METAMORPHOSIS

Although my computer is still in the shop, I have figured out a way to continue to post over spring break. Right now I am requisitioning my friends computer for a monster post, and over break I will steal my amazing boyfriend’s (who is coming home to SF to meet my parents! So so so so so so exciting! And nerve-wracking.) computer.
The other morning I did China Glaze “Sunset Sail” from the Anchor’s Away Collection. I tried really hard to convince myself that I loved it, but it really looked like I had slightly sparkly flesh colored band aids for fingers, as you can see here:

SO… I did what any self respecting nail polish blogger who is also a stingy/broke college student and doesn’t want to waste nail polish and has to get to class in 10 minutes would do… I mattified it! And golly gee I liked it:

Matte just reads spring to me. Right now, as I’m typing I have “Sea Spray” from the same collection mattified on my nails, and its so calm and springy. While I was trying to explain this to my roommate, I struck upon the idea that flower petals are matte! So are eggs! Like robins eggs, which for me are a constant symbol of spring. But then my colorblind boyfriend told me that they were freaking him out because he couldn’t tell the difference between my nails and my fingers (I though to myself… victory??...) and I had an hour to kill, so I decided to make them match my shirt. Just as a little background, I’m a Northern California girl born and raised, and you can take the girl out of the land of hippies, but you cant take the land of hippies out of the girl. So I was wearing tie-dye. And if you’ve kept up with my posts recently, you can probably sense my crackle fever! So… I started with smeary polka dots of China Glaze “VII” (god, I hate badly named nail polishes. I would think that the joy of nail polish naming comes in cleverness, not laziness!):

Then I added China Glaze “Crushed Candy” once that had dried, and then re-mattified it:

You can see on some of the nails that I didn’t let it dry enough, so the crackle around the polka dots are sort of funky. It didn’t turn out exactly like I wanted it to, but it had a cool effect. The nail that turned out the most like I envisioned was my left pinky:

And here is the shirt nails comparison! I think… Mission Accomplished!

Love, Frida
p.s. have a good weekend!

ITS A C-C-C-C-CRACKLE PARTY

Hi! so i'm about to spam you with some largely huge amounts of crackle!
here goes!

that's my NOTD, China Glaze "Bermuda Breakaway" with "Lightning Bolt" on top, then mattified.

Sorry for only one picture, btu i was rushed and they're all blurry! But this is "Black Mesh" over Orly's "It's Not Rocket Science." I thought that this manicure looked like something Voldemort would wear.

This is Zoya "Ivanka" with "Lighting Bolt" on top of it! in case you couldn't tell, I LOVE LIGHTNING BOLT! Sparkles underneath crackles look so cool!

So... this manicure failed a little bit, because after a while the crackles get a little chunky. This was the product of not being prepared for that chunk. But this is Color Club "Vintage Couture" with a layer of OPI "Bring On The Bling" on top, then "Lightning Bolt" on top.

Lastly, there were two manicures aimed at the same thing, one failing miserably and the other succeeding marvelously.

This is my first attempt at a tacky 80's manicure. It achieved tacky, but i was looking for PRETTY tacky, not really really ugly. This is Sinful Colors "Let's Meet" wich is a weird and gross sheer yellow shimmer. On top I put "Crushed Candy" another one of my favorites.

This was a successful one! It's Milani "Pink Hottie" with "Crushed Candy" on top. I love it so much.

These are all my crackles! except for "Cracked Concrete" which was on my last post, and i figured it would be redundant to repeat.

Happy Monday,
Love,
Frida

China Glaze "Lifesaver" (A.K.A. a flower from home on my nails)

Just to be clear, I hate orange nail polish. I actually hate the color orange. But I don’t feel like it’s fair to call lifesaver an orange nail polish, because it’s the EXACT SAME COLOR as a California poppy, a blast from my home state. I didn’t want to take it off for that reason. It’s muted but still beautiful. It’s a calm but bold color. Like a poppy.
In case you hadn’t picked up on it, poppies are my second favorite flower (next to sunflowers) and hopefully I’ll be posting a picture of my huge tattoo of a California poppy on my back.
The formula on this was delightful. After one coat it was opaque, but I’ve never really been a one coater. I enjoy two whole beautiful coats. And this one gives me two whole coats of beauty on this one. It’s a little thin, and I hate the China Glaze brush, but it’s worth it.


It’s not a very springy color shiny, but combined with a mattifying top coat it looks cheery and springy. And I feel like an idiot because I have lost my pictures of it, but I put “Lightning Bolt” on top of it, and it looked like a dreamsicle. I’ll have to do it again to post a picture.

And just an update about the crackles, they look SO AWESOME matte. Right now, as I’m typing my nails look like dinosaur eggs, because I have sea spray on under cracked concrete. And it’s matte. And beauteous. And I want to wear crackle all the time.
On a side note, I’m sorry that I haven’t been up on posts, my life is cacophonous.
I will figure it out.
Love,
Frida

China Glaze "Recycle" (A.K.A. dont-gotta-think-gray)

First of all, Cosmetic Cupcake is having a great big giveaway! here's the link! http://cosmeticcupcake.blogspot.com/2011/02/my-big-birthday-giveaway.html

So is Scandalously polished! at http://www.scandalouslypolished.com/2011/02/giveawayyyyy.html

these are two of my favorite blogs, you should check them out!

“Recycle” is one of my favorite grays in my collection. It is a great everyday gray, darker than most medium gray’s I’ve come across. It is definitely a neutral gray, not really leaning in any particular direction. But it lives up to the slightly industrial name of “Recycle.” It reminds me of the color of a trash bin, or a building. Sort of like light asphalt.
I really do love this color, I’m sorry if I can’t make anything sound positive this morning. I woke up angry at all the people who had wronged me in my dreams last night. Does that ever happen to you, readers? It’s weird, because you know that they didn’t do anything to you, but you can’t help feeling like they killed your puppy. (Or whatever else the dream was about)
Well, that’s about it, this is a pretty simple nail polish. It’s just GRAY, all the WAY.
Here are the pictures! Oh! And follow me on Google Friend Connect over there →
Once I get to 20 followers I’ll have a giveaway! And so on and so forth! And I don’t want to give it away, but it’s a very beautiful polish, that I’ve RAVED about in the past.
On to the pictures!



love, Frida

China Glaze "Calypso Blue" (A.K.A. the class-monster)

I got a huge Transdesign haul the other day, and the ration of blues to EVERYTHING ELSE evidences my exploration of my possible love for blues.

This polish affirmed my love, and will take me to the next level of my obsession.

This is China Glaze "Calypso Blue." Like Calypso (the nymph) in mythology, this polish brought me to it fairly innocently, but trapped me inside of it (not for seven years, but who's going to nitpick? not me!). It's so pretty. In the sunlight (which didn't exist in my life while I was taking these pictures) it's a dusty navy blue creme, that reminds me of these awesome corduroy pants that I had as a kid. The good thing about it, though, is that even in the lack of light, it doesn't turn completely black, it still has some light to it. I put in some flash photos so you can see the base color, even though it is never (AND I EMPHASIZE NEVER) that color. It's a beautiful polish. And I have to apologize for the chipping and tipwear, I've had this on for three days (GASP! I think that this is the longest I've worn one color of nail polish since the summer!!!!)

So here are the gorgy pictures!



love,

Frida

Happy New Years! (time to kill your eyes with glitter)

Happy New
Years! This has been a great year! so... to celebrate I
am going to deliver the death of all my readers eyes in glitter
form. Here it is: Eyeko "Chi Chi Polish" with China Glaze "Solar
Flare" (my new favorite nail polish, BY THE WAY) on top of it.
"Chi Chi Polish" is
tiny (but not micro, think the width of a pin) robust dusty pale pink
glitter in a slightly murky pinkish beige sheer base. I wanted so
badly to be overwhelmed with love for this polish, but found myself
liking a close dupe (Milani Disco Lights) which i got for my best
friend better. The description of the base as murky is not an
exaggeration, sadly. It makes it so that it's opaque, but I t also
makes it less sparkly and exciting. I also found myself suffering
from gaping bald spots, which aren't noticeable while doing the
polish (I have no idea why. maybe my eyes just don't work). So
wholly, I am underwhelmed and will swap this polish away at the
next possible chance. China Glaze "Solar Flare," on the other hand,
is right up my short and well lighted alley. It's HUGE HEXAGONAL
GOLDEN GLITTER. yes, let me repeat that. HUGE. HEXAGONAL. GOLDEN.
GLITTER. I will probably post a picture heavy post with pictures of
this topcoat on top of EVERY NAIL
POLISH IN EXISTENCE because that's what I've been putting
it on. It makes anything look classy and festive. not so much this
manicure, since its new years and therefore by definition not
classy (lets just say that my dress has less dress than sequins,
and less sequins than skin), but it's still fun and exciting,
without being overwhelming! it's my new love, and may be the second
polish in my collection that I need to buy a backup for. Because
honestly, these beautiful flakes of golden glitter are the loves of
my life. However, like most polishes of this sort, the glitters
drag towards the end of your nail, and require placement. They're
also hell if they hang off your nail or cuticle, even a widdle bit.
Also, when it comes to removal they become fortresses of unmovable
nail polish, acting like impenetrable hats for the nail polish that
you want to remove. (I just imagined all my nail polishes with
little golden party hats, BY THE WAY) But the positives so far
outweigh the negatives that its silly not to love it with all my
heart and soul. oh! and i have the best best friend on earth. Miss
amazingest amazing ever got me... PERPLEX! yes, Perplex. In in all
its glory (and it has a lot of glory, if I may say so myself). I
will post pictures soon, so that others can share in my "can't stop
staring at my nails because nothing else on earth could measure up"
joy. OH yeah! and she's the double best because she gave me Orly
"Space Cadet" as well, which makes me feel like Ke$ha. And who the
hell doesn't want to feel like Ke$ha every once in a while? I
mean... you get to wake up in the morning and feel like P-Diddy. I
secretly love Ke$ha so much. Happy New Year! Love, Frida