Dots I Wish Were Polka

I made a selfie of one-sized, white glitter.  Hexes, although from a distance they can pass for circles.  I think I added too MUCH glitter, as it comes off quite densely from the brush onto the nail. I think it looks better when there is not as much glitter on a nail.

I also tried something that's quite common for manicures, but which is also a first for me: a duotone nail--half hot pink, half red.  I really like the way it looks under the selfie:

I'm going to have to do the duotone thing again; I really like it!

This manicure was inspired the OPI polish, Minnie Style.  It's a glitter topcoat of equally sized red, white, and pink glitter.  Although I have red, white, and pink glitter, I decided to do white glitter only.   Of course, when brushing glitter "dots" on your nail, you get random, uneven placement, which I don't find unappealing.  It's just that the dots on Minnie's dress are polka dots--evenly spaced--and the dots in my selfie can't make polka dots.

Still, I love this look so much!

Pink and Blue Mani

I like this look...it's a pink and blue mani with an accent nail.  The topper is a selfie of course, one of my favorites, whose pictures do NOT do it justice.  It's a fun, confetti look.  One of these days when I'm not using an iPhone as a camera, I'll take a GOOD picture of this topcoat so I can show it off.  I use it so much that I guess it deserves better representation!

This is with and without flash.  The blue is one of my Disco Brites (one of my favorite collections of all time) and the pink, I'm pretty sure, is Ruby Kisses Pink Flamingo.

Yeah, Okay, No

Sometimes ideas seem okay while they're forming in my mind, or even once I write them down on paper.  But once I mix them up and swatch them the outcome isn't always desirable.  Take one of my latest selfies, for example (which I made with a couple of yesterday's glitters).  It looked nice in the bottle, but on my nails, just...no.  Maybe it's the polish color underneath (China Glaze C-C-Courage) that doesn't quite jive well with the glitter?

The thing is, after not liking it on my nails, I swatched it on a color wheel, over a few other colors, and it looked better.  The thing is, I'm not in a hurry to reapply it.  LOL.  Sometimes this happens, though.  I'm so happy to get a new shipment of glitter that I end up being in a hurry to use it, and I toss it into the mix all willy nilly.  I guess I've got to be more patient. 

Mani Mail

Today I received more glitter!  A glitter day is always great.  This order was mostly shapes, in such pretty colors and finishes, though.

This is my third day in a row of receiving manicure mail, but this is a trend with me.  There will usually be a period of time--say a week or so--in which I order and receive a lot of goodies, but weeks if not months will go by when I don't order anything at all.  Next on my radar is more base, since I only ordered a small amount, but I think I'm good for awhile.

Still, it sure is nice to open up a box of such loveliness!

Mani Mail: New Bottles

New bottles arrived today!

I ordered these "square" bottles, having previously only ordered the round ones from them, and I will review them here when I get a chance (or at least show bottles when filled):

Of course, they did come with caps and brushes.

I've been using the same bottles for a long time.

I recently ordered new bottles from a different supplier as well--in three different shapes and sizes.

The ones show above are smaller than the average-sized half-ounce nail polish bottle.  I don't really mind.  These are going to be a lot of fun to play with!

Mani Mail

I received a package today, consisting of [more] glamour base and these cute new bottles that I've been seeing all over Etsy.  Because there was only a limited amount of them, I bought maybe thirty or forty of two different kinds.  Also available from the supplier were smaller bottles with a cute pink cap, so I got a couple dozen of those as well.

I'm still working my way through the round bottles that I bought last year (and I have square bottles coming from a supplier soon), and I haven't even made a dent in the mini bottles I previously bought last year, but you can really never have too many bottles.

I've been pretty good about inventorying my glitters, which I've listed in a very detailed spreadsheet.  Now I need to do the same to my bottles.

I will review these bottles once I've used them.  They look very pretty though; the pink and white caps are a nice change from the black caps I've been using since I started making selfies.

Today's Mani

Today's mani: an unknown Color Club over a matte and satin glitter selfie:

I used a combination of bold and pastel glitters for this one, with a few flower shapes added to the mix.  This one got a lot of compliments, and application is a breeze; I didn't really have to "fish" out the flowers.

A suggestion about making glittery selfies: add a lot of glitter to the bottle, stirring as you go along.  And when you think you've added enough, add more.  And then when you think you've added too much, add more.

You'll thank yourself when you're trying to apply it.

This isn't a hard and fast rule, only a suggestion.  At times you'll want the glitter less densely packed in the polish, but for all intents and purposes, the more glitter the polish contains the better!