Orly Fowl Play & Gold Stamping

I decided to break out the Fowl Play again and spice it up with some gold stamping.  It played very nicely with the design and color I chose.  The combination was also forgiving and hid stamping errors as well.

"Natural" Light

This is 2 coats of Fowl Play with Funky Fingers Platinum Record stamped from BM225.  I'm not sure if it was the grittiness of the polish that prevented the full image from being picked up or my fault from lack of practice, but as I said before the busyness of Fowl Play sort of hid the errors, especially to the naked eye.

"Natural" Light

It was weird for me to be wearing a dark polish after months of bright ones, but this color is pretty spectacular, you can't go wrong with flakies, either!

Beyonce Countdown Inspired Manicure

Sooooo Beyonce is probably one of my favorite singers ever.  I've been wearing her new album out and when I found out Countdown was going to be a single I got really excited at the prospects of what the video could be. It's such a fun song and the video really lives up to that.  I love the colors and patterns in the video so it inspired me to design a manicure.

And this is what I came up with :D

 I took some still screenshots of the video so you can see where I pulled the inspiration from. I used a ton of different polishes for this manicure so I'm going to list them accordingly.

Thumb

China Glaze Four Leaf Clover

China Glaze For Audrey

China Glaze Lemon Fizz

Sinful Colors Verbena

WnW Black Creme

Index Finger

Funky Fingers Platinum Record

Funky Fingers Stage Dive

Middle Finger

Ulta Sweetheart Pink

Orly Green Apple

Ring Finger

China Glaze Snow

WnW Black Creme

Pinky

 Sinful Colors Cloud 9

Phew! That was a lot! I used CND Stickey as a basecoat and OTD for a topcoat.

New Funky Fingers Foil Collection Swatches

Oooh these are excitingly beautiful!  As many of you know, Funky Fingers and Color Club share the same mother company, Forsythe Cosmetics Group.  These are dupes of the Color Club Foiled collection.  The only differences I've spotted so far is that the light pink in the Color Club collection ("Foil Me Once") is actually an older Funky Fingers polish named "Favorite Girl" (I think); additionally, "Power Chord" is not in the Color Club set.

At my Five Below, "Favorite Girl" was plunked right next to all of the other new foils.  It's not a new release, however and doesn't have a name change.  Another fun yet confusing fact to throw into this mix is "Platinum Record" seems to be a renamed re-release of "Down To Earth". If this is the case, than FF is releasing old colors with new names.  I'll do a comp eventually.

Among the foils there was a chunky silver hex glitter, Stage Dive, which is swatched on some nails.

Anyways, onto the beauties!

Monster Ballad:

This is only one coat!  Monster Ballad applied so nicely, a lovely magenta foil.  This one stood out among the crowd, it's so bold.

Sold Out Arena:

One Coat of Stage Dive

This is two coats. I wore this for like, a solid two days and loved it. I'm sure its not the first minty foil but its my only as of now.  This was two coats. Somewhat runny formula but workable.

Power Chord:

One Coat of Stage Dive

I had some trouble capturing this color really well.  It's a dark plummy kind of purple but it catches gold on camera.  This was two coats, could've used a third for sure.  This was the runniest of them all, too.  Very pretty though.

Sound Check:

GORGEOUS vibrant blue.  This one is really super pigmented, like Monster Ballad, and could be done with one decent coat.  This is one splotchy coat but I do believe you could get away with one coat if you paid attention.

Guitar Solo:

One Coat of Stage Dive

An icy icy blue foil.  This one was easy to apply, the formula ran so inconsistently in this collection.

Platinum Record

One Coat of Stage Dive

A gold foil, seen it 100 times. Nothing too 'stand out' about this color, it washes me out, too.

So this whole collection is kind of confusing.  Two colors look like previous FF colors, one has a name change and one doesn't.  It's hard enough keeping it straight between FF and CC, but if they're really releasing the same things with different names, then my head will explode. I'm looking at the bottles now, and the one seems to be a bit grittier than the other; so hopefully they are different.

Additionally, the formula is somewhat all over the place.  Some are super pigmented and a nice consistency, while some are runny and need multiple coats.  Maybe that has more to do with them being foils and less about their maker, I'm not sure.  I do love the color range of this though, so many to choose from.  I bought this entire collection for $12 at Five Below so I can't complain too much. Which is your favorite?

OPI "Swimsuit... Nailed It!" + haul!

I did some shopping on the same day my online order came.  I was crazy overwhelmed by my choices but decided on "Swimsuit...Nailed It!" with some accents and stuff.

One coat of OPI "Swimsuit... Nailed It!" topped with
Funky Fingers "Down to Earth"

I tried doing a half moon mani but had the guides up too high.  I don't hate the result though, it was a different look for sure.  I only put one coat of "Down to Earth" so it's a little splotchy and there are some bare spots that you can see the blue peeking through.  The finish is the same though so the contrast really popped!

Before I did that though, I had "Crown Me Already!" as an accent.

Three coats of "Crown Me Already!" on ring finger

I have a truly difficult time wearing glitters.  I habitually peel it off almost as soon as it sets.  It is such a unique and pretty color though, it is a great addition to my collection.

"Swimsuit... Nailed It!" is a one coater which means its great for a quick mani.  It is super pigmented though which also means it stains.  It penetrated my NailTekII Foundation base coat and I had to buff away the stains.  The strange part about it was that only a few nails were stained?  I don't know what that means but it does have the potential to stain.  I suggest doubling up on a basecoat or wear this around the same time you're due for a buffing.

"Crown Me Already!" is such a show stealer!  It has multiple sized silver glitters but application was a tiny bit tricky; it is so densely packed with glitter that some will inevitably hang off the edge of your nail.  I had to push it back with the brush to keep them from dangling.  I am thinking this would make a great New Year's Eve manicure.

On to the new additions.  I feel like a horrific blogger because I cannot remember where my online order came from.  I think it was head2toe, but I could be wrong.  I had placed it a while ago, before Irene, had sort of forgotten about it.  Anyways:

ChG "Strawberry Fields"
ChG "Shower Together"
Essie "Smooth Sailing"
Essie "Turquoise and Caicos"

Color Club "Untamed Luxury"
Color Club "Space Case"
essence colour & go "You Belong To Me"

The essence polish is from Ulta actually, I grouped it wrong.  And speaking of Ulta, for once the clueless SA actually benefited me.  I was asking about a sale in the flyer I saw and she thought I wanted to look at the discontinued bottles. She went in back and wheeled out trays of the old bottles that were still for sale. They have the same polish in them but Ulta has since changed their bottles.  I got my Ulta polishes shown here for $2 AND they have more in the bottles.  The new bottles have .33 fl oz while the old bottles have .4 fl oz.  I love a bargain (=

From Left To Right:
Concrete Evidence - Sunset Bronze - Mint Condition - Material Girl
Tutu Cute - Alter Ego - Little Black Dress - Pink-A-Boo - X-dry (topcoat)

Material Girl, Little Black Dress and Alter Ego bottle shots.
So pretty!

I also (obviously) grabbed these two.  A different SA from the confused one excitedly grabbed these from the back for me.


*exhale* That is all!

yellow rainbow and ladybug mani

LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE yellow.  I was fiddling with my yellows and thought I would show them to you.

Bundle Monster plate 13

 Eek dry skin! Sorry, I took this right after I got out of the shower and removed it before I checked the photos, so this is the best I could do given those circumstances.  The cuteness factor should totally override the dryness factor though.  I used Wet N Wild "Black Creme" and "Red Red" for stamping.  An impatient me evidently applied the topcoat too soon.  There was some streaking which I should have known better to avoid. sadsad.

My yellow skittles (=

3 coats of each.

 I can't decide what I like best.  Warm golden tones like "Sundancer" are always enticing to me, but the brightness of "Lightening" is really summery and fun.  "Unicorn" and "Yellow Kitty" are softer which remind me more of springtime and as mentioned a few posts before, "Cayman Island" is pretty (to me) only under specific lighting.

Anyways, which is your favorite yellow swatched here?  What about your all time favorite yellow?

funky fingers "Kingston" neon nail polish

Considering I am not crazy about oranges or neons really, I enjoyed this nail polish!  Under the fluorescent lighting at Five Below, it looked a little pink (like, deep pink) but it really isn't. Anyways, look!

2 coats of Funky Fingers "Kingston" over 3 coats
of some random white polish.

Excuse the tipwear.  This was after a day and a half of wear and a full day of work.  I also didn't wrap them at all.  Also, as you can see, I messed up my index finger when cleaning up the edges and didn't have the energy to fix all those layers so I left it as is.  Looks a little wonky but you should get the idea.

In the shade.

In the sun. Looks like tomato color here (=

Completely unaltered!

I can't believe how much it glows.  None of these pictures are edited in any way.  Well  I cropped them, but that doesn't count.  This is the first time I've used white underneath, and the results were stunning!  I bought this at Five Below with two other polishes which came out to 3 for 5$.

funky fingers "cayman island" scented polish

Yellow: the double edged sword of nailpolishes.  So pretty in the bottle, but rarely looks nice on my skin tone and has terrible application. I am always instantly drawn to the yellow bottles but tend to steer clear. And once again, I am reminded why.

Five coats of Funky Fingers "Cayman Island"

Excuse the blurry at the bottom. I'm working with a different camera and I think one of two things occurred: me setting the focus wrong or condensation on the lens. Either way you get the basic idea of this polish.  Some nails required 6 coats due to streaking and impossible touchdown marks.

Yellow shimmery sheer with green shimmers.

It is a sheer polish too, that also being the reason it needed so many coats.  It is also scented - but not Revlon gag-inducing scented.  This polish has a light, refreshing lemon-y scent to it, but it really very very subtle. (Which is a good thing! Revlon's blueberry scented polish triggered an 8 hour migraine for me.)

Click to enlarge to see the green shimmers.

The photo directly above captured the green shimmers pretty well. In indoor lighting the color gets lost on my hands and doesn't POP like it does in sunlight. This photo is a more accurate representation of what the color looks like most of the time. It is pretty, I think that is pretty undeniable, but it isn't for me. I probably won't ever use this again.

As far as my skin goes, in order to keep the eczema at bay, I have been avoiding the rubber gloves at work as much as possible.  Only in cases of #2 diapers and blood do I put them on. I haven't decided if the constant washing has been aggravating it, but the absence of the powder from the gloves has certainly made my hands less irritated and very few cracking incidences.

"favorite girl" & a skin problem

Uh.. what day is it? Friday? I feel like Monday morning, lol.  I figured I would give a quick update and post about a new polish I bought the other day.

This blog crosses my mind about 3 times or so a day. I miss it but have been successfully dodging it for more reasons than "lack of time".  As mentioned before, the gloves I wear are destroying my hands.  No latex allergy but the powder has been brutal.  I have mild dyshidrotic eczema on my hands, and it is (in my case) stress triggered.  The constant washing, lotioning and gloves have caused the skin on the sides of my fingers to literally peel off by the end of the day.  I don't want to post pictures of raw skin and aggravated blisters.  Up until this week I hadn't even painted my nails for about a month in order to not call attention to them.  The topical steroids my doctor has prescribed help, but it doesn't cure it.  I've done research on the condition and there isn't much you can really do.  WARNING: if you decide to be ballsy and google pictures of it, it is pretty gory.  As I said, mine is mild (actually, very mild in comparison) but micro focus is rather unforgiving.

Work has been truly exhausting.  It's hot, the air conditioning isn't the best, and enrollment has picked up.  There's a handful of coworkers who have turned being lazy into a true art form, meaning those who do work have to work harder to pick up the slack.  A lot of people there seem to have unofficial "daycare tenure" and can evidently do no wrong.  I'm in the 18 month - 2 and a half year old room by myself, there is a lot of lifting, chasing and general running around. It's mentally taxing, too. I come home and watch TV for a bit, and usually fall asleep. I have an 8 hour day, but usually spend my hour break trying to catch up on work that needs to be done. I am by no means a morning person and waking up at 6:45 am blows. I don't think anyone wants to listen to anyone gripe about work, but this is my little soapbox!  It is really nice having a break from school though.  When I come home from work, there is no sitting at the computer typing paper after paper.

On to the polish (=  I tried having long(er) nails while working but holy crap it was impractical.  I have super nubs now.

Forgive the cat fur, my Ralphie LOVES this thing, haha!

Polish damage after ONE day of work )=

Funky Fingers - "Favorite Girl" 3 Coats
A pretty pink foil.

I don't have many (or at least, wear many) foils, but this is really pretty.  The application was somewhat splotchy, but I think it has more to do with me being out of practice.  Some lighting and holding my hands just the right way so thin spots of the polish.  But about 95% of the time you can't tell - you'd really have to be looking for it to see it.  2$ at five below - totally recommended!

And back to my previous paragraph - does anyone have or know of anyone with dyshidrotic eczema?  I've seen information saying to keep it dry, some says to keep your skin moisturized - it's all pretty confusing.  Any tips or advice is greatly appreciated.  My doctor(s) basically shrugged it off, they had NO useful advice.