A public service announcement

Please note, the link below is not an affiliate link, and I am not being compensated for this post.

Apparently, China Glaze is bringing back their first holographic polishes, and right now, you can get them at Head2Toe Beauty for $4.75 each plus shipping!  Below are my swatches of 2NITE and BFF, which were the only ones I could grab the first time the collection was available.

Color Club What's Your Sign

purchased by me

Color Club added six new holos to the Halo Hues collection.  I only got this one, but it's gorgeous and I love it.  What's Your Sign is a soft grey base with pink shimmer and a really strong linear holographic effect.

In the sun:

Indoors with flash:

What's Your Sign and the rest of the Halo Hues collection are available at Head 2 Toe Beauty for $8.00/bottle plus shipping.

Pi nails!

purchased by me

I treated myself to a gorgeous and geeky Pi Infinity scarf from Think Geek.  Then when I was planning to wear it with a blue and white tweed jacket, white shirt and blue slacks, I decided I would do my nails to match.  I started with a base of Zoya Dream, then added a coat of Nubar White Polka Dot and free-handed the Pi symbold in Serum No5 Guiding Light.

Orly Infamous collection: Frenemy

purchased by me

Frenemy is a black jelly with holographic glitter.  It's easy to use and pretty, but Zoya did it three years ago with Storm.

Two coats with no top coat:

Orly Infamous collection: Gossip Girl

purchased by me

Gossip Girl is a barely pink-tinted base stuffed with gold and pink and holographic glitter.  It's a wonderful top coat, not too thick and drying quickly.  It does need a thick top coat so it doesn't feel textured.  I layered one coat over Front Page and loved the result.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 31, Inspired by nails you love

purchased by me

 Not only are my mermaid nails inspired by a look I love from The Crumpet, they were made possible by vinyls from a company I love, KB Shimmer!

I learned a lot about how to use the vinyl guides properly (by doing it wrong, lol) but overall I was pleased with this manicure and got a ton of compliments.  I used a base of Color Club Cherubic, Dandy Nails Queen of the Night, Literary Lacquer Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster and I Love Nail Polish A Fresh Evergreen.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 30, Inspired by a tutorial

purchased by me

Over the years, I have seen lots of precise and helpful tutorials on dotticures.  Sadly, I'm still not very good.  Here's my most recent effort, with Zoya Peyton dots over Milani Dolci.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 29, Inspired by the supernatural

purchased by me

I went a little bit sideways on my supernatural manicure*.  I couldn't decide between ghosts and seances and werewolves and vampires, so I did one thing they all have in common.  I used Zoya Storm and Serum No5 Guiding Light to depict the phases of the moon.

*I originally typed manitou--there's some supernatural for you, lol.

31 Day Nail Art Challenge: Day 19, Galaxies

purchased by me

My galaxy nails have a base of Zoya Dream, with swirls of Zoya Purity and Ulta silver holographic top coat.

Formula X for Sephora: The Two

purchased by me

On my birthday, feeling very sorry for myself because I'd walked into a doorframe the night before, I placed a rather extravagant Sephora order which included 8 Formula X polishes.  I have two of them today, sold as a set imaginatively titled "The Two".  The set was on sale for $5.00, so with tax I wound up paying less than $3 apiece.

I got what I paid for.  Sephora describes the polishes as holographic, but truly, the holo is so weak they come off as chromes with an almost satin matte finish. The colors are serviceable and the formula was a nice viscosity and opaque in two coats.

Voodoo is a blue-toned pink.

Juju is a medium light blue.

The Two is sold out at Sephora in this color combo, but there are still quite a few Formula X polishes available on the Sephora sale page.

Cirque Fascination Street

purchased by me

Blue Mondays aren't quite so blue when you're wearing a gorgeous indigo linear holo with hidden pink shimmer!

Fascination Street can be purchased at Cirque Colors for $15.00 + shipping.

KB Shimmer: Leaf of Faith

purchased by me

By now I'm sure everyone has seen KB Shimmer's Fall 2014 collection, including the beautiful Leaf of Faith.  But I just got my hands on it, and I wanted to show you how I wound up wearing it.  Leaf is a gorgeous red jelly filled with red, gold, orange and holographic glitter.  The glitter spread is good, and the polish is thick enough to hold all that goodness but not so thick it clumps.

Two coats, indoors with flash:

And the way I wore it, one coat of Leaf of Faith over one coat of Orly Rage:

I love the way the copper base shimmers and simmers just under the surface of the red jelly!

Whether you wear it alone or with shimmery underwear, you can find Leaf of Faith on the KB Shimmer website for $8.75 + shipping

Darling Diva Polish: Queen of the Night

purchased by me

Happy Blue Monday!  If you're feeling blue, I have a polish that will both express your mood and elevate it at the same time--Queen of the Night from Darling Diva.  It's a linear holographic navy blue with an exceptional formula that's smooth, well-behaved, opaque in two coats and dries shiny even before top coat.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

In the sun:

If you've been looking for a navy blue holo at a reasonable price, look no further, just get to Darling Diva and get Queen of the Night for $11.00 + shipping!

Darling Diva: The Alchemist

purchased by me

The Alchemist was my first purchase from Darling Diva, but it won't be my last.  I first saw this beauty on The Crumpet's nail blog and I swear violins were playing. :D  I've been trying to find a red holographic nail polish to love ever since Nubar Brilliant let me down, and finally, I have!

The Alchemist is a blue-toned red with a strong linear holo, and the formula is smooth, perfect and opaque in two coats.  This is love in a bottle, people.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

As you can see, it's still gorgeous in low lighting, and what are you waiting for?  Get thee to Darling Diva and buy a bottle for $11.00 plus shipping!

I Love Nail Polish: Homecoming

purchased by me

Homecoming is a blackened purple linear holo.  It's dark enough that in low light, it looks like black, but in brighter light you can see it's a deep purple.  The holo is not quite as bendy as Champagne Blush or Black Orchid, but the formula is great, and it was opaque in two coats at conversational distance.  The brighter light in my flash and sun swatches shows some bald spots I never saw on my nails.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

In the sun:

If you like dark, dark, darkest purple holo polish, get thee to ILNP and grab a bottle of Homecoming.

I Love Nail Polish: Champagne Blush

purchased by me

Champagne Blush is as good a name for this color as any other, because it's hard to pin down.  It's a blend of faded salmon pink and faded coppery gold, and the holo is fiercely bendy.  It's a very well-behaved polish as well, opaque in two coats that don't drip, pool, drag or bubble.

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

In the sun:

You can find Champagne Blush for $10 at the ILNP website.

I Love Nail Polish: Black Orchid

purchased by me

Part of the Fall 2014 collection from ILNP, Black Orchid is a deep, vampy burgundy with a gorgeous linear holographic finish.  It's opaque in two effortless coats, and there aren't enough words for how much I love this polish.  Black Orchid is even beautiful when the holo isn't flashing!

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

If you like your burgundies blackened and with holo, don't wait, get over to the ILNP website and grab Black Orchid before it's gone!

LeChat Pop of Vogue collection

purchased by me

Post Number One Thousand!  Woo!  The giveaway ends today, so you have until midnight EDT to enter. :)

I think we all deserve some fireworks, provided by LeChat.   Five of the six polishes in the Pop of Vogue collection are glitters in a clear base.  All six are shown in one coat over a base color.

Black Tie Affair is black, white and silver holographic glitter.

Golden Bliss is various shapes and sizes of gold glitter.

Neontopia is neon green, blue, orange and yellow glitter in different sizes.

Titanium is various shapes and sizes of silver glitter.

Violet Vixen is multiple sizes of purple and silver holographic glitter.

The odd duck in this collection is Style Envy, a green jelly base filled with blue and green glitter.

You can find the Pop of Vogue mini set at TransDesign or buy the full-size individual polishes at Head2Toe Beauty.

Nicole by OPI On A Gilt Trip and the final giveaway prize reveal!

purchased by me

My October Ipsy bag arrived on Tuesday, and while it was good enough that I'll at least keep the subscription through November, there was one item that really caught my eye.

On A Gilt Trip is a soft yellow gold, and while it looks like a foil in the bottle, it dries to a satin matte finish.  The formula is superb--smooth, well-behaved, opaque in two coats and quick-drying.  It's a lovely choice for subdued holiday bling.

Once I'd tried it, I loved On A Gilt Trip for itself, but when I saw it for the first time, all I could think of was how it would be the perfect backdrop for the other purchase I was excited about.

A little background here--I have MS.  It's in remission and under control, but if I don't hold things tightly, my fingers spasm and send stuff flying.  Forks, polish brushes, dotting tools, pens, you name it.  So nail art is never going to be my best skill, but I love it.  This week, I found a product that gives me a PERFECT leopard mani every time.

This is Spot Sign by KB Shimmer, and Christy has made at least one dream come true for me.  Spot Sign has black micro-glitter, black hexes, holographic sparkle and leopard spot-shaped black glitter in a clear base.  It absolutely requires fishing and dabbing because of the spot shapes, but look at the result and tell me it isn't worth it!  It also dries a bit 3-dimensional, but two coats of Seche Vite fixed that.

If you want your own bottle of spots, you can get one at KB Shimmer for $8.75, or enter my giveaway and win one!

InDecisiveLacquer: Denim

purchased by me

Denim is a gorgeous blue scattered holo.  The formula was smooth and well-behaved, very shiny without top coat, opaque in two coats and dried quickly.  It even looks like denim!

Indoors with flash:

Indoors without flash:

In the sun:

If you love scattered holo polishes, this is a don't miss selection!  Denim can be purchased at the InDecisiveLacquer Etsy shop, for $5.75 + shipping for a mini bottle or $9.50 + shipping for a regular size bottle.