The Nail Polish/Anything to Do with Nails Thread

[pinkbunnyslippers]

^ $620.00!!! The hell! I see no crazy person bought it.
Hey thanks for the info aboout the suspension. I had no idea about it. You gave good tips. Thanks!

[Laurent]

Does everyone use a base coat and a top coat or just a top coat? And can someone recommend a good top coat or are they all pretty much the same?

[Love love]

Pardon the double post, but I'm just dropping this here so that y'all can have a big moment of or maybe even .

Certainly you will want to have a stiff .

Just to show you how crazy the world of nail polish can get:

NEW Lynnderella The Annotated Heart - Limited Edition | eBay

Yes, you read that shit right. Six hundred and twenty bucks for ONE NAIL POLISH. Lynnderella stuff has sold for more than that, actually. Lynn's a graphic designer from NYC who began making her own polishes a few years ago. There is a whole huuuuge backstory and drama associated with her saga which you can all google should you wish to. It's quite entertaining....not as epic as LeAnn or Britney but funnier and even loopier imo. NAIL POLISH WARZZZ OMG. Facebook, blogs, the whole damn enchilada.

I hope Lynn is laughing all the way to the bank. Her polishes ARE pretty and original. She hasn't always presented herself well publicly but I get the sense she's probably an interesting character. And rich.

i read a bunch of dirt on lynderella nail polishes too. i guess she used to sell her stuff through some website but she suddenly stopped making polish for a while but new shiz kept popping up on ebay. turns out she was making private orders for her family members and letting them sell it online to "help them out". there was a lot of other crap that went into it but she sells exclusively on ebay now.

i am a crazy nail polish fanatic myself but i don't own any of her polishes. there are a lot of nail polish crazies though that will shell out hundreds for a single bottle of something that is rare and hard to find.

[Just Kill Me]

Funny, I've worn passion for like fucking forever. That or Pink Glove Service by Essie.
Posted from my iPhone

[Kathie_Moffett]

Does everyone use a base coat and a top coat or just a top coat? And can someone recommend a good top coat or are they all pretty much the same?

Right now I've taken off my acrylics for a while and so I'm using a basecoat again. China Glaze's adhesive basecoat is great, and right now I've got on Revlon's quickdry one; seems to be a-okay.

As far as topcoats go, again I like China Glaze's and Revlon's, but the best I've found (especially if you have on something glittery that needs smoothing out) is Seche Vite. It seems a bit thick? But it dries like lightning and gives an AMAZING finish. If I had only had something like that in the 80's when np could take a fucking hour to dry! With Seche you can do stuff within a minute or two.

It's ten bux at Target but you can get it on nailsuppliesus.com for half that. Of course there's shipping so even though it's reasonable you may not find it worthwhile for one item. Given, however, that that site also carries Essie, Orly and a couple of other great brands for HALF PRICE (!) you may want to order some more stuff, which makes the site a real find.

I hate Sally Hansen quick dry topcoats, especially the one that's supposed to work SUPER-INSTA-FAST. It just made my nails tacky.

i read a bunch of dirt on lynderella nail polishes too. i guess she used to sell her stuff through some website but she suddenly stopped making polish for a while but new shiz kept popping up on ebay. turns out she was making private orders for her family members and letting them sell it online to "help them out". there was a lot of other crap that went into it but she sells exclusively on ebay now.

i am a crazy nail polish fanatic myself but i don't own any of her polishes. there are a lot of nail polish crazies though that will shell out hundreds for a single bottle of something that is rare and hard to find.

Haha yeah that was it. I bought one $20 polish from her on EBay and it's the brother she was funnelling polishes to that is her seller now. Ironically, he is apparently much nicer and more stable than she is, and he gives incredible customer service. So it looks like this will work out for her and it seems to be making a lot of customers happy. The limited edition auctions that get bid up are ludicrous, but the twenty dollar buy-it-nows are fine. (Mind you they are usually sold as sets, only occasionally singles--timing's random. But the set price for each bottle doesn't change from $20.)

The one I want and can't get isn't by her. It's "Starry Starry Night" by Essie. Will. Not. Pay. hundreds of bucks for it though! So I made a good copy.

[choozen1ne]

Right now I've taken off my acrylics for a while and so I'm using a basecoat again. China Glaze's adhesive basecoat is great, and right now I've got on Revlon's quickdry one; seems to be a-okay.

As far as topcoats go, again I like China Glaze's and Revlon's, but the best I've found (especially if you have on something glittery that needs smoothing out) is Seche Vite. It seems a bit thick? But it dries like lightning and gives an AMAZING finish. If I had only had something like that in the 80's when np could take a fucking hour to dry! With Seche you can do stuff within a minute or two.

It's ten bux at Target but you can get it on nailsuppliesus.com for half that. Of course there's shipping so even though it's reasonable you may not find it worthwhile for one item. Given, however, that that site also carries Essie, Orly and a couple of other great brands for HALF PRICE (!) you may want to order some more stuff, which makes the site a real find.

I hate Sally Hansen quick dry topcoats, especially the one that's supposed to work SUPER-INSTA-FAST. It just made my nails tacky.



Haha yeah that was it. I bought one $20 polish from her on EBay and it's the brother she was funnelling polishes to that is her seller now. Ironically, he is apparently much nicer and more stable than she is, and he gives incredible customer service. So it looks like this will work out for her and it seems to be making a lot of customers happy. The limited edition auctions that get bid up are ludicrous, but the twenty dollar buy-it-nows are fine. (Mind you they are usually sold as sets, only occasionally singles--timing's random. But the set price for each bottle doesn't change from $20.)

The one I want and can't get isn't by her. It's "Starry Starry Night" by Essie. Will. Not. Pay. hundreds of bucks for it though! So I made a good copy.

Not sure if you have used this site but they have the pro size of Seche Vite that you can refill your bottle with , my big bottle has lasted almost 2 years
Trans Design, Inc.

[Love love]

Right now I've taken off my acrylics for a while and so I'm using a basecoat again. China Glaze's adhesive basecoat is great, and right now I've got on Revlon's quickdry one; seems to be a-okay.

As far as topcoats go, again I like China Glaze's and Revlon's, but the best I've found (especially if you have on something glittery that needs smoothing out) is Seche Vite. It seems a bit thick? But it dries like lightning and gives an AMAZING finish. If I had only had something like that in the 80's when np could take a fucking hour to dry! With Seche you can do stuff within a minute or two.

It's ten bux at Target but you can get it on nailsuppliesus.com for half that. Of course there's shipping so even though it's reasonable you may not find it worthwhile for one item. Given, however, that that site also carries Essie, Orly and a couple of other great brands for HALF PRICE (!) you may want to order some more stuff, which makes the site a real find.

I hate Sally Hansen quick dry topcoats, especially the one that's supposed to work SUPER-INSTA-FAST. It just made my nails tacky.



Haha yeah that was it. I bought one $20 polish from her on EBay and it's the brother she was funnelling polishes to that is her seller now. Ironically, he is apparently much nicer and more stable than she is, and he gives incredible customer service. So it looks like this will work out for her and it seems to be making a lot of customers happy. The limited edition auctions that get bid up are ludicrous, but the twenty dollar buy-it-nows are fine. (Mind you they are usually sold as sets, only occasionally singles--timing's random. But the set price for each bottle doesn't change from $20.)

The one I want and can't get isn't by her. It's "Starry Starry Night" by Essie. Will. Not. Pay. hundreds of bucks for it though! So I made a good copy.

O.M.G! Starry Starry Night is the only nail polish that i would splurge for! I want it so bad but i'm thoroughly disgusted at the prices it's been going for recently. I saw one on ebay that was "Buy it Now" for $300 and some jackass actually bought it. Kinda sad but $100 for a SSN would be a good price

[Waterslide]

I do my own most of the time, but not very well. I'm not good at painting them, especially the nails on my right hand, and my nails are really small. I'm impressed with people who can do their own and make them look good, because I usually have to stick to neutrals on my fingers and hope the mistakes don't show. I do color on my toes, because it's easier for me to paint them.

I get a mani a few times a year and a pedi a few times during the summer. I'd get it done more if it was more convenient and cheaper. When I get a mani I usually go for color, but I can't keep it from chipping because I type a lot. I've read that you should do a top coat every other day after you get a mani to keep the color protected, but I don't because I know I'd screw it up worse and end up having to take the color completely off.

That pretty much sums up my nail story only I don't get manis/pedis even that often. My nails split and crack, it just wouldn't be worth it for me which is just sad because I like getting my nails done.

Actually if you're going to make a glitter nail polish you will need a suspension base, or the glitters will all just fall right to the bottom of the bottle.

Your best bet is either to:

1. Order a bottle of suspension aka "glamour" base and some loose, very important>>solvent-resistant<very important glitters (both items can be found on Etsy, for example, or from tkbtrading.com). Mix 'em up. You can add a few drops of color from a plain nail polish if you want, just so it isn't completely sheer. Just mix to where you want it. It helps to add a couple of stainless steel BBs, which are available at hardware stores. Make sure you use stainless! And do not use just any glitter, like from Michael's or some shit like that, 'cause it will probably curl, bleed color or just melt.

or

2. You can "franken" a polish, which means you go to the drugstore, Claire's, Forever 21, or any number of stores which carry cheap glittery nail polishes. Buy a couple you like that seem compatible and mix 'em! Obviously, these commercial polishes already have suspension base in them, so you will not have problems with falling glitter. Be careful of mixing colored bases (even if they are sheer)--you probably don't want "mud" color. Like, go for mixes you know will produce something cool, like red+blue=purple or white+red=pink, stuff like that. It's often good to mix a large glitter with a small one, like Kleancolor Black Out:




and, say, Jordana blue glitter:



You can come up with some really interesting creations!

Sometimes I take a solid color polish and add a glitter polish to it. Half and half in an empty bottle--maybe add a little clear if you want it to be more jellylike and semisheer so the glitters will shine through more brightly! (Imagine, for instance, mixing that Kleancolor with a red jelly polish...)

Only caution is that if the glitter polish you use has really BIG glitters, you should be careful or you may have to add some plain suspension base to the mix. Small to tiny glitters don't need as much, especially if you've mixed 'em into a thick, creamy polish which will help "suspend" them too.

You'll notice if you get into this stuff as a hobby that most (especially cheap) polishes w/huge glitters tend to have VERY thick base, sometimes gloopy even. Helps to hold the damn glitters up but can be difficult to apply, like spreading Jello on your nails.

There're several cheap brands which are great for mixing and playing. Sinful Colors, Confetti, Wet 'N Wild/Spoiled, Sally Hansen or even Revlon--those are the best that are easy to find. Kleancolor, LA Glitters, New York Summer, Sation and a few other salon brands are cheap too and you can order them online or rummage through beauty supply places. IMHO Sally's house brand Finger Paints are a bit overpriced for what they are but they are fun to mix.

I like Essie, Orly, Opi and so on but they're a bit spendy for this kinda fun unless I get them on sale. I do know one site, transdesign.com I think is the one, where you can get Essie and Orly for about half price. Oh, IIRC that's also where Sation and another-brand-I-forget are like $1.50 a bottle. Ha.

There are some beautiful topcoat polishes that are great for mixing as well--clear with tiny, brilliant glitters. One I like is called Pearl Harbor from Sinful Colors, it's the one on the left:



I added some of that to a peachy coral polish I had and then added clear polish and a dollop of a sheer pink with holographic glitters--I was pleasantly surprised by how well it turned out. Gotta dig up a pic and post it...

Of course you can mishmash all these techniques. Start a polish with suspension base, add premade polishes as well as loose glitter...go to town! Beware though, it is addictive.

Thanks for all that! This is the sort of thing I was thinking of doing, but I think I'll get so obsessed with it I won't stop. I might start with the franken polish thing, though.....

[greysfang]

This color is called Samba. I need it. Where can I get it? I don't even know where to go shop for good nail polish.

[Air Quotes]

If you have a Sally Beauty Supply they carry orly.

[Laurent]

CVS does too, I think.

[witchcurlgirl]

Ulta carries Orly too.

[Love love]

Greys- definitely try Sally's and Ulta because they for sure carry Orly but if that is an older color (or something discontinued and hard to find) you should hit up local beauty supply stores as opposed to the big chains. The small/local stores are always a gold mine of rare nail polishes because they keep polishes on the shelf forever and don't swap them out from season to season.

Also if you can't find that exact color, do a quick search to see if Orly Samba has a "dupe"

[choozen1ne]

I found where you can but it at a decent price
Orly Samba

[lurkur]

Whatever you paint your nails, look at the ingredients. I saw fuggin' formaldehyde in a few bottles of mine!