[NOTD] Halloween Manicures

I usually don't dress up in costume for Halloween, but I will take any excuse for a themed manicure.  These are the Halloween manicures I've sported over the past couple weeks.  For all manicures, I used Zoya Anchor for my basecoat and New York Color Grand Central Station for my topcoat.

1.  Milani Purple Passion (2 coats) topped with Hit Polish Witches Brew (1 coat)

Halloween mani #1:  Milani Purple Passion and Hit Polish Witches Brew (modeled with my favorite book, Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury)

2.  Zoya Pia (2 coats) with Color Club Status Update used to stamp a pumpkin design from Bundle Monster BM-222 plate

Halloween mani #2:  Zoya Pia and a stamp from Bundle Monster Plate BM-222 using Color Club Status Update

3.  Orly Steel Your Heart (2 coats) topped with Hit Polish Harley (1 coat)

Halloween mani #3:  Orly Steel Your Heart with Hit Polish Harley

[Favorites] Top 10 Fall Nail Polishes

There are only 8 days left until winter, but I thought I'd share my favorite autumn polish picks with you anyways.  Better late than never, right?  Right?

I love to wear dark, shimmery, or jewel-tone nail polishes in the fall.  I especially gravitate towards reds or browns.  Last autumn, I loved to wear Revlon Vixen on my toes and Revlon Gray Suede on my fingers.  This autumn, I've expanded my nail polish collection.

Top 10 Fall Nail Polishes (l to r): Zoya Nina, New York Color Lincoln Center, Revlon Vixen, Essie Plumberry, Zoya Shivon, Revlon Facets of Fuchsia, Milani Purple, Revlon Gray Suede, Essie Lady Like

My Top 10 Autumn Nail Polishes

[Maroons] Zoya Nina | New York Color Lincoln Center | Revlon Vixen

Zoya Nina ::  This is a creamy chocolate brown with a red undertone.  It is dark but not too dark, so it still looks fine against my super pale skin.  I wear this color for a shocking dark mani or pedi. (Here Nina is worn on my toenails.)

New York Color Lincoln Center :: This color is very similar to "Nina," but it is more red than brown.  The consistency is very watery, which I find easier to apply to my fingernails than my toenails.

Revlon Vixen ::  This color is very similar to the last two, but it is slightly lighter and more maroon.  Of the three, I like this color the best, but it applies a bit streaky and therefore needs three coats, so I usually just apply this as a pedicure.

[Swatches] Middle finger: Revlon Vixen | Ring finger: New York Color Lincoln Center | Pinky: Zoya Nina

In the swatches above, Revlon Vixen is on my middle finger, New York Color Lincoln Center is on my ring finger, and Zoya Nina is on my pinky finger.  (I think Essie Size Matters is on my pointer finger.)  All are shown with two swatches.  Vixen could use another coat.  Obviously, I love maroon nails for fall.

[Lovely Reds] Essie Plumberry | Zoya Shivon

Essie Plumberry :: This is a beautiful red.  I have very pale, cool-tone skin.  This color leans a bit blue and isn't too dark, so it's my perfect red nails polish, and I love having red nails in the fall.  The formula is great: it applies easily in two coats and lasts for days without chipping.

Zoya Shivon :: I have already shown you Shivon. (I've also worn it on my toenails.)  As I've mentioned before, it's a metallic red with gold shimmer on top.  It has a flash of gold, but the base color is blue-toned, so it still looks good on my cool-tone pale skin.  It's a festive holiday color.

[Shiny!] Revlon Facets of Fuchsia | Milani Purple Passion

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia :: This polish has hexagons and tiny dots of fuchsia glitter in a black base.  It was opaque in two coats.  While I normally shy away from black polish (because I am very pale), this polish had enough sparkle to brighten the dreary black plus it's paired with a vibrant fuchsia.  This is my way of wearing black nail polish.

Milani Purple Passion :: This is a gorgeous metallic blue-leaning purple polish.  I love wearing jewel tones in autumn.  Unfortunately, this polish chips very quickly.  I wore it on one finger here and with crackle over it here.

[Fall Neutrals] Revlon Gray Suede | Essie Lady Like

Revlon Gray Suede :: I often prefer neutral manicures, and these following two polishes are my way of wearing a neutral nail in the fall.  Gray Suede is a taupe with a tiny flash of shimmer.  I love it.  I shared a not-very-good picture of me wearing it here (color accurate but you can't see the shimmer).  This is a thin polish (which I like), so I find it easy to apply, and it's opaque in two coats, and it lasts for days.

Essie Lady Like :: I love pinks and purples and browns, and what do you get if you combine all those? Mauve.  This is a lovely light mauve.  It's the same color as Essie Demure Vix(en) without the shimmers.  It's creamy and easy to apply and lasts a long time.  I wore Lady Like here with a lacy scarf of the same color (that I knit myself!).

What have your favorite fall nail polishes been this year?

Manicures From the Last Two Weeks

Since the snow storm and power outage, I have fallen behind sharing my pictures.  These are my manicures from the last two weeks.

The first manicure was inspired by a Halloween carnival, like the one from Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes.

"The night was sweet with the dust of autumn leaves that smelled as if the fine sands of ancient Egypt were drifting to dunes beyond the town." --Ray Bradbury

Halloween manicure inspired by Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury (tungsten lighting)

Thumb:  2 coats China Glaze "Cross Iron 360" topped with CG "Black Mesh"
Index finger:  2 coats China Glaze "Cross Iron 360"
Middle finger:  2 coats Milani "Purple Passion"
Ring finger:  2 coats China Glaze "It's Alive"
Pinky:  2 coats China Glaze "Cross Iron 360"
Base coat:  Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top coat:  Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

Next, I tried to create a second Halloween manicure, but to me, it looked more "leopard print" than "spooky Halloween." (Note: In person, the orange is darker and less yellow. It is an orange rust color.)

Halloween mani with China Glaze "Cross Iron 360" and "Black Mesh" (tungsten lighting)

Base color:  2 coats China Glaze "Cross Iron 360"
Crackle: China Glaze "Black Mesh"
Base coat:  Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top coat:  Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

This next mani was a huge failure.  It only lasted a few hours on my nails before I removed it.  I tried out the new Wet n Wild polish "FuchiasRama," a gorgeous color.  The manicure looked fine when I first applied it, but within a couple hours, it looked mottled, worn, and chipped.  This is probably the worst nail polish I have ever tried in terms of quality.  The picture below shows the mani immediately after painting.

Wet n Wild "FuschiaRama" and Sinful Colors "Frenzy" (tungsten lighting)

Main color:  2 (or was it 3?) coats of Wet n Wild "FuschiaRama" (spelled as one word on the bottle)
Ring fingers: An additional 2 coats of Sinful Colors "Frenzy," a pink and blue glitter
Base coat:  Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top coat:  Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat

The last mani I have to show you was a huge success.  I love this red.  It is Essie "Plumberry," a gorgeous medium red with blue undertones and a slight bit of shimmer.  It is my new favorite red nail polish.  It is between a raspberry and a cranberry color, so "Plumberry" is the perfect name.  The polish applies evenly and looks amazing in 2 coats.  I love it, and it looks great against my pale skin.

I had a difficult time capturing the true "Plumberry" color in a picture.  Its true color is somewhere between the two from the images below.  Imagine the brightness from the first picture but make it a little darker and more blue-toned like the second picture.

Essie "Plumberry" (sunlight)

Essie "Plumberry" (tungsten lighting)

Color:  2 coats Essie "Plumberry"
Base coat:  Sally Hansen Double Duty
Top coat:  New York Color "Grand Central Station"

I'm not sure if it was the "Plumberry" or the top coat (see next paragraph), but this manicure lasted three to four days before any chipping or wear, and I am rough on my nails.  I was amazed.

I tried a new top coat, New York Color "Grand Central Station," and it is my new favorite top coat.  It is easier to apply than Seche Vite (not as thick), and it is less shiny (which I prefer).  It dries just as quickly and seems to last longer, and it costs much less.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!  What are your favorite fall nail polishes / manicures?  I will be doing a post on my favorites soon.

[NOTD] China Glaze Ghoulish Glow

I have glow-in-the-dark nails!  I feel seven years old.

I used Orly Ridgefiller as my base coat, which right now, I'm not loving - it applied a little streaky.  Then I added 1 coat of Essie "Cloud Nine," a milky white - which isn't streaky at all.  China Glaze "Ghoulish Glow" had a good glow after 3 coats, but I added a 4th for good measure.  Since it dries fast, this wasn't an issue.  I finished with 1 coat of Seche Vite.

China Glaze "Ghoulish Glow"

"Ghoulish Glow" looks like a milky (very slightly green-tone) white on my nails in bright light.  It really just looks like sterotypical 80s glow in the dark color - a somewhat mottled, translucent, faint greenish milky white.

China Glaze "Ghoulish Glow" (indoors, tungsten light)

Like most 80s glow-in-the-dark items, the polish glows strongly after being in direct light, then its glow quickly diminishes.  I took one picture, then I took another less than 30 seconds later, and the glow intensity had already diminished significantly.

China Glaze "Ghoulish Glow" : The glow diminishes after 30 seconds.

I'm still wearing my glow-in-the-dark manicure from Thursday.  Today is Saturday, and there is minimal tip wear (and I'm rough on my nails).

Earlier in the week, I had another Halloween mani/pedi.