Three for One

Ever since the tragic nail breakage I've had trouble picking a polish that really thrills me. You know the kind of thrill you get when you're wearing something you really like, nail polish or new socks or a cool bracelet, and you kinda forget you've got it on for a while and then... bam! You catch a glimpse of it from the corner of your eye and you think, wow I love that! And you could just give yourself a hug for putting something on that would make you feel so good. I just love that feeling!

I polish to thrill myself. And who wouldn't, if they could? So when I can't pick a polish that thrills, it's a thing. I suspect that the underlying problem is that I just don't appreciate my nubbins like I did my longer nails. Well I better learn how, don't ya think? I'm just not careful enough with them to have long nails ALL the time. One of them is going to break sooner or later and it will be return of the nubbins.

To try and generate some nubbin love I did three manicures in the last day and a half. Yes, three. And I am going to show you all of them in this post. Lots of pictures, so I will try and keep my gab to a minimum. Not promising, mind, but I will try.

First manicure: Icing Birthday B------ (it's a bad word... but so funny *lol* *cough*) over Sinful Colors Dressed to Kill. This turned out to be a mult-layered mani. First I did a basecoat, which I always do but never mention and I should so I'm starting now. My current basecoat is OPI Nail Envy. Then I applied Dressed to Kill, a VERY cool-toned very saturated pink, two coats. Then Birthday B------, a festive glitter polish, one full coat and another kind of half coat to even out the glitter distribution. Over that I applied a topcoat, Orly Sec 'n Dry. Sec 'n Dry is a fast dry topcoat like the venerable Seche Vite, but a little thinner. I am hoarding my Seche Vite for the Hare polishes I have yet to swatch. Stay tuned!

I had the Birthday B------ *snicker* on for a couple of hours and it was fun and sparkly but I just wasn't feeling it so I added another special topcoat, a color-shifting flakie by Nubar called 2010. This amped up the sparkle in a really cool way which unfortunately I don't think I captured in the photos...

what I used, from left to right: Sinful Colors Dressed to Kill, Icing Birthday B------, Orly Sec 'n Dry, Nubar 2010

a better look at Icing Birthday B------ in the bottle

cool macro bottle shot of the flakies in Nubar 2010

Icing Birthday B------ over Sinful Colors Dressed to Kill topped by Nubar 2010

ditto

and again

at the window

extreme close up whoa! thumb shot that manages to show a bit of the flakie goodness near the free edge of the nail, see those orangey gold transparent flakes? unfortunately for us both this shot also shows: dry skin, flakey (as opposed to flakie) cuticles, nail ridges, messy application and slack clean up... I almost couldn't bring myself to post some of these pics cause the peripherals looked so skankbiskitty, but didn't want NOT to post them more... does that make sense? *sigh*

trying to coax out more flakie goodness, please try to ignore peripheral horrorshow

colorful flakie goodness!

ditto!

I slept on that manicure, hoping it would thrill me to look at it first thing in the morning. But it didn't. Off it came.

Second manicure: Zoya FeiFei. I won this a little ways back on ebay and it's been sitting next to my polish spot there at the kitchen table, softly but persistently calling my name. FeiFei, according to Zoya, is "a medium steel blue base with heavy gold, blue and pink iridescent metallic sparkle." The finish is kind of like a cross between a metallic and a glass fleck. The color is complex, unusual, subtle, elegant and stunning. 

For this mani I used OPI Nail Envy basecoat, one coat. I applied two coats of Zoya FeiFei and one coat of Orly Sec 'n Dry. Later I went back and did another coat of FeiFei and then a coat of Seche Vite because I dinged up the earlier coats doing something, probably something stupid, I forget what. You may remember that I have a little fearfulness issue applying foily metallic polishes and always seem to doink the mani before the polish is completely dry. Ugh.

My various issues aside, FeiFei is GORGEOUS. It is much more interesting to look at in person but I hope you can tell a little of how deeply cool this polish is in the pics...

what all I used, left to right: OPI Nail Envy, Zoya FeiFei, Orly Sec 'n Dry, Seche Vite

Zoya FeiFei bottle shot

maco bottle shot of Zoya FeiFei

another macro bottle shot of Zoya FeiFei, taken from a slightly different angle

Zoya FeiFei on the nail (see my camera reflected in the bottle? heh heh)

lovely FeiFei

how cool is that?

Zoya FeiFei

Zoya FeiFei

Zoya FeiFei

extreme close up whoa! it started to spit while I was taking these photos so some show water droplets...

Zoya FeiFei

Zoya FeiFei

fingers lookin pink as all get out

and who should drive up as I finished my photo taking but Fuzzy in her little car "Smiley" -- so cute!

You'd think that polish would provide thrill after thrill, eh? Not so much. I got all restless about it after I helped Fuzzy carry groceries inside and put them away. Off came the FeiFei. But I will certainly wear it again soon and often because it is definitely TDF!

Third and final manicure: Chirality Just Before Dawn. Chirality is an indie polish maker who makes the most fabulous scattered holographic polishes. Not only are they all beautiful, but they apply like a dream, all of them, and dry quickly to a delicious glossy finish. Just Before Dawn is the latest of five Chirality scattered holos that I have the luck and privilege of owning, I snagged it on ebay. It is an orange that has such richness to it that to my eye it is more of a glowing copper color. 

For this mani I used my OPI Nail Envy basecoat, two coats of Chirality Just Before Dawn, and one coat of Orly Sec 'n Dry. Lots of pics for this one. So many turned out so well I just had to include them...

Chirality Just Before Dawn

Chirality Just Before Dawn

macro shot in the bottle, holographic fabulosity

Chirality Just Before Dawn

Chirality Just Before Dawn

Chirality Just Before Dawn

redonkulously gorgeous

Chirality Just Before Dawn

Chirality Just Before Dawn

Chirality Just Before Dawn

Chirality Just Before Dawn

Chirality Just Before Dawn

Chirality Just Before Dawn

This is what I have on my nails now and I have to say, I am getting some thrill twinges and the urge to admire my nails with this one. Hooray! Think I'll leave it on there for a bit. Longer than half a day, for sure. Do you like orange polish? I will have to remember to bring other Chirality scattered holos with me when I come up for your birthday. Two of them are gorgeous GREENS, yellow greens, a dark one and a very bright one. You will love and adore!

Speaking of your birthday, I am creating a special surprise for you. A music CD, with some of my favorite songs, songs that remind me of you, songs I thought you would like, songs we can both dance to. I'm making a collection of the lyrics for all of them too, that I can print out and give to you with the CD so you can learn the words to any of the songs if you want to. We are going to have BIG FUN! I can't wait. 

love,
Aunt Liz