P: Peaceful Opposition, Orly

Hey there! Quick ABC challenge post today. Here is Peaceful Opposition, by Orly, from the 2013 Hope and Freedom collection.  A sheer white polish with silver hex and square glitters.  The formula doesn't level out very well so it looks a bit streaky but that's the norm for these milky sheers. I just did one coat under a top coat. Super fast mani with no cuticle clean up. Gotta love that.

So that is it for today. Check out the other ladies below!

Tony Moly GS10 Pinky Star

I've got another cutesy polish to show you from Tony Moly, called Pinky Star!

Pinky Star is sheer; this is one coat of Pinky Star layered over one coat of China Glaze's Innocence.

Pinky star looks more pink than it really is because of Innocence.  It is actually kind of a peachy sheer.  The glitter color combo is quite unique, purple, yellow and red with small silver and pink glitters.  Sometimes you catch a small flash of iridescence.  Subtle and soft, perfect for work.  I wore this for three days and no one said a word to me.  (A good thing at work.)  It just kind of blended in with my skin tone and the glitters were for my own amusement. 

Pinky Star would be great for a glitter sandwich.  Although I like looking at glitter sandwich manicures, when it comes time for me to do one, I feel sad covering up glitter. :(

I got Tony Moly on eBay from a seller named "myfairlady2007", this time it took 6 business days to get here (US) from Hong Kong.  $7.95 with free shipping.  Not too shabby.

I did a post on another Tony Moly, Shooting Star, click here, in case you missed it.

Deborah Lippmann - Baby Love

Quick post today.  I am having a demanding couple of weeks...  This week's work mani is Lippmann's baby love, a sheer french manicure pink.  Neutral and clean.  This is three coats.

Left to right: hydrating base coat, baby love, on a clear day top coat, CG FF top coat.

This came from the Lippmann's Start Me Up, Nail Treatment set.  I haven't tested the whole kit yet, so I have to do a full review later.  It comes with a nail file, cuticle remover, primer, cuticle oil, base coat, top coat and baby love. 

The hydrating base coat goes on clear and shiny, dries fast, seems like a regular base coat to me.  It does have some safflower seed oil and Kukul nut oil in it though, so that might help moisturize the nail beds. 

Baby love is quite sheer and I use three coats to cover my slightly yellow tips, I probably would have been okay with two coats.  The brush is pretty thick and works well. 

On a Clear Day top coat... This top coat is SLOW drying, 5 minutes dry to touch.  This is unacceptable to me considering there are several fast drying top coats out there.  Plus on my right hand while waiting to dry, I banged into something and smudged three fingers and some lint flew into the ring finger which I could not remove and so, is trapped in the paint.  Not good.  Long dry time equals big room for error.  Plus it was not a good smudge fixer.  I didn't bother to wait and see how long it would completely dry.  I put one coat of China Glaze's fast forward (CGFF) top coat and all was well.  CGFF dries fast, one minute to touch, and dries hard and super glossy.  (On a clear day was glossy too.)  CGFF is also a really good smudge fixer and great leveler for glitters. 

All of the nail treatments in this kit are 0.3 oz or 9 ml, and is $40 at Neiman's.  This probably would make a great travel kit.  Have you ever travelled with nail polish before?  What do you do with your nails when you go out of town?

China Glaze - Moonlight

Here is this week's simple and clean work mani.  CG's Moonlight a medium sheer milky white polish.  I wear Orly's Sheer Beauty, from time to time, which is very similar to this polish but it is more sheer than Moonlight.  Easy to apply, excellent smooth formula.

Two coats.

I did the accent finger with Ulta's glitter top coat.
A subtle way to sneak some glitter into my work day... ssshh.

Moonlight might be more sheer without Orly's nail armor, underneath. 



What I used.

Unlike hklinda, at the Lacquer Room who likes to wear her polish with out "undies" sometimes. I must be the opposite, I wear thick, full coverage grandma "undies" - Orly's Nail Armor.  Orly recommends two coats of nail armor, which has silk fibers in it and also functions as a ridge filler.   I don't have any ridges but right now my thumb nail has a big crack in it, below the nail line, so I'm using Nail Armor.  I don't want to deal with tea bags or glue or whatever else is used to patch nails, and so far, it's been working out well. 

Yes, I found Ulta's glitter top coat in the clearance bin, when I got to the register, the cashier rang it up for 49 cents!  SCORE!  It goes on really smooth, you don't need to add another top coat to cover the glitter. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Deborah Lippmann - Milkshake

Go to work mani!  My husband said "Wow, your nails look clean!"  Who can argue with clean?  I do have a "big gurl" job that requires conservative, neutral nails.....I know, it can be boring, or refreshing.  Speaking of my "big gurl" job, the environment is a dearth of beauty, DEARTH!, probably why I have grown to love nail polish.  So I have several neutrals that I reach for when I need a conservative mani.  I really like Orly's Sheer Beauty and China Glaze's Innocence, both along the same lines as Deborah Lippmann's Milkshake (DLMS).  All three are sheer milky polishes.

DLMS looks like vanilla soy milk and has a certain warmth to it.  However, I don't think the formula is the best.   I've worn this color three occasions and it's a bit streaky, it doesn't correct itself.  Meaning, I don't think it has the best cohesive properties.  Am I making any sense?  Even China Glaze's fast forward top coat doesn't correct the streaks, which is one of the main reasons it is my go to top coat. DLMS might be okay with 3 or more coats, but really, I can't deal with polish that is that thick, it doesn't dry fast enough and I inevitably just end up denting my nails and they look horrible.  In the last photo, the streaks are really apparent.  Not good for premium polish.



I love the shape of DL's bottles. 




Camera lamp - here's where you can really see the streaks.  Impromptu photo with ibuprofen bottle.

DLMS is part of the fashoinista set, three polishes, Envy Me, Sweet Spot and Milkshake, $40 at Neiman Marcus. I know the price is a bit steep.  A gift from my husband.  How do you stop your husband from buying you expensive gifts?  You don't!

I used one coat of DL's base coat, 2 coats of DLMS, and one coat China Glaze FF topcoat.

On a redeeming note, DLMS, gives your nails a clean and refined look and no one really noticed the streaks except for me.  Plus DL is cruelty free and big 3 free.

Thanks for stopping by!