VARNISHING ACT

Notes & iPhone photos every time I paint my nails. That's it.

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Before leaving Iceland, I painted my nails with Chanel's Black Satin because I wanted to be chic in Paris. But it half peeled off in 2 days. WTF, Chanel? Also, I needn't have bothered because Parisian chic means messy hair, short naked nails and no makeup. Then I borrowed my friend's bottle of Virgin Snow by Essie. It had been snowing in Stockholm the weeks leading up to our visit. But while we were there it just rained and the only virgin snow was my nail polish color. In Copenhagen I was ready for a brighter color and so I rocked my St. Petersburgundy, which ended up actually being quite patriotic. 🇩🇰

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Travel themed double post! Both polishes are by Rescue Beauty Lounge. The color in the top photo is C'est Tout, a fun greenish gray gunmetal with iridescent micro shimmer. I'll be in Paris in 2 weeks so it seemed appropriate. The second photo is of Better Than Boyfriend Jeans, which I chose because we're headed to Iceland even as we speak (seriously, I'm posting this from the Baltimore airport) and that color is the color of the water at the blue lagoon, of snow in the shade, of glaciers, of pale winter skies. I mean probably. I've never been to Iceland, I'll have to report back.

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Essie's Style Cartel. I just love this navy blue. Just look at it! Inky, night sky deliciousness. Good work, Essie.

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Butter London in Knees Up. I wear this red every Christmas. It's the perfect Christmas tree ornament red that I dreamed of when I was in high school. You know, back in the dark ages when nail polish was basically 3 shades of red, pink and nude. Thank God for Pulp Fiction + Chanel, and Hard Candy's pastels changing the course of nail polish history.

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Rescue Beauty Lounge's Oh Slap, Better Than Boyfriend Jeans, and Ah, Oui. ManiPure's I Do. I've been wanting to do this mani ever since Pantone announced their colors of the year for 2016, Rose Quartz and Serenity (a light blue), which are fairly close to Oh Slap and Ah, Oui. I used I Do and BTBJ to help it blend. This is my first time using each of those RBL colors and since it was a sponge mani, I will have to report on the formulas later.

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Rescue Beauty Lounge's Pardonne Moi. This blue blew my mind when I first got it. It has so much depth. It's stunning. It's true that it looks like a regular blue in some lights but when it's on, it's on. It does require 3 costs for full coverage. Worth it. I got a new phone while wearing this color so that last photo is taken with the 6s plus.

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Rescue Beauty Lounge in Morning Light. This light blue is my favorite shade of blue. And as a bonus, there's a ton of gold micro glitter. I was worried that shimmer wouldn't be visible on the nail but that was a dumb worry. It's very shimmery on the nail. Formula was great too!

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Julep in Sawyer. I thought this would be more maroonish red. But it has a lot of copper and maybe even the tiniest green flash. The formula is thick, you could probably get away with one coat. I did two. I think the color actually has a bit more depth with 2 coats. And because of how thick it is, I was worried about bubbles but it turned out nice.

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Essie's Yespadrilles. This is one of their matte cashmere colors and I bought this in a tiny 4-pack at Ulta, which apparently is the only place it was available. I'm calling this a temporary mani because I did it quick, no base coat, no top coat. Also, matte colors tend to chip so fast there's no point in expecting more. Sure enough, after taking this photo, going to get groceries, doing one Pilates class and taking a shower, 6 nails had chips. Anyway, it was still fun. You can see in the bottle that the polish has a tiny bit of aqua glitter. It's only apparent on the nail in the sun or with a topcoat. Here in these photos we have neither.

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Rescue Beauty Lounge in Gondoliere. This red tho. It's not as orange as my favorite red, RGB's Coral. It's also not as translucent and it's just as classic, bright and sexy. When RBL posted their sales and said they were closing their doors, I lost my mind a little and bought a zillion bottles. I also got a Julep/Maven box for my birthday. So my nail polish collection is a little OOC right now. I also want to say that even though I've only posted like twice in the past year, I take photos of my nails all the time and mentally write the posts. But being fun employed right now, I don't have excuses. Stay tuned for the next color.

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Essie Make Some Noise and Sally Hansen Gilty Party. The real hero here is Essie’s new gel topcoat, Gel Setter. I painted my nails before work on Monday morning. It’s Saturday morning and there’s not a chip, not even the usual cracks I get on my index fingernail. And it’s super shiny still.

What kind of crap topcoats were they selling us all those years!?

In full transparency my right thumbnail has a few chips but still. 6 days y'all.

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Sally Hansen Miracle Gel in B Girl. I normally never stray from my Essie Grow Stronger base coat and my Essie Good to Go top coat. But I've been intrigued by the non-shellac gel trends. (That's right, regular nail polish. Time to step your shine and durability game up.) I don't think it went on as smooth as my normal 4-coat process but it was easy, dried fast and lasted almost a week without chipping. The only weird thing is that the color faded on my toes after about 2 weeks. And it's winter? They definitely haven't been in the sun. I've never seen anything like it. Overall, I like the polish and if I see any colors I have to have in that line, I won't hesitate.

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Blazing by Formula X for Sephora. This was a Christmas present to me from a friend. A grown up holiday shimmer. I've never tried this brand before and I like the formula and the brush. It peeled off easier and faster than I would have liked but perfect for the holiday!

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Harlem Nocturne by Deborah Lippmann. This looks like a regular people metallic in the bottle but it's a fun chrome after it dries. Tips: skip the base coat. And! This chips, no, flakes, off within 24 hours or so. Still worth it because it's pretty. Also, yes, it's been forever since my last post. I probably won't make it up to you but I will be posting my nails on the regular again.

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I really wanted a cobalt but this one ain't it. See those bubbles? No way. I tried it with a base coat, without. Horrible, either way. Gave it to my sister.

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Mineral Fusion in Glint of Mint. And a green juice.

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Sally Hansen in A New Hue. And me threatening to burn the stuff in my coworkers' office. Because I couldn't move in until they moved their stuff out.