FOURTH OF JULY: about what you'd expect

I tried gradient nails again. The makeup sponges I bought for the purpose seem to be capable of absorbing infinite polish, leaving an inadequate amount for the nail. Or else I need to be using one-coat polishes. Although the final product wasn't really what I intended, it was interesting enough to wear for a few days.

  

One coat of Sally Hansen Celeb City (AGAIN, I'm sorry, it just keeps happening that way), topped with ZOYA Tori and China Glaze Blue Bells Ring. The red and blue both have a silver shimmer, so the finish was consistent between the three.

  

I took a big chip off my right index finger and opted to sponge back over it for a quick fix as I was going home for the weekend and didn't have time to redo the whole thing.

  

Shade view.

Maybe kitchen-type sponges would work better? More or less godawful mess? THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS.

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.

THIRD DAY: Holiday Skittles

These were supposed to be evocative of glass ornaments or maybe the old-fashioned light bulbs or something, I don't know, it's FESTIVE.

I think "skittles" is a dumb name for this color split, but that seems to be the generally accepted term.

  

PURPLE: Essie Sexy Divide
BLUE: China Glaze Blue Year's Eve
GREEN: Zoya Suvi
RED: Zoya Isla
GOLD: Ulta High Roller
MOONS: Sally Hansen Hard as Nails X-treme Wear Celeb City (wtf)

All except the silver bits were given a nice thick coat of Essie Matte About You.

  

I was musing how the Essie is such a nice purple, why don't I ever use that one...because it's a patchy disaster polish OH YEAH I REMEMBER NOW. I am excited because I think that silver may be good for stamping.

  

That is not very well focused but shows the colors in lovely December morning shade.

My beloved assistant said they look almost art deco. SQUEEEE

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.