Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

I don't usually get into Halloween too much, so this is stepping out for me.  As I am currently seven months pregnant, I figured a jack o lantern would be an appropriate costume.  I went all out for that, too: a $5 Tshirt from Walmart ;)  I plan on spending the evening going trick-or-treating with my son and nephew, who are both three, and my brother and sister-in-law.  

This is OPI Jinx and Orly Liquid Vinyl.  Jinx is from the Bond Girls liquid sand collection.  I love this polish.  It's a bright orange with gold shimmer and kind of a pink/coral undertone.  It's unbelievably sparkly with or without topcoat (I used topcoat in the photos below), which most pictures don't seem to really capture.  I'm not usually a fan of the liquid sand polishes because of the odd texture, but this one has much less of that.  It's closer to Zoya's Pixie Dusts in that it's more sugary sparkle than texture.

Color Club Harp On It Review

This is two coats of Color Club Harp On It. Your basic silver holographic polish, if a holographic polish can be called basic. This is probably one of the best holographic polishes you can buy.  It's a strong linear holo that goes on easily and evenly and doesn't require any special base coats or nail prep.  I used Seche Clear as my base for the photos below, but I tested it over several others as well as bare nails and didn't notice any appreciable difference in application. I also didn't notice any significant dulling of the holographic effect with topcoat.

The best part is that it really doesn't take much for the effect to be visible.  Many other holographic polishes look completely dull in anything but direct sunlight. This one is best in bright sunlight of course, but I even see quite a bit of the rainbow shift indoors.  The only time I've seen it completely flat so far is in the shade outside.

I wanted to do a little nail art on this, but I decided to keep it simple so as not to overshadow the gorgeous holo-ness. And of course I had to go a little crazy with the pictures.  Because holo.

NOTD: Honeycomb

Oh yeah.  I have a blog.

Life has been a little crazy lately.  We're in the process of moving, a process which started earlier this year and won't be complete until at least January of next year.  We're currently living at my parents house while most of our stuff (including about two thirds of my polish) is in storage.  Also, I'm pregnant!  It's a boy, due January 7th.  So with all of that going on, I haven't really had the time to do much with my nails or been in the mood to photograph them.

I'm getting back into the swing of things, though! This is Milani Gold Glitz stamped with L'Oreal Downtown Chic and plate VL002 by Vivid Lacquer on Etsy.

I love Gold Glitz.  It's part of their One-Coat Glitters line, although I prefer two coats of this one.  It's a blend of fine gold and copper glitters in a clear base.  The glitter is very dense, but it goes on very smoothly and evenly.  It will tend to settle if left for a while, but mixes up very easily again with a little shaking.  I don't know what voodoo they used on this stuff, but it's one of the easiest glitters to apply I've ever used. It is a thirsty glitter, so I recommend a couple coats of topcoat.  Interestingly, though, without topcoat it has a little bit of that sandy, textured finish that's popular right now.  Below is two coats of Gold Glitz.

I am the Swarm

I meant to post this earlier last week but got a little caught up in other things.  The Starcraft 2 expansion, Heart of the Swarm, was released on Tuesday and so I present: Zerg creep.

That is meant to be a creep tumor on my ring finger.  My dotting tool tried to run away on me, so it's got one huge spike.

For those not following the conversation, here's a translation:  geek geek nerd geek nail polish geek.  

Tiny Buttons

Tiny buttons

On my nails

Make me happy

Make me feel fine

I used Essie Marshmallow, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Brisk Blue, Jade Jump, Mint Sprint, Lightening and Vigorous Violet, Revlon Midnight, Color Club Lavendarling, Zoya Carmen, OPI Got the Blues for Red, and L'Oreal The Perfect Trench.

Gold Flake on Blue

 This one's been floating around in my head for a while now.  It didn't turn out quite like I wanted, but the result's not bad.

I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Brisk Blue and Orly Luxe.

Hard Candy - Crush on Tin

I picked up a few of the new Hard Candy polishes at Walmart the other day.  I didn't have a chance to swatch all of them, but this one was begging me to wear it.

Crush on Tin.  This is a metallic charcoal gray in the bottle, but on the nail it turns into more of a blackened green.  The finish is a little hard to describe: somewhere between a metallic and a glass fleck.  There's a good deal of gold shimmer, and in bright light there's almost a bit of a holo effect. In the right light, it absolutely glows.