Sweet Baby Octopolish!

 I wasn't ready to let go of purple, so the next pastel mani is lavender candy hearts for Valentine's Day. all pics indoors, bright CF lighting I've started this look with 3 coats of Rescue Beauty Lounge Will They Won't They, a slightly greyed lavender with subtle aqua metallic shimmer. For the adorable hearts, I'm using the utterly fantastic Let's Converse plate from Lantern & Wren.  It has hearts and heart outlines in 2 sizes, and literally dozens of candy heart sayings, ranging from traditional to cute to anti-V-day.  There's even a tiny alphabet in the same font if you want to make up your own sayings, or use someone's name.  Because the detail in this plate is very fine small lines, I did have to make a couple attempts to pick up some of the images, but ultimately each of them worked out great.  I love this plate and probably will continue to use it every year .  Grab yours direct from Lantern & Wren . ~Michelle 

 The man picked "purple" when I was stumped for a color, but I was feeling very pastel instead of vampy and this little gem fit my mood just right. indoor, bright CF lighting Ethereal has a certain aesthetic she sticks to most of the time, and this polish falls right within that type - it is indeed ethereal, cool-toned and sheer, with enough sparkles for a faery queen. outdoor, shady/overcast daylight This particular example starts with a softly sheer lavender base - I file polishes by color, and this one is with other lavender purples - that is absolutely filled to the brim with a duochromatic shimmer that's a metallic light aqua in direct light, then shifts to a lavender almost the same color as the base at angles. outdoor, bright angled sunlight Added to the sparkle factor, this proto has a very finely milled linear holo that's beautiful in bright light and fully hidden by the contrast shimmer in lower light. indoor, bright CF lighting You can see a bit of VNL in s...

Last week, someone in one of my nail art FB groups posted a gorgeous mani with stylized layered pine trees in bright jeweltone crèmes, which reminded me: hey, I have a ton of nature-themed stamping plates that include different pine trees... indoor, bright CF lighting Shleee Polish releases new stuff each Friday, and more often than not includes a weekly mystery.  These are truly unknowns - no hints at all as to color or finish - and though I tend to avoid such things, her creations are so unique it's hard to pass one of these by if there's already treats in my shopping cart.  This one, Softy, is an indeed soft lavender with pearly lilac shimmer and a light scattering of very fine holo dust.  I'm showing 2 coats here, but might go with a 3rd if I was going to wear it solo.  outdoor, bright afternoon sunlight I loved the twilight-sky glow of Softy so much that I abandoned plans for candy-colored trees and kept the rest natural.  My ring finger is part of a mounta...

The man picked "blue, but a bright blue, not like navy" when I was stumped on a polish pick this week, and it's been rainy and overcast enough that I figured a duochrome was in order. indoor, bright CF lighting What's Your Damage? was Nvr Enuff's contribution to last year's 80s themed PPU, with the name being the most frequently quoted bit from Heathers.  I'd lent the movie this week to a coworker who'd never seen it (!!) so this all seemed to come right together. outdoor, overcast daylight While I love this movie and I love this color, I'm gonna have to say the two have nothing to do with each other.  I really don't see anything of Heathers' color scheme in here, more like that of a smoky cyber punk tale. outdoor, bright sunlight WYD starts with a violet base somewhere between lavender and faded blue jeans.  On top, we have a very metallic, very flashy, subtly shifty shimmer that goes from pale aqua to electric neon bl...

After a few days of cheerfully bright sunshine and increasing temperatures, I was most certainly feeling the need for a bright linear holo. indoor, CF lighting Emily de Molly Flatline is hands-down one of the most blindingly linear holos I own.  Even in fluorescent office lighting, there's still a hint of a flame arc on the nail surface, so while the color is a soft, muted lavender/lilac that would otherwise be quite office appropriate, it's still pretty flashy as hell, especially in the sunlight. indoor, bright CF lighting The color is one of those I could never quite nail down as far as which precise shade of pale purple it really is.  I have it filed as a more pink-tinged lilac, but on the nail in some lighting it appeared more blue-leaning lavender.  Since I liked the play between the two colors, I stamped with saturated pastels in each shade, Esmaltes da Kelly Maria and Wendy, using alternating zig-zag stripes from BM-423. bright afternoon sunlight ...

After a pair of bold and bright colors, I was in the mind for a more pastel palate cleanser, and a stroll through my shelf of palest purples brought this long neglected bottle to my attention. indoor, bright CF lighting Reverie Lacquer has been retired & gone for well over a year now, but Nightfall made several best of lists the year it came out.  I have it listed as "stone purple" in my spreadsheet, so I know it was always a greyed out lavender, but looking at other folks' swatches around ye olde interwebs, I do believe mine has faded a touch. outdoor, direct bright sunlight Nightfall is a fairly sheer crelly leaning toward jelly base that needed 3 coats for the opacity you see here.  There's a softly sparkling of holo, even more subtle and shimmery than what's typically found in a England's signature finish, and a healthy helping of beautiful aquamarine microflakies. indoor, window-filtered daylight All of my pics here seem color a...