Many Nails of Many Days

So yes, I did disappear again. For some reason, I thought I could post at least occasionally while packing up my Michigan house prior to closing on the sale of it, caravaning cross country with Mr. Karen and I switching off driving our pickup and a 26-foot rental truck, then unloading and unpacking in Idaho. Turns out I couldn't. But now we have unpacked enough boxes that I can sit down and write for a bit without feeling horribly guilty, so here I am, aiming to catch up on about six weeks of nails of the day looks.

When I flew east as mentioned in my last post, I was wearing Sally Hansen Salon Effects in Snow Way, appropriate for the wintery weather. I think this was the second half of the box I opened when I wore this same design back in 2013.





When I got to Michigan, I wanted a change but didn't have time to do a full mani, so I just covered up the strips with Wet 'n' Wild Garnet My Heel Broke from the Holiday 2015 collection. The textured finish made for easy touch ups, which were needed since I was dinging my nails regularly while packing up stuff in Michigan.



Before I left for my conference (also mentioned in my last post), I changed to another polish from that Holiday 2015 Wet 'n' Wild collection, Where My Ho Ho Hos At. Again, I went for a texture for ease of touch up, and a neutral color to go with any outfit (not that I generally worry about that, but I was going to be socializing with people who might).



Here's a slightly blurry shot of this polish with a backdrop of some curtains that were in our house when we bought it 26 years ago and we never got around to replacing.



In the nail art session I taught at the conference, I demonstrated stamping by adding a scroll design in black on top of Where My Ho Ho Hos At. (I should have also demonstrated how to use a clean up brush, but time was limited.)





Post-conference, I returned to Sally Hansen Salon Effects strips, this time the Fur-ocious Vocals animal print from the 2012 Avril Lavigne collection.



I took time out from packing up our house to go to a party; I went quick and simple for that, with one coat of Zoya Godiva, since the textured approach was working well for me lately.



I added a second coat of Godiva a few days later.



As those of you who follow my Instagram (thekarend) know, I also took time out from packing to go to a Michigan Nail Girls meetup. My Godiva was the most boring mani there, but I'm just glad I was able to get away and have fun chatting with the ladies and swapping polish and seeing Native War Paints HQ.



Just before Mr. Karen and I started driving back to Idaho, I did something I don't remember doing for a long time: I took off a polish only to put it right back on. All the packing, including my thousands of bottles of polish, had not been kind to my nails, so I had to trim them back some, but Godiva had been good to me, so I reapplied it, topping it with Native War Paints Silver Nickels, which has many sizes of silver holo glitter in a clear base.





We were very fortunate and had good weather for our long drive across the country, which meant much sun for me to enjoy the rainbows sparking off Silver Nickels.



Since we pulled up with the big rental truck, I've been so busy unloading and unpacking that it was only yesterday that I took off the Godiva/Silver Nickels combination to put on a badly needed treatment sandwich.



Right now, most of my stash is in boxes in the garage, the Helmers partially disassembled for easier transport, but I do have more recent purchases more readily accessible, along with the four boxes of very special pretties that I packed separately and kept in the pickup rather than letting them fend for themselves in the big rental truck, so I will be able to do manis and swatches in the meantime before I get my stash setup in its new home.

Native War Paints Nifty Shifty

If I'd been a good blogger, I would have gotten this particular polish swatched when it was still for sale, but alas, as you probably know, I have struggled in recent months. But it is a pretty polish and with so many people destashing these days, you may see it in a blog sale or storenvy or some such: Native War Paints Nifty Shifty, which has multichrome flakies in a dark blue base.



I know from seeing it on other people that this can be worn alone, but I was in a layering mood the day I swatched it, so tried it over my trusty Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme. This is two coats of Nifty Shifty over the black.





I also tried it over Funky Fingers On Wednesdays We Wear Pink, a medium pink creme. Again, two coats of Nifty Shifty over the creme.





This is a versatile polish, and I'm glad it's in my stash.

Glitters from Native War Paints

When I shared the Native War Paints Holographics the other week, I mentioned I'd gotten more from the brand I'd share later. Later is now. Today I have two glitters, starting with Wise Cracking Waitress, a purple jelly filled with black, blue, and purple glitter with a scattering of silver holo microglitter. I layered one coat of it over the purple holo, Ribbons and Bows, then added clear topcoat. This one could have been made for me especially, combining so many things I like: purple, jelly, glitter. The black glitter adds more interest without standing out too much like black glitter can do sometimes. I've layered it, but it could be worn on its own.





The second glitter, Small and Han-some, has a holo base packed with small and micro glitter in mostly blue and copper.



It's not necessarily meant to be a layering polish, but I did not let that stop me from putting two coats of it plus clear topcoat over a red shimmer base, Nicole by OPI Always a Classic Coca Cola. Here's the red on its own:



And the combination; so warm and pretty and perfect for autumn—





Look at the holo popping in direct low light:



Both of these glitters are still available direct from Native War Paints. There are a lot of newer polishes, too, many of which I want but am restraining myself from buying because now that I have all my Helmers and overflow in one place I see how truly enormous my stash is. I haven't gone on a no buy because that no work for me, but I have slowed way down in the acquisitions area.

Native War Paints Holographics

Today I have two holo polishes from Michigan-based indie brand Native War Paints. First up, Rotten Zombie Flesh, an olive green holo shimmer. I used three coats for my swatch; there is a preorder on now for what must be an updated version, as its listing says it's opaque in two coats. The holo in this one is shy in indirect lighting, though it's still a nice shimmer in a great color.





I unfortunately lacked sun when I swatched this but did get some scattered pops of color in direct indoor light.



Ribbons and Bows is the purple sibling to Rotten Zombie Flesh. I used four coats of this one, though probably could have stopped at three (which is consistent with the product listing, though unfortunately this one is sold out now). I could see the barest hint of rainbows in the lightbox at some angles.





Because these were on the sheerer side, I decided to try layering them over a silver base, which I constructed with one coat of Nicole by OPI Give Me the 1st Dance, a silver metallic, and two coats of Morgan Taylor Fame Game, a silver and holo glitter.



I topped the silver with one coat of Rotten Zombie Flesh on my index and middle fingers and one coat of Ribbons and Bows on my other two digits.



I liked these combinations in the lightbox (above) and really liked them in direct light (below).



I bought a few other polishes from Native War Paints at the same time as these, but those will have to wait for another day. This retired life I'm living is still surprsingly hectic.