SUMMER BUBBLES: Del Sol color-changing* polish

I have owned Del Sol First Kiss for quite a while and decided it was time to try it.

  

The "before" silvery pink color is very close to how I remember my first nail polish ever: Love My Nails Innocent Pink, given to me at age six by a student teacher who knew not what she wrought. I kept it for years and years, until it finally got sort of yellowy and unfortunate. Then I barely missed my last opportunity to buy another before the brand went defunct; you could buy it at Walmart forever, but when it finally occurred to me, all I could find were some godawful magenta ones in a clearance bin.

  

My older, more sophisticated palate decried the color as TOTES BORING (also the VNL was unacceptable), so I stamped it with the bubbles from Mash-43 in China Glaze Galactic Gray (very subtle effect). Then I got all glitter-happy and added a layer of OPI Pirouette My Whistle to simulate MORE BUBBLES.

* There were too many layers of top coat to allow enough UV light in to change the Del Sol. Sometimes I fail to think these things through.

  

It does change color nicely in the bottle, so presumably, if you don't slop on endless UV-filtering top coat, it will also change on your nails. I ordered it from Sally's, but they have a wider variety on the Del Sol website in delightfully redesigned bottles. SWEET.

LISA FRANK NAILS: yup, I'm that old.

I originally saw this idea on a slideshow somewhere and have seen several different versions since then. But this is my best take on it.

  

Stripes lovingly hand-painted in (from the bottom up) Orly Charged Up and Sinful Colors Cream Pink, Savage and Innocent, topped with China Glaze Fairy Dust. Leopard spots stamped with Mash-23 in Konad black. Photobucket is being an ass about letting me rotate these pictures for some reason.

  

As long as I have tiny stub nails, I need to practice stamping. Obviously.

  

Does anyone remember the Lisa Frank picture of a dog and cat wedding? The dog has a sadistic leer, and the cat looked terrified. It was so traumatizing that there is no evidence of it on the internet anywhere. Ashleigh remembers, so it was not a crack dream of my youth.

MERMAIDS AGAIN: Mermaid's Dream

THE ORIGINAL THAT STARTED IT ALL. Do mermaids dream of electric eels?

  

Since I live a billion miles from anywhere that sells Deborah Lippmann, my aunt gave it to me for Christmas. She had to go to a mall. You can get CHOLERA going to a mall.

  

It looks like sea glass. And magical fantasy CGI water. And things I want to lick.

  

Here I stamped it with scales from Mash-39 in Essie Good as Gold. LIKE A MERMAID TAIL. My next career is going to be "professional mermaid." IT IS A REAL THING; Google it.

THE NINETIES CALLED. THEY WANT THEIR FROST BACK.

I have no idea when or why I bought this, or why there is bottle puke on it, although that is presumably my fault.

  

Orly Rose Radiance with the zebra? tiger? stripes from MASH-41 in Sally Hansen Celeb City. Yes, I am stamping the hell out of that polish.

  

I kind of hate this polish alone, but stamping hides the brushstrokes and lessens the glare.

The stripes came out exactly as subtle as I intended. IT IS A SECRET TO EVERYBODY.

Beautiful and stylish bows added to hide random cuts sustained during a battle to the death against some evil or other.

TAKO-CHAN: octopus FTW

Sephora by OPI Ocean Love Potion (or as I prefer to call it, Retro Bathtub) stamped with the waves from MASH-50 in China Glaze Deviantly Daring and the octopus from MASH-37 in Sally Hansen Celeb City. I believe the overall effect is in fact deviantly darling.

  

The polish is true to color here, but I don't know what happened to my skin. I assure you I have not been spray-tanning.

FIRST DAY: snowflakes glitter love

It is DECEMBER. That means it is time for HOLIDAY NAILS. I am EXCITED.

  

I stamped the snowflakes from BM14 on China Glaze Blue Year's Eve with Konad white polish and OPI Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous, then topped with China Glaze Fairy Dust. Lucerne did not offer enough contrast to show up as more than a shimmery shadow; I would like to do this one again with white and ice blue snowflakes and maybe a different plate. Two people thought these were stars, which is understandable as smudge happened.

  

I usually prefer teal rather than blue, but this one is a delicious cold glass-fleck type. GOOD JOB CHINA GLAZE.

  

The thumbs came out pretty well.

  

It may be December, but the high is sixty degrees today, so this will be the only snow in my life for the foreseeable future. It is good for the utility bills but bad for holiday morale. I will squeeze my eyes shut and PRETEND.

WAIT WHAT: OPI Just Spotted the Lizard

Here we have OPI's Just Spotted the Lizard from the recent Spiderman collection of summer 2012. Another dupe for Chanel Peridot, it has proven rather popular. I had almost given up getting my acquisitive little fingers on it when it turned up at my salon. Consolation for a massive wax bruise in my elbow INDEED.

  

I wore it plain on the first day but kept picturing it stamped with the concentric ringy-dings from BM19. I have a hard time with full-nail designs, but that one is a little more forgiving than some. I had to apply extra little bits around the edges, and the uneducated eyes could not tell.

  

The color shift was not all that pronounced; it's a pretty color, but it's prettier in the bottle. As I have sworn a blood oath to collect all golden nail polishes, that does not necessarily disappoint.

  

You can still catch a glimpse of green in the right light, though. I think the right light is mostly found on Neptune in the spring.

  

I have no idea what lizards have to do with Spiderman and am betting >75% of people purchasing this polish don't either. DEAR OPI: WE NEED A SAILORMOON TIE-IN FOR SUMMER 2013 GET ON THAT SUZI PLSKTHX.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY (or, as I like to call it, Wednesday)

My fingernails are my one acknowledgement of Boom Day, as I can wear neither red nor blue in any flattering sense and have to work. Whoever complains about lazy government employees obviously never worked for small government.

  

Here we have a Sally Hansen Hard As Nail Xtreme Wear White Out under OPI Red Shatter with an accent nail of China Glaze Blue Year's Eve and Konad white stars from plate m3. It would have looked better with more stars, but for once I quit while I was ahead.



Originally I tried to paint them solid red and stamp white stripes, but the full-nail plates are not wide enough for my particular full nails. Or long enough, but I can fudge that with colored French tips. I tried to extend the stripes by hand, but it looked like a drunken five-year-old's masterpiece, so I redid them. At 11:30pm on a Sunday. PRIORITIES.

  

Lots of positive feedback on this one. It's holding up pretty well, too; day three and only very minor tip wear. I'm hoping a couple more layers of Seche Vite will take it through Saturday.

HOLO WHAT: Layla Flash Black

I decided to continue with the skull theme (Konad m28) for budget meetings this year, lovingly displayed on a holo accent nail (Layla Flash Black) in a sea of black claws (China Glaze Liquid Leather) just waiting to rip someone's eyes out. I mean happy to change any numbers you want. Coworkers' response was, overwhelmingly, "cuuuuuuute!!!"   (sigh)

  

The sun was not as cooperative as it was for Ultra Violet, but this does hint at Flash Black's gorgeous potential to destroy the world. I mean to make up some reasonable end of year estimates.



The little aurora rhinestone didn't sparkle as much as I'd hoped but it may be due to the thick coating of hot buttered rage. I mean excitement at putting the bond limit to public vote.

  

I like to paint my nails particularly shiny for situations where I need autohypnosis not to inflict blunt force trauma on anyone. THESE ARE GOOD JOBS RIGHT right.

HONEY AND CLOVER: St.Patrick's Day Observed

Here we have Maybelline Express Finish in Go Go Green, stamped with Konad special green polish using plate BM03, and a slick of Sinful Colors Green Ocean to top it off.




I picked up the Maybelline at some point last year and thought it would make a good spring color. I'm not overly likely to use green polish, but it has a gold gleam to it that struck my fancy. I will say that the 50-second-to-dry claim on the bottle is an OUTRIGHT LIE. The Sinful Colors is a blue-and-green flake in a sheer, slightly green base, and I dote on it over black.





I had THE WORST time trying to catch a decent picture of this. It was 7:30 in the morning while I was trying to prepare for a journey south, and the light would not cooperate. Also please disregard the slopped-over topcoat as Maybelline's quick-dry lie gave me rage issues after midnight.





But you get the idea. Everyone at work Monday was amused/horrified, and then I took it off.

UNICOOOORN

I drew a unicorn mermaid on my agenda at a recent board meeting and was then inspired to incorporate unicorn mermaids into every aspect of my day-to-day life. Unfortunately there is no specific Konad plate for this, so I opted for a unicorn stamp on a mermaid color. I think this was Essie Trophy Wife.





Konad plate m28 seems to be work-appropriate for me. This delightful manicure was in celebration of budget meetings. OPI You're Such a Kabuki Queen. Seche Vite everywhere.