My First Foray into Franken/Indie Polish!

With the supplies mentioned in the last post I finally got down to business and began some serious polish chemistry. I was surprised by the immediate success! The first thing I came up with was a very thick, glittery pink polish. It only needed one coat. At first it was too thick but after adding some thinner it was juuuust right. My favorite polish, however, was this white/aqua color with blue, silver, and green glitters. It’s somewhat visible in some of these photos but I’ll get an up close and personal shot tomorrow or soon thereafter.

My number one recommendation so far? Lay down a trash bag before you get started! Franken-polishing is an absolute mess! I even had all of my tools laid out and tons of acetone on hand and it still got messy. My second recommendation is to use gloves. I don’t know how but polish got all over my hands. My third? Keep a vacuum cleaner on hand in case any glitter gets blown anywhere. My stupid self exhaled over a batch of glitter and POOF… it went all over my carpet!

Here’s my (very beginner) setup:

Below are more photos of what I came up with.

The furthest on the left is what’s in the bottle but it’s only after one coat. The lighting makes it look bad too. If I had added several coats it would have been more aqua in color. My next favorite is the one right above it and then the one chock full of glitter. I also like the “party favors” nail… Hell, I like all of them! I need closeups of each so you can see all the types of glitter I used.

Not only did I mix a lot of glitter polish, I also used a lot pigments to make plain ole polishes that turned out really well. Most of them were turquoise in color though which is an obviously common theme in this blog.

More photos to come!

My Haul and Some Tricks of the Trade

So today I splurged… a lot. Not only did I pick up 17 bottles of polish, I also got some tools needed to do some proper “Franken polishing.” For those of you who may not know, franken polishing is when you mix together existing polishes or totally create your own from clear polish while using anything from eye shadow pigments to the actual chemicals involved in order to create legitimate polish. I have long wanted to create my own polish and this Indie kick has certainly made my desire even stronger.

All told I bought:

1. butter London’s Jaffa
2. butter London’s Royal Navy
3. butter London’s Dosh
4. China Glaze’s Lightning Bolt (crackle polish)
5. China Glaze’s Scattered and Tattered
6. China Glaze’s White on White (which I already own and love!)
7. China Glaze’s Sweet Hook
8. Nicole by OPI’s Selena
9. Finger Paints’ Hue Left a Message?
10. Finger Paints’ Vintage Vincent
11. ORLY’s Harmonious Mess
12. Revlon’s Spirit (a white I tested on the spot and it’s definitely not sheer!)
13. Three bottles of Sally Hansen’s Diamond Strength No Chip Nail Color (clear polish)
14. Two bottles of Cover Girl’s Outlast clear polish
15. A plastic pallet set from Michael’s for mixing/”Frankening”
16. Four glass jars for finished products (each are 2 oz. so they’re large)
17. Six packs of fine glitter in white, gold, copper, silver, charcoal, and twilight
18. Revlon’s Matte coat (my first matte polish)
19. Adhesive faux pearls from Michael’s (the cheaper version of the stuff you buy at Sally’s Beauty Supply or any other similar store)
20. More acetone–you can never have enough!

So there’s my haul. Believe it or not I spent less than $100! Where do the “tricks of the trade” come in? Read below!

I Lost My Virginity…

… to Indie polish! I got my first shipment today from Mentality polishes (which can be found on Etsy–I will provide a link to her page at the bottom of this post). I ordered Cart Jacked and 24k Gold. I brushed a little of the 24k Gold onto an existing mani (Timeless by Revlon, a really dark, dark green/blue color) and it looked absolutely gorgeous. I can’t wait to sit down and do a legitimate manicure with the stuff. Because of my excitement I didn’t get the best possible photos so hopefully in the future I will get some actual closeups that really showcase the individual glitters used in this polish. From what I can tell it’s mostly large amounts of teensy tiny gold and pink dust with larger hexagonal pink glitters mixed in. This polish only requires one coat but two coats looks best. Three would probably make you have a seizure, haha.

Onto the photos!

Here’s a closeup of the two bottles I received.

Tiffany Imposter by Finger Paints

I’m reviewing two blue polishes for this post. The first polish up is by Finger Paints and it’s called Tiffany Imposter. I actually purchased it almost a year ago from Sally’s Beauty Supply in Virginia. I’ve always admired it and have even worn it a few times so it’s long overdue for a legitimate review.

Randomness

So I am going to write three or four different posts today. The first is a collection of random things that don’t go anywhere else. I would like to introduce my son, Jameson. He LOVES getting a hold of my nail polish bottles which obviously isn’t a good thing most of the time. I would be in a world of trouble if he somehow opened one. However, I let him have it last night while I was re-organizing my collection. He went back and forth from the box of polish to a bedside table and started lining bottles of Essie polish up. It was freaking adorable.

He actually lined them up on this box top first. He did a pretty good job for a 19 month old!

Anyway, I don’t know about y’all but I love looking at other people’s collections. I wish I could have another “nail polish room” like I did in Virginia but our house here in North Carolina only has three bedrooms. Ah well. For now everything will have to stay in my dresser drawer.

Here’s a photo of the Revlon polishes I have. Revlon was the first brand I really liked and it’s available in pretty much any store that sells polish. It’s great quality stuff for the price (usually between $3.50 and $4.99 but sometimes more depending on which line; never over $8 though). Every bottle I’ve ever gotten has applied smoothly and stays on for up to a week without chipping in spite of washing dishes, changing diapers nonstop, etc. It’s a good brand to start out with if you’re just getting into nail polish.

More posts to come!

 

Take Me to Your Chateau by Color Club

Today’s review is going to be for Take Me to Your Chateau by Color Club. This was one of the polishes I ordered online last week and I received it in the mail yesterday. I immediately tried it out and loved it. Click below for more.

Late Night Humor

Ain’t this the truth… I don’t know about y’all but I only paint one hand when doing anything for this blog. However, once I finish posting everything I usually put a simple coat of random polish on for fun. Unfortunately I am terrible with my right hand! There’s a reason I only ever take photos of my left and it’s not just because I’m right handed, it’s because I jack up my right hand while applying polish. Not only that but I totally neglect my right hand. It doesn’t get as much cuticle cream, oil, lotion, etc. as the left does. Poor right hand.

A Face Lift, an Update, a Manicure, and a Review

Today’s post is going to be quite substantial as it contains a backlog of reviews and even a manicure. There’s also a lengthy update about the page itself and my plans for the future. Polishes reviewed include Resurrection by Sally Hansen (Complete Salon Manicure) and Lollipop by Orly.

butter London

Quite honestly I’m not sure if I should say “butter by London” or “butter London” when it comes to writing about this brand. I’ve seen it both ways on other blogs. The bottles don’t include the “by” but it sounds better to me so I’m going to keep writing it that way.

Anyway, today I went back to the MCX to take advantage of the great prices for this polish. I got three more bottles: Toff, Queen Vic, and Shandy. The $11.00 price tag was a callin’ my name and I couldn’t resist. I now have six bottles of this polish so my collection is growing. Right now I have more Essie, China Glaze, Revlon, and OPI than any other polishes but that might just change given how much I’ve enjoyed butter by London.

I got home and decided to try Queen Vic out first.

Score!

So I was at the MCX (Marine Corps Exchange store on base that is basically like a Target that also sells designer stuff) today and found a whole stand full of butter by London polish for just $11 a bottle! I wish I hadn’t spent nearly $30 on the two bottles I ordered online last night. I thought I was being thrifty too because I had found websites selling them for up to $15 or even more but apparently I was missing out. 

Of course I picked up two bottles while I was there. I got Jasper and Bossy Boots. I also picked up a polish by Sally Hansen called Fuzz-sea. Fuzz-sea is part of their newer line of “fuzzy” polishes and I hadn’t seen them ever before (which is why I’m assuming it’s at least new-ish). They were really awesome looking so I picked up the bottle that was a mix of yellows, greens, and blues; very summery! 

Obviously I’m a huge fan of butter by London so this “review” will be short but very sweet. Here are the two colors on a nail wheel:

 

Click below to see more!