Tag Archives: jelly sandwich

Wet n Wild Summer Collection 2016: Lost in the Wild Flowers

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This collection is almost old news by now, but I’m still seeing it in stores, so I’ll still tell you about it.  Plus, I  bought the whole collection and in my head that’s not really justifiable if I don’t officially blog about it.  So here it is, the Wet n Wild Summer Collection for 2016: Lost in the Wild Flowers!

IMG_7902IMG_7833This is such a pretty collection, right?  Let’s start with the pink…

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This bright pink cream is opaque in two coats and dries to a really shiny finish.  There’s not too much else to say about it.  The formula is really nice and it’s a really pretty color.    IMG_7798

In looking through my collection for dupes, I found a match that is almost dead on, and that is Wet n Wild – Lavender Creme.  The one I own is in the old style bottle, but this same shade is still available in the new shaped bottles.  Really, they are super close!  Lavender Creme is a hair lighter than Cherry Blossom On Top, but really, if you already have Lavender Creme, you can skip picking up Cherry Blossom On Top.  It baffles me when a brand puts out pretty much the exact same color like this.  I mean, I know Lavender Creme is in the Wild Shine line, and Cherry Blossom On Top is in the Megalast line, but really….  I feel like it’s not too much to ask for a limited edition polish to be different from what that particular brand already makes available.  First world problems, I know.

IMG_7817Leaf Me Be

This bright spring green polish is a jelly formula, so it dries really shiny.  On my index and ring finger is three coats of the polish on its own.  On my middle and pinky fingers IMG_7739is three coats over white.  Jelly polishes are always fun because of the nail art and jelly sandwich potential that they have.  And actually, the first thing I did with these polishes when I got them home, was to make a jelly sandwich!  Here it is on the left with two coats of Leaf Me Be, a coat of silver glitter polish, and then another coat of Leaf Me Be.  So sparkly and fun, but muted at the same time!

As far as dupes of this polish go, I didn’t really have any good ones in my own IMG_7845collection, but I did find a kind of close one while I was at Dollar General.  (By the way, there are a bunch of the Wet n Wild polish colors that are exclusive to Dollar General.  Really pretty colors, too!)  This polish is called Limelight, and it’s just about the same color as Leaf Me Be, except it has a yellow/gold shimmer.  It’s really pretty, but since I just bought Leaf Me Be, I couldn’t justify buying Limelight.  I’m not sure what Limelight’s formula is like.

Oh, one more thing about Leaf Me Be: it’s a stainer.  After my jelly sandwich mani, my nails were (well, still are) a lovely booger green color.  Really unattractive.  It’s not a big deal for me because I just slapped more polish over my gross looking nails, but if you don’t always wear polish, this might be a deal-breaker for you.

 

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Wild Wild Violet is a beautiful warm purple polish.  Much like Cherry Blossom On Top, it’s opaque in two coats and dries to a really shiny finish.  This is such a flattering color against my really light skin!

IMG_7812In comparing it to other purples in my collection, I found that I don’t have anything super close to this color.  In the comparison picture, Wild Wild Violet is in the middle, Fresh Paint – Sophia is on the left, and Wet n Wild – On a Trip is on the right.  You can see that Wild Wild Violet is the warmest of the three.  Sophia is a much more intense color; it’s almost neon in person.  On a Trip is obviously much cooler in tone.  I really like this polish and I’m super happy to have it in my collection.  IMG_7891

One more thing, though… This polish is the mother of all stainers.   What you’re looking at here on the right is my middle and ring finger on my right hand after I removed the mani I was wearing on the left.  Wild Wild Violet left the nail on my middle finger a crazy bright pink!  I’ve never seen a IMG_7832purple polish (or even a red or pink one for that matter)  stain like this!  Holy moly!  And even on my ring finger (which is still kind of green from my Leaf Me Be jelly sandwich) you can see pink dots which are from the leopard spots!  That means that this polish is capable of staining your nails even if you are wearing white polish underneath it!  And I had a base coat on!  The fact that I’ve ended the last five sentences with exclamation marks should be a good indicator of how crazy that is.

By the way, isn’t this mani using all of the polishes from this collection so fun?  I enjoyed sporting these nails.

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The last polish in this collection is a vibrant reddish-orange cream.  This one took three coats to be opaque, and like all of the others in this collection, it dries to a high shine.   This polish is red enough to not look too bad on my fair skin, but I think it would look extra good on darker skin.

IMG_7805As far as dupes for this polish go… There are a lot.  Pictured from left to right are Revlon – Fearless, LA Colors – Moody Red, Poppy Culture, and NYC Spring Street.  If I had realized that I had so many  polishes that were nearly identical to Poppy Culture, I probably wouldn’t have picked it up.  If you don’t have a fiery orange-red in your collection, Poppy Culture is a perfectly fine polish to pick up, but this color is hardly unique.

 

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Overall, I think this is a really fun collection, and the colors all work well with each other, even though they are not crazy unique.  The formulas are consistently good and the price tag of under $2 a bottle is awesome!  The only negative is that two of the four polishes are mega stainers.

So, what do you think of this collection?  Have you picked up any of these polishes?  Is staining a deal-breaker for you?  Let me know what you think!

 

Rainbow Jelly Sandwich

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I’m on a jelly sandwich kick.  Ever since picking up Funky Fingers – Olaf, a white glitter topper in a clear base, I can’t stop thinking of ways that I want to use it in jelly sandwiches.  You can read a little about my mad scientist experiments and the first time I used Olaf here.

What I love about this polish is that it’s all white glitter, except for a few tiny iridescent glitters.  That means that you really get the true color of the jelly polish that you use to show on your nail.  It seems like winter/Christmas polish collections where you see the most of these all white glitter toppers.  Please comment below if you know of a white glitter topper that is available as part of a permanent collection.  This particular polish is still available in 5 Below, but I’m guessing that when it’s gone, it’s gone.

IMG_4273Before making a big mess on my nails, I decided to do a little experimenting. I started by taking the back of a business card and making three horizontal stripes with a black polish, and two other almost black polishes.  When the black/almost black dried, I put an iridescent topper on the left half and Olaf on the right half.  When the toppers were dry, I made vertical stripes of purple, blue, green, and yellow jelly polishes.  I find that doing something like this can help minimize those “this looked better in my head” moments.

What I discovered is that the colors of the jelly polishes really popped when painted over the white glitter, but not so much over the iridescent glitter.   I also confirmed what I suspected: that if the polishes are in “rainbow order”, they blend perfectly when they are overlapped a little bit.  I also discovered that I got the best effect when I used a true black polish for a base.

Tangent:  Were any of you really into putting things in rainbow order as a kid?  When I was a kid, that’s how everything was arranged: Legos, Skittles,… other colored stuff.  Okay, back to the topic at hand.

So, i started with two coats of black polish followed by one coat of Olaf.  It took a little bit of “fishing” to get the snowflakes out, but it wasn’t too bad.

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The I started making stripes with these jelly polishes.

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From left to right: Wet n Wild – Deception (No longer available. No one is sorrier than me), my Frankenjelly, Spoiled – Permission to Proceed, Spoiled – Did I Dye It Too Blonde?.  The Spoiled polishes are made by Wet n Wild and are available exclusively at CVS for $1.99.

I applied as stripe of polish to each nail in the order that they are pictured, allowing the colors to overlap a little.  Here’s the end result:

IMG_4268 Aren’t they so fun?  I was thrilled with how these turned out!

And you really don’t have to have a white glitter topper to pull off this look.  You could just make a bunch of little random dots with white polish or craft paint over black polish.  Or you could paint pretty much ant white design over black polish and then top it with rainbow jelly stripes for a really cool effect!  If you try anything similar, please let me know!  Thanks for reading!

Snowflake Sandwich with Frankenjelly

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I’m pretty open about my love for Broadway Nails – Space Flight.

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I mean, what’s not to love?  It’s a beautiful blue jelly polish that only costs $1!  Well, actually, there are two things that I don’t love about this polish…

1.  It stinks crazy bad.  Like oil-based paint bad.  Like “It’s below freezing, but I need to open a window for ventilation” bad.

2. It’s really dark.  I mean, it’s definitely a jelly polish, but it’s so dark that it covers up whatever is in the middle of my jelly sandwich just a little too much.  And if I felt the need to apply a second coat over my glitter in the name of smoothness or evenness, it just covered my glitter more than I wanted it to.

Then, late one night, in a moment of inspiration I though, “Why don’t I just add some of Space Flight to a clear polish to make a more sheer jelly?”  So that’s what I did.  Behold:

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I added maybe 20 drops of Space Flight into a 3/4 full bottle of clear Wet n Wild polish.  Seriously, it did not take much Space Flight at all to make the clear polish a lovely shade of blue.  Here is one coat of each of these painted over an expired mailer from Bath & Body Works:

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Isn’t that great?  Now that I had my new lovely sheer blue jelly polish, I needed to do something with it.

I acquired Funky Fingers – Olaf on a recent trip to 5 Below.

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This is a clear base with small white hex glitter, tiny white and iridescent glitter, and large white snowflake shaped glitter.  I figured that this would be perfect to use in a jelly sandwich with my Frankenjelly!

I actually started by applying 2 coats of Space Flight to get a nice deep base.  Then I applies one coat of Olaf followed by one coat of my new blue Frankenjelly.  Here’s the result:

IMG_4259I love how this turned out!  The Frankenjelly was dark enough to give the glitter a wonderful blue color and give the effect that the glitter is suspended in the middle of the polish with out covering it up too much!  I wore this for almost 5 days, so that’s saying something!

With the success of this frankenjelly, I may be experimenting with more jellies like this in the future.  Stay tuned!  Thanks for reading!  Oh, and just a reminder, I’m on intagram so find me there!!!

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My 14 Favorite Polishes of 2014

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It seems like pretty much every blogger and YouTuber has listed their 14 favorites from 2014.  I’m totally jumping on that bandwagon.  This was tough, but I did it.  There were a few polishes that it pained me to leave out, but I finally narrowed it down to the 14 polishes that I just couldn’t stop reaching for last year.  Here they are:

IMG_4262Aren’t they so pretty?

Starting in the upper left corner we have Funky Finger – Sand & Stilettos.

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This is just the best sparkly polish ever.  It’s available exclusively at 5 Below.  I’ve seen it at my local 5 Below within the past few weeks, so you can still grab this stunner for yourself for a mere $2.

Next, also available exclusively from 5 Below is Fresh Paint – Guava.  Fabulous color, fabulous formula.  A must-have for summer.  Here it is paired with Sand & Stillettos:

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It’s just the perfect neon peachy color, and a perfect dupe for China Glaze – Flip Flop Fantasy.  I just couldn’t get enough of this color over the summer.

Next, we have one more 5 Below polish: Fresh Paint – Sugar Crush.  This is the first true flaky polish that I’ve ever owned.

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This polish is a show-stopper over any dark color.  It’s mind blowing over black, teal, or dark purple, and I don’t know if I love it better shiny or matte.  You just can’t go wrong with this one.  I’m not sure if you can still find this at 5 Below or not, but if you see it there.  GRAB IT!

Next, I loved China Glaze – Turned Up Turquoise.

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The intense color and the shimmer make me swoon!  I don’t have a picture of it with a shiny top coat, but when you do put a shiny top coat on, the shimmer really pops.  Such a perfect color!

Yes, I’m a sucker for turquoise.  Next is Jordana – Boy Oh Boy.

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It almost looks green in the middle picture, but it’s not.  It’s a deep, beautiful turquoise.  And the formula on this baby is wonderful!  Almost a one coater!

Next we have Ulta – Joined at the Hippo.

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This is one of my more recent favorites.  Actually, I just talked about this polish in my December Favorites.  It’s got a great formula, and while it is a really deep blue, it never looks black.  Just a beautiful polish!

Then there’s Broadway Nails – Space Flight, a really deep blue jelly.

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I’ve actually got this on my nails right now, as you’ll see in a post later this week. This is an amazingly beautiful polish and it only costs $1!  You can find this at Dollar General.

Now we come to the first indie polish that I ever owned: Valley Girl Lacquer – Fantasm.

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Even in a really ugly jelly sandwich , I still love this polish:

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This was my first exposure to the super huge round glitters that are pretty common in indie polishes and they really blew my mind when I first used them. Heck, they still blow my mind!

Next is Wet n Wild – Deception. This was my first really great jelly polish.

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This was in a limited edition collection from the spring, so I’m pretty sure you won’t be able to find this anywhere and I’m very sorry about that.  I’ve used about 1/4 of this bottle already, and I’m going to be heartbroken when it’s gone.This polish takes 5 or 6 coats to get that perfect jelly look, but it’s so worth it!

Next is China Glaze – Peonies & Park Ave from the 2014 spring collection.

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This almost neon pink really doesn’t seem like anything special, but it’s the pink that I reached for repeatedly back in the summer.  I feel like it works well with my fair skin.

Next is a polish that I’ve talked about so many times: Wet n Wild Fergie – Gold Album.

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This is the best gold polish that I’ve ever used!   I love the stuff!  It’s perfect and beautiful every time.

Next is Broadway Nails – Hot & Sexy.  This is a dupe for China Glaze – Ruby Pumps.

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So beautiful and red and sparkly!  I stare at my nails a lot when I’m wearing this! Also available at Dollar General for $1.

Now we have the polish that I loved the most in the fall.  NYC – Royal Chic.  This was from a limited edition collection, but really, there are lots of great browns out there.

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Sadly, these pictures really don’t capture the chocolaty brown goodness that is this polish.  It’s just so pretty and rich looking on the nail.

Last, but certainly not least is Polish me Silly – Tealing no lies.  This is my first indie holographic polish, and wow, it’s amazing.

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I just got this guy for Christmas, so I’ve only worn it once so far, but I pretty much couldn’t stop staring at my nails while it was on.  And I forced my husband to admire my nails so many times while I was wearing this.  It’s really, really amazing, especially in the sun.

So that’s it!  My 14 favorite polishes of the past year!  Thanks for reading!  What were some of your favorite polishes in 2014?  I’d love to know!

Day 21: Inspired by a Color (31dc2014)

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I’m a sucker for all nail polish, but I’m an extra huge sucker for purple, pink and teal/turquoise polish.  Ultimately for today, I decided to use 3 of my favorite purple polishes to create a look. Here’s what I ended up with:

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The second picture has 3 Mile Island in the background, fyi.

Anyway, I made a jelly sandwich with my favorite purple jelly and my favorite purple indie glitter and then outlined it with a “blurple” microglitter polish.  I think I actually liked them better before I outlined them, but I just wanted to get a third purple polish in the mix.

Tomorrow is Inspired By a Song and I’m going with a song that was requested by the hubby.  See you tomorrow!

Day 17: Glitter (31dc2014)

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I’m no stranger to glitter.  I’m a sucker for sparkly things in general.  I figured that Day 17 would be a great opportunity to sport some over-the-top sparkle on my nails, but when the time came to paint my nails, I was in a jelly sandwich sort of mood.  I was itching to use Broadway Nails – Space Flight, a deep blue jelly polish.

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The glitter is gold and I did a gradient with the heavier glitter near my cuticles.   Like most sparkly manicures, this one looks better in person than on film.  This is a really simple manicure, but I sort of needed a break.  This challenge is definitely fun, but it’s also a little draining!  I’m going to make it, though!  I’ll see you tomorrow with some half-moons!

Jelly Sandwich Time!

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Jelly sandwiches are not really a new thing in the nail polish world, but I run into enough people who give me a blank stare when I use the term that I thought it warranted a post.  A jelly sandwich is a layer of glitter that is sandwiched between a few layer of a jelly polish. 

What is a jelly polish, you ask?  Thank you for asking.  A jelly polish is a sheer, colored polish that generally looks like a Jolly Rancher when it dries on your nail – colored, but still see-through and really shiny.  The appearance of wet jelly polish always reminds me of the paint you used to paint those plastic faux stained glass sun-catcher things as a kid.  Do you know what I’m talking about? 

Sometimes polish brands will release a collection of jellies, but I think most lines of polish have a few jellies in the mix already.  Sometimes you can tell a polish is a jelly just by looking at it in the bottle, but the best way to tell is to open up the bottle and look at the polish on the brush and around the neck of the bottle.  If you can see through it easily, you’ve got a jelly.  If you can just sort of see through it, you may have a “crelly” on your hands.

A crelly is somewhere between a cream polish and a jelly.  (I feel like it’s a dumb word, and I avoid using it if possible, but really, there’s no other word to describe polishes like this.)  Have you seen those glitter polishes that are in a light colored, milky sort of base?  That’s  a crelly base.  Crellies work well for jelly sandwiches too. 

Here is the first jelly sandwich I ever attempted:

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Eh, it turned out okay.  I didn’t love it.  This was with a sheer nude polish from Avon called Barely There that I’ve had forever.  I would call this one a crelly.  The glitter polish I used is Fantasm from Valley Girl Lacquer.   (Valley Girl Lacquer is an indie polish company.  Check out their etsy shop.  They have some awesome glitter polishes!)

Just for reference, here’s what Fantasm looks like over black:

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you can definitely see how when you sandwich the glitter between the layers of “jelly” how it mutes the glitter effect. 

Here’s another jelly sandwich that I did using Fantasm and a purple limited edition polish called Deception from Wet n Wild.  I love this purple, and I’m sorry you can’t get it anymore. 

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I LOVED this manicure! Deception is so sheer that I think I used 2-3 coats of polish under the layer of glitter and then another 2-3 coats over the glitter, but gosh it was beautiful!  The way the glitter reflected light through the polish made my heart so happy. 

Here’s one final jelly sandwich:

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This is using Wet n Wild Megalast Bubblegum Pop and China Glaze Glitter Up.  (This Wet n Wild color is exclusive to Dollar General / Family Dollar as far as I know.)  This one I medium liked.  This pink is really fun but really… pink.

What are your thoughts about jelly sandwiches?  What are your favorite jelly polishes?