My Lucid Bubble

A Cry for Help...Nail Polish Style

2012-01-31T14:48:00.000-05:00

I don't have easy access to an Icing store but I really want the magnetic nail polishes. I have this compulsion to have at least one magnetic polish from every brand that offers them. Odd but true. Would anyone be interested in a swap? Or I could pay you for them? I can't offer you one of my internal organs - sorry! Feel free to contact me if you can help an addict out.

Thank you in advance!

Barielle Buddha-ful

2012-01-31T10:00:00.012-05:00

I wanted something nude but not boring. I decided on Buddha-ful. It makes my nails look like they are covered in subtle gift wrapping. It also allows the staining to show through - ew!

China Glaze Magnetix in Attraction

2012-01-30T10:00:00.156-05:00

I got my hands on the China Glaze Magnetix collection and wore Attraction first. I did play with most of them and I like the polish. They have a nice formula and the blending is really nice. No need to shake them forever to get everything mixed. I did find that that applying a thin coat of the polish and letting it dry before applying the second worked best. Too thick a coat and the design from the magnet isn't clear. As always, work one finger at a time since they dry fast.

I do find the magnet is the weak link in the collection. That is not a good thing since they are magnetic nail polishes and the magnet should be the star. It's not horrible but it could be a bit stronger. Nails Inc makes a fabulous magnet so I know it can be done. Doing thin layers of polish and holding the magnet for about 30 seconds is the trick. Still, I really wish the magnet was stronger. You can't replace the magnet because the magnet itself has the design. The plastic is just a holder. If you remove the magnet and replace it with a stronger one in that space you won't get a design. Ask me how I know this? *sigh*

I predict that more and more brands will put out magnetic polish. I know Color Club is coming out with some and Nabi has a collection, Icing has them and some are popping up at Rite Aid. I've said this before but I want to see someone come out with patterns of magnets. We have the polish and now we need really great magnets. I've seen some on Ebay but I wonder how good they are. If you tried them please do let me know.

Here is Attraction with the star pattern. I was just playing with placement but I do like the star off center. I cut my nails down as you can see. I slammed my pointer finger in a drawer. Ouch!

Here it is matte which I think is neat.

Shopping Review: DermStore

2012-01-28T10:00:00.000-05:00

Another store to tell you about and this one is pretty good too. I've ordered from DermStore a few times and always had a pleasant experience. All of my emails were answered and everything came well packed and pretty quick. They sell nail polish (Lippmann, Essie, Butter London) and a host of skincare items. The best thing is that there are a number of ways to get some savings.

Go through Mr. Rebates to get 10% back on your puchase.
Create an account. If you want an invite feel free to let me know and I can send you one and you will get a $10 give card to use on your first order. Sweet!
Go through the site and add things to your "My Favorites" list. I love window shopping! When you add items from your "My Favorites" list to your cart you get a 10% discount. This is not a one time discount either.
If you use a certain item that they sell a lot (like moisturizer or sunscreen) you can get your 5th refill free.
Free shipping on all orders to the US - sorry international folks. They do offer international shipping it's just not free.
If you like to write reviews you can and for each review you submit you will receive a 15% code to use toward your next purchase of that product.
They accept PayPal which I really like to use when shopping online. Helps me stay in budget. Sort of.

That's some good savings and the 10% "My Favorites" discount works on nail polish! I thought I would pass the word in case you were looking for a new place to check out. I really like them but the few chances to save a bit of money really appeals to me. And they send samples. I'm a sucker for samples.

*This post is done of my own free will with no compensation from DermStore*

Color Appreciation: Copper

2012-01-27T10:00:00.038-05:00

A few more of my favorite copper polishes. I realized that as much as I love copper I don't have tons of them. If you know of one that I should check out please do let me know! Really! Enable me!

LA Girl Metal in Copper Alloy. This is so vibrant and rich.

LA Girl Rock Star in Crowd Surfing. This is a sheer green shimmer with copper flakes. This is one coat over Zoya Veruschka.

LA Girl Glitter Addict in Flash. A copper glitter over green. I do tend to wear green and copper together a lot.

Borghese Florentine Gold. They do really great metal colors! This is more golden copper and possibly cheating but it's so pretty.

Hope you enjoyed copper week! Thanks Laura for the idea.

CND Effects in Copper Pearl

2012-01-26T10:00:00.016-05:00

One of my favorite CND Effects. One coat over CND Green Scene and it reminds me of Orly Cool Cucumber which is an old Orly that I no longer have. Bummer. This gives a pinkish/reddish pearl overlay to the base color. Love it.

CND Copper Chrome

2012-01-25T10:00:00.012-05:00

I don't know if I would call this a true copper. It leans gold with a hint of pink undertones. It's more of a golden copper. Great formula and it looks pretty cool with a matte topcoat.

Barielle Falling Star

2012-01-24T10:00:00.007-05:00

Falling Star is not a true copper but it has copper glitter so it counts. I started applying this and realized it could use some thinner. It usually has a thinner formula. I tend to wear it over a creme but here it is alone.

OPI Take The Stage

2012-01-23T10:00:00.018-05:00

I declare it copper week!

OPI Take the Stage is a stunner. I'm not the biggest fan of OPI but this a stunner!

Odd light but it shows the multi-colored sparkle this polish has running through it.

Polka Dots for You!

2012-01-23T09:30:00.015-05:00

Nubar White Polka Dot and Black Polka Dot had such a great response. They are fun and giving a bottle of each away is a great way to kick off 2012 here in the bubble. I think this year I am only going to giveaway fun polishes because that's what polish is supposed to be - fun. I was going to use a widget but they are geared toward more complicated giveaways - "like" this and "like" that - and I am way more easy.

I'll announce the winner for a bottle of Nubar White and Black Polka Dot on February 1st. To enter...

* Be a reader of the blog and since there are a number of options I don't really care how you read it.
* Leave a comment below with your email. If you have any issues doing that feel free to send an email to KMLLucidBubble@gmail.com but please don't do both.
* Be somewhere in the world - which means this is open to everyone.

That's it. Ah, I love giving stuff away. Any questions feel free to ask and good luck!

Blog Love: Sharing is Caring

2012-01-21T10:10:00.001-05:00

A few new blogs (to me) that I want to share. Feel free to share your finds and/or your blog in the comments.

Nail Designs
I'm Anaa!
A Place for my Nails
Tara Loves Color
Polished Criminails
Legally Lacquered
Raggio di Luna Nails
Nail Polish Wars
Luv My Lacquer
Adventures in Mani-land

Your Opinion Is Needed....

2012-01-21T10:05:00.017-05:00

I'm very, very seriously thinking of getting an Alex from Ikea because I am running out of room. Again. Does anyone have the 9 drawer Alex that you use for nail polish storage? My one concern is that the drawers will become heavy and the bottom will fall out. My hope is that the Alex will replace my Melmer (which I hate) and possibly two of my Helmers. I love the Helmer and I currently own five but I need something larger. Do you own the Alex? Do you like it? I plan on making it less plain. I may cover it in glitter or holographic paper. Wouldn't that be awesome?

If you know of another storage system that works for large collections please share it. I prefer my collection to be hidden and not in plain sight. This keeps me from worrying about them falling, the cats getting to them and it keeps the bottles out of direct light. Also, I don't have to dust them if they are in a drawer. I really dislike dusting.

Please share your thoughts. I would love to hear them. Oh and if you have any feedback on the new layout you can share that as well.

Nubar Black Polka Dot and White Polka Dot Combo

2012-01-21T10:00:00.001-05:00

I was curious to see the two together so I layered them over a red creme.

Nubar Black Polka Dot

2012-01-20T10:00:00.010-05:00

Black glitter. Yes, please. This is a more sparse and subtle cousin to LA Girl Uninhibited so there is room for both in my collection. You can get this at Harlow & Co or Ebay like I did. I wore this over Misa Grey Matters.

Nubar White Polka Dot

2012-01-19T10:00:00.033-05:00

Ah, I am going to admit to something blasphemous. I like White Polka Dot more than I like Lynnderella Snow Angel. I think White Polka Dot is more versatile where Snow Angel really only looks great over white or other soft pastel shades. If you put White Polka Dot over a shimmery white, like China Glaze Frosty, you can get a close look to Snow Angel. It's not going to be a dupe but it will have that snowy soft look that Snow Angel has when worn. Plus it's really rare to find a white glitter though this one isn't pure white since some of the glitter pieces have a blue flash. Still, it's very nice.

I didn't have any issues with it being sparse. I have no idea why either. This is one coat over a teal.

Blackout: Fight Censorship

2012-01-18T03:32:00.002-05:00

For more information:

Blogworld
SOPA Strike
Could Facebook Shut Down?
SOPA and PIPA Wiki
Google End Piracy, Not Liberty
Stop American Censorship

Contact your elected official and let them know you oppose this censorship. Do it for the kittens!

Smackdown: CND Sugar Sparkle vs Sally Hansen Glass Slipper

2012-01-17T10:00:00.018-05:00

These are very close to each other. The differences are subtle with Glass Slipper having larger flakes and a more shimmer in its base. This is the closest I have come to finding anything close to CND Sugar Sparkle which is good since it is not longer available. I think this may satisfy you if you have been wanting Sugar Sparkle.

One coat of each over a grey creme. Feel free to click any image to make it bigger.

Sally Hansen Glass Slipper

2012-01-16T10:00:00.021-05:00

I love this polish which is nice because it wasn't easy to find. I found two displays and it was gone in each one. I finally found it hidden in a Revlon display. Silly people! Like I wouldn't find it there? The nail polish sense is strong within me. This is a really good dupe to CND Sugar Sparkle which I'll show you in another post.

This is one coat over a grey creme.

Picture Polish Splendour

2012-01-14T10:00:00.017-05:00

Last flake from Picture Polish. Splendour is an orange/green flake but it has different size flakes and the duochrome is more pronounced compared to the standard flake. I like it! I bought this at Harlow & Co.

Picture Polish Hypnotic

2012-01-13T10:00:00.021-05:00

Blue and copper flakes - I'm sold. I bought this at Harlow & Co.

Picture Polish Festival

2012-01-12T10:00:00.026-05:00

More flakes and I'm really impressed with the quality of Picture Polish flakes. Festival doesn't have much of a duochrome quality but it has a great combination of colors. Nice flake payoff and formula. I think dupes will be seen with flakes coming out but I don't care. I love them! I purchased this from llarowe.

Zoya True Collection

2012-01-11T10:00:00.107-05:00

I have favorites with this collection which is not a surprise but I like the complete collection. I think I am biased though because most of the colors have this soft, subdued and worn look to them. They remind me of growing up and hanging my clothes out on a clothes line to dry in the sun. After doing this for a period of time some of my clothing became sun-washed and muted. I did love the feel and smell of wearing a shirt fresh from hanging outside and these colors bring that memory to the front of my brain.

I do have to say that Cho and Farah seem out of place with this collection. They're dull compared to the others and I would have liked to have seen them have a contrasting shimmer in them. They are nice but so oddly out of place and Zoya recently released a nude collection. I would have liked to have seen a yellow and apricot shimmer instead of the two nudes. I think Zoya is a star when it comes to shimmer and shimmer flecks. They just seen to do it right and this collection has a few of those examples. Overall I like the collection and can see myself reaching for a few of them to wear again and again. This collection can be purchased from Zoya.

Bevin is a creamy sage and I really like it. I'm a sucker for greens so that is no surprise. Wonderful formula.

I added Essence Clyde to jazz it up.

Cho was a surprise for me. The yellow base comes out strongly on me and I like it. It reminds me of butter. It does have fine shimmer throughout but it's so very, very subtle that I think of it as a creme.

Farah was the trouble maker for me. I found the formula gummy and thick and it just does not look good on me. I can see this working really well as a base for stamping or other nail art but alone it's not for me.

Lotus is a hit. A dusty muted smokey purple with pinkish red shimmer. I want to layer other sheer shimmers over this to see what I get.

Skylar is my pick of the collection. It's a beautiful cornflower blue with shimmer and flecks woven all through it. Love this one!

Tru is the vibrant sister to Lotus. It's a soft grape purple with shimmer. The shimmer is warm so the contrast to the purple is really interesting.

This collection was sent for review.

Zoya Fleck Effect Collection

2012-01-10T10:00:00.064-05:00

A little tip for flakes: they work better when they are a bit thicker. You can take the brush out and let it sit for about an hour to thicken it up or you can put it in the refrigerator for about five minutes. This works for me to get better flake payoff.

I think that 2012 may be the year of effect polishes. I'm pretty excited about the prospect of seeing polishes that have an effect like magnetics and flakes. The Fleck Effect collection is Zoya's offering in the flake department. Each is in a tinted base but it's so sheer that it doesn't completely change the color it is being layered over. My pick is Chloe for it's slightly different take on flakes from the standard orange/red or blue/green that is usually seen. I like them all and though they aren't mind blowing they are fun and easily had for us US residents. The Fleck Effect collection is available online from Zoya and retail for $8 a bottle.

Chloe over Zoya Cho. Doesn't really showcase Chloe very well but I like it over a nude base.

Maisie over Zoya Posh. I really like the look of this one.

Opal over Zoya Veruschka. Pretty, pretty!

This collection was sent for review.

Nubar Jeans Collection

2012-01-09T10:00:00.061-05:00

A few more blues! These came out after the Chanel Les Jeans de Chanel collection and it's a pretty good duplication of that collection. I no longer have the Chanel polishes because I couldn't justify keeping them but the Nubar Jeans collection is easy to keep and like. If you wanted the Chanel collection but didn't purchase it because you are wise and savvy - you can get this collection and feel great about it.

Faded Jeans is a sky blue with silver shimmer woven throughout. Formula was a bit thick but not horrible. It's not stark but it's also not soft looking.

Boyfriend Jeans is a muted mid-tone cadet blue. This pulls a bit more grey on me and in some light it looks almost periwinkle. I really like this one the best.

Dark Wash Jeans is a dark blue with a slight dusty feel to the color. The formula has a jelly like formula and I realized I missed a few spots after I took these photos. Not a bad formula but not my favorite. The color does remind me of dark denim that has been washed a few times.

For those that are outside the US (and in the US) a great resource for Nubar is Harlow & Co. I recently ordered from them and had a great experience and Nubar is a brand that is carried at the shop. If you don't see something there you can drop them an email and see if it can be ordered. I love having options and Nubar charges an obscene amount for shipping.

Nail Polish 101

2012-01-07T10:30:00.000-05:00

I got a few requests on the basics of nail polish so I thought I would put together a little resource post. I hope this might be helpful to some.

Nail Polish Finish
There are a number of different finish types. Here are a few links that will better explain them.

Topcoat

I tend to use different topcoats on different polishes since that's my preference. If you have find one that works for you - wonderful! I have yet to find one topcoat that works for all my polishes.

Cremes: I like a thinner easily spread topcoat that covers in one coat and completely. A creme will show a topcoat gap much more compared to other finishes. I like Orly In A Snap for cremes.
Glittters: Glitters are notorious (not all) for being topcoat drinkers. The best way to combat that is to apply a non-quick drying topcoat, like Gelous, Revlon Extra Life No Chip Top Coat and Zoya Armor, and apply a quick dry topcoat over that like Seche Vite or one that you have that has gotten a bit on the thick side. This helps to keep the glitter from being dull or gritty.
Flakes: I have found that some flakes can be a little thick or uneven when applied. I prefer a heavier topcoat for these to even things out and smooth out the surface.
Holo/Holographic: I don't know where the decision that topcoat dulled holo polishes came from. I have yet to experience this. You may notice dulling when first applied but when dry everything shines. If you do have the dulling issue you try a non-quick dry topcoat.
Older polishes: These have chemicals that aren't present in modern polishes. Seche Vite really works well with these even though it can be touchy with other polishes.
All others: For everything else I just go with mood or that specific polish and how it acts.

Manicure Types

There are tons of ways to do a manicure. French, American, rhinestones, feathers and whatever else you can stick on your nails. Try it - you can easily remove it.

Sticky sandwich is when you apply a gripping basecoat, Orly Bonder and CND Stickey, add a layer of color, another coat of gripper and another layer of color. This helps with wear and seems to work for some when applying fussy holo polishes that may bald or streak.
Jelly Sandwich is a base of color in a jelly finish with an application of glitter and a coat of the jelly color over that. It gives a muted and soft look. You can see an example at Another Bottle of Polish?!
Ombre is using colors in the same family to create a gradient look with a different color on each nail. Parokeets did a great one as well as Nihrida.
Skittles is a different color on each nail. They are usually bright colors so they look like the candy. You can see one at Manicure Mommas.
Gradient is having a gradient look on each nail using the same colors. Nails and Noms has a great one.
Water Marble is one I have never mastered. Never. My Simple Little Pleasures makes it look so easy so check out her blog for water marble manicures.
Konad/Stamping is just that - using an image plate and nail polish to stamp an image onto the nail.
Scotch Tape is using tape to section of parts of the nail to create a design or pattern with nail polish. You can see some great ones from Nail Stories and Nailside.
Foils are little sheets of vibrant colored foil that you apply to the nail after applying foil glue. So simple and easy. Topcoat can cause issues but I have been using Orly Glosser with great results. Dollar Nail Art is a great source for foils and Enamel Girl has a great tutorial.

Removal

I use felt to remove my polish, always. It's hardier, doesn't leave lint and it's quicker. It's inexpensive and can be had at craft stores, fabric shops and big chain stores. I prefer white so I don't worry about dye coming off the material and staining. Nail polish remover is a preference but most removers are pretty much equal if they are acetone based. It's the additives that make them different - like Zoya adding glycerine to help with dryness. You can buy acetone at hardware stores and it will work fine.

Other Resources

Loodie Loodie Loodie is a great blog for care and treatment of nails. She gives excellent (and accurate) information on treatments and what they mean and how they work.

Dr. Frankenpolish is a great blog for learning the basics on mixing up your own polish.

You can learn how to do clean up from MeganChair at Polish or Perish.
The foil method of removing glitter makes things easier and All You Desire shows how.
Do not throw out that dried up polish or use acetone. Get yourself a bottle of Seche Restore and check out how Scrangie saves the polish.