Nail Polish Discussion - Any Brand

[PearlyQueen]

Have you seen the new FTLOP box? Such a pretty one this month, I'm definitely buying it. The other purchase I'm allowing myself is PPU, luckily I don't have a long list.

It's really nice, but I'm flat broke. I'm skipping it, along with PPU and the Illyrian prototypes - there's one of them I really want, and I had it in my basket, but it's $18 to ship one to the UK, and since I'm cutting back, I don't know if I'd have anything to add to it if I sent it to Stackry, so I've let it go, very sad though. I hate being skint! Massive dental bill, hubby's birthday, need to pay for him to go to visit his family too, and it's time to pay my renewal fees for my lease. Worst month ever....
And I need to save for further dental work as well, and next month one of the cats is due his injections. Grrr! Real life is pants sometimes.

 

[PearlyQueen]

This week's mani was Femme Fatale Glass Carnival:


Really pretty this one, my nicest FF to date I think, but it did take 4 coats, and it's suffering from that shrinking tips syndrome.

 

[Anitacska]

It's really nice, but I'm flat broke. I'm skipping it, along with PPU and the Illyrian prototypes - there's one of them I really want, and I had it in my basket, but it's $18 to ship one to the UK, and since I'm cutting back, I don't know if I'd have anything to add to it if I sent it to Stackry, so I've let it go, very sad though. I hate being skint! Massive dental bill, hubby's birthday, need to pay for him to go to visit his family too, and it's time to pay my renewal fees for my lease. Worst month ever....
And I need to save for further dental work as well, and next month one of the cats is due his injections. Grrr! Real life is pants sometimes.

Yep, real life sucks. I just paid a small fortune for my car's annual service, 2 spare tires and wiper blades, plus had to renew my home insurance. Dog needed a hair cut, cats will need worming and flea medicines soon, I have to pay a bill from the electrician's visit from last month, the list is never ending. And of course there's the small matter of feeding and clothing 3 children, hahaha!

Sorry to hear about your dental bills, hope you're not in any pain at least.

I ordered the FTLOP box and 6 polishes from PPU, but didn't order any Illyrians. I was going to place an order on the Polish Con fairy site, but had to skip it.

I'm so annoyed with the Royal Mail. I bought EP Icelandic Sky in a destash, £9 posted, but the envelope came torn open and empty. Argh. Went down to the sorting office, but they said it's not there. I'm getting a refund, but still, ugh. At least they didn't lose Illyrian Morpheus that I also bought in a destash.

 

[Anitacska]

This week's mani was Femme Fatale Glass Carnival:
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Really pretty this one, my nicest FF to date I think, but it did take 4 coats, and it's suffering from that shrinking tips syndrome.

It is very pretty. I find shrinkage happens to me when I do a lot of coats too quickly and then topcoat while still very wet. Get a lot less with the Tonic Topper though luckily.

 

[PearlyQueen]

Yep, real life sucks. I just paid a small fortune for my car's annual service, 2 spare tires and wiper blades, plus had to renew my home insurance. Dog needed a hair cut, cats will need worming and flea medicines soon, I have to pay a bill from the electrician's visit from last month, the list is never ending. And of course there's the small matter of feeding and clothing 3 children, hahaha!

Sorry to hear about your dental bills, hope you're not in any pain at least.

I ordered the FTLOP box and 6 polishes from PPU, but didn't order any Illyrians. I was going to place an order on the Polish Con fairy site, but had to skip it.

I'm so annoyed with the Royal Mail. I bought EP Icelandic Sky in a destash, £9 posted, but the envelope came torn open and empty. Argh. Went down to the sorting office, but they said it's not there. I'm getting a refund, but still, ugh. At least they didn't lose Illyrian Morpheus that I also bought in a destash.

View attachment 66046

Sorry you're having equivalent bill hassles to me, guess we're all suffering a bit these days - I firmly believe all money should be for nail polish only...
Sounds like you got a few nice goodies to look forward to!
How infuriating about your EP bargain, but I do love your Morpheus!

 

[PearlyQueen]

It is very pretty. I find shrinkage happens to me when I do a lot of coats too quickly and then topcoat while still very wet. Get a lot less with the Tonic Topper though luckily.

That's really interesting, and thinking back I think all my issues have been with four coat polishes, so maybe something I need to be aware of. I'm sure I'm less patient about waiting for them to dry when I'm doing so many coats - and of course, if they're that transparent, I'm probably making the coats thicker subconsciously, which can't help.

 

[PearlyQueen]

This week's mani is Colors by Llarowe Rest In Pieces:

This is one of those polishes that looks far more interesting in the bottle than it does on the nails - it seemed shifty (plum, purple blue), lots of silver holo sparkle, and loads of little blue glitters. On the nail it's just a very subtle dark purple holo. And really thick and sticky, which probably hides those sparkles I expected. On the plus side, it's very nearly a one-coater - I did two, but not sure it added much other than making it a little darker.

 

[PearlyQueen]

What do you think of Realms 2 collection? I had high hopes, but they're not as special as I expected. I still fancy a few, but not as much or as many as I thought I would. I'm really hoping Open The Gate will come back tomorrow though, that was the main prototype I wanted last time, and had to skip. If it's there, I'll definitely be trying for it and a few others tomorrow. I'm rubbish at self-denial with polishes!

 

[Anitacska]

What do you think of Realms 2 collection? I had high hopes, but they're not as special as I expected. I still fancy a few, but not as much or as many as I thought I would. I'm really hoping Open The Gate will come back tomorrow though, that was the main prototype I wanted last time, and had to skip. If it's there, I'll definitely be trying for it and a few others tomorrow. I'm rubbish at self-denial with polishes!

I've been really busy, stressed out and tired, not really looked properly at the Illyrians. I'm not going to buy anything until the weekend is over, so at least those purchases go on the next credit card bill. Been very good actually, only bought the FTLOP box and 6 from PPU this month. Luckily there wasn't anything I really wanted anyway. Will wait for the next Illyrian restock on the 26th. I did see that there are no protos launching tonight, so you don't have to wait up.

 

[Anitacska]

This week's mani is Colors by Llarowe Rest In Pieces:
View attachment 66064
This is one of those polishes that looks far more interesting in the bottle than it does on the nails - it seemed shifty (plum, purple blue), lots of silver holo sparkle, and loads of little blue glitters. On the nail it's just a very subtle dark purple holo. And really thick and sticky, which probably hides those sparkles I expected. On the plus side, it's very nearly a one-coater - I did two, but not sure it added much other than making it a little darker.

Oh that's disappointing. I mean it looks nice, but when it looks better in the bottle, that's always a bit of a bummer.

 

[Anitacska]

Did you buy any Illyrians in the end? I'll wait until the 26th. Tonic is launching their first 6 polishes that they premiered at Polish Con on Monday, so I'll be ordering them, but at least that's going on my next credit card bill.

I've just seen the preview for the Holo Hookup box and really like the look of the Quixotic, but not sure if I'll buy the box. I also like the Great Lakes Lacquer from HHC, but with shipping and consolidation it would come to about $20, so I'll probably skip it.

 

[Anitacska]

Finally got around to posting some mani pictures. First is Zoya Myrta (2012 untried) with Lilypad Lacquer Sizzling Sun on the accents.



Next is Emily de Molly Inner Peace with Emily de Molly LE 58 on the accents.



This is Femme Fatale Paragon (thermal).



Next is Tonic Polish Fecundity 10.



Another Femme Fatale thermal, Hunting Wolverines in Alaska. I really loved this one.



This is Milani Hi-res (2012 untried) with Hare Polish Amethystos.



One more, CrowsToes ...I Need a Tinselectomy with Illyrian Polish Lolly.

 

[Anitacska]

One more, my current mani, Femme Fatale Crapemyrtle. It's a weird polish. It's quite lumpy, didn't go on evenly, some glitters stick up and the cold state only shows up in really cold air or water (luckily it's very cold today - well, luckily for the polish anyway). The bottle itself sits in the warm state which is quite unusual. I'm also not keen on the warm colour.

 

[PearlyQueen]

I've been really busy, stressed out and tired, not really looked properly at the Illyrians. I'm not going to buy anything until the weekend is over, so at least those purchases go on the next credit card bill. Been very good actually, only bought the FTLOP box and 6 from PPU this month. Luckily there wasn't anything I really wanted anyway. Will wait for the next Illyrian restock on the 26th. I did see that there are no protos launching tonight, so you don't have to wait up.

So sorry to hear that you're under stress Anita, hope things have picked up a bit.
Sounds like you've done some good cutting back! I saw no prototypes, so I skipped - just as well, as my saving for the dentist has turned into a dental emergency appointment on Tuesday
I'm hoping that the proto I want will be at a later date now.

 

[PearlyQueen]

Did you buy any Illyrians in the end? I'll wait until the 26th. Tonic is launching their first 6 polishes that they premiered at Polish Con on Monday, so I'll be ordering them, but at least that's going on my next credit card bill.

I've just seen the preview for the Holo Hookup box and really like the look of the Quixotic, but not sure if I'll buy the box. I also like the Great Lakes Lacquer from HHC, but with shipping and consolidation it would come to about $20, so I'll probably skip it.

Shipping is such a pain (and so are boxes where you just really want one of them!).

 

[PearlyQueen]

Finally got around to posting some mani pictures. First is Zoya Myrta (2012 untried) with Lilypad Lacquer Sizzling Sun on the accents.

View attachment 66070 View attachment 66071

Next is Emily de Molly Inner Peace with Emily de Molly LE 58 on the accents.

View attachment 66072 View attachment 66073

This is Femme Fatale Paragon (thermal).

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Next is Tonic Polish Fecundity 10.

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Another Femme Fatale thermal, Hunting Wolverines in Alaska. I really loved this one.

View attachment 66079 View attachment 66080 View attachment 66081 View attachment 66082 View attachment 66083

This is Milani Hi-res (2012 untried) with Hare Polish Amethystos.

View attachment 66084 View attachment 66085 View attachment 66086

One more, CrowsToes ...I Need a Tinselectomy with Illyrian Polish Lolly.

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Wow, some proper nice ones there! I love the red and gold look, and the Tonic is utterly stunning (and I think I have that one so yay!).
Wolverines is really impressive too, and even the Hare! Yummy, you've chosen well this time!

 

[PearlyQueen]

One more, my current mani, Femme Fatale Crapemyrtle. It's a weird polish. It's quite lumpy, didn't go on evenly, some glitters stick up and the cold state only shows up in really cold air or water (luckily it's very cold today - well, luckily for the polish anyway). The bottle itself sits in the warm state which is quite unusual. I'm also not keen on the warm colour.
View attachment 66090 View attachment 66091

I like both states for this - but I can definitely see those lumps. Shame you don't love it, but it looks pretty cool.

 

[PearlyQueen]

This week I've been wearing Nails Inc Bow Street:


You're so right about this not translating from bottle to nail at all. it's really dark! I can see the pink a bit more than the photos show, but essentially I've back-to-backed disappointingly dull dark purple polishes!
I hope my next attempt is a bit more lively!

 

[Anitacska]

So sorry to hear that you're under stress Anita, hope things have picked up a bit.
Sounds like you've done some good cutting back! I saw no prototypes, so I skipped - just as well, as my saving for the dentist has turned into a dental emergency appointment on Tuesday
I'm hoping that the proto I want will be at a later date now.

Thank you. My whole life is just an endless stream of stress, mostly due to my children. Ugh. It's very hard work. Honestly, some days I feel like I'm going to end up in a mental asylum.

Sorry to hear about your dental troubles, hope you're at least not in much pain.

Yay for skipping, but hopefully you'll be able to get that proto at a later date. I didn't even look at them properly at the time because it said that they would probably come back and also because I just cannot order from Illyrian every week.

 

[Anitacska]

This week I've been wearing Nails Inc Bow Street:
View attachment 66095 View attachment 66096

You're so right about this not translating from bottle to nail at all. it's really dark! I can see the pink a bit more than the photos show, but essentially I've back-to-backed disappointingly dull dark purple polishes!
I hope my next attempt is a bit more lively!

Eh, yes, this just doesn't look as good as you'd hope based on the bottle.