Simple Pleasures - Unnamed Dark Berry

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS:1 of each
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Simple Pleasures - Ross, Sally Hansen - my old stash, Ruby Kisses - local beauty supply, Love My Nails - Walmart
COMMENTS: This is a pretty color from one of the MANY Simple Pleasures polishes I've acquired (why do they have so many sets? I love sets and just can't resist!). I didn't want to  commit to full color, so did just tips over my base coat.

Then I decided to add some matching glitter at the edge courtesy of Sally Hansen - Planetary.

Just as an aside - I've had this glitter (and quite a few like it) since it came out. On the back it's dated 1999, which makes sense because by then I was out of college and working at my first job.
Anyway, back on topic - I then added a layer of Ruby Kisses Madmoiselle:

And  finally a layer of  Love My Nails - Dazzling

The final look is okay.  My husband liked it a lot because he likes being able to see my bare nail for a change. I of course keep noticing my stained nails...

Just a Ruby Kisses re-run

COMMENTS: I've shown you Ruby Kisses - Madmoiselle before, but wore it again today because I needed a simple mani for the activities I had planned. Once again, I threw on some hex glitter. I don't bother with cleanup on colors like this no one really notices.

Sunlight:

Artificial Lighting:

Ruby Kisses American Clear Pink vs. Madmoiselle

COATS: 3 of each
COMMENTS: Ruby Kisses American Clear Pink (RNP96) has been in my stash much longer than the recently purchased Madmoiselle (RNP77) and I decided to compare them. I now see why although my eyes like it, I never reached for American Clear Pink. It's not effective enough at masking the discoloration on my nail beds. It's also a little streaky on the nail. Madmoiselle is clearly the winner here.

In indirect sunlight:

Ruby Kisses - Madmoiselle

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 3
TOPCOAT?: No
SOURCE: Local beauty supply for 99cents - and by the way, that's how it's spelled - Madmoiselle
COMMENTS: After the yellow fiasco, I needed something less... vibrant, as I wasn't feeling up to doing any more nail art. This polish is amazing! It had just the right amount of pale pink pigment to make my nails look "done" but still natural. You can see my nails are partly stained (I'll need to start using my gel base coat more often), but that wasn't too noticeable in real life. Hex glitter/flat rhinestones from Dollar Nail Art finished the look.  This is my new go-to polish!

Sunlight:

Ruby Kisses - Teal Envy and some marble fun

APPLICATION: Smooth, this polish is nice and thick, just the way I like it.
COATS: 1 thick coat
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Local beauty supply for 99c each.
COMMENTS: I love it! All the polishes are from the same brand.Teal Envy for the base. Swirled over it - the glitter is Baby Blue, the green is Tropical Green, and the blue is called Caribbean. I wore it shiny one day, and put a matte topcoat on it the next.

Ruby Kisses - RNP141 and Nfu Oh - 51

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2 of the blue, 1 of the flaky
TOPCOAT?: Not until after adding the last layer of flaky - the blue is so shiny on its own!
SOURCE: Ruby Kisses is sold at a beauty supply store nearby, Nfu Oh is from the website
COMMENTS: This blue caught my eye and reminded me of another polish I've been seeing on the nail board at makeupalley lately. I could tell just from looking at the bottle that it would be a "jelly" - not fully opaque, but still packing quite a lot of color. I added the Nfu Oh flaky (oh my, so many flakes in each brushstroke!) for some visual interest.

One coat on my left hand:

Two coats on my right hand: