Anna Sui Nail Color 001

Good morning, Dear Reader!

To start off a new work week, I changed my polish to one that's far less attention-grabbing than a neon yellow.  I looked through some untried colors and found Anna Sui 001, which is a kind of sheer off-white base loaded up with lots of fine flaky glitter, and of course, being made by Anna Sui, is lightly rose scented.  Since I wanted the manicure to be opaque, I used a base shade that was close to the Anna Sui in an opaque cream, American Apparel Cotton.  Cotton took two coats and was a still bit blotchy after the second, but I figured the Anna Sui would even that out, and it did when I added two coats of it.  Finishing with one coat of top coat smoothed everything out nicely.  Here it is in the best sunlight I saw yesterday.

Anna Sui Nail Color 001 over American Apparel Cotton, Two Coats Each

This turned out much better than I'd expected at the start.  Since I used a white background for the picture, the color looks distinctly off-white, but without real white nearby for comparison, the polish gives the impression of being white without being stark.  I think the addition of the glittery Anna Sui makes it far more interesting and appealing to me than American Apparel Cotton would be on its own.  I'm quite pleased with the result, and I hope it holds up for a few days do I can add Konad  to it, as I'd hoped to but didn't get around to adding to the last few.

I found a few good things in that little box of untrieds I stumbled upon, so I set aside a few of them to show you soon.  I also found some odd items, such as a refill bottle of Seche Clear base coat, which I don't currently use and don't recall ever using regularly.  All I remember about the stuff is that my nails stained easily when I used it, so I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with a big refill bottle of it.  I wish I'd tape a note explaining why I've chosen to own something before placing it in a box!

That's the scoop for today, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you! 

American Apparel Butter & BM10

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today's Nails of the Day is American Apparel Butter with a pattern from Bundle Monster Plate BM10 stamped in Psyche Pink Konad Special Polish.

Butter is a pale yellow creme and applied, well, like butter.  It was good in two coats with no problems.

American Apparel Butter Nail Polish, Two Coats

It looked a little plain though, so I added some little flowers from plate BM10.

American Apparel Butter Nail Polish, Two Coats, with BM10 in Psyche Pink

That's it for today, Dear Reader.  Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!  

Pink Manicures

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have some pink manicures to show you, one from last week, and today's in two parts.

The one from last week is CND Sweet, a carnation pink creme, which was a two-coater, topped with one coat of CND Sugar Sparkle, a white sparkle polish with little white flaky bits in it.  This is with top coat.

CND Sweet Nail Polish, Two Coats, with One Coat CND Sugar Sparkle

Today's is in two parts because I started with the base color, American Apparel Coney Island, yesterday.  After more acetone and whitening products, I got the green from Malibu Green off of my skin, but I didn't take the picture until this morning.  One thing I noticed in selecting a picture was that at the outside corner of my thumb nail, I have a little chip already, which is no good.  However, Coney Island is a pretty color and a $5 two-coater, so I can live with it.

American Apparel Coney Island Nail Polish, Two Coats

I'm wearing pink and black today, so I added a tip pattern to Coney Island in Konad Black Pearl Special Polish from Konad plate M80.  It's a little cutesy, but hearts are where my mood is these days.

American Apparel Coney Island Nail Polish, Two Coats, with Konad M80

Those are the pink manicures I have to show you, and that's about it for today.  Until tomorrow, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  

A Tale of Two Cities

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm not really going to make up a tale of two cities, just today's Nails of the Day is two polishes with cities in their names, and I couldn't resist the title.

The first part of the manicure is American Apparel Malibu Green, a blue green creme.  This one barely needed two coats for me.  Here it is complete with top coat.

American Apparel Malibu Green Nail Polish, Two Coats

I'd planned to Konad it, but ran into my bottle of China Glaze Atlantis while Malibu Green was drying, and thought a coat of Atlantis over it would be fun.  I added one coat of Atlantis and another coat of top coat, and it's pretty smooth with just the one coat of top coat over Atlantis.  I selected a picture without the most clear focus to give you a hint at how holo Atlantis is - it's much more so in person.

China Glaze Atlantis Nail Polish, One Coat over American Apparel Malibu Green

That's my glitterific Nails of the Day.  Until tomorrow, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!  

American Apparel L'Esprit & Konad M74

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This week I got my first American Apparel nail polishes after they recently had a free shipping code - I got a couple of the 3 for $15 sets.  I figured for $5 each, if I hated any or they were broken in transit, it was no great loss.

I'd gotten the packages earlier in the week, but was reluctant to open them after reading many accounts of the bottles of polish being thrown in a box with no padding at all and being broken, so I just opened them this morning.  It turns out whoever packed my boxes, three sent separately,was a little compulsive with the bubble wrap.  Each bottle was like a little ball of bubble wrap encased in packing tape - they were very safely packed with no casualties.

The one I tried first, today's Nails of the Day, was L'Esprit, a bluish lavender creme (all of the American Apparel polishes are cremes, I think).  I was wary of the brush, as it looked a little moppy, but it worked great - very easy to control.  The polish was a bit thick and very well pigmented with one coat being almost sufficient, so I used two coats.  I thought it needed a little something when I finished, so I stamped it with a pattern from Konad plate M74 using Konad Violet Pearl Special Polish.

American Apparel L'Esprit Nail Polish, Two Coats, and Konad M74 in Konad Violet Pearl

I saw the smudge of the Konad polish on my ring finger before selecting a picture, but was surprised that there are other smudges.  They show in the magnified pictures, but not just looking at my nails.

I've been a holdout on the American Apparel polished for a while now, but I'm really impressed with this one.  The only thing I can complain about is the company selling them, but I don't like to whine about that kind of thing here.  If you don't know what I mean, Google for articles about their CEO, advertising, and hiring practices, and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about.  As far as the product itself, no complaints at all, I like it.

That's the update for today, Dear Reader.  Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!