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!

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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.

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Summer of Untrieds: Week 1

Welcome to my first weekly installment of the Summer of Untrieds Challenge!  If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, you'll know that I've created a daily challenge for the month of July to get through as many untried polishes on my list as I possibly can.  Because changing my polish every day is pretty ambitious, even for me, I'm going to stick to one weekly post showcasing the week's manis instead of trying to post them every day.  This will allow me to keep certain other weekly features going while I do this challenge (i.e. the return of Comparison Thursday!).  The last challenge I did went pretty well for a while, but I just got so busy and stopped wearing polish for a few weeks.  I know!  Quelle horreur!  I'm determined to keep up with this one, and maybe after the month of July is over, I'll get back to the Crumpet's Golden Oldie Thursdays.  Until then, though, I hope you take the untrieds train with me!  Here are the prompts and the 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!

Eventually, I may make a collage of all of the manis for each day's prompts and make an album on my Facebook page or Pinterest.  So, I'll let you guys know if I do that so you can tag yourselves!  Ok, let's get down to the nitty-gritty!  As always, click on the photos to view them in greater detail.

July 1: OPI

I purchased these myself.

For the first day, I wore OPI's Hey Baby and Push and Shove.  I know I'm a bit late on the Gwen polishes, but I haven't really been in the mood for mainstreams lately.  That being said, I have no idea why I waited to wear these.  Holy lord, they are sooooo pretty.  Hey Baby is really a one coater, and application was beyond easy.  I highly recommend it for everyone!  Push and Shove has a great ending effect, but it's a pretty annoying polish to apply.  It reminds me of the Nfu Oh and Layla holos that really needed an aqua base to go on smoothly without balding.  You can definitely see all of the imperfection in my nails, too, so I decided to do a little bit of testing to check out wear and the final application.  On my ring finger of my left hand and pinkie of my right hand, I have 3 layers of Push and Shove over 1 layer of my strengthener, Quimica Alemana Esmalte Endurecedor para Unas (what a mouthful!), and 1 layer of Lay Down that Base. On the thumb, index, and middle fingers of my right I have 2 layers of Lay down that Base topped with 3 of Push and Shove. All have topcoat. The P&S over the strengthener is holding up WAY better than the one over only LDTB and has 0 chips so far while the nails with just LDTB are chipping like mad.  [They say that it's a one-day use polish, which I can totally see if you're wearing it with only LDTB and without a topcoat!] You also can't see as many nail imperfections on the nails over the strengthener!  If you decide to go with a normal base coat underneath LDTB, you should really wait until it and LDTB are completely dry before applying P&S, otherwise it'll drag like mad.  Also, use caution when applying P&S and try not to go over portions that have already been painted until it has dried.  This means you'll need to get a little less polish on the brush and try not to overlap while you're painting.  I was planning to stamp over these, but I'm liking the fresh look they have on their own.  I do wonder, though, how they will stamp!  I'll have to give that a try and report back!

July 2: Glitter Topper

I purchased these myself.

For this manicure, I used OPI Can't Find My Czechbook topped with the ultimate glitter topper - Lynnderella's The Glittering Crowd.  Application of the OPI was pretty easy with only minimal pooling.  It only required two coats and dried fairly quickly.  Unfortunately, this blue isn't exactly super unique, and I'm planning to do a comparison of about 3 other blues in the same range soon.  TGC was fairly easy to apply as well.  It didn't require digging to get the glitters out of the bottle, and it spread evenly without pooling.  The base to glitter ratio was perfect, which can sometimes be a crapshoot with Lynnderellas.  Don't get me wrong, I clearly love me some Lynns, but she tends to pack her bottles so full of glitter that they require the dab method to spread evenly.  This wasn't the case for TGC!

July 3: Creme

I purchased or swapped for these.

I love wearing a creme as much as the next gal, but I get sooooo bored with them super easily.  Plus, since this is a challenge to slash through my untrieds, I wanted to make sure I used more than just one.  As such, I decided to try out some Nail Vinyls from @teismom on IG to go with my cremes.  I've used her stars and chevrons before, but I had some lightening bolts laying around that needed some attention, so I pulled those out for this mani to use with my cremes: Illamasqua Jo'mina (purple), Cult Nails Nakizzle's Shizzle (baby blue), and Illamasqua Cameo (periwinkle).  I didn't exactly think this one through, though, and didn't do them in the correct order.  Oops!  Next time, I'll be more prepared and do them in the right order so that I won't have to do what I did this go around, which was to freehand one of the lines of the baby blue.  Jo'mina was a two coater, but it definitely got all over the skin around my nails, which was sad.  Cleanup was fairly easy, though, without any staining of my skin.  I only needed one coat each of Cameo and NS, but I can't accurately describe their application since I didn't exactly use them for a full mani.  All in all, I still really like this mani despite the imperfections!

July 4: Red, White, and Blue

I purchased or swapped for these.

I wanted to do too many things for my red, white, and blue mani, so I did a bit of a skittle manicure to try and incorporate a lot of the good stuff into the one day I allotted myself for the challenge.  I used Barry M Cobalt Blue on my thumb topped with two coats of Lynnderella Flurries of Starlight.  Cobalt was practically a one coater, but I used two coats for fuller coverage.  I should've used only one coat of Flurries, but I got a little over eager...  As a base for my index, middle, and ring fingers, I used three coats of Emerald and Ash's Mie Scattering, which is my all time favorite white right now with it's crelly texture and subtle shimmer.  On my index finger, I used one coat of Kawaii Lacquer's Aren't the Stars and Stripes a Little... Old Fashioned?, which was super easy to apply with glitters that came out of the bottle easily and spread well on the nail.  On my middle finger, I did a waterfall manicure using Barry M Cobalt, KBShimmer's A Whole Lava Lovin, and Maybeline Silver Gleam.  On my ring finger, I did a water marble using Cult Nails Tempest (white) and Kiss (red) and Barry M Cobalt.  All three were fantastic for water marbling!  I had a bit of trouble with the marble on my swatch hand, but my right hand looked pretty good.  Lastly, on my pinkie I used two coats of Whole Lava Lovin topped with one coat of Lynnderella Sapphire Starfire.  Both were super easy to apply without much manipulation.

July 5: Lynnderella

I purchased or swapped for these myself.

For my Lynnderella day, I chose to use two Lynns: LE Sleepy Holo and core the Stars in Her Eyes, which I wore in one coat over two coats of Chanel April.  I received SIHE in a decant from a friend, and I love those little baby stars!!  For Sleepy Holo, I used two coats of this amazingly full coverage glitter jelly alone.  Even at one coat, it was almost opaque!  Dry time on this mani was fairly quick, and I used one coat of Peita's Polish Glitter Glaze with a coat of Seche Vite to tame those glitters.

July 6: Orange

I purchased or swapped for these myself.

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you'll either know or have noticed that I don't really wear much orange.  Oranges typically don't look great on me.  Plus, I have an aversion to it because of my having gone to the University of Georgia (and a strangely large amount of our rivals use orange!).  For this prompt, I really only had one orange that I hadn't used before, and this gave me a great excuse to wear it!  I used Essie's Bright Tights that I found dusty hunting a while ago, and I topped it with one coat of Alta Costura Vernis BrightSide.  Stupidly, I decided to try this neon without a white base coat...  As such, I couldn't get a fully opaque look at even four coats!  However, I was lucky in that the glitter topper helped to cover up some of the VNL.  Application for Bright Tights was also a bit difficult.  It dries a bit matte, so you have to work quickly to get it on the nail and keep it from dragging.  Plus, my bottle is wicked old, so it was a touch clumpy.  BrightSide applied well, but I wish there was a better glitter to base payoff since it was hard to get the larger bits of glitter out of the bottle.  I really liked that the pink and yellow glitters reminded me a bit of pink lemonade!  Both of these polishes have been discontinued, sadly, so you won't be able to find them anywhere other than blog sales (or maybe dusty hunting for the Essie).

July 7: Textured

I purchased these myself.

The last mani for tonight is a gradient I did using only textures.  I started with a base of white using Cult Tempest.  Then, I used (going from thumb to pinkie): OPI You're So Flippy Floppy, OPI Jinx, OPI I'm Brazil Nuts Over You, OPI Samba-dy Loves Purple, Sally Hansen Royal Icing, and OPI What's a Little Rain Forest?.  Sadly, Samba and Royal Icing weren't as easy to apply using the gradient method as the rest.  They just weren't pigmented enough and required an extra coat for each.  I can't really speak to proper application on any of these polishes, though, since I did the gradient instead of a normal mani.  The first photo shows the mani without a topcoat.  Next, I put on a coat of Peita's Polish Glitter Glaze, which really made the colors look richer than without the topcoat.  Lastly, I attempted a little palm tree nail art, which I copied from this awesome tutorial, using Kiss Nail Art's black striper.  (I did this on three nails but only watched the video to do it on my middle finger...  The picture got increasingly worse until the final attempt on my not-pictured pinkie looked like a weird bug...  Next time, I'll rewatch the video as I do each nail until I'm positive that I know how to do it without it looking like a second grader's abstract art.)  I topped it off with a coat of Alter Ego She Shines! topcoat.  I almost wish I could have been able to wear this for a longer period of time, but this challenge slows down for no (wo)man!

So, what did you think of this past week's manis?  Come back next Monday for next week's installment of the Summer of Untrieds Challenge!  Tomorrow we'll be taking a look at another #RedCoatTuesday!

Comparison Thursday: Light Teal Holos

This comparison is going to be short and not very good...  Admittedly, I forgot to write down my application notes when I took these pictures, so we're going to be relying mostly on the aesthetics of these polishes...  I do have some general memory of application, but I won't be able to get into the nitty-gritty of how many coats, etc...  My bad!  But I didn't want to let this week pass without a comparison.  So, let's get this started!

I purchased these myself or they were given to me as gifts from friends.

From left to right: Liquid Lacquer Teal Tails, Monster Polish Rainbows in the Sky, China Glaze Don't Be a Luna-tic, OPI Blue Moon Lagoon, and Enchanted Polish Ocean Potion.

To be honest, there isn't a whole lot similar between them other than they're all in the basic general mint/light teal holo family.  Otherwise, they're all pretty diverse.

Teal Tails

This polish was created for my blog's 1 year birthday last year, so it's not available anywhere.  It's a medium teal with a strong green flash.  The holo is a little tighter than a scattered holo, but it's not quite linear.  Application was easy and required little cleanup.

Rainbows in the Sky

Rainbows in the Sky was created by Monster Polish for my actual birthday last year, and I'm not sure if she has anymore laying around.  It's a lovely shade of teal but leans ever so slightly grey.  RitS is more of a creme based holo, which gives it a denser look that's also more scattered than the rest.  The thick and creamy consistency makes this polish super easy to apply.

Don't Be a Luna-Tic

DBaLt is the most linear of the group with the smallest holographic particles.  Unlike many other bottles, my bottles of the China Glaze Hologlams were all very holographic.  In the bottle, they're not much to look at, but once on the nail, the prism catches the light and goes crazy.  Application for DBaLt was a pain, though, much like its older counterparts the OMG collection.  I highly recommend using an aqua base to help with application.  Otherwise, it's probably the most pigmented of the group and required the least coats.  The Hologlam collection was discontinued last year, but you can still find them around the clearance bins of your local beauty supply shop.

Blue Moon Lagoon

Blue Moon Lagoon is a super hard to find polish that, while pretty, isn't quite worth the hype.  It's closest in color to Rainbows in the Sky while being more linear.  The holographic particles are on the larger side, and it is probably the least opaque of the bunch.  Application isn't terrible, but you do have to apply several coats for opacity.  You also have to be careful of pooling and flooding your cuticles.

Ocean Potion

Honestly?  I don't really know why I put this guy in here...  It's much darker than the rest and is a true teal versus the others' minty qualities.  Application was easy, even though I only have a decant of it in a mini bottle.  This one has been long discontinued and is very very hard to find.  I am very lucky that I was able to swap a decant of one of my Enchanteds for this bad boy.  The holographic particle size is around the same as Blue Moon Lagoon, but there's more of it, which makes the rainbow a little more pronounced.

I like them all for different reasons, and I've kept them all except for the China Glaze.  I just couldn't get over that application!  So, which of these do you like best?

(PS if this post is a bit incoherent in any way, I apologize!  I'm exhausted and about to crawl directly into the bed, which, if you know me, is unheard of!  10:30 and tired is not a normal Julie behavior!)

I purchased these myself or they were given to me as gifts from friends.

As Borrowed From... Lynnderella Sugar Magnolia

Sometimes, there are some seriously special people in your life that will allow you to borrow some amazingly special polishes.   It's always nice to be able to try out a polish that may be harder to find or expensive before adding it to the ever growing ISO list.  And to be honest, I'm never sure I'll ever actually finish a full bottle of anything, so just one use works really well!  Sometimes I'm sent a bottle to borrow for one use, or there are other times where a lovely friend sends me a decant of a special polish, which I love to give and receive.  These people are angels sent from heaven, and I am so thankful to have them in my life!  As such, I wanted to start a new mini-feature on the blog to showcase those lovely polishes loaned to me by these amazing women.  Today's installment is from the super sweet Sara from Born for a Storm who loaned me Lynnderella Sugar Magnolia, which I paired with Elevation Polish Mount Feathertop.

This polish was loaned to me by a friend or was purchased by myself.

Color:  Pale pinky-peach base with iridescent, pink, and white microglitters and larger pink, fuchsia, and neon pink glitters.

Finish: Microglitter – a polish with either a clear or colored base but that is packed with tiny glitters that build up to opacity in two to three coats and can be worn without undies.

Bottle / Brush:  Rectangle bottle – ribbed cap that is a little hard on the hands to open if you have sensitive skin.  The wand is the standard length, but the brush is a little too thin to pick up large / shaped glitter without fishing.  The brush's width is also an issue for spreading.  It doesn't fan out and pretty much requires you to dab polishes that are densely packed with glitter.

Opacity:  High – opaque to two coats!  Here, I've worn one coat over Elevation Polish Mount Feathertop, but it would look amazing on its own!

Glitter Application: Easy – Spreads evenly without much manipulation.

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

Overall Ease of Application:  Easy – applies well without pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads evenly and smoothly.

Stampability: Not designed for stamping.

Dry Time:  Medium – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in 3-8 minutes.

Overall Thoughts:  While everyone knows that Lynnderella does glitter toppers AMAZINGLY well, I feel like she doesn't get enough love for her microglitters.  Every single one that I've tried so far has been just off the charts in amazingness.  Everything from application to consistency is perfect, and the fact that you can wear them all alone makes them hugely appealing.  I only chose to wear one coat of Sugar Magnolia because, since I borrowed this precious from a friend, I didn't want to make too much of a dent in her bottle.  If I ever get one for myself, though, I will definitely be trying it alone with 2 coats.  The glitters in this polish are gorgeous together and actually pretty unique.  I studied the crap out of it while it was on my nails, and I'm still not entirely certain what some of those glitters are! I had a few options of what to wear with this, but I went with the super dainty Elevation Mount Feathertop, which is a peachy-pink crelly.  I only used two coats, which didn't give full opacity, but I didn't really need for my undies to be fully opaque since the glitter itself did a great job with coverage.  If you get a chance to purchase this one, it's so worth it.  Gorgeous polish, flawless application, great staying power, and uber unique.

You can purchase Lynnderellas at their site here.  Follow their fan sites on Facebook and Instagram for news, updates, and giveaway opportunities!

One last super huge thank you again to Sara for trusting me to use this gorgeousness!  I'm so very very happy with the outcome, and I can't wait to see it on your fingers!

This polish was loaned to me by a friend or was purchased by myself.

Pretty Little Liars: Orly Bus Stop Red

It's been a while, hasn't it?  I'm soooo sorry for abandoning the blog!  I've been really missing it and you guys, so I'm going to work hard to get myself back on track!  Especially because we're quickly approaching my 2 year birthday!  So, what better way to kick off the restart of my blog than to dive right into some #RedCoatTuesday!  

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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!

So, last season, I missed the first 5 or 6 episodes of Pretty Little Liars when it first came back, and by the time I wanted to catch up, they weren't online anymore.  Womp womp!  So I was pretty much a season behind when I participated in previous Red Coat Tuesdays.  However, Netflix finally added in season 4, so I was able to catch up just before this season started!  Now, I've got it safely scheduled on my DVR, so I won't be behind again!  It's definitely a guilty pleasure show and not something that I ever thought I'd watch religiously.  I actually find myself screaming at the television more often than not because those girls are just so dumb!  Hah!  My friend Rachael of Polished for Reals pointed me in the direction of this hilarious Buzzfeed called 41 Thoughts Everyone Has While Watching "Pretty Little Liars," and it's pretty dead on. Don't read that, though, if you're not caught up.  It's not super spoilery, but it may not make as much sense.  Ok, so let's get onto the review!  (Please be prepared for some not so awesome lighting as well as some right-handage!)

I purchased this polish myself.

Color: Deep red creme.

Finish: Crème – a flat polish that finishes smooth with full opacity.

Bottle / Brush: Orly (old) round - large round bottle that is easy to hold onto.  The handle is rubber, which makes it easier to hold onto when you’re painting.  Wand and brush length are average.

Opacity: High – opaque at two coats!

Glitter Application: N/A

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

Overall Ease of Application: Easy – applies well without pooling, dragging, streaking, or balding.  Spreads evenly and smoothly.

Stampability: Not tested for stamping.

Dry Time: Medium – dry to the touch with minimal smudging in 3-8 minutes.

Overall Thoughts: I wore this polish a long time ago, so my recollection of it isn't as awesome as I would have hoped. However, I do remember that it was super easy to apply, and it wore well with Ninja Polish Divinity on top for several days without chips. It didn't stain my nails, but it did slightly stain my skin when I took it off as you can see on my thumb. It doesn't help that this is my non-dominant hand, so my application wasn't exactly tip top! Although, I'm super proud of my hand poses! They usually look so horrible with my righty, but these only look slightly awkward! Hah! Anyway, Bus Stop Red is a lovely creme, but it's not super unique. I have others in my collection similar, so I ended up selling it. If you're looking for a blood red creme, though, this would be a great option!

You can purchase Orly at Sally Beauty, Ulta, and other beauty supply shops.

I purchased this polish myself.