Neon and Gold Summer mani

Recently, I was at a store and received a compliment on my nails.  Random, but that inspired me to do a little more.  I have been kind of in a rut lately (AKA busy), and I had been neglecting my nails a bit.  I was wearing the yellow-peach mani and a sales associate at a beauty supply said "wow those look so good", and I told her I did them myself.  She said "can I have your card?".  I felt super flattered, as I have gotten compliments before, but never did people thought I was a nail tech.  It's funny how something so simple can brighten your day/week.  I went home and took them off and thought, hey these are really long, I bet I can do some artsy stuff, plus I have time, so why not.

Now for those of you who are new to the nail polish world, I will to tell you a little story.  Once upon a time there was a store called American Apparel (AA), it was back when unicorns were not even famous, yet this store had the same rainbows and cupcakes sort of vibe.  Their clothes was a bit over the top for me --think onesies and furry stuff-- but their polishes, oh my.  They were, and are up to date, my second favorite neons (Dare to Wear are my favorite).  The polishes were awesome and so cheap.  I acquired a few, and later sold or gave them away, except for the 4 neons I liked.  The happily ever after of this story is that the founder of AA was held accountable for what he did, and I believe this was one of the very early cases of the #metoo movement.

This mani was inspired solely by the shape of the gold stickers and by the sunny days in my city; but also, by those brave girls that spoke up!  What I like about wild nails like these is that they are girly, and they don't really ask for a men's opinion.  I feel like these long pointy nails with negative space theme are not only artsy, but daring.  They are just how I feel.  Not sure if men read this blog or not, but if you do, I just want to let you know that we do our nails for ourselves, and we don't really care about your opinion on them.  Recently, I saw a post on instagram about pointy nails (this one, gross), and I got so triggered.  Meh, such is life (((2018 people!)))... anyway, this rant is over.  Enjoy the pics.

Layering Order:
Presto Basecoat
Led 5-45 Lamp
Kokoist Excel Builder
Led 5-45 Lamp
2 coats American Apparel Neon Coral (pinky only)
2 coats American Apparel Neon Pink (ring only)
2 coats American Apparel Neon Yellow (middle only)
2 coats Cosmetic Arts Frenzy (index only)
2 coats Super Black Lacquers Bloom (thumb only)
Clou Gold Triangle Stickers
Poshe basecoat
Seche Vite topcoat

Where to buy in the US:
http://www.kokoistusa.com/product-page/excel-builder-20g
https://superblacklacquers.com/
American Apparel no longer sells nail polish, they sell clothes online, but a judge determined they could not have any stores in the US after they filed for bankruptcy
Cosmetic Arts is a discontinued polish, I believe there is a Color Club dupe out there (Pucci-licious?)
The stickers are from Daily Charme https://dailycharme.com/collections/stickers

If you find something wrong with this post, please let me know, broken links, type-os, different opinions, etc.

These items were purchased by me or sent to me by a friend.  The above are not affiliated links.

Vetro B072 Violet, Dare To Wear Mystique, and Dare To Wear Gemini

I wish I could say I have the Winter blues, to go with this post of blue polishes, but I really don't.  I love this weather (as long as I am indoors for most of the day) and I love not having to wear a sweater to sleep.

I will start with the weird looking indigo.  This was leaning a bit more towards purple in real life.  It was intentionally applied as a jelly at 1 coat.  It did not look patchy at all in real life, it looked great.  I stumbled upon this Japanese brand, and now I want more.  This is a really nice gel polish that feels luxurious for some reason.  The formula and color payoff are amazing.  The self-leveling, and durability were better than expected.  This color is stunning in real life.

Then, let's do a little throwback to when my nails were short and my cuticles were dry from last Winter.  I did two coats of this duochrome from Dare to Wear called Mystique, but I could have gotten away with one.  This color is so nice, and not streaky in real life.  Sometimes my camera picks up way too much detail.  The formula was on the thick side, but the color shift was on point.

Lastly, the blue holo from the Spectra collection.  I think this is supposed to be a dupe for OPI DS Glamour.  Wow this color was really flattering on me.  I thought it was going to be another medium blue holo, but it was exactly what I needed to camouflage my transition shape into almond nails.  I loved the formula and the holo effect.  I have a few others from the collection and they are all great.  Definitely worth checking out.

Layering Order:
Presto basecoat
1 coat Vetro B072 Violet
CND Brisa Lite topcoat

Layering Order:
Gucci basecoat
2 coats Dare To Wear Mystique
Seche Vite topcoat

Layering Order:
Gucci basecoat
2 coats Dare To Wear Gemini
Seche Vite topcoat

Where to buy in the US:
http://www.vetro-us.com/
https://www.lechatnails.com/

If you find something wrong with this post, please let me know, broken links, type-os, different opinions, etc.

These items were purchased by me or sent to me by a friend.  The above are not affiliated links.

Nfu Oh JS09 & JS19

This is a little layering experiment I did.  I just wanted to celebrate Summer with a girly mani,  These are my natural nails; to be honest they are a bit high maintenance and hard to keep up, but so worth it.  I am currently taking biotin and eating healthy, and just being patient with them.  The kokoist gel helps tremendously too (reviewed here).

Layering Order:
Presto Basecoat
Led 5-45 Lamp
Kokoist Excel Builder
Led 5-45 Lamp
3 coats Nfu Oh JS09 (pinky and middle base only)
1 coat Nfu Oh JS19 + 1 coat Nfu Oh JS09 + 1 coat Nfu Oh JS19 (ring and index)
3 coats Nfu Oh JS19 (middle tip only)
1 coat Maybelline Colorama 35
1 coat EB nuru-28
1 coat Poshe basecoat
1 coat Maybelline Colorama 35
Seche Vive Topcoat

Where to buy in the US:
http://www.kokoistusa.com/product-page/excel-builder-20g
https://www.fabuloustreet.com/
Coloramas are discontinued
EB (Eternal Beauty by Dear Laura) is a Japanese polish.

If you find something wrong with this post, please let me know, broken links, type-os, different opinions, etc.

These items were purchased by me or sent to me by a friend.  The above are not affiliated links.