Elf - Lilac

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: Only after penguin added.
SOURCE: I bought two by mistake! One directly from the Elf website, and another as part ot the spring 5-pack at Ross.
COMMENTS: I've heard people complain about the quality of Elf polish, and although I have quite a few, have only worn Elf - Light Red in the past. Well, I'm not sure what the problem is because this applied beautifully and lasted for the few days I had it on. I love the color! The decal was purchased at a random Dollar General in Brooklyn, NY when I was there earlier this year.

Added a coat of Aziza XOXO to the accent nail before applying decal.

Best Nail Treatments - Game Day and Kleancolor Holo Green

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2 of Game Day, 1 of Holo Green
TOPCOAT?: Yes, after the Kleancolor
SOURCE: Nail supply stores in Los Angeles.
COMMENTS: I noticed a full rack of these Best Nail Treatments in one of my favorite nail stores and noticed that they are made by Poshé - who also make a popular quick drying topcoat. This color appealed to me, so I picked it and two shimmer topcoats up. The holo green has been waiting to be worn, and this was the perfect color to layer it over.

Game Day dries to a satin finish:

Sunlight - the next day:

Ulta Lav-ish, Pure Ice - Purple Reign and Magic

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2 of Lav-ish
TOPCOAT?: Yes
SOURCE: Ulta store and Walmart
COMMENTS: This has got to be the first time in a long time that I have worn a nail polish on the same day that I purchased it. I had Ulta Lav-ish on my nails just a few hours after buying it, and seeing the similarity to Purple Reign (they both have bits of copper/gold micro shimmer in them), I decided to combine the two. Pure Ice - Magic was similar to the shimmer in both, so I added a thin line in that polish to separate the colors.

A question for you...

Hi Everyone!
This post is slightly different as I am seeking input from you this time.
I've noticed that my Golden Rose Swatches post still gets quite a few hits in spite of the fact that I did those swatches quite a while ago.

If you're one of those who finds that page useful, would you like to see more swatches of the rest of my Golden Rose collection?  I may spread it out as actual manicures rather than swatch posts, but do let me know in the comments if you're interested in seeing these. Thank you!

Unforgettable Moments - Boyfriend Blue

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: See photos
SOURCE: Payless Shoes Store - I picked this up a while ago after learning they now sell some beauty items.
COMMENTS: I was pleasantly surprised by how fabulous this blue is. Such a lovely color!
Before topcoat:

The next day I played with stamping and a layer of Pure Ice - Heartbreaker.

Monthly Mani-Fest August 2011

Another month has passed!

Here's a look back at all my manicures last month. 

*To see an individual post, click on the link below the photo which interests you.

Golden Rose Care + Strong - 108,109, 110, 111, Paris - 13

Cherimoya - Jazz Olive

Icing - Turq Me Away 

Fingerpaints - Military Green 

My weakness - nail polish in sets 

Confetti - Margarita Senorita 

Sation - Purple Royal and some shimmer topcoats 

Playing again... 

Barielle from top to bottom... 

Bettina - Peppermint vs. Simple Pleasures - Unnamed blue

Gifted Flakie-Jelly Franken - Dreaming of Purple 

Love and Beauty - Green and a jelly sandwich! 

OPI - Guy Meets Gal-veston 

California Nails - Set 1 

California Nails - Set 2 

Dare Heart N Roll nail polish set 

Marina & Demme - Unnamed cream 

Bettina - Earth 

Blush Disco Diva - Funkadelic, and glitter 

Teal Overload 

OPI - Too Hot Pink to Hold 'Em and Ludurana - Arco-Iris

Maybelline - Taupe to Coral

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 2
TOPCOAT?: After glitter layer, yes
SOURCE: Maybelline from old stash, this was an old favorite of mine. Glitter from goldenroseusa.com.
COMMENTS: Another old Maybelline, Taupe to Coral is one I wore a few times way back when my nail polish collection was smaller. I loved that it changed colors depending on the lighting and viewing angle. I have another one of these I wore often too and maybe will wear it soon. I added a thick coat of Golden Rose Care & Strong 169 for some more visual interest. It's hard to tell in the photos, but this was pretty blingy sometimes!

Maybelline Revitalizing Color - Caribbean Sunset

APPLICATION: Smooth
COATS: 1 and 2 shown in photos
TOPCOAT?: Only after nail art
SOURCE: Dollar Tree
COMMENTS: I've been trying to get back into using my older nail polish, and wanted something that was simple and wouldn't be too distracting in church. I purchased this as part of a two-pack, and the other item was a strengthener with calcium - which I decided to use as a base coat. The formula was surprisingly amazing on this. I expected it to be watery like some of the older polish I have. The color... maybe it's because I don't wear colors like this too often, but it's gorgeous and refreshing!
I wore one coat to church, then added another afterwards and stamped a pattern from my Magnonails XL B plate. Finished up by outlining the pattern with tiny dots using the same nail art pen I used in my last post.

(Photos taken with phone, so not as clear)

One coat:

Two coats - so shiny!