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Manicure Monday – 3/25/19 – Craving Some Color Haul

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Craving Some Color HaulCraving Some Color Haul

For a while I’ve been in neutral. My manicures, anyway. And I love them. They are chic, effortless, professional, and pretty. They’re still what I reach for the most because they just feel right to me. They’re low-effort but high-polish. My toes were unwaveringly in shades of red since June. I love red, period.

It was winter. It was dreary. On a lark, I did a pedicure at the beginning of January with Nina Ultra Pro Caribbean Blue. For fun. For a shred of liveliness in January. I didn’t intend a matching manicure, but as I executed the pedi I was so thrilled with how it came out that I had to do my nails that way too (using Sensationail Polish to Gel because I can’t be bothered with RnP on my fingers these days). I used to wear a ton of color, used to have a gigantic polish collection that I gradually started to pare back when I started using gel polish.

Inspiration

The two weeks I wore that magnificent blue pearl made me realize I missed having some color in my life. Or at least on my toes and very occasionally (I still try to pretend to be quasi-professional most of the time) my nails. I spent more time than I care to admit (cough, hours and hours) looking at and fawning over swatches. I ultimately purchased five bottles of (regular formula, gasp) polish; I’m calling it my Craving Some Color Haul:

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Manicure Monday – 1/14/19 – Nina Ultra Pro Caribbean Blue

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Manicure Monday - Nina Ultra Pro Caribbean Blue

I wrote the previous Manicure Monday post the Saturday prior to publish. Then, on Sunday, I got rid of the Nude Mood manicure and started anew. So this, really, should’ve gone live Monday. We’re catching up from a lag!

I’ve been doing a lot of neutrals on my fingers and reds on my toes. And I love both – they’re classic, professional, effortless.

A Polish to Gel Manicure

But I wanted some color in my life, so I reached for Nina Ultra Pro in Caribbean Blue and my Sensationail Polish to Gel kit.

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ORLY Gel FX

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ORLY Gel FX (left side)Left side, ORLY Gel FX shades Melt Your Popsicle, Oh Cabana Boy, and Skinny Dip

In my Sally Beauty Haul a earlier this year I bought some new gel polish, including three ORLY Gel FX shades. I’d never tried ORLY’s gel formula before, so this was a trip into uncharted waters.

I am LOVING this formula! Regrettably, I do not have photos or swatches at the moment, but the first application of Melt Your Popsicle (a vivid orange) stuck around for TEN DAYS despite 1) a shoddy, kind of rushed application and 2) me being REALLY hard on my hands.

It’s a really sturdy formula! The only criticism I have for ORLY Gel FX is that, like Gelish, it is best to flash cure every nail or two so the product doesn’t go do what it wants (shrink, move). I ran into a little trouble trying to paint all of them and then do a full cure. It is minor, though, and I’ll take it for how awesome the color is.

As far as this color goes, if you want to really make it pop, apply two coats over an opaque white gel. I’ve done three coats of Melt Your Popsicle, Skinny Dip (bright, pool blue), AND Oh Cabana Boy (vibrant pinky fuschia with shimmer) on its own and my nail line was still visible (it’s kind of a jelly) though the color was pretty saturated. It still looked good, though.

I plan to follow up with swatches of the three ORLY Gel FX shades I own at some point, but I’m not feeling the neons right now. It’s I’m Not Really a Waitress season, after all.

January 2014 Favorites

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January 2014 Favorites

1. Psssst! Dry Shampoo, $6 / 2. Orly Bonder Base Coat, $6 / 3. Swisspers Nail Care Double-Tipped Swabs, $2 /
4. L’Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes Excess, $6/ 5. Revlon Super Lustrous Lip Gloss – Pink Pop, $6

Six dollars seems to be the magic amount for my January 2014 Favorites, huh? More on this after the jump.

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