Jack O'Lantern Nails

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

It was time for a color change, so today I did another Halloween manicure since I might not have a chance to change it tomorrow.  Since I haven't done the obligatory black and orange combination yet, I figured I'd do that today with the jack o'lantern pattern from nail stamping plate D03, one of the two Halloween D-Series plates.

I wanted a bright orange, and for that I chose Zoya Paz.  It took three coats, and I thought I'd extend the theme and cut the stamping by 60% by alternating nails between Paz and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out, the two coat black creme that was nearest Paz when I was gathering supplies for this manicure.  After allowing the base colors to dry, I stamped Paz with the Jack O'Lantern face in Konad Black Pearl.  I'd planned on stamping some additional Halloween patterns on the black, but after placing the first one on my pinky I thought the better of it and removed the stamp (this is the rare occasion when the decision that less is more was made at the front end of a manicure...).  I sealed the stamping and shined up the manicure with Sally Hansen Salon Speed Shine and called it finished. Here are my Jack O'Lantern nails.

Jack O'Lantern Nails with Stamping Plate D03

This is probably my favorite of this year's Halloween manicures.  It really doesn't leave open any questions about what the intent is!

That's another Halloween manicure and all I have for today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Jack O'Lantern Nails

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

It was time for a color change, so today I did another Halloween manicure since I might not have a chance to change it tomorrow.  Since I haven't done the obligatory black and orange combination yet, I figured I'd do that today with the jack o'lantern pattern from nail stamping plate D03, one of the two Halloween D-Series plates.

I wanted a bright orange, and for that I chose Zoya Paz.  It took three coats, and I thought I'd extend the theme and cut the stamping by 60% by alternating nails between Paz and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out, the two coat black creme that was nearest Paz when I was gathering supplies for this manicure.  After allowing the base colors to dry, I stamped Paz with the Jack O'Lantern face in Konad Black Pearl.  I'd planned on stamping some additional Halloween patterns on the black, but after placing the first one on my pinky I thought the better of it and removed the stamp (this is the rare occasion when the decision that less is more was made at the front end of a manicure...).  I sealed the stamping and shined up the manicure with Sally Hansen Salon Speed Shine and called it finished. Here are my Jack O'Lantern nails.

Jack O'Lantern Nails with Stamping Plate D03

This is probably my favorite of this year's Halloween manicures.  It really doesn't leave open any questions about what the intent is!

That's another Halloween manicure and all I have for today, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

China Glaze Ghoulish Glow

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I'm back with an addition to my Numbskull Salon Effects manicure I wanted to show you because it turned out surprisingly well.  I'd mentioned that adding glow in the dark top coat to it was a possibility, and I added China Glaze Ghoulish Glow with nice results.

This is a bottle I bought in a prior year.  I'm not sure when, I just knew I already had a GID top coat.  I was hunting for my Wet N Wild one because I'd read it worked better after being stored for some time, and although I couldn't find it, I did find Ghoulish Glow.  It was on its side in a plastic drawer thingy, and although the GID pigment had visibly settled, it mixed in easily when I shook it up, so I held the bottle up to a light and checked it in the dark and sure enough, it was glowy.  I added two thin coats of it to Numbskull and then top coat to dry it, and it gave the manicure kind of a zombie cataract look.

China Glaze Ghoulish Glow Top Coat over Numbskull Salon Effects

I stopped in the bathroom (the only windowless room here) and shut the door to get a picture of the glow.

China Glaze Ghoulish Glow Top Coat over Numbskull Salon Effects in the Dark

So it worked, and I get to wear this out!  I noticed the glow doesn't last as long as the OPI GID's, but what the heck... I think Sephora by OPI Full Moon, the white GID from last year, is the best there is for that of glow in the dark polishes I've used, but this was nice to just tack on to an already-finished manicure.  I guess I'll just be running up to available lights to charge my nails as often as I can get away with!

That's it for today, Dear Reader, I just wanted to share some spooky Halloween glow in the dark fun with you.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

China Glaze Ghoulish Glow

Good evening, Dear Reader!

I'm back with an addition to my Numbskull Salon Effects manicure I wanted to show you because it turned out surprisingly well.  I'd mentioned that adding glow in the dark top coat to it was a possibility, and I added China Glaze Ghoulish Glow with nice results.

This is a bottle I bought in a prior year.  I'm not sure when, I just knew I already had a GID top coat.  I was hunting for my Wet N Wild one because I'd read it worked better after being stored for some time, and although I couldn't find it, I did find Ghoulish Glow.  It was on its side in a plastic drawer thingy, and although the GID pigment had visibly settled, it mixed in easily when I shook it up, so I held the bottle up to a light and checked it in the dark and sure enough, it was glowy.  I added two thin coats of it to Numbskull and then top coat to dry it, and it gave the manicure kind of a zombie cataract look.

China Glaze Ghoulish Glow Top Coat over Numbskull Salon Effects

I stopped in the bathroom (the only windowless room here) and shut the door to get a picture of the glow.

China Glaze Ghoulish Glow Top Coat over Numbskull Salon Effects in the Dark

So it worked, and I get to wear this out!  I noticed the glow doesn't last as long as the OPI GID's, but what the heck... I think Sephora by OPI Full Moon, the white GID from last year, is the best there is for that of glow in the dark polishes I've used, but this was nice to just tack on to an already-finished manicure.  I guess I'll just be running up to available lights to charge my nails as often as I can get away with!

That's it for today, Dear Reader, I just wanted to share some spooky Halloween glow in the dark fun with you.  Until next time, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Numbskull

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm racing the calendar to get in Halloween manicures, so today I have another set of Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips to show you today, this one named Numbskull.  They're the cartoon-y black skull and crossbones pattern in black over white from this year's Halloween Salon Effects.

I didn't use anything under them, and they were way easier to apply.  I have two repairs, on the first two applied, because I was a little too aggressive in stretching them over my tips.  I slowed down a bit and the rest turned out just fine.  The hardest part of applying this set was due to the pattern being slightly on the diagonal, which made visually lining them up straight a little tough.  I've typically centered them at the cuticle to apply the nail polish strips, but after a few of these I found it easier to get one side edge of a nail lined up the whole length and then press them down across.  Then all that was left was filing the overhanging edge off of each as I went, and when they were all applied I sealed them with Sally Hansen Salon Speed Shine.  Here is my Numbskull manicure.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in Numbskull

You can see the repair on my index finger's nail here, but it's such a tiny bit I tacked on that it doesn't really show on my hands.  I pretty much love this manicure!  I'm wearing it out to lunch today, and depending on what the weekend holds, I might add a coat of Wet n Wild glow in the dark top coat to it.  Seeing a band is an option, and if I go with that, I believe making this glow will be mandatory.

For the record, there was no trouble with the Ghoulie Girl strips that made me remove them, it's the race to fit in Halloween manis that prompted the change.

That is my Numbskull Salon Effects manicure, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Numbskull

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I'm racing the calendar to get in Halloween manicures, so today I have another set of Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips to show you today, this one named Numbskull.  They're the cartoon-y black skull and crossbones pattern in black over white from this year's Halloween Salon Effects.

I didn't use anything under them, and they were way easier to apply.  I have two repairs, on the first two applied, because I was a little too aggressive in stretching them over my tips.  I slowed down a bit and the rest turned out just fine.  The hardest part of applying this set was due to the pattern being slightly on the diagonal, which made visually lining them up straight a little tough.  I've typically centered them at the cuticle to apply the nail polish strips, but after a few of these I found it easier to get one side edge of a nail lined up the whole length and then press them down across.  Then all that was left was filing the overhanging edge off of each as I went, and when they were all applied I sealed them with Sally Hansen Salon Speed Shine.  Here is my Numbskull manicure.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in Numbskull

You can see the repair on my index finger's nail here, but it's such a tiny bit I tacked on that it doesn't really show on my hands.  I pretty much love this manicure!  I'm wearing it out to lunch today, and depending on what the weekend holds, I might add a coat of Wet n Wild glow in the dark top coat to it.  Seeing a band is an option, and if I go with that, I believe making this glow will be mandatory.

For the record, there was no trouble with the Ghoulie Girl strips that made me remove them, it's the race to fit in Halloween manis that prompted the change.

That is my Numbskull Salon Effects manicure, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Ghoulie Girl

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'm back with a real post after giving you just promo materials earlier today.  Yesterday I realized that Halloween's less than a week away, and I've shown you a grand total of one Halloween-themed manicure this year, so after swatching yesterday I applied the Ghoulie Girl set of Halloween Sally Hansen Salon Effects, the black background with rows of Pacman-looking ghosts in white and orange, and I thought I'd give you a look.

The Ghoulie Girl strips are thiick in a good, sturdy way, and they were easy to work with.  I put a coat of a non-sticky nail strengthener on before the strips, but I think I need to get over that because they were a lot easier to apply well for the pedicure I did with them, where I used nothing under them.  The only trouble I ran into on the mani was a wrinkle or two where they stuck to the base coat, but I was able to get the wrinkles out pretty well.  To fix them, I used an e-cig battery like a little steam roller over them - the battery is an anodized aluminum perfect cylinder, so it rolled over without sticking at all or making any marks.  I finished the strips off with Sally Hansen Salon Speed Shine, and they're holding up beautifully.  I took the picture just a bit ago, so after they've had twenty-four hours of wear.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in Ghoulie Girl

These are so silly fun to wear!  They've gotten a few looks but no comments, likely because I'm forty and otherwise conservatively dressed, and somehow that makes them seem even funnier to me. I'm a fan!

That's all I have for you today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Ghoulie Girl

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I'm back with a real post after giving you just promo materials earlier today.  Yesterday I realized that Halloween's less than a week away, and I've shown you a grand total of one Halloween-themed manicure this year, so after swatching yesterday I applied the Ghoulie Girl set of Halloween Sally Hansen Salon Effects, the black background with rows of Pacman-looking ghosts in white and orange, and I thought I'd give you a look.

The Ghoulie Girl strips are thiick in a good, sturdy way, and they were easy to work with.  I put a coat of a non-sticky nail strengthener on before the strips, but I think I need to get over that because they were a lot easier to apply well for the pedicure I did with them, where I used nothing under them.  The only trouble I ran into on the mani was a wrinkle or two where they stuck to the base coat, but I was able to get the wrinkles out pretty well.  To fix them, I used an e-cig battery like a little steam roller over them - the battery is an anodized aluminum perfect cylinder, so it rolled over without sticking at all or making any marks.  I finished the strips off with Sally Hansen Salon Speed Shine, and they're holding up beautifully.  I took the picture just a bit ago, so after they've had twenty-four hours of wear.

Sally Hansen Salon Effects Nail Polish Strips in Ghoulie Girl

These are so silly fun to wear!  They've gotten a few looks but no comments, likely because I'm forty and otherwise conservatively dressed, and somehow that makes them seem even funnier to me. I'm a fan!

That's all I have for you today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!

All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

D-Series Halloween Nails

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

A good while back I'd mentioned the D-Series plates that I got from Chez Delaney, the ones that were sold only as a complete set due to some of them not working 100%.  Truthfully, I have yet to run into a stamp that doesn't work, and the same was true today when I broke out the two Halloween-themed plates from the series.

I took pictures of the plates so you can see all of the patterns.  They're nice and big - some are too big for my nails even now, which is pretty uncommon amongst available patterns.  Of course, I didn't have the good sense to take pictures of the plates before I used them, so they have a little cloudy acetone residue from post-stamping cleaning, which is done when I'm sick of messing with stuff and just want to be finished.  This is plate D03 and D04.

Halloween Nail Stamping Plate D03

Halloween Nail Stamping Plate D04

I wanted to use the spooky-font "Trick or Treat," but there's no angle at which I can fit anywhere near the whole thing on any nail.  There are plenty of others to choose from though, so I'll show you what I did.  This isn't intended to be the most fabulous manicure ever, it's more to sample the patterns and show you the size and quality of engraving.

The base color I used was two coats of Barielle Coalest Day of the Year, a good basic charcoal shimmer.  It's a two-coater with a respectable drying time, so it seemed like a good choice.  I wanted to stamp the patterns in White Konad Princess Polish just because it's reliable and one with which I'm familiar to knock out a variable in terms of how well the stamps worked, and Coalest Day of the Year seemed to offer good contrast without being as stark as a black creme.  I gave that a few minutes to dry with Tout de Suite then just went at it with the multistamper and sealed the stamps with Sally Hansen Salon Speed Shine.  Here's my amusing Halloween manicure.

Halloween-Themed Nail Art Manicure

The sunlight obscures some of the pattern on my pinky - it's the funny witch at about nine o'clock on plate D03.  Every one of the patterns worked well, even the spider web ones (which are always tough) and the scary skull (the ones with a great deal of solid engraved space are also tough).  I like it - it's silly and fun without being too immediately attention grabbing, with attention grabbing on a stamp-sampling manicure being the very reason I didn't use and orange base and stamp in black.

That's my Halloween-themed manicure and the update for today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

D-Series Halloween Nails

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

A good while back I'd mentioned the D-Series plates that I got from Chez Delaney, the ones that were sold only as a complete set due to some of them not working 100%.  Truthfully, I have yet to run into a stamp that doesn't work, and the same was true today when I broke out the two Halloween-themed plates from the series.

I took pictures of the plates so you can see all of the patterns.  They're nice and big - some are too big for my nails even now, which is pretty uncommon amongst available patterns.  Of course, I didn't have the good sense to take pictures of the plates before I used them, so they have a little cloudy acetone residue from post-stamping cleaning, which is done when I'm sick of messing with stuff and just want to be finished.  This is plate D03 and D04.

Halloween Nail Stamping Plate D03

Halloween Nail Stamping Plate D04

I wanted to use the spooky-font "Trick or Treat," but there's no angle at which I can fit anywhere near the whole thing on any nail.  There are plenty of others to choose from though, so I'll show you what I did.  This isn't intended to be the most fabulous manicure ever, it's more to sample the patterns and show you the size and quality of engraving.

The base color I used was two coats of Barielle Coalest Day of the Year, a good basic charcoal shimmer.  It's a two-coater with a respectable drying time, so it seemed like a good choice.  I wanted to stamp the patterns in White Konad Princess Polish just because it's reliable and one with which I'm familiar to knock out a variable in terms of how well the stamps worked, and Coalest Day of the Year seemed to offer good contrast without being as stark as a black creme.  I gave that a few minutes to dry with Tout de Suite then just went at it with the multistamper and sealed the stamps with Sally Hansen Salon Speed Shine.  Here's my amusing Halloween manicure.

Halloween-Themed Nail Art Manicure

The sunlight obscures some of the pattern on my pinky - it's the funny witch at about nine o'clock on plate D03.  Every one of the patterns worked well, even the spider web ones (which are always tough) and the scary skull (the ones with a great deal of solid engraved space are also tough).  I like it - it's silly and fun without being too immediately attention grabbing, with attention grabbing on a stamp-sampling manicure being the very reason I didn't use and orange base and stamp in black.

That's my Halloween-themed manicure and the update for today, Dear Reader, so until next time, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

China Glaze It's Alive

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I realized it's the second half of October and I haven't done a thing for Halloween yet, so today's manicure is China Glaze's It's Alive, one of their Halloween polishes.  It's a murky green glitter and I really like it, especially because it's not an obvious orange or black.  While those certainly have their place and are fun, lots already exist, and being the ardent horror flick fan that I am, I know there's infinitely more fodder for Halloween colors than that and late October is the only time anyone other than horror fans particularly cares.

It's a pretty polish right at the first look, tons of normal fine and small hex glitter in a matching jelly base, but I couldn't immediately see any tie-in to the original It's Alive! movie (that's the one with the big mutant baby).  It's been a while since I've seen it and I never saw the remake since the 1974 state of the art special effects are part of its charm for me, so I checked out the movie trailer and found one.  I say "one" rather than "it" because I don't even know whether China Glaze was making any specific movie reference at all, but an odd green can be connected to the film.  Around 1:50 in the trailer, the doctor asks the parents of the mutant baby if they've ever been exposed to radiation, and it seems like weird shades of green are pretty standard for radiation, as that's what we see in all of the Return of the Living Dead movies as well as in all the Tromaville movies (Class of Nuke 'Em High, The Toxic Avenger, ...).  Here's the 1974 It's Alive! trailer so you can see. Even if you don't care in general, the first few seconds have some of my all-time favorite things going awry in a scary movie music, so I urge you to play it just for that.

So now that I've established a solid case for an odd green for Halloween (I don't know why that was necessary either, but it was entertaining to do),  I'll show you the manicure.  It's base coat, only two coats of It's Alive!, which was plenty for even and opaque coverage, and three coats of top coat.  It was gritty alone just because it's a dense glitter, and the Tout de Suite I applied to dry it was quickly eaten up by the glitter and it was gritty again.  I added one coat of BB Couture Top Rock to smooth it, and after a bit I needed one more coat of Top Rock.  Now it's shiny and green.

China Glaze It's Alive Nail Polish, Two Coats

Here's a closer look at its glitter on one nail.

A Closer Look at China Glaze It's Alive Nail Polish's Glitter

I really like it!  It's a fun change from the usual Halloween fare, and I see a scary movie reference when I look at it.  I'm glad I got it.

So that's China Glaze It's Alive and a case for its Halloween tie-in, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

China Glaze It's Alive

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

I realized it's the second half of October and I haven't done a thing for Halloween yet, so today's manicure is China Glaze's It's Alive, one of their Halloween polishes.  It's a murky green glitter and I really like it, especially because it's not an obvious orange or black.  While those certainly have their place and are fun, lots already exist, and being the ardent horror flick fan that I am, I know there's infinitely more fodder for Halloween colors than that and late October is the only time anyone other than horror fans particularly cares.

It's a pretty polish right at the first look, tons of normal fine and small hex glitter in a matching jelly base, but I couldn't immediately see any tie-in to the original It's Alive! movie (that's the one with the big mutant baby).  It's been a while since I've seen it and I never saw the remake since the 1974 state of the art special effects are part of its charm for me, so I checked out the movie trailer and found one.  I say "one" rather than "it" because I don't even know whether China Glaze was making any specific movie reference at all, but an odd green can be connected to the film.  Around 1:50 in the trailer, the doctor asks the parents of the mutant baby if they've ever been exposed to radiation, and it seems like weird shades of green are pretty standard for radiation, as that's what we see in all of the Return of the Living Dead movies as well as in all the Tromaville movies (Class of Nuke 'Em High, The Toxic Avenger, ...).  Here's the 1974 It's Alive! trailer so you can see. Even if you don't care in general, the first few seconds have some of my all-time favorite things going awry in a scary movie music, so I urge you to play it just for that.

So now that I've established a solid case for an odd green for Halloween (I don't know why that was necessary either, but it was entertaining to do),  I'll show you the manicure.  It's base coat, only two coats of It's Alive!, which was plenty for even and opaque coverage, and three coats of top coat.  It was gritty alone just because it's a dense glitter, and the Tout de Suite I applied to dry it was quickly eaten up by the glitter and it was gritty again.  I added one coat of BB Couture Top Rock to smooth it, and after a bit I needed one more coat of Top Rock.  Now it's shiny and green.

China Glaze It's Alive Nail Polish, Two Coats

Here's a closer look at its glitter on one nail.

A Closer Look at China Glaze It's Alive Nail Polish's Glitter

I really like it!  It's a fun change from the usual Halloween fare, and I see a scary movie reference when I look at it.  I'm glad I got it.

So that's China Glaze It's Alive and a case for its Halloween tie-in, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers 2011

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I ran into the 2011 Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers display last night in a really unlikely place, and I have two of the nail polishes from it to show you.  Fantasy Makers polishes are the ones that come in the little tombstone bottles, so the Halloween theme of these is pretty campy in a good way.  It's raining, so the pictures are indoors.

It was strange to find them because I was in a store that has just a few basic beauty items as kind of a convenience afterthought, not anything to get people there, and I ran into two full standalone displays in completely different sections of the store, and near one of them, on a shelf with extension cords, were several of the tabletop displays of the round little jack o' lantern glow in the dark polishes.  I eyed a hot pink one, and moved along without it.

In the Fantasy Makers displays, I noticed something odd.  There were two little rows of a polish named Black Magic in each, and in both displays there were two versions of Black Magic.  One was a black creme, which I left that behind along with the glow in the dark top coat, and the other is full of lots of fine glitter.  This is the glitter version of Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic Nail Polish Bottle

Here's a closer look at the glitter.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic Nail Polish, Glitter Version

The other one I brought home is call Purple Potion.  It's similar but the glitter is purple-y fuchsia, and this might be the most poorly formed bottle I've ever seen.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Purple Potion Nail Polish Bottle

Here's a better looks at Purple Potion's glitter.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Purple Potion Nail Polish's Glitter

I'll be trying these out soon, but I wanted to let you know the displays are showing up and that there are two version of Black Magic in it.

That's just about it, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers 2011

Good morning, Dear Reader!

I ran into the 2011 Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers display last night in a really unlikely place, and I have two of the nail polishes from it to show you.  Fantasy Makers polishes are the ones that come in the little tombstone bottles, so the Halloween theme of these is pretty campy in a good way.  It's raining, so the pictures are indoors.

It was strange to find them because I was in a store that has just a few basic beauty items as kind of a convenience afterthought, not anything to get people there, and I ran into two full standalone displays in completely different sections of the store, and near one of them, on a shelf with extension cords, were several of the tabletop displays of the round little jack o' lantern glow in the dark polishes.  I eyed a hot pink one, and moved along without it.

In the Fantasy Makers displays, I noticed something odd.  There were two little rows of a polish named Black Magic in each, and in both displays there were two versions of Black Magic.  One was a black creme, which I left that behind along with the glow in the dark top coat, and the other is full of lots of fine glitter.  This is the glitter version of Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic Nail Polish Bottle

Here's a closer look at the glitter.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Black Magic Nail Polish, Glitter Version

The other one I brought home is call Purple Potion.  It's similar but the glitter is purple-y fuchsia, and this might be the most poorly formed bottle I've ever seen.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Purple Potion Nail Polish Bottle

Here's a better looks at Purple Potion's glitter.

Wet n Wild Fantasy Makers Purple Potion Nail Polish's Glitter

I'll be trying these out soon, but I wanted to let you know the displays are showing up and that there are two version of Black Magic in it.

That's just about it, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

OPI Zom-body to Love

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today I have the fun task of showing you OPI's limited edition Halloween 2011 glow in the dark polish, which is called Zom-body to Love, a light green.  For those newer to collecting polish, each year OPI releases a set of Halloween minis that includes a glow-in-the-dark, and there are "Promotional - Not for Sale" full sized bottles of the GID shade floating around all the time, usually easy to get for retail, which is just what I did on Ebay.

My experience of OPI's GID polishes, which I've bought since 2006 (I don't know when OPI started them, that's when I started...) is that they're always very sheer, impossible to make opaque alone, and pretty much the opposite of self-leveling.  They glow like nobody's business,which makes them completely worth jumping through some hoops to make workable for me.

The first thing I did with my bottle was take it into the bathroom (which has no windows) and hold it up to a light bulb for a few seconds before shutting the door, turning off the light, and taking a picture.  Since there was no light at all, the shutter time was roughly an eternity and it's a little blurred, and I apologize for that, but I really caught the glow.  They all seem to glow greenish, it's just coincidence that the color in the light is green as well.

OPI Zom-body to Love Bottle Glowing in the Dark

Next, I did a manicure.  I started with base coat, and to take care of the opacity issue, I used two coats of Misa Heaven White to start.  One moderately thick coat would have been sufficient, but I have a hard time applying thicker coats and also when my nails are on the shorter end of my length range, so two thin was better for me here.  I assumed I'd need at least two coats of Zom-body to Love, so I allowed a few minutes of drying time between coats.  I ended up using three coats of Zom-body to Love, and I made them very thin so they would stay uniformly smooth and the lack of self leveling wouldn't be a problem, and continued to wait a few minutes between coats.  With so much polish, any shrinkage would look pretty bad, so I used Diamont over it.  After it dried, I went out into the sun and took a picture of it.

OPI Zom-body to Love Nail Polish, Three Coats over White

I like the shade because it's a happier green than a lot of the recent drab ones.  It also looks pretty standard, so the glow is a fun surprise.  On the way to the computer, I was thinking that holding this in sunlight probably super-charged the glow, so I stopped off to get a disembodied nails picture (also blurry, and again I apologize) to show you.  I thought the disembodied watermark made it a more amusing picture, so I put it in.

OPI Zom-body to Love Nail Polish Glowing in the Dark

I didn't Photoshop any of these pictures other than cropping and adding text, the OPI GID's just glow like crazy, which is why I'm always happy when one is released.  I think you also know I wouldn't normally give you blurry pictures, but for fun ones of something glowing in a totally dark room, I'm going to show you whatever I'm lucky enough to get!

For a one-polish purchase, Ebay's a good bet for this one.  I just searched for the name, looked at Buy It Now only, sorted by price + shipping, and bought the least expensive one that was coming from a seller whose feedback I was at ease with.  Although the full-sized bottles are collector material, I think it's just fun to  wear GID's, especially as a pedicure since I wear those longer.  I never wear shoes in the house and tend to completely forget I'm wearing a GID polish, then walking down the hall or something I'll see it glowing and it entertains me.  My mother used to tell me I was like a magpie with this kind of thing...

So that's Zom-body to Love, the 2011 OPI Halloween Glow in the Dark release.  I don't have a heck of a lot else to tell you about, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.

OPI Zom-body to Love

Good afternoon, Dear Reader!

Today I have the fun task of showing you OPI's limited edition Halloween 2011 glow in the dark polish, which is called Zom-body to Love, a light green.  For those newer to collecting polish, each year OPI releases a set of Halloween minis that includes a glow-in-the-dark, and there are "Promotional - Not for Sale" full sized bottles of the GID shade floating around all the time, usually easy to get for retail, which is just what I did on Ebay.

My experience of OPI's GID polishes, which I've bought since 2006 (I don't know when OPI started them, that's when I started...) is that they're always very sheer, impossible to make opaque alone, and pretty much the opposite of self-leveling.  They glow like nobody's business,which makes them completely worth jumping through some hoops to make workable for me.

The first thing I did with my bottle was take it into the bathroom (which has no windows) and hold it up to a light bulb for a few seconds before shutting the door, turning off the light, and taking a picture.  Since there was no light at all, the shutter time was roughly an eternity and it's a little blurred, and I apologize for that, but I really caught the glow.  They all seem to glow greenish, it's just coincidence that the color in the light is green as well.

OPI Zom-body to Love Bottle Glowing in the Dark

Next, I did a manicure.  I started with base coat, and to take care of the opacity issue, I used two coats of Misa Heaven White to start.  One moderately thick coat would have been sufficient, but I have a hard time applying thicker coats and also when my nails are on the shorter end of my length range, so two thin was better for me here.  I assumed I'd need at least two coats of Zom-body to Love, so I allowed a few minutes of drying time between coats.  I ended up using three coats of Zom-body to Love, and I made them very thin so they would stay uniformly smooth and the lack of self leveling wouldn't be a problem, and continued to wait a few minutes between coats.  With so much polish, any shrinkage would look pretty bad, so I used Diamont over it.  After it dried, I went out into the sun and took a picture of it.

OPI Zom-body to Love Nail Polish, Three Coats over White

I like the shade because it's a happier green than a lot of the recent drab ones.  It also looks pretty standard, so the glow is a fun surprise.  On the way to the computer, I was thinking that holding this in sunlight probably super-charged the glow, so I stopped off to get a disembodied nails picture (also blurry, and again I apologize) to show you.  I thought the disembodied watermark made it a more amusing picture, so I put it in.

OPI Zom-body to Love Nail Polish Glowing in the Dark

I didn't Photoshop any of these pictures other than cropping and adding text, the OPI GID's just glow like crazy, which is why I'm always happy when one is released.  I think you also know I wouldn't normally give you blurry pictures, but for fun ones of something glowing in a totally dark room, I'm going to show you whatever I'm lucky enough to get!

For a one-polish purchase, Ebay's a good bet for this one.  I just searched for the name, looked at Buy It Now only, sorted by price + shipping, and bought the least expensive one that was coming from a seller whose feedback I was at ease with.  Although the full-sized bottles are collector material, I think it's just fun to  wear GID's, especially as a pedicure since I wear those longer.  I never wear shoes in the house and tend to completely forget I'm wearing a GID polish, then walking down the hall or something I'll see it glowing and it entertains me.  My mother used to tell me I was like a magpie with this kind of thing...

So that's Zom-body to Love, the 2011 OPI Halloween Glow in the Dark release.  I don't have a heck of a lot else to tell you about, so until next time, Dear Reader, love and nail polish to you!



All Rights Reserved, Siobhan@The Nailphile. If you're reading this elsewhere, it's stolen from a real nail polish blog.