FingerFood's Theme Buffet / Neverending Pile Challenge: Indie holo fishtail

TGIF everyone! I'm knocking out two challenges at once again with today's mani. This week's FingerFood's Theme Buffet prompt is fishtail, and the Neverending Pile Challenge theme is indie. Sooo I did an indie fishtail!

I chose three scattered holographic polishes: Different Dimension Ditz (pink) and Homeboy (blue) and Ellagee Like a Sleepy Blue Ocean (teal). I wish I hadn't had to use two similar shades of blue, but I don't actually have many untried indies that would work here! (Someone buy me some more indies!)

This is my first attempt at a fishtail mani, and let me tell you, I have a newfound admiration for people who can do fishtails with perfectly straight and consistent lines...it's not easy!

I think for my first try, this turned out decent. From a distance it looks nice at least! The polish at my tips is so thick I don't think it's ever going to dry...

Total # untrieds tried: 14 

Swatch: Ellagee Ev'ryone Wishes for Silver and Gold

The product in this post was purchased with a blogger discount. All opinions are my own.

Happy Monday! Today I have my final Ellagee polish of the three I picked up recently. Ev'ryone Wishes for Silver and Gold is a pale yellow crelly with gold and silver holographic glitter dots and hexes in multiple sizes. You know how I love my milky glitters!

Ellagee Ev'ryone Wishes for Silver and Gold. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

This is so cute and delicate-looking! Even though it's inspired by the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV show, it's making me think of Easter.

The formula was about what I was expecting for such a glitter-heavy polish. It was thick and required a very light touch to prevent the larger glitters from sliding off the end of the nail. I did a lot of dabbing to make sure I got plenty of glitter on each nail. With topcoat the texture ended up being pretty smooth. Dry time was a little slow due to the thickness of the polish. Still, in the end it was worth it to me, because I really love this polish! [Update 1/30: We discovered that the polish I received came from a bad batch that was thickening up in the cold weather. The new batch is much easier to apply!]

Ev'ryone Wishes for Silver and Gold is available at ellagee.com ($9.50 for 15 ml). Ellagee polishes are 5-free!

The product in this post was purchased with a blogger discount. All opinions are my own.

Swatch: Ellagee Fame

The product in this post was purchased with a blogger discount. All opinions are my own.

Today I have for you the second of three Ellagee polishes that I bought recently. Fame is a metallic multichrome that shifts from purple to copper to gold and even a little green. It also has lots of silver and copper sparks. You know I love my multichrome polishes, so let's jump in!

I started with two coats of Ellagee's Grip basecoat, since, as we discovered yesterday, one coat wasn't quite enough to fill all my ridges. This time I think my nails came out really smooth!

Now here's a shot of the "base" color of Fame, a silvery purple with hints of copper.

Ellagee Fame. Two coats with two coats Ellagee Grip basecoat. Out the Door topcoat.

Instead of fiddling with angles and lighting to capture the color shift, I decided to try the hand-in-water trick. It took me several shots to get it right, but I think I captured the shift pretty well! (And look how pale I am, geez...)

"Fame" is definitely a perfect name for this polish. It has a very high-fashion, rich look with a bit of a sinister side!

The formula was just about the right thickness for me, although it didn't want to self-level, so I had to manipulate it a bit. I did get slightly visible brushstrokes on some nails. Two coats was just barely opaque. (I wonder how this would look layered over black?) Dry time was good. [Update 1/30: We discovered that the polish I received came from a bad batch that was thickening up in the cold weather. The new batch is much easier to apply!]

Fame is available at ellagee.com ($11 for 15 ml). Grip basecoat is $6.50 for 15 ml. Check out the company's Facebook page too! Ellagee polishes are 5-free!

 The product in this post was purchased with a blogger discount. All opinions are my own.

Swatch: Ellagee It's a Gas Gas Gas! and Grip basecoat

The products in this post were purchased with a blogger discount. All opinions are my own.

I have three lovely indie polishes from Ellagee to review for you! Today I'm wearing It's a Gas Gas Gas!, which is a muted fuchsia with lots of holographic shimmer and scattered holo microglitter. Laura also kindly sent me a bottle of Grip, a ridge-filling basecoat that's meant to be great under holos. I have pretty ridged nails, so I gave it a try!

I first applied one coat of Grip. It's very thick but spreads easily and dries quickly. Its formula seemed very similar to Gelous actually. It did smooth out most of my ridges, but not completely (you can see some on my ring finger below). Ellagee recommends using two coats of Grip for deep ridges, so I'll try that tomorrow!

Now here's It's a Gas Gas Gas!, first indoors and then in direct sunlight. Look at that shimmer!!

Ellagee It's a Gas Gas Gas! One coat over Ellagee Grip. Out the Door topcoat.

I'm just drooling over this polish. The color is beautiful, and the holo effect is soft and makes the polish look very refined. It looks pretty close to A England Briar Rose, but a little cheaper and easier for those of us in the US to get our hands on.

Now the downside to It's a Gas Gas Gas! was the formula: it was too thick for my taste. Once on the nail, it sat in a glob and refused to level out. I had to go over each nail several times to get everything even and fill in all the empty spots. I ended up with some visible brushstrokes. The holo glitter was also partly obscured by the thick formula (those little dots that look like bubbles in the first picture are actually glitter).  [Update 1/30: We discovered that the polish I received came from a bad batch that was thickening up in the cold weather. The new batch is much easier to apply!]

That said, I think a few drops of polish thinner would solve all these problems. So if you like the color and own some thinner, don't be afraid to buy It's a Gas Gas Gas!. I'm definitely going to be wearing it again!

It's a Gas Gas Gas! and Grip are available at ellagee.com (It's a Gas Gas Gas! is $9.75 for 15 ml; Grip is $6.50 for 15 ml). Check out the company's Facebook page too! Ellagee polishes are 5-free!

The products in this post were purchased with a blogger discount. All opinions are my own.