First Konad!

I wasn't feeling so hot today, so to make myself feel better I got out my new Konad to try! I was really worried about having trouble with it - I read all kinds of comments online about how hard it was to use. Luckily, I did fine - I redid a few nails, which was no problem since I had another topcoat on under the Konad. Only the thumbs gave me real trouble - I have to get used to double stamping there, since I have enormous thumbnails. I cheated on the right hand and used a different image there.

I started out using an old credit card for a scraper, but decided I like the metal scraper better - the plastic took too much off. It's important to keep the scraper clean, or it won't scrape well. I'm definitely investing in some pure acetone - most of my time was spent cleaning the plate and stamper. I usually use the pink beauty secrets remover from Sally beauty, but to be honest I don't think it removes all that well, and it certainly took forever here. Plus acetone dries itself, so I can skip drying the plate. I'll also get some felt to avoid lint.

Here is my first try - it turned out pretty well for the first one I think! My husband has promised to let me practice on his nails later (the things he does for me!) so I hope to get better - I love the Konad and can't wait to try more images. I got 5 plates to start, and I can see how this could get addictive!

Konad plate m57, konad special white polish over BB Couture midnight malibu.

My right hand is making its first blog appearance here - it turned out better, surprising since I'm right handed, and usually my left hand looks better. I did cheat on the thumb, but I like how it looks with the different image. I'm most excited about the leopard and zebra print plates - tomorrow I plan to do a hot pink and black manicure with one of those. I have several hot pinks that need to get used, and I've been in an 80s kind of mood lately. I also got one of the decorative french tip plates, and I can't wait for that. I think my nails are too short for real french, but funky french is fine!

If you're thinking about trying Konad - go for it! I am usually such a spaz with nail art, and I picked this up right away. There's usually a 20% off coupon wandering around - I ordered from wowsocool.com and they were great. You don't need a kit - just get the stamper, a few special polishes to start, and whatever image plates you like. It's cheaper than I thought it would be. I hear you can use some regular polishes, but not all. I'm planning on ordering the China glaze romantique set, now that I have a use for them. I don't like them all over the nail, but love them for this!

BB Couture Midnight Malibu and new toys!

I had a really hard time getting this color to show properly! Midnight Malibu is a dark bluish purple jelly, with irridescent green glitter. It applied well, though it has drying time issues like the other BB Couture glitters - just give it extra care and you will be fine! It's slightly bumpy, but nothing that an extra coat of (non quick dry) topcoat can't fix. Since quickdry tops sink through the layers of polish to dry them, I find that a coat of regular top before the quickdry helps to keep glitters smooth.

And look what I got today!


Yes, I swore I would not be sucked into konad, but here I am! I got a few full nail designs, some small ones (including the cute Halloween one!) and one fancy french tip plate. I'm sure there is going to be a learning curve, but I can't wait to try it out (maybe tomorrow!) I got excellent service from wowsocool.com - one of my plates is out of stock, so they sent me a free plate to make up for the delay!

Barielle Falling Star

3 coats, direct sun

Barielle Falling Star is a surprise to me. I ordered it along with the other "All Lacquered up" polishes because it looked interesting, but I suspected it might be one of those "interesting, but I don't want to wear it" colors. To my surprise, I love it! Like many Barielles that I own, it dries a shade darker than the bottle color. I'm actually pleased with this, because in the bottle it looked too light for a fall collection. Instead, it's a great dark, dusty periwinkle. The glitter was not hard to work with, though it does tend to settle and needs frequent shaking. It doesn't look glittery from far away, so it's actually pretty sedate for a glitter. I love it, and plan to wear it often. My only criticism is that the brush on my bottle was terrible - the bristles were uneven, and to my taste it was rather narrow. I don't know yet if it's just this color, or whether I hate Barielle's brushes.

Indirect sunlight

Wet n Wild Nocturnal

I love black polish as much as the next person, but I'm tired of these "so dark they look black" colors. Wet n Wild Nocturnal is one of the new craze polishes. Although it looks black in the bottle, it's actually dark blue. I'm pretty impressed with these polishes - my ring and pinkie fingers above have only one coat, and you can see how good the pigmentation is. With care I think you could get away with one coat, and have pretty midnight blue polish. Unfortunately, 2 coats takes you to the black bottle color (as on my index and middle fingers.) I don't like to wear only one coat, because it makes the uneven spots in my nails show, so think one's probably not for me - but it was dirt cheap and the brush was excellent (the cap, however, is awkward and in the way.)

BB Couture Frosty Meadow, 1 minute wonder review

I chose Frosty Meadow as my first BB Couture mani. The color is gorgeous, though it was a bit hard to apply - thick in the way that glitters sometimes are. I'm also trying out Nail Magic, so perhaps that affected things (my nails tend to peel and I want to fix that.

I tried the BB Couture "1 minute wonder" drying drops over top. I was honestly not thrilled - I didn't find that they dried any faster than polish on its own. I got some smudges, but that's ok since I'm going to wear a different color tomorrow anyway. I don't get drying drops - they never work on me, and in this case the packaging (regular polish bottle) makes it hard not to smudge while applying. To each his own, but I'm sticking with my Sally Hansen topcoats!

Barielle and BB Couture

I'm always interested in trying out new brands. I've been meaning to try out Barielle and BB Couture forever, but it took the release of the All Lacquered up collection at Barielle and a sale at Overall beauty to get me to pull the trigger! I've swatched my new colors on nail wheels. I prefer clear nail wheels, because they are easier to reuse - the polish just peels right off.

First up Barielle:
My favorite out of this group is Glammed out Garnet - it's glass fleck, and similar to Ruby Pumps, only more cool toned (ruby pumps is pretty awful on me.) Blacked Bleu is gorgeous, but it is very dupey to a sinful that I have. Polished Princess is going to look terrible with my skintone, so I don't know why I bought it. Make it a latte is really pretty, and darker than it looks in the bottle.

I show Date Night here, right next to Nubar Greener. Greener is more blue based, but honestly they are nearly identical. I don't think you need both. I like Misbehaving Mistress the most out of this set - it's a blackened taupe, really unusual!


I love the muddy looking shades of course. Lava Rock is also very pretty - much more shimmery than it shows here.

The formula on these was good - only Grape Escape felt thick. Several were jellies, but they were easy to get bottle color with 3 coats, even on clear nail wheels. I am impressed.

What I am not impressed with is the packaging - my polishes arrived rattling around in a giant box with only a little piece of tissue paper for cushioning. It's a miracle that none broke (Date night got a little chip on the base, that's all.) It was seriously one of the most failed packaging jobs I have seen.

Onto the BB Coutures!


The best part of these is that none of them are dupes for me. Green goblin is not an almost black - it is obviously green in all lights. I ordered all of their greens except the pastel - I have Peppermint Patty, and that takes care of my pastel green desires. My favorite here is Grenade, which is one of the new polishes for men. It's the perfect dirty army green - I can't wait to wear it in fall!


These are all glitters in a jelly base, except for Moon Over Manhattan, which is glitter in a normal base. I love all of these so much - the shimmer is unusual and unexpected (the blue has green glitter!) All are appropriate for Fall, so I'm looking forward to trying them out this year!

I liked BB Couture's formula better than Barielle's. It was thin, which I prefer, and not streaky on the jellies. All were opaque in 3 coats. The caps are kind of long, but I think I can get used to that. I'm definitely a fan, and I can't wait until their fall collection is released! I also got their "One minute wonder," which seems to be their version of drying drops. I usually use quick dry topcoat, but I'm thinking of switching to avoid shrinkage. I'll report back on how it goes!

China Glaze Fly

I was not exactly overwhelmed by China Glaze's summer collection this year. Lots of toned down neons that are all similar to each other? No thanks. I got this color and Custom Kicks (I do love Custom Kicks, I'll show that sometime!) Both colors I got from this collection were thick and hard to apply. I thinned them, and that helped, but they were still tricky. Fly is a magenta with pink shimmer, making it hard to photograph. It goes more pink in photos, but in real life it is rather more purple. Fly is prettier on the nail than in the bottle - the shimmer comes out a bit, where in the bottle it just looks dull. I did have trouble applying it - China Glaze's brush just doesn't fit my nails - it's too thin, and I have giant nails. It remains to be seen whether it's going to dry or not - sometimes (often) I will get smudges hours or days later with this brand. I love the colors, so I keep buying them, but I am just not thrilled with the formula. Ah well!

I'm trying to get through my summer colors before Autumn arrives - I am ready for fall, but I don't want to leave anything untried! I prefer fall and winter colors. I am over brights at the moment, so I'm less than thrilled with all the brights in the fall collections.

OPI DS Chiffon

3 coats, direct sunlight

The OPI DS series are my favorite holographic polishes. The holographic particles are smooth and the brushes my favorites, but I also appreciate that they have colors that manage to be both conservative and blingy. I would wear Chiffon almost anywhere - indoors it appears a softly sparkly peachy pink. Outside it reveals its holo nature more, but it is never tacky. I am always attracted to peaches and light pinks, but they don't look good on me - this one does, by nature of its formula. It is rather sheer - it needed all 3 coats.

Icing Pink Sparkle

2 coats, direct sunlight

Recently, my nailpolish obsession has driven me to shop in two stores that I swore I wouldn't... Hot Topic and "The Icing" (love the quotes.) Hot topic didn't excite me too much, but I came away with several great polishes at the Icing. Pink Sparkle is a hot pink with tiny holographic glitter. The glitter isn't super apparent, but it is pretty. The brushes on these are weird. This one had an enormous "pro wide" style brush which I quite liked, except for the stray hairs I had to trim. Some of the others have tiny skinny brushes. Seems rather hit or miss. I added some thinner, and got bottle coverage in 2 thin coats. I adore this color - it's so sparkly, a perfect Barbie color I think. I also like that, while bright, it is not a neon, so I don't feel people are staring at my nails.

Below you see the color in indirect sunlight, giving you a better idea of how it looks most of the time. I love it!

Sinful Colors - Let's talk

2 coats, direct sun

After yesterday's post about Sinfuls, I decided to try one as a full manicure today. Let's talk is a fabulous blurple. Unlike many, it is clearly purple. It verges on metallic indoors, but outside you can see the shimmer. I added 2 drops of thinner to this polish, as it was thicker than I would have liked. I often add thinner, because I prefer a thinner consistency. I don't think this was really overly thick to start with.

Orly Poison Apple

1 coat, indirect sunlight

Yesterday afternoon I had to go to a wedding. I had removed my old polish and was getting ready when I glanced at the directions and realized it would take a good hour and a half to get there. Going without polish was not an option, so I looked for something that wouldn't take lots of coats to look good. I've actually worn this polish on my toes before, but even so I wasn't expecting full coverage in one coat! The application isn't up to my usual standards, but I was in a hurry. I got a wee bit of shrinkage from my topcoat, but nothing major.

I bought the entire "Once upon a time" collection because I love fairy tale themes, but I figured this would be my least favorite. I was wrong - this is a great red, it suits my skintone perfectly, and it is neither too bright or dark. I was worried it would be orangey, but it is not - it's more of a brick red than an orange red, at least on me. Orly has been impressing me so much lately - I hope they continue with this trend, because their formula is my favorite!

Sinful colors

Today I would like to feature my favorite drugstore brand, Sinful. They are B1G1F through tomorrow at Walgreens, but even at full price they are only two dollars. I love them because they have a wide variety of colors and effects. Some are a little sheer, but except for the duo-chromes there aren't any that I absolutely don't like! I photographed my whole collection, and I'll list any comments and dupes under the photos. I have swatched all these on nail wheels, but I haven't worn them all as manicures yet.

These are the new glitter shades - well, I don't know how new they are, but they are new to me! I had to go to a different Walgreens this week to find these. My Walgreens is rather picked over. I love these because they contain different sized glitter particles. The first three are also pretty opaque - I would still use them over a base, but 2 coats is nearly full coverage. UFO gives a nice coverage and isn't actually very orange, and All About you is glorious applied over a dark brown - it has both gold and copper glitters. Below are some nail wheel swatches, all 1 coat of glitter over dark shades.

Call You later over OPI "Here Today, aragon tomorrow

L: Hottie over midnight blue R: All About You over Mercury Rising

L to R: All About you over orange, I miss you over purple, Queen of Beauty over black, Nail Junkie over black

Hottie and Pink 4 ever are both Flakie style glitters - not super dense, but not sparse. Gorgeous over many other colors. The other 3 are more traditional style glitters. Pearl Harbor is a clear glittery with a blue flash. None are so sheer as to be useless. I can't help myself - I love my glitters!


"What's Your Name" is black with tiny teal glitters - imagine China Glaze Lubu Heels with different glitter. It's fabulous. HD Nails is my least favorite here - it's rather sheer and frosty, but it is a great St. Patrick's day color! See You soon is amazing - a blackened teal shimmer, it looks different in various lights. I know no dupes. "Show me the way" is similar to Zoya Irene, but more awesome - it is rather sheer, but totally worth the 3-4 coats. I love olive greens. I will say this about Sinful's sheer colors - they are all jelly textured and not streaky, and since I love jellies I actually prefer them this way, especially as it allows the pretty shimmer and glitter particles to show through. "Midnight blue" is a pretty standard pearly blue. It's shown above under "Hottie" glitter. San Francisco is a great jelly-textured green. Similar to NYX Las Vegas, but lighter, so you need both!


"Cloud 9" has faint shimmer, and is a nice tangerine shade. The 2nd shade is something like "Serena and Chloe," but my label is gone. It's an orange glass fleck jelly. Really pretty. "Dancing nails" is a mauve frost, and I actually don't care for it. "Secret Admirer" is black with silver shimmer - similar to Orly Goth, but with smaller shimmer. I love it. "Dream on" is dupey to Essie Perky Purple - it's a neon purple that is one of my favorites.


"Bali Mist" is a purple with a weak duo-chrome. It's very sheer, and I don't care for it. "Glass Pink" is amazing - an almost exact dupe for OPI's Princess' Rule, but slightly warmer and not as sheer. I actually like it better. "Easy Going" is very like OPI Mod about You, but again slightly warmer. Great shade with a vintage feel, and not too streaky for a pale cream. "Forget now" is a sheer pink with shimmer - similar to a Milani shade I have, but I like it better. "Cream Pink" is a nearly neon pink - I think of this as 80s pink.


"Purple Diamond" is frosty and too sheer. Fiji is also sheer, but it's worth it because the shade is unique! "Daddy's girl" is one of the popular sinfuls - a purple jelly with glitter. I love it also, but it's nice for layering also. "I love you" I believe is a newer shade - it's like a warmer version of Daddy's girl with more glitter. Worn over a plum creme it dupes Milani's "Totally cool." "Let's Talk" is my favorite of the group - it's a frost intense bluish purple, unique in my collection.


Finally the reds. I'm amused to note that Sinful doesn't actually seem to have many of this sort of color - they have more of the more unusual shades. "Sugar sugar" is a blue based red with glitter. It's very pretty. Under 18 is a shimmery orangey red - unusual. "Rich in Heart" is a dark wine, while "Mercury Rising" is a dark brown shimmer, similar in the bottle to Zoya Kalista, though on the nail the Zoya is lighter. "Vacation Time" is a nice natural creme - somewhere between a mauve and a brown.

I hope all these bottle pics help you out - someday I'll actually get through all these as manicures!

Zoya Ki and giveaway order

My Zoya giveaway order arrived today! I ordered one polish in addition to the 3 free ones. I was able to get my 2 biggest Zoya lemmings - Hope and Kalista. Both are gorgeous! Hope is totally unique to my collection, and Kalista is the warm brown shimmer I've been wanting for fall. Everyone is doing brown cremes, but I only like those if they are taupe-y. I threw in Ki because I was curious about it, and Evangeline because it looks pretty in photos.

I went with Ki today - I was curious to see the duo chrome on my nails.


Generally speaking, I don't like duo chromes. The 2nd color is usually a sickly greenish gold that gives me corpse hands. This is, for instance, why wildfire is the only color in the Nubar green collection that I didn't buy - it's like an entire bottle of that unflattering color! I can't say I think Ki is the most flattering color ever, but it is better than most duos. In indoor light the purple is prevalent, but outdoors it looks green. My bottle was a tad bit thick, and I did experience major shrinkage from my topcoat (not obvious in this photo.)

I just love zoya - their selection is enormous, and every new collection brings interesting new shades and effects. They also do great promotions like this one and the polish exchange. I know their strategy worked for me - before the exchange I would never have tried them, but I'm a customer for life now! I do wish the brushes were better (wider) but they're still better than Essie.

China Glaze Turned up turquoise

3 coats, direct sunlight

I'm trying to burn through all my untried brights before fall arrives. All the magazines say that magenta will be big this fall, but somehow I doubt that neon teal is going to look appropriate in November.

I love China glaze - it's one of my top three brands, with OPI and Zoya. Unfortunately, I do have one issue with them - about half of them never dry. I always use a quick dry topcoat, and almost never experience any drying issues, but half the time my china glaze colors end up with wrinkling hours after application. I don't think it's a big 3 free issue either - I have some super old china glaze colors with the same issue. I'm going to try using only CG products with them - perhaps that will help, the way that the Zoya color lock system vastly improves their wear on me (but only with Zoyas.) This color wrinkled when I tried to type an hour and a half after application, so I never got to try it with glitter (I had a plan!)

Zoya Anaka

2 coats, direct sunlight

Pictures don't do this one justice! This is my favorite color from Zoya's fall collections so far. It's an intense magenta with big pieces of pink shimmer. It's more purple than it looks here, but I couldn't get the photo accurate. In sunlight it glows. I'm going to classify it a pink, but indoors it definitely appears more purple to me. I'd say it works for either fall or summer. I really like the magenta/fuchsia trend for fall - don't get me wrong, I love my vampies, but sometimes you need more color - and the pretty bronze and gold colors of fall don't work on me at all - I need cool colors.

I can't tell if Zoya has changed their brush, or if I just have gotten used to it. I prefer wide brushes, and always thought that Zoya's was rather wimpy, but these were fine.

OPI Here today, Aragon Tomorrow

3 coats, indirect sunlight

I just don't love this one like I hoped. It's simply too dark - as in, so dark that people don't believe me when I say it's green. I had high hopes after the first coat - it's an interesting warm green, different from my other green cremes. Unfortunately, it just turned black after that - at 2 coats it was still green but uneven. It had a bit of a watery texture, but it was very smooth and not gloppy the way OPIs sometimes are. I am experiencing bad tipwear, but that may be a result of my topcoat being thick. I think I'm going to try a new topcoat - Sally Hansen Megashine is not living up to it's name for me. This is rather dull looking after only a few hours.

I also bought Pamplona purple, which is pretty but easily duped. I'm not really overwhelmed by the collection, though it is pretty!

Massini Slamming Red

Massini is made by the manufacturers of Color Club, and they share many of the same shades. I believe this shade, Slamming Red, is only available in Massini, which is a Meijer brand product (meijer is like Super wal-mart for the midwest.) The texture of this polish reminded me of China Glaze Blue Sparrow or Flying dragon. It was opaque in one coat. I don't think glitters should be opaque, because they tend to get bumpy. I swatched this on a nail wheel, which is why I knew that more than one coat would only get lumpy. I had to top it with 3 coats of topcoat to get the results above, and as it dries furthur I find that it seems bumpy again. Below is a picture of the polish with only 1 coat of top.

You see what I mean? All of my favorite glitter polishes are more like jellies - it's so pretty when you can see the glitter through the layers of polish. This one, imo, doesn't work. I doubt I'll leave it on, but I want to see how it feels when absolutely dry. It's already turning matte again (it felt dry in the first photo, but wasn't all the way through.) It dried matte, again like the China Glaze polishes. It was rather thick, and I had to thin it out, but I find this is common with Massini polishes (but not with Color Club... I wonder why?) I hate the brush on these, which is large and somewhat uneven on all the ones I have. If you have the choice, stick with Color Club!

NYC Chinatown

NYC Chinatown is a smokey dark blue. It has some purple tones that show in strong light. It's not dark enough to just look black indoors, which I like. I'm wearing it today because I'm going to look at the OPI Spain collection, and I'm hoping it's close enough to "Suzi skis in the Pyrenees" to talk me out of that one. It may not be... I love dark colors! Application was great - this was 2 coats. NYC's minute polishes have nice wide brushes - they remind me of the OPI Prowide. You may not be able to tell from the photos, but I have big hands, and big nail beds, so tiny brushes (ie zoya) annoy me.


I'm hoping I find some colors to love in OPI Espana. I like Pamplona Purple and can you tapas this definitely, but I want to see the green and nude colors in person. I can't wait!