Fakes That Took an Unexpected Turn

There was never any doubt I'd wear fake nails for the start of my trip to Indie Expo Canada ... all those opportunities to break a nail when packing, loading suitcases into the car, wrangling them onto and off of parking lot shuttle buses, grabbing them from the luggage carousel, etc., etc. Thus a few days before I flew out, I put on a set of Kiss Salon Color nails in an iridescent grey that I could find no shade name for on the box but which based on some Googling, I believe may be called Eclipse.



The medium length was necessary as my natural nails have grown out nicely during the summer as usual (much as I try to protect them from the dry air and harsh weather in the winter, I continually fall short, which leads to short nails). The curve at the sides left something to be desired compared to how I shaped my natural nails but I don't think it was noticeable to anyone but me (well, and now, all of you, since I've pointed it out and posted a closeup).





The above pics are in the artificial light in my dining room the night I applied them. The next morning I got the following couple shots in natural light to show the different faces of the iridescent finish (like the ones the night before, they also show the tenacious end of a splinter I wasn't able to dig out of my palm):





That iridescent coating didn't live up to the "stays perfect for entire wear" line on the box—or maybe they just didn't anticipate how long I'd wear them—because by day five, a lot of it had worn off, revealing the plain grey underneath. (My index looks less worn below because I popped off and lost that one and had to replace it a few days in. Usually I notice when they come off and just reattach but in the whirl of getting ready for my trip that didn't happen.)



To distract from the wear, I added accent nails with a glitter topper I found just across the border into Canada when I was driving to Toronto to IEC from Detroit (I flew in there because it was cheaper and made logistics easier at the end of my trip). Quo by Orly What's the Big Teal has turqoise glitter in a clear base, both small hexes and larger triangles. I actually did this in my car, completely stopped for a construction delay on the 401 somewhere in the wilds of Ontario. I was so happy to find such an interesting glitter at a drugstore; I hope to play with it more soon.



My intention was to take off the fakes and do a regular manicure for IEC, but when I swatched the polishes I intended to use over the fakes, they looked good enough I decided to just go with it. Yes, I did have to get the glitter off the accent nails I'd done, but that proved to be not too difficult, especially since I wasn't worried about ruining the finish. I ended up using three polishes for my IEC look; top to bottom, RK by Kiss Holographic Fairy Wing, Fairy Wing topped with Morgan Taylor Bedazzle Me, Fair Maiden Violet Eyes topped with Bedazzle Me, and Violet Eyes alone.







I know, going to an indie polish event, I probably should have worn more indies, but I hadn't brought very many with me (what with wanting to save weight on the way there to have more allowance to bring new bottles back) and the holo and the glitter I'd bought on my drive just went so well with the Fair Maiden (an IEC purchase from a previous year) I had to use them. The holo in particular delighted me ... only $3.99 at a wig store and has rainbows just as flame-y as much more expensive ones in my collection.



On my way out of IEC on the Sunday, loaded down with shopping bags, I popped a nail off somewhere between getting on the elevator from the event space and getting into my rental car. Excellent timing. I couldn't find it (not that I looked very hard), so right there in the car, I just put on another iridescent one from the box I'd been carrying with me all weekend. It coordinated pretty well considering I hadn't planned to do this.





I wore these one more day after IEC, at which point, I needed to get them off so I could swatch a few of the polishes that came back with me from the event.



It's a long holiday weekend, and I have family visiting for the big festival that closes out the summer season here (dubbed "Mountain Drunk Fest" by a friend of ours ... I'm glad we're walking distance from the fun), but once that wraps, I hope to get through my IEC pics and what swatches I've done so far and do a post (or two?) on that next week.

Wheel W11: Berry and Brick Shifty Shimmers

If you've been playing the "Lazy or Traveling" game wondering where I've been, the answer is traveling (but also a bit lazy, as I had my laptop with me and could have tried harder to write a post or two while I was away). This trip included the very enjoyable Indie Expo Canada, at which I made some polishes and bought way more polishes, so I'll be posting about that once I get unpacked. Today I've got Nail Wheel Wednesday with one I painted before I left. I wasn't sure what to call this; "reddish and brownish and orangish shimmers that look like they may be duochromes in the bottle" and "warm-hued shimmers some of which feature Unicorn Pee pigment" were both a bit long.




1. Max Factor Fantasy Fire (2 coats, half black base)
2. Clarins 230 (2, half black base) [I was fortunate to find this bottle at a not crazy price]
3. Orly Space Cadet (3, half black base)
4. Quo by Orly Total Eclipse of the Heart (3, half black base) [dupe for Space Cadet]
5. Models Own Pinky Brown Beetle Juice (3, half black base)
6. ILNP Masquerade (3, half black base) [this is so gorgeous over black]
7. CrowsToes Asterope (3)
8. Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Golden Cinnabar (3) [almost a two-coater]
9. Ozotic 520 (3) [almost a two-coater]
10. Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Bronze Pink (3) [almost a two-coater; left the price tag on this for the photo as it made me smile to see how little we paid for these back in the day]
11. Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Amber Ruby (3) [almost a two-coater]
12. CrowsToes Maia (3) [almost a two-coater]
13. Nubar Iris Dust (4) [should have put this over a black base]
14. Ozotic 730 (3)
15. Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Bronze Ruby (3)
16. Claire's Poison Apple (3, half black base)
17. MAC Baid Fairy (3, half black base)
18. Accesorize Pink Spice (3, half black base)
19. Lilacquer Tengu (2, half black base)
20. BeYu 209 (2, half black base)


Bottles 1 and 2:



3 through 7:



8 through 11:



12 through 15:



16 through 20:



















And now pictures in direct light at different angles to bring out shift if it's there:

Two Sets of imPRESS Shorties

My proclivity for fake nails continues unabated as of now. They're just so darn easy. Today I've got two different sets of imPress nails that I grabbed when I saw them on clearance. Both of them were short length.

The first set was beige solid, the perfect thing for not drawing attention to my hands, which is sometimes what I'm after. I didn't see a name on these, just the number 65042.





Here are the plain nails with an anything but plain cocktail ring my mother-in-law inherited from one of her sisters (I was helping her organize her dresser):



I wore these for 10 days; the only issue was a couple of dings in the softer material near the base, which happens sometimes when I'm using my hands for manual labor like unpacking boxes (I am starting to think I will never get through all the boxes I have in my life).



The second set I did find a name on: Glitz & Glamour. These were very light transluscent peach with blue and purple glitter tips. I should have filed down my nails a bit before I put these on, as I had trouble getting good coverage with the fakes. For my middle finger, I had to choose one wider than ideal to get length, and even then, there was a gap at the base.







Length issues aside, I did appreciate how the C-curve was a pretty good fit for me.



I was happy with both of these, especially since I got them for around $3 a set. I always check the clearance sections at drugstores (when I can find them—sometimes Rite Aid moves theirs around on me).