u/Infinite-Space2418

Today was my first real attempt at an ombre that I would wear out. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and learned a lot that I'll bring to my next attempt. I will say that I underestimated the effort and time it would require to get all of the polish off of my skin! Next time I'll use some brush on latex to mask it.

Product list:
Base:
Nailtiques Formula 2
Ombre:
Essie After School Boy Blazer
Essie New Day, New Me
Cirque Colors Aqua Jelly
Topper:
Cracked Mind Like a Diamond
Top Coat:
Glisten & Glow Top Coat

More of my recent haul from LynB Designs!

This is Breath of Spring over a white jelly base. While my wardrobe is typically drab black and grays, and most of my polish choices also skew dark and brooding, I can’t deny the joy of seeing this sparkle on my hands!!

Products:
Nailtiques 2
Cirque Colors Ridge Filling base
Cirque Colors Last Unicorn 1x
LynB Designs Breath of Spring
Essie Strong Start base coat
Essie Gel Couture Top Coat

Wow! I picked up a load of LynB Designs colors at the monthly sale in June, and I just have to say that LynB is my new hero! I’m eagerly awaiting next month’s sale!

I’ll have plenty to share as I work through this haul. Today it’s Quite Frankly You’re My Hero—a black base with a red-purple shift that is especially stunning in the sun!

Products used:

Nailtiques Formula 2
Cirque Colors Ridge Filling Base
LynB Designs Quite Frankly You’re My Hero 2x
Essie Gel Couture Top Coat

Continuing my summer of emo with this brooding dark color on my shorties, and I think the matte top coat adds to the vibe.

I love these colors that look blackish in the shade/indoor light, but reveal their true colors in the sun. Sharing both sunlight and shade photos so you can experience both sides of this one.

Products:
Nailtiques Formula 2 base coat
Cracked Teal Dark and Handsome 2x
Cirque Colors Haze Glaze matte top coat

I tried out See Through Olive from my latest Cracked order, and although I liked it, my daughter insisted that it looked like snot... I thought it was a nice prugly, but decided to try it in a dark jelly sandwich instead. I think I like it. This sandwich comes off as a darker brown a la Mud Puddle, but you can see the olive green shining through on closer inspection.

I'm also giving this one a try without a top coat. I'm frustrated with the amount of shrinkage I'm getting with Essie GCTC so we'll see how long this one lasts. I'm pretty restless and change up twice a week anyway, so I'm not really needing to go for longevity.

Products:

• Nailtiques Formula 2 base coat
• Jelly sandwich: Cracked Mud Puddle 2x > Cracked See Through Olive > Mud Puddle

Sharing another polish from my Cracked Memorial Day sale haul.

While Cracked calls this a blackened red jelly, I’d call it a crelly. I’m comparing that to Cirque jellies which are much more sheer. While it wasn’t exactly what I expected, I’m loving this vampy color and I think this could be a solid go-to color for me.

Products:
Nailtiques Formula 2 base
Cracked Chokeberry 2x
Essie Gel Couture TC

OK first time wearing an unapologeticly sparkly polish, in Mooncat’s Witch Hazel. I thought I was a brooding emo preferring all manner of black polish but, wow! I understand all of the “crow brain” comments now! I kept finding myself staring at my nails, opening and closing my hands, moving from shade to sun to see all of the color shifts depending on the light and angle. This one has a light peach base with an obvious gold shimmer that shows green in some lighting as well.

The application was just as intriguing. There was something so satisfying about how the glitter lays down with each brush.

After this, I binged on the Lyn B sale last week and stocked up on a cart full of shimmer polishes. Can’t wait for them!

Product list:

Nailtiques Formula 2 as base coat

Mooncat Witch Hazel 2x

Essie Gel Couture Top Coat

Tomorrow I have to attend an all day meeting with a major client. This is one of the two or three work situations where I feel that I need to tone my nail color down a bit, but I refuse to go unpolished. I chose to go with Cirque Colors Dove Jelly which gives a really subtle tint without looking too much like natural nails. Added a matte top coat for a little more muting.

While I like the grey, I would have loved some subtle color. I tried Essie Orchid Jelly which was just right from a color perspective, but just doesn’t go on without streaks. The Cirque jellies really are extraordinary for going on smoothly!

What other subtle color shades are people wearing in situations like this?

The last pics are the colors I’ve been wearing more regularly. I can’t wait for Wednesday when I can go bold again!

Pic 1 & 2: My undercover for this meeting:
Nailtiques Formula 2 as base coat
Cirque Colors Dove Jelly 1x
Cirque Colors Haze Glase Matte top coat

Pic 3: Over the weekend:
Nailtiques Formula 2 as base coat
Cracked Teal Dark and Handsome 2x
Essie Gel Couture TC

Pic 4: Last week:
Orly Bonder base coat
Mooncat Witch Hazel 2x
Essie Gel Couture TC

Got to say, that Mooncat Witch Hazel is my new favorite. I’ll probably go back to that next.

Here’s another color from my last Cirque Colors haul. This one is Milk Glass. I’m really liking the clean look of this creamy white color.

I liked the sheerness of this crelly with 1 or 2 coats. It was effectively opaque with 3 or more coats.

I also noticed how well it matched the cover of the record I was listening to! Maybe that was a subliminal influence on my color choice…

Orly Bonder base coat
Cirque Colors Milk Glass 2x
Essie Gel Couture top coat

Trying out some new colors from my latest Cirque haul. This one is Charcoal Jelly. I’m still pretty new to nail care so I was especially proud of my application on this one. I’d tried jellies from Essie early on, but these Cirque jellies live up to the reddit hype and are so much easier to apply without streaks.

Orly Bonder base
Cirque Charcoal Jelly 3x
Essie Gel Couture TC

Since I’m so new, any comments or pointers on my application would also be appreciated. I’m committed to shorties but I do want to get a little more length on my index fingers for my next mani. Keeping those tips in good shape has been hard for me though!

Not very spring-like, I know. I’m working through my Mooncat haul. This one is Access Denied and while it’s pretty black indoors, I had to capture how the green popped in the car. Might have something to do with the green sweater too.

Orly Bonder base
Mooncat Access Denied
Essie Gel Couture top coat

Tried my first thermal - Mooncat Moral Decay, changing from grey blue (cold) to bright blue (warm). I felt like the bright blue was a bit much for my personality so I muted it with a couple coats of Essie Ink Jelly (black) and really loved the outcome! The result was kind of a deep green when cold (in pic), changing to a dark teal. I gift more compliments on this mani than any other this year. Will definitely do this one again!