Jaybird's Bomb Pop!

My sweet buddy Jaybird makes the most amazing frankens, and the one I have to show you today is called Bomb Pop. In case you don't know, this is a Bomb Pop:

This is the polish that Jaybird made that was inspired by the Bomb Pop:

Pretty awesome, no? These pics show Bomb Pop at three coats. I took pictures of both my left hand and my rarely seen right hand so that I could show how the glitter distribution is on both hands.

The formula is fantastic, completely non-fussy. As with a lot of chunky glitters, I just made sure to give it a good shake to get the glitters well distributed in the polish before application. Bomb Pop also wore like iron on me. I think I wore it for four days straight, and it looked just as good on Day 4 as it did on Day 1.

Jaybird hasn't set up a shop, but you can contact her through her blog. 

TGIF, and thanks for reading!

NerdLacquer Cyance Friction

NerdLacquer is one of my favorite brands right now, and Cyance Friction has taken over the top spot as my favorite NerdLacquer to date. 

Teal base. Turquoise square glitter. Copper hexes in two sizes. Copper shimmer. All topped with a pink flash. What a fabulous combination.

The formula is great, what you see here is two easy coats. I know that other folks have had issues with getting much of the chunky glitters to show up on their nails, but I didn't even struggle with mine to get it to look this way. I gave it a really good shake before applying it though, so that may have something to do with it. That's standard operating procedure for me with chunkier glitters because I know that they tend to settle.

For a turquoise lover like me, this is pretty much perfection in a bottle. I absolutely adore it. I took a ton of pictures in both full sunlight and shade to try and show off the pink flash. Here you go:

NerdLacquers are available through Etsy, here, though be warned - demand for these has been very high, and Amanda often has to close up shop while she catches up on orders. They are also available at Harlow & Co., as well as Think Geek, but again, they're not always in stock. These babies are completely worth the wait to me though. =)

Happy Friday, y'all! Thanks for reading!

Layla Magneffect Magnetic Polish - Turquoise Wave

Magnetic polish is like... magic!

See? Magic! Seriously though, magnetic polish has been one of the most sought after things in the polish world for the last few years, ever since L'Oreal and Lancome had both introduced magnetic polishes in a very limited (from what I understand) fashion. It's making a comeback though, and brands like Nails, Inc., Essence, LCN and Layla are all producing magnetic polishes now.

Apparently some brands of magnetic polish require you to buy the magnets separately, but the Layla polishes come with a magnet attached to the cap. The idea is that there are metal particles in the polish that react to the magnet when the polish is wet. The polish dries super fast, so you have to work fast and you have to do one nail at a time. You apply the polish, then hold the magnet very close to the nail for 5 to 10 seconds, and the pattern appears on your nails.

There's a bit of a learning curve, but I did a full mani with this one with very little trouble. You should also let the polish dry completely before adding your topcoat because if you put it on when it's wet, it will pull the design.

I'm hoping that as this trend continues, we'll start seeing different shaped magnets. One of the most coveted shapes is the star magnet, which creates a design that looks like star sapphires on your nails. Do want! ^_^

I ordered these from AveYou with my KGBDeals coupon deal. They retail for $15.50 per bottle. I have to say for as cool as they are, I probably wouldn't pay that much for them. The bottles are on the smaller side at 10ml, which makes them quite pricey. However, AveYou has these coupon deals relatively often, and there's almost always coupon codes floating around for them too, which makes getting your hands on these a little more practical.

All in all, I'm really pleased with mine. Pretty easy to use, interesting effect, and the fast drying time means that  it really does make for a quick and interesting mani once you get the hang of using the magnets. I'd love them in more colors, so I can sense another haul of these coming in my future. =D

Happy Saturday, and thanks for stopping by!

H&M No Mambo Jambo

This is another H&M polish that I received in a swap with a lovely nail boarder. I absolutely love this baby, though I have to say that it is a close cousin of China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise.

I don't know what it is about these more green leaning turquoises, but it's incredible to me how different they look indoors and outdoors. I wish I could say that it's user error or something weird with my camera, but nope - these are actually pretty darn color accurate, it just looks that different under different kinds of lighting.

As with Peppermint Fusion, the formula on this baby is really top notch. It's not a neon like Turned Up Turquoise, so it doesn't dry with that flat finish, but the color is quite close. The biggest difference is that the shimmer in this one is more blue leaning than more green leaning. I know I should have compared them, but I was working and tired and just wanted to do my nails!

I can't decide if I want to keep this one or Turned Up Turquoise - I'm leaning towards this one because I like the formula more. I may end up keeping both just because Turned Up Turquoise dries so fast... hmm! 

Anyway! Thanks for stopping by and for reading my ponderances of which polish to keep!

Kiss Nail Art Paint - Soft Blue SPA22

Yes, this is nail art polish. Yes, the kind with the little skinny brush for striping and whatnot. I decanted it into a NY Color bottle 'cause I like their brush, and the bottle was the right size for two of the little nail art bottles of this polish.

I ended up with two bottles of it in a multipack with Soft Purple, which I wanted because of its dupeyness to Illamasqua Jo'mina. Soft Purple was such a massive fail on me that I didn't even take pictures of it. To say it did not work on my skin tone is an understatement. It made me look like a zombie with dirty hands. o.O

I guess maybe all zombies have dirty hands, now that I think about it. Seriously. I showed it to my brother and he went, "Um, your hands look dead." I took it off immediately. It has gone to live with someone else. On her, it does not make her look like a zombie with dirty hands. I know, I've seen the pictures.

But I ended up with this, so I guess all's well that ends well? This is lovely. The formula is freaking fantastic, two effortless coats. I'm sure it's not the most unique snowflake, but I don't have an exact dupe in my stash. I'm very happy with it. And it doesn't give me zombie hands.

China Glaze Custom Kicks

Well, after that in depth blah, blah, blah session about yesterday's polish, I find that I don't have that much to say about this one. Custom Kicks debuted as part of China Glaze's Kicks Collection in April of 2009. It's a vibrant green-leaning turquoise with a hint of gold shimmer that is, I'm sad to say, completely invisible on my nails.

If you enlarge this pic, you can see the shimmer in the bottle. But still... I can't really complain. The color is beautiful. It's highly pigmented and was very easy to control and apply.

And it doesn't smell like roses. =)

Until next time! Welcome to all the new folks, thank you all so much for joining me here in my little corner of cyberspace. And don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Mermaid Nails! Featuring Catrice I Sea You + Nfu Oh 52

This week has been mythical creatures week over at the nail boards, but I just couldn't seem to get my act together to do a themed mani until today. Today's theme was mermaids, and I used Catrice I Sea You and Nfu Oh 52.

It was admittedly a loose interpretation of the theme. I Sea You! has always made me think of mermaids. The color itself makes me think of them, and I can just imagine mermaids popping up out of the waves and shouting, "I see you!" Yes, that's what it looks like in my head. And Mary Janice Davidson's mermaid trilogy didn't help anything.

I added accent nails in Nfu Oh 52, which represents both the changing colors underwater and the scales of a mermaid's tail.

I absolutely love this combination. The Catrice is fabulous, great formula and I love, love, love the brush. I love any polish where I go to do cleanup afterwards and realize that I barely made a mess at all.

And the Nfu Oh is, of course, amazing. Their flakies are some of my favorite things on the planet.

This was just perfect for both my mood and for the nail board challenge. It makes me happy every time I glance down at my hands, and really, that's what this is all about. =)

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Orly Frisky + Comparisons

When I first saw the promotional bottle pics of Orly's Happy Go Lucky collection, I immediately got that telltale tingle of a lemming being born.

The blue shade practically screamed that it had to come and live with me. I was also interested in the green and the purple, but the blue... the blue! I was a bit concerned, though, that this would turn out to be too close to other sort of medium turquoise blue/aquas that I own, so I knew that I had to see this one in person before blindly purchasing it. I popped into Sally's yesterday to find a full display of these. Yay, I could compare the bottle to other similar shades! I compared it to China Glaze For Audrey and Orly Gumdrop, and it was more blue than either of those, so home with me it came!

Ooh, ahh. It's so pretty! It practically screams summer to me. I was still worried about duplicates in my stash though, so I pulled out some the most likely candidates.

Once I had them lined up like this, I could tell that none of them were actually that close. But bottle appearances can be deceiving, so I swatched them all next to each other.

Now. If you don't have the same kind of crazy that I do, you might not need this color. But for me, the fact that it's more blue and brighter than any of its cousins that I own means that I am a very happy camper right now. =)

The formula is what I've come to expect from Orly. It's the right consistency, neither too thin nor too thick, and gives full coverage in two easy and cooperative coats.

What can I say? I love it! =D

I hope you found this post helpful and, as always, thanks for stopping by!

Trying to De-Dupe My Stash - A Bunch of Comparisons

I've been working on my stash a bit lately, getting rid of the things I'll never wear again, and my project tonight was to actually swatch some of the polishes I have that look so close to each other in the bottle. I found doing this really, really helpful, and I hope it helps you guys out too! =)

China Glaze Tree Hugger vs. China Glaze Entourage

My verdict:  They are close... very close. Tree Hugger has more straight out shimmer, while Entourage is more of a glass fleck. Entourage also has a little less yellow, so it's more flattering on me. It gets to stay.

CND Eclectic Purple vs. Zoya Kieko

My verdict:  I really struggled with this one trying to convince myself they're different enough to keep both. They're not. The CND stays.

OPI Jade is the New Black vs. Ulta The Jungle Look

My verdict:  These might as well be the same polish in different bottles. I'm leaning towards keeping the OPI, but I really do like Ulta's brushes more. I dunno. One is definitely going though.

OPI Malaga Wine vs. Zoya Stacy

My verdict:  I thought these were much closer than they actually are. They both get to stay.

China Glaze Turned Up Turquoise vs. Sinful Rise & Shine

My verdict:  I've seen a lot of people call these dupes, but in real life, they're actually not dead on dupes. The China Glaze is brighter with more shimmer. Having said that, though, they are too similar to keep both. Turned up Turquoise stays.

Orly Sapphire Silk vs. American Apparel Peacock

My verdict:  These are closer than I thought. Peacock is a little more vibrant, plus it's a one coat wonder, which makes it better for layering. It's hard to part with the Orly because I really love Orlys so much, but I really think Peacock is staying and Sapphire Silk is going.

OPI Yoga-ta Get this Blue vs. FingerPaints Artist's Sapphire

My verdict:  Much more different than I thought. They both get to stay. I'm sure they're thrilled. ^.^

China Glaze Rodeo Fanatic vs. Essie Dive Bar

My verdict:  I saved this one for last specifically to show how deceptive the bottle color can be. In the bottles, these look completely identical. They even both have the purple flash in the bottle that doesn't translate to the nail. But as you can see in the comparison, they are really not that close. Rodeo Fanatic stays for sure. I'm on the fence about Dive Bar. I think it's a smidgen too dark.