Wet N Wild Shine - Blueberry Fizz

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: One of the local drugstores
COMMENTS: The longer nails weren't feeling quite right for the summer, so I cut them down and am liking my shorties. I applied the base color outdoors and the wind was blowing, so there are bubbles. Still an awesome color!
Went to the gym, came home, and stamped over it with my Magnonails plate (yaay for short nails, I can finally cover them completely with the XL stamps!) in Kleancolor - Pastel Blue.

New York Color (NYC) - Park Ave.

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: One of the drugstores (Rite Aid, CVS or Walgreens), or Target or Walmart - can't remember!
COMMENTS: I came back late from the gym and had very little time to do a manicure, so I pulled out something I hoped would be quick and easy and wouldn't require cleanup. This fit the bill!  It reminded me a bit of OPI - Parlez-Vous OPI as I wore it the next day, so I did a comparison before removal, they're not as close as I thought.

Playing with a few more Simply Sweet Polishes

From two other packs I picked up, I just swatched colors on each nail (the yellow IS NOT a Simply Sweet color, it's Maybelline Banana Puddin'):

Sorry, no photos of the packs, but they look the same as this pack I showed previously, just with different colors. Some of the colors are repeats, but I love the bottles!

.. and to make it sweeter..

SOURCE: Rub-on decals were found at Big Lots
COMMENTS: I completely forgot that I modified my manicure the next night by adding some rub-ons, a bit of shimmer, and another coat of topcoat. I'm so predictable that way - unless I have no time I'll usually add some form of nail art to my plain manicures - even if I don't find the time until days later. :)

Simply Sweet - Beige with pink accent

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2 of each
TOPCOAT?: See photos please
SOURCE: Ross Dress for Less store
COMMENTS: Unlike the previous red mani with this brand, this one stayed intact for the three days I had it on. That means my ridge filler was to blame after all. I'm liking these polishes and saw two more packs with different colors (the larger bottles) at TJ Maxx on Saturday. I'm really liking jellies for the hot summer days - especially with topcoat!

The second pack has slightly smaller square bottles:

I did an accent nail with a color from the first pack to test longevity. 

2 coats, no topcoat: 

With topcoat:

Nfu Oh - 65

APPLICATION: Smooth, applied over Aquabase from the same brand.
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: No
SOURCE: www.fabuloustreet.com
COMMENTS: These kinds of holographic polishes are nice, especially in the sun. However I'm always a little disappointed at how unimpressive they look when they're not in direct light. This mani didn't last long without topcoat. The one nail on my right hand that I used a supposedly holo-safe topcoat on still dulled significantly after the topcoat had dried. Ah well, good thing it was a sunny day!

Indoors - artificial light

Outdoors - direct sunlight

Indoors - indirect light

Simply Sweet - Red Jelly

APPLICATION: Smooth, thick and applies like a gel.
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Ross Dress for Less store
COMMENTS: I purchased this set about a year ago assuming it was kids polish. I normally wouldn't have gotten it, but I found the little bottles cute and planned to empty them out for frankens. They turned out to be jellies!  I've seen 3 different sets by this brand so far, has anyone else tried them?

This mani started chipping the next day, and I'm not sure if it's because I used just a ridge filler under it rather  than my usual base coat - I'll have to try another one to see.

2 coats, no topcoat:

With topcoat:

Quirius - Melange a quatre!

APPLICATION: The white base (LA Colors Color Craze - Energy Source) was streaky and difficult to put on.
COATS: 2 of Energy Source, 2 sponged Quirius layers
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: LA Colors from Dollar Tree, Quirius from the QRS website - www.qnail.com/shop
COMMENTS: Yes, I know, the title doesn't include any of the Quirius polish names, but I'll let you know what they are below. First of all, I got this idea from this wonderful post on luuthienluv blog. She does such amazing nail art, and includes step-by-step photos. I got a little overzealous with the sponging on my index finger, and overlapped a bit too much, lol!

The sponging was super easy to do, and was done on Saturday night. I stamped over it on Sunday evening and am still wearing this manicure with just the tiniest bit of tip wear on my index fingers now. As usual, it's not perfect, but I'm loving it!

Started with white:

Sponged on Quirius  Caribbean Turquoise, News of the Beloved, Cruiser, and Erin Island

Artificial lighting - Saturday night:

Outdoors in sunlight - Sunday:

Stamped and added dots to fill the blank spaces - not the prettiest, but okay!

ABOP Franken - Birthday Bling

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Yes, 1 coat of a really thick one followed by 1 coat of my usual topcoat
SOURCE: ABOP Frankens from this previous post - mostly the one made from TKB Trading's Holographic Holla Glow microglitter

COMMENTS:  To clarify - My thumb, middle, and pinky fingers have 1 coat Holla Glow, 1 coat other holo glitter franken. Index and ring fingers are 2 coats of Holla Glow.

I wore this mani for my birthday and stamped over it much later. It is amazingly blingy, so I have lots of photos for you.

Make sure to check out the VIDEO at the end of this post!!

Oh, and I finally finished the table top:

Indoors - not as blingy, but still some sparkle:

With my tasty beverage at the time:

And the best part - the video. 28 seconds of sparkle!

ABOP Franken - Dusty Teal

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: See photo comments
SOURCE: ABOP Franken - I made this so long ago I don't remember what's in it - oops! Some blue and some yellow...
COMMENTS:I remember sighing happily when I made this color last year, but why didn't I wear it until now? Silly me! Unfortunately I have quite a large number of other frankens sitting around...

Before topcoat:

After topcoat:

It reminded me of Diamond Cosmetic's Don't Teal my Heart Away, so I pulled out the bottle as seen below:

And then added dots to my mani for a real comparison - nope, they aren't the same, which is good!