Essie Fashion Playground

I've been flat on my back for the better part of four days with a serious neck complaint. I don't know if I've sprained a muscle or if a disc slipped out of place again. Today is the first day I've felt coherent enough to paint my nails. 

Fashion Playground is a bright, delicate pistachio pudding color with subtle, silvery shimmer. I'm normally not a fan of green on me, but it's soft enough that it doesn't make my complexion look ruddy. 3 coats with top coat. I was really impressed with the formula. 

O.P.I. DS Coronation

Today is a day for a holo, and I've been sitting on a really pretty one since I bought it back in February. The Korean market I like to frequent also has a makeup and skincare section, and a big rack of random O.P.I. polishes. I snapped up Coronation, along with a red and the Liquid Sand from the Oz collection. 

I read that people weren't very happy with Coronation when it came out in 2011. I guess holo ingredients were short then, and people really wanted those IN-YO-FACE holos. However, I'm a fan. I like my holos to be a bit soft around the edges, not blindingly linear. Coronation has a steely silver base, and a very mellow linear holo effect. It's perfect. 

The overall effect is rougher than butter LONDON Dodgy Barnett, which is the only other silver holo I have (I don't count Nfu Oh's #61 since I got one of the bum bottles), and definitely rougher than the Sally Hansen Nail Prisms (my very favorite holos to date-I used up bottles and bottles of those). 

*EDIT* I forgot I have Urban Outfitter's Silver Holo. It is MUCH more linear than either Dodgy Barnett or DS Coronation. 

It is sheer, however. I used four thin coats over Nfu Oh's aqua base to eliminate all the little bald spots. The effort is worth it though, when you see it in sunlight. Just lovely.

Zoya Maya

I really need to come to terms with the fact that colors like this just won't photograph as pretty as they are in real life. 

Maya is a subdued, peachy coral true jelly. The formula is thick, but not unmanageable. Don't be surprised if I go ahead and wear this for the rest of the summer. 

I did three coats. It was still a bit patchy after, and unfortunately I got some bubbling; the heat and humidity right now are just disgusting. However my top coat took care of them! I don't know how, but one coat of European Secrets Rock Top Coat and it was like they never happened.  Mayhaps the bubbling of summers past will no longer plague me?

Formula X Glitter Rocket

While I'm not sure I agree with the price tag, the Formula X polishes (the textures in particular) are pretty awesome. I picked up Glitter Rocket, because, you know...purple. 

The only other polish I have that is similar to this is Zoya Stevie, but by comparison, Glitter Rocket is lighter and a little more blue-based. It also has the sugary shimmer that Zoya has, but rather than uniform silver, it's pale gold, with green, pink, and violet shimmer interspersed throughout. It's basically magic. 

Zoya's formula is a little better though. Glitter Rocket began to gunk up on me a little by the third coat (you can see my thumb got a little mashed from slow drying), but it's not at all visible in real life. Plus the brush is great; it's nice and firm which you need with texture polishes. 

3 coats, no top coat. 

4th of July 2014: Yet Another in a Long Line of Unfortunate 4th's.

Ah, hey there 4th. I hate you. 

I mentioned last year that the 4th of July and I don't really get along. Maybe not always the specific day, but the general time is just a low point in the year for me. Let's tally up what's going on, shall we?

1. Finally got my period after two and a half confused months, and I know this joke is soooo old, but the elevator doors in The Shining? Yeah.

2. We had to put Ripley into a special boarding facility because we can't foster her anymore and no one else at the rescue she is with can foster her either. And her adoption process is taking way longer than it should. 

3. She got loose during adoption day and was running around a major highway for at least an hour and a half, and when my boyfriend finally found her she'd torn up her pads somewhat. Not to the point where they were bleeding, but we had to put special ointment on them. 

Boyfriend ended up having to take her alone because I would have been crying the whole time, and I didn't want her to be nervous or scared. I really, really love that shy, skittish little dog. The facility is really nice, the dogs have free run of the place and an outside area to play in, and their own little runs, but we can't visit her. The owner said it isn't allowed unless it's someone looking to adopt her because otherwise if she saw us, she'd think she was going home. That made me cry even harder. I'm still constantly worrying about if they are being patient with her shyness (Boyfriend assures me they are) and if they know her special little ways. 

So anyway, my motivation to do a 4th of July manicure was low, but I'd just gotten China Glaze Dorothy Who? and the glitter was calling to me. Glitter generally has the ability to cheer me up. 

'Merica. Freedom. Yay.

I did three coats of Dorothy Who?, which is basically the blue version of Ruby Pumps with some silver glitter thrown in. Gorgeous and glittery and smooth. China Glaze needs to make a glitter like this in every color. Then I painted my ring and pinky with O.P.I. My Boyfriend Scales Walls and topped it with one coat of Hare Polish Married to the Monarchy. Last year I layered it over Big Apple Red, which was a mistake since the red glitters got lost in it. I like this pairing much better. 

I'm not wearing this for the 4th. I took these pictures yesterday and immediately took it off and put My Boyfriend Scales Walls back on, which is such an awesome grey-tinged white. Definitely keeping it on for a few days.