China Glaze - TTYL and Nfu Oh - 63

APPLICATION: Tricky, especially with the Nfu Oh. You have to apply these without going over the same area twice otherwise you risk getting bald patches on the nail.
COATS: 2 of each
TOPCOAT?: Yes, in all but the first two photos.
SOURCE: China Glaze:Victoria Nail Supply, Nfu Oh: fabuloustreet
COMMENTS: I realized I have been seriously neglecting the holographic polishes in my collection and so decided to enjoy these over the weekend. Once again, I think I prefer scattered holo to superfine linear holo. The latter are just so dull when there isn't lots of light bouncing off them, which is  most of the time. I added some glitter on the tips to liven this mani up indoors.

Um, excuse me, where's my holo? This is what it looks like most of the time:

LA Colors - BCC564 - Atomic

APPLICATION: Smooth, although my bottle had little iridescent silver specks in it.
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Only in last two photos.
SOURCE: Dollar Tree for $1
COMMENTS: I figured I'd round out my week by using another polish from this brand. This one had some super tiny specks of silver reflective pigment in it. I think it may have been just my bottle as they weren't uniformly spread out. You only notice them really close up (they look like white specs in my photo), but they  weren't gritty or anything. Anyway, as usual, I put a Golden Rose Scale Effect (02) on my ring finger as an accent.

LA Colors - Nuclear Energy

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 3 (and it was worth it!)
TOPCOAT?: After flakies added
SOURCE: Dollar Tree ($1)
COMMENTS: After my last mani fail, I wanted to try something that wouldn't disappoint - since green and purple are my favorite colors, I settled on this purple hoping it would be as fabulous as the blue, Static Electricity, from the same brand was. I almost was disappointed again - after two coats, it was still see-through and somewhat uneven. I decided to add one more coat and was so happy with the result, I actually stopped to take photos mid-way. Juicy squishy purple - another score  for LA Colors!
Accent nails done with Golden Rose Scale Effects 01 and 14 on the left and right hands respectively.

Look at the difference between two and three coats!

Oops, didn't moisturize after cleanup on the right hand! :)

Tuesday evening - in what was left of the fading daylight:

Avon Speed Dry + - Mambo Melon

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?:  No
SOURCE: Avon online store (www.avon.com) for $3
COMMENTS: I wanted to try a tape mani and needed a quick drying base color. I pulled this out because I hoped it would perform like this other speed dry, but alas, just as the color wasn't what I had hoped for (it has shimmer, but I wanted creme), this one didn't dry quickly enough. In my impatience I decided to try some nail art. Nah, didn't like that either. This mani came off before I wasted time adding the white to my right hand or cleaning up. Mani fail!

LA Colors - Static Electricity and Golden Rose Scale Effects - 08

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Only after adding the flakies.
SOURCE: Dollar Tree and Golden Rose (Malta)
COMMENTS: Now this is what I'm talking about - a $1 polish that applies and covers and shines like a more expensive one. Why haven't I worn this before?! This was gorgeous on its own, but I just had to put some flakies over it. My ring finger was the guinea pig, so it has some other flakies on it.

OPI skittles - sometimes I don't get the hype...

APPLICATION: Okay, DS Reflection applied the smoothest.
COATS: 2 of each
TOPCOAT?: Not until after nail art.
SOURCE: Various
COMMENTS: I know lots of people rave about OPI, but honestly, I've never been as enthusiastic about the brand. I owned just one bottle from this brand - Vould U Like a Lick-tenstein - until last year, when I decided to add some more to my collection. There are definitely some standout colors, but I'm not really wowed by any of the ones in this post. Ah well...
I did finally get a JCP coupon though, and used it to get a few from the Texas collection, those I think might look better on me.

From left to right below:
OPI - Ali's Big Break, DS reflecttion, The Show Must go On!,  Let Me Entertain You
Bottle: OPI - Vould U Like a Lick-tenstein? (on my thumb)

 

Spotted and Matted - Ulta Limelight

COMMENTS: I modified this mani to the one I originally had planned before being wowed by the color last night. Dots were added with a new Kiss nail art pen ($5.50 for a set of two - black/white or silver/pink). I then put a matte topcoat over it. I picked up this topcoat which is meant for the older Orly Satin Hues polishes at a nail supply that has a small selection of old Orlys. I'm so surprised at how well this topcoat works, and prefer it to my China Glaze matte Magic! Or maybe that just means I prefer the "satin" look to the fully "matte" look...

Ulta - Limelight

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: No
SOURCE: Ulta store - these are currently on sale 2 for $4 online by the way!
COMMENTS: Oh.My.Goodness. I looove this green. I used Limelight in my floral mani from last week, but knew I wanted to revisit it. The plan for tonight was to put it on, add some tiny black dots with a new nail art pen, and then mattify it. After two coats I just couldn't bring myself to put anything over it! It reminds me of crisp green apples, but my husband said it makes him think of avocado. Works for me! 
I haven't checked, but I have a hunch this might be similar to Nina Ultra Pro - Leaf me Alone, which is what I have on in my profile photo.

UP NEXT: Maybe I'll get round to dotting and mattifying it? Not making any promises!