Splatter on Black

I was originally going to do a water marble with these colors, but for some reason it just wasn't working for me. Instead, I decided to go for an easier option: the splatter mani. I used a base of Wet 'n' Wild Black Creme with OPI A Good Man-darin is Hard to Find, Nina Ultra Pro Salsa, OPI Jade is the New Black, and Color Club Overboard.

direct sunlight

indirect sunlight

At first, I wasn't too happy with this, but it definitely started growing on me after I put top coat on. Unfortunately, it's chipped now, so I'll have to take it off soon. I'm not sure when that's going to happen, though, as one of my best friends, Francis, is visiting this weekend. This is Francis:

I really like how the focus turned out in the first picture, even though it was completely accidental. Anyway, that's about all I have to say now...have a great weekend!

Nina Ultra Pro Brassi Bronze - Plus Awesome Stuff!

I can never seem to think of good post titles, haha. Anyway, I mattified Nina Ultra Pro Brassi Bronze, and this is it after one day:. Unfortunately, I already have a couple chips - I don't know if that's Nina Ultra Pro's formula or my matte top coat, Essie Matte About You. Also, please forgive my terribly fingers/cuticles.

 outdoors, sunlight

 outdoors, shade

indoors, artificial light

I really like this color! I'm actually not a huge fan of it on its own when it's glossy for some reason (though I like it in a design with blue or some other color), but I LOVE it matte. The color doesn't change or anything, so I'm not quite sure why that is...but it doesn't matter. And then I had to add a coat of Hidden Treasure:

So I realize this looks a bit odd in the picture, but it's gorgeous in real life. The colors in Hidden Treasure complement the bronze very nicely, really making the polish glow. 

And with that, I've got homework to do. Have a great weekend!

EDIT: Just to let you all know, I am trying to get another archive post written, but I'm having trouble finding websites that render properly on archive.org. Urgh, frustration. Hopefully soon!

Nina Ultra Pro Grin and Berry It

Grin and Berry It is from Nina Ultra Pro's Pearly Brights collection. All the polishes in the collection are neon shimmers, which really intrigued me - I wondered if the polish would still have a neon finish or if it would be one of those “neons” that's not really a neon. Fortunately, Grin and Berry It lived up to my expectations and had excellent coverage for a neon! This is three coats with NO white base:

 indoors, artificial light

 outdoors, shade

outdoors, sun

Agh, what a pain to photograph. Purples are hard to photograph. Neons are hard to photograph. So guess what you get when you try to photograph a purple neon? Yeah. The indoors picture is too red, while both the outdoor pictures make Grin and Berry It appear way paler and less neon than it is in real life.

But if only you can see it in real life...it's so gorgeous! You can see a few brushstrokes when the polish is wet, but it dries to a satin, brushstroke-less finish. The base color is absolutely electric, and the blue shimmer adds an unexpected duochrome flash. Duochrome neons? Sign me up! I didn't even have to use a white base with this, and still got amazing coverage and color. Grin and Berry It is the only polish I bought from the Pearly Brights collection, but I think I'm going to get some more if they're still there when I next visit Sally's.

Note: I have read that the Pearly Brights collection is similar to Color Club Electro Candy, but I don't have any Color Club polishes so I can't compare.

Nina Ultra Pro Like Butta

I can't bring myself to take off Mimi yet, so here are some swatches from last week:

Yellow nail polish is notorious for being streaky and difficult to apply, and Like Butta was no different. I only used three coats here, but it was still slightly streaky and I definitely would've applied a fourth coat if I were wearing it as a full mani.

 indoors, artificial light

 outdoors, shade

outdoors, sunlight 

The picture taken outdoors in the sun is definitely the most accurate of the three, though Like Butta is slightly darker and very slightly orange-er in real life. Also, it doesn't clash with my skin tone nearly as much as it does in the pictures, and is probably the most skin-tone friendly yellow I own--though I must confess I only have three. I've got to do something about that! At any rate, Like Butta is a great color for summer or whatever time of the year you feel like wearing it.

Nina Ultra Pro Salsa

I used two coats of this and it was completely opaque. There was some streaking on the first coat, but the second coat evened it all out and made it absolutely perfect. I must say, though, the fact that this is called "Salsa" kind of confuses me--even green salsa is not, in my experience, this shade.

 indoors, artificial light

 outdoors, shade

 outdoors, sun

The indoor picture is pretty much accurate, but the outdoor pictures are not. In those, it looks kind of dusty and almost teal, and Salsa is neither--it's a straight-up green. I love this shade, and while there are probably similar ones or dupes, I don't have anything like it. I look forward to having Salsa on my nails in the future. :)

First-Ever Franken...Ouch!

Last night, I ran out of topcoat. Naturally, I knew this was going to happen for quite some time, and I had decided that I'd clean the empty bottle and use it to make a franken. Because I didn't want to waste my one precious empty bottle, I mixed a bunch of different frankens on a sheet of thick sketch paper. After deliberating over them all, I decided that a mix of (roughly--my measurements were far from exact) 2 parts Nina Ultra Pro Punki Pink, 4 parts Love My Nails Hot Tamale, and 1 part (probably more like 1/2 part; I barely used any) Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Sun Kissed was my favorite. So after the bottle was clean, I mixed it up and put it on my nails, and here it is, three coats with topcoat:

indoors, artificial light

outside, no sunlight because it's rainy

the bottles (the weird stuff on my franken bottle is glue from the label)

This is sort of a tangerine orange with a nice gold shimmer. Both pics are fairly accurate, though the indoor one shows the gold shimmer the best. The shimmer, though not overly obvious, is really nice and comes from Hot Tamale. I decided to name this color Ouch, because my mom's reaction to Nina Ultra Pro Punki Pink, which I used, was, "It hurts my eyes." As for the finish, I wasn't sure if it would be slightly matte because of Punki Pink's neon-ness--it appears, however, that the amount of Punki Pink was not enough to make it even slightly matte.

All in all, I'm quite fond of the color, even though it means quite a bit less Hot Tamale in my future. I think it looks surprisingly good on my skin tone, compared to some oranges that make me look overly yellow or pink. And, funnily enough, I had better application with Ouch than with any of its constituent parts. I guess the whole is more than its separate parts?

Also, there are some great giveaways going on right now in the nail polish world. Nails Etc. is having a giveaway of nine different polishes and a Boots 17 Travel Makeup Kit, and Painted Lady Fingers is giving away 12 Diamond Cosmetics polishes, along with a treatment! Good luck to all who enter!