Review! Zoya Gilty over Nails Inc Chelsea

I declined to get Gilty for myself, but picked up the trio (Gilty, Purity, and Raven) for bestie for her birthday. Basically, she totally deserves it but wouldn't get it for herself. :) So I posted a pic on my Facebook when it came in, and she was all, "Swatch it for the blog!" And I was all, "Okay!" So, here it is...

Of the 18K topcoats I've seen, Gilty is my favorite. Several have teeny, tiny flakes (I'm looking at you, $OPI!) but these were a nice size. Noticeable, but not gaudy. Says the girl with gold nail polish.

The texture of this polish is odd. It's rather gel-like. I decided not to brush it on like normal polish after the first nail. I found that it worked best to dab on. The flakes stayed nice and flat, but the base was thick enough that the texture showed very nicely. All in all, it allows a great effect and will be a fabulous addition to our holiday wardrobe!

I'd like to end with a super belated birthday to the best bestie ever. We've been attached-at-the-hip for the past twenty-one years (OMG!) and it seems like both 2 months and forever I the same time. I <3 her hard core.

nails inc. The Boltons

This polish is one I got at Sephora during my trip to Chicago. I was eyeballing butter LONDON Knees Up at Ulta, but didn't get it. We went to Sephora and were checking out the Nail Bar and this shiny one caught my eye. It is the same deep red with a fine foil finish as Knees Up. I don't think they are dupes, but they are very close. And they nails inc. price of $9.50 is more appealing to the wallet than the $14.00 of bL.

2 coats of The Boltons in artifical light, no flash

The Boltons with flash

These photos are two coats with no top coat.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I went back to blingy manicures again with HITS Atena. It is such a beautiful holo! One of the nail obsessed ladies I follow on Instagram did Nailside's cloud mani, and I decided to copy it. :)
I stuck with Atena as the base, then did a coat of Black Poppy Silver, and Nails Inc Charing Cross. I think my right hand looks better than my left (who'd have thought?), but my left has a nasty hangnail.
I think it turned out great! I hope you all have fabulous Valentine's Days and be sure to tell your loved ones how you feel every day, not just today.

Christmas Top Coats - Essie, Nails Inc, Fingerpaints

As I've said before, I have some serious polish fairies for friends/family. These three polishes came from fabulous ladies whom I consider both. :) 

I came into the polish world after the wonder that was Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure (I'm not a fan of the new one that just came out). I'm talking about the fabulous flakie HT. Word quickly spread that Essie Shine of the Times was a dupe, and I had to have it. Sadly, the stores here that carry Essie didn't have this one, but Bestie lives in Chicago and she loves me enough to have gotten me a bottle. 

The pic below is just one coat of SotT over Hot Topic black creme. It covers really well. It has an odd consistency... Thick but runny, maybe a little jelly-ish. You get used to how it works quickly. I imagine you need a thicker base to properly suspend the small red/yellow flakies that reflect green at certain angles. Is it a HT dupe? I have no idea, but do I love it? yes!

Essie Shine of the Times over black creme

I have a serious weakness for flakies and a Bestie who feeds that weakness. I'm okay with this. In fact, I'm trying my hardest to turn Abbie! This pic is 2 coats of Nails Inc Donmar Overglaze Top Coat over Chelsea, which is a very blackened plum. The flakies in Donmar are much larger than in Shine of the Times, but they are much sparser. It is very easy to see both the green and yellow flashes at the same time in this polish.

Nails Inc Donmar Overglaze over Nails Inc Chelsea

 Abbie gifted me my very first Fingerpaints polish this Christmas. Fingerpaints has the most comfortable handle I've ever polished with. It's long and tapered with a fairly long stem and flexible brush. There was no squinting or holding my head/hands at an awkward angle to see what was going on. Sparkle Top Coat is very pearlescent. I applied it over Hot Topic black creme and it flashed purple. Abbie says it flashes green at times, so I'll definitely need to do some experimenting with this one!

Fingerpaints Sparkle Top Coat over black creme

Nails Inc Houses of Parliament Magnetic Polish

This is part of the fabulous package Bestie got me for Christmas. It was actually the first one I wore, but forgot to write the post. The Nails Inc magnetic polishes were super easy to do. After applying your base coat, you do 1 coat of the color to all of your nails. Then, you do a second coat, but have to hold the magnet to your nail after polishing each finger. It doesn't take long at all - maybe 10 seconds. Much instant gratification. One thing to note... It's best to wait a bit before applying topcoat. I was a little hasty and got some streaking on my middle and ring fingers.

Houses of Parliament under the florescent lights at work

In the sun... Super pretty! Looks like tiger eye jewelry

Merry Christmas to me!!

Bestie came into town and we are currently at Steak n' Shake exchanging Christmas gifts and this is what I got! How much does she rock? Tons, I tell ya! Tons!

ETA: I had Christmas with DH's side of the family, and got some fab polishes from them too. Abbie got one of the HITS No Olimpio polishes I wanted, so that one will be showing up here soon.

Nails Inc St. Pancras

Okay, this really is the last of my Nails Inc polishes I'll be showing. St Pancras is a very deep burgundy. Very similar to Essie Wicked, but not jelly-ish at all. St Pancras was very thick and opaque. I could've gotten by with 1 coat if I were more careful. Wear was horrible with this color. I had chips in less than a day. I can usually get a day and a half out of a polish before I notice a chip. Thankfully the others had wonderful wear time for me.

Nails Inc Paddington

I showed up half an hour early for Zumba by accident, so I figured I'd throw up a quick blog post.

Paddington is the last of my Nails Inc Autumn set I'll be showing. *Correction: It's absolutely not. The last polish is Charing Cross, which is a great red, but is very similar to Zoya Sooki and OPI Color So Hot It Berns. I have grand plans for it and SpectraFlair. I'll show you how that turns out.

Paddington fell into step with my other Nails Inc polishes as far a formula, brush, and wear. Fabulous.
I've seen others talk of this leaning green on them, but for me it really looked like a deep grey. It leaned a little bit blue, but aside from a clueless 20-something male patient thinking it was black, most people commented on its grey-ness. Regardless, it's a great fall/winter color, and $25 for a 4 color set is a great price, so I say fill your carts. :)

Nails Inc Fenchurch Street

This is the first polish I have to show you from Sephora's Nails Inc Autumn Colour Collection. The collection includes this color, a bright red, a smoky grey, and a nice wine color. They are all named after Underground stations on the Central Line in London. They definitely appealed to the Anglophile in me. :)

After Kensington, I found I had a much easier time with application this time. The full-ish brush holds a lot of color, and I didn't find it so awkward to get the right amount of color this time. Fenchurch Street is described as warm caramel on the Sephora page. It definitely reminds me of Brach's Caramels, which is a great candy to be thinking about in the fall! I've had this color on for 4 days, and were it not for closing my finger in a drawer (ouch!), I could easily get another day or two out of this mani. The drawer chipped the color though, so I'll take it off tomorrow. I think I'll go for Paddington next, which is the smoky grey color.

Nails Inc Wyndham Duo

Nails Inc Wyndham Overcoat over Kensington

Oh my heavens, I love flakies! I saw The Polishaholic tweet that the Nails Inc Limited Edition flakies were available on Sephora and the next thing I know (almost literally) I had a basketful of goodies on its way to my door. :)

Nails Inc Kensington (applied sloppily)

I've never used Nails Inc polishes, but had heard great things about them on others' blogs. The formula of the Kensington blackened teal was wonderful. Super smooth and pigmented. I used just one coat on the manicure you see, but I'll do two next time. The Wyndham overcoat is a clear base with green/blue duochrome flakies. It was rather thick, but that's okay because that meant it dried pretty smooth. I used 1 coat of Seche Vite, but I don't know that it's really necessary. The caps are fat and round, and the stem on the short side. The brushes are firm and very full, and hold a ton of polish. It takes some getting used to.

I've also got to mention the wear. I used Seche Vite Rebuild (hoping to fix my horribly peeling nails) as a base coat and Seche Vite Rapid Dry top coat. This manicure wore for four days before it showed any tipwear. I got my first chip today, five days later. That was only because I grabbed my doorknob wrong in the dark and chipped the nail as well. This is unheard of for me. I have to wash my hands 20-40 times a day and usually start seeing wear within a day or two. I'm taking it off, but because I've got growth and the Nails Inc Autumn collection to dig in to!

I also have to share the excitement of blogging on something other than my iPhone! I got an early birthday gift from DH in the form of the netbook I really, really wanted. He wanted to buy me a new MacBook Pro, but Practical Pam spoke with Apple Lover Pam and I decided to go for the $275 option that works wonderfully over the fabulous $1000 one. I'm very happy with it!