Pretty Little Liars: 100th Episode | Summer of Untrieds Glitter in Colored Base

Tonight's post will double as both #RedCoatTuesday AND! #summerofuntrieds day 8: Glitter in a Colored Base!  Normally, I try to put all of my July Untried Challenge manis into one post a week, but tonight's post really went well with the theme for today, and both polishes I used were untried!  So, let's hop to it!

(Source)

The rules are easy!

• Paint your nails red, do your lips red, do a shadow design in red, or do anything beauty related that is mostly red.
• Add your blog and photo to the inlinkz!  If you don't have a blog but do have an IG, you can check this link for directions on how to use your IG for inlinkz.  If you don't have a blog or IG, you can just add your photo to the linkup or send it to Color Me So Crazy, and she will get them up for you!
• Use the #RedCoatTuesday tag when you share your photos on IG, Twitter, or Facebook!
• Tonight's extra rule was to add a 100 in your design somewhere to commemorate the 100th episode!

For this week's challenge, I wore Nerd Lacquer Warrior Ethos with an accent of Alter Ego Nymph of the Night, which was a gift from Cynthia, Alter Ego's creative genius, as part of an indie polish maker swap.  I then used Zoya Sookie to add in the 100 and -A using the brush from a Kiss striper.  This review will focus on Warrior Ethos mostly, but I'll mention a few notes about the AE in the Overall Thoughts portion below.

I purchased the Nerd and Sookie myself.

Color: Candy red jelly base with purple iridescent, red, gold, and black glitters in varying sizes.

Finish: Glitter Jelly – glitter in a colored jelly base.

Bottle / Brush:  Round bottle – the brush and wand are the standard width and length.  Easy to control and manipulate.

Opacity: High – opaque at two coats!  Yes, TWO.  A jelly based glitter that is opaque in TWO COATS.  Uncanny.

Glitter Application: Difficult – difficult to dig the glitters out of the bottle, but spreads evenly once you get them out.  The glitters are hard to get out of the bottle because they sink...  That is probably my biggest gripe about this polish.  I had to turn it upside down for quite some time to get the glitters top the top, and even then they had a tendency to settle back down as I was painting.

Consistency: Medium – applies easily and doesn’t flood the cuticles.

Overall Ease of Application: Medium – applies well with minimal pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads well without much manipulation.

Stampability: Not designed for stamping.

Dry Time: Quick – dry to the touch without smudging in under 3 minutes. 

Overall Thoughts:  I was so surprised when I applied WE and it was only two coats.  That is probably the thing I was most excited about, to be honest.  Plus, the glitters laid flat and didn't require the use of any tamer to smooth out.  I used one coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top, and the glitter looked glossy and felt perfectly smooth, which was awesome!  There's nothing I hate more than thick layers and chunky glitters on my fingers.  Because I only needed to use two coats and one coat of topcoat, it dried super fast!  Like I said above, my only real complaint about WE is the sinking glitters, but it's not so horrible that a little flip upside down wouldn't fix.  Alter Ego's Nymph of the Night is a blackened base polish with ultra micro fine red glitters that dries matte.  Application is tough on the first coat because it's matte, so you have to work quickly to make sure it doesn't drag.  After that first coat, though, application is super easy and self leveling.  While the matte looks pretty awesome in its own right, I have to say that I fell in love with the way this polish looked with topcoat.  The subtle shimmer really pulled this look together.  I did some crappy as always nail art to commemorate the 100th episode using Zoya Sookie and a brush from my silver glitter Kiss Nail Art striper.  I'm not good at freehanding, so I wasn't really pleased with this.  I should've known better, though, because I can't even write with a normal pen much less a floppy skinny brush, hah!   That's definitely something on my list to work on - free hand nail art that doesn't look like the nail polish equivalent of macaroni jewelry...  I'll keep trying, though!

Sadly, Nerd Lacquer hasn't been the most reliable with regards to restocks...  or even actual delivery of her products.  I've really enjoyed working with this polish, though, so I would recommend nabbing it if you see it on a blog sale.  As I mentioned above, Nymph of the Night was a special edition created for a group, but you can purchase other Alter Ego polishes here.  Follow her on Facebook and IG for news and updates.  Lastly, you can purchase Zoyas at most beauty supply shops.

(Source)