Happy Mardi Gras! (and day off for me!)

After a ridiculously stressful couple of weeks, I finally have a couple days off! I wanted to do something fun, so I kind of just grabbed a couple polishes at random. The first I applied was Claire's Cotton Candy scented nail polish. In the bottle it looks like a neon turquoise with a blue flash, with holographic glitter. Unfortunately, the pigmented base of the polish compleeetely covers the holo glitter. So what did I do? I ADDED a holo glitter gradient using, Nicole by  OPI Make a Comet ment. And then for Mardi Gras bling I added Wet n Wild Correction Tape from last year's On the Prowl collection. And a thick coat of Seche Vite.

I really like this, the turquoise doesn't go too green on me (which I hate) and the blue flash really brightens it up. Kinda love it!

Glitterrrr on mah naaaiiiils makes me happyyyyy.

Catherine Arley 805 - Black holo!

Things are getting pretty stressful at work, so I felt like I needed a palette cleansing vampy mani. I chose Catherine Arley 805 because its a gorgeous black with a little holo surprise. I hauled Catherine Arleys last year as one of my first big internet nail polish purchases. They are relatively hard to find because you have to order them from a European website that's very tricky to maneuver. But I regret nothing! Their brushes are a little wonky, and the formula is a liiiittle thick, but the colors... Yum. And they dry quickly and with a glossy finish, even without topcoat. The CA polishes tend to be less linear holographic and more scattered or a sparse almost-linear formation.

I added a rose painted on with acrylic paint and a dotting tool. I have a Lancome executive type visit today at work, so hopefully my rosy nail art will woo them.

Blurry to show the rainbowy-ness.

Rose nail art over Essie Armed and Ready

When I saw swatches of Essie's Armed and Ready, I was skeptical of its greatness. It appeared in swatches to be a dark dusty green with tinges of blue-grey with a lovely golden flash. But I have been letdown so many times by polishes with hidden shimmer. Luckily this polish's shimmer isn't too hidden. The formula was gorgeous, non-streaky, full coverage, almost a one-coater. I had no bubbles and no issues with application, it practically applied itself. In the first picture I'm holding Essie Playdate, which was another polish from this collection.

And I painted these roses using a dotting tool, dots of acrylic paint, and then swirled them together.