Girly Bits is a Canadian indie polish maker founded and run by a woman named Pam Heil. I have three of her polishes in my collection and January Morning is the first to be featured on the blog. It's a sheer white polish with iridescent shimmers that sparkle blue and white and pale pale pink. It can be used on its own and is also intended to be used as a topper for other polishes. I have to say that it simply excels in that role and as far as my tastes are concerned completely blows away the other pearly toppers that I own.
Pam created January Morning in tribute to her father, and you can read her account of that here. It is a touching and beautiful story. The polish is a remembrance of the snow that fell the morning after her father died, and it is very very much like a powdering of sparkly crystalline white snowflakes on the nail. Altogether lovely.
The photos show three coats of January Morning over Seche Vite Rebuild treatment basecoat with a layer of Seche Vite on top. They were taken at night under incandescent light without flash, so some of them are slightly blurry. My apologies. Despite the blurriness, I think they are accurate representations of this polish.
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| Girly Bits January Morning, bottle shot |
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| Girly Bits January Morning |
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| Girly Bits January Morning showing some sparkle |
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| Girly Bits January Morning |
This is a beautifully formulated polish. It applies evenly from a light-to-medium loaded brush and is self-leveling. My nail ridges being as mountainous as they are do manage to show but I don't fault the polish for that.
Now for Misa Dirty Sexy Money. This creme has a devoted following among nail polish enthusiasts and now I know why. The color is FABULOUS, a well-pigmented dusky medium blue green with grey undertones. The formula is also wonderful, applying smoothly and evenly, self-leveling and drying to a gorgeous glossy finish. Plus, Dirty Sexy Money is a one coater for all practical purposes and who doesn't love a one coater? Nobody, that's who.
I used two coats of Dirty Sexy Money over basecoat and NO topcoat for the photos, which I took under incandescent tungsten and halogen lighting (upstairs bath and down in the kitchen). So there's a slightly blurry photo here and there, but again I chose to include these photos because of how true they are to the color and feel of the polish.
While you are admiring the color please be sure to note the fantastic glossiness of the finish. It's a rare day (or night, in this case) when I photograph a manicure without topcoat!
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| Misa Dirty Sexy Money, bottle shot |
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| Misa Dirty Sexy Money, on my thumb and in the bottle |
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| Misa Dirty Sexy Money |
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| Misa Dirty Sexy Money |
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| Misa Dirty Sexy Money |
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| Misa Dirty Sexy Money |
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| Misa Dirty Sexy Money |
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| Misa Dirty Sexy Money |
Eleanor, I think you'd LOVE Dirty Sexy Money! It has just the right weight to it, you know what I mean? Not so heavy that you feel like you're wearing a dark polish but weighty and bold enough to show off your nails and, when you catch it out of the corner of your, to remind yourself of how chic you are. The color reminds me a bit of verdigris, the patina that copper gets when it's exposed to air over time. Like the Statue of Liberty. Very cool.
Cooler still, layer January Morning over Dirty Sexy Money, ha! I'd tried this on a swatch wheel and loved the result so I had to do a full manicure of it, NATCH.
January Morning is more sparkly in the photos I took in the kitchen than in the bathroom pics, I think because of the nature of halogen lighting. The sparkles are just like sparkles you see on snow when the sun hits it. It is so sparkly it almost reminds me of one of my other favorite toppers, Shine on Crazy Diamond by Orly. But January Morning has the sheer white thing going on, which is perfect for ever so slightly softening the boldness of Dirty Sexy Money.
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| Girly Bits January Morning over Misa Dirty Sexy Money |
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| Girly Bits January Morning over Misa Dirty Sexy Money |
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| Girly Bits January Morning over Misa Dirty Sexy Money |
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| Girly Bits January Morning over Misa Dirty Sexy Money |
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| EXTREME CLOSE UP WHOA |
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| Girly Bits January Morning over Misa Dirty Sexy Money |
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| Girly Bits January Morning over Misa Dirty Sexy Money |
I love January Morning as a topper! I have two other polishes that are sheer white based toppers, Essie Pure Pearlfection and China Glaze White Cap, but both of them have shimmer that leans strongly gold, which slightly alters the look of the color that they are layered over. January Morning, on the other hand, does not alter the color underneath. Just like a dusting of snow, it whitens it just a tad and gives it a sprinkling of subtle sparkle.
For comparison's sake, I've got a little series of Dirty Sexy Money photos before January Morning and after January Morning, with my hands positioned similarly in both shots. I didn't plan things this way, but as I was choosing pics to add to my text I noticed there were these perfect pairs of before and after photos that would do a good job of showing the effect of January Morning as a topper. So I saved them for last.
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| before: Dirty Sexy Money solo |
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| after: Dirty Sexy Money with January Morning topper |
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| before: Dirty Sexy Money solo |
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| after: Dirty Sexy Money with January Morning topper |
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| before: Dirty Sexy Money solo |
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| after: Dirty Sexy Money with January Morning topper |
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| before: Dirty Sexy Money solo |
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| after: Dirty Sexy Money with January Morning topper |
What do you think, do you like Dirty Sexy Money alone better than the combo or vice versa? I love them both! I think whether I wore one or the other would depend on the look I was going for. Dirty Sexy Money alone is a bolder stronger look. It is sleek and slightly edgy. With January Morning, it becomes a bit more intimate and subtle and I think the bit of whitening it does plays really well with the grey undertones of Dirty Sexy Money.
I am loving both of these polishes very much.
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| I coulda used this guy's help tonight! |
How much do you think I'd have to pay John to take pics of my manicures? *lol* As if! Take it from me, my dear, no one will take better pictures of your manicure than you yourself will. *grin* Except maybe ME!
love,
Aunt Liz
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