Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Wheel T8: Holos from Layla and Glitter Gal

It's Nail Wheel Wednesday once again. Today I have holographic polishes from Layla and Glitter Gal. Two full wheel pics for this one, both in the lightbox and in the sun coming in through the window of my studio.






1. Layla Hologram Effect Retro Pink (2 coats)
2. Layla Hologram Effect Shock Pink (2)
3. Layla Hologram Effect Red Taboo (2)
4. Layla Hologram Effect Purple Illusion (2)
5. Layla Hologram Effect Ultra Violet (3)
6. Layla Hologram Effect Cloudy Violet (3)
7. Layla Hologram Effect Misty Blush (3)
8. Layla Hologram Effect Coffee Love (3)
9. Layla Hologram Effect Flash Black (3)
10. Layla Hologram Effect Mercury Twilight (2)
11. Layla Hologram Effect Mermaid Spell (2)
12. Layla Hologram Effect Ocean Rush (2)
13. Layla Hologram Effect Jade Groove (2)
14. Layla Hologram Effect Emerald Divine (2)
15. Layla Hologram Effect Gold Idol (2)
16. Layla Hologram Effect Coral Glam (2)
17. Glitter Gal Suede (2) [looks plenty holo in the bottle, not so much out of it; not sure what that's about]
18. Glitter Gal Silver (2)
19. Glitter Gal 10 to Midnight (2)
20. Glitter Gal Dark Purple (2)


Bottles 1 through 4:



5 through 8:


9 through 12:



13 through 16:



16 through 20:


















Above detail shots were all in the indirect illumination of the lightbox; here are the Glitter Gals in direct sun:



And some of the Laylas in direct sun:



Destash notes: None of these are going anywhere anytime soon.

Monday, November 28, 2016

Barbie Little Pink Dress

Just a single polish today, which I picked up from this display that was at some Walgreens stores this summer, one lone polish in a sea of other beauty products.



Initially I passed on it, because I thought it was just another pink creme, and not even the hot pink shade I associate with Barbie. Maybe it had been at one time, though; when I pulled out a bottle in front out to see the name on the bottom, I noticed the color had changed on the side the sun was hitting. I dismissed it as something I didn't need, and never shared the display photo since there were so many others around at the time that were more interesting.



But, and you knew there was a but, a couple months later, I came across the display again, and took a closer look and found the polish wasn't a creme but a shimmer. The color change/fading problem was still there, yet the golden shimmer made me okay with that; gold shimmer in a warm pink base made sense to me, and I needed some cheering up at that point anyway so a bottle found its way into my hand up to the register. (You can see one of my fake nails NOTD in this photo, too.)



Having finally tried this polish, which is called Little Pink Dress, I'm sort of wishing I'd bought a candy bar instead. It's not horrible, but it took four coats to cover my nail line, and the shimmer all but disappeared on the nail. Some top coat might have brought that out more, I suppose, but after four coats of color I wasn't feeling like adding another of clear.





Direct light to try and bring out the shimmer more:



So yeah, this is an impulse buy that I'm wishing I'd resisted. At least it was cheap; original price was $2.99 and by the time I bought it, it was down to half that. And it is a flattering color for me, so maybe I'll try using it for layering, over a skintone base and under a gold glitter topper.

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Not So Recent NOTD: Revlon Magnetic

Well, here I am, back just in time for Thankgiving break. (Nail Wheel Wednesday should return next week.) In the last two months, I've been from one corner of the continental U.S. (well, Seattle) to the other (Key West). Mr. K and I got home to Idaho last Thursday, and since then I've been unpacking, doing laundry, and trying to remember where we keep stuff in this house we haven't quite gotten settled in since we brought the last of our stuff from Michigan this past summer. Oh, and I also spent two and a half hours in the dentist's chair earlier this week getting some fillings replaced and cracks repaired and such.

Despite so much time elapsing since my last post, I don't have many nails of the day looks to share. For the last several months, I've been relying on fake nails and strips when I'm not just wearing clear treatment coats, which has been a lot of the time, and that continued on the trip. I did do one actual proper manicure with base, color, and topcoat, though; that was with Revlon Magnetic, the blue glitter in a purple/blue duochrome base. I was on the road without my lightbox when I did this, so please forgive the mixed backgrounds and variable lighting in these shots.

The lineup: Triple Accion Tratamiento, Instant Artificials, Sally Hansen Cafe au Lait (to keep visible nail line at bay), Revlon Magnetic, Diamond Dry.



I think I used two coats of Magnetic but again, on the road, so my notes weren't in the normal place either. I know, I'll do better next mani. With the skintone base, the duochrome shift wasn't as noticeable as if I'd put it over black, but I still liked it.









Pretty nice, and I love that I could just buy it at the drugstore.

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you in the US (and expats celebrating elsewhere). See you next week!