I Desire better Circus Elephants

Hi guys! Today I've got two polishes for you, Aldo Circus Elephant and Revlon Desire.

And I totally forgot to take bottle shots. Of course. Maybe someday I'll actually remember it for once. Anywho.

I was really excited for Circus Elephant because it was a really intriguing color. Kind of a putty color, but a little pinkish. I think it might be similar to OPI Steady as She Rose.

Inside

Outside

So. This is three coats. The formula was atrocious. It was really... gluey. It didn't level itself out and it made those weird little stringy things. Do you know what I mean? I'm not really sure how to describe it. Also, the really weird thing was that as I was putting on another coat of polish, it would like... look really porous, as though the layer underneath was full of little holes or something. It was really bizarre. Luckily the quick drying drops I use seemed to smooth it out when I dropped them on, and they didn't end up being an issue. Since I'm right-handed, my left hand turned out okay, but my right hand...

 Yeah. Not so much.

So that was pretty disappointing since I really liked the color. Inside, it was a "putty" color, but outside it was a really washed out, purpley pink. I don't have OPI Steady as She Rose, but you can see a picture of it here at The Daily Nail Reviews. I think they look extremely similar though Circus Elephant leans more lavender-y while Steady as She Rose leans more pink. I'm really hoping thinner can save this one because the color is awesome. :(

Anyway, I could tolerate my left hand but since my right hand was a hot mess, I took it all off and decided I could use something bright, so I put on Revlon Desire. Thank goodness, the formula was an absolute dream.

 Inside. I don't have any outdoor pics because it started to rain.

Two coats of yummy jelly deliciousness. As you can see, it dries to a satiny finish, but since I wanted this to last a few days I put a topcoat on it. It is positively stunning.


It's just so vivid and juicy! It's like a berry sunset on my nails. I am completely in love. Oh, and by the way? Zero cleanup. That's right. That's how great this formula was. This is just awesome. Major kudos to Revlon.

So even though I had one major flop today, Desire more than made up for it. I'm ending this day happy. Are you as into this delicious jelly as I am?

Scotch Flowers + Haul!

This is a ridiculously long post, guys. Just warning you. Buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Since my pictures of Leprechaun Lynch (posted about here) were pretty inaccurate, I went and took some more that I think are better.

 Inside

 Sun! It's so freaking bright in real life. It was almost GLOWING. It's awesome.

 Outside, shade.

 Look, it matched my shirt!

Then I figured I should spice it up a bit because I hadn't done anything fancy in a while, and I didn't bring my Konading stuff with me (I'm not THAT obsessed) but I did bring my cleanup brush and so I painted on some flowers with it. They're not the best, but I think they look sort of... rustic.





I used Essie One of a Kind for the petals and Milani Gold Lame (where is that flipping accent key) for the centers.


Removal was difficult. Here, I have a long story about it: I wore Nyx Frizz Spots on Monday (didn't take a picture since I posted about it here) and I didn't want to freak out my relatives by doing the foil method so I decided to go at it with just acetone and cotton balls. Well, that was a mistake. It was a total PITA to remove, and I had to pick some pieces of glitter off. Then, since I put the topcoat over Leprechaun Lynch I had to first use acetone and then rubbing alcohol, but then I did acetone again since the rubbing alcohol wasn't working very well. In the end, my poor nails hated me and I got some teeny peelies. :( I'm lucky enough to have pretty strong, healthy nails, and I've never gotten peelies. All the picking and scrubbing at my nails was not the kindest thing to do to them.

I don't have a buffer with me, so are there any other ways to get rid of peelies? Any tips would be appreciated. :)

Anyway, I didn't want to forgo nail polish and I'm the kind of person who has the attitude of "Do now, think later" so I figured I'd worry about the peelies later but for now I have to put two coats of basecoat on so that they don't mess with the polish.

SO. That brings us to today. I thought I should do something summery, and neons are all the rage. I don't own any neons since they look horrible with my pale skin, and the closest to a neon I own is AL 120. Again, I didn't take pictures since I posted about it here. I wanted to try my white crackle again (Lightning Bolt from China Glaze) so I put it on top. My left hand didn't turn out so well.

 The cracks are pretty stringy, which isn't my thing.

So I've heard that shaking up the crackle makes it crack better, so I shook it like a polaroid picture (Outkast, anyone? I always thought they were saying polaroid pigeon until I just looked it up ten seconds ago)

 So this is how it cracked after I shook it. I still wish the cracks had been bigger and less vertical, but it was better than pre-shaking.

And! My haul!
 Okay, so I guess nine polishes isn't really a big haul, but it is for me! Handling money makes me nervous.

 All from Icing. I haven't seen any Icings anywhere near where I live so I had to go in! I'd heard that Icing is a sort of offshoot of Claire's, and it honestly seems exactly the same as Claire's to me. I'm not sure why they need both, but they definitely have better nail polish than Claire's so I won't argue. From L to R: Icing Duality in Force of Love and Magnetic Attraction, Icing Mood Swing in Stormy/Serene, Icing Glamorous, and Icing Rock Star From Mars. Yes, I got a Charlie Sheen polish. So sue me. It's pretty. I thought about getting Tiger's Blood since it's a dupe for Cult Nails Captivated (here is a comparison from The PolishAholic), and Epic Winning was very pretty too, but I couldn't resist Rock Star From Mars. Come on, it so has the best name.

Force of Love, one end of the duo stick looks super similar to Deborah Lippmann's Across the Universe (it's safe to say ATU is my #1 lemming!) so how could I NOT get this?

 I couldn't get a good picture, but the Serene/Stormy mood polish appears to be a purple/blue duochrome, or at least a purple with a very strong blue shimmer. It's super pretty in real life.

 I couldn't capture it on camera, but Glamorous is blinding in real life. It's so holo! I don't have any really awesome holos so I thought this would be perfect.

 Rock Star From Mars is a beautiful blue jelly with golden glitter. I love it.

The Icings were BOGO 50% off so how could I say no? I was going to get some of Icing's Black Shatter but apparently it wasn't part of the sale (WTH?) but it's just as well since I haven't heard how Icing's shatter works and this way I was able to get Glamorous!

Aldo nail polish in Mercury and Circus Elephant, Revlon Just Tinted in Desire and Victorian, and H&M polish in Deep Sea.

We went into Aldo after Icing, and even though they weren't on any kind of sale I was on a roll, no stopping me now! The Revlons were BOGO 50% off too, so I was like "Hey, why not?" and then the H&M one was cheap so I threw it in there. There aren't any H&Ms in Texas so I had to check it out. I like it! I am so jealous of how good the prices are. H&M, come to Houston!

Anyway! This has been a ridiculously long post so I'm going to end it now.

Scotch Naturals Leprechaun Lynch

I'm back! I couldn't stay away for long, heehee. I'm in St. Louis visiting la familia and I've decided that since I'm on vacation, I'm allowed to break my no-buy as long as it's a brand I've never seen in Houston or if it's a truly exceptional polish. So... what do you know... my first day here, and I find Scotch Naturals. It's a bit pricey at $15 bucks a pop, but I'm pretty sure it's 100% non-toxic or all natural or something. It's safe for pregnant people, at least, so it's pretty not-toxic. The ingredients list on my bottle is pretty short, and it consists of (in this order): water, acrylic polymer emulsion, and non-toxic colorants. So if you're one of those overzealous germophobe mom types, or maybe you're just kinda hippie-dippy (like me!) then this is the brand for you.

I had a hard time deciding between this color and Highland Fling (I was thinking it might be the perfect coral I'm in search of), but I decided I could easily franken a perfect tailor-made coral for myself, and I liked the looks of Leprechaun Lynch.

The lady at the store gave me a little handout that included info about Scotch Naturals.



You can click on the pictures to read about it. Basically it says that your nails should be super "hydrated" for the polish to adhere properly and if they aren't then the polish will be streaky and chip. Basically, "if our polish wears like crap on you then it's your fault, not ours." They also suggest not using a base coat so that the polish can actually make your nails stronger (not really sure how they would do that since they don't actually *have* anything nourishing in their polish, they just *lack* harmful chemicals). I skipped a base coat since I figured it would kind of defeat the purpose of the whole "all natural" idea.

So.
 Snazzy bottle, eh?



Since I'm not in my native habitat I can't take the same kinds of pictures anymore. It was kind of late when I did this so I didn't get any outdoor shots, sorry. I wish I could actually convey this color. It's got just the tiniest, tiniest, tiniest hint of green. It reminds me of a bluer version of Essie Turquoise and Caicos, and it's actually almost neon, but not quite. I've heard some people describe some polishes as a sort of neon pastel, and I think this would fall in that category.

This is two coats, and I thought it would be really sheer because it's water-based, but it was surprisingly opaque. It did have a different "feel" than regular nail polish, I guess, but it's hard to describe. It wasn't bad, just different. It was very smooth and easy to control.

However... right after I took these pictures, maybe about half an hour after I had put this on, I had chips! Dude, not cool. I guess my nails weren't "HYDRATED" enough. So I put another coat on and then put my OPI topcoat on because this color was too pretty to waste.

Overall, I'd say I was happy with this except for the chipping. Not sure if it's worth the $15, though, but I love the color and oh, I forgot to mention, it has absolutely no scent, which is pretty nice since I'm used to having to hold my breath when painting my nails. Also, since it's not made out of the same chemicals as nail polish, you can't use nail polish remover to remove it. The lady at the store told me to use rubbing alcohol, which I did, and it worked like a charm.

And... look what else I got!

 Free prize? Yes please!

...Oh. That's it? They couldn't even stick it on straight...

Anyway. I'll probably be posting every other day or so while I'm out of town, but I'll definitely be posting.

And! I almost forgot to mention, Leslie got my package today! I sent her a mini-bottle of OPI DS Reflection so she could experience the awesomeness. She tried it out here. Go check it out!

PHEW! Okay I'm finally done. Talk to me, peeps!
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