Forever 21 Love & Beauty Pink

L&B has the most obnoxious names for their polishes. Their names are literally the color of the polish. This one is called "Pink". More specifically, it's MA120 Pink, just in case you were curious.

I have been dying to wear this because it's so similar to a peachy color I've been wanting. However, this one is just a little too pink, so I think I have to take a trip to NYC and pick up Illamasqua Purity. Anyway, here's "Pink".

**This polish was EXTREMELY difficult to photograph accurately. This first photo is as close as I could get to the actual color**


Sunlight




Shade




2 coats Pink
1 coat Poshe

This polish is one of those neon (bright) pastels. Definitely not a true neon, though it photographs almost as difficult as a neon, which is a HUGE pain. It's a bright creme salmon that goes on several shades darker than the bottle. It has more of a peachy hue than the photos show, it has almost a coral kinda feel. It is also brighter in real life. From photos I've seen, it looks VERY comparable to Orly Cotton Candy, however I do not own Cotton Candy to compare directly.

The formula was totally fine. Opaque and streak-free in 2 coats. First coat seemed a little uneven, but that was totally fixed with the second coat. No cuticle drag, either. The brush is pretty average, and that's actually not a bad thing!!

Zebra With Some Accents

Another day of no idea what to do. I texted my friend this morning whining about how I had NO idea what to do with my nails today. She suggested houndstooth, so I had a go with my old BM plates, which are typically fine in width... however my nails are far too long to do that right now. I needed to try something else. I already had my nails painted white, so this is what I came up with...













Started with:
2 coats Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in White On
1 coat Poshe

Pinkie, Middle, Index:
Bundle Monster plate BM-223 (zebra) stamped with Sinful Black on Black
1 coat Poshe

Thumb:
Bundle Monster plate BM-223 (zebra) stamped with Orly Royal Navy
Bundle Monster plate BM15 (feather) stamped with Sinful Black on Black
1 coat Poshe

Ring:
1 coat Orly Royal Navy
3 coats China Glaze Dorothy Who?
1 coat Poshe

Oh yeah. How amazingly tacky is this?? I'm all about it, obviously. I messed around with so many different ways of doing this because I had only an iffy vision of what I wanted. Plain zebra stripes was not an option. I debated about doing something red over the zebra (maybe a red rose or something like that), but then I saw Dorothy Who? and decided I had to go with blue. I chose Royal Navy as the zebra on my thumb simply because the feather didn't work over black, even when stamped with a dark, opaque blue (not Royal Navy). The feather, by the way, has zero significance. I just wanted something that wasn't too complicated, and was dense enough to go over the zebra stripes so you would still be able to figure out what it was.

Speaking of the friend I was texting, she doesn't get to see it until tomorrow. Unless she can find my blog. I think only one of my friends has seen my blog. And in case he comes across it again...
HI JIM!!!!!!!!!

Green Fauxnad

This is actually a mani from a week ago, but the photos hadn't come out that great so I wasn't going to post it. Then I realized it's been 5 days since my last post, and I'm working today and tomorrow and possibly Monday, so that means more days without posts (because I can't wear polish to work). So I figured I'd throw this together before going to work today.

Over the time I hadn't post, I did keep polish on my nails... obviously!! Haha. But I wore my blue holo leopard mani for a good few days. 1. Because I liked it and 2. Because I never had time to change it. Then Thursday I quickly threw on OPI Stranger Tides because I wanted something more demure. I went out with a friend that day and she looks at my nails and goes "your nails are so boring today!!". It was hysterical because I had no idea she actually paid attention to my nails!! Haha.









4 coats OPI Gargantuan Green Grape
Bundle Monster plate BM-208 with Orly Enchanted Forest

The stamping looks so off in these photos, but I SWEAR it looked great in real life!! Anyway, I'm loving these new Bundle Monster plates!! Highly recommended!!

The Blue Holo Leopard

So yesterday, I was dead set on what I wanted to do for my nails today. This morning, I was still going to do it. Then I was setting up to do it and questioned if that's what I wanted to do. Because I'm using a linear holo as a base, I then started having doubts about doing a full nail stamp in case it totally covered the linear awesomeness. So I actually googled photos of the bundle monster plate I wanted to use to see if it really covered polishes that much. I even found one using a scattered holo. Ultimately, I figured eh, oh well if it ruins the linear look. It's supposed to rain at 1300 today, anyway.

So this is what I did...















4 coats Nfu Oh 65 (I added another this morning to freshen it up because I didn't use a top coat)
Bundle Monster plate BM-221 with Sinful Black on Black
Dotting with China Glaze Techno Teal

So I realized how nerve wracking stamping was going to be, and became super weary. Because I have FOUR coats of polish on with no top coat and I'm using black to stamp a full nail design, there is little room for error. There was much potential for this to be very time consuming, but I got WICKED lucky and didn't have to redo any. My right hand thumb didn't stamp as vividly as all of my other nails, but it's still fine!!

I had debated about doing the dots on the print because I didn't know if it'd ruin it. But then I thought back to the Revlon Electric stamped flowers saga (here, here, and finally here), and figured what the heck? Might as well. So if you were curious what it looked like without the dots, I did take photos, and here they are:















Now Be Honest
Do you like it better with or without the dots??

Nfu Oh 65 is GORGEOUS

I treated myself to this polish for my bday. I already own Nfu Oh 61, and that obviously means I HAVE to own more. I love this light blue holo!!















I also wanted to make sure to include some photos that show the polish NOT in sunlight (when it's at its complete holo potential).

Outside in the shade:


Indoor lighting:




3 coats Nfu Oh 65
No topcoat

Just as with 61, I used Nail Tek II and Sally Hansen Double Duty as base coats (silk wrapped nails get SH and non-silk wrapped get NT). I have never used Nfu Oh's Aqua Base, which apparently makes application super easy. When not using a specialty base, you need to be VERY gentle with this polish and use as few strokes as possible. I'm talking 3 strokes per nail MAX. If you do more than that, you start getting bald spots. So with that, you need a VERY light touch so it doesn't pull up the polish that's already applied. It's not unmanageable by any means, you just have to practice with it and be patient. I don't think I'd waste my time with this if it were a simple creme polish, but because it's a beautiful, linear holo, it gets my time.

Love/Hate Relationship with Gargantuan Green Grape

I stared at my Helmer for a good 20 minutes today trying to decide what to wear. I even went through my spreadsheet and tried to pick an untried. Everything I wanted to wear was either blue, pink, or glittery. I've been wearing SO many different blues and pinks lately, and I'm avoiding glitter due to numerous (4) silk wraps because removal would be awful. And I flat out refuse to wear any dark/vampy colors during the summertime. I also wanted to use my new BM plates with whatever color I chose.

And finally I chose OPI Gargantuan Green Grape, which I haven't worn in a LONG time. You'll read why after the photos.

**These first photos in the sunlight are more accurate color-wise**



















4 (Yes, FOUR) coats Gargantuan Green Grape
1 coat Poshe

GGG is a delicious bright, pastel springy green. It does NOT look like snot on your nails like it could have potential to. I have not found another green like this despite my numerous searches. It's very unique and just so lovely.

The problem is a HUGE downfall. Aside from my disdain for the ProWide brush, this formula is crap. You have to be prepared to baby this polish. It is thin and streaky, requires a delicate touch, and you cannot use too many strokes or it will give you cuticle drag like whoa. Even after 4 coats, it coulda used another because there are some bare spots, but they're not too noticeable.
I don't understand why OPI would put out such a terribly quality polish. Maybe because they know it's a gorgeous, unique color and if they changed the formula, it'd change the color.

It's unfortunate because this would be such a staple polish for me if it weren't for the formula.

Frisky Print

Frisky was another one of those polishes I knew I'd do something more with. I had this idea when I initially wore Frisky, and I was tempted to just do this then. But I figured I'd wear Frisky on its own for a day before doing this.
I got the new set of Bundle Monster plates for my birthday and was super excited to use them. This is what I did:







Not Direct Sunlight


2 coats Orly Frisky
1 coat Poshe
Bundle Monster plate BM-224 with China Glaze Techno Teal

I never had much of a problem with the size of the full nail designs with the old Bundle Monster, but these new ones are definitely huge!! I wasn't used to that, so it was like I was relearning because it was so difficult for me to pick up the image fully and evenly, which is why some areas are a little spotty. But ultimately, I like that this is subtle but still noticeable, and the pattern makes those spotty areas much less obvious in real life.