Models Own Beetle Juice Aqua Violet

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today I have one of the Models Own Beetle Juice nail polishes to show you, Aqua Violet.  I'd say of other duochrome polishes, it most reminds me of Sally Hansen Nail Prisms Turquoise Opal.  Since Aqua Violet is more opaque than Turquoise Opal, I used it alone, but I think next time I'll layer over black to see how it works out that way.

For this manicure, I used base coat, three coats of Aqua Violet (two coats of color was almost enough, but not quite), and one coat of Tout de Suite to dry it.  I took a bunch of pictures in different natural light to give you a look at it.

Models Own Beetle Juice Aqua Violet Nail Polish, Direct Sunlight

Models Own Beetle Juice Aqua Violet Nail Polish with Sunlight from Left

Models Own Beetle Juice Aqua Violet Nail Polish in Partial Sunlight

Models Own Beetle Juice Aqua Violet Nail Polish in the Shade

It's a good one.  It seems the lower the light, the more duochrome-y it is, which makes it interesting to shift around.

That's Models Own Aqua Violet and the first of their Beetle Juice polishes I have to show you, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

LCN Magnetic Polish fun

I was given the opportunity to try LCN Magnetic polishes and they are so fun!This is the kit I was sent...The magnets are great! One is the star and the other stripesI used Fuschia Attraction and Green Temptation and both magnetsI alternated the magnets because well I like it that wayThese polishes are straight one coat colors, no layering needed. I love that!This was my first try using these so

Dark Angel and her Stardust

I received the sweetest RAOK (random act of kindness)a couple of weeks ago from Jennifer of  The Polished Pirate Blog, she sent me a little pretty that's been on my wishlist for a while....MAC's Dark Angel! YAY I know the color isn't anything all that unique and I'm not big on MAC's formula but I NEEDED this one because of the name....it was meant to be mine! Thank you so much Jennifer, I love

Who doesn't love an Emerald Isle

This is another beautiful Best Nail Treatments colorEmerald Isle is a gorgeous Emerald green slightly blackened background with a teal shimmerIn the bottle it looks like a deep teal but on the nail you can see more of the EmeraldThis is 2 coats in lightbox lightingI love the formula, it's so easy to work with and so far non of the colors I've used (including this one) stained my hands or nails. I

FingerPaints To-teally Chic & Konad m63

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I went with another from the FingerPaints Fall Fashionista Collection, To-teally Chic.  It the teal creme, as the name implies, and I used two coats for perfectly smooth, opaque, shiny goodness.  After it had dried, I stamped it with the ribbon-y pattern from Konad plate m63 in Konad White Pearl Special Polish.

My stamping fell a little short of my usual standards, I think because of the humidity.  Everything through picking up the stamp was business as usual, but applying the stamp, the polish stuck to the stamper and only about half of it transferred to my nails with the other half staying on the stamp.  Some polishes have done that before, but White Pearl never has and it's a color (and particular bottle of that color ) which gets plenty of use, so it seems like it has to be an outside factor.  Since I was left with light image on the stamper after applying, rather than double stamp to cover the small edge that was left bare, I just applied leftover bits from the stamper to fill it in.  Some came off, some stayed stuck, but I was able to finish the mani that way.

FingerPaints To-teally Chic Nail Polish with Konad Plate m63

See?  Not great, but not awful.  If I'd managed to make super clean stamps, in which case I would have done a careful double-stamp to fill in rather than a half-assed job of using stamper leftovers, this one could have been really striking, I think.  I'll have to give it another shot after either the weather lightens up a bit or I figure out a workaround.

That's today's near miss of a manicure, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams

Good morning, Dear Reader!

After spending many days of being able to see through my tips with Revlon Fizzes, I wanted to change to a good opaque polish.  I chose an oldy, Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams.

Laura Mercier hasn't put out nail polish for at least a couple of years now, I think, but I loved them when they did.  I'd liken them to Dior with respect to overall quality - they're extremely well pigmented with one coat being almost sufficient, are so easy to control they pretty much apply themselves, and some of the colors are spectacular.  Caviar Dreams is in the Spectacular category.  I recall when Chanel Black Pearl came out that at least one person asked me if it was a dupe for Caviar Dreams, and at the time the likelihood of me locating this one to compare was virtually nil, but I was sure that Caviar Dreams was far more duochrome and I managed to get some pictures that at least hint at its spectacularity (I know that's not a real word, but it's a fun word).

This is Caviar Dreams in direct bright sunlight.  You can see that it's a charcoal shimmer and there's something going on with a bit of teal in the shimmer, but the duochrome effect is largely washed out in the brightest lighting.

Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams Nail Polish, Two Coats in Direct Sunlight

I wandered around taking pictures in different light to see how many of its colors I could catch, and partially lit with bright sunlight, the kind of purple-pink side of Caviar Dreams shows up.  Indoors, that pinkish cast shows over the whole nail well, but in light bright enough for a color accurate picture it's just in a few spots.

Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams Nail Polish, Two Coats in Partial Sunlight

Completely in the shade, I was able to get a good look at the teal in Caviar Dreams, which is also apparent in indoor lighting.

Laura Mercier Caviar Dreams Nail Polish, Two Coats in the Shade

Pretty cool, huh?  This is a good one, so I'm glad I stumbled upon it while looking for something completely different.  Really good duochromes are so few and far between that I always really enjoy one when I wear it - it's fun to make my nails change colors in the sunlight while sitting at traffic lights.

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

Dark Princess with Dragon's Wing

This was a request from my Tweeter girls.We were talking lipstick and combo's and I mentioned how prettyEvil Shades Dark Princess is when you top it with ES Hardcore lips Dragon's Wing and as the saying goes...It doesn't exist unless there are pictures! lolIn shade you can just see a bit of the teal shimmer and a bluer tone to Dark PrincessIndoor lighting it looks more blurpleIn direct sunlight

Holo franken nails & my bestest Fangirl

I was playing around with frankens the other day and as much as I likedthe base colors they still needed something......glitter? No Holographic glitter, YES!And wouldn't you know not a bit of sunshine! *sigh*Oh wait...they match my hair! :o)The pink shows off her holo a bit more than the teal. (Teal is a little shy)I will wear them again when we have sunshine so you can see the pretty holo

L'Oreal Blue Marine

Good morning, Dear Reader!

This morning I changed my polish to L'Oreal Blue Marine, the sparkly blue from the L'Oreal Summer Siren Collection, after wearing my Fourth of July manicure for three days.  I'll tell you, the red OPI did not hold up spectacularly well - I had quite a few chips, which is what prompted me to change it.  Anyhow, the need to change it gave me the opportunity to try out Blue Marine, so that's alright...

Blue Marine is really a three-coater for me, after two I could still see through my tips a bit.  The coats were very thin, but the pigment in this polish (the kind that seems like tiny flakes) doesn't seem to appreciate thick coats, so three it is.  I topped it off with some quick dry top coat and went to take pictures in the sun.

L'Oreal Blue Marine Nail Polish, Three Coats

Although I like this one quite a bit, there is some disappointment.  When I showed you a bottle picture of Blue Marine, I'd mentioned that there was a purple duochrome effect in the bottle that wasn't showing up in the picture.  Well, it ain't showing up on my nails, either, not in any light at all.  I applied it in a bright room with morning sun shining in through sheer curtains and could see it on the brush, but not on my nails at all, it clearly doesn't show in the sun, didn't in the shade, and doesn't here in a room with low natural light.  Now, in the post with the bottle picture, I recall at least one comment assuring me the duochrome shows up when the polish is applied, so I think this one might be a little trickier than most to get the purple to show up.  All I can think of that would make it show up for others and not me would be the curve and shape of a person's nail bed.  Mine have an unusually strong C curve (the curve left to right over the nail bed), which usually makes duochromes show up really well, but it's not helping me any here.  Regardless of the cause, my own experience is disappointment that zero purple show for me, but I know that others have had a better outcome.

That's just about all there is to tell you about today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Essie Trophy Wife

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today's manicure is just a simple nail polish, Essie Trophy Wife.  When I started it out I'd planned to stamp over Trophy Wife, but I like it so much on its own that I decided to leave it alone for today.  I might add more to it tomorrow...

Trophy Wife is a teal shimmer, and it applied very easily and is opaque in two thin coats.  I have no complaints to speak of, so I'll just show you the picture, taken outside on a cloudy day.

Essie Trophy Wife Nail Polish, Two Coats

This one's definitely a keeper.  That's just about all there is to tell you today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze Oxidized Aqua Crackle

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have a picture I haven't shown you yet of China Glaze Oxidized Aqua from the Metal Crackles, so that'll have to do for today.  I wanted to try it out over a contrasting base color, so I picked OPI Ate Berries in the Canaries, and this is what I came up with.

China Glaze Oxidized Aqua Crackle over OPI Ate Berries in the Canaries

Not my worst, not my best... I do think Oxidized Aqua is pretty cool though.

I'll have to scamper off and come up with something better for tomorrow, so until then, love and nail polish to you!

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'm back much sooner than I'd planned because I have swatches of the upcoming China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals to show you.  China Glaze sent them for review and they arrived this morning, and once the bottles had cooled down to room temperature, I got to swatching.

I used them all over a charcoal shimmer - I figured charcoal would let them show up well and show us their opacity, and I thought shimmer would work better with the almost-chrome finish of all six Crackle Glaze Metals.  I did just single nail swatches for this preliminary test drive and look at them - in addition to the fact that I was racing predicted storms for sunlight and didn't want to change lighting conditions halfway through, all six are gorgeous and I'd rather put a little more thought and effort into full manicures with them than just pairing them with charcoal.

Since I used three colors on each hand I split them up as I figured you'd want to see them, putting the true metallics (silver, gold, bronze) one one hand and the others (teal, pink, lavender) on the other so you can see how they look relative to one another.  They all have top coat, and this is in good sunlight.

First, we'll look at the true metals.  They are, from the top down, Cracked Medallion (bronze), Tarnished Gold (gold) and Platinum Pieces (silver).

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals Swatches, Round I

I think you can see how well these apply, and the application was  the same for all six shades in the collection.  The consistency of the polish is like normal polish, and so it was easy to apply a thin coat.  With crackles, I pay no attention to how even or opaque the crackle is during application - when it splits up, the pieces become much more opaque and things even out.  When applied, these looked somewhat sheer, but you can see that all three broke up beautifully and are opaque enough to completely cover the charcoal base between cracks.  Here's the same picture with the polish names added - I find labels on pictures can be distracting, so I figured I'd let you get a first impression without them and tack on the labelled version for reference.

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals Swatches, More Round I

As for the colors, I really like them a lot.  I've always loved metals and chromes, but the fact is, a chrome finish isn't the most forgiving.  If there's one ridge in a nail, and I have many, a chrome finish pretty much places a neon sign flashing "RIDGES" on that nail.  These have the same overall effect as regular chromes without that shortcoming, and they are really solid renditions of each color.

For Round II, also from the top down, I have Oxidized Aqua (teal), Haute Metal (pink), and Latticed Lilac (lavender).

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals Swatches, Round II

Here, you can see that these three are as opaque as and broke up just as well as the first three, and the colors are stunning.  These three will require a little more thought to pair up with good bases.  Here's the labelled version of Round II.

China Glaze Crackle Glaze Metals Swatches, More Round II

All six swatches have just the one coat of top coat, and you can see that the crackle layer isn't terribly thick, which is nice.  I'm a huge fan of this collection, and I'll be trying them out individually this week.

That's really all I have for today, Dear Reader, so until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

Mermaid Toes!

I was feeling a little Mermaidy..with a Little help fromChina Glaze Techno Teal & Funky Fingers Bella's Boy
Don't you just love mermaid, holo and glitter all in one pedicurePlus you get to see my little toezies! *giggle*Super Macro shot of the sparkliesI used 2 coats of Techno Teal, 1 coat of  Bella's Boy and topped it with Orly Polisheild.I love the sparkle and the flash of holo in certain light

China Glaze Crushed Candy Crackle

Good morning, Dear Reader!

About a week or so ago I showed you Nfu Oh 40 over Misa Quirky Smile, but what I didn't show you was that I got an extra day out of it by topping it off with China Glaze Crushed Candy, the Crackle Glaze that's about the same shade as For Audrey.  I really just wasn't particularly excited about removing the flakies, and it didn't occur to me until after I'd added Crushed Candy that I'd succeeded in making the situation a little worse.  Since we know by now that I was able to remove all of it, all's well that ends well, and it was fun while I wore it.

China Glaze Crushed Candy Crackle over Nfu Oh 40 and Misa Quirky Smile

On this one, I really like how glowy the flakes are as they peek out of the kind of muted creme shade of Crushed Candy.  I think as long as a base polish and a crackle are pretty dramatically different from one another, I'll like them together.

That's what I have for you this morning, Dear Reader.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Nfu Oh 40

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I thought I'd bring out an Nfu Oh flaky today, and I went with Nfu Oh 40. For the base color I chose Misa Quirky Smile, a teal shimmer. Quirky Smile was a two-coater, and I just ventured over to Trans Design to see what collection it's from (a recent one, I know), and noticed all of Trans Design's OPI pages are gone - everything OPI-related is just missing (TD got back to be, see update at the bottom of the page). Hmmmm... I'll have to remember to email David to ask what that's about. I also didn't find which collection the Misa's from, to get back to the topic of today's post, but that doesn't especially matter.

I added two coats of Nfu Oh 40 to Quirky Smile, and it turned out being a little bit better in real life than the best picture I could get with artificial light. It's a little mermaid-y, a little like a mosaic, and reminds me why I like Nfu Oh flakies.

Nfu Oh 40 over Misa Quirky Smile, Two Coats Each

I didn't alter this picture, I just had the good fortune of catching one where the bottle really shows how cool Nfu Oh flakies are. I only used one coat of top coat, and now that it's totally dry, the manicure could use one more to smooth it out completely, but I don't think it will take more than that. The only thing I dislike abut flaky glitters is the removal, which always makes me wish I had a mini sandblaster. I'm sure the neighbors would enjoy that show, me sitting on the lawn sandblasting away with my tiny portable sandblaster. Like they don't have enough questions about what the heck I'm up to, always taking lots of pictures of secret things I'm hiding in my hand...

That's the manicure, the made-up removal method, and the Trans Design news for today. If I'm able to get more information regarding the OPI situation, which I just stepped aside to send the email about, I'll pass it on as soon as I get it. Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



Update from Trans Design: OPI products are on a new site, www.nailsupplies.us, so they're still available. Good news for all of us!

Zoya Mod Mattes with top coat - summer 2011 swatches

A few people have requested to see the Zoya Mod Mattes with top coat so I did some very quick skittles with Poshe top coat. I hope this helps!Top to bottom: Lolly, Phoebe & MitziLolly, Phoebe & Mitzi all with one coat of Poshe'I think these 3 girls are fabulous matte or shinyPlease pardon my parched paws....I've been working a lot and forgetting my lotion.

Zoya Mod Mattes Summer 2011- swatches & review

Zoya....have you been reading my mind?Bright, bold, sassy and matte!Phoebe & MitziPhoebe- Sky blue with a teal shimmer that makes this gorgeous glowy matte look like matte teal skyMitzi- Neon lime green matte that just feels like fun in a bottleI love these two and I love them even more togetherPhoebe applies so perfectly, not like most mattes, smooth and even.Mitzi applies like most mattes,

The Hot Guy picked my manicure

the Hot guy went with me to sally when I wanted to scope outthe Tronica's and he insisted that along with Techno Teal I get finger Paints Carnation Creation because it matches my hair and it has a ring that as he put it is " Effin' sweet" so how could I say no.I layered Techno Teal over CCCarnation Creation is a beautiful Teal creme but it's application was horrible!Goopy, streaky, thick and

OPI Texas Collection- Austin-tatios Turquoise

I lived in Austin for a couple of years but I won't hold that against this color! :o)*Waves at Oldest daughter and Son in law still living there*
In the bottle this color is gorgeous...a shimmering turquoise with lots of blueOn the nail it is a greener teal with blue shimmerIt is also verrrrry sheer which disappointed meAll of these pictures are 3 coats with a definite need for a 4thApplication

Wet n Wild Teal of Fortune

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I have Wet n Wild Teal of Fortune for you, one of the new Wet n Wild Fast Dry polishes.  It a sparkly  teal that's very smooth - it seems to have big shimmer bits rather than glitter.  Here's two coats over a base with top coat.

Wet n Wild Teal of Fortune Nail Polish, Two Coats

I like it, but I thought I'd like it more with the addition of a coat of China Glaze Crushed Candy Crackle Glaze.

Wet n Wild Teal of Fortune with China Glaze Crushed Candy

That's much better!

Until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!