Essie: Secret Stash

I loveeeeeeeeeeeeee this polish. I don't usually go for pinks, but this is just so bright and cheery. The perfect Barbie pink. And it's a jelly... so squishy Barbie. J'adore.

Though, you have to work for the jelly-ness. This was at least 4, possibly 5 coats. 

I found this on clearance at my Ulta, so if you're into pinks and don't have this one - grab it while you can!

Sally Hansen: Love in Bloom

Well this polish didn't turn out at all the way I expected. This was 5 coats, and as you can see it was no where close to being opaque. But I'm kind of okay with that. It is a nice layering polish, and it has a really nice and unique finish. It seems almost like a foil, but clearly not metallic. It has little tiny flakes of shimmer in it, but it is very muted shimmer. Just a hint of reflection, really.  Hopefully enlarging the images will help to explain them better. 

Ulta: Banana Rum in the Sun

Here is another polish I got on clearance at Ulta. And I'm glad I did - Banana Rum in the Sun may be my favorite yellow yet. Color-wise anyway. The formula leaves a bit to be desired. This was... 5 coats I believe. Quite a bit. But it was necessary to get the bottle color. But I think the color looks better on me than China Glaze Lemon Fizz. And it is far less chalky. Maybe because it is so sheer. 

On to the pictures...

Ulta: Pinata-Yada-Yada over and under white

I wanted to see how the sparse multi-colored glitter of Pinata-Yada-Yada looked over white, so I did two coats of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White, and topped it with a coat of Pinata-Yada-Yada. I like it, but not as much as I liked it over black. Maybe it is the white I used.. I feel like it had a yellow tint to it, which I hateeee. But other than that it is pretty cool. Very festive. 

And then, because I love how China Glaze Party Hearty looks under a sheer white, I put two layers of OPI Funny Bunny (a very sheer white) over the previous mani. 

I like it better under the white. It reminds me of like... an unfocused camera or something like that. 

OPI: Peach-A-Boo

Here is a gorgeous golden/peach/pink sheer polish from OPI, Peach-A-Boo. Generally I hate polishes that show my nail line, because I feel like my nails look dirty, but I like this polish a lot. Next time I'd definitely layer it over a opaque nude polish, but I still like it on its own. 

Gorgeousss shimmer. <3.

Diamond Cosmetics: Pink Star Burst

Diamond Cosmetics Pink Star Burst is a very pretty, very feminine light pink with silver shimmer. I actually prefer it with only one coat - it is very sheer. But I think it is a great french manicure base. This is with three coats.

OPI: Hawaiian Orchid w/ Fairy Dust

This was the first OPI polish that I ever purchased. Hawaiian Orchid. I got it because the place I used to get my nails done used it as a base for french manicures. It is my go-to sheer pink, even though I'm sure there are others that would go with my skin color better. I just ordered Color Club Sugar Rush, so I'm excited to see how that turns out. Anyway, this was topped with China Glaze Fairy Dust - because the holo in it is so much smaller than my franken holo. I think it works better in this mani, which is of the more... girly variety. Very unusual for me. 

There is a really subtle blue/purple duochrome aspect to this polish. But it is really only visible in direct sunlight. 

Butter London: Chuffed Gradient

After being inspired by All Lacquered Up's Butter London Gradient over Teal, I decided to see how these Butter London jelly's looked built up on their own. 

This is Chuffed, the orange jelly. I actually love this color. Admittedly in the pictures it looks a little strange, but in real life I loved it. 

I think this would probably look really awesome over yellow, or over blue, or over anything really. It's fabulous. I was hesitant to buy into the butter London thing, but I love the two polishes I have. I'm just waiting for some sales to get some more. Also... I couldn't find them at Ulta, but I'll have to look harder next time. I got these off of hautelook because they had a 2 for 1 deal that I couldn't pass up. These polishes go for 14 bucks a piece. Yeah, it's crazy. So if you see a good deal like that, grab them! They're worth it. The only problem with hautelook is that they now send me about 304847 emails a week. 

So to do this mani, I started off with one coat, and then built it up to 6 while moving up my nail with the starting point. All Lacquered Up explains it better. 

Anyhoo, I really like Chuffed. I love the shade of orange, I love the glitter, I love everything about it. I even love its sheerness, because it lets me do manis like this. Overall, a real winner.