Five Below Novelty Glitters

When I was back in Michigan earlier this summer, of course I bought the new polishes I saw at Five Below, including the two novelty glitters, Don't Worry Be Happy and Always Be a Unicorn. Back home, I finally made some time to swatch them.



Don't Worry Be Happy has light yellow smiley face glitter plus iridescent shifty translucent hex glitter plus matte light turquoise hex glitter in a clear base.



The better to show the glitter, I did a base of three fingers dark (black creme) and one finger light (Funky Fingers Moonstone, a pale sky blue shimmer), then added a coat of Don't Worry Be Happy. I did have to fish for the faces, but it wasn't too hard to get them up on the brush and onto my nails. I did add clear topcoat to smooth things out.








Always Be a Unicorn has white unicorn head glitter plus dusty rose metallic hex glitter and also a scattering of larger iridescent translucent hex glitter that looks gold at a lot of angles, all in a clear base.



I did the same dark and light base approach for this one, using Funky Fingers Pink Quartz, a pale pink shimmer, for my light. I had to really fish for the unicorn heads; found it worked best to pour some polish out onto a plastic plate and dab it on my nails, using a dotting tool to put the unicorn heads where I wanted them. Clear topcoat completed the look. The dusty rose glitter might look like it's curling; it's not, that just how it reflects light.







Both of these glitter toppers are fun additions to my stash. I'm sure some would say I'm too old for such things; I choose to ignore those kinds of people.

Wheel S9: Silver Holos

It was sunny in my studio the last time I painted a nail wheel, so I went with holos, specifically silver ones. More photos this week because holos demand it. After I finished this, I realized it was missing one of my favorite silver holos, GOSH Holographic (which came before Holographic Hero); I'm guessing I put it in one of the "move with extra care" boxes, which aren't all unpacked yet. (Yes, it's been a very slow process getting my stash organized in its new home.)

This episode of Nail Wheel Wednesday is going up late because my awful internet at home has been more awful than usual. I love the scenery where I live but sure don't love the infrastructure.

Wheel in the lightbox:



In direct indoor light:



In sun coming through a window:



In sun coming through a window at a different angle:




1. Dance Legend T-1000 (2 coats)
2. Jessica Disco Diva (2)
3. Color Club Harp on It (2)
4. Nfu-Oh 661 (2)
5. Urban Outfitters Silver Holo (2)
6. FNUG Psychedelic (2)
7. Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Diamond (3)
8. Hits Hefesto (3)
9. Hits Artemis (3)
10. MI-NY Holographic Touch Silver (2)
11. Nabi Hologram Silver (2)
12. Nicole By OPI Imagine If (2) [this is really a holo microglitter, not a linear holo]
13. Golden Rose 107 (2)
14. Golden Rose 108 (2) [I guess either this one or #13 lost some color over the years?]
15. Nic's Sticks Silver-ella (2) [I was rather surprised this delivery system still worked]
16. Golden Rose Paris 102 (2)
17. Avon Cosmic Moonbeam (2)
18. Ellen Gold Holo Prata (2)
19. GOSH Holographic Hero (2)
20. Color Club Worth the Risque (2)


Bottles 1 through 5:



6 through 10:


11 through 15:



16 through 20:



Detail photos in the lightbox:















A few detail photos in sunlight:

Recent NOTD: A Look with Look

In my previous nails of the day(s) post, I mentioned that I'd done a manicure with real (as in liquid) polish that I'd save for its own post, and here it is.



I used four polishes from Look for this mani: Twilight's Last Gleaming, Royal Blue, Turquoise, and Ocean Mist.



I used Revlon ColorStay Base Coat, then did one coat of Royal Blue on all but my ring finger, which got two coats of Turquoise. Yes, that's right, Royal Blue was a one coater. Both of these cremes have a pretty good shine without topcoat.



Then I added the glitters. My ring finger got topped with one coat of Ocean Mist, which has blue and silver holo microglitter in a clear base. My other fingers got one coat of Twilight's Last Gleaming, which has small turquoise and silver glitter plus larger silver hex glitter. All fingers got Prolinc Diamond Dry top coat.





I wore this for a few days and had minimal tipwear. I was concerned about staining, as blues are often trouble, but these were fine. Ocean Mist took maybe one extra swipe with remover but it all came off and my nails were back to their normal color.

These are the first Look polishes I've tried, and I like them. I also like the bottles; they feel very solid to me and the shape is very efficient to store in my Helmers.

Wheel R9: China Glaze Glitters

Nail Wheel Wednesday took last week off because I didn't have any wheels I hadn't posted yet. Fortunately, I had some time in my studio earlier this week and took care of that. I have plenty of polish that's not on wheels yet, it's just not organized quite well enough for me to be able to just grab twenty bottles and sit down and paint. I'm working on that. I did have sufficient glitters from China Glaze gathered to make a wheel, so I did.



(all except 19 & 20 have top coat in addition to glitter coats noted below)

1. China Glaze Pine-ing for Glitter (3 coats)
2. China Glaze Bells Will Be Blinging (3)
3. China Glaze Can You Sea Me (3)
4. China Glaze Feeling Twinkly (3)
5. China Glaze Star Hopping (3)
6. China Glaze Meet Me Under the Stars (3)
7. China Glaze Be Merry Be Bright (2)
8. China Glaze Pick Me Up Purple (3)
9. China Glaze Your Present Required (2)
10. China Glaze Dancing & Prancing (2) [feel like at least some of the glitter in here has lost color since it was new]
11. China Glaze Counting Carats (2)
12. China Glaze De-light (2)
13. China Glaze Rest in Pieces (2)
14. China Glaze Loco-motive (3)
15. China Glaze Boundary of Memory (2)
16. China Glaze Bat My Eyes (2)
17. China Glaze Getting to Gnaw You (2)
18. China Glaze Don't Let the Dead Bite (2)
19. China Glaze I Love Your Guts (1)
20. China Glaze But of Corpse (1)


Bottles 1 through 5:



6 through 10:


11 through 15:



16 through 20:

Nails of the Day Roundup

Today I have a whirlwhind tour through the various strips and fakes that have adorned my hands in somewhat recent weeks.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Pitter Pattern is a nice graphic black and white design. I was a bit bothered by the way the bold square motif wasn't centered on each strip, but then realized that just made it look more like what I'd end up with if I stamped a similar design so who am I to judge.



I tried the Incoco Coconut Nail Art strips for the first time. These have fewer strips than the regular Incoco sets available from their website, so I didn't try to save half for another mani. The box contains a small orangewood stick and a small emery board along with the strips. English directions are on the back of the box; Spanish were on a printed insert.



The Hello Darling design has floral outlines in lilac or pink on a silver background. For some reason, I didn't manage to get a half decent photo of these on my nails until three days after I put them on.



I used regular Incoco strips after that, choosing the deep pink glitter of Razzle Dazzle. Sure, I could have achieved this same look pretty easily with glitter polish, but strips are so much more convenient. I am still trying to work out how it is that I'm so busy now that I'm no longer working full time.



I had some splits and peels so I had to go with shorties for a while. I covered them with imPress press-on nails in a neutral tan (if this shade has a name I sure didn't see it on the box). These fakes weren't fooling anyone but they did protect my natural nails underneath from being banged into things.



I followed those fakes with more fakes. I didn't even write down or snap a photo of what brand/style these were. They're some chunky pink and whites I got on clearance. Not my usual style but they did keep my nails protected while peelie recovery was underway.



After two weeks of covering my nails with fakes, I finally had a peelie-free free edge with just enough length that I could file off the excess from strips without sanding my fingertips, so I put on Sally Hansen Salon Insta Gel Strips (which near as I can tell are the same as Salon Effects but come with a gel topcoat) in Pink Pong and topped them with Sally Hansen Salon Gel Polish in Purple Prisms.



The manicure after this, I used real polish and documented it in my lightbox, so I'll save that for a future post.