a-england Saint George

Now here's an absolute beaute from a-england's The Legend collection. I've never had an a-england polish before, but I've always felt like I like or love a great proportion more of their colors than the average brand.

Saint George is stunning. Abso-freaking-lutely-gorgeous. It straddles the border between electric teal and emerald green, and it has beautiful fine, scattered holographic flecks. I didn't get the bottle new, so I'm not sure if the texture is the same as a new bottle, but mine could have used a couple drops of thinner. It was opaque in ONE coat, but I did two 'cause one just feels wrong.

In the light box, you can't really see the holo...

 But in direct artificial light... BOOM!

Anyone know knows me could have predicted I would like this polish because it's teal and holographic, which is a magical combo in my book!

Up next will be a collective haul from swaps, blog sales, online, and retail purchases including an amaaaaazing (and huge!) package from a friend in Germany. Don't miss it!

- <3 Christie

Catrice Saran Wrap Nails

I stumbled upon the "saran wrap mani," and fell in love with the technique. It's SUPER easy too, and (in my opinion), classier than crackle.

All you have to do is:
1. Cut up a small square or two of plastic wrap, crumple into a ball
2. Base coat
3. Color #1
4. Color #2 and quickly! dab with the cling wrap to your liking
5. Top coat
6. Clean up!

This is Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans alone

Gosh, I wish those blue sparkles in the bottle were visible on the nail....

You can just *barely* see the shimmer in it

Cartice Hip Queens Wear Blue Jeans is a dusty, medium-dark greenish blue. It has bright blue hidden shimmer, that just doesn't show on the nail...so sad, but it's still a gorgeous color! I have to say, it had some problems with application...it was a bit thick and prone to bald patches for my taste. It also didn't self-level especially well. Even then, I still like it because the color is so bootyful!

Then, I added a coat of Catrice London Weather Forecast one nail at a time, dabbing with saran wrap. Magic!!

Luuuurve! When I was maybe 13, I painted my room by rag rolling, and this is the same effect, I love it! What do you think?

- <3 Christie

My Nail Journey

Humble beginnings.

Throughout my life, I always struggled with nail biting. I remember trying to stop several times - my nails would begin to grow, but as soon as they got slightly long, I would accidentally destroy them and give up. About a year ago, I discovered nail blogs, MakeUpAlley, water marbling, and all the wondrous things in the nail world. I began to do my nails, but my poor, awkwardly-positioned hands still looked like this....

I played around with a bunch of cool techniques, learned more about cleanup, and got more and more into polish, but still REALLY struggled with taking good care of my digits.

Over time, I got better at making my nails even and letting them grow out, and worked on my photography skills.

And now, my nails and I are bffs! <3 They grew out to a length I love, and I found a shape that works for me. I have polish on all the time, so they never (knock on wood) break, yehoo! I love doing my nails more than ever.

Hits Twist

I hope you enjoyed seeing my transformation, and feel free to ask any questions!

- <3 Christie

Hello, World!

Hello, and welcome!!

My name is Christine, and I am a 21-year-old college student who has a passion for nail polish.  I also love wine, marching band, and videogames - go figure.

I always loved polish, but have been seriously into it for about a year now. In that time, I have built up *quite* the stash, and honed my photography skills. With that realization, I have been feeling a growing desire to share my polish obsession with the world. I love reading nail blogs, and I enjoy sharing my manicures pictures with others, so I am hoping to make this a place where I can interact with people who feel the same way about polish as I do.

I hope to not just post swatches here. I want it to be a mix of swatches, NOTDs, nail art tutorials, and random things like frankens, and even nail polish crafts.

So that's me and my plan...why don't we get started?!