Ulta Underground

This is 2 coats of Underground. Black base (I *think*) with a teal-leaning blue shimmer. Supa dupa pigmented. The formula was average. Nothing spectacular, but not the worst I've ever used. Dried rather quickly.

Unfortunately, this looks black most of the time. The shimmer only comes out to play in direct sunlight. It doesn't "glow", if you know what I mean. It falls flat. I'm not a fan of blackened polishes, so this one goes in the purge box. I did however catch myself staring at my hands all day and I've realized it's because I'm ready for fall. I'm going to dive head first into my fall polishes (starting with OPI Germany, which was delivered to my house today. Yay!). The weather in Chicago today is overcast, foggy, and crisp (my favorite weather!), so I'm crazy for dark colors. Just as long as they don't look black :P

EDIT:
cell phone pictures!

Essie It's Genius

A bit streaky, but evened out in 3 coats. The gold shimmer in this is what really sets it apart and makes it unique enough for me to hang on to. I'm a sucker for jewel-tones.

Nicole by OPI Disco Dolls

Oh my god. I'm so terrible about this. I've had a ridiculously busy two weeks, capped off by my boyfriend's sister's wedding on Friday. Here's what I had on my nails for the wedding:

Three coats. This baby was THICK. I thinned it once during application and it needed to be thinned again almost immediately. Such a sloppy application. It was also very thirsty. Two coats of top coat barely smoothed anything out. Alas, I am in love with this polish. The rainbow glitters strewn about are totally awesome. Gah, it's so pretty.

China Glaze Visit Me in Prism

Sup yall. Let's rock & roll.

Apparently this is a light lilac/lavender/whatever holo, but I don't see it. It's hard to see a base color when there's so much awesome going on. I think this is probably 2 coats. Or maybe 3. I don't remember. I don't remember anything technical or remotely helpful. Whoops.

I've been watching a ton of Ally McBeal lately. I remember knowing it existed when I was a youngster, but never watched it because I was like, 10 years old when the show was in its prime. Also, there is no way I would have gotten any of the jokes. Anywho, I had forgotten about it until I started reading Portia de Rossi's autobiography (which was great, by the way) and as luck would have it, the entire series is streaming on Netflix. Really the only reasons I was interested are 1) Portia and 2) it's a show about a law firm and I work in one. I can't help but criticize the errors in the legal system, even though I know it's all fake, but seriously, all of those attorneys would be banned from practicing law if it was real life. Other than that, it's not a terrible show and I rather enjoy it now, save for the fact I think Ally is annoying. But, I'm still in season one, so maybe I'll come around. There's like 25 episodes per season...crazy. The 90s were a different time.

Speaking of law...
I was in Vegas at the end of July-early August, and when I came back to work I found out that we had been set for trial on TWO(!!!) cases. The fuh. So I've been pretty busy. That's the explanation for my most recent hiatus. I'm also supa dupa backlogged. I've been trying to schedule as many posts as I can on the weekends, but that doesn't always work out because I'm the biggest procrastinator. Most of my posts will probably not be this wordy, but I'll try to toss in some updates here and there. If you're into fancy technology, you can follow me on Instagram where I sometimes post manis and mostly post pictures of dogs/cats, food, and weird things I see in Chicago. My username is fooliescraper, which also happens to be my Twitter name, too *wink*

Milani Dressmaker

Ahhh yes. The infamous Chanel Jade dupe. Firstly, excuse the outrageous shrinkage. I think it was a direct cause of the not-so-great formula. Yeah. This is 3 medium-thick coats. Kind of a pain in the butt. It's super flattering on my skin tone and does not give me lobster hands. Plus, that shimmer is to die for. Definitely a worthy purchase, but next time I'll thin it a bit and use a top coat other than Seche Vite.

Wet N Wild Glitz Matte

Flashback...here's a SUPER old mani I never posted:

This is probably 2 or 3 coats of Glitz, and a coat of Essie Matte About You. I remember FREAKING OUT about how awesome matte glitter looked. I mattified every manicure for like, a month after this! I need to start using a matte topcoat more often; I've kind of been neglecting it.

Sheer Pink Battle!

Before you guys think I'm crazy...I swear there is a point to this. Bear with me.

I recently graduated from college (YAY), so the next step in life is to find a career. Which means job interviews. Which is scary. I don't want my nails to distract a potential employer, but they're so terribly stained that I can't go without polish or even with clear polish. Enter sheer pink.

I have THREE sheer pink polishes. I should probably only have one. This is my journey into figuring out which one is perfect for me. Here's my "criteria":
- Blur imperfections. I know this is a vague statement, but my pictures will be able to explain better than words. I'm not looking for something opaque, I just want to look well-groomed.
- Two coats. Self-explanatory that I don't want a 6-coater.
- Decent formula. I'm using the word "decent" instead of "good" because sheers can be a pain in the butt most of the time. I'm allowing for a bit of wiggle room here. Basically, I'm willing to work with an average formula if it makes my nails look awesome.

The first polish I tried was the brand 10, called Pinky Promise. I wore this to an actual interview.

This is three coats. I thought it blurred my imperfections well, but the next day I thought it was looking a bit too sheer, like I should have done four coats. The formula was surprisingly awesome and not streaky.

For my next interview, I tried China Glaze Innocence.

Two coats. This is terribly streaky. It's more obvious with thinner coats, but is still uneven when using medium-thick coats. This is more opaque than Pinky Promise, and it is obvious I have polish on when I wear this.

I had a follow-up interview a week later, and I picked OPI Bubble Bath.

I used three coats here. It looked alright at two, but I was really curious to see what it looked like at three, and I definitely prefer it this way. There were a few streaks, but they leveled themselves out and are not noticeable.

I did not perform a wear-test on any of these polishes; however, I did not experience any chipping or tipwear during the 4-ish days I had each polish on.

So, which polish am I keeping? I'm gonna have to go with Bubble Bath. There's a reason it's so popular. (And yes, for those wondering, I got the job! That explains my lack of posts lately.)