Hard Candy - Zombie

I feel like I post more about why I'm not posting than I do with actual content! I'm trying to get all of my nails to the same length right now, and they're pretty close. My index finger looks a lot longer in these photos, but trust me, it's really not. My camera is close to death so I snap 800 photos and pick out whatever photos come the closest to "focused." These are all the usable ones I got today. -_- Hurry up, tax refund! I need that pretty new camera!



Hard Candy Zombie is a really pretty glitter, but it turned out super lumpy for me. I had to use 5 coats (5?! Yep. It's a glitter, so I'll allow it...) and the formula was strangely thick for a glitter, so I guess everything just turned into goopy bumpland. My index finger came our especially uneven. Seche caused some tip shrinkage, too. Blah.



Zombie was a limited edition Halloween Wal-Mart exclusive release last year.




Tomorrow is my birthday! I'll be 24. We don't have any birthday plans because real life plans have taken over. My little girl has a pre-op physical in the morning, then we have to go view a new apartment in the early afternoon. We found black mold in our current apartment and the health department told me they can't do anything about it. Actually, they said "What's the name of your complex? Oh...uh...we can't help you at this time." Right. Now we have massive water damage to our front wall and the management just wants to paint over it. My husband manages a home improvement store. He has seen this kind of damage before. The building needs a new wall.

We've got to get out of here.

One more thing! I'm still gathering goodies for my eventual 100 follower giveaway. I think you guys are really going to like this stuff!

Wet n Wild - Sparked

It's a glitter bomb today! I used two coats of Sparked under two coats of Seche Vite, though another coat was probably a good idea as you can still see my nail beds beneath the glitter. I don't mind, though. I love this polish, but I got a big chip on my thumb about 6 hours after I put it on.

Photos are clickable!






The light was horrible when I shot these. Sorry! The color in real life is a very pretty dusty pink. Oh, and the weirdness going on on the skin near the base of my nails is badly-applied Seche, not mutated cuticle. I was in a hurry. :)

Fancy fancy lady!

I didn't have time to remove La Paz-itively Hot this morning, so I just decided to go crazy and try to fancy it up a bit. I added Wet n Wild Black Creme tips and Love My Nails Angel Baby over everything. It's really different for me, but I can see myself doing more stuff like this in the future.

The sun was being a jerk, but I did what I could. Photos are clickable!



Would you be interested in seeing more manicures like this in addition to swatches?



I also want to tell you guys about something really exciting. My sister (in law), Colleen, has been bitten by the nail polish bug. She's actually starting her own nail blog, which I will be sure to show you guys once it is up and running. Being the amazing and supportive person that she is, she want out and bought me 66 new polishes. Yes, you read that correctly. I am beyond excited and ridiculously grateful to her for helping me to more than double my stash. She lives in Texas while I'm in Massachusetts, so it will be a little while before I have all of these goodies in hand, but that's alright! Get ready for a lot of new polish on Dancing Phalanges!

OPI- La Paz-itively Hot

I've seen a lot of the matte version of La Paz-itively Hot, but not the original. I've had this polish for a long time. The pictures speak for themselves. Photos are clickable!

Once again, excuse the cuticles. -_-



This is two coats of La Paz in natural light over a thin coat of Sally Hansen Nail Growth Miracle and no top coat.



Application is a breeze with this one, as I have come to expect from OPI.




I'm not a big fan of pinks (on my nails, though I love it in this layout!), but I know my daughter will be glad that I have this in my stash once she is old enough to raid it. It's very Barbie.

I've been changing up the way I photograph polish for my posts. I'm trying to settle on a more permanent look so that my posts are more cohesive, but I haven't fallen in love with anything yet. Today's photos are the first time you can click and view a larger version. What do you think?

Revlon - Opulent Pink

I bought Revlon Opulent Pink in May of 2009 to use on my toes for my wedding (I didn't end up using it, though.) I totally forgot about it because it was wrapped in a bunch of paper towels in a sandwich bag under my sink. I never unpacked the makeup bag from the wedding, apparently. That just shows you how often I get done up.



I'm not a pink person. I have no idea why I ended up picking this shade. I'm sure there were plenty of colors in whatever store I bought this from that were more "me". The formula is good (2 coats for opacity) and there is nothing really bad about Opulent Pink, the color just doesn't speak to me.

Are there any colors that just don't work for you?

Hard Candy - Beetle

I haven't had a whole lot of time to do my nails lately, so this is the first polish post I've been able to do in a while. I still have a lot to do today so I had to rush the application a little. Apologies in advance for the polish all over my skin, and for the deplorable state of my cuticles.



Hard Candy Beetle is said to be a dupe of Orly Space Cadet. I don't own any Orly polishes, so I can't compare them myself, but based on other photos I have seen it's safe to say that they're basically the same. Beetle took three coats to achieve opacity and cover some bald spots that appeared after the second coat. It took a little while to dry, so I ended up with a few smudges and dents, but that was my fault, not the polish.







Beetle is absolutely gorgeous. Definitely a favorite!


***Don't forget to enter my giveaway!***

Franken - #2

I've been going franken crazy lately. I am not a big fan of pinks and reds, yet every time I try to mix something it turns into a shade of pink or red. Sigh. It probably happens because the polishes I don't mind losing through mixing are pinks and reds, and no matter what else I throw in there the pink/red pushes its way to the forefront to mock me. Oh, franken #2. You had such potential. I had pictures in my mind of a magical blue-shimmering-something and I have no idea how I thought putting pink and purple into you would make this dream happen.


Two coats, no top coat. It's overcast today, so my outside pictures are a bust.

This started as a super old bottle of Sally Hansen Nail Prisms South Sea Pearl. I know people go batshit crazy for the Nail Prisms, but this stuff was gross. It was a yellow tinted frosty polish that had a blue shimmer if you looked at it at exactly the right angle. I've read other reviews where the same polish flashed blue/pink and was supposedly nice, but mine was horrible. I threw some CQ Cranberry and CQ Mystique into the bottle to see what would happen.


You can see a bit of blue in the bottle here.

This is what happened. It's a sheer pinky-purple that still has a bit of the blue shimmer that showed itself once every 600 years with South Sea Pearl. I like this much better than the way it was before I threw CQ stuff into it all willy-nilly, but I'm not about to marry it or anything. I think I have to have disgusting amounts of glitter in my frankens in order to like them. This must be the key. I had a hard time photographing the shimmer because the sun hates me today and decided it would laugh in my face the moment I braved the spider-infested deck door (yes, they're still there) to take some photos. You'll just have to trust me when I say that the shimmer is there, and it's pretty. For a pink.

CURSE YOU, SUN! I WILL BEST YOU YET! I see a light box in my future.

CQ - Cranberry

Natural light.

Cranberry is a pretty bright pink that looks more red than pink in low light and shadow. It's opaque in two coats (I used three for pictures) and dries in a decent amount of time. It can stain nails just by being in the same room as them so a base coat is necessary.


Natural light.

I'm not big on reds or pinks (which you wouldn't know by looking at my polish collection) and this isn't an exception. It doesn't wow me. It looks like Sunset Blaze without the blaze. I don't think "Cranberry" when I see this color. Maybe the 90% sugar cranberry juice cocktails, but that's not what I was hoping for. After seeing how much darker some colors can dry, I was crossing my fingers that this would magically turn into a cranberry saucey darker pink/red on the nail, but that wasn't the case. I was going to use this on Thanksgiving, but I think I'll pass.


Natural light.

CQ - Sunset Blaze

After the last time I tried a CQ polish I wasn't sure if I wanted to bother testing out the other colors I own. This formula was way better than the last one, so I will definitely be trying out all of my CQ colors.

Sunset Blaze is a bright pink shimmer that can flash red or orange depending on the light. I had a hell of a time trying to photograph this one, so apologies in advance if the pictures are kind of repetitive.


Sunset Blaze in natural light with flash.

Turning on the flash seemed to be the only way I could get the pink to show up in photos, even though it looks pink in real life more often than not. I used two coats and no base/top coats for the photos.


Natural light. You can see the red here.

The formula was pretty good, though it was a bit streaky. It dried pretty quickly and didn't drag or goop up the way Mystique did.


Natural light.

The flashes of color are really nice. I wish it weren't so hard to get good shots of it. We have a lot of sunlight today (FINALLY!) but I had to shoot through my kitchen window and hope for the best. It's tough to get outside for photos when you have a 7 month old and live on the second floor!


Flash.


Natural light. Orangey-redy goodness.

CQ still is not my favorite brand. The streaks in this polish are pretty obvious in real life, and I'm 100% sure another coat wouldn't have changed that. I like that it changes colors a bit depending on the light, but I'm not a big fan of pinks and reds so colors like this have to do something magical in order for me to fall for them. I'm not sure if I would buy this one again, even though it's miles better than Mystique!

CQ - Mystique

I have 8 CQ polishes. They're cheap and available at WalMart, so I went a little overboard. I'm hoping the experience I've had with Mystique won't be repeated with my other polishes from this brand.


With flash on a crappy, cloudy day.

In the bottle this shade is a pretty pink with gold shimmer. On the nail it looks like a totally different polish. It's some sort of mauve/pink/purple color. The formula is streaky, thick, and goopy. It needed three coats to be opaque, but dragged with every coat after the first. I applied coats as thinly as I could, but it still looks like a clumpy mess.


In natural light on the same crappy, cloudy day! My camera sucks and doesn't like to focus without flash on days like this.

I can only hope that not all CQ polishes will be such a let down. I would not recommend Mystique, unless you're into really boring colors and nightmarish formulas.

OPI - Don't Be Koi With Me

My camera was sitting out in my car all night, apparently. Oh, well! It's not a very sunny day, but these will have to do! Once the weather perks up I will be able to get better shots (including close-ups).


This is a stock photo of Don't Be Koi With Me.


This is how it looks on my nails in natural light.

Today I'm showing you OPI's Don't Be Koi With Me. I used two coats with no base or top coat. I've had this bottle for at least 4 years, maybe longer, and I can't find any information on how long ago it was released. I have read in many places that this is usually a very bright (sometimes referred to as "garish") orange. As you can see, this is not the case with my bottle. I'd call it a coral-pink. I don't know why mine is so different from the bottles others have. Could it be the age of the bottle?


And with flash.

The formula is great. I'm assuming this is the norm with OPI polishes, but since this is the only one I own and I've never used it before I'm not terribly sure. It took 2 coats to get full opacity and evenness. I really like this color. It's not terribly unique, but it's pretty and would go with a lot of outfits. I'd buy it again if I ever ran out.

Sally Hansen - Rockstar Pink

I have not painted my fingernails in almost two years. The last time I did, I thought you were just supposed to slap it on. I'd get it all over my fingers and it would look like I let a four year old paint them until I jumped in the shower and the paint came off of my skin. This was my first attempt to paint my nails without making a gigantic mess. I think it turned out pretty well!


This is how it looks in natural light on a beautiful day!

I love this polish. It was really easy to put on and only needed two coats to be totally opaque. This was the fastest drying polish I've ever used. I don't know all the descriptions for polish types yet, but I know this one has a TON of glitter. There's blue, red, purple, and some teeny tiny gold flecks in here. It's pretty in the sun and inside.


See how pretty this glitter is?

I'm not sure how the wear is because I just put it on last night. A lot of the reviews I read online say that some girls' bottles of Rockstar Pink were goopy and thick. Mine was this way right when I opened it, but after rolling it between my hands for a little bit (read: maybe a minute) it was fine. I did have to roll it a few times during application, but I don't mind doing that when the end result it shiny glittery goodness. Another common complaint was removal, but I think all glitters are a pain to remove.

ETA (11/14): This is a first. I have used glitter polishes many times throughout my 23 years, and I HAVE NEVER HAD A POLISH JUST REFUSE TO COME OFF BEFORE. I spent over 30 minutes trying to get this stuff off after I got a big chip on my thumb, and it wouldn't remove. It took almost an hour of constant rubbing with a cotton ball and remover to get my nails clean, and I'm still covered in glitter 12 hours later.

Pretty color, not worth the removal time. :(

New Polishes!

Since I've gotten into nail blogs I've realized that my collection is AMAZINGLY SMALL. Every time I go out now I make a point to go to any store I can find that sells polish to see if they have anything interesting.



I've picked these two up over the past couple of days. The one on the left is CQ brand Mystical, and the right is Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Rockstar Pink (I have this one on now). I only have access to WalMart and drugstores in the podunk town that I live in, so most of the polishes I have are less than fancy. I'm going to have to get out to Sally's more often to see what kind of stuff I can pick up there.

ANYWAY! I filed my nails the other night and noticed that they were kind of grossly uneven. They're now even, but a lot shorter. I don't mind, though, since now I can grow them and out just try to maintain the evenness I have going on.

The plan is to get some pictures of Rockstar Pink up tomorrow. I've got a few things to say about this polish, so stay tuned!