Here are the prompts and the rules:
Rules:
Rules:
- Use at least 1 untried polish that fits with the prompt for the day.
- If you don't have anything that works with the prompt, then consider it a free day and choose a random untried from your stash.
- There won't be an inlinkz, so keep up with the group by tagging your photos #summerofuntrieds. I've also been including #julyuntriedchallenge in my posts, so you can add that too if you want. Also, feel free to add a tag to me if you'd like (either @blueeyedlawyer or #wishesofablueeyedgirl).
- Start crossing off those untrieds in your stash!
July 15: Pink
For pink I chose to use Zoya Kitridge, Peita's Polish Pinkaholic, Accessorize Lilac Sorbet, and Lilypad Lacquer Bubble Yummo. Kitridge went on smoothly and easily without streaking and built well in three coats. I chose to top this baby pink with the vibrant neon Pinkaholic, which was also easy to apply with the glitters coming out and spreading easily. I did a watermarble using Lilac Sorbet, Kitridge, and Bubble Yummo over a coat of Cult Nails Tempest. This is probably the best watermarble I've ever done in my life, and I'm super proud of how it came out! All three of these polishes were easy to marble with, and I can't wait to wear Lilac and Bubble Yummo on their own.
July 16: Flakie
I decided to try something different for my flakie manicure, and I wasn't in love with the outcome. Someone told me that it looked like mermaid scales, which made me feel a little better about them, though. I used OPI's Amazon... Amazoff, which applied easily but stained just a little bit on the accent nail that had all of the flakies combined. I used Finger Paints flakies from a few years ago (from thumb to pinkie): Asylum, Flashy, Flecked, all 4,and Motley. The flakies were easy to use, but I wouldn't recommend layering them over each other unless you've got some time to wait for them to dry!
July 17: Elevation Polish
The EvPs I chose to wear were Higravstinden and Haba Xueshan. I was hoping these two would look nice together, and they really did! The mint accents of Haba on top really pulled the look together nicely. Hig applied well and in only two coats, but it had a bit of staining on my nails upon removal. The blue shimmer in Hig isn't as noticeable in my photos, but it's very clear in person. Haba was also easy to apply, and the glitters came out and spread across my nails easily.
July 18: Green
I feel like I have a million green Enchanted Polishes that I haven't worn, which I admit is probably an exaggeration, so I went with two of those for this prompt. I used July 2013 topped with Wish Me Good Luck. July was amazing! It applied so well and could've been a one coater, but I chose to do two to ensure no bald spots in my photos. The pink shimmer in it is striking, but I couldn't get a photo of it to save my life. In person, however, it's extremely evident in the bottle as well as on the nail. WMGL was a pain in the butt. Application was difficult as the glitter to base ratio pulled heavily in favor of base. The glitters were difficult to extract from the bottle, and if you tried to get enough glitter on the brush you'd end up flooding your cuticles because there was too much base. All in all, I wasn't really in love with this mani despite the fact that I adore July.
July 19: Neon Glitter
I always love the look of neon over pastels, so I knew I just had to do Enchanted Polish *69 over something light. I looked around my stash and was afraid that I didn't have anything untried that would work, and then I remembered my bottle of Enchanted J'adore! This dainty pink was thin, a bit watery, and applied with some streaking and frostiness. Thus, wearing it as undies for *69 was the perfect use for it! I used three coats of J'Adore with one coat of *69, which is a lovely neon green and pink glitter topper with a shimmered base. I have a decant, so I can't really speak to the polish's application truthfully since I was using a mini bottle. However, in the mini bottle, everything came out alright and very easily and spread without much manipulation. I was pretty disappointed with J'Adore, though, because the holo effect was practically nil, and even with three coats, I could still easily see my nail line. It's not at all like the other EP holos I own.
July 20: Duo/Multichrome or Shifter
I received a couple decants of the I <3 Nail Polish chromes, Cygnus Loop and Birefringence, from a friend to try out before I took the plunge in purchasing them myself. I'm really glad she let me try them because it helped me realize that I don't really need more than a decant. While the end effect is lovely and the shifts are gorgeous, I just didn't love them. Plus, they both had the same base color, which made differentiation a bit difficult. As you can see, I was able to easily smudge two of my nails even though I had used a coat of KBShimmer's Clearly on Top at least five minutes or longer before the smudges occurred. I don't like polishes that don't dry quickly on me, so these two were nice to try, but I probably wouldn't buy full sizes of either of them. Plus, they're so similar to the million of other, cheaper, chromes out there, that I just can't justify spending that type of money on a bottle or two of something I can get for much cheaper (and that could be better quality!). I can't really speak to their application because I used the mini bottles, but I will say that they were a pain to apply from the mini bottles leaving bald spots and streaks with not-so-careful application. Keep in mind that could be because the mini brushes are annoying to use.
July 21: Girly Bits
My mani for Girly Bits kind of reminded me of Christmas in July with the rich green and dark maroonish red. I only had two Girly Bits polishes I hadn't used yet, Fathomless and What Happens in Vegas Ends Up on Facebook, so I decided to wear them together! What Happens in Vegas Ends Up on Facebook is a lovely maroon scattered holographic with a pretty dense smattering of blue iridescent glitters. Application was super easy, and the rainbow effect was really nice with the bits of iridescent peeking out. Fathomless is a dark hunter green with silver micro glitters. Again, application was great, and it only really needed two coats for full opacity. Here, however, I used three for photo purposes. Dry time for both was average.
July 22: Teal
For my teal mani, I decided to cheat and do skittles using five different teals. Is that really cheating, though? I'm going to pretend like it's not since I did wear all five of these for over 24 hours. From my thumb to pinkie I wore: Elevation Polish Arabian Sea 2 (a light teal with gold flakies), Lilypad Lacquer Neon Ocean Lights (a medium teal holographic with a super strong pink/purple flash), Lynnderella Do You Paraiba? (a medium teal micro glitter), Elevation Polish Twinkle in Yeti's Eye (a darker teal with a green to red shift), and Enchanted Polish August 2013 (a dark teal linear holo). All of these guys applied amazingly, and I don't have a single complaint about any of them. I wore three coats of them all except Paraiba and August, which only needed two coats. Dry time on them all was quick.
So, what do you think? Are you playing along still? I think this is the first nail challenge I've done every single prompt for through completion! I've gotten through an outstanding number of untrieds, so I think I'll be bringing it back again in October! What do you think? Do you like doing challenges like this?
[I purchased these polishes or received them as gifts from friends.]
