Sweet Baby Octopolish!

 Spring has been well on its way for some time now, so the man selected green as my next color, "but, like a pale springtime green," he said.  A-ha!  Another untried gem left too long... indoor, bright CF lighting I have and love a few other Cirque polishes with this silver foil flake finish, and like those others, Sencha is absolutely amazing. outdoor, shady daylight Sencha is a soft seafoam green - for folks that don't like teal (or don't like the lobster-handed look that some teal polishes unfortunately give), this is ideal as it doesn't lean blue at all. indoor, bright CF lighting It's a really unique finish, and while I think the idea of tinting silver flakes was popular for a hot minute, I really don't think I have anything else that's like this.  The flakes that make up the foil are quite fine, and even at a single coat do not look patchy.  It's also a smoother gleam than the "hammered metal" finish I get with some other looks (whi...

 Everybody has a quarantine hobby, and mine is birdwatching.  Being able to get out into the world for a hike meant that I got to see so many new wonderful things while the rest of the world was closed, and this is utterly responsible for my ongoing sanity.  Now that things are gradually opening up again, I don't find that anything about this in particular has changed - my love of nature zen is still going strong. indoor, CF lighting Still being very new to the hobby (just a year of birds, and of course only those in my local area), I'm still constantly surprised and delighted by new-to-me species.  Baltimore Orioles are summertime residents in this area, returning in spring and raising their kiddos here, then leaving for the tropics in the fall .  Despite my looking for them all last summer, no luck, and many people in the local birding groups lament the lack of these bright citrus-colored jewels being lured to their feeders. OMG!!!! The first time I saw one of...

 I keep asking myself "how on earth could something so beautiful be locked away untried in the stash for so long?" when I pull out an older yet inexplicably unloved polish... and then something like this leaps out of the package and straight onto my nails because OOH SHINY. outdoor, shady daylight Ethereal Lacquer is easily the most accurately named brand out there, with these beautifully otherworldly shimmer polishes being her distinctive house style.   outdoor, bright daylight Silver Crystal is not even slightly silver, but is most certainly crystalline, tilting from gold to green to aqua to pink.  It's a clear base with very fine-milled iridescent shimmer particle of a sort that several brands have released lately.  Most folks are either showing this over white to get a faery-worthy pearlesence, or of course over black to make the shifty shimmer really pop, but the density of the shimmer had me wanting to try this on its own. window-filtered direct daylight I...

 In today's episode of "why has that sat untried for this long" we have Pahlish Space Cowboy. indoor, CF lighting Space Cowboy was the heart of a Cowboy Bebop-themed collection from a few years ago.  My love of that show + my love of this color meant it had to come home with me. outdoor, bright daylight A super sparkly aurora shimmer provides the wow factor here, and it easily shifts from ruby to gold to a peridot green. indoor, CF lighting outdoor, bright daylight The blue base is a shade that's rather hard to nail down.  It's definitely dusty, like slightly faded denim, so somewhere between navy and cadet and stormcloud.   indoor, bright CF lighting I'm wearing 2 coats here, which I found to be surprising.  Usually to let shimmer gleam through this boldly, a base color has to be at least a little sheer.  But nope, quick and easy 2 coats and done. outdoor, bright daylight My swatches do show this a bit more shifty than in most real-life condition...

 And here are the nominees for this year's Best Picture Oscar!  I almost didn't do my annual nail extravaganza, since an in-person Oscar party is not yet possible, but a) so many people asked about them and b) I realized many of these movies could be summed up with a single simple stamp.  As with recent years, in order of my favorites (index to pinky on each hand): Promising Young Woman (one of the movie posters was neon pink lipstick on a mirror) The Trial of the Chicago 7 (a gavel over some groovy 60/70s fool's gold) Nomadland (an RV cruising through purple mountains majesty) The Sound of Metal (music notes fading to grey) The Father (the window he looks out of) Judas and the Black Messiah (Fred Hampton's microphone over the deep red from the poster) Mank (black & white clapperboard) Minari (the green cash crop going up in flames) Hope your Oscars pool was a winner! ~Michelle