Sparkly French Blue-ness

I'm working on a light box, as budget and time allow. And then I'll be like a REAL blogger. Me and Pinocchio, with our senses of inadequacy, make a great pair.

Anyway, I knew when I got Dandy Nails' Caught in the Crowd that I was in love and wanted to use it really soon, but I thought it needed to be over a deep blue for true perfection in manicuration. I hereby declare manicuration a word. Work with me. The deep blue came in the form of Finger Paints' Cerulean Seascape, which went on like a dream.

My original plan was to have "Caught in the Crowd" as a gradient going from bottom to top of the nail. It turned out to have a thicker base than I expected, and I didn't have sponges handy to do a gradient that way, so I ended up painting my thumbnails and then dabbing on french-ish tips on the rest of the nails. I really loved the effect.

A couple of things about Caught in the Crowd. It's got aqua and silver microglitter and small aqua hexes. It feels REALLY smooth to the touch, almost like a creme. I don't know how that was possible, but it was really lovely. I want more; it feels that good on the nail! Also, it wore like a champ. I painted my nails Friday night and took the pictures this afternoon. No chips, no tipwear, and I type for a living. No clean-up, either, and I know you can tell. I'll do better, I promise.

I'm trying to think of more ways to use Caught in the Crowd. And more ways to budget lots more Dandy Nails' polishes. Lovely.

Grab Bag Goodies!

I have a terrible time checking my mail -- I mostly have bills (that I already get and pay online), junk mail, and the ubiquitous political advertising that makes me like my chosen candidates a little less and hate the other fellas with the fire of 10,000 angry suns. And I voted like two weeks ago! Thank god the election is only a week away.

So...I get the mail every two weeks at best, every month or so more often. I signed up for MyGlam (now ipsy) and I love having a reason to check my mail once a month for that. I'm trying to branch out now, and having joined the Copious brigade, I have exciting stuff coming for not much money, every so often.

Anyway, I was super excited when Love For Lacquer offered five indie polishes for $25 a week or so ago, and was lucky enough to get in. She sent the five polishes above, which I poorly photographed under fluorescent lighting in my kitchen:

• 365 Days of Color - My Little Cuppycake (it looks exactly like angel food cake batter with confetti in it. My mom used to make one every few weeks and I'd sneak bits of it while she pretended not to notice.) I'm sure it'll find a home at some point, obviously if I attempt a cupcake mani, but I bet I'll find other places to use it.
• Dandy Nails - Caught in the Crowd (looks like a clear polish with aqua small hexes and maybe silver and copper tiny glitters). It totally caught my eye immediately, and I thought it was really pretty. I already know what I'm doing with that one, and you all will see it soon!
• Kawaii Nail Lacquer - Sparkler (a super cute clear lacquer with red, white, and blue tiny glitters, bigger red, white and blue hexes, and white bar glitter). I will definitely be using it in a patriotic-themed mani sometime next summer.
• Lacquer Convention - Galinda (a milky pink base with pale blue, holographic purple and pink multi-sized glitter). I think this might look really nice as a base to a jelly sandwich.
• Lacquer Convention - Snap, Crackle, Pop! (a clear lacquer with purple hexes, white squares in large and small sizes and fine holographic purple glitter) I really love the look of this one. I think it'd look lovely over a purple base or on top of white.

So my Halloween manicure will be coming tomorrow morning, but I was so excited to show off my haul! It's all lovely and I think I'll be able to put it all to good use. And see? My polish hobby *cough*addiction*cough* has me going to the mailbox more often (it's 3 blocks away! And I'm laaazy!) so my mail-lady won't have to bend or mutilate any more political advertising to fit it in around the bills and grocery circulars. It's a win-win!