damn thing I can do about that for now so I'm just going to pretend it ain't happening.

I got some pretty great news today, too. My 14 year old grandson sang a duet at solo and ensemble, and they did great! So great, in fact, that they are moving on to the Wisconsin state solo and ensemble festival. It's pretty unusual for freshmen to accomplish that, and I couldn't be any prouder than I am right now. I have many fond memories of making it to state competition in Michigan for that, so it makes me very happy that he is continuing the family tradition. I hope he cherishes these trips. I also hope he behaves better than I did on those trips. (yikers!!!!!)

After playing around with foils a couple of weeks ago, one of my readers suggested a topcoat by Revolution. Then I wandered around the web to find it, read about it and see what other people say about it. As usual, I got sidetracked by another link. I don't remember where I saw it, but somebody posted about a topcoat on Amazon that supposedly worked for foils. 

I went to the link and decided I would grab it to try. I posted a question about it, and the seller contacted me almost immediately. She told me that it works without ruining her foils and that she would refund my moolah if I didn't like it.

I've played with it over a couple of different foils now, and I have to say, I am impressed. It still isn't perfect, especially over a smooth silver or gold. I have a feeling that I'm just not going to find a perfect topcoat that doesn't affect my foils.  

I am, however, quite pleased with my results.  

 

My method on these were after I applied the foils, I let them dry for a bit and then put the topcoat on. The topcoat stayed a tiny bit tacky for awhile. I did a second coat, and I made sure that I really went a bit past the cuticles and sidewalls of my nails. I wanted that topcoat to get the edges really well. 

Once that second coat dried and I finished cleanup with my tiny brush, I put on two coats of Orly Glosser.  During my wanderings I had also seen somebody say that the Orly worked on foils. It does not.  It did work well as a more normal shiny topcoat on top of the foil topcoat. I think a traditional topcoat as a finisher was the best way to go. 

I am now planning to buy that Revolution topcoat to see if it's any better. The Amazon one is a mini bottle and doesn't come any larger, so I suppose I should also buy another one of those.  After that, I'm done. I think I'll be satisfied enough with what I just did, and it's nice to know I can at least use my more patterned foils if I want to.

I bought all of my foils from Dollar Nail Art. They have a great selection and a great price. A dollar! I bought a bunch over a year ago, and my nail group did a group buy because they do have a $25 minimum order.

I see Amazon has some good deals on foils, and I think I might buy some from there. One thing nice about Dollar Nail Art is you can choose just what you want, but I hate that minimum order nonsense.

When I was digging through my stash of foils, I had to laugh when I saw the little bags of 48 rhinestones I bought for a buck. Little did I know back then that I could buy thousands of them for only a few dollars more. Of course I never thought I would ever want to own thousands of rhinestones.

Little did I know.
 

SNAKESKIN (no, not real)

Today is my 15th anniversary of marrying the best hubster ever. He's a keeper, obviously.  Tonight I won't be doing my nails, as we're having some friends over to grill out some meat.

 

In the meantime, I scrolled through some of my older pics and found one that somehow seemed appropriate given the fact that I still can't get that poor stupid little snake out of my head. Weird.

 

The picture isn't the greatest. When I look back at my older photos, I see that I really did need a new camera even though I didn't think so at the time. You should have seen this shot "before" I "fixed" it. Yikers!

It's kind of funny when I look at this. I took it last July right in the midst of all of the garter snake shenanigans that were going on at my house. In fact, a day or so before I used this nail foil, I had found a snake shed under my pool stairs. It was really long! 

 

Somebody jokingly said I should use it to do a manicure. I was horrified at the thought of putting real snakeskin on my nails. I did a quick search on the interwebs and discovered that people were really doing that!! And they were paying a couple of hundred bucks to have it done. Freaks.  I'll stick with the foil.

 

I wish all of my foils worked like this one. Since it's not metallic, topcoat didn't have an effect on the finish. Even the bossman commented on these, and he never says anything about my nails.

 

So these are my tribute to my deceased little buddy.

 

At this point I'm actually wishing some garter snakes would show up just so I'd have something to stalk while I'm in the pool. It's so boring just laying there.  

 

Thankfully I still have my precious hummingbirds to watch. They've been complete piggies about drinking up their sugar water. When I got up at 6:30 this morning, there was still food in the feeder; I figured it was enough to last until I get home tonight. When I left for work at 8:30, the damn thing was empty!! Criminey! I know they're super active in the morning, but geez! It's so fun to watch them, especially in the morning. There's 3 or 4 of them flitting around, and it's like they're playing. So effing cute.

 

So that's gonna' be it for today. I'm stuck with the same mani from yesterday, which doesn't thrill me, but I guess dinner with friends should come first.

 

Sometimes real life sure can get in the way of my addiction.

THE NAIL VARNISH TAG (and a pic thrown in)

I left my foils on all day today, including the three hours I spent in the pool. They held up fine. I did take them off because I wanted to try one of my non-smooth finishes with that topcoat to see how they fared.  Before we get to the pics of these, I'll take care of some other bizness first.

Nail Varnish Tag!

Well, imagine my surprise when I logged onto Facebook last night and was advised that I'd been "tagged".  After running outside in a panic to look at my car and house to see what the tag was, I decided to go check out her blog to see what the hell she was talking about. So thanks a heap for tagging me, Fox Claws; now I actually have to think instead of just painting my nails.  Make sure you head on over to her page to see her responses.

Favorite Nail Polish Company

I can only pick one???  Honestly, I like so many different brands, each for different reasons. I love Sinful Colors because they're so cheap with a good formula. So I have a ton of those.  For a mid-price, I love OPI, and I wish I had more of them.

Glitter or No Glitter

I'm not a huge fan of glitter and don't wear it very often. I'm more apt to use it if it's part of some pattern I'm doing rather than just throw it on as a topcoat.

OPI, China Glaze or Essie

OPI for sure, with China Glaze as a close second.  I have a lot of Essie and like them but for some reason don't find myself gravitating to them as often as the others.

When Do You Change Your Nail Polish

I try to change them every day if I can while I'm watching tv at night. Sometimes on the weekend I'll do them 3 or 4 times just for the hell of it.

What's Your Favorite Color to Wear on Your Nails

Again...I can only pick one???  If I were told I could only wear one color for the rest of my life, I would probs choose purple.

Darks or Brights

Definitely BOTH. It all depends on what I'm wearing, my mood or what design I feel like doing.  I have no issue with wearing white after Labor Day or any nail color in any season.

What Do You Have on Your Nails Right Now

At this very second, my right hand is nekkid, and you can just scroll on down to see what's on my left hand.  It's the weekend; I'm playing.

Matte Nails.....In or Out?

I have a feeling they may be on their way out, but I don't shiv a git. I still like them.

French Manicure?

LOVE a French manicure, white or color. Always have and always will. I think it's a timeless look.

Favorite Winter Color?

Honestly, I don't have one. When you have over 1,000 polishes, it's impossible to have "a" fave.

Done. And done. Thanks for the tag, Cara.  Now I'm going to tag my friend James over at Men and Nail Polish and Nathalie of Glazed Talons. I'm looking forward to reading their answers!  :)

Back to the normal stuff now! As I said, I wanted to try a different kind of foil to see how the finish would turn out with the Suncoat water-based topcoat.  This is what I ended up with.

Well, I'm not happy with these at all. I don't know if I can completely blame it on the topcoat, however. For some reason when I applied the foils, they didn't go on completely smooth. It's like when I was rubbing with the Q-tip to transfer then, I made vertical lines on the foils. Who the hell knows. These foils are going to be the death of me. Either these or gradients, the other thing I can't seem to do very well.

So there it is. One very long post with nothing amazing to even see at the end.

I wonder what glimpse of mediocrity I can throw on here next.  I'm sure I'll think of something.

 

FOILS - I'M GETTING THERE....

 Wow.  What a weird night Thursday was. I stayed up too late (weird, I know) and got to bed at 1:30. Woke up for I have no idea why at 2:15. Got up and got a drink of Dr. Pepper and went back to bed. 

Woke up again at 3:30 to find the power out.....just in my bedroom even though the same circuit also covers my bathroom and the entire living room. Um...that's weird. I'm assuming I woke up because the fan shut off, and it was 100 degrees in there. So once I reset the circuit, I reset the alarm clock, turned on the fan and then waited a few minutes to make sure everything was going to stay on.

All seemed fine so back to bed I went. Woke up again at 5:10 when Baylee was crying....she had to go outside, and she wasn't kidding. Evidently she must have eaten something out in the yard that wanted to get out just as fast as it went in.  Back to bed at 5:20, woke up again at 5:50 and got up at 6:20. 

Crikey! I'm freakin' tired!  I was so looking forward to coming home to nap in the pool. Raced home, uncovered the pool and was in it by 12:30. I had only been laying there for about 15 minutes when the severe thunderstorm warning came on the radio. I could see the clouds off a little ways and figured it might miss me because I was laying in sun. 

I was wrong. As I saw the clouds moving closer I figured I'd better pick up my stuff and go inside. I made it just in time. No sooner did I get in and close the door when the wind started. Holy shitballs...I actually became a bit concerned there for a minute. I left my bathing suit top on and threw on some shorts and decided to wait it out, hopeful that it would pass and get sunny again. It did, so I went back out. And a half hour later it clouded up again and looked like it might rain so I gave up. In typical fashion, 15 minutes after I was all dressed, it got sunny again. By that point I just said screw it. I'll wait til tomorrow.

Decided to play with my nail foils for the umpteenth time. I had read somewhere to use a water-based topcoat on foils to preserve the finish. I immediately ordered one so I was anxious to see if it would really work.  I also bought one of the Sally Hansen gel topcoats to try, but since that would have to be soaked off, I won't try that until I'm ready to soak off my nails again.

I'm calling this "half" a success. It's for sure the best result I've had with a smooth foil, and I think on some of the non-smooth it might really work well. Mabes I'll try that tomorrow. I only did my one hand because I'm just playing, and since I'm not going anywhere this weekend, I might try some others before I put on whatever I decide to wear on Monday.

I really love this foil. Actually, I really love all of my foils. I gaze at them longingly all the time, just wishing I could use them.  But until I perfect keeping the finish, I doubt I'm going to leave the house in them.

I got my foils from Dollar Nail Art. They are only $1 a roll, and they have a lot to choose from. The only downside with their site is you have to have a $25 minimum order which can be difficult because all of their stuff costs a dollar. I did a group buy with my daughter and a couple of local friends to make the minimum.

I searched around for water-based topcoats and settled on one made by Suncoat. Nothing much to say about it; it's a topcoat. 

So that was my Friday!  And it was just about as exciting as it sounds. What's that noise....

Are you SNORING???  Rude.