On A Roll: Glitter Gal Silver and 10 to Midnight w/ a side of failed striping

Happy Friday!  Now that I have no class Fridays AND no work I am really appreciating 3 day weekends.  I have TONS of work to do, but would much rather blog.  I even cleaned my apartment to procrastinate.  Oh well, at least I am doing something.  As you saw yesterday, some chips in my mani provoked me to paint my nails AGAIN.  I was looking at my pinterest (follow me here) where I post some of my favorite manis, and was reminded of a look that I did for my sisters and cousin this past summer.  I then realized that I never did it for myself.  I didn't want to copy the Butter London Wallis/RGB Slate combo I did before because I am always inclined to use something I haven't posted before.

Glitter Gal Silver/10 to Midnight w/ Orly striping and Posh topcoat, artificial light

I settled on Glitter Gal Silver and 10 to Midnight.   Silver is a silver linear holographic polish.  It's a bit weaker than Gosh Holographic and Nfu Oh 61, but I like having something a little more subtle to wear when I'm not trying to throw my crazy nails in people's faces.  I needed 3 coats for opacity purposes, but it dries really quickly and is easy formula-wise.  I used Silver all over the nail and then free-handed the top half of each nail with Glitter Gal's newest linear holo, 10 to Midnight.  10 to Midnight is a charcoal linear holo. 

Trying to get some rainbow!

Though you can't see it much in these photos (the sun is nowhere to be found), this bears a striking resemblance to OPI My Private Jet in all of its original formula glory.  The linear holo effect may even be stronger in 10 to Midnight.  For all of the people who aren't as luck as I am to have the original My Private Jet, you should DEFINITELY grab this from Llarowe.  She restocks frequently and is my absolute favorite polish vendor to buy from!  The formula on this was flawless as well, and it only took one layer to get solid color!

I wish I had left the striping out :( .  It ended up being an obnoxious disaster.  I think I need to replace my Orly nail art polishes.  I could not for the life of me get solid lines in one coat, which I never had issues with in the past with these exact nail art polishes.  I ended up having to go over my lines more than once which led to uneven lines.  To top it off my So Wet topcoat kept smudging the black even 20 minutes later.  It took a few rounds of fixing it to realize it was an issue with that particular topcoat.  I switched to Poshe and had no more issues with the black dragging.  I still love how this looks from afar, but up close.....meh. What are your favorite striping polishes?

Anyone else love Llarowe as much as I do??

Happy Weekend!
~Shbecky

This one time I tried an ombre mani

Hey everyone!  Sorry I didn't post last night :(  I have been feeling a little off since I got back, and to top it off most of my nails tore very low down from the salt water at the beach.  You also might notice that I have various cuts and sores on my poor swatching hand.  I was trying to break apart some polish bottle that were stuck to a shattered polish.  My Kleancolor chunky holos came with the green shattered.  Anyways I ended up with a couple deep cuts and have glass all in my hand still.  I am hoping I can still get some swatching in tomorrow, but my hand stings and isn't exactly loking pretty at the moment. 

Anyways, I've been seeing ombre manis everywhere these days.  My collection of holo polishes is growing pretty fast, so I figured I'd combine the two trends.  It was a pretty huge fail.  I need to pick 3 holo polishes in one brand and combine the polishes so that the finishes are consistent and the fade is correct.  For this I used Glitter Gal Red on my thumb and Glitter Gal Enchanted on my pointer finger.  Then I have China Glaze Don't Be A Square on my middle finger, China Glaze Rated Holographic on my ring finger , and one of my Golden Rose holos that has lost its number sticker on my pink.  It is still pretty, but I would like to do this the right way.  I want the finishes to match!  I also want to try when my nails aren't misshapen nubbins with awful cuts.  Again, I won't review the polishes here, because that would be a little boring for both me and you. 

Ombre holo mani

I'm going to work on getting you a winner for the Nfu Oh 61 Giveaway tomorrow!  Enjoy your Saturdays!

~Shbecky

Glitter Gal: Purple

Hey everyone!  Hope you all are enjoying your Friday afternoons.  I'm sorry that I didn't post yesterday, but I went straight to play kickball after work and never really had a chance.  I figured I should probably show you the holo that I resisted posting on Monday. We seem to be getting a nice little break from the clouds today, so this seems like a good time to show you this fun polish.  I need to reswatch and get this in the sunlight, but I didn't have time to yet.  I'm actually sitting on an Acela train riding back to Philly to see my family at the moment.  I love going home!  Anywho, this is Glitter Gal's Purple.  It's a 3 Free maroon/fuchsia holographic polish.  As usual I couldn't pick pictures and have included a bunch.  You really need to see the different looks you get from this polish.  As I've mentioned in my past Glitter Gal posts, this brand hails from Australia and has quite the price tag.  Both the polish and the shipping are expensive, but worth it IMO.  Also, you should be aware that these are smaller than the standard nail polish.  Oh well.

2 coats Purple, no top coat, artificial light

This beauty is a dream to apply and is the closest to a one-coater I've had for a holo polish.  Another bonus is that this dries super fast like most holo polishes. 

2 coats Purple, artificial light

2 coats Purple, w/Flash

Close up flash shot of Purple

I'm not sure what the light area is around the edges.  You couldn't see that IRL at all.  Overall this is a huge win.  I wish I had brought this with me now :(. 

Don''t forget to enter our Nfu Oh 61 Giveaway!  It's almost over!

~Shbecky

Glitter Gal: Black

Hey guys!  Just a quick morning post to start off Sunday right (aka w/ some nail polish).  I almost feel like a cheater showing you this now, as my boyfriend recently gave me my HUGEST lemming ever, My Private Jet in it's original holographic beauty.  Just before this magical event I snagged Glitter Gal's Holographic Black.  It's no MPJ but it certainly does a good job and is on the same level as Color Club Revvvolution.  There is just something so striking about a black/brown/charcoaly holographic polish.  These tend to have a linear holo, but it seems to be formed via scattered holo glitter.  I always think of polishes like Nubar Reclaim, GOSH Holographic, and the Nfu Oh Holos as true linear holographics.  You can't actually see any individual glitter there, just a rainbow reflection.  Here you see the glitter specks but they form a linear shaped holo still.  Maybe some of you know what I mean.

2 coats Black, no top coat, artificial light w/flash

I started you guys off with a blow up of my pinky finger (ignore that bizarre gap shape along the cuticle) using flash so you could see what I mean.  I seem to fail at capturing the dark holos without flash, but I never get to mess around in sunlight.  These are 3 Free and slightly smaller than the average .5 oz polishes.  As I mentioned in my last review they are pricey and come with some serious international shipping charges.  I had to give into this craving.  This one is worth it, as it covers smoothly in 2 coats and packs a lot of shine as a normal polish, especially for a holographic.  They normally lean more matte with the holo shining out rather than the actual polish's finish.

2 coats Black, no top coat, artificial light

MPJ will be up here soon, but I need to catch it in the daylight before I let it make it's appearance. 

2 coats Black, no top coat, artificial light w/ flash

Hopefully I'll get another post up tonight.  I have a bunch of swatches I want to work on later :)


Don't forget to enter our Nfu Oh 61 Giveaway!

~Shbecky

Glitter Gal: Blue Marine

Good morning fellow polish fiends!  I'm feeling almost completely human again.  It's a miracle!  Yesterday I finally got my Glitter Gal shipment all the way from Australia.  Let me tell you, shipping was NOT cheap.  I think it was in the $20 range (eek).  I looked everywhere for a US vendor, but no such luck.  Please let me know if you have a better way to get these!  Considering I spent more on these 3 polishes than I normally dare spend (give me a break - I REALLY wanted these for a long time), I set my bar high.  In some ways these lived up to my expectations, in others they came close (small bottle/high price/hard to get in the US).  I just can't justify the terribly expensive shipping on polishes that already aren't cheap.  This morning I am showing you Marine Blue.  The 3 I bought were all holographic polishes, and this happens to be a unique one in my collection.

2 coats Marine Blue, no top coat, artificial light

Glitter Gal polishes come in little cube shaped bottles with small black round caps.  The brushes are realllllllly short.  However, they are still easy to paint on.  These are smaller than most polishes, but I forget by how much.  These are also 3 Free as far as I can tell.  The formula is great on this one.  I'd venture that they are better than the OPI DS holographics in formula, and they are nothing like the chalky holos like Nfu Oh and GOSH.  They stay put, paint on like a creme would, and have a fast dry time.  Be careful though, because they will be smooth quickly but are still dentable for quite some time after.  Marine Blue is really just that, marine blue.  It reminds me of OPI DS Glamour but this is a true blue slightly linear holo and Glamour leans purple in comparison (see a brief review and image here).

Glitter Gal Marine Blue bottle

This color happened to be particularly camera shy, and I wish I had thought to grab a flash pic before swatching the other polishes.  Below was my best capture of the effect.  You can see where the holo effect is peaking out of the blue, but IRL it is way stronger.

2 coats Marine Blue, artificial light

Verdict?  This would have had to be a COMPLETE dud for me to get rid of it.  I really like it though.  I will do a side by side comparison with OPI DS Glamour soon! 

Don't forget to enter our Nfu Oh 61 Giveaway!  I am loving the favorite holo replies!

~Shbecky