Actual NOTD: Patriotic Stars

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I like to follow a first-taken, first-posted policy when it comes to photos here, but today I'm jumping ahead to what's on my nails right now because I did this mani just for the 4th of July weekend, which would be long over by the time these photos made it to the top of the stack in the normal course of things around here.



I put on Barielle Fortifying Nail Builder first, followed by Instant Artificials to complete my base. Two coats of Nina Ultra Pro Sailor came next. I don't see this color listed in the new Nina lineup on the Sally Beauty site, which is too bad since it's a great dark blue; I'm sitting in my office typing this and my nails look blue, not black, even though the lighting is pretty subdued in here (overhead fluorescents tend to give me a headache, so I have my own lamps). For the patriotic celebratory part of this look, I used two Island Girl polishes I bought in Las Vegas. Waikiki Surf is a clear base with tiny silver glitter and red, blue, and silver holo stars. Surfing Safari is a clear base with red stars, which I used for my accent nails (thumbs, left ring, right middle). I did have to fish for the stars, which was not unexpected but a little annoying nonetheless. For a topcoat, I used Diamond Dry, and it got along just fine with the Island Girl.



The next time I use these stars, I will put a thicker topcoat down first, then follow with a quick dry, as one layer is not enough to really stick down and smooth over the stars sufficiently. I've got a few star points that have popped through the topcoat and are bothering me. Fortunately the changing colors of the silver holo stars are a nice distraction.





These Island Girl polishes are just two of the many lacquers I bought on my trip. Let me know in the comments if you'd be interested in a haul post even though it's not likely I will get around to swatching most of the colors anytime soon.