Much Ado About Polish

All the nails!

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Fri, 08 Jan 2016 02:56:00 +0000

Heya- thoughts I'd show a couple of my latest manis. Hope you enjoy!

December

This was my birthday mani! Nars Zulu with FingerPaints Psychedelic Hue.

The "bad" version of China Glaze Emerald Sparkle. It's fucking gorgeous. Love it!

China Glaze Re-Freshmint and Exotic Encounters. EE is in my top 3 colors of all time.

January

Zoya love here: did this early this week- calling it my Granny Mani due to the colors. Wanted something more neutral but not boring. Zoya Aubrey (3 fingers) and Brigitte (2).

And the mysterious RIGHT HAND! Clearly a bit messier, but this was due to using fast drops and sleeping on that side ;/. Brigitte (2) and Megan (3).

First off, I used the Zoya system and am surprised how nice they still looked- since I've had chips appear within 24 hours, 96 is pretty damn good! Wanted to spice it up with a bunch of random neutral Zoyas to build some contrast.

The right hand again! And also have more issues taking pictures with my left hand.

Well there you go! My goal is to try to do a post once a month, just as a recap. Or not! Who knows where life will take me.

Thank you kindly,

<(")

Andzia

Still plugging away!

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 15:10:00 +0000

Hey there folks that are still checking in. Thank you kindly! For the moment, Instagram is the easiest way for me to post. I'm hoping that one day I can commit to full posts, but today is not that day!

Please check me out at @andziawolski

Here's my latest post using Zoyas matte velvets. The base is Sue with distressed streaks of Honor, Yves, Savita and Verushhka. It's my second attempt at the distressed look and I think they came or well!

Hope you guys have a fabulous weekend!

Thank you kindly!

Andzia <(")

Why water marbling will be the death of me...

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Sun, 03 May 2015 15:45:00 +0000

A cheerful Sunday Morning to you all!

I had recently learned about two "not as messy" water marbling techniques. Yup. Super late to that party. Since I can't even brush my teeth without looking like a rabid hyena, water marbling is an all out disaster for me. And I can't get any designs to ever look as nice as the ones I see online. So, I decided to try out a couple of other methods.

The first method I found here Water Marble Nail Art Applique/ This appealed to me for a couple of reasons, mostly because I would have more control of the design on my nails. It....didn't quite work out how I planned. I would also like to add that any errors in the disastrous results are mine and mine alone.

Without much further ado...here are my results:

Sooo much pretty!

More glittery goodness!

Like hobgoblin blood in a cup...

I is so smrt...

Bottle shot..sounds like a war cry..

This was after they tried to run away...

And here are the actual nails...

Oh the humanity!

The beautiful slaughter of a manicure

I believe I was weeping tears of Nail Junkie at this point

Now, this was a first attempt, but after two fingers, any thought of a full mani went out the door. I used Sinful Colors Al Fresco for the base, which is beautiful all on its own. And here is where I made my fatal error: I didn't wait for my base to dry enough. And it ended up being a disaster. And I honestly have little to no patience for the amount of clean up necessary to make any water marble to work. So I quickly scrubbed my nails clean and went to method two.

Chaotic chaos...used the same colors because of reasons

PAINT ALL THE ZIPLOC BAGS!

Wow, that looks so much

NOPE!

So again, all the error is on my end. I can't remember where I had seen this method, but I definitely found it online and I made the same mistake here: impatience. The nail polish wasn't quite dry enough to pull from the bag without tearing and my base color was still too wet. I ended up folding over several layers of the decal to get decent coverage and you can see the amazing results here. I wore this for one day because I was not up to do anymore mani that day. It peeled right off within 24 hours. Which meant less to remove later that evening.

I will try this again, learning from my mistakes (I hope). Colors used for both were: all Sinful Colors: Al Fresco; Be Happy; Nail Junkie; Savage; and Rise and Shine.

Here are the other manis I did this week which were posted on Instagram @AndziaWolski

Sally Hansen CSM Punch Drunk with Deborah Lippmann Sugar Rum Cherry and Some Enchanted Evening accents

About the Girliest I get

China Glaze Fancy Pants and Dashboard Dreamer

Cloudy stippling ombres of amazeballs!

A England Perceval and Glitter Gal Black 3D

Regimes tend to fall every day. I tend not to weep over that...

Thank you kindly!

Andzia <(")

One more time...with FEELING!

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 18:22:00 +0000

Hello all!

Well, I'm starting to sound like a broken record. As most of you understand, life happens. Since I've last updated this blog, I've lived me a life. Most importantly, I made my biggest decision ever to give up a fairly well paying job that I absolutely loathed and went to live in my sister's basement for 5 months. :) Along with that came my farewell to the always sunny Philadelphia area and a warm hello to my family friendly city of Cleveland. I miss Philly, but have had zero regrets about my move. I'm in a better place emotionally and psychologically. I have plans for the future, and though I'm not exactly where I want to be, I can honestly say that I am on the road to happy. And in the indelible words of Ani DiFranco: "If you're not getting happier as you get older, then you're fucking up."

Ani DiFranco

So, back to the polish. I have started to (kind of) regularly post on Instagram, where you can find me here: @AndziaWolski and/or Tumblr here: @andzia18 . They are much quicker mediums to post and I can try to remember to upload my stuff that way. In theory. That being said, I miss writing, so I am going to try to post here once a week to start off with. I'm not looking to compete with any of the amazing blogs out there, which I check several times a week. All of the polishes, I have bought or received as gifts from friends, and I know the chances of me ever getting any collections to review are slim, and I'm okay with that. I am here because I love the polish and it makes me happy. And I love to share things that make me happy.

So if you happen to stumble upon this little piece of happiness and want to leave a comment, that's cool. Or don't. I lurk at many blogs and don't join in on the conversation, but I appreciate all of the amazing artistic things I see out there. I will also be starting another blog that will focus on my other nerdy interests, primarily tabletop games, all things languages and linguistics (WORDS! ALL THE WORDS!), books and entertainment, and finally whatever shiny piece of nerdiness that grabs my attention at that moment. If you're interested, then you can go here: Don't put me in a box.

On to the actual nails!
Here is a spam post of some of the mani's I've done but not posted anywhere in the last 2 years.

Catrice: Shopping Day at Bluemingdales

I recently obsessed over this color, which is much more purple in real life (of course it is). I added two of the newer Finger Paints flakie top coats (clear base not the more yellowy ones) on top (can't remember which ones..oops) and it was lovely!. I was able to pick up a shit load of Catrices last year when I visited my mom in Poland. The drug stores in that small town love it when I visit! I can't remember which chain I was at but it was BOGO which was fantastic!

CND Effects over black

Completely forgot I had these! When I was the "Basement resident of 2014" (there have been others! my family is very awesome and have huge hearts!) I had the majority of my polishes in storage and I became really freaked out when we started having seriously cold temps. Highs in the single digits. Fortunately, I only lost a total of 2 bottles, which, one, I really didn't care about (a double ended Revlon ... I wasn't a huge fan of them anyways) and my absolute favorite color China Glaze Exotic Encounters! I don't buy back-ups due to finances and space, however this was the rare occasion where I had! WOOT! Crisis avoided. So since I've moved into my new place I have started the end all of nail polish projects: THE CATALOG! Simultaneously, I am working on updating an excel file with all of my polishes, plus ALL THE SWATCHES! And when I'm done with that, I think I may reorganize. We'll see.

So I have a habit of buying toppers...and never using them. So this was me trying to use them. And remind myself what they even looked like. Aaaaand, I wish I remembered which order I did them in. I'm pretty sure that my thumb was Jade Sparkle and my ring was Sapphire Sparkle. My index is probably Emerald Shimmer and then I have Amethyst Sparkle and Crimson Sparkle, but I thought I didn't find Crimson until after I did this skittle mani. Well, I suck.

Matte Googly Eyes

Here was one of the Halloween manis I did for 2014. I used Sally Hanses Xtreme Wear Chain Mail. My clean up here was pretty lazy. But I freaking LOVED this. And it chipped off within 24 hours. Sad face.

The next 6 are from 2013 and I'm going to id them the best I can.

I wished I remembered

Many of my uploads are either from my car or my desk. It's usually when I either remember or have the best light. I believe the index and pinkie are Butter London Petrol over black. The timings right on for that one (Nov 2013) and the middle and ring... look like some jaged flakies over black and then mattified. I'll have to try to recreate it. I like it!

I love Olive!

This one may be China Glaze Westside Warrior, which is one of my favorites, with a glitter top coat. Best I can do for this one.

Halloween 2013 With OPI Black Spotted

I was able to order a bottle of OPI Black Spotted through Zulily while I was waiting for my next trip to Poland to collect the bottle I had my niece find for me! Not sure of the base colors, and my ring has a black crackle...possible OPI as well.

All the sparkle

I had a slight obsession where I was throwing China Glaze Fairy Dust ON EVERYTHING. Because of reasons.

Mystery prettiness

My best guess is that these were part of Zoya's autumn collections probably Channing with some gold glitter on top. I don't have Maria Luisa, but I think I was trying to recreate that with what I had.

Leather?

And finally this one was definitely the Maybelline Vintage Leather collection. High Style Sienna and Antique Teal. I love the idea but I don't remember loving these that much.

Well thanks for checking in here, and hopefully I can share some more happiness here in the future.

Go find your happy! <(")

Andzia (formerly signing off as Luci)

It's gonna be a long long time...

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:19:00 +0000

Hello!

I'm going to give this blog another shot, I definitely enjoy reading other people's, but please bear with me.

Here is my NOTD :
Amazing Blurple : China Glaze Man Hunt
Thumb and ring: Nails Inc Cornwall

Two coats of Man Hunt except for the ring where I only did one. Thumb has three coats and only one coat of Cornwall on the ring finger. I put Out The Door on the creme but not top coat for the "feather" fingers.

I love how this looks on my ring finger, more so than just the glitter on it's own. This is the only Nails Inc Feathers I purchased, though I did get two of the Sally Hansens Fuzzy Coat which I will try out next week.

What do you think about this look?

Thanks and have a good one!
<("). Luci

Dusty Nails for a rainy day

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:24:00 +0000

Hello everyone!
I have a nice simple mani that's very soothing to look at. Kind of fell into the weather thing, since I never look at the forecast :)

Base: Zoya Kristen
Stripe : Ulta Mane Attraction
Accent nail : Miss Selene 222 mini

Thanks and have a good one!
<(") Luci

Now with sunlight!

Mad man with a box....

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:54:00 +0000

Hello everyone,
This is my first homage to one of my new favorite shows, Doctor Who. I'm pretty sure I'll do another one since this was truly abstract.

Base : Cult Nails Time Traveler
Accent Color : Zoya Breezi
On Ring: one swipe SOPI Indigo With the Flow
On Pinkie : one swipe Ulta Indigo-go Girl.

Thanks and have a good on!
<(") Luci

I say it's blue!

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 15:17:00 +0000

Quick NOTD, a beautiful shade that was in my blue drawer but really needs to be in the Teal one!

Cult Nails Living Waters.

Just beautiful. You'll see it again!

More stripeys!

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:57:00 +0000

Continuing with my blue theme, here issue another stripe mani, using only Sinful Colors :
Base: Cinderella
Next: Savage
Next: Grecian Sun
Tips : What's Your Name

The two middle stripes are hard to distinguish between them, otherwise I really like this one. I even got two compliments this morning. I did these stripes freehand, like you couldn't tell. I was trying to do a Fishtail mani, and well, this is what I got!

Across A Jelly Universe

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:29:00 +0000

Hello all,

I have my first jelly sandwich, which is pretty late in the game, I know. Oh, well.

This is one coat Nars Midnight Express, one coat Deborah Lippmann Across The Universe and another coat ME. And because I'm obsessed with it right now, one coat CND Sapphire Sparkle over the thumb and ring finger. The thumb has too much SS but I like the ring finger.

I really like this mani, especially ATU, this is how I always expected ATU to look.

Thanks and have a good one!
<(") Luci

Month of blues...

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:44:00 +0000

Since the beginning of the year, I have had a color theme/appreciation each month and I've really enjoyed it! It's all based on how I have my Melmers organized. Four Melmers equals twelve drawers... well you get the idea. I organized my polish by color, not brand, and if you know me at all, you realize how me this is.

January was my neutrals/yellows/oranges/browns drawer. Very refreshing to have mostly neutral nails after the holiday season. Well by week four I couldn't restrain myself and threw on some crazy purple, so I gave myself liberty to have a palate cleanser week and do whatever I wanted :). This gives me the opportunity to wear some of the new polishes that I buy in the month that doesn't go with the theme.

February was pinky/red, surprise surprise. I'm not normally into playing off the whole holiday thing, but I let a coworker choose and he wanted classic red for Valentines Day, so pinky/red it was.

Sadly I have not been taking many pictures, though I'm trying to change that. I hope you enjoy, even though these aren't the best manis with the best quality pictures, but they bring me a little joy and that's all I am going for right now.

And March will be blues.

Thanks and have a good one!
<(") Luci

Shiny stripeness!

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:26:00 +0000

Hey guys,

Just added a bit of shiny to yesterday's mani.

Thumb and index : essie Shine Of The Times, CND Sapphire Sparkle
Pointer middle and pinkie : CND Sapphire Sparkle
Middle and index: essie Matte About You

My favorite by far is the simple pointer, loves it. Went a little heavy with SOTT.
Thanks and have a good one!
<(") Luci

Edit : and picture!

Spur of the moment post

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:29:00 +0000

Here is my first attempt at stripes using scotch tape. Not bad though not great. More practice needed!

Bases alternating fingers :
Thumb, middle and pinkie :
L'Oreal Now You Sea Me
Pointer and index :
Revlon Chic
Stripes on both fingers :
a-england Galahad

Thanks and have a good one!
<(") Luci

This is my kinda pink!

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:58:00 +0000

Quick NOTD: Illamasqua Vice from the Theater of the Nameless collection, this is my first pink mani for October. I freaking love love love love love love love love it! So not me at first glance but the color is just right on. Feminine and strong! The rubber texture is fun and dries quickly. This is two coats over Sally Hansen Hard As Nails. No top.
Thanks and have a good one!
Luci <(")

Damn you Essie, you win this round!

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:57:00 +0000

Here's a quick NOTD using only Essie colors. Sigh. I've been experimenting with multicolors on one hand and decided to give Essie another shot. Application was great, with 2 coats of each color over Sally Hansen's Hard As Nails, a coat of Poshe, then China Glaze Cracked Concrete to mute it down a smidgen. I didn't want to like the Essie, but there's been minimal tip wear in 48 hours, which for me is very good! I would get another full day of wear from this, except I've got a mini college ruin this weekend and will do a British and French manis in honor that. Sorry I didn't take a pic of the mani before the crackle :(

Thumb: Fair Game
Pointer: Coat Azure
Middle: Dive Bar
Index: Incognito
Pinkie: Sew Psyched (more of a textured look, even in RL not too much of a distinction)


Sunlight


More sunlight


Weird alien red light


Shadow with flash

Thanks and have a good one!!

Luci <(")

It's the end of the world as we know it...

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 23:00:00 +0000

Lol, I couldn't resist. Here's my Weekend mani:
Zoya Irene with an accent nail of Essie Smooth Sailing. Ohh, and my first Poshe use! Loves It! My other hand is the reverse. Color combination is kinda weird but welcome to my world.

Be safe fellow East Coasters and don't forget to fill your bathtub with water!

Thanks and have a good one!
Luci < ( ")!

X-dry top coat is a liar!

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 18:41:00 +0000

So this is what my nails look like now. Ignore the swipe of Flying Dragon :
Yeah not so pretty. That's after lunch and a half hour of shopping.

Luci < ( ")!

Soft and girly

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 15:40:00 +0000

Quick NOTD :
Ulta Lav-Ish. 3 coats with Ulta X-dry top coat.

Hope you like it because I do. Wonderful lavender with a pretty and subtle gold shimmer. Saw it at Mac's and used my Ulta rewards to pick it up.

Sorry we're getting major rain in the Philadelphia Area and Irene is headed our way Saturday, so it's a bit gloomy.

Thanks and have a good one!
Luci < ( ")

The drapes match the carpet

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 22:05:00 +0000

Hey guys,

Quick NOTD :

Both toes and tips are the same, which hasn't happened in months! Don't put me in a box! Got a mani pedi for the first time this year. It was a necessary luxury.

China Glaze DV8 with top coat.

Mmmm Wolverine...

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 02:24:00 +0000

So, continuing on with the Finger Paints post, this is Hue Rang?. It looks like this one was a summer color from 2010, and I picked it up on clearance for $1.99 a couple of weeks ago! SCORE!

Pics:


So shiny...

It's purple! It's blue! It's cornflower!

This is 2 coats with base but no top coat. It has a great formula, and the pigmentation is awesome. You could be ok with only a single coat. One of my biggest pet peeves is when I pick up a bottle of polish, especially if it is an expensive one, and its sheer. Yes I understand the point of sheer polish, I just don't think it's worth the money. So I was thrilled that HR is so dense, if you will. The strong intensity is why Zoya is one of my favorites, and FP will be going into that category. Especially for the price.

I picked up Essie's Smooth Sailing ( I know!) and need to do a comparison, possible dupe-age!

And here's some word association:
Hue Rang?-> Hugh Jackman->Wolverine->Hmmmmmmmmmmm
And here's a pic:


Not mine, but you're welcome

Thanks and have a good one!

Luci <(")

Another green ombre mani

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 12:59:00 +0000

Quick NOTD :
Thumb Ulta The Jungle Look
Index Revlon Rapid Dry Emerald
Middle Finger Paints Scenery Greenery
Ring Tres Risk A Lotta Cash
Pinkie American Apparel Hunter
I'm doing this from memory so there may be mistakes.
Thanks and have a good one!
Luci <(")

Who are you and what have you done with Luci?

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 22:34:00 +0000

Here is the final fall Finger Paints swatch, Cordur-Orange. So, first off...I hate orange. Orange just repulses me normally. It's not my cup of tea and I rarely like it on any one else. So in a growth exercise (ha!) I chose Cordur-Orange as my free polish at Sally's. I would like to pick up the other 6 colors, but bills need to be paid or I have no air conditioning. And summer in Philly without air conditioning is like living in hell. Literally.
Anyhoo, pics! This is 2 coats on a base coat, no top.


Spicy!

Not quite the right color...

So, the pics make this seem much more coral than it is in real life. It is an absolutely lovely, pumpkiny, spicy terra cotta like color that I surprisingly love! As others have said, it is a truly fall color, bringing up images of pumpkin pie, fuzzy sweaters and fireplaces all a lit while leaves fall gently in the background while sipping on a hot toddy. Or that just may be me.

Overall, I am genuinely impressed with Finger Paints. I've just recently started shopping at Sally's, and I had picked up some of their colors on clearance, but hadn't tried them out yet. I'll have some swatches of these older colors coming up soon!

Thanks and have a good one!

Luci <(")

I say: "Never too many greens!" Military Green Comparison

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 17:03:00 +0000

Hello all!

Here is the second of the 2011 Fall Finger Paints I have to show you. Military Green is exactly my cup of tea! I love green, especially something murky! So much so, that I have 4 similar colors, so I did a very unscientific comparison. Warning, this is pic heavy! All swatches are on a base coat, 2 coats of color, no top. It was very humid, so MG ended up bubbling, but I was pressed for time, so no do over. MG is on my index and ring fingers throughout.

First off: American Apparel Army Jacket:


In the shade


In sunlight

AJ is much yellower, and MG looks much greyer than it is in real life. Not close at all!

Next up, Essie Sew Psyched:


In sunlight


In shadow

In the sunlight, you can tell that MG looks yellower now, but in the shadow, they're pretty close.

Next: Sonia Kashuk Fatigued:


In shadow


In sunlight

These two you can see the difference in shadow and sunlight. Fatigued is bluer and deeper. But still pretty close.

Finally Zoya Gemma. Yes I know Gemma has the purple flash, but I was curious about the base color.


In sunlight


In shadow

Well, in sunlight the flash is distracting, but you can still see that MG is a bit bluer, but in shade, again, pretty close.

Here are all five:


In sunlight


In shadow

In conclusion: the closest would be Sew Psyched and Fatigued, with Gemma and Army Jacket being much too yellow. Between those three, honestly, I think that SP and F are more dupes than MG with either of them. Mind you close enough that if you're not a huge fan, I wouldn't get all three, but I'm ok with having them :).

Here are SP and F up close and personal:


In sunlight


In shadow

Honestly, I prefer Fatigued. I like the formula better, not as watery, and at 3 bucks cheaper than Essie, score! In truth, I don't think that Essie's worth the price tag, yet I sometimes get into the mob mentality and buy Essie, but I usually end up regretting it. Unless it was at a deep discount. I may be looking to give SP a good home soon.

Thanks and have a good one!

Luci <(")

I love a blustery day...

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 02:59:00 +0000

I'm very happy that all the fall collections are coming out! My first grabs were from Fingerpaints. I love the dusky colors and the lovely creaminess! I've got three that I will show you, hopefully this week ;)

Here's a quick NOTD with Vintage Velvet with a bit of Silver Shatter thrown in for good measure.

This is Vintage Velvet with a base coat, 2 coats (formula was nice) and Sally Hansen Insta-dry Clear as the top coat. A thin coat of OPI Silver Shatter on index and thumb.
I really love this combination! It has a great, rich, fall feel but with still a summer twist. LOVE!

It's teal. That is all. <3
BTW, Sally's was doing a buy 2 get 1 free on all Fingerpaints...

Thanks and have a good one!

Luci <(")

Ravenclaw!

noreply@blogger.com (Andzia) — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 01:38:00 +0000

Just a quick NOTD in honor of the final Harry Potter movie. Mac and I will be attending the midnight opening and to be honest this is a big deal for us. Yes that sounds corny but we've shared a lot of events dealing with HP so it truly does end tonight. I hope any other fans have a great mani and a great time tonight!

Zoya Indigo on thumb and ring, Rummel Pro Gold Infusion on pointer, middle, ring and pinkie, and OPI Navy Shatter on middle.