DizzyNails

 How on earth has it been 10 days since my last post?!

 I blame illness, retail work, and the Holidays.

 This here is three coats of OPI Speak for Your-Elf, a mini from the Ulta Holiday set from - I want to say - last year.  I did another Sephora X experiment by using their base and top coat with this mani.

 Results?  HUGE success!  I'm on day seven currently, with only tip wear!  This is so cool.

 Ah, this was my previous mani, which I didn't really get any proper pictures of.  I used NerdLacquer Don't Panic (green) and Data Squirrel (red).  It was my glittery funky Christmas themed mani.

 I don't think I'll ever tire of Lynnderella Happy Holo-Daze!  I found myself craving it recently.

 Here I dabbed one coat over one coat of Cult Nails Nevermore.  I used three top coats in total, but it was gorgeous and smooth like glass.

 This is my second go at a Sephora X nail polish mani.  I used two coats of Ice Princess here.

 Ice Princess is a mix of highly reflective and metallic goldy-green shimmers as well as larger chunky pink glitters.  It's a bit thick, so application does require a little extra care.  I didn't feel the need particularly to clean up, though, so that's an added bonus.

 It's quite textured, as I'm sure you can see.  I used three coats of Sephora X top coat (denying Gelous so as to be a Sephora X purist and hope for nine days of amazing wear) and it still was not smooth.  I can't do more than three top coats.  I just.  Can't.

 Check out how insanely metallic and mirror-like it can be!  And also how chunk-tastic, below!  I kind of loved and hated it, all at the same time.  The shininess kept winning me back, though.

 My pictures don't capture it, but the gold shimmer actually shifts green in person.  It's really quite interesting and unique.  You can almost see it below.

 As much as I would have been happy to have worn this for nine days, it was not meant to be.  :(  It started chipping - fairly big chips - in about a day's time.  I tend to have quicker and bigger chipping with glitter polishes in general, so I'm not totally shocked.  I was definitely sad, though.

 Here are a couple of Holiday manis I've worn recently.  I've been in the mood for Christmas colors!

 This is two coats of Rainbow Honey Annual Emotion.  I used a coat of Lynnderella Happy Holo-Daze! for the accent.  Pardon my application because I didn't clean up one bit and I did this very late at night.  I also skipped my base coat - I can't remember the last time I've done that.

 Next is three fingers of Zoya Logan!  I snapped these pictures right as I was taking it off to change it.  I had already removed my pinky finger.  :)

 This was two coats of Logan.  It's very similar to Ivanka, but a deeper green and definitely feels more like Christmas to me.

 I was so excited about how well the Sephora X mani wore on me that I decided to do an experiment using just Sephora X base coat and top coat with another polish brand.  I chose Zoya.

 This is three coats of Ivanka.  I used one coat of Sephora X base underneath and one coat of Sephora X top coat over top.

 Ivanka is so unbelievably sparkly and dimensional in person and I'm sad I didn't get pictures of her in the sun.  Application was easy.

 Here is an update on the Sephora X mani for you.  I took these pictures on day EIGHT.  I ended up taking off Deranged on day NINE.

 I'm more than blown away by the wear time here.  In fact, to be honest, the last day or two I actually got very reckless with my nails and was picking at things (mostly my poor cuticles) like a naughty girl - I was taunting it to chip yet it would not!!  That weird spot on the end of my pinky nail?  It's like tip wear on steroids.  I wish I knew why but that spot always wears that way, no matter what mani.  :(

 You can see the tip wear all too well in these pictures, mostly because I'm angling to show it off.  In person, it was hardly noticeable.  I did have a tiny chip on the corner of my right index finger (see awkward picture below) that occurred on the first or second day.  Pardon my scraggly skin on that finger.  It gets beat up and picked on more than others!  I thought for sure that the lil' chip would worsen but it didn't go any further until day nine, at which point it went from tiny chip to small chip.

 I recently bought the new Sephora X base coat, top coat, and two polishes.  I was very anxious to try them as I've heard various things about the formula already.

 The X line is supposed to provide a gel-like shine and wear with very good opacity.  I immediately thought, "Well, I'll be the judge of that!"

 This mani is a coat of the X base, two very easy coats of Deranged, and a coat of the X top coat.  While Deranged looks a lot like Orly Galaxy Girl, I feel pretty confident saying that they are not dupes.  

Deranged has more of a pinky-red to blue flash that is very apparent and duo cool while Galaxy Girl has a more prominent turquoise flash.  There is also more of a purple feel to Deranged and more of a burgundy feel to Galaxy Girl.  I'm going to go out on a limb, not having compared them side to side, and say that Deranged is more complex and awesome.

 So, how's the wear, you ask?  It's pretty great so far!  I'm on the end of day four right now and I have a tiny chip on the corner of my right index finger.  I also have some tip wear, but it's not very apparent.  Overall, so far, I am impressed.  Also, the top coat dried reasonably quick.  I was terribly worried that my mani would take an eternity to dry without using quick dry top coat.  I painted these four layers without waiting (or hardly) in between, sprayed everything with quick dry spray, then waited about 25 minutes.  Then I got ready for my day!  They were dry enough to function easily.

 Behold the new Rainbow Honey Holiday Collection!  I got these last week and could not wait to try them.  They are fantabulous!  I did lazy skittles, I hope you don't mind.

 Each nail has base coat, two coats of polish, and a coat of top coat.

 Glittering Rapture has gold, pink, and red glitters and will be lovely on its own or for layering.  The glitters disperse themselves evenly and nicely on the nail.  I did two thick coats here.

 Spirit of Wonder is snowy white with blue glitters and a subtle blue shimmer, which my pictures fail to accurately capture!  I was worried about the formula on this one, but truly it applied very nicely and gave me no trouble at all!  I think it's a really fun, wintry, snowy color and it's hard to find whites that cooperate in just two coats.

 Gilded Angel is a high shine metallic gold holo.  METALLIC HOLO.  What.  Is.  This.  Magic?!?!

 I'm not sure I can quite describe it, but Gilded Angel and Annual Emotion are unlike any other holos I've seen or owned.  They are almost foily metallic, but definitely very holo.  Someone help me out with my terrible descriptors!

 I'm wearing Gilded Angel for my pedi right now and I just love it.  I can't see the holo on my toes, but the gold is just super pretty and perfect.

 Both Gilded Angel and Annual Emotion applied very easily, just like the other two in this collection.

 You can pre-order now, if you like, and The Holiday Collection will be available on December 5 (click here).  I have to say, I'm really pleased with all four of these.  They are rocking my holiday socks off!

 Brace yourselves!  This post is not for the faint of heart.  It's going to be quite long and have pictures of many beautiful polishes!

 These pictures are all swatches of Starlight and Sparkles Polish, sold on Etsy here.  All Starlight Polishes you see here have been graciously provided to me for review and I promise I am giving you my honest and heartfelt opinions here.  :)

 I used three coats of Eponymous Princess and no top coat.  Isn't she pretty!?  Reminds me of delicious cupcake frosting.  The application was easy.

 Next is three coats of Starlight holo top coat, no additional top coat.

 Application was easy on this one as well.  Starlight is a delicate silver holo meant to be layered over top of other polishes.

It's so nice on its own!  I forget to try it over another polish, but I'm sure it would be great that way, too.

 One of the reasons I love Starlight and Sparkles holographic polishes is because the formula is so easy and also long-wearing!  I never get pulling, dragging, or early chipping.  They also play well with any base coat I've tried.

 Starlight is quiet in the shade, of course, but I've included a picture above.

 This is two coats of Hot Chocolate, no top coat.

 It is rich and deep, shimmery, glowy, and just delicious!  I adore it.

 This is very pigmented and application was a breeze.  The bump you see on my middle finger below is just part of my actual nail that needed to be buffed away.  Eep!

 Next is Starshine holo top coat.  It's the more subtle sister to Starlight.  Here it is shown over black with no additional top coat.

 If you forgive my awful application on the index nail, it's actually really lovely.

 Starshine has teensy little holo particles, but they still come out nicely in the sun!

 Application was easy except for the index finger I mucked up, but that was only because I rushed the swatching process and the base black wasn't quite dry enough (Finger Paints Black Expressionism).  By the time I got to my middle finger and then the others, the black was dry enough and everything went smoothly.  Below is Starshine in the shade.

 Next up is Sunlight over black, no additional top coat.

 Sunlight was shy for me in the sun, ironically!  I have a hunch that it would benefit from additional top coat.  I always use top coat for my manicures, so I'm sure it will be even more sparkly and pretty that way.

 It's smooth and pretty, just the sparkles are hiding a bit.

 You can see them a little bit better below.

 Sunshine is next!  I used one coat over black with no extra top coat.

 Sunshine is a little more complex and gives a beautiful olive effect over top of the black.

 I really like how this looks!  I bet this would be awesome over dark blues, purples, burgundies - pretty much everything dark!

 Ready for some blue?!  This is one coat of Companion Fairy over black with no top coat.

 Companion Fairy has bue to green shifting sparkles that are so so super pretty.

 I swoon!  I love!  This is perfect.

 My sunshine pictures don't do this justice.  It's even better in person!

 Now I'm going to revisit some old friends!  Companion Fairy actually belongs with these guys as a Legend of Zelda inspired quartet of color shifting sparkle top coats.

 Issa reformulated Din, Nayru, and Farore to be even better.  You can see my previous review of the older formulations here.

 Din shifts from yellow to copper/orange to green.  All of them are shown here over black with no top coat.

 Nayru shifts from turquoise to deeper blue.

 Looking back at my older pictures, I think the new Nayru might be slightly less dense in sparkle particles.  I'm not positive, though, so don't hold me to it!  Both versions are for sure amazingly beautiful.  The new one is much less textured.

 Farore shifts from greeny blue to soft gold.

 All three new versions are noticeably much less "milky" in appearance than the old counterparts.  In fact, I would be hard pressed to notice any milkiness in the new ones whatsoever.

 They all applied easily and only Nayru appeared slightly bumpy without top coat.

 I added a coat of Crytal top coat to each so you can see how they pop even more!

 Crystal is quick drying and long wearing.  It has a good texture - not too thick and not too thin.

 I've not experienced any shrinking or bubbling so far, so I am a happy camper with it!

 You can see that it's super shiny as well.  I am starting to think it's a contender as a top fave, up there with my beloved Butter London quick dry top coat.  Crystal should be available for sale in about a week or so.  It's going to be $6 for a 15mL bottle and $2.50 for a 5mL bottle.  That's quite a bit cheaper  than BL...I could live with that!