My Pretty and Polished Collection

I have some more polishes from the lovely Chels at Pretty and Polished. I have already reviewed a beautiful green holographic polish called Martian Salad, which I absolutely love and I get compliments on every time I wear it. Now, here are the rest of the polishes I have from her. Since she is currently redoing her shop on Etsy due to supplier issues, I don't know if she will still be making any of the ones I will be reviewing today. I have Nova, Cryptid, Galax-E, and Galactus. Of course, they all have something in common, they are holographic in one way or another. I swear I will do anything for holographic polish, it is my one weakness, well, next to duochromes!!

Galactus

Galactus is a beautiful cool toned, purple, almost grape colored shimmer, scattered holographic polish. I just can't get over how beautiful this color is. I could easily wear this all of the time. It went on easily in two coats with no application issues. I am a sucker for purple anyways, but damn!! The holographic effect is just enough that it enhances the color without distracting you! I just love purple.

Cryptid

Cryptid is a nice, shimmery dusty scattered holographic teal. I really like the muted teal base color in this polish. It is subdued enough you could wear this to work. The holographic effect was not as pronounced in this polish, but it was still a very pretty color. This went on in two coats with no application issues either.

Galax-E

Galax-E is a holographic glitter with a black base. I did use one coat of Wet n Wild Black Cream underneath so it would show more holographic glitter. Application was easy with one coat over the black cream. I am still not sure if I like this or not. I guess I just don't like how the black base covers up the holographic glitter. This is just a personal opinion, because I know many people who would not be bothered by this at all. Other than that small detail, I really do like the "galaxy" effect that this polish does give.

Nova

 Nova is a shimmery, scattered holographic red polish. This red is just stunning!! I started to put this polish on and I swear I almost got away with ONE COAT!! It is very pigmented. I only wish it was more holographic. I tried very hard to coax it out at some very weird angles, but I couldn't get it to be prominent. I wonder if it is hidden by the strong red pigment in the polish. I hope it was just me not mixing the bottle up enough before applying, because the bottle has no problem showing me a rainbow. Even without a holographic shimmer, I would love this cherry red color. It does have a slight pink/fuchsia tint to it that I noticed when applying the first coat.

None of these polishes have a top coat on it. I have to say my favorite color is a tie between Nova and Galactus. I don't know if you picked up on the fact I just loved the colors themselves, much less the added benefit of the holographic shimmer. What do you think?

My First Water Marble Nail Art!

I did my first water marble nail art. I think it was quite successful for a first try. It took a while to get the technique down, but once I had it, it was a lot of fun. I first made the mistake of using some cheap-o polishes I had bought just for this. They were way too gloopy. So I busted out my old trusty China Glaze and had instant magic. I followed the advice of others and used room temperature filtered water, taped my nails off with scotch tape, and used a toothpick to create the marble effect. I first tried to use my dotting tool but the point wasn't fine enough. I used the China Glaze colors, Secret Peri-wink-le, Starboard, and Lemon Fizz. I had a base of 2 coats of Wet n Wild French White. I wish I had done step by step photos but I was really concentrating on doing this right. Next time I will give instructions. I will definitely be doing this technique again. Oh, I received a TON of compliments on this manicure including patients, checkout clerks, and I even made one doctor speechless (which is quite a feat)!

So each nail looked completely different. I tried a different "swirl" every time to see what came out the best.

So here are the lovely colors I used. L-R Secret Peri-wink-le, Lemon Fizz, Starboard

You can see my error, during application, on my ring finger. I started to take my finger out of the water before making sure ALL of the excess polish was off of the surface.

I just thought this looked pretty. :)

I apologize for the cuticles and tip wear, well, just general manicure damage. I had worked a bunch at the hospital, and the wear and tear on my hands does do a number despite tons of moisturizer. So for a first attempt I think it turned out quite well. What do you think. What are your experiences trying out water marbling.

St. Patrick's Day Mani!!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone. It has been a while since I last posted, but things have been a little crazy around here. On to the manicure. I tried my first glitter gradient manicure today and I think I did okay. It is by no means amazing, but I have seen worse (I hope.)I used Martian Salad by Pretty and Polished for my holographic green base, Essie  Gold as it Gets and China Glaze Blonde Bombshell for the glitter, and topped it all off with my beloved Seche Vite! My idea was I had my green color to start with, then the holographic shimmer in it would represent the rainbow, and finally the gold glitter would be the gold at the end of the rainbow. It looked perfect in my head! Reality quickly set in during my mani, real life would not be so perfect. I had a very hard time with Blonde Bombshell getting clumpy during the application process. The interesting thing was it wasn't getting gooped up on the nail, it was getting lumpy at the rim of the bottle which made applying it a nightmare! So, despite the difficulties, it turned out fair I think. Well, at least I can't get pinched tomorrow because of the green!

Unfortunately the sun isn't out right now, so I can't get a shot of the rainbow effect, but you get the idea. I will try and post more pictures later when and if the sun comes out. Have a great day!