Lotus

Zoya Lotus is a slightly muddy purple with a gold shimmer.  This is two coats of colour topped with two coats of Zoya Chloe, a gold/green flakie in a sheer pink base.

OPI Matte Nail Envy was used as a base coat, and the whole thing was topped with Seche Vite which, once again, caused noticeable shrinkage in the colour.

The daily biotin tablet and zinc tablet I've been taken combined with the Nail Envy is starting to have a noticeable difference in the amount of splitting and breakage I've been cursed with since my ill-conceived adventures in Shellac.  Huzzah!

Fiddlesticks

Butter London Fiddlesticks is a bright, bold magenta glitter which looks fantastic in the bottle but, sadly,  didn't live up to my expectations on the nail.  The colour itself is a knockout but the glitter coverage is not as dense as I'd like.  I used two coats and applied it in dim lighting conditions so I'll definitely try three coats next time.

The colour was applied over two coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy and finished with two coats of Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat.

All Tied Up

Essie All Tied Up is a muted brownish pink with a very subtle gold shimmer.  It's a nice, work-friendly colour which goes on smoothly with Essie's small brush.  Like a lot of Essie's polishes, this one dries a couple of shades darker than the polish in the bottle.

I've used two coats of colour over two coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy and topped the whole shebang with Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat.

Cinderella

Cinderella is a soft eggshell blue with a subtle copper shimmer from Sinful Colors. It's a fairly sheer formulation that requires multiple coats if you prefer an opaque finish.

This is three coats of Cinderella over two coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy and finished with one coat of Seche Vite.

I had picked up a bottle of Nail It! Stars on impulse yesterday while I was killing time window shopping and I used it to jazz up my ring fingers. Stars, as you'd expect, is star shaped holo glitter in a clear top coat. Application, also as you'd expect, involves fishing out individual bits and trying to place them strategically and individually.

I Saw... U Saw... We Saw... Warsaw

I'm still using a double coat of OPI Matte Nail Envy as a base coat but, even so, I had to trim my nails down again this morning to get rid of some ragged, peeling tips.  I will never get Shellac again, I swear.

Anyway, this is two coats of OPI I Saw... U Saw... We Saw... Warsaw, a lovely vampy inky teal which ticks all my boxes.  The polish goes on smooth, coverage is excellent, it's opaque in two coats, and the colour is gorgeous.  Pity about the name but then you can't have everything.  These photos, unfortunately, obliterate the teal and make it seem as though the polish is more of a clear blue than it is in the flesh.

This was glossy enough on its own but I cannot abide waiting around for nail polish to dry so I topped it off with a quick dry top coat, Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Anti-Chip Topcoat.  This used to be my go to top coat back in the day and I still like the finish but it tends to get gluggy quickly in the bottle.

Wool Knot

I'm such a sucker for textured polish.  Glitter, liquid sand, matte, beads, flocking, whatever it is you can count me in!  Right up until I try it, that is. That's when I immediately start to hate it.

So this is two coats of Sally Hanson Fuzzy Coat in Wool Knot over two coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy and finished with a top coat of Seche Vite.

In the bottle this looks like wild caught Muppet pelt in polish form. Unfortunately, it's gluggy and hard to work with, doesn't cover evenly and leaves bald spots. And who wants a Muppet with bald spots?

Candy Sprinkles

Two coats of LA Colors Color Craze Candy Sprinkles, the girliest pink creme that ever there was, with multi- sized, multicoloured glitter. The green, blue, hot pink, yellow and silver glitter comes in three sizes, all of which are quite small and easy to apply.  I threw on a top coat of Seche Vite to keep everything smooth.

This mani makes me think of cupcakes with pink icing and hundreds &  thousands. It's a lot of fun but a little too girly for me.

I Don't Give a Rotterdam

This is three coats of OPI I Don't Give a Rotterdam, a beautiful mid-grey with a slight bluish undertone and a gorgeously subtle shimmer. Seche Vite top coat.

I'm using two coats of OPI Nail Envy Matte as a base coat while I try to rehabilitate my poor nails after a Shellac manicure 6 months ago turned them into peeling, breaking stubs.  Lesson learned!

Seche Vite Disaster

Two coats of OPI Matte Nail Envy, two coats of OPI I Don't Give a Rotterdam, one coat of Seche Vite, and then... disaster! I've had shrinkage before with SV but never quite so catastrophic as this.

The thing is, the rest of the manicure is fine. Nine perfect nails and one embarrassing fiasco. The only difference between them is the other nine got three coats of colour and the failure only got two coats. This means that this poor double-coated loser here had been drying nicely while I added an extra coat to all his neighbours.

Could the dry polish be the culprit? SV is specifically designed to be painted on wet nails after all.

Do You Wanna See My... Peacock?

Ooh, primping and strutting! This is one coat of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue It with two coats of Picture Polish  Do You Wanna See My... Peacock over the top - a fine bottle green glitter in a fairly sheer navy base.

I topped the whole thing off with a Revlon Quick Dry Topcoat, as usual, but the result wasn't as smooth and glossy as I like so I finished up with one coat of Sally Hansen No Chip Acrylic Top Coat.