NailTek...Some thoughts on the glass file

My friend  has problem nails. She has always had really great nail beds, long and elegant, but the nails themselves are just causing her no end of grief. I'm hoping to convince her to write a guest post one day on what's worked, what hasn't...the best I've been able to do for her is some suggestions and a recommendation to try a really good ridge filler. She's said that does work for her and has made a difference. I believe she's using Seche right now...but I would also suggest she try out Zoya. It's all natural and vegan, two things I know she appreciates.

Another friend of hers gave her the gift of a NailTek glass file. I'm told it's changed her world entirely! Because it's a very gentle grit, it doesn't cause tearing and splintering mess for her. I've used glass files in the past and find them fantastic for smoothing out rough patches that can come from the splitting and splintering that softer nails, like mine, can do. It's SO annoying! A glass file can take care of that for awhile, until you can REALLY fix it. However, girlfriend is finding that on her ridgey nails, this is the cat's ass. So if ridges or soft nails are something you struggle with, this could be something to look into. Plus, they come with a cute little case!

If you happen to be surfing around on their site and are curious about their other products and cruelty free is an issue you support, then I'd like to let you know that I did email their customer service and got a really straight up answer, which I appreciate. If I weren't so staunch on the issue, I would support them just for that. I asked if their products and ingredients were cruelty free. They answered that their products are but they are not able to verify that of their ingredients. Fair enough. I really did appreciate the complete lack of legalese and double talk.


Here's a linky to their site, the glass file in particular:  NailTek Crystal File

What tools do you guys love? I'm always looking for new tools!!

OH! And on really really fun notes, both my Rescue Beauty and Glitter Gal pre-orders have shipped! WOOT!

Just a reminder, Glitter Gals are now available in the States through OverallBeauty.com
Highly recommend them just for the great service. Also a big distributor of BB Couture. That's where I go for my BBCs!

Happy Talons!

Cult Nails Haul

I wanted to let you know that my Cult Nails haul has arrived! It came one day last week and it's the yums. I only took one pic because I'll be swatching these for real, possibly soon. I'm dying to try some of these.

These are, right to left and top to bottom:
My Kind of Cool Aid, Living Water, Cruisin' Nude, Awakening, Devious Nature
Enigmatic, Iconic, In a Trance, Hypnotize Me, Quench

Some are from the new collection, some from the old. I basically bought every single one I could get my mitts on because they're gorgeous and unique. I can't wait to try them. How fascinating are these?

Plus, they are the brain child of a fellow blogger: http://www.r3daily.com/ and can be purchased from her site: Cult Nails. You should check it out! The polishes arrived in their own little shipping bags marked by collection and cutely packed in cotton balls, labeled cotton balls, to take up the remaining space. They were individually wrapped inside their little envelopes and then packed in a box. Everything was tight and obviously done with care. Nice.

I confess, it was Living Water that caught my attention but look at some of these! Iconic...hello. I love all of them. Mm. Nothing like nice new colors!!

Happy Talons!

ETA: I just found out that these are also available from OverallBeauty - Cult Nails So if you're looking to try some brands that are new or are just looking for some fun mineral make-up and some edgy colors for your tips, OverallBeauty might be a good stop for you! BB Couture, Cult Nails, Glitter Gal...Yep Yep! Good place to start looking!

Wear on Rescue Beauty Lounge Under the Stars

I thought I'd give you an update on how well Rescue Beauty Lounge's Under the Stars is wearing. It's doing OK, considering a good part of my weekend has been spent cooking and doing dishes, cleaning up generally...I have some tip wear, but you have to expect that. This manicure is now 4 days old. (I'm writing this Sunday night to run Monday afternoon.) They were done Wednesday evening, you may remember, and I had bungled one. That repaired beautifully. You can't even tell it now. I didn't take a before pic, so there's no point in an after. I did repair that, then repaint all 10 just to rejuvenate the color and try to cover the little tip wear I did have.

 Then I did a stupid and put Seche Vite over it. I think I thought...the top coat of polish is wet so it should be OK, right? Not really. It's not bad, I have a little lift in places, but it didn't help the tips, which is a Seche Vite flaw. I did hit up 88Beauty to get the Seche Renew that I had been after and also picked up my more favored Poshe fast dry top coat and yep...used the Seche anyways. **facepalm** It's not bad, I can't really complain.

Soooo....Here's the wear on a 4.5 day old manicure:

I'm sure all you polish hounds will agree, could be SO MUCH worse. This isn't bad at all. Still, it's making me jones for a new color. It's disturbing my OCD.

Here's the other hand:

Still so not bad. And seriously, this is fixable. I just start to want a new color after awhile. I think a short attention span is all a part of being a polish junkie like I am and like you probably are if you're reading this.

What do you think? Would you change it?

Happy Talons!

Illamasqua Rare

I had to repaint my toes. I apologize again...you're going to be looking at my mangled toes, but I won't be able to go get a pedi for another week and I couldn't stand it. They were chipped and awful. So...I decided, after the really dark navy of Illamasqua Propaganda, that I would go the opposite direction. Yellow! Sure, why not? It's just a pedi...it's the time to go a little crazy. I did! Rare is neon. I mean NEON. I think it glows in the dark. It's so bright...it has a weird greenish tinge to it, which I'm not sure will show in the pics. See what you think...

Hm. I had bright sunshine and as soon as I started trying to take pics I got overcast. GRRRR. But, you can see this is REALLY bright. It's a great Summer shade.

Here's another swatch:

These are pretty true to color.

Wow. I do a bad job painting my toes! But...you can see the color and that's the important thing.

This went on a little chalky, but it's a neon and you kind of have to expect that. It covered streaky, you can still see some signs of it. I confess, if I'd been a little more careful, it would have been easier. The polish was not difficult to manipulate, but the brush did definitely drag through creating "bald" spots that you'd have to go back over. Two coats would not have worked. The third coat seemed to even it all out and hide some of the mistakes. It also really intensified the color.

Here's an indoor swatch under artificial lighting:

AND the last time I'm going to make you look at my toes today!

I really need to go over that with some acetone and a brush...oof. Sorry!

I did put a coat of Seche over this because I didn't like it in that matte that only neons seem to dry to; the chalky, powdery kind of finish...I don't care for it. I like the shiny better. This is so shiny and bright that the dog keeps looking at it! It is making my smile and giggle and that is always a good thing!

Any thoughts?

Happy Talons!!

Worst Blogger EVER!

K, you guys. I have not forgotten you, just been tied up with other things. I apologize. I'd love to tell you I was back in force, but I'd be lying. I hope to be...

This has been, as Ruby Pumps put it, an apocalyptic nail week. First, that tear completed itself. Second, I wiped out spectacularly at work and broke two more, one of which I didn't realize I'd broken until later so no gluing that back on. I looked at them and said "Screw it" and cut them all off. I really like this length! They're short but we're going to come into fall soon and darker colors will be in my mood and...I like it! I may keep them shorter for awhile. My tumble was bad, I smacked my knee, it was bleeding, and my butt is bruised. So is my pride. I also pulled a hip flexor so badly...Ugh. I hurt.

I was so grateful to get a manicure last night. SO grateful. I would like to draw your attention to the torn off nail. Let's have a round of applause for the BMWWU, please.

Haaa, check that out. She had to glue the nail back on to get it this long. You can't even see it. I can't feel it and it's so good to have it back! 

Under the Stars is a really dark navy, it's actually darker in normal light. Well, obviously! It's not this purple...it's more blue, but this isn't a bad representation. It has a subtle sparkle to it, but it's really hard to pick up on a camera. I really like it, especially on shorter nails. Please don't mind the tip wear. That wasn't the polish, that was me having a completely rubbish day and not being patient enough to really let the polish dry. I bungled my right thumb but good.

I have another pic against the black top on the driveway....

Isn't that pretty? I was having trouble getting light on them that wouldn't cast a shadow, this is what I found. It works well, I think! Kind of a cool picture.

So far it's wearing great, like an RBL will. I love the color, I love it's edgy...the sparkly is a fun surprise. It looks much more like a glitter in the bottle..

See all that shimmer? It doesn't really translate like that on the nail. It's more subtle. It's definitely there, but it's not as distinct. It's also not as teal...interesting.

I was in such a bad head space when I had my mani the other night that I can't even tell you what she did. I know she glued my nail back on...I can't tell you what base coat this is, what top coat...I think it's Poshe quick dry top coat. It's two coats Rescue Beauty Lounge Under the Stars...BMWWU did make a comment that it was a bit difficult to use. It's highly pigmented and rich, making cuticles a little hard, but look at them. Perfect as usual.

Do we like it? I love it, but what do you think?


Happy Talons!

DUDES! I got a nubbin!!

Remember that nail that was torn and repaired? That repair lasted until yesterday when it tore completely off. My nails are BALD! So not cool. I have my regular mani this week so they will likely stay bald, which is depressing because I have some great new stuff to share with you. Until I get the original glued back on, yes BMWWU will do that, I won't be painting. They're too long, too! AUGH!

So...I greatly apologize. I've been a rubbish blogger this week and my nails are now rubbish as well!  Check it out:

Couldn't you just die? In a way I'm relieved it's off, I don't have to worry about it tearing down into the quick and no blood or soreness at all. However, the repair will drive me batshit until it's grown out enough to come off. BMWWU will know she'll have a whiner on her hands until that's done.

So....I may post some bottle pics, if you guys would like. I had a massive BB Couture attack and picked up a ton. Bad.

If no one comments, you have to put up with what I put out here!!!


Happy Talons!

Manglaze Royal Mattermoaning with Top Coat

I finally stuck some shine on top of Royal Matterimoaning and I have to say, it's different than I anticipated!

I expected it to be more silver sparkle in there but really, it's mostly different shades of blue, I think. This swatch makes it look very silver, though. It's beautiful.

Pretty, isn't it? I really do like this polish a lot.


I think though...I almost prefer this matte. It has a nice sheen to it already without a top coat, it wore well....I'm not sure the difference is worth the trouble, honestly.

Let's do a comparison of the pics, if we can...

No top coat...compared to with:

Well...the top coat brings out the purple in the blue. I think either way. No reason it can't be mood driven.


What do you think?

Happy Talons!

Manglaze Glazes the Royal Wedding

There were a few royal wedding polish salutes out there...ButterLondon did it's engagement version, a really lovely purple with sparkle which I will get around to wearing one day, called "No More Waitey, Katie". Cute!

Manglaze, on the other hand, did their own thing and it's fantastic. Meet "Royal Matterimoaning", which, by their own admission, was:

"Royal Matterimoaning ManGlaze

SAPPHIRE BLUE NAIL POLISH
As usual, we came up with a stupid name for a kick ass looking color. While most are focused on the upcoming ceremony ... well we don't need to spell it out I guess. "

 

 

Fab? I think so. If you've been reading this blog, you know I've never been much for the matte look. Howeverrrrrr....this could win me over to the dull side.  It has a curiously smooth feel, like...a doll's face. It has all that lovely silver sparkle that is so understated in a matte finish. The color is rich and definitely blue.. what's not to love? 

This is the color of denim, honestly. If you don't believe me, check this out:

Kinda cool, isn't it?

I honestly do love everything about this brand. The bottles, the labels, the colors, the names and most of all, the polish. It goes on thick., dries super fast, handles easily, is highly pigmented and wears well. I'm on day 4 and it JUST chipped. To be perfectly honest, I had some application issues, but it wasn't the fault of the Matterimoaning. My Rebuild is about shot. I actually went to Sally to try to get the Seche renew stuff, I can't remember what it's called, but they didn't have it. The Manglaze dried immediately, but the Rebuild under it did not and so this dented quite a lot. You could get away with one decent coat of this, but this is four because I was too lazy to take it all off and use a different base coat. Bleah. Now the one nail that was a real problem has chipped big time and it's too late to do a new mani. Besides...I really want to put a top coat on this and see what we get....Next post!

Mechanics!

1 coat Seche Base coat

1 coat Nailtiques 2

2 coats gummy Seche Rebuild

4 coats Manglaze Royal Matterimoaning

It's worn really really well, seriously. Left hand is pristine. I didn't have the dentage, edge issues that I did with the right. The right still looks great. I came home and worked like a slave which is what the problem is. Even though I'm wearing gloves now to do dishes, if you make 4 loaves of zucchini bread, make dinner, clean the kitchen 3 times...you're gonna have a problem. 

Here is what it looked like this morning:

Oddly, it does have this sheen in real life. This is the awesome lighting at my desk. I took this swatch this morning so I could show the lack of wear. I have found this to be true of Manglazes and wonder if it's true of mattes in general. They wear like iron, it's awesome. 

The right is here, you will see the wear is different, I think because this hand was just more of a problem overall:

That middle finger has a big ole chip in it now but I do not blame the polish. I blame cleaning the kitchen 3 times. 

So what do you think? I love it. 

I will post a top coat pic probably next, but if not, in the next couple of days. I'm dying to see that. 

Happy Talons!!

A-England Iseult - It FINALLY chipped!

A-England Iseult is a Rock of Gibraltar lacquer, apparently. It's this very pretty pearly delicate pink. It's so pink that it's almost EFF YOU! I'm PINK! See for yourself:

ETA: Something ate this picture, it's just gone. :(

You can see a little weirdness on the tip of the middle finger...please ignore that. I had trouble with that nail. It just wouldn't dry. I think it was something funky with how I applied that nail because the others were just fine. I don't know really, what happened there.
The pink is actually a lot more intense than it looks here. The color is much more saturated than this. Iseult was an elusive color to photograph, she just wouldn't really cooperate. This was fresh last Sunday.

By Wednesday I was going...what is the deal with this stuff, it's awesome!

See any tip wear there? Yeah. me neither. This was Day Three at work. I think my Seche is getting old, you can see some lift there on the index finger...hm. Well, this picture looks a tad too dark, actually. The real shade is somewhere between these two.

Today it finally chipped. It's Saturday. This manicure is 7 days old, my chicas.

No wear at all. Nothing visible. I guess I should have included the thumb as well, but it shoes no real wear, either.

Here's the right:

You can see I got a mouse bite out of my pinky nail. I missed my regular manicure this week so this is pretty normal for me when they start to get this long. You can see the polish is weakening on the middle finger but it hasn't peeled and you would never notice this if it wasn't such an extreme close up. Unfortunately, I got a shadow on this swatch but it really shows what's happening so well. I have another of this hand with a flash...

This is an OK representation of the color. Unfortunately the lens chose to focus on my hand and not my nails, but you can see what you need to see from this.

So yeah. SEVEN days. Can you believe that? I am starting to get really sick of it, honestly! :p The next color won't be pink...Pale and delicate Iseult wearing like titanium. Pretty awesome.
This is really very pretty. You can see in some of these swatches the tiny particles that make it pearly and soft. Every single one of these shows a different aspect of Iseult's personality, I guess. This is all the same manicure, I promise you.

The mechanics of it were:

1 Coat Seche Base coat
1 coat Nailtiques 2
2 coats Seche Rebuild
3 coats A-England Iseult, though 2 would have done. I did 3 to intensify the color and I think it looks a bit better, but 2 would do it.
1 coat Seche Vite Top Coat

This is all with the exception of the left index finger which will be growing out its repair for some time. That one I did 2 coats Orly nail armor instead of everything up to the color, then 3 coats of color, etc.

The application was nice. This is a thicker polish, there wasn't anything tricksy about it, but I find that A-Englands tend to have some "heft" to them, so to speak. They're highly pigmented, they cover well and they go on thick. I don't mind that in a polish, I find it a lot easier to control than watery, that's for sure.

I have not been a good nail mommy, I haven't reapplied top coat, I haven't done anything. It just wore really really well. Impressively, in fact. I'm pleased I picked up this line.

I hope you like it! Happy Talons!

Join the March to End Animal Testing

Animal Testing March

This is a really neat thing that I just stumbled upon and what better way for me to get the word out there than to put it in my blog and hope people see it and join. It's a virtual march to help end animal testing. It's primarily aimed at the EU for their new legislation but it's certainly not limited to EU residents. I joined! I hope you will too. Please put your voice out there in support of those whose voices are mis-understood and often punished. I mean, what did you think that bark or meow or howl or hoot was? It's a voice. Give them words and speak for them.

I'm also looking into some more cruelty free brands, vegan brands...I'm hoping to be able to show you guys some new stuff that I hadn't heard of before and maybe you haven't either. Ever in support of spending our dollars where they don't hurt here at The Talon Trap! I just ran across one that is not only fun but CHEAP! We love that, too!! I have emailed another to see what their policy is and if they're good then you may be seeing them out here. I believe one of the best ways to support my cause is to be sure to let you know when I find new options. If it's easy we're more likely to do it, right? So even if you have a different view on animal testing, if I can present you some hot stuff that you would love to try then at least I'm directing some of your dollars where they help and hopefully you don't mind because you're getting something great.

**steps off soapbox**

I only promised not to beat you over the head about it, not to never mention it!!

Happy Talons!

(That's what we want, all kinds of happy talons, not just the human kind!)

Some new BB Coutures

Yeah....I just bought a couple because...I don't know. I can. Just a few, mainly in the purple family. I must have been in a mood, but then, no one does as many or as diverse purples as BB Couture I don't think. They respect the purple and I respect that.

Swatch Sacrificed to the Swatch Gods...I will try to get it retaken. Humph.

These are, starting upper left and working across and down: Vampire Bite, Midnight Malibu, Ravager (one of the best names ever), Balboa Beach Bunny and Psycho for your Love, which is another terrific name. You can tell they have fun at BB Couture.

Only Vampire Bite is a creme, all the others either shimmer, are frost-like, or glitter, with Midnight Malibu - which has teal sparkle by the way - and Balboa Beach Bunny the sparkly stand-outs.

More lovely colors from one of my faves. Gotta love it. Balboa Beach Bunny might be the next pedicure....Loving it.

Happy Talons!

Estee Lauder - New Palettes Are In

I believe I've mentioned that I primarily wear Estee Lauder and Illamasqua. I don't think you could get any further apart in terms of target audience but frankly, I don't give a shit. These brands work well for me and I love their colors. Estee Lauder is great for work make-up. They do subtle elegant colors and as one blogger put it, and I apologize, I don't remember which one said it, You can always count on Estee Lauder for a boring brown eye palette. Well, there is a new sheriff in town and while he's not sending Lauder into it's off-spring MAC's territory, there is some gorgeousness going on. Plus, easily 12 hour wear and easy to build application. Plus, the new palettes are easily laid out to help you do a look you will love. Work diagonally one way and be subtle. Work the other half of that X and get a more glam look. Of course you can also do whatever you want.
These are being released in duos and quints. I picked up two quints and one could not live without duo. Here's a pic:

Gah! That glare! Dang it! Well, you can pretty well see. I think I have another shot of Waves...if I do I'll post it. The lighter lid shade on the left is a champagne color. It has some shimmer to it and I fell in love. I love ocean-y colors and this stole my heart. I've not worn these yet, I wanted to swatch them all pristine.
Emerald Oasis also has shimmer in it, though I didn't get it successfully photographed. The camera seemed to eat the shimmer. Film Noir there, tried to hold it's own with that lower darker color but it's sadly represented. It's  much more shimmery in real life.

The other palettes I felt were safe and already done and I told my buddy who was selling me these that. These are the only two larger sets that I felt I couldn't dupe on my own.
See the point about the X usage? Film Noir, for example, if you use the white on the lid and the taupe in the crease, with the matte black center as your liner, that's a nice look for day; Then if you go for the gunmetal on the upper left on the lid with the sparkle in the opposite corner as the crease and the matte black center as a liner, or even the sparkly black, for that matter, you can create a more dramatic look. Use the white shimmer as a highlighter! Do the matte black shadow as an eyeliner and go over it with one of the shimmers. Nice! These offer a lot of flexibility and lots of fun experimentation time, if you're willing to put it in. YUM!

I think Estee Lauder does some of the most elegant packaging around, in fact, I believe they are known for it. Used to be that mint green...remember those from your Mom's vanity? I do! However, today they are gold and lucite and nothing you'd mind pulling out of your purse to use the mirror at the table in a restaurant, know what I mean? You're not going to whip out your Maybelline compact at the dinner table but Lauder you just might. My only complaint is that these are bloody difficult to open. I usually have to slide a nail in the crease and pry, and as we all know, nails are jewels, not tools!
If all the experts are right and all we're paying for at the department stores is drugstore stuff in prettier packages...it might be worth it.

Nice reflection of my drapes there... **facepalm**

I hope you've enjoyed our little sojourn into one of my other beauty loves: eye makeup. I will likely post some more periodically, but don't expect to see the green eye of Sauron on here much! LOL! I did a close up of my eye on my camera phone so my friend the make up artist could see the cool thing I'd done (with turquoise metallic liner pencil..OOOOO!) and it seriously looks like the eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings only green. I've been accused of having witch eyes most of my life so a nod out to a certain Russian who said "You know what you have? You have eyes like the wolf. That's what you have. Eyes of the wolf." nodding seriously. My friend was quick to jump in and explain that to a Russian, that is high praise as the wolf is almost revered in Russian culture as being fierce, independent and wild. I'll take that over witch eyes any day of the week!!

**Blinks eyes wolfishly**


Incidentally, these wolf eyes are actually grey so I'm very interested to see what Film Noir does to them. With the right application, grey shadows can make my eyes almost translucent in color, which is COOL. We shall see!

Happy Wolf Blinking!!

The Mythicals in their mythical entirety

OK, I took the Mythicals collection all together. I had some glare but I got one good picture, I think. Once you have them laid out and can see them you can see how lovely and complimentary but still diverse this collection is. I'm really becoming a fan of it. Iseult is on day 4 and going strong! I am going to do a couple swatches later to show the progression on lack of wear.

Here it is, in all it's glory!

Hm. Well, there is some bad glare there. I'm sorry. I really tried to eliminate it. I need some work, I guess. I like this collection. I love the progression of purples, the progression of greys/silvers and then there are some standouts for good measure. You can see the pink of Iseult well in this picture, the very first bottle at the upper left. PINK. So far I've been so impressed with this line and will be there when another collection comes out to see what they've done next.

Happy Talons!

A-England Mythicals, the rest of the collection, and Perceval on Moms

I think I had mentioned previously that I had broken down and ordered the rest of The Mythicals from A-England, didn't I? Well, if I didn't, I did! So glad I had a mental lapse because these are amazingly beautiful. (I just realized that at some point I dripped a tiny little perfectly round drop of some lacquer or other - I frequently do my nails at my desk while typing...bad, bad idea - on my keyboard. Actually looks like what I'm wearing right now which I don't think got anywhere near my keyboard. WTF? Whatever.) There is just such saturation of color. Take a look:

Consider this a teaser because I have a label shot for you as well as a side shot to really show the colors. I took so many in part because I wanted a good shot of that one on the bottom, which looks white? It's not. It's pink. It's really pink. It's EFF YOU! I'm pink! pink. I am wearing it right now, but want to give it it's own post so you'll have to hold on for that one. I will spill this much right now...3 days later and it's holding up GREAT.

Here's a label shot, in exactly this order so if there is something here you see that you like, you can know what you're after:

Camelot is the true black here. Remember how I'd said that Lancelot looks black? If you check back to the "How an insane polish addicted blogger pics her next mani" post, you can see a shot of Lancelot and that you can see the red in it. Camelot has no such red or anything else. It's black. Like...BLACK. Perceval and Avalon are both rich, rich jewel tones and Perceval has a lovely metallic sheen to it. Avalon...I know we've seen colors like this before, butterLondon HRH is coming immediately to mind, but I think this is it's own thing here. The other two purples are creams and more muted, but unique. Guinevere more saturated than butterLondon Muggins...I need to do some comparisons, I think, because I believe all these to be unique and of themselves. The only one I was really hesitant about is Holy Grail. It's a very yellow metallic gold and while lovely, I think may lobster paw my hands to a level of sickly redness hitherto unknown to man, but only testing will tell.

I have swatches of Perceval on Moms, but first the side shot of the color with no distractions:

Check out Merlin, over there...top left...silvery goodness....You can see a gold flash in Perceval but that didn't translate on the nail at all. I think it gives depth, and lord knows, these colors offer depth, and adds to the metallic quality of it without distracting. Very nice. These are completely lovely and now that I've actually applied 3 of them, two on me and one on Moms...oh yeah. This is the stuff, lads. Applies beautifully, nice manageable formula, richly pigmented...it's the true deal. Do not fear this little independent. It delivers the goods: great color, great performance and fun to play with.

I ordered directly from their website both times and received great service very fast. This order arrived faster than one I made on the same day from the States and it had to go cross-continental. The special they had been running on world-wide shipping has evidently ended, despite the weirdness on the website with the dates, but even so, I think I paid 2 British Pound Sterling? Pssht. Whatevsies! I urge you again to check the website out for yourselves:

A-England

I am tempted to do a full collection pic and probably I will, but not tonight. It's later than I intended and I apologize, but even I have to sleep sometime. Despite the insomnia...

So...Moms was still on a red kick, which was cool because she had been kind of on an ONLY PINK kick at first, but she's branching out. She's really hard on her polish for some reason. I'm not sure what she's doing, but she has one hand that is problematic so maybe it's just a case beating up the one and killing the polish. Not sure. So she kind of killed Perceval **snigger**. I had to take swatches of her gimpy hand, her special fin...It still looks damn good!

In reality it has less glitter effect and more metallic. It's odd it did this in the pictures. However, note the lovely smokiness it gets as the nail curves. Isn't that delightful? Incidentally, the neurosurgeon who has her wearing red snorted at this in a most ungentlemanly manner, I'm told. Hmph. Well, what does he know besides salt water fishing and neuro-pathways, I ask you? Not color! Look at this! It's gorgeous!

Here's another shot:

Pretty great, am I right? SO true. As you can see, no real wear here. This was over a week old. Granted, this little paw isn't exactly taking on the world right now, but she does try to use it. Her left was a hot mess and I don't know why. Really it was just one nail...she just lost a big chunk of that one lonely nail. The rest all wore well. I didn't take a snap of that, though. She was tired and had had some pain meds and was only tolerating my futzing around with her. This came off a few scant hours later, with her special request for "purple". WHOA. WAY outside the comfort zone with purple. So Moms may do another cameo here because the one we wound up with, while fab, was more magenta and looks great on her.

Back to Ser Perceval....see how it blackens as the light changes? It's completely lovely.

The mechanics of this mani were simple for her. She has nails as tough as hooves, though you can see the ridges there. On her last mani on Sunday I did a Zoya ridge filler on her and I'll let you know how that did when I do a post of her current manicure, which I'm almost sure I will.

1 coat Seche Base Coat
2 Coats A-England Perceval
1 coat Seche Vite Top Coat

I did actually have a little fun with this before we removed it. I put a coat of BB Couture Fairy Blood over her index nail and butterLondon Chancer over her birdie. Check it out:

Kinda fascinating what happens, isn't it? The Fairy Blood takes it to a true red area while the Chancer brings out the pink. Also, in person, Chancer had a lot more obvious sparkle to it while Fairy Blood was more subtle. Don't be afraid to click this to see it a little better. I think a larger pic will show the more dense glitter in Chancer without a problem. Chancer is SO red...It's a pretty clear jelly base so I think it makes Perceval look pinker by comparison? I'm not completely sure what's happening there, but I like it!

Any thoughts out there? These are some great polishes. Do check them out. I think you'll be glad you did. Do you think you'll pick any of these up?

And while we're talking about a British brand called A-England, let's give a thought to the victims of the rioting and those who have been hurt. I haven't had a chance to see much on this, I hope no one has been killed, but I know it's bad in London right now. I hope all our British friends are doing OK over there and staying safe. Tragic. What has happened there, both the rioting and the cause of it is just a crying shame. Man's inhumanity to man, indeed.

Some words

First of all, I've been perusing my own blog to check for things like mis-spellings and whatnot and I'm finding broken links to my pics. Please don't be afraid to comment and alert me! I have fixed two in the last couple of minutes. That is so strange. I apologize, I don't know what's causing that. I can tell you that if you comment and say "Tricksie you silly tart, your swatch link is busted" I will get an email and I will fix it. In the meantime, I will keep trolling for them.

Secondly, I got the confirm today from OverallBeauty.com that my Glitter Gals shipped. OMG. I could bust a gut, I'm so excited to see these. YAY!!

Also, the new butterLondons should be here tomorrow. If only they'd come today, it wouldn't be midnight with my still having to load up some bottles for tomorrow's mani. Bluey. That'd be it.

I'd also like to fill you guys in on the completely fantastic customer service I've gotten from Illamsqua. I hit a rather large order on the Summer Sale, just because I love their stuff and Illamasqua eye shadow for 5 Pounds? Shyeah! Well, something weirdo happened to my order in their system, and being kind of a flake, I didn't know what exactly I'd ordered, only that I kept the spending to a dull roar while taking FULL advantage of the dirt low prices. They worked with my air-headed and annoying self until I finally figured out what they couldn't see on there. It was a "varnish", imagine that, and I figured it out by the powers of deduction. Sherlock Holmes got nothing on me, elementarily speaking. 4 were on sale, one they knew I had ordered. Of the other 3 I didn't already have one. Must have been that one, then! I shudder to think what a total ditz I had to be sounding like as I was explaining that I basically forget my orders about 3 seconds after I send them so it's a surprise when they arrive and...I have no idea what it was. They were very patient and tolerant and also gracious when I finally pulled my head out of my ass. In my defense I've not had much sleep lately and was at the hospital with Moms until almost 8pm with an hour drive home from there and an empty gas tank to deal with. Not in any fit state to answer specific questions about an order I placed 4 days ago, was I? But they were nice about it and persistent, encouraging me to figure out what they hell I did so they could help me. Good deal. I've always had great service from Illamasqua. I also have some coming from Sephora because my bottle of Jo'Mina was Jo'Jacked up. Leaked all over the lid, the lid cover...mess. The polish was goopy and drying out. I haven't had that happen with them any other time. That may have been another Sephora order, actually. I much prefer ordering direct from the manufacturer whenever I can.

Speaking of which, not a peep out of LCN on my leaky mess. Hmph. That's rubbish.

I get great service from:
A-England
butterLondon - she actually called me on the phone and spoke to me personally about a question on an order. Their web developer is a sweetie, and the website is dazzlin'. Lots of ravens winking at you and little skulls and jewels. Quirky and delightful.
Illamasqua
Rescue Beauty Lounge
Deborah Lippmann
Manglaze
Shea Terra - not a make-up site, but skin care, and fantastic skin care at that. Do eeet!

Hmmmmm. Who am I leaving out? I will update if I think of it. Regardless, in my experience, I have no problems recommending any of these sites to you. I hope you will look into them.

Happy Talons!

ButterLondon Wallis

butterLondon Wallis was another score on the Nordstrom sale. Wallis and the other Fall collection colors are now available and are uh-MAY-zing. Bluey...hello. Peacock sparkle. I mean...what more do you need to know, really? It's ordered, it just hasn't made it's way here yet, and along with it will be it's friend Toff. Yay! butterLondon is such a fun company.

I present to you Wallis:

OOOO. It's olive green with definite hints of not really gold but darker. What would be darker? Not bronze, there is nothing really dirty about it. It's a fascinating color, really. I was curious about it because butterLondon sparklies like this one can tend to be either glitter in a jelly or a dense shimmer. Dying to try it out, I thought well...let's try it over another Army green newbie for fall: Lippmann Collection Billionaire. Hmph. Was my color memory on some kind of trip? They are NOTHING alike! But complimentary all the same. My current manicure is biting the dust (good wear on it, check the last post to see it.) so why not play a little bit?

Deborah Lippmann Billionaire is a dark forest green. It's aptly named, it is approximately the color of the ink they use to print money, or at least the way it comes out afterwards. It was MISERABLE to capture, OMG. It either came out a lot grassier than it is in real life or black. I had a terrible time getting to the middle of those two things that Billionaire is. It's striking, but daring. This one isn't for the traditionalist.
This is KINDA close:

This color is really dark, but it's not actually as dark as it looks here. It's a lovely dark military sort of green. It's a straight up cream. It will be  a two coater. This went on a bit streaky but corrected itself on the second coat, which is nice. I'm never secure with only one coat, I'm always sure I am missing something so two coats is my standard. This swatch isn't bad....That brown is exactly the brown of the background so if that gives you any frame of reference then great.

Then I slapped a coat of Wallis over it. A coat. Not several. One.

Check that out. Isn't that phenomenal? First of all, it's not a jelly base, obviously! It is really dense, it covered a much darker color easily and it's sparkly. Sparkly is good. I did get it into a pillow, hence the markies on the tip, but if you can see past that you'll see a really amazing, almost indescribably gorgeous lacquer happening. The really weird thing is, and I am really interested to see what sunlight would do to it, with a flash it does this:

Yeah, that's pretty much emerald right there. Isn't that cool? I assure you it's the same nail, taken maybe 2 minutes apart. The only thing that changed was the lighting...and my hitting that pillow and making the dent. Which was after I took this. It didn't seem to matter what I was getting on the screen, this is the picture I got in that lighting. I took the flash off and moved to a spot under a lamp and got the last pic. Pretty fascinating, huh? Very interesting color. Obviously, it covered really well. This was one not particularly thick coat. I think I'm in love!

Happy Talons!

BB Couture Haul

Ooo. I went a little nutso. We know I am prone to do this. As much as I love OverallBeauty.com and as good as they are to me over there, I need to stay off that site. Maybe I need to stay off there BECAUSE they are so good to me and I love it...it's a vicious cycle. Regardless...I picked up both of the Eye Candy collections, plus a couple of the specials that were going on. It was a good time. The worst is, I have more coming. I love BB Couture....It may well be my favorite polish these days. I'm a fickle polish lover, but BBs are always fun, interesting and wear beautifully. So I was very very bad.

Here's the Eye Candy Men's Collection:

I'll give you the names in a sec because trying to view them through the labels is kinda tough.

OK, starting at the top left and going left to right we have: Heavenly Hunk, Playboy (LOVE), Silver Fox, Dirty Blonde, Rustic Romantic and Sexy Centerfold.

My personal favorite out of this lot is Playboy. It's gorgeous. It's shimmery teal and yum. As I sit here with nekkid nails, I'm thinking...Playboy....yeah....might have to go with that one. I was going to do an Illamasqua, just because I haven't in awhile, but...I don't know. I was also pondering Chanel Mimosa or Black Pearl, but...it might have to be Playboy.

The only one I'm not sure about for me is Rustic Romantic. That color would likely be problematic on my skintone. All I can do is try it...**bites lip thoughtfully**

Let's just do it. It's a caramel cream color and I like it better on me than I had anticipated. It's warm and more buttery than rust. Take a look:

It's kind of growing on me. I did a crap job on this because I had no intention to keep it...no base coat, no top coat. This was still wet when I snapped the swatch, but...I think I like it, actually. Sweet! Even better when the one color you're not sure about is one you turn out liking.


The ladies collection has some true stunners in it, as well. OOOO!

I didn't take a bottle back shot of this because you can see these really well. Gorgeous, right? I know.
Right to Left: Junk in the Trunk, Sweet Silicone, Busty Bombshell, Trim and Tassled, Feathered Vixen and Scorching Strawberry.
I actually accidentally re-ordered Scorching Strawberry because I couldn't find it, thought I'd thrown it out with the box by mistake, which was promptly burned, or hadn't received it or whatever. It was on my desk. Kim was nice enough at OverallBeauty.com to cancel it and give me a refund. She rocks. I'm tellin' ya.

Trim and Tassled, guys. Hello. Look at that bad boy. Oh yes.

What do you think? Will you pick any of these up? You will know that there will be full posts when I wear these! Some of them I can't wait to try.

Happy Talons!!

Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game, wicked indeed!!

I suffered a really bad nail break this week. I didn't feel it go, which is fortunate, and it wrecked my last manicure, which was wearing pretty well. It was a new OPI so I have no swatches of it. I don't remember the name of it, it was coral. It was from the Stems collection. That's really about all I can tell you. I had taken colors and then left them under my desk at work and wound up using one of BMWWU's colors. I told her I just wouldn't swatch it.

Here's the tear:

I know, right? How bad does that suck? I was really really lucky. I attempted a repair, which held for about an hour. Then I had to send an SOS to BMWWU to get her to fix it. She thinks my repair didn't hold because my glue was old. Very well may have been. So she fixed it and you can barely tell. I'm babying it as much as I can but I'm ambi and used to being able to use both hands and it's really hard for me. So far it's holding. The only problem being, she buffed the glue so smooth that when I tried to paint it to match my new manicure, the paint basically slid off. It was hilarious but not at 11:30pm with a 5:25am alarm the next morning. Ugh. It's been nekkid ever since. I'm going to try some Orly Nail Armor...it's not smooth basecoat, it's rough, it has fibers in it. Maybe that would stick. We'll see.

Here's how it looks now:

Isn't she amazing? If you hadn't seen the initial picture, which was right after I had discovered it, you would never know there was anything wrong. I will still need to be very careful of it. That's way up in the quick...My swatches will likely reflect much shorter nails and probably some darker colors for awhile, just because my nails will be shorter! We'll have to shorten them to protect this one. Ah well.

Anyways. I did a repair on this and then repainted all my nails. I chose Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game, which I have had for awhile. It's still widely available, though I think it's been out for awhile. It's a great polish.

It's fantastical, isn't it? It's sort of mesmerizing. You can see where I had done acrylic powder to try to seal that break still around my cuticles. OOPS! This was before it broke again. This is one of those colors you want to keep looking at. It's hypnotic and so beautiful. There is something kind of wicked about it You feel a little like you're being pulled into Maleficent's mirror!

Here is another shot:

I don't really know what you could do to make it more perfect. I love this. It's multi-chrome goodness at it's best. I don't have a swatch that shows it but at times it flashes green. It has silver, purple, green, fuschia...every color of the rainbow, as BMWWU put it. She said it is every color for every woman, and who doesn't want that. I bet on a different skin tone you would have a different polish.

It has worn really well. I've had it on now for 4 days and I cleaned the kitchen top to bottom today. Because of that break, which BMWWU thinks could be a result of all the dishes I'm doing and the hot water doing some tricks on my nail beds I've been wearing rubber gloves. Now...I hate wearing rubber gloves. I seriously do .I invariably manage to get water in them anyway and then they become the glove equivalent of wet jeans. UGH **shudders** I think after making this pineapple cheesecake thing for my Dad (OMG, fabulous) and then Irish Cream Brownies and then deciding that I won't just clean the top of the cupboards and everything displayed there but also the ceiling fan and all it's globes. and washing every cooking pot and utensil in the house because I'd used them all...the rubber gloves took their toll. It still doesn't look bad but it's definitely got some wear on it. I don't know of a lacquer that wouldn't, honestly. It's passable, but I'll change it tomorrow and start the week off right.

The Mechanics:

1 coat Seche Base Coat
1 coat Nailtiques 2
2 coats Seche Rebuild
2 coats Deborah Lippmann Wicked Game
1 coat Seche Top Coat.

The top coat kind of did a number on this. It appeared to wrinkle the polish under it on some nails. It was very odd. Then it smoothed out. It wasn't anything you could have felt under the thickness of the Seche but you could see it. It also caused a couple tips to pucker. I'm wondering if it's getting old. It's not starting to apply thickly, but I've seen Seche do this to polish before. We'll see. Once it starts to gum up I'll probably go back to Poshe just because I think it behaves a little better and it's easier for me to get.

Wicked Game...wicked, indeed! It's one of those shiny things that lures you in and captures you. I love it. Hope you love it, too!

Happy Talons!

Deborah Lippmann Get This Party Started!!

I managed to score this set on the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. It was exclusive at that time, but it probably will not stay that way. It's pretty awesome if you don't already have Happy Birthday, which I don't. Didn't...I do now. Obviously. K, I'm clearly hitting the dork level of tired.

Check it out!

The Lippmann collections come in these fun boxes, this one with music on it. They are, from left to right: Happy Birthday, Candy Shop and Forget you. The concept is the Happy Birthday glitter arrangement in different bases.

Happy Birthday is a freaking icon of the polish world, it's all different colors, shapes and sizes of glitter in a clear base. The glitter is mucho dense in this but it makes a fun top coat for most everything. I did not already have this as I don't often wear glitters. As a part of a set and for a discount I was willing to take the plunge.

Candy Shop is in a Candy Pink base. I haven't played with these but that looks pretty opaque to me...hmmm. I wonder how that will play out on the nail. It doesn't look like it buries the glitter.

Forget you, which I just love the concept of, is the same glitter but in a black jelly base. How just perfect is that? The whole thing lays out a story for you. Girl loses guy and paints her nails in Forget You, a black jelly that matches her mood and compliments her somewhat dangerous outlook but is littered with multi-colored sparkly goodness saying "I'm having fun without YOU, bud." Good for you, girl! It just screams I don't need you!! and who among us hasn't felt like making that statement at least once? If you can say you haven't then you're twelve. Or a nun.

It's kismet, lads. The Ramones I Wanna Be Sedated just came on!!! ROFLMAO!!!! I love the Ramones.

Here's another shot:

Aren't those great? See all the great glitter in there, the different sizes and shapes? Deborah Lippmann does fantastic glitters and the new additions here are no exceptions. However, in this closer pic, you can see that Candy Shop isn't displaying the glitter as aggressively as the other two...interesting. I want to see this on the nail but not right now because it's too late to go fixing my whole manicure. Maybe this weekend or when this mani gives out.

I think I gotta go with Forget You as the fave here....I'd love to see that over a grey or a white....Interesting!  Mmm, possibly the Fall Lippmann Stormy Weather? Maybe that would be too dark....Hmmmm. I feel a polish play session coming on!

Thoughts?

Happy Polishing!

Sorry for the pointe shoe battered toes

Ruby Pumps and I get regular pedis together. While I confess it is NOTHING compared to the amazingness of BMWWU's pedicure, which is work for us as customers because you are helping hold that foot up there, or at least I do, and she does the razor blade thing, which honestly scares the bejeezus out of me. We just go to the sweatshop. It's clean, it's cheap, there are massage chairs and we've never not been able to get in there. They do OK. I prefer BMWWU...but the salon I go to has but one chair in an alcove sort of thing and it's not conducive to work gossip. Plus...those massage chairs. Yes, please. I am not a fan of a regular massage with a live person. In fact, I hate it. But the chair? I dig it.

I had chosen Illamasqua Propaganda. It's a gorgeous dark navy that veers towards the dark purple but with no hint of amethyst. It's blackened blue. It's a really dark blue (with some red thrown in) creme. It's really gorgeous. In the words of another nail hound and buddy at work: Awwww sookie sookie, now! Yeah, we're that cheesy. We also say "AWW SNAP!" We crack each other up.

Now, I am not a huge fan of nail art. I think it's just a distraction. I like a nice clean playing field. I'd do an Illamasqua tip if I had the talent and I love the half moon. I liked ruffians on other people, though they never really hit this area big. I live in the land where the 90's strip mall French tip acrylic is still the standard. Nothing wrong with that...it's just dated. I saw an article...In Style? Oh man, I forget. I read a lot of stuff....the French could make a come back updated with a pale pink tip rather than white...I might do. I might. So anyways...clearly I got distracted again. I'm a little tired. I don't mind nail art on my toes. I actually think it's fun. The sweatshop does them for $5 extra and if you're in the mood, it can be really fun. I was in the mood and frankly, Propaganda was screaming for it....


Before I pop the swatch in here, I want to warn you. I danced en pointe for many many years. I taught. I danced on scholarship. We're talking about some beat up feet here. Any other dancers reading this are probably nodding their heads in understanding and agreement here. The callouses do not go away. The wrinkles in my toenails are finally not so obvious, but....I don't have pretty feet and I wouldn't have given up one single performance in trade, either. I danced. Get over it. I rarely wear sandals, that's my concession to societal aesthetics. On the up side? I can wear heels of any height and the muscles in your feet also do not fade so those heels do look good. Just not strappy stiletto sandals...no.

You were warned.

Isn't that great? Do you see what I mean about the hint of purple? I love this. I think the flowers are cute, too! She let me choose the pink jewels. I think it's fun for Summer to do some flowers. I would hate that on my hands...I don't know why.

Here is another pic that is clearer. I cropped out most of my paw but the color is really clear in this pic:

Pssht. Check the cuticle on the fourth toe. That's exactly what I'm talkin' 'bout. Those callouses just never fade...I guess it's good. I rarely get blisters.

Pretty awesome color, huh? This pedi was....oh my...5 days old? I think? Wearing like iron. My pedis usually don't. I am barefoot as much as I can get away with. This looks really pretty royal here, but it's a tad darker than royal. It's really striking. This is two coats and they do a Seche top coat.

Hope you like it and don't mind my toes! I promise, you won't see them but rarely.

Happy polishing!!

So...

BMWWU may do a guest post! She asked if I only ever talk about color or if I cover other things. She has read this meandering blather I put out here in the world but I don't think she reads it consistently. I said I mostly talk about color, yes. I stick to what I know and what I am passionate about. She said "not shape or care or anything like that?" Hm. I said "If you would like to write a post and guest appear, I'd love to have you!" I think she might! She's truly talented and she loves what she does. It's fun to watch her because she will actually hold your hand out away from her and admire it at arm's length. My great nails are completely owing to her, I take no credit. I might experiment with other products and use things at home that she doesn't just because for my drunken monkey fumbling it's easier for me to work with. My favorite Seche Rebuild is a good example. I've never known her to use it and she likes Poshe better than Seche. Which, honestly, I do too...Seche is great but it's problematic, as I think most nail hounds will agree. It's not a good touch up top coat because it shrinks the polish up at the tips and curls it up at the cuticles, plus it tends to goop about a third to a half way through. They have a renew formula for their stuff but I haven't tried it. It's $10 locally while I can usually score a free base coat with a top coat purchase at Sally, making the renew stuff kind of....well, expensive.

Kinda went off on a tangent there. Sorry! I get easily distracted. Short attention span...

SQUIRRELL!!!

:D

I will keep you posted on BMWWU's plans! I'd love it if she wrote a post or few. She's very knowledgeable and has fixed a lot of my problems. She's so good I am often asked if I am wearing acrylics or if I need a fill. Yep. She's that good.

And the winner is....

Rescue Beauty Lounge Iconoclast.

Ooooo. This is a charcoal almost-black grey with definite micro-shimmer in it. The shimmer is subtle and I could see it lots better in the bottle than on my nails. You can see hints of it in this pic.

Here is another shot of it:

OK, why does my ring finger look black? Whatevsies. You can see that micro-shimmer there on the pinky nail and on the ring finger a little. These might be good pics to click on and check out full size. The preview pane isn't letting me do that to see if it shows up better.

Awhile ago I had picked up the care kit from RBL. It's called the Nail Treatment set and...it's currently unavailable, but no worries because you can buy the pieces separately. It contains the nail prep treatment, a rather lovely base coat and a top coat. I wanted to see how all this performed together. The answer is hells yeah. For the 4 days I wore this I think I had one teeny chip. Granted it really only got work abuse. The most I think it did was cook one meal and the dishes thereinvolved, but I was impressed. No real tip wear, which given that I put in 3 very long days off before the end of my vacation time, was pretty great.

I kept looking at the color and thinking...where is all that glorious microglitter in the silver and other colors? Then I went to meet Ruby Pumps and checked it out in the sun. Ahhh. There it was. Unfortunately, I never had an opportunity to snap a pic. You see, I don't really advertise that I write this. I am terrible at self-promotion and in fact, today was told that my self-deprecation was bordering on the pathological and it needed to stop because it was more self-flagellation than deprecation. I told him to come back when he was in the mood to watch me emotionally cut again. I am harder on myself than any other 50 people would be, I think. So, I tend to think that I write this thing for myself, which is where all the babbling comes from. No one's really reading it, right? Right! So...it's all good.

I had a point...oh yes. That Ruby Pumps doesn't know that I write this. I am not sure how she would feel about being called Ruby Pumps, actually, though it IS her favorite polish and her go to when she's feeling like sparkling but not pushing the envelope. She's not a polish risk taker but I think there is one in there. She is pushing herself which is awesome. I think most times it pays off for her and I hope my complete lack of traditionalism in all things polish gives her courage. After all, how daring is her China Glaze Dear Audrey next to my RBL Iconoclast? Yeah, not so scary, right? Relatively speaking, we are still outside her comfort zone but not THAT far out.
I don't have a comfort zone. I'll wear anything.
My point again...OH! That I couldn't just stop there in the parking lot and find a pose and shoot swatches. Not without explaining myself and I just didn't want to do that.  She didn't like this, not "for Summer". I don't really buy into the seasonal color scheme idea. Sometimes I feel like wearing a Summer kind of color but it might be January and I'm not going to let that stop me. Color is a very mood powerful element to me. If I feel like busting out a neon in February, I'm bloody well going to do it.

So anyways. I entrusted my tips to RBL nail treatment system and it was a raging success. I recommend whole heartedly. I confess I was a bit skeptical on the whole base coat prep idea but it did clean the nails and leave them almost matte? It wasn't a polish, I think it simply whisks away anything that might keep your polish from sticking.

Then the base coat goes on nicely but not so opaque that you couldn't do a nice sheer over it if you wanted. RBL has some nice sheers so maybe that was the idea. I was a little worried, it was like giving up my rebuild security blanket. I felt like Linus after Snoopy runs off with the blanket? You know how his hair goes all haywire and he can't function until he steals it back? Yep. But they survived, quite nicely, I might add. And the polish stuck to it like glue. Awesome. The top coat went on nicely. It seemed a bit thin at first but it was really lovely, actually. It made it easy to apply and I think I might have just been Seche conditioned to think all top coat needs to be like automotive clear coat. (Incidentally, my father the car nut informs me he can get me automotive clear coat for my nails a LOT cheaper than Seche. He thinks he's hilarious. I love him, but he doesn't get it. He does like to see what I've done, though.) The top coat dried reasonably fast, but I did manage to bungle one nail afterwards. I thought they were dry enough but they were dentable. It fixed right up easily, I'm happy to report. No probs after that.

So to sum up, this was:

1 application of Rescue Beauty Lounge Nail Prep
2 coats Rescue Beauty Lounge Base Coat
2 coats Rescue Beauty Lounge Iconoclast
1 coat Rescue Beauty Lounge Top Coat

What do you think?

OO you can see some of that lovely micro shimmer there...nice.

Ji Baek, the owner and founder of Rescue Beauty Lounge calls her followers ReBeLs...how cute is that? I'm one. Obviously. If you ever try her polish, I bet you will be one, too!

Happy Polishing!