Sweet Baby Octopolish!

I read a book recently that cited a study where people wearing red shirts were deemed more attractive ... a phenomenon not only where men can't help but stare at the woman in the red dress a la The Matrix, but where chicks dig red on guys, too.  In other words, it's no surprise when I'm stumped for color that the man suggests red. indoor, CF lighting Emily de Molly is really rocking it lately with her contrast shimmers, especially those with a metallic or foiled look.  Looks Can Kill is one of those interesting polishes that looks super different in different lighting. outdoor, shady daylight When viewed straight on, Looks Can Kill is most definitely red.  In brighter lighting, the duochrome shimmer overlay shines very much like the gleam on satin taffeta, visible where the light reflects but utterly gone in the shadows.  outdoor, direct sunlight With a little shift in angle, though, the base color softens up to a rosy pink rather than true red, and...

With the re-emergence of some sunshine, it was time for a sparkly linear holo; with my nails down to shorties, a chic dark color was in order. indoor, CF lighting Glisten & Glow released Asteroid Belt as part of the November 2017 Holo Hookup Box, and the deep sapphire/navy with the coppery contrast shimmer had me at 'hello.' outdoor, direct sunlight bright window-filtered daylight In addition to a lovely linear holo arc (more prominent than some of these pics, but not ZOMG in your face), Asteroid Belt has a light scattering of tiny holographic microglitters that come out best in lower lighting. outdoor, shady daylight This was a one-and-a-half coater - not quite opaque in a single swipe, but fairly close.  The formula was smooth and easy to work with, ideal since blues this dark can otherwise be such a pain to scrub out of your cuticles. outdoor, direct sunlight - the most accurate as to *how* holo we're talking about here This wore a littl...

My sister's birthday is the day after mine, and hers this year is a big one with a zero on the end.  She planned out an utterly amazing and relaxing week lounging in wine country for the two of us and our spouses, so wine-themed nails were certainly necessary. outdoor, overcast daylight I started with 2 easy coats of Suzy's all time fave gold, OPI Glitzerland.  It has a softly shimmery metallic finish, more hammered metal than liquid chrome, and dries into a nicely thin accumulation of shimmer no matter how many coats you wanted to stack up. outdoor, overcast daylight To create my wine country look, I've used a grape & vine motif from Messy Mansion 75 and the utterly ideal for this purpose El Corazon Vinous.  While I absolutely love each of the designs on this plate, all but the tiniest accent images are way too wide to fit on a nail, and unfortunately I think that the piece of the design is a lot less clear as to what it is than the whole design on the pl...

After loving Heather's Hues first foray into thermal + Clarins 230 type shimmer , I had to snap up the tonal green version when a restock rolled around, and it currently being thermal weather and my currently having thermal-length nails, AND needing a good green for St Patrick's day... indoor, bright CF lighting Like her blue-purple sister Ethereal, Spruce it Up is a tri-thermal with 3 different color shifts depending on temperature, liberally dusted with "unicorn pee" shimmer.  The major difference in the look of these two polishes is that instead of Ethereal's obvious color changes, Spruce it Up is a tonal thermal, shifting more subtly between different tints of green. window-filtered bright sunlight In it's darkest state, Spruce it UP is a deep pine evergreen.  Tonal thermals tend to make very nice transitions without any weird or off colors in between, and this is no exception. outdoor, bright sunlight As Spruce warms up a bit, it becom...

On occasion, something I order shows up looking even more magnificent than the pics led me to believe, and ends up jumping to the front of the line of untrieds clamoring for attention. indoor, CF lighting That there bottle shot tells you most everything you need to know about the gloriously sparkly Shleee Polish Beauxbatons: we have a lovely cornflower blue filled to overflowing with aurora shimmer so vibrant that it borders on metallic, and just to tip it over the top, has a light scattering of holo dust thrown in. window-filtered afternoon sunlight That aurora shimmer is particularly shifty, going from a saturated rose red through gold (above) and of course on over to acid green (more intensely than the below photo captures). window-filtered direct sunlight window-filtered shady daylight Beauxbatons was nearly visually opaque in 2 coats, but a 3rd intensified both the blue base and the oomph of the shifty shimmer.  Despite how sheer the first coat went ...

I really love my bookclub - we pick a fairly broad range of eclectic selections, and it's a super fun group of people.  I don't do themed nails for every meeting (inspiration has to strike, after all!), but for this month it was just too easy to be right on point to pass up the chance. This month, the pick was one I'd read way back in college, not terribly long after it came out.  I took my inspiration straight from the cover, with green leaves on an orange background, plus the titular gorilla. Girly Bits I'm Your Venus provided a lovely metallic copper in 2 easy coats.  Using images from MoYou London Enchanted 07 plate, I stamped the leaf patterns (both by themselves, and the design with the leaves framing the gorilla) in Emily de Molly green, then overstamped the gorilla alone in black. Pickup was pretty perfect for the leaves alone, but less so for the gorilla image, unusual since MYL's plates tend to be some of the easiest to work with in my colle...

The intermittent warming up of things means it's occasionally time for thermal weather, and we all know we gotta try these out ASAP before they fade! indoor, bright CF lighting The Shimmer Me box was a project hosted by Native War Paints with monthly guests; the project appears to have been on hiatus for a few months now.  As per usual with boxes, I don't often have a hankering for everything on offer, and try to pick up the ones I do like solo from someone splitting things out. window-filtered daylight A Cold Day in Texas was part of January 2018's box, and suckerpunched me with both the Texas thing (sing the song of my homeland!) and the lovely denim blue cold color. outdoors, overcast daylight In the cold state, Cold Day is absolutely well worn denim.  It's a lovely blue with a nice shimmer - par for the box's theme - that theoretically has matching blue microflake scattered throughout that only becomes apparent when the color transitions into ...