Return to the Dark Side

Okay I must confess, despite all the pastels and brights I've been wearing lately...I've always been kinda a vampy girl. I rocked the black polish (way back when it was still just "goth", not "chic"). I love color, but there's never anything quite like a deep, rich, saturated dark...with a little added sparkle, of course.

Urban Outfitters Mystic is just that: a lovely, serene deep blue jelly with specks of fiery orange-shifting flakies. Mmmm.

This was opaque at 3 thin coats, and I think I'm in love. Sparkly toppers with a clear base are nice and all, but there's nothing quite like the depth of a jelly-and-sprinkles combo polish. I hear this is a possible dupe to Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light...if it's true, the price difference will make it a steal.

If vampies in spring are your thing, pick up Mystic at Urban Outfitters for $5 a pop!

Cosmic Daylights

My mani for this week is one of those colors that you've wanted for forever, and yet when you finally get it, it sits unworn in your drawer for months while you're distracted by other pretties. As previously mentioned, the ORLY Cosmic FX collection is THE collection that got me into polish, and Hailey's Comet is one of my favorites from that collection--teal is one of my favorite colors, after all, how could I not? Hailey's Comet is a dupe for OPI Catch Me In Your Net and Zoya Charla, but ORLY is definitely my favorite brand in terms of wear and price.

After wearing Hailey's by itself for a few days, tipwear was starting to appear thanks to the shrinkage I got while testing Seche Vite. I wasn't ready to give up my gorgeously sparkling tips just yet, so I patched them up with an extra coat of Hailey's Comet and did a glitter gradient mani with OPI The Living Daylights.

Hailey's Comet is a foil that applied in an easy 3 coats, and had a nice, thin formula that wasn't too watery. The gold particles among the teal was completely stunning! Topped with The Living Daylights, which is a mix of champagne gold, silver, copper, and teal hex glitters, made a great contrast. I don't much like it simply layered over the entire nail, but it's so much fun when done into a gradient mani! The dab method was most effective in depositing glitters with this mani, as the glitter pieces didn't seem to want to leave the brush.

Overall this is one of my favorite manis in a while! It really screams summer to me--I'll definitely be wearing this combination again throughout the warmer months.

Pastels...for Spring. Groundbreaking.

I'd apologize for the inconsistent posting, but let's be honest...this is going to be a regular thing. So, onward! Today's mani is Lynnderella Ghost of a Chance over Essie Marshmallow. I know, layering white matte and pastel glitters over a white is SO obvious, SO done...anyone care to guess exactly how many fucks I give about that? As far as I'm concerned, pastels over white go together like butter and raspberry jam (and if you guessed 0 fucks, you were correct).

I mean, look at this:

Ghost of a Chance is composed of multi-sized pastel matte glitter containing white and pink satin hearts and holographic microglitter. The formula was workable; most of the smaller glitters brush on with no problem. I did have to "place" the larger heart glitters, but it wasn't too difficult. My mani here was done with 2 normal coats of Ghost, with placed heart glitter. Marshmallow was streaktastic as usual, requiring 3 coats until it even began to resemble evenness, but until I find a better white jelly, it's here to stay as a staple base color.

Lynnderella Ghost of a Chance is available for purchase through her Ebay store for $23!

A Dream of Warmer Weather

I am ready for spring. I'm ready for sundresses, bare legs, and pastels! Unfortunately the weather here in NYC is the most bipolar I've ever seen it--a nice, balmy 57F one minute, and then dropping down to a chilly, windy 42 within a matter of a couple hours, leaving me with nothing but gooseprickles and the wish that I'd worn a sweater. I guess it's best to keep it springy on my fingertips and bundle up everywhere else, for now...

Revlon Heavenly atop Sinful Colors Cinderella is the perfect wishful-spring mani! Cinderella is definitely my favorite pale blue base--the slightly translucent quality of its formula plus the pink/gold shimmer keeps it from getting too chalky, and it's an easy three coats to opacity. Heavenly is a ethereal, dreamy sheer polish packed with hex and square iridescent glitter (it also happens to be a dupe of Deborah Lippmann Stairway to Heaven), and since it's so glitter-dense it only took one coat to achieve the look here!

Leprechaun Day

For St. Patrick's Day I have an old mani (actually from *last* year's St. Patrick's Day) to show you; I was busy with school and work and actually didn't have the chance to don this polish this year...nevertheless I hope you enjoy the gorgeous Zoya Ivanka!

 
Ivanka is a stunning emerald green glassfleck with hints of gold at certain angles. I'm wearing 3 coats here. The formula was thin and flowed easily, so I had no problems with application.

Valentine's Day

So V-day is a commercialized holiday. Still doesn't mean it's not fun to dress up! I'll be wearing my heart backseam tights and red cardigan at work today, with Revlon Candy Apple Lip Butter...and on my nails, OPI Guy Meets Gal-veston topped with Happy Hands Cadance.

Cadance is filled with pale pink and hot pink glitters of various shapes and sizes, blue/purple iridescent glitter, and pale pink heart glitter! It's a perfect pairing for Guy Meets Gal-veston. Cadance has a nice, easy formula and was very easy to work with. It was a limited edition polish created by by my pal Kristi of Happy Hands, with proceeds being donated to Covenant Pet Trust, a local non-profit organization!

This is 3 coats of Guy Meets Gal-veston with two coats of Cadance. You can get your own bottle of candylike goodness for $10 from Kristi's Etsy shop!

Saturday is Haul Day!

I'm getting paid today and I've been feeling pretty blues-y. Even though on the whole my life is on the fast track to getting way, way better, there are still some major kinks to work out before that happens...I usually handle stress pretty well but for me that just means not freaking out all over the place, so unfortunately it gets internalized and if there's too much of it for weeks and weeks I start to get really bummed out.

When I feel myself on the cusp of getting inconsolable, I have two knee-jerk reactions: to eat, or to shop. "How very girly of you," says NBF (New BoyFriend) A. I assume A is referring to some of my, um, less ladylike habits when he says this, the topic of which is a constant running joke among us. Regardless, with swimsuit season coming up in just four short months the ensuing guilt over pigging out is just not worth it to me...so clothes it is! Off we go to UrbanOutfitters.com.

Kimchi Blue Back-Stitch Cardigan | Staring At Stars Plush Spacedye Convertible Gloves | Kimchi Blue Teen Dream Oxfords

 001.The original price on this cardi is $69, but I got it for $9. Woot for deals! I got mine in a size L because I prefer a super-long oversized fit. That's just how I roll.

002. I've always liked the overall look of oxfords but in general I prefer something simpler than the classic version--the perforated edge has always just been a little too much for me. Luckily with their recent resurgence of popularity, there are a lot of styles to choose from. With their comparatively feminine silhouette and the pretty soft lavender shade, these leather oxfords were a no-brainer.

003. I had a pair of really nice wool convertible mittens from Muji, but in the recent move one seems to have wandered off. I bought a pair of cute striped gloves to replace them, but it's really inconvenient to have to whip it off each time I want to use my iPod. Convertible handcoverings really are the way to go. I managed to nab these on sale for $9.

And there you have it...almost as good as a huge bowl of pasta.

The Gardens on the Moon

 

I'm attending an office party today, and the attire is business casual but I was in the mood to be glam! Enter ORLY Lunar Eclipse topped with Lynnderella The Garden of Even. I was originally planning on wearing The Garden of Even over ORLY Bubbly Bombshell, but then I decided to pick undies that would help the fuchsia glitters pop more. I hear jewel tones are still in.
 

Shown here is 3 coats of Lunar Eclipse, 1 coat of The Garden of Even. Lunar Eclipse had a great, thin formula as usual, and a stunning cobalt-purple color shift. It was part of the Cosmic FX collection, which is actually the collection that started it all, the polishes that birthed my obsession with polish, so I am quite fond of it out of nostalgia as well as because it's completely breathtaking.

The Garden of Even did not exactly apply completely even--it's from Lady Lynn's Summer Solstice collection, and contains "intentionally bleeding glitter" as a component to tint the base a translucent, slightly neon fuchsia. Unfortunately since the base is very thick (all the better to suspend the glitter with my dear!) while I had no problems with actual application and was able to get away with brushing it on like with a normal polish as opposed to using the "dab method", the slight tint of fuchsia in the base did apply somewhat unevenly because the formula didn't level well. It's hardly noticeable over a darker base like Lunar Eclipse, but I suspect it will be more obvious over pale underwear so something to keep in mind. Overall though, I'm extremely pleased with this mani and I can't wait to get to the party!

Lynnderella nail lacquer is available for purchase through her Ebay store for $22.50.

Holographic Pokemon cards are better than regular, so I figured that applies to nail polish.

This is a mani done with Urban Outfitters Holo Pink. It's so pretty and shimmering and rainbow-y that I can't stop staring at my nails. I started a new job yesterday and even my coworkers noticed it--and when I mentioned what a hard time I'd been having finding employment, one guy said "well that's because you didn't show them your AWESOME nail paint"...hahaha.

in sunlight

in artificial light

with flash

These had a lovely, thin, easy-to-work with formula, very pigmented and packed with holographic pigments. It took only 2 coats to achieve opacity! One of the more expensive polishes in my collection, but to me it's completely worth it.

Urban Outfitters Holo Pink is $10 at your local UO :)

A Very Holo Holidays

I ordered a few things from Urban Outfitters yesterday, and right before checking out I remembered I wanted to get a few of their holographic nail polishes too. I pull up the page on their website only to see they were sold out online! Drat.

Today after my job interview I realized there was a UO right on the next block...the temptation to browse was too great (my eternal downfall) so I strolled in, and lo and behold, they had a huge display full of the holos! I picked up the pink and green "hologram" polishes. I'm still pretty happy since these are the first polishes in my collection to have such strong holo :D I might even have to go back and get the silver one too.  

 Urban Outfitters Hologram polishes are $10 each. They're sold out (for now--cross your fingers for a restock!) online, but you might still be able to find them at your local UO!