HANDS, NAILS, ETC.

The striped accent nail is silly. The pink nails are great.

I tried it previously with this really pretty sparkly red (Star Spangled by Orly) on all my nails but used a shiny top coat on the ring fingers and a matte topcoat on the rest. They both looked good just because the polish is so pretty but there wasn't enough of a contrast between the shiny and the matte to really make it noticeable.

I'm really into the Sally Hansen miracle gel nail polish! Decent colors, dries insanely quickly and lasts a lot longer than regular polish. No lights needed to cure it!

You gotta apply three coats plus the top coat to get smooth finish though

Intriguing. I've seen it in the stores but never really looked into it. What does it take to get it off?

Just regular remover. Even my acetone-free remover gets it off. It might take a little longer if the color is dark.

I think you're supposed to go outside and let the sun cure it too but I usually paint my nails at night so I don't bother. My job is hard on my hands and I can get at least a couple days in before I start getting minor chips.

Gather round let me tell you my tale of woe...

I decided to treat myself to some indie nailpolish and bought three colors from Super Black Laquers - The Bends, Switch, and Spanked. GIS for Super Black the Bends and you can see how amazing that looks. THEORETICALLY. It is possible jelly nail polish is just too advanced for me right now, but my nails looked like junky, uneven, streaky shit after three coats of that stuff.

So I took it off and tried Switch, which is cool but really not for me. It's kind of a greenish black, which doesn't work on me in the least, and I was unimpressed by the holo effect.

I'm going to set The Bends aside and try it again some other time when I'm done being angry at it but I will never like Switch. LET MY MISTAKE BE YOUR WINDFALL. I will send Switch to anyone who wants it. If you want to trade something, that's fine, but I mostly don't want it to go to waste nor do I want it taking up precious space in my nail polish box. LET ME KNOW.

http://superblacklacquers.com/products/switch

ugh that's disappointing - i thought her stuff would be really good!

ytth bought me a couple of nars nail polishes - i haven't tried the metallic purple yet, but the forest green was a lame, flat black with greenish cast like yours, and was not impressive at all. looked really cheap.

Yeah I wanted to like it so bad. I remain hopeful that The Bends and I can reach an agreement. I can't bring myself to try Spanked yet because if I don't like that, I will be too sad. Also I've painted my nails three times in two days, which is ridic and my cuticles are paying the price.

And I don't mean to be like "This is fugly. Who wants it?" I really think switch would work well for the right person.

do you read lab muffin? she's a scienc-y beauty blogger, but she posts about a lot of indie nail polish companies.

Ooooo no! I love science-y beauty bloggers and posts about nail polish!

I've never ever been able to make jelly nail polishes work.

xp you might like of faces and fingers too

http://ladycrappo.com/

i don't even understand how it's possible to do like actual miniature paintings on your nails like this.

OKAY I have unlocked the secrets of jelly glitter nail polish and conquered The Bends. After way too much time watching videos about how to paint my god damn nails, I decided to try two techniques: 1) use a complimentary color as a base coat and then use the "dabbing" method to apply the glitter and 2) put that shit on with a motherfucking cosmetic sponge.

The first method got way too goopy way too fast, wouldn't try, still looked like streaky shit, so I took it off. Rot in hell, first method.

The second method was successful. I started with a regular old clear base coat (this is pretty stainy stuff) and then did two coats of the glitter polish with a cosmetic sponge (well, a lot of cosmetic sponges). This put a lot of glitter on my nails without making a gross thick layer of polish. Then I went back with the brush and the dabbing method to fill in any bald spots and to deepen the overall color, which was key for getting that cool underwater look of this polish. Then I slopped on some Seche Vite top coat. Apparently somebody makes a top coat specifically for glitter polish but one nail polish vlogger who is practically my sister now because I have watched so many of her videos, said that gloopy Seche Vite works just as well. My particular bottle is old as fuck and it did a pretty good job smoothing everything out.

Big cons to this though, specifically - I used up a full quarter of this $12 bottle of nail polish and like my grandmother says, "I don't have money just falling out of my asshole." But the bright side is that it won't take long to use up this whole bottle and then I get get on with my god damn life and stop trying to replicate the nail polish techniques of people who take instagram pictures of their fingernails for a living. The other, bigger con is that it is so fucking messy baby jesus h. christ. This is why my best friends the nail bloggers put liquid latex around their nails before they use any sponge methods, but since I am a boring middle age midwestern mom I do not have liquid latex for nail art or sex dungeon purposes so I was like eh fuck it I have acetone and a paint brush how hard can it be to clean this up. REALLY HARD. REALLY GOD DAMN HARD. As in hopefully when I next shower I'll be able to get the rest of the glitter off my fingers because otherwise, I'm going to die as I lived: with blue-green stained glitter fingers.

this is a technique that sounds v much not for me, i am sure i would manage to get it everywhere

we honor yr service, carl

ditto that! Any chance for pix? Or pix of what you were going for?

Also by cosmetic sponge I am assuming you mean the foam kind and not the cotton-pad kind?

Liquid latex, dear god!

right!? O_O

Here's some pics of what other people have managed to do with this polish:

From Super Black's website:

http://superblacknailart.com/bends-mani.jpg

And from some bloggers:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RJf6BOTZyak/Ubcvbuf1bHI/AAAAAAAAB9Y/jF0Il5GU5Wg/s640/Super+Black+Lacquers+The+Bends.jpg
http://media.tumblr.com/72eade95373bd30ebb110a082c410b32/tumblr_inline_mhdfedvm181qbvj4q.jpg

Looks cool, yeah? Like underwater. Love it.

So here's what I managed to do to myself, and this is after round one clean up attempts with a q-tip and brush and orange stick:

https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5459/18219067883_53b715f1a4_z.jpg
https://c2.staticflickr.com/4/3895/18653540619_77edd51a6d_z.jpg

Less cool.

also IRL LOL at "we honor yr service, carl"

also also I hope Ivy's pediatrician appreciates my nails when I take her for an appointment tonight sigh

omg whoa -- welcome to the latest beauty trend that is impossible to achieve, good lord
i hope you manage to get it off without too much effort or chemical burns!

i got my first mani in years while waiting around for several hours in a city i'd never been to and i got manicured 1) by a man 2) who invented this cool exhaust system to get the fumes out of the small storefront
he was really nice! we talked about esl classes and vietnamese food (he's vietnamese)

HOLY SHIT that polish looks impossible to manage for pros, nevermind mere mortals. Super awesome, though! I love regular (non-glitter) jellies and have quite a few that are easy enough to work with, but that huge glitter is far too intimidating for me (to apply, not to wear).

yeah - applying each piece of glitter w tweezers sounds more appealing, jeez louise

Some people do that at the end! To make sure everything is perfect. I DO NOT CARE. I just want nails that look like they are underwater. I just want mermaid nails, OKAY???

I think this is a perfectly reasonable desire tbh.

it's 2015, underwater nails shd be more attainable

I dunno, I've been waiting since the days of Sea Wees in the bathtub for my luxurious mermaid hair and I still don't have it!

Sea Wees!!!

I bought some Deborah Lippmann polish because it was mermaid themed.

For regular glitter polish removal, I recommend putting a cotton ball soaked in polish remover on your finger, wrapping it with foil, and waiting 10+ minutes.

I don't love gel polishes and usually put a base color underneath so the gel color doesn't have to be evenly applied. Then I kind of push the glitter blobs around with the end of the brush, maybe even using an orange stick or toothpicks to distribute it around. Then a small flat brush cleans up the gel from the edges but hopefully there won't be as much glitter flakes scattered around.

I had no luck with that, but I don't have the same expertise and experience you have.

I'm happy to say that all the glitter on my fingers wore off over the course of the day. I did a little shower cleanup this morning and slapped another coat of Seche Vite on my nails on a hunch and while they definitely don't look nail blogger perfect, they are just fine for every day wear and have enough of the cool underwater look to make me happy.

I would say I'll never do it again buuuuuut I probably will.

http://blog.flauntme.com/2012/02/14/daily-nail-art-purple-disco-nails/

Speaking of time consuming, precision glitter application jfc

O_o

omg you guys guess what

I bought some of that liquid latex stuff. Just a little tube of it from "Mini Mani Moo" because even though the large tub of sex dungeon liquid latex is way more cost effective, I have no idea if I'll use it enough. I just wanted to try it out. Anywayyyyyyyy so emboldened, I actually did a gradient with a sponge and it looks pretty good. Far far from perfect, but I'm reasonably happy with it for my first attempt. I did a white to lavender gradient and then went over it with green glitter top coat to camouflage all of my mistakes. I won't be giving io any competition but as a hobby, it is fun.

Also these are beautiful and I wish I had the time for such an endeavor: http://www.thenailpolishchallenge.com/2015/06/mermaid-scale-nail-art-whats-up-nails.html

and have enough of the cool underwater look to make me happy.

^^ urgent & key

QUESTIONS:

1. Is Seche Vite still everyone's fav topcoat?
2. Is a base coat necessary, and if so, does it matter which one?
3. How much does polish really vary btwn brands? I'm looking at two v similar charcoals from CND and China Glaze but have never used either!

I think a good base coat is necessary- I started painting my nails again in March, once a week, but I wasn’t using a base coat and now my nails are fucked, peeling and cracking and weak af. So I’d suggest a strengthening base coat

I just use sally hansen quick dry top coat

Differences btw polish brands can be things like how long it lasts without chipping, how easy it is to apply, color quality. But there can be differences within a brand’s line as well, like maybe their regular colors are long lasting but their metallics are shit, for example

Try searching YouTube for the polishes you’re interested in to find reviews

i use sally hansen top coat too. the one with the lil faux diamond on it.

QUESTIONS:

1. Is Seche Vite still everyone's fav topcoat?
2. Is a base coat necessary, and if so, does it matter which one?
3. How much does polish really vary btwn brands? I'm looking at two v similar charcoals from CND and China Glaze but have never used either!

― the masseduction of lauryn hill (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, August 7, 2018 1:58 PM (four months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Stevie! I have answers!

1. Yes but I also like Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails. Neither one is particularly expensive iirc which makes it mystifying that salons don't use either, and instead my top coat from the salon is never deep or shiny enough.
2. Yes; idk probably not. It's not going to make your nails stronger or whatever some of them promise, but it will keep dark pigments from staining your nail surface and it probably does make the polish stick better.
3. I care about color options and brush quality more than which brand of polish. Essie brushes, for instance, are small and relatively firm, whereas Julep brushes are big and fluffy and I find them inexact though they do deliver more polish to the nail at one time. But China Glaze was one of my fave brands for color choices. I never had any CND--I think they're more in the gel market?

I'm working on a home reno project right now so it's not the time to do a lot to my nails but I miss having a poppin mani.

Very late but the topcoat I can’t do without is called Poshe and it knocks Seche Vite into a cocked hat. The base coat is great too.

I've used both in the past and don't remember there being much a difference to me. What do you like better about the Poshe?

For a minute I was into Sally Hansen Insta Dri but it goes to stringy crap pretty fast and doesn't take well to thinning.

I like the texture better, it’s a lot less thick than Seche Vite imo and it dries faster and stays around longer. It might be though that I had heard such great things about Seche Vite and was disappointed, whereas I got Poshe after reading about it on some random blog somewhere and was really impressed.

Also, regarding different formulas. Chanel is a favourite of mine but the formula is notoriously lacking. Recently tried a new shade in the new formula and it’s definitely improved but ...this is why I always have a good bit of topcoat on.

I really like Starrily a lot these days but it’s not that easy to get.

OK I'm getting the CND Stickey base coat which everyone seems to be in general consensus about.
I was about to reach for a new bottle of Seche Vite but am reading that it gets gloppy in like 6 months and honestly I don't paint my nails enough. Do all top coats get gloppy in like 6 months???

also there is one vote each for Sally Hansen Insta-Dry, Sally Hansen Hard as Nails, Sally Hansen Diamond Strength, and Poshe and I have no idea what to pick! My goal is chip-free longevity above all else, like shine is great too but it's not my tip top priority