Manicure Monday

GUYS! I DID IT! I finally finished wearing every single one of my polishes. It would have happened sooner if I could have stopped myself from picking up new ones, but...whatever. New Year's resolution DEFEATED. Boom.

This is a pretty massive post, so I'm going to try and keep it short(ish) and sweet(ish). I got gradually less successful at being brief over time...

Sally Hansen Rosy Outlook with Wet N Wild Waves of Enchantment, taped

WoE is sheer, but it's really pretty layered over Rosy Outlook.

Manicure Monday

So much for resuming super regular posting, ha! Comes as no surprise, I'm sure. Working on an abstract due at the end of July, so I haven't had much time for anything besides coding lately. This still isn't all the manis I've worn and not posted about over the past few months, but it's some! And I'm down to less than 15 unworns, HUZZAH!

Zoya Storm with Sally Hansen Golden Tourmaline

Two holos, both lovely in their own way. Storm is opaque in 2 coats and is a scattered holo; Golden Tourmaline is a one coater and linear holo. Taping is fun! This was taken on day 2, hence the tip wear. Keeping them both!

Manicure Monday

Hi, y'all! Sorry I've been so MIA (I mean, even more than usual). I'll ease into posting again with a new Manicure Monday––it's been more than 2 months since my last one (wtfffff), but I've been trucking along with my NY resolution. It might go faster if I stopped buying new polishes, but...well, I'm only (a nail polish addicted) human. This isn't everything I've worn, but I'll include the rest in my next MM :)

Color Club Eternal Beauty

This is a polish I haven't already posted, in spite of having had it for, like, a year. It was part of the set gifted to me by the lovely Amanda! All the CC holos are super holographic and incredibly pigmented (this was one coat!), and really fast to dry. Unfortunately, it doesn't get along with uneven nails, and chipped on my middle fingers (both of which had lost the upper layer of nail on the tip). It's real pretty, though, and good for days I don't have much time to devote to my nails. I also want to use it with others from the line in nail art! Rainbowy holo goodness.

Manicure Monday

Hi again! I hope y'all have had a great holiday season. I've been enjoying my time off school and indulging in some reading for pleasure (it'd been years since I'd really done that!), which has left less time for research and blogging, but whatever. It's winter break! I'm going to hibernate. And code. (I finally actually made some headway in that department, and wow, I totally understand why people do CS. When it works, you feel like a GOD. It's awesome. When it doesn't work, you want to kill yourself and everyone you've ever known, but you can't, because then you'll never figure out the puzzle of why it's not working...)

Here are some pictures of manis I've done the last few weeks; I did a green and red one for Christmas, but didn't take pictures because I felt like ignoring my duties as a blogger, but I'm sure you'll see the polishes I used at some point in the future. For now, here are these!

Winter Wonderland

Schnee! Kar! Nieve! Snow! (All the languages I speak
use the same writing system. Sorry to be so boring.)

This is a single coat of three white polishes layered to try and create snowy nails. I did it during our week of snow, when I was trapped at home, before I got annoyed with the stupid white stuff. It's Wet N Wild's white $0.99 polish topped with Orly Au Champagne and Orly Winter Wonderland. It wasn't fully opaque, but I didn't really care, because the shimmer from Winter Wonderland helped disguise it. That polish is really appropriately named! It does look like frosty magic.

Manicure Monday

Whee, another week's worth of manis!

Zoya Avril (3 coats) with Revlon Girly (1 coat)

Avril is a pretty color, but I'm not in love with it––partly because it's not self-leveling, so I find that it builds up in some places while being sheer in others, even after 3 coats, and partly because it's a creme, and I find creme finish polishes to be generally super boring. I did like the accent nail, though! Girly is really sheer on its own, though it can be built up in 3 coats, but I liked how it looked over Avril (and, as a bonus, I only had to do 2 coats of Avril on my accent nails). I'll be holding on to both of these to use in the future! An unstoppable combo, in spite of it being pink ;)

Manicure Monday

This is a super-quick MM before I run off to my last class of the day (I hate not getting done until 5:30––no time for a nap!). These were all part of my order from Zoya during their 3/$10 promo.

Zoya Blaze

ugh, the only half-way in-focus shot I could get. sorry :(

I initially only ordered the black holo (Storm, seen here), but decided I needed the others, too. Aurora is absolutely amazing; it's a rich red jelly-creme with scattered holo sparkles, but the effect is more glowy than rainbowy, as the red base obscures the sparkles. I love it. I wish there were more polishes like this. It's mesmerizing! And really nicely opaque in 2 coats. It's been added to my "polishes I wear when I can't decide what I want because they're always pretty and make me happy" shelf (there's only 7 or 8 polishes with such distinction!).

They Know Me So Well

I love the holiday season, even though I loathe Christmas music, because there's an abundance of food and PRESENTS! Gift-giving and -receiving is one of life's pleasures, and something I thoroughly enjoy on both sides. I've been blessed to receive several wonderful gifts from loved ones, including several beauty-related, which I share with you today (which is also the first day of winter term, and passed by without issue, hurray!).

Tauer Perfumes Carillon pour un Ange

I smelled this in New York at Min, and absolutely fell in love. At $140 for an ounce, though, it's way out of my price range. Min had a 20% off sale before the holidays, and I so wanted to purchase it then, but $112 is still, well, too much. The boy knew of my plight, and offered to buy it as my Christmas present. I didn't want him spending $112 on perfume for me, either, but he said he knew I loved it and it was something I wouldn't buy myself otherwise, and therefore made the perfect Christmas gift. Having only smelled it and worn it the one time, I was a little worried that it wouldn't be everything I remembered, but I needn't have feared: Carillon pour un Ange is one of the best things I have ever smelled. Y'all know that I love my woodsy oriental rich scents, which Carillon pour un Ange (literally, Chimes for an Angel) decidedly is not. It's a floral green lily of the valley scent, none of which are things I usually go for, which just goes to show a) how talented Andy Tauer is, and b) how much you shouldn't assume you know what you like. I think the ambergris help anchor the scent and provide contrast, and the woodsy notes add complexity, but it is, through and through, a floral scent. It's also insanely strong and long-lasting; I sprayed my arm and it lasted more than 24 hours, including through a shower. Because it's a floral, and lily of the valley at that, I find it to be more of a warm-weather scent, but even in the gloom and grey, it smells beautiful. I feel so blessed that the boy understands me so well, and is so very generous. Thank you, grapes!
(Samples are available from Luckyscent, $3 for 0.7 ml, should you wish to try it yourself!)

Manicure Monday

More manicures! This is going to be brief, again, because I have a bunch of quizzes to grade and a sure-to-be-confusing syntax article to read (the life of a grad student is just an endless party, y'all).

OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest
I caved and bought this when I spotted it in New York. Yes, I hate OPI's terrible punny names, but the color is SO GORGEOUS. And after using it, I have to say the OPI formula (okay, based on a sample size of 1, so take it with a grain of salt) is fantastic. I will be paying more attention to their other collections now! And I will be wearing this polish all the freaking time.

Orly Nail Polish in Au Champagne (from the Holiday Soiree Collection) Review and Swatches

This polish came out for the holiday season, but it's still available online and may be floating around in some stores, so I figured I might as well post it. I got it on sale at Sally's after Christmas and wore it as part of my NYE mani. I finally got around to taking pictures of it by itself, and now have this lovely review to share with y'all.

Orly Au Champagne