The Neverending Pile Challenge: Two teals

Happy weekend! This is my last Neverending Pile Challenge post for now. This has been a great challenge for me, just because I finally shortened my untrieds list (temporarily at least)! I'll have to keep making an effort to wear untrieds from now on!

This prompt is dupes: match an untried with a tried. Well, the polishes I picked looked pretty similar in the bottle, but turned out to be completely different on the nail. So these aren't really dupes at all, but they're pretty so I'm going to show them to you! I have OPI AmazON...AmazOFF on my index and ring finger, and Julep Lena on the others. They're both gorgeous teals with a little bit of shimmer.

As usual, my camera can't photograph teals, so this picture has been color-corrected. That's why it looks slightly weird.

I love both these shades, but I think the formula on the Julep was better (it's a one-coater!). Both of these will stain your cuticles, so be careful!

Total untrieds tried: 72 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Grandma nails

Hi folks! I hope those of you in the US had a safe and fun holiday weekend! It's very hot and humid here today, and we have no A/C, so I'm a little grumpy. The heat is also doing weird things to my bottle of Out the Door, so in case you're wondering why my mani looks a bit bumpy and bubbly...that's why.

Anyway, this is my last week doing the Neverending Pile Challenge! I can't believe I've kept it up for three months now! I think I only skipped two prompts. And I've tried a LOT of untried polish.

Today's prompt is your best granny color. What's more granny-like than dusty rose? I have two shades of dusty rose/pink that I thought would go well together: China Glaze Fifth Avenue and Julep Joy. I didn't have a lot of time (you'll see why very soon!) so I just did kind of a messy dotticure.

Despite its fuddy-duddyness, I actually really like this kind of color, since it's closer to a neutral than your average pink. And it looks way better on me than true pink does.

Total untrieds tried: 71 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Independence Day mani!

Happy 4th of July to my fellow USians! It's been raining nonstop today thanks to Hurricane Arthur, but we still had burgers and potato salad for dinner. Plus we could see some fireworks from our bedroom window last night!

My 4th of July mani also satisfies today's Neverending Pile Challenge theme, which is free polish (meaning a polish you got for free). I used China Glaze Man Hunt, which I got in a Secret Santa swap, as my base color, and made some faded-looking stripes using Zoya Carmen, Julep Harley and Sinful Colors Snow Me White. I was inspired by this beautiful mani by Manicurator!

Since the Manicurator post didn't have any directions on how to do this pattern, I had to work out my own method. I put down striping tape above where I wanted each stripe to go, then I sponged on each color using the edge of a triangular makeup sponge. I wanted the stripes to be crisp on top and fade away on the bottom. I really like this style, so I'll have to do it again sometime!

I hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend!


Total untrieds tried: 69 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: China Glaze in the Lime Light (Neon)

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Hey folks! It's time once again for the Neverending Pile Challenge! Actually, despite its name, the first round of the challenge does end in two weeks, and I think I'll bow out at that point. Doing so many challenges per week really clogs up my blogging schedule and I haven't done much nail art lately. But wow, have I tried a whole lot of untried polishes!

Today's theme is neon, perfect for summer! I'm not a huge neon nut because I have such pale skin that neon doesn't always look great on me. I definitely prefer cooler neons rather than pinks and yellows. So today I'm wearing China Glaze In the Lime Light (Neon), a neon green with aqua shimmer. I don't know what the story is behind the parenthetical in the name--I'm guessing there is/was also a non-neon version of this polish?


Anyway! As you can probably tell, my camera panicked a little bit with this polish! It's actually a bit darker than it appears here.

China Glaze In the Lime Light (Neon). Three coats with Out the Door topcoat.

I love this shade of green, but sadly the formula was no bueno. It was very sheer and streaky--even at three coats you can still see my nail line a bit. I also had some problems with bald spots. I suppose it could have been worse though. Like most neons, this polish dries matte, but I like it glossy better because it brings out the shimmer.


Total untrieds tried: 68 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Revlon Naughty

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Happy weekend! This weekend is special for us because tomorrow is our first anniversary. We're going out to eat a giant steak dinner, so I'll make sure to post pics on Instagram and make you all jealous!

Today's Neverending Pile theme is dirtiest-named polish. Sadly I don't have a whole lot of polish with dirty names; the worst I've got is Revlon Naughty. I think the name fits the polish pretty nicely!

Revlon Naughty. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

Naughty has a smoky brownish-grey base with a sexy purple glow. Definitely quite sultry! The formula was OK--too runny for my taste, streaky on the first coat but evened out on the second. I did get some minor bubbling too. In indoor lighting the shimmer gets hidden a bit.

What's YOUR dirtiest-named polish?

Total untrieds tried: 67 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: A England Princess Sabra

The product in this post was given to me as a gift. All opinions are my own.

Happy Hump Day! I've been crazy busy making nail polish lately, so expect to see lots of new stuff in the near future!

I did take some time to swatch an untried polish today. This Neverending Pile Challenge theme is gold. I don't wear much gold polish because it tends not to look good with my skintone. But I looooove today's polish because it's not a yellowy gold, and in fact has olive green undertones (plus scattered holo shimmer!). This is A England Princess Sabra!

A England Princess Sabra. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

No one makes scattered holos like A England! I think this one is so classy and elegant. The formula was perfectly easy to apply, with great consistency and no streaking.

What's your favorite A England polish?


Total untrieds tried: 66 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Brown

Happy Monday! Today's Neverending Pile Challenge theme is brown. I know not everyone is a fan of brown nail polish, but I love it. I think because browns have a nice earthy, natural quality that other neutrals don't.

Anyway, today I did a simple striping tape mani (pattern shamelessly stolen from Chalkboard Nails) using Julep Annemarie and Revlon French Roast. French Roast has beautiful multicolored flecks in it--I really should swatch it separately sometime!

P.S. This is my 250th post!!

Total untrieds tried: 65 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: The Lady Varnishes Lothlorien

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Happy Friday! I have another pretty swatch for you today from an indie I've been admiring for a long time. For today's Neverending Pile prompt, green, I wore The Lady Varnishes Lothlorien. I mean, Galadriel is one of my favorite characters from The Lord of the Rings, so I basically HAD to buy this polish, right?

(Apologies for the lobster hands!)

The Lady Varnishes Lothlorien. Three coats with no topcoat.

Lothlorien is a minty/seafoamy green matte polish with silver and gold microglitter and green shimmer. This color is exactly up my alley--very dreamy and magical, just like the elves! As you can see, it's fairly sheer, as my nail lines are still visible under three coats. The formula was thick but manageable, but not 100% self-leveling. The polish dried slightly gritty due to the tiny particles in it. Dry time was nice and fast, always great for a matte.

I wore this polish with a topcoat too, and I think I actually prefer it this way because it lets the shimmer really pop!

The Lady Varnishes Lothlorien. Three coats with Out the Door topcoat.

Lothlorien is available at The Lady Varnishes' Etsy shop ($11 for 15 ml)!


Total untrieds tried: 63 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Emily de Molly Turbulence

The product in this post was given to me as a gift. All opinions are my own.

Hey kids! Today's polish is a brand new one in my stash, but I just couldn't wait to wear it! The Neverending Pile Challenge theme for today is blue (my other favorite color), and I had to try the bottle of Emily de Molly Turbulence that I just received in a polish swap! I actually included this polish in my first edition of Gimme That Polish back in February (and look at that amazing swatch--can you blame me?) and my swap buddy very wisely bought it for me.

Turbulence is a deep blue jelly with loads of different glitters--diamonds, hexes and dots, blue, green, pink, and silver, lots of it holographic. Sadly I couldn't capture the true majesty of this polish with my crappy camera, so please go look at some better swatches as soon as you're done here!

Emily de Molly Turbulence. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

The formula was quite lovely--thick but not gummy, and I had no problem getting the largest glitters on my brush. I had to do some dabbing to get an even glitter distribution. I used one thinner coat with a thicker, glitter-packed coat on top.

Please visit Emily de Molly's shop to buy Turbulence (they ship within Australia) or find their list of international stockists!

Total untrieds tried: 62 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: KBShimmer Sugar Plum Faerie

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Good morning kiddies! I'm super excited because today's Neverending Pile Challenge prompt is my favorite color, PURPLE!! I had a bunch of fun untried purples to choose from; in the end I went for KBShimmer Sugar Plum Faerie. This color isn't showing up on their site, so I'm guessing it's been discontinued. That means I'm gonna be hoarding this bottle like crazy!

KBShimmer Sugar Plum Faerie. Three coats with Out the Door topcoat.

Sugar Plum Faerie is a red-toned purple jelly with various sizes of pink, purple and green glitter. This is, of course, right up my alley! It was thin for a jelly and very easy to apply, with only a little dabbing needed to keep the larger glitters in place. I used three coats for even coverage.

The girl I tutor likes to look at my nails, and I'm betting on some compliments with this mani! (Her final Latin exam is this week, so wish her luck!)


Total untrieds tried: 61 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Red tips

Hi! I hope all the dads and their families out there had a great weekend! We just got back from a short trip to visit my in-laws and celebrate my sister-in-law's engagement! I did this mani before we left but didn't have time to post it then.

The theme for Friday's Neverending Pile Challenge was red. Red is another of my not-so-favorite polish colors, so I decided to mix it up by pairing red with a nice complementary polish. I used Nina Candi Apple on my index and pinky and the French tips, and Happy Revolution Flip Flip Flipadelphia on the two middle fingers (this was a collaboration between Happy Hands and Polish Revolution and is currently for sale at Polish Revolution). I like the way the red glitter ties everything together!

I loved wearing this mani! There's a reason the French tip is such a classic look!

Total untrieds tried: 60 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Barry M Birthday

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Happy Hump Day! Today's Neverending Pile Challenge theme is pink. Now, if you've been reading my blog for a while, you might have noticed that I'm not really a pink person. Around age 14 I stopped liking pink and started wearing moodier colors, and I'm still basically the same way. So my collection of pink polish isn't huge. But I do have a couple fabulous untried pink glitter jellies, and here's one of them!

Barry M Birthday was made to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the UK drugstore Superdrug. It's pretty hard to get Barry M in the US thanks to the UK's draconian shipping rules, but luckily I got a British friend to smuggle a bottle out for me! It's a vivid pink jelly with a purple shimmer (less blue than it appears here) and white and silver glitter. Very in-your-face!

Barry M Birthday. Two coats with Out the Door topcoat.

This is my first time trying Barry M, but I already understand why they're so popular! This is an awesome summer polish. The formula was great too--thin and easily spreadable, without much need for dabbing to get the glitter in place.

I have no idea if this guy is still available, so you UK folks will have to check your local Superdrug!


Total untrieds tried: 58 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Two cremes with stamping decal

Hey, what's up? The theme for today's Neverending Pile Challenge is two cremes. I'm running short on untried cremes since I always use cremes for nail art, but I found two that went together perfectly for a nice summery mani!

I started with a base of China Glaze Be More Pacific (a new one!) and made a stamping decal with Revlon Stiletto (the black) and Revlon Optimistic for the accent nail. The cherry stamp comes from an untried plate, Winstonia W118. Last time I did a stamping decal, I put it on after the base color was dry; this time, I did it while it was still wet. It was easier to stick on, but I got hella bubbles under it. So I'm still not sure which way is best for decals!

For my other nails I tried out another untried stamping plate, Cheeky CH22, which is all French tip patterns. I'm not sure how to get the tip even when you can't see the stamp as you apply it...oh well. I really like the way my decal came out!

Total untrieds tried: 57 + chevron decals + 3 stamping plates


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Ugliest(?)

Hey all! What a lazy day we had today...it's starting to get hot and humid here, so all we felt like doing was sitting around and watching TV. Oh well!

I'm finally catching up with the Neverending Pile Challenge with Friday's prompt, which is ugliest. Obviously this is another totally subjective call on my part, but I did have a polish in mind from the start...I chose Julep Karen, which is a pale-but-not-pastel orange shimmer with gold flecks. The silver shimmer gives it a kind of unpleasant greyish cast in my opinion. I paired Karen with Julep Hannah, a greenish-tan creme that I actually really like, but I know some people would consider it "pretty-ugly". It's an ugly combination anyway!

I think this shade of orange might be the single most unflattering color on me EVER. If you're wondering why I own Karen, it came in a Julep mystery box, so I didn't actually choose to buy it!


Total untrieds tried: 55 + chevron decals + 1 stamping plate


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Prettiest(?) polishes

Hey folks! Today's prompt for the Neverending Pile Challenge is prettiest. Now, I don't know about you, but it's impossible for me to choose one "prettiest" polish in my collection. (Almost) all my polishes are pretty in their own way--a creme is pretty in a different way from a glitterbomb, you know? So instead of trying to come up with some kind of prettiness rubric, I just grabbed a couple untried polishes that jumped out at me from my stash list as being really interesting.

I ended up wearing Orly Fowl Play, a deep red-toned purple jelly with orange-yellow flakies, tiny blue glitter and silver flecks; and Picture Polish Paradise, a blue-green sparkly foil with purple and holographic rose glitter. Now, I have to apologize a bit for my photographs: Paradise is so shiny that it basically gave my camera a panic attack, so I could only manage these side-on shots. But I hope they convey how these polishes look! I got two indoor shots and a sunlight shot. (One day I'll get a real lightbox, I promise.)

Orly Fowl Play and Picture Polish Paradise. Three coats with Out the Door topcoat.

Did you notice that Paradise has a slight color shift too?


Before I go, I realized I forgot to post this picture yesterday--here's Trudy supervising my stash-photographing process!

Total untrieds tried: 53 + chevron decals + 1 stamping plate


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: What was I thinking?

Good morning! It's time once again for the Neverending Pile Challenge! Today's theme is a great one: what was I thinking buying this? I think every nail polish hoarder can relate to this one! Sometimes you just impulsively grab a bottle and then instantly regret it.

My "what was I thinking" polish is from the Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat collection of bar glitter toppers. All Yarned Up is a clear base with short yellow, peach and periwinkle bar glitters. Now, I hate bar glitter, and I'm not a huge fan of glitter toppers either, but for some reason I decided I needed a polish from this collection. OK, past me, that was a weird choice. Anyway, I did a glitter gradient using All Yarned Up over another untried, Zoya Willow.

OK, from an objective point of view I can see why this polish is cool...it looks like sprinkles or little feathers or something. It might come in handy if I do a cake or ice cream mani. (Which means I probably won't be able to part with it...I'm such a hoarder.) It's just not really my style though. Plus the little glitters kept poking me through the topcoat.

Are you a fan of the bar glitter trend?

Total untrieds tried: 51 + chevron decals + 1 stamping plate


 

The Neverending Pile Challenge: A thermal nail fail (plus a special announcement)

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Hi everyone! Before I get to the Neverending Pile Challenge, I want to tell you about a special event that is starting today. 

Last month, four-year-old Lily Quintus was killed in a tragic accident in Florida. Over fifty indie polish makers have teamed up to raise money for Lily's family and the other children affected.

Each of us has created a one-of-a-kind polish in Lily's memory, and they will be auctioned off in lots. All proceeds will be donated to the families. Here's my contribution:

The auction will take place on Facebook; it starts TODAY at noon and runs until Monday. Please join this group to participate. Thanks!


OK, on to the nail fail! The Neverending Pile Challenge prompt for today is solar/thermal. I have never actually bought a thermal polish before, because, first, the thermal pigment degrades after about a year, so your polish essentially has a shelf life; second, it just seems kind of gimmicky to me. Plus you need long nails for the effect to really work! Or not, as we shall see...

In one of the Pretty & Polished subscription boxes I got Good Vibrations, which is a thermal that changes from a dark magenta when cool to a brighter purple-pink when warm. It also has a scattered holo shimmer. I made sure to let my nails grow nice and long before I swatched this in order to get that French tip effect. But, as you can see, I was sorely disappointed.

Pretty & Polished Good Vibrations. Two(?) coats with Out the Door topcoat.

You can see my free edges through the polish--look how long they are! Yet I only got the "warm" shade. Very weird. I decided to resort to some trickery to show off the cool color. This is the best I could do:

You see the slight darkening at the tips? That's from holding my nails against an ice pack. (Cold water had no effect.)

OK, so maybe the polish itself is a dud? Nope, check it out on the swatch wheel:

It's quite happy to show off its cool shade here (I squeezed the tip with my fingers to show the warm color too). I have seen swatches of this on other people where the thermal effect works quite well. So I can only conclude that I'm just too hot for thermals (awww yeah!!).

In all other respects the formula was fine. If other thermals have worked for you, I imagine Good Vibrations will too. It can be purchased here ($9 for 15 ml).

Total untrieds tried: 49 + chevron decals + 1 stamping plate

The product in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

FingerFood's Theme Buffet / Neverending Pile Challenge: Snakeskin stamp from MoYou

Happy Memorial Day! Let's all take a minute today to wish for an end to all violence!

Today I combined two challenges again: FingerFood's Theme Buffet prompt nature and The Neverending Pile Challenge theme untried stamping plate. I bought MoYou's Pro Collection 03 plate a long time ago and somehow never used it! It's full of animal prints, seashells and other outdoorsy things.

I decided to use the snakeskin stamp alongside two untried polishes: Nails Inc. Bruton Mews (a very dark green creme) and Essie Penny Talk, a copper chrome. Penny Talk works great for stamping, as you can see!

I couldn't quite get the stamp to cover the length of my nails (partly due to my stamper--I don't have one of the super squishy ones) but I guess it looks a little grunge that way! I do think this stamp is totally badass. :-D

Total untrieds tried: 48 + chevron decals + 1 stamping plate

The Neverending Pile Challenge: Chevron decals from YouPolish

Some of the products in this post were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own.

Happy weekend! Do you have any fun plans for Memorial Day? I think we're just going to have burgers!

Today's prompt for the Neverending Pile Challenge is untried art supplies. I originally thought I would have to skip this one, since I don't have many nail art supplies except striping tape and stamps (that's for next time!), but luckily just last week I got an awesome set of nail decals from YouPolish to try out! Lauren sent me a whole bunch of different shapes to play with; today I'm just going to show you the chevrons, but I'll show off the others later!

The chevron decals come in two sizes and can either be used like tape (painted over and then removed) or trimmed and left on the nail. (All the decals at YouPolish come in a large range of colors in case you want to leave them on.) I decided to go with the first option.

I started with a base of Color Club Kismet (an untried!) and then Out the Door to make sure everything dried. Then I stuck on my chevron decals and painted two coats of Revlon Stormy Night on top. While that was still wet, I removed the chevrons to reveal the holo underneath! I waited a while before adding my final topcoat to avoid smudging the design.

The decals were very easy to use! They stick to the nail really well, so there's little risk of polish leaking in underneath them and making your design messy. (Since they are so sticky, you have to make sure your base color is absolutely dry before applying the decals, or they'll tear up the polish when you remove them.) They peeled up very nicely without smudging, as you can see! I definitely recommend using tweezers to manipulate them, especially the smaller ones--it's just a whole lot easier.

Here's the sheet of decals I received. (This is after I did my mani, but you get the idea.) It has 40 large decals and 63 small ones, enough for lots of manis! I believe you get this sheet if you order one of the sample packs of eight decal designs for $12.50. You can also order sheets of 100 large or small chevrons for $5.50. That sounds like a good deal to me!

If you love the chevron design but don't want to deal with cutting up bits of Scotch tape, these decals were made for you! YouPolish has TONS of other decal and stencil patterns too, so go check them out!

Total untrieds tried: 46 + chevron decals

Some of the products in this post were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own.

The Neverending Pile Challenge: matte gradients

Hey folks! Today's Neverending Pile Challenge prompt is gradient. Another great excuse to use multiple untried polishes! For this one I decided to go all neutral and all matte (I have a surprisingly large number of matte neutrals!). I think this is the first time I've done horizontal gradients. I made each nail carry on one of the colors from the previous nail so each blends into the next.

I'm not sure what this reminds me of--TV static maybe? (Do you guys remember static??) The polishes I used were Maybelline Mod Moss, Julep Noelle, Julep Nora and Julep Amber. Interestingly, I tried this mani with a topcoat and didn't like it--I think it accented the different colors and made the mani look kind of confused.


Total untrieds tried: 45