ABOP Franken - More sorbet please!

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: No
SOURCE: Franken made with Nina Ultra Pro - Tango and Out the Door Quick Dry topcoat.
COMMENTS: Another quick jelly/sorbet. I loved this orange the night before, but the next  day in natural light it was a bit too bright/garish. I'll use a less "red" orange if I happen to make another.

I decided to throw another rub-on under the jelly. Bzzzt!

Source color - Nina Ultra Pro - Tango.

I love making these with a quick dry topcoat - nice and shiny AND dries quickly. Mine's on the thick side, so I get nice thick squishy coats.

Oops, some dry skin from where I used acetone to clean up. Ah  well...

Are YOU making your own jelly/sorbet polish? Another excellent base for these is the LA Colors - Color Craze polishes. I'll try one of those soon.

Color Club - More than just a set of nameless reds...

APPLICATION: Smooth on all
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Only in photos of the complete manicure
SOURCE: Ross Dress for Less
COMMENTS: When I first saw this set of reds with no names and in a package that didn't reflect the actual collection, I said to myself "Who needs that many reds?". Well apparently I feel I do (I don't really, but I convinced myself I could franken with them). So... I decided to do a mani with the four cremes and the red glitter. The last two bottles in the set are red shimmers, one of which also has a flash of gold shimmer in it. I used the first five in the not-so-great photo below.

I think the cremes are actually a jelly-ish formula because I still had visible nail line after two coats.

Chloe-style tips done with Nina Ultra Pro -Black and an then everything topped with an unnamed Elle LDL (from 9-pack in Ross) gold shimmer topcoat.  Finished off the mani with one coat of Quick Slicker.

With my nails so long now, I'm still getting used to seeing such large areas of color, so after some time I felt the need to break it up a little more. I used a Color Club Art Club striping polish to add a line. These photos were taken before I threw on another layer of topcoat.

Tres Risk - Suede Pumps, Tres Risk - A Lotta Cash

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2 of Suede Pumps (the grey), 1 of A Lotta Cash (the green)
COLOR DUPE ALERT: Suede Pumps is (to my eye and on my right hand) almost a dead on dupe for Nina Ultra Pro - Never Glum Plum, that's why I have it hanging out in the bottle pic.
TOPCOAT?: Not in the first photos - only in the last one.
SOURCE: Ross Dress for Less - from a set of 4.
COMMENTS: When I swatched these two on tips they were rich and creamy, so I couldn't wait to wear them. However, I didn't want to use them on their own for an all grey or all green mani. Solution? Combine them! This combo was the winner of my audition. I used acrylic paint for the white stripe. The polishes were quite shiny on their own, but I had to add a top coat later (last photo) to seal in the acrylic paint. I need to do more like this!

Nina Ultra Pro - Bossa Nova

APPLICATION: A little thick, but otherwise smooth.
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: No (this glorious color dried quickly!)
SOURCE: Sally Beauty Supply
COMMENTS: Que Rico! I was playing in my Orly/FingerPaints/Nina Ultra Pro/OPI/Cover Girl drawer and planned to wear a combination of two greens from Finger Paints. However, this color caught my eye, and I just had to put it on next. Such a rich color, and almost a one-coater. I love the name too! Outdoor pics follow (see, it's that special).

UP NEXT: Avon - Urban Grey

Nina Ultra Pro - Mambo, Purple-xing

APPLICATION: Smooth on both.
COATS: 2 of both
TOPCOAT?: Not until the mani was complete.
SOURCE: Sally Beauty Supply
COMMENTS:  I planned to wear Purple-xing next, but really didn't feel like wearing it as a full mani. To compromise, I first put on Mambo, a gorgeous medium purple that is a shade I've wanted for a while. Then I used the Purple-xing as an accent. Just enough bling.

UP NEXT: Sally Hansen - Stellar

Nina Ultra Pro - Sweet Nothings

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: No
SOURCE: Sally Beauty Supply
COMMENTS: This was a hard pink to photograph (and I'm ready to toss the OTT bulb out!). It is actually lighter than shown. It dried to a nice glossy finish. I did put on a topcoat after a bit of nail art (last pic)

UP NEXT: LA Girl - Matte Alpine Green and Crowd Surfing

Avon - Olive Green, Nina Ultra Pro - Salsa

APPLICATION: The Avon was thick but easy to control. Nina Ultra was smooth.
COATS: 1 of each. Since the Avon was thick and covered in one coat, I put the Nina Ultra Pro on thick enough for one-coat coverage.
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Www.avon.com and Sally Beauty Supply respectively.
COMMENTS: I'm pleased to announce that both of these colors lasted on my nails - including pool time - without any chips or peeling. I did use a different  base coat (Gelous) than the one I used with Tangtastic (Nailtek II), so that was probably what caused the peeling on my last Avon mani. It was fun wearing two different greens, and while I'm sure the colors would have held up for longer, I needed a change.

UP NEXT: Nina Ultra Pro - Sweet Nothings

Nina Ultra Pro - Leaf Me Alone

Application: Smooth
Coats: 2, no topcoat, still a bit of visible nail line.
Source: Sally Beauty Supply
Comments: Wowser! This is a fabulouus green. It's so fresh and squishy and fresh and... Oops, getting distracted. I guess the finish is what would be called a "jelly"?  I stamped the tips from Konad again - better on my left hand, but my right - not so good. Just need practice. Stamping polish was the unnamed light green pastel from Icing.

The next day, I played some more with this - this time with a Bundle Monster plate pattern: