Maybelline Matte Grey

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I have ano9ther Dollar Tree find to show you this morning. The upside is that it cost $1, the downside is that since it's old, it's chock full o' DBP. However, since it's just a once-in-a-while thing, I put it on. If something falls off as a result, it's my own fault.

I used two coats over a base with no top coat. This is one of Maybelline's Express Finish line, so it's quick dry and no top coat wasn't a hassle.

It's not as chalky matte as some of the new mattes, but I prefer this finish, I think.

That's it for now, Dear Reader. Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

Lacquered Up with Pink Hearts

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today I decided to do an early Valentine's Day mani.  I wanted to use Maybelline's Sweet Valentine, the polish with pink glitter and pink hearts that I recently showed you.  I chose Essie's Lacquered Up as the bright, true red to use as a base, and was pleased to find that with shorter nails, Lacquered Up is a two-coater.  I finished the Essie with a coat of Seche Vite, then waited 5-10 minuted to apply the hearts.

This is where the real work began - fishing those little hearts out of the fresh bottle of Sweet Valentine was no easy task, but I did it!  I then sealed the hearts down with another coat of Sweet Valentine, which also added more glitter, then added another coat of Seche Vite for shine.  If I have another break today, it's certainly not for lack of nail polish!  Here's what the end result looks like.

 

 

It's happy, it's cheery, it's Valentine's Day!  The down side to being in the midst of a divorce for Valentine's Day is that I don't get any presents, but the upside is that I get to have the joy of living alone, and I don't have to pick out any presents for anyone else either.  This year, I'll take that deal, and celebrate Valentine's Day with the rest of you until the 14th!

As a matter of fact, let's start celebrating now with a little present for you.  I just paused while I was writing this to create a new contest, another random drawing.  This one is for a new bottle of Essie's Cindy-rella, which was an Ulta exclusive a few years back.  I live near The Ulta That Time Forgot, and they still had it, so I got one for you.  Here's a picture of the bottle, and the pretty black label that lets us know it's full of chemically goodness.

I'll be taking entries for a week so that the winner will get it in time for Valentine's Day.  The drawing is open to all readers, your name will show as you enter it (so no need to enter your full name), and your email address will only be used to notify you that you've won.

That's all for now, Dear Reader!  Until tomorrow, love and nail polish to you!

Wet Velvet & Maybelline's Valentine's Day Pretties

Good morning, Dear Reader!

Today is a nervous day for me - it's the first court appearance for my divorce.  I decided I should do a mani that would make me really, really happy, and I had just the thing - China Glaze's Wet Velvet.  My friend AuntEmmy sent this to me a while back, and I've been saving it for just such an occasion.

I'd heard WV is a dupe for OPI's Real Teal, and in the bottle, that looked like it was true.  On the nail, however, WV has a slight blue flash to it that Real Teal does not.  It's a miniscule difference, but a difference nonetheless.  Here she is - it took four coats, as the polish had thinned with age, but the result is more than worth the effort.

 

 

On to the other pretties!  I very recently came across Maybelline's Valentine's Day display with three glitter top coats, and couldn't resist a sale price combined the the additional $1 off coupons attached to the display.  Yesterday, I saw bottle pictures of the OPI European exclusive offerings for Valentine's Day, and it looks like two of these, the pink and the red,  seem to be dupes to those.  They're close enough that I have no need for the OPIs.  Here are bottle pictures, with the text of their names across the front being my addition.

I used the clear one over Essie Mesmerized yesterday, and took a quick and dirty picture to show my message board what it looked like while we were talking about them.  I've never had the patience to arrange the hearts nicely - I'm lucky I have the patience to fish them out of the bottle!  For the first coat, I did go fishing, picking out five hearts per nail.  Then I added a second coat to seal on the hearts, just taking whatever landed on the brush.  The hearts stayed sealed on well - I didn't lose a single one, nor did I have troubles with them catching on anything.  Here's the quickie picture of Clearly in Love applied.

 

That's what I have for you for now, Dear Reader.  Until later, love and nail polish to you!

My Picks from Maybelline's Holiday Display

Good evening, Dear Reader!

Tonight I have for you my picks from Maybelline's Holiday display. There are a few more in the collection, but I didn't want them, so this is just a sample of what it has to offer.

The pictures are of two coats each over a base in sunlight.

Ruby Luster is a great red.

Amethyst Glimmer is a vampy creme without a hint of glimmer to it.

Turquoise Glimmer is a shimmery blue.

Jade Flash is a noteworthy green.

Special Sparkle is a glitter topcoat with red, green, and silver glitter, which I used over Jade Flash.

Those are my picks. Be on the lookout for them at your local drugstore!

Until tomorrow, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

Introducing the Fauxnad

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I've done today's NOTD, and I used my Fauxnad for it. It's not really named that - that's just what I call it. With my love of the Konad, I got Hot Topic's cheapo little nail stamper for one of the plates. It was about $13, but I had a $10 off coupon for it, so it was far less pricy than buying more Konad plates. In my head, it's always been the Fauxnad (I think Hot Topic calls it a "Nail Stamping Kit"), so that's what we'll call it here on The Nailphile. I didn't use the image I bought it for - there's a skull and crossbones image that would be perfect in black on my planned glow-in-the-dark white Halloween mani, which is why I got it. Instead, I just chose something to try it out.

It came with a metal scraper that I didn't work well with (I prefer the Konad plastic scraper), but the image and the stamper worked just as well. I also used Konad's polish on it, the silver. I haven't tried regular polish on either yet, but am sure that once I've truly mastered it that will be workable.

For the base, I used Maybelling Express Finish Purple Passion, then stamped my tips with a star pattern. Just to mix things up, I'll show you my right hand first today.





That's my NOTD, and I think that's all I have for you today, Dear Reader. Love and nail polish to you!