One More With Revlon Electric - Retro

So far this is the third thing I've done to build upon my intial mani of just simply Revlon Electric. I had added a white floral bundle monster print the next day. Charlotte Sparkle had made a comment that I should've done the orange dots in the flowers (I had left them just white). Well, she was totally right. I should have:







Closeup


2-3 coats Electric
1 coat Poshe
Stamping done with Konad white polish and BM16
Dots with China Glaze Peachy Keen

There is no top coat over the design, and this is my third day with this mani, so there is a little bit of wear. Luckily, it's MUCH less obvious in real life as opposed to the close up photos. Yesterday was the last day I planned to wear this mani, and I didn't add the orange dots until afterwards. Makes me wanna wear it for another full day with the dots... and I actually think I will. I work tomorrow so if I do a new mani today, it'll have to come off by the evening. I might as well just leave this on!!

I'm really disappointed I didn't do this sooner. I'm sorry these Electric posts have been so repeditive, but hey, at least I'm honest!! Haha. And I hope that things like this help you guys who aren't ready to change your polish but are sick of looking at the same solid color. Add something to it and keep mixing it up!! You don't always have to change your polish to make your nails look different :)

I love the retro feel to this nail. Yesterday it looked lovely and vintage, but now I'm calling it awesome and retro. Just from adding simple orange dots!! I did use a dotting tool to add them, but if you don't have a dotting tool, here is a post I did that listed some other options.

And if you're curious, the Bundle Monster plate I was using I purchased from Amazon.

Lovin' Revlon Electric So Much More!!

First, a side note:
I'm sorry that I've been rarely replying to your comments on my posts!! Blogger is being ridiculous right now, and won't let me log in when I try to post comments. But as soon as I click "Sign In", it brings me to my dashboard. Then I go back to try to comment, and it tries to make me sign in again. But then it leads back to my dashboard. So I've downloaded Firefox, which allows me to post comments, but I HATE working on Firefox. If you guys know how to fix this, please let me know. I've tried logging out and back in, clearing my temp internet files and cookies, nothing is working. And it's obnoxious. But again, I totally apologize if I did not reply to your comments!! This has been going on for a couple of weeks.

Edit to the side note -
Someone on MUA figured out how to fix this problem!! Uncheck the keep me signed in thing.

Onto the post...

I decided I wanted to do something more with Electric. I invisioned white flowers with orange dots in the middle, giving a pretty daisy feel. I went through my stamping plates, found some potential flower designs and forced asked my boyfriend to pick one of those designs. This is from Bundle Monster plate BM16.









Close-Up


2-3 coats Electric
1 coat Poshe
Stamping done with Konad white polish
I decided not to do a top coat

The photos are making the color of Electric look like it has green undertones. It doesn't. It's much more creamy yellow looking. No green. I tried like a thousand times to get a really accurate color photo, but just couldn't. It's so much more gorgeous in real life.

I'm def loving this. It's so simple, so springy, so sweet. And it's amazing because when you look at my nails in real life, it gives Electric a COMPLETELY different effect. It looks pearly, but not elderly frosty. It's just so lovely. I think that's the best way to describe it. Lovely. And kinda vintage. I love vintage.

So obviously there are no orange dots. I decided to skip that because I think the simplicity of just the yellow and white would be ruined if I did that.

I know a lot of people complain about the width of the old Bundle Monster plates (this is the old set, I don't own the new set, but I'm debating about it). I know the new set made their full nail stamps larger so they'll fit on the nail better. As I talked about before, I have skinny nails, so the width is usually not an issue. Sometimes if my nails are longer, length can be a problem, but this design worked fantastic. Even fit my thumb pretty well!!
But the full nail designs like this that do not need to be perfectly rectangular with straight edges (like a striped one), usually fair better because you don't notice that there may be a gap on either side where the print didn't transfer because the design wasn't wide enough. So overall, this worked great!!

My index finger apparently had problems picking up the design at the tip. Either that or I didn't notice that the stamper never picked up the top part of the design. But if you were curious, the design doesn't end there, I just messed up the stamping and missed that part.
Also know that some of the photos were taken last night right after I did the design, and some were taken this morning. So if there are difference in some of the designs in different photos, that's because I should've used a top coat!!

Revlon Electric

This a Revlon Top Speed polish that I picked up during the $4.99 with $4 ECB at CVS. Not gonna lie, kinda wish I had gone with another color for today. I don't really know why. I had been looking forward to this color and was all about it when I put it on, but then I realized I didn't really wanna wear it today. Eh, oh well! It's still lovely :)







Ok, super bizarre photo, right? I was taking a photo of my ring finger, but realized that this was the best photos of the shimmer close up. This is a side-ish view of my middle finger. I wasn't intending to take a photo of that nail or use it for here, but once I saw it I had to! (Don't bother clicking to zoom. It doesn't get much more clear).



2-3 coats Electric*
1 coat Poshe

*I say 2-3 coats because I ended up putting 3 coats on only the nails that needed it. Some have 2, and there is no difference in the end result opacity wise.

It's a bright (but not highlighter) yellow polish with very slight shimmer. Because the shimmer is SO fine, the overall result is the polish looks like it has a sheen to it. It's not easy to tell that it's shimmer that's giving that result, so just looking at your hand, it looks more like a creme... actually, I'm going to say it looks creamy. Weird, I know, but something about that sheen makes the polish look creamy. Strange in a good way. But I do wish the shimmer was more noticeable on the nail. I wanted a slight shimmery yellow, not a yellow with a sheen. In the bottle, it looks lighter and more shimmery, but on the nail it's darker with less shimmer. But it's actually a very pretty yellow, that's gorgeous and bright for the summer without looking pastel or neon. I've heard it's very similar to Chanel Mimosa, but yellows aren't my favorite, so I'll stick with not picking up Mimosa. Just not worth it to me. And, from comparison photos, this is close enough for me!!

The application was the problem. Now, keep in mind that yellows are just notoriously bad when it comes to formula and application. So personally, I am more lenient with a not-so-great yellow formula than I am when it comes to a pink or blue or green, etc. The biggest pain was the polish ended up getting dry and sticky on the brush, which made it difficult to apply. It started out fine, a little uneven (which is why some nails got 3 coats and others got two). You can't do super thin coats with this polish, I think your best bet is doing a couple of thicker coats. Realistically, the application wasn't HORRIBLE, but I've used better. Yellow-wise? Really not that bad. I think maybe more so than formula being the problem, it was the brush. The brush is round and kinda flares more at the tip. My nails are fairly skinny, so I wasn't able to press the brush down, I had to let it just glide over the nail. This left not a clean line at the cuticle. If you have normal sized nails, I think you'll be fine. And the dry/stickiness only started to happen towards the end of the second coat. The good thing about this polish was that it really became opaque. I'd much rather have a thicker, more pigmented yellow than one of those watery, thin yellows that you need a white base coat for or they'll never become truly opaque.

On the topic of my skinny nails, so you can understand what I mean by skinny, I have tiny fingers and hands. I know my nails look normal sized in the photos, but they're proportional to my hands. My ring size for my ring finger is a 4.5, it can even be a 4. None of my fingers, including my middle and thumb, can even wear a size 6 without it wanting to slip off. So if you have tiny hands, hopefully you can directly relate to my experiences with brushes, and my opinion of different brushes will help you. I think I'll add this to my first post just so people can reference it.

So overall do I recommend this yellow? Sure! If you're looking for a bright, summery yellow and love Mimosa but don't wanna spend the money, I say go for it. I've also heard Mimosa's application is worse, and if this is true, then I DEFINITELY recommend Electric. The drying on the brush problem I had when it came to formula/application can probably be fixed just by being more patient with application and knowing you can't quickly go from nail to nail once you start nearing the end of your second coats.

I'm listening to:
Tenacious D - Tribute

Revlon Gum Drop

So after not liking the pink based lilac that is Essie Nice is Nice, I decided to find one with a blue base. Since CVS has Revlon polishes for $4.99 with $4 ECB, I decided to grab this. Luckily, I was wearing Nice is Nice when I was shopping, so I could compare and confirm that this is DEFINITELY blue based.











4 (yes, FOUR) coats Gum Drop
1 coat Poshe

So I'm not thrilled about this being 4 coats. I don't mind 3, but 4 pushes it. And unfortunately, it really needed all 4. The first coat was SO sheer, I thought it was going to be unbuildable. But I had seen swatches online, and they were opaque, so it had to be buildable. That is probably my biggest issue with this polish. And I did learn after the fact (or maybe I knew before but it had slipped my mind), that this is quite dupe-ish for OPI Rumple's Wiggin' which has been on my want list for a LOOONG time. The fact that I love this color really makes me want to pick up Rumple's Wiggin' in hopes of it being opaque in less than 4 coats... and I'm a sucker for names with apostrophes. But overall the color is a gorgeous blue based lavender that is so flattering and lovely. And it's supposed to be scented apparently like Gum Drops. It DOES smell through Poshe if you're curious, but it's just a generic sweet smell. Not heavy, just noticeable. I love sweet and gourmand scents, so I'm all over it!!

Oh yeah, and because it took 4 freakin' (I ♥ apostrophes) coats, it dented like whoa because it took so long to dry and was so dense by the end of the layers. So if you hadn't noticed in the photos, it's because I tried to choose ones that didn't show it as much. This also meant it's not as neat by the cuticle. I'm sorry!!

Ready for the dents if you couldn't see them up there?

Sunny Day=HOLO!!!!!!!!

YAY!!!!!! Woke up this morning and saw sunshine out the window. Confirmed by looking at the sky that it wasn't just a break in the clouds... NOPE!! Beautiful blue skies in a complete 360. So I freak out, take off yesterdays polish that I planned to Konad today (I thought today was supposed to be rainy),

So what holo am I wearing??

The one and only Nfu Oh 61!! I snatched it up during those recent restocks on transdesign.com. You shoulda seen me freaking out trying to order before they were all gone. I was safe, though. I ordered at night and they didn't sell out until morning. This is the second batch of the restocks.

It's a dud in the bottle but oh my good gosh is it not even close to dud on the nail!!

Ready to be bombarded with lots and lots and lots of photos of lots and lots and lots of holo??













Indoors Near Window


iPhone Indoors


Close-Up!! (all the same nail)


3 coats 61

I used Nail Tek II and Sally Hansen Double Duty as base coats (different nails get different things depending on their status lol). I had problems with this polish dragging up, which can be a common problem with holos. I do not own the Aqua Base that Nfu Oh makes for holos, but I have used Essie Matte About You as a base coat for the China Glaze OMG collection, and have had GREAT success with it not pulling up. I was just way too excited to think about using it wit this. I just wanted it on my nails ASAP.
When applying this polish, use gentle strokes and do not mush your brush onto the nail. Let it glide gently over the nail. Also use as few strokes as possible. Regardless of base coat, these tips will reduce pulling up and patchiness.
I did not use a top coat. I usually use Poshe (previously Seche Vite), but I wanted to skip it because there's always a question whether or not a top coat dulls a holo... and I wasn't taking chances! Great thing about this polish is that even though I used 3 coats, it dried all the way through very quickly. I use quick dry top coats because I have zero patience when it comes to waiting for polish to dry. This polish was just great. I'm so glad because I was looking forward to wearing this so badly and I would've been that much more upset if it were disappointing.

This is crazy linear holo. If you've gone through my blog, you know I'm a nutcase and post like a thousand photos of a simple creme polish. I just couldn't handle all of the amazing photos of this polish.

You can definitely note the holo indoors as well. It's not as exciting as when you're in the sun, but it's still impressive and noticeable. That's the intention of my iPhone photo. The iPhone is great for photos like that because my camera needs the proper light setting and technique to capture polish indoors without natural light. The iPhone is just quick and accurate when it comes to this. And as you can tell, you can definitely still see holo without a doubt.

I think one of my fav things about this polish is it looks fake. It looks like Minx or something. With the exception of my middle finger, which doesn't have a clean swoop at the cuticle, it really doesn't look like polish at all. Looks like that inside and outside, too.


And I wanted to show photos of the bottle. This is my first Nfu Oh. I knew it had the corset on the front, but I don't recall ever seeing the back of the bottle. It's amazing all the way around. I love that it has a train coming down the back of the bottle, not just the corset on the brush.



Bonus Photos!!
My Jack Russell, Paisley, soaking up the sunshine!!

Newspaper Nails withOUT Alcohol (Vodka)

I noticed that so many people are wondering if you can do Newspaper nails without alcohol (vodka). I wrote this Newspaper Nails Tutorial, and I used vodka. Here's my second part to that which showcases other things you may have around your house to use instead of vodka. And if you're under 21 (or 18 depending on your country), you can still do Newspaper Nails!!

All nails were done with the tutorial I linked to above.



Nail Prep:
2 coats OPI Skull & Glossbones
1 coat Poshe


Note:
If you're having problems with the newspaper print not being dark enough, try a lighter base coat. It can make a HUGE difference. I tried this with Essie Nice is Nice and the print came out too pale. Just know that pale newsprint may not be due to your technique at all, it may be your base coat.

What I Used:
70% Rubbing Alcohol
Vodka
Hand Sanitizer
Almond Extract



My Results:



Index Finger - 70% Rubbing Alcohol
Middle Finger - Vodka
Ring Finger - Hand Sanitizer
Pinkie - Almond Extract

70% Rubbing Alcohol


Not bad, absolutely a great alternative. Unfortunately, though, I had to redo this nail several times to get it to look this way. I don't know if it's my nail shape or the rubbing alcohol, but it kept missing parts of the text. The intensity of the text is great, though.

Vodka


This transfers the text SO quickly. If you're looking to do this quickly, vodka is the best out of all of them. Intensity is very similar to the rubbing alcohol, but I don't feel I can do a complete comparison because some text didn't transfer right with the rubbing alcohol, which makes it look more faint.

Hand Sanitizer


Nope. Didn't work. Well, sorta worked, but no where NEAR as well as the others. I'd definitely say don't even bother.

Almond Extract


Umm, yes please!! I cannot believe how well this came out. I think it's my favorite. The text is very sharp, the color is very dark, and the extract smelled delicious!! The texture of the extract makes it very easy to keep it on one spot on the nail. I think that helps attribute to how well it works.

Which do I think is the best?
Honestly, I vote the Almond Extract. And the fact that it smelled DELICIOUS makes it that much more awesome.

Overall Opinion:
If you're looking for something besides vodka, go with an extract. The Almond Extract I used is clear (I say this because some extracts are not clear), and it lists alcohol as the second ingredient next to water. It uses 36% alcohol. Even if you have vodka, I still suggest trying an extract. The results are amazing. I'm sure other extracts, such as vanilla, orange, mint, etc would work fine, but the vanilla extract I have isn't clear, so I thought that might cause problems. The almond extract was clear.
I would also recommend rubbing alcohol, though it wasn't my favorite. It did a fine job transferring, so it will certainly work.
As for the hand sanitizer, don't waste your time.

Note:
I know that the close up photos still look fuzzy. This is because I'm shooting in macro. In real life, you canNOT tell there is fuzziness on the index, middle, or pinkie. And when I say the pinkie is the sharpest, even if it doesn't look it in the photos, it is. It's amazing.

An Award For My Tiny Blog

As I stated when I first started this blog, my intention was to just sort of document my NOTDs (nail of the days) because sometimes I spent a lot of time on my polish. The other reason was in case someone was searching for swatches that might not be found elsewhere.

A wonderful blogger, Charlotte Sparkle from In the Pink Fog has followed my blog just about since the beginning. And I currently only have 4 followers!! (Edit: I had 4 followers when I started typing this post, I currently have 18!!) I thought it was so sweet that they thought of me to pass this award to. I'm unsure of the origin of this award, but thanks to the generosity of Charlotte Sparkle, I figure I might as well pass it on as well.

I've read that the intent of the award is to help out smaller blogs. After some Googling, I came across this:

"Some time (in the recent past), somewhere (rumor has it that it might be Germany), someone (I guessing he/she was named Liebster) decided to do something nice for a whole lot of bloggers and started the Liebster Blog Award.

It's an award you receive, but it is also an award that you give. If you receive a Liebster Blog Award you are asked to choose 3 other bloggers and send them one as well.

The criteria for giving the awards are simple. They go to bloggers who have fewer than 300 followers and who deserve recognition for a blog well done."

It seems sweet and innocent enough, and if someone thought of me, I figure why not pass it on? I love that it involves giving the award to smaller blogs, instead of those that have thousands of followers and are probably already super well known. I don't currently have intentions of posting other awards, especially if they involve answering questions or doing things other than passing it on. Please do not take that offensively if you choose to pass an award on to me. With that, if you've received this award from me, please please please know that you do NOT have to pass this on, and I am not in the least bit offended if you choose not to. It won't make be unfollow your blog or stop reading it. I understand this isn't everyones thing. But with that, I'd at least like to post about three two blogs that I think are amazing and should receive more credit!

Loodie Loodie Loodie from... Loodie Loodie Loodie (lol)
Why I chose her?
I came across her blog when someone posted it on the Nail Boards on MUA after I had asked questions about some products for my nails. Ironically, she also joined in to post on my question. (MUA does not allow you to post your own blog, so it was just by coincidence that someone led me to her blog AND she actually answered my question directly). I've been fascinated with her blog ever since. She is an incredibly smart lady with gorgeous nails!! If you ever have any questions about nail care, seriously go to her blog. Thanks to her, I started using Nail Tek II and my nails have been in amazing shape ever since. I never thought it was possible, and I have to credit her for the condition of my nails now, and she has no idea how much her blog posts and advice have helped me!!
You can see her posts on this specifically by clicking the link over in my side bar thing. I added it recently because I think it's an AMAZING resource.

KattiePL from... Nails by KattiePL
Why I chose her?
I don't remember how I came across her, but I love her. Just recently she started posting more frequently. Yay!! I chose her because she has some of the most gorgeous nails I've ever seen. She does these simple nail designs in terms of the execution, but she makes them look so regal and beautiful. She also has just plain swatches and comparisons, but there's something about her nail shape and neatness that is so alluring. Even though she doesn't have a ton of content, what she has is definitely quality, and I love going back over the same posts!! This is one of my favorite posts by her, I'm dying to try it!!
I should also mention her blog is written in both English and Polish.

For now, I'm only posting these two blogs. This is the reason I hadn't posted this sooner. I couldn't choose a third. Loodie was a shoe in because she's so awesome, and then KattiePL came along. I don't know who the third will be, but I'll edit this when I find him/her :)
I figured I'd post this because it's been so gosh darn long since I was awarded this, and because Loodie is creepin' up on 300 followers!! (Yay Loodie!!)

Esse Nice is Nice ... and not Nice weather

UGH!!!! I hate New England. I've been dying to wear an untried holo, but I really want it to be sunny when I do. Yesterday was kinda chilly, but it was sunny. At some point during my 16.5 hour work day on Saturday, my thumb nail which was silk wrapped, broke through the silk wrap. So I need to repair it again. I just left my nails unpainted yesterday because of that. So today, I'm all excited to wake up and do my holo nails... and it's grey, cold, and rainy outside. According to the 5 day weather, rain today, rain tomorrow, rain Wednesday, and FINALLY a nice day Thursday, then right back to rain on Friday.

I picked up Nice is Nice at CVS for 50% off. I don't really own any light purple/lavender/lilac polishes, so I figured why not pick this one up? And if you hadn't already heard, 4 polishes from the French Affair collection are 50% off at CVS. That includes Sand Tropez, French Affair, Coat Azure, and obviously Nice is Nice. Topless & Barefoot and Kisses & Bises were NOT 50% off at my CVS. They were still full price.













2 coats Nice is Nice
1 coat Poshe

The formula was fine, a lovely creme that's opaque with 2 coats, no streaking or goopy-ness. I like Essie's brushes because they're smaller, though this one didn't seem as stiff as other Essie brushes.

So, this is not a particularly easy shade to photograph, but regardless, I'm not loving this color on me. I don't like the pinky undertones of lilac colored polishes like this one with my skintone. I have a pretty neutral skintone, but it tends to lean more olive/yellow, though I'm pretty pale (the second to last photo shows my olive/yellowness). I don't get why these colors don't work for me, but what are ya gonna do? So now I understand why I don't really own any light purples (except ELF Lilac). However, this means a challenge! Finding the perfect light purple/lavender and stay away from lilacs. Any suggestions?

Crazy Week! China Glaze For Audrey with Sweet Nothings

Ahhh!! It's been 5 days since I've updated my blog! It has been an absolutely insane week for me. Wednesday was finals at school and I wore my leopard nails for that. Then I went into work for the evening, and no polish for work, so no update on the blog. Thursday was my boyfriend's graduation from the CT Fire Academy (Brag Moment: He now has his dream job as a fire medic for a city in north central CT). I wore For Audrey and wanted to update, but the graduation and after party stuff was an all day thing that prevented me from so much as touching a computer (totally worth it, though)! Friday I worked (no polish), and was going to post my For Audrey that night, but it was a friend's birthday that I went out for right after work and didn't get home until late. No blog update. Then yesterday, they were short on medics at work, so I offered to stay until 2100. My shift is 0800-1800. Well, I had a student (I love taking students), but I ended up not getting out of work until 0030!! So I spent 16.5 hours at work total. Obviously, that meant I went to sleep the second I got home, and no update again. (If you haven't read my other posts about it, I'm not allowed to wear polish to work).

So here I am Sunday morning, showing you my nails from Thursday of last week. Better late than never!! I'll hopefully put up another post with today's nails, or I may end up posting it tomorrow. We'll see how things go!







With Flash:


iPhone:


Close-Up:


2 coats China Glaze For Audrey
1 coat Poshe
1 coat Revlon Sweet Nothings in Rendez-Blue

I know these photos aren't the best. I wasn't able to upload them until now, and it was then I realized how difficult this was to capture. This is not the first time I've worn this combination, and I'm sure it won't be the last, so if I wear it again, I'll add better photos.

I don't have any photos of just For Audrey, but this is it with a gorgeous top coat. I'm not focused on talking about For Audrey as much as I am Rendez-Blue. Revlon Sweet Nothings collection was an LE collection that came out I BELIEVE in early 2007 or late 2006? What I'm basing that on it a review of Sweet Nothings on MUA. The earliest review I found was from 2007. I looked at reviews of Dark Pleasures (which seem as though they would've come out in the same collection or around the same time), and the earliest one was from December 2006.

Anyway, Rendez-Blue is a sheer, two-toned (blue and pink), shimmery polish that I think goes beautifully over other polishes as a top coat. It adds an interesting dimension to a creme polish. When topped on For Audrey, it gives FA an all over shimmer, not glitter, but with an opalescent, duochrome-y feel. I'm not one to wear a polish like this on it's own. I wish I had more info about these polishes, but I haven't found much. I'm not certain what Revlon's intention was with them. But I vote use them as a top coat.

I picked this up at Ocean State Job Lot a while ago. I believe I paid $1.99? I also grabbed a Dark Pleasures (Talk Dirty) that looks VERY similar to China Glaze Wagon Trail. But that polish is not my thing. I have it up for swap on MUA right now. Anyway, the last time I was at OSJL, I remember still seeing Sweet Nothings. Regardless, if you come across this polish, I definitely suggest it. I think it's absolutely gorgeous!!