Christmas Season Nails of the Day

This December, I've managed to wear not one but three of the Christmas sets of fake nails I've stockpiled from prior years. I kicked off the season with this almond-shaped set in white, gold, and dark green from Kiss.

 

These were my least favorite of the three sets I've worn this month. It's not a good shape for me, as the tapers leave the corners of my natural nails underneath unprotected. I felt the Christmas tree was upside down, facing me rather than the world, though I guess it is a better fit for the shape of this nail going this direction. I also had problems with these popping off; they're glue ons, which should be secure, but something about my body chemistry (or maybe the cold weather I spend hours out skiing in most days) and the Kiss glue didn't work well together. I did like the fine bright green glitter accents on the dark green backgrounds.

 

 

Next were this set from Impress.

 

These were a bit short for the length of my nails at the time but the translucent base helped disguise that. The reindeer face was the right way round, so that was good. These were press-on, and they mostly stayed on.

 

Finally, and these are still on as I type, were another set of glue-ons from Kiss.

 

This almost square shape was more protective of my natural nails than the almond had been. I did try the glue again, thinking maybe this was a different kind of plastic in the nails or the other glue had been defective somehow, but no, they still popped off. I've been sticking them back on with adhesive tabs I stole from another set and once I've done that, they've stayed on.

 

 

Merry Christmas to those of you celebrating! I envy those of you in places where gathering with family is allowed again, unlike here (though plenty of my awful neighbors will do so anyway and we'll have yet another COVID spike ... grrr).

Wheel X13: Cobalt to Navy Blue Cremes

Nail Wheel Wednesday took an unscheduled break last week because I was overwhelmed for no good reason. It's back today with more blue cremes, these on the darker end of the value range. A couple of these are matte/satin, and a few lean green, but that's okay.

 

1. Revlon Urban (2 coats)
2. Sally Hansen Patent Gloss Slick (2)
3. SinfulColors Cold Leather (2)
4. Studio M Blue-topia (2)
5. Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue Blood (2)
6. Maybelline Color Show Midnight Swim (2)
7. Joe Fresh Denim (2)
8. Hedy's ma.nish.ma Age of Aquarious (2)
9. Kiko Quick Dry 839 Teal Blue (2)
10. Flower April Showers (2)
11. Essie After School Boy Blazer (2)
12. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Nightwatch (1)
13. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Dark Denim (1)
14. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Petrol (1)
15. Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Dark Huemor (1)
16. Milani Color Statement Enchanted Sapphire (1)
17. Ruby Kisses Regaled Out Blue (2)
18. Orly Le Chateau (2)
19. Cover Girl Glowing Nights #LaserLight (2)
20. Divergent Midnight Calm (2)

Bottles 1 through 5:

 

6 through 10:

 

11 through 15:

 

16 through 20:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holos from LBK

When I happen to have sun on a swatching day, I reach for holographic polishes. On this particular bright afternoon, I pulled out some I'd gotten from LBK, my first two from this brand: Katie's Witness and Beaming Brityn.

 

Katie's Witness is a pale silvery pink that was easy to apply and opaque in two coats. The flip up tip on the cap to show the color was a good match for what it looked like on my nails (sort of a built in swatch ring, though maybe not as durable, as I saw a few bottles in the store with theirs missing ... granted the store was Walmart). Under indirect light, there are the slightest hints of the rainbow in the the shimmer.

 

 

Directly under a desk lamp, the colors come out to play:

 

In the sun, Katie's Witness gives the full holo experience. The linear effect is not quite as smooth as say, Chanel Holographic, but this is a lot cheaper and easier to find.

 

 

Beaming Brityn is a purple-leaning medium pink. It too, was easy to apply and opaque in two coats.

 

 

Here it in under my desk lamp:

 

 

And here it is in full sun; at some angles it looked almost lilac:

 

 

I don't know if these two are in stores anymore, but I checked yesterday and they are both for sale on the on the LBK website. Unfortunately so is a shade I thought about and passed on in the store, so I might have to order that one. And then another color to get free shipping at $15. This is how I filled my Helmers to overflowing.

Cremes from Kokie

Samples provided for review

 

I recently got a package from Kokie with some polishes to try. Rather than try to cram all six polishes I received into one post and not get to play with them as much as I'd like, I decided to split them up, starting with a trio of classic cremes I thought looked good together: Café Ole, Chill Seeker, and Playing Games.

 

Café Ole is a rosy tan that's almost "mannequin hands" on me. Though on the pale side of brown, it's pigmented enough that two coats was enough for full coverage.

 

 

Chill Seeker is a dusty rose. I used only one coat for my swatch.

 

 

Playing Games is a deep berry and another one-coater.

 

 

I plussed Playing Games with dots of Café Ole and Chill Seeker, then dotted those dots with more Playing Games. I used clear topcoat to smooth over the dots (which made it a bit more shiny than my lighting and camera setup was quite ready for, though I think you can see enough beside the glare to get the idea).

 

 

Because I thought these three looked good together, I also did an ombre with them. For my pinky, I mixed some black into a small pool of Playing Games I poured out onto a plastic tray I use for such things. (If I'd done my thumb, I probably would have done the same with white and Café Ole.) I think this is a great way to wear classic shades in an interesting way.

 

 

You can see (and buy) the full range of shades on the Kokie website. There's also a store locator if you'd prefer to shop in person. I've bought them before at Rite Aid and Bed Bath & Beyond; they're also now at Sally Beauty (in stores and online) and some Albertson's locations.

 

 

The polishes shown in this entry were provided to me free for review purposes. The content of the entry was not dictated by the provider, and I get to keep the polishes for my own use.

A Trio from SinfulColors Quick Bliss

About a million years ago, I ordered a set of SinfulColors Quick Bliss shades even though I already had half of them, just because the set included an exclusive purple shade, along with two other colors I hadn't yet seen. When I swatched the rest of the line back in August I was despairing of ever getting the set since shipping had been delayed twice, but thanks to a tip in the SinfulColors fan group on Facebook, I was able to cancel that order and get the set from a different supplier. The three shades of interest in it were Vvvroom, Speedster, and Fast Ride.

 

Vvvroom is a cool-toned light purple with pink shimmer.

 

I used two coats of Vvvroom for my swatch, and added clear topcoat for extra depth and shine.

 

 

Fast Ride is the online exclusive that I bought the set for. It's a blue-leaning purple shimmer. The shimmer has more blue in it than the base does. Depending on how the light hits it, it can look blue or purple.

 

Fast Ride was also a two-coater. I skipped topcoat with this one.

 

 

I happened to have a brief moment of sun when I was swatching this and that really brought out the difference between the shimmer and the base. You can see the shimmer glowing blue while the base around the edges shows a warmer purple hue.

 

The last color here, Speedster, is a red creme. As with the other two, it needed only two coats for full coverage.

 

 

I just had to see how this red creme compared to the other two Quick Bliss reds released earlier. Left to right: Cherry Chaser, Speedster, and Sweet Cheeks.

 

Left to right below: Speedster (2 coats), Cherry Chaser (2), Speedster, Sweet Cheeks (3). Sweet Cheeks is the odd one out here, being more sheer and pink than the others. Cherry Chaser is slightly warmer than Speedster. I like Speedster better with my skintone, but Cherry Chaser is also wearable for me.

 

Another angle:

 

I always used to look forward to the SinfulColors winter holiday display, but it appears that this year they didn't do any new colors for the season, just repromoted existing shades (I didn't see the display myself but read reports from those who did). I hope that's just a temporary thing for this year of the pandemic and by this time next year we'll see new stuff.

[NOTE to the 12 of you who saw the earlier version of this post in the three hours it was up: yes, I did take it down and re-do, as the photos in the earlier version had incorrect watermarking on them and Blogger was not cooperating with showing the corrected versions I'd uploaded before publishing the first version.]