Halo Hues and Nfu Oh

Hi there!

This will surely be a hodge-podge of a post...

Color Club - Angel Kiss, Blue Heaven, Harp On It,
Cloud Nine, Halo-Graphic, and Cherubic.

Each set of pictures will show a picture in natural light and a picture taken with a flash. I didn't use top coat or base coat with any of the manicures and/or swatches, and I painted 2 coats of every polish.

Angel Kiss...

My nails painted with Color Club - Angel Kiss.

My nails painted with Color Club - Angel Kiss.

The formula is a smidge thick... so if you're heavy handed when applying nail polish, be careful or your tips might get chunky. This is my second time wearing Angel Kiss, and I'm pleased. I know it's been a task in the past with keeping holographic polish from chipping, but I had absolutely no problems.

Nfu Oh 61, Color Club Worth the Risque, Harp On It, Blue Heaven, and Nfu Oh 65...

Nfu Oh - 61, Color Club - Worth the Risque,
Harp On It, Blue Heaven, and Nfu Oh - 65.

Thumb to pinky: My nails painted with Nfu Oh - 61,
Color Club - Worth the Risque, Harp On It, Blue Heaven, and Nfu Oh - 65.

Thumb to pinky: My nails painted with Nfu Oh - 61,
Color Club - Worth the Risque, Harp On It, Blue Heaven, and Nfu Oh - 65.

I paired the silvers and blues together because I have a hard time telling them apart- especially Harp On It and Blue Heaven. The formulas of the Halo Hues were the best, followed by Worth the Risque and both Nfu Oh polishes.

Nfu Oh 63, Color Club Halo-Graphic, Cloud Nine, Fashion Addict, and Nfu Oh 64...

Nfu Oh - 63, Color Club - Halo-Graphic,
Cloud Nine, Fashion Addict, and Nfu Oh - 64.

Thumb to pinky: Nfu Oh - 63, Color Club - Halo-Graphic,
Cloud Nine, Fashion Addict, and Nfu Oh - 64.

Thumb to pinky: Nfu Oh - 63, Color Club - Halo-Graphic,
Cloud Nine, Fashion Addict, and Nfu Oh - 64.

This set of colors is just as difficult to tell apart as the silvers and blues. The pinks and purples are so close in hue that they don't look different. The formulas of the Halo Hues were the best, followed by Fashion Addict and both Nfu Oh polishes.

Cherubic...

My nails painted with Color Club - Cherubic.

My nails painted with Color Club - Cherubic.

I wore Cherubic for 3 days before I changed my manicure. At the time of polish removal, there was no chipping, flaking, or peeling.

Overall, I prefer the Halo Hues polishes to both the other Color Club holographic polishes and the Nfu Oh polishes. The formulas were all much smoother and shinier... however, they smell worse. I noticed myself wanting to cough and sneeze each time I used a Halo Hues polish. The caps of the Halo Hues polishes aren't the best. Something about them makes them difficult to open- they don't seem as thick and as sturdy as the black-capped Color Club polishes. I kept thinking I was sure to crack them.

If you're simply looking at this post to see who won the Halo Hues giveaway... yes, yes... I'll get to it :-) The winners are JamieWillett and HaileeBeezy. I've emailed both ladies, and I'll update this portion of today's post if/when I hear back from them. Thank you to everyone who participated!

So, do you have any of the polishes pictured above? Which is your favorite? I'm still waiting on a red holographic polish to make its way into my life. Or, perhaps, an emerald green! How perfect would that be this time of year?

Until next time...

Ugly Manicure Monday - 27

Hi there!

This ugly manicure comes courtesy of Danielle at Polish Obsessed...

Sally Hansen - All The White Stuff.

Danielle said she applied 2 coats of All The White Stuff as a base. Then she added MANY coats of a Sally Hansen glow in the dark polish to try to make it even. The polish was not fully dry when she got around to stamping, so it squished out the sides. Danielle said she was able to mold it back into place for the most part, but it was still uneven. Worse, her dupe M65 plate wasn't picking up the image well enough and it was inconsistent from nail to nail. This manicure was picked off by the end of the day- and it was an easy task because of the polish thickness!

Thanks, Danielle!

I probably would have picked this manicure off, too. I do like that pattern, though. My first thought was that it would be fun to make it into a retro manicure... then I realized I've already done that, haha!

If you have an ugly manicure, I'd love to feature it! Email me with what polish you used and what you intended your manicure to look like :-)

Until next time...

Black Friday

Hi there!

I decided to go very literal with today's manicure...

My nails painted with Sally Hansen - Black Diamonds.

I painted 2 coats to achieve what's pictured. It applied very easily, and I was surprised by its finish. In the bottle, it looks to be a black base with charcoal shimmer- that's how it looks in photographs as well... but in front of my face, I see holographic shimmer in addition to the charcoal/silver shimmer. It isn't enough to make you think "wow," but it's fun to look at :-)

So, if you didn't gather it by the title of this post, today is/was Black Friday where I live. While I surely don't agree with the fighting for parking spaces and good deals, I do like to participate in the tradition. It was always something to look forward to while I was growing up. My mom and I would wake up early to be at one of the nearby stores by 6:00am (back when 6:00am was early for stores to open). We'd find the items we wanted and then drive to another store for its opening. After that, we would always go out for pancakes :-)

This year, I went out with a friend of mine who had never experienced Black Friday shopping and its insanity. There was nothing I needed to purchase, but I wanted to go with her for the fun of it. It was surprisingly calm, and I ended up buying a sewing machine for myself. I didn't even know I wanted it until I saw it staring at me... but now that I have it, I don't know why I didn't get one sooner!

Do you have any Black Friday traditions? Did you go out shopping today?

Until next time...

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi there!

This is the manicure I'm wearing today...

My nails painted with Orly - Scarlet and Golden Maharaja.

I painted 2 coats of Scarlet as a base- it's red with orange and copper shimmer. Once that was dry, I painted a stripe of Golden Maharaja- it's brown with brown and copper shimmer. While that was still wet, I used one of my dotting tools to place the gold stars where the 2 polishes met. I topped it with a coat of OPI's top coat.

I wish that I would have been able to capture just how pretty these 2 polishes are together... the shimmer in each of them is gorgeous in person!

Here's a similar manicure that I painted back in April...

My nails painted with Julep - Amy, Michelle, Oscar, and Sienna.

It has the same technique as the first manicure... but instead of stars, I placed dots of gold and gold glitter polish. Complete credit for this design goes to The Nailasaurus. A friend of mine saw her blog post and asked me to recreate it with only nail polish.

What are your plans for today? Hunny poo and I are spending Thanksgiving at home this year, and I love it! Our house is so warm and cozy, and I already want to take a nap :-)

Until next time...

Ugly Manicure Monday - 26

Hi there!

This ugly manicure comes courtesy of Wendy at Wendy's Delights...

Kleancolor - Chunky Holo Black.

Wendy said it wasn't her polish combination that made this an ugly manicure... it was her application. She said this was one of  her first manicures from when she started blogging, and she can't believe how sloppy and rough she was.

Thanks, Wendy!

I think the photographing of manicures amplifies every imperfection. I've painted several manicures that looked perfect in front of my face- but when I looked at them on my computer screen, they looked smudged/incomplete/dirty/etc.

If you have an ugly manicure, I'd love to feature it! Email me with what polish you used and what you intended your manicure to look like :-)

Until next time...

OPI - Alpine Snow

Hi there!

I'm actually still wearing my Autumn Breeze manicure, believe it or not. I caught myself a nasty case of the flu and I haven't felt like changing my polish over the past week. It's now dwindled itself down to an annoying cough, so browsing unposted manicures wasn't unbearable...

My nails painted with OPI - Alpine Snow.

I painted 2 coats to achieve what's pictured. I typically wear this polish as a base for nail art, but it's also great by itself. If used as a base, I paint just 1 coat- it still applies opaque enough to provide a decent canvas for water marbling, sponging, splattering, etc.

What's your favorite white nail polish? I've tried so many, but my favorites have to be Alpine Snow and Julep's Brigitte.

Until next time...

Ugly Manicure Monday - 25

Hi there!

This ugly manicure comes courtesy of Dawn...

Orly - Crush On You and China Glaze - Electrify.

Dawn said this is simply a manicure that doesn't compliment her skin tone. She said it's a good thing she painted this manicure for a daily challenge in a nail group she belongs to- it wasn't something she really wanted to wear.

Thanks, Dawn!

I agree that this combination doesn't look great against Dawn's skin tone... though I do love the random challenge manicures like this!

If you have an ugly manicure, I'd love to feature it! Email me with what polish you used and what you intended your manicure to look like :-)

Until next time...

Autumn Breeze

Hi there!

I added a leafy filigree design to yesterday's manicure...

My nails painted with OPI - Suzi Loves Cowboys and
Chop-Sticking To My Story.
Stamped with Bundle Monster plate BM21 and Essie - Good As Gold.

...and I'm glad I did, because I really like it! I was planning on stamping a plain leaf design, but it turned out that the one full nail image I have in my collection didn't seem interesting enough for what I wanted.

I was going to stamp this manicure with Nicole by OPI's The Next CEO, since I do like its color better than Good As Gold against my base colors... but it simply doesn't stamp well. It's gorgeous on its own, but the foily finish doesn't allow it to transfer. Alternatively, Good As Gold stamps amazingly! If you're looking for a great gold to stamp with, I most definitely recommend it.

Is this a manicure you would wear?

Until next time...

Fall Gradient

Hi there!

This is quintessential Fall...

My nails painted with OPI - Suzi Loves Cowboys and
Chop-Sticking To My Story.

...right? I painted 1 coat of Essie's Very Structured (a rusty brown) as a base. I could have just painted a base of Chop-Sticking To My Story, since Very Structured doesn't show through to the final manicure anyway. For the gradient, I blobbed each polish onto the back of one of my stamping plates then I used one of my cut up makeup sponges to transfer the polish onto my nails.

I topped this manicure with a coat of OPI's Top Coat. Perhaps surprisingly, this was my first time using it... and my first impression wasn't so great. Even with a light hand, the orange and brown polish still transferred to the brush.

What are you wearing on your nails today?

Until next time...

Ugly Manicure Monday - 24

Hi there!

This ugly manicure comes courtesy of Erika at Icy Nails...

China Glaze - Roguish Red and Orly - Monster Mash.

Erika said she wanted to get her Halloween on, but she got her ugly on instead ;-p She painted Roguish Red onto her index and ring finger, and then stamped with China Glaze's Jolly Holly using Bundle Monster plate 224. It failed because it smeared and the green wasn't opaque enough to stamp on top of the orange. Erika painted an unknown purple by Funky Fingers onto her middle and pinky finger... then topped it with Monster Mash. She said it was torture wearing this manicure!

Thanks, Erika!

I may be in the minority, but aside from the smeared bits, I like this manicure!

If you have an ugly manicure, I'd love to feature it! Email me with what polish you used and what you intended your manicure to look like :-)

Until next time...

Ivanka's Apple

Hi there!

I imagined this looking differently...

My nails painted with Zoya - Apple and Ivanka.

I painted 2 coats of each polish to achieve what's pictured. Apple has flecks of green that are the same color as Ivanka (ring finger), and Ivanka has flecks of green that are the same color as Apple. I didn't think they'd blend together as much as they do. In person, my ring fingernail only looks slightly darker than the rest... and sometimes it doesn't even look like I'm wearing an accent nail at all.

How would you wear these colors together?

Until next time...