manicure monday

Manicure Monday – 8/12/2019 – Revel Nail Aurora + Bubbly & Catch-Up

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Yeah, wow, hi. We’ll get into the hiatus in a sec, but first:

I tried an acrylic dip nail system! I suck at it but, third application in, am getting better. I’ve been waffling on waiting to talk about it until I am good at it for Insta-worthy pics but…since when do I care about being Insta-worthy?

Revel Nail Aurora and Revel Nail BubblyRevel Nail Aurora & Revel Nail Bubbly

I’m not writing a review of Revel Nail Aurora and Revel Nail Bubbly dip powders in this post, but I’ll share a couple thoughts:

  • This picture does not capture color accurately. I am wearing both Revel Nail Aurora, which is a nice, light nude pink (it definitely looks pink in person) and Revel Nail Bubbly on top.
  • Although not evident in this picture, my application is fairly bulky. This is because:
    • This application is three dips instead of two because I wanted to use Revel Nail Bubbly on top for some shimmer.
    • I suck at finish filing acrylic. This led me to buy an e-file, which I am still getting the hang of, but it has changed my pedicure world dramatically.

OKAY.

I recently saw an Instagram post from a blogger who decided to face the music regarding her content and who ultimately discontinued her project. That was a bit eye-opening for me. I’m not there, but it’s undeniable to me that I bet Beauty Skeptic take a back seat to everything else. Better no content than half-assed content, right? I haven’t really been buying and trying much stuff, so its really been a drought of content inspiration here, BUT here’s what I’ve been up to:

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Manicure Monday – 7/8/2019 – China Glaze Pink Plumeria

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Last week, I got what ended up being a highly disappointing dip powder manicure at a salon (siiigh) for my birthday. It was super pretty but something about my nail tech’s application – or maybe the product itself – just didn’t jive; more on that another time. Frustrated, after I removed the (fun, pretty, summery) product, I opted to clothe my naked digits with a gel polish manicure. I knew I wanted pink but I didn’t want to go full neon and go for China Glaze Shocking Pink (wore it recently, is great, just not how I was feeling at the time).

Color Inspiration

So – I’m having a bit of a grapefruit moment. I can think of nothing but palomas even though I am a space cadet and keep forgetting to buy some damn grapefruit when I’m at the store.

Gorgeous, right? Check out Preppy Kitchen, John makes some cute and tasty looking stuff!

Anyway, China Glaze Pink Plumeria gives me grapefruit vibes something fierce – so its settled. I’ve featured it on the blog before, in a pedicure, but I wanted to give it another go in that format and with Sensationail Polish to Gel. I picked it up when I bought a bunch of bright colors earlier this year; when I was researching my tentative selections and saw swatches for Pink Plumeria, I required it.

Application

I’m going to go a bit out of order and talk about my pedicure first. Like most of the neon-adjacent pearls, Pink Plumeria is gorgeous but slightly annoying to apply. Unfortunately, we’re still waiting for China Glaze to update their traditional brushes to be more in line with modern brushes. That meant I had to redo a few toes more than once to get everything to lay right, not streak, etc. The color is so lovely that its worth it, though. On my toes, I did a standard application with Gelous Gel Coat base coat and Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat. They look great, just like the the first time I used it for a pedicure and snapped a photo:

China Glaze Pink Plumeria

Polish to Gel Application

On my fingers, I made a Polish to Gel cocktail. I played with the ratios a bit and ended up with probably 2-3 drops Pink Plumeria to 1 drop Polish to Gel, but it’s worth noting that the gel’s drop-size was larger due to the larger brush. Either way, it applied beautifully this way; I didn’t entirely expect this, but the gel really helps mitigate the quirks of the neon-pearl polish. It cured nicely in spite of my tampering.

And look at how magnificent it came out! I kinda think I want to just turn the entire bottle into a franken-gel. It was so much nicer to work with, and its beauty isn’t compromised at all in this format. It is fantastic on my skin tone (which is less obvious in the picture below; for some reason the polish presents accurately, but my skin did not) and even though its a bit bright, I don’t think it would be, “too much,” for most workplaces.

China Glaze Pink Plumeria with Sensationail Polish to GelChina Glaze Pink Plumeria & Sensationail Polish to Gel

What are you wearing this week?

Manicure Monday – 5/20/2019 – Sensationail Beat the Heat

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Sensationail Beat the Heat

How ridiculous is this yellow?! Sensationail Beat the Heat is crying for summer. I’m behind the curve again (oops). I applied this manicure two weeks ago on the twelfth and wore it up until the 26th – so I got a full two weeks out of it. This week, I’m wearing Diva Bride again – maybe I’ll post that next week.

Sensationail Beat the Heat

I remember the first time I saw this rich yellow creme gel polish. Someone had done an amazing ombre sunset manicure all with gel polish and this was the yellow in it. The manicure itself was incredible, but I just remembered being like, “Damn, I’ve never seen a yellow gel polish before!”

So, from that point forth, I wanted this damn color in my collection. It has been literal years. No; this is not an exaggeration. When Sensationail launched this vibrant yellow, they first only made it available in UK. Damn!

Then, they made it available in the US – but it was online only for ages. Considering (at the time), I had all the other Sensationail colors I wanted, I wasn’t going to shell out for shipping for a single bottle of gel polish.

By wonderful happenstance, I saw an Instagram post of theirs suggesting it would be in stores. The very next time I was in Wal-Mart, I made a beeline for nail polish and

There.

It.

Was.

Yoink. Mine at last!

Application

This picture is two coats and it is damn near opaque, but I found myself wishing I’d done a third; in certain light, you could see the smile line of the free edge of my natural nail. It wasn’t bad or obvious though; most people wouldn’t notice but I’m occasionally known for being a mildly neurotic perfectionist with this and many things.

Application was good and up to par with Sensationail’s consistency. It wore like a champ with no lifting or misbehavior; I got my first chip on the thirteenth day of wear.

The Bottom Line

I actually can’t find a link to a store that carries it, but if you aren’t allergic to paying nearly as much in shipping as the product you’re buying, you can get it from Sensationail here. Their site still says its online only, but that’s not the case – I definitely picked it up in store a couple miles from my house. :) Happy painting!

Manicure Monday – 3/25/19 – Craving Some Color Haul

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Craving Some Color HaulCraving Some Color Haul

For a while I’ve been in neutral. My manicures, anyway. And I love them. They are chic, effortless, professional, and pretty. They’re still what I reach for the most because they just feel right to me. They’re low-effort but high-polish. My toes were unwaveringly in shades of red since June. I love red, period.

It was winter. It was dreary. On a lark, I did a pedicure at the beginning of January with Nina Ultra Pro Caribbean Blue. For fun. For a shred of liveliness in January. I didn’t intend a matching manicure, but as I executed the pedi I was so thrilled with how it came out that I had to do my nails that way too (using Sensationail Polish to Gel because I can’t be bothered with RnP on my fingers these days). I used to wear a ton of color, used to have a gigantic polish collection that I gradually started to pare back when I started using gel polish.

Inspiration

The two weeks I wore that magnificent blue pearl made me realize I missed having some color in my life. Or at least on my toes and very occasionally (I still try to pretend to be quasi-professional most of the time) my nails. I spent more time than I care to admit (cough, hours and hours) looking at and fawning over swatches. I ultimately purchased five bottles of (regular formula, gasp) polish; I’m calling it my Craving Some Color Haul:

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Manicure Monday – 1/21/19 – Gelaze Exceptionally Gifted

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China Glaze Glaze Exceptionally GiftedChina Glaze Glaze Exceptionally Gifted

After two weeks of blue, I’m back in the realm of neutral-ish on my fingers. This soft pink with metallic pearl is feminine and flattering on me. While it isn’t remotely a dupe for my loved-and-lost Maybelline Wet Shine Diamonds polish of yore, it is probably the closest I’ve come in a gel formula.

Gel versions of colors that already exist in lines tend to differ slightly, but this time, the difference is nice. Swatches of the classic formula, though, would deter me from purchase. Gelaze Exceptionally Gifted, however, is quite nice! Reviews indicate that the classic formula is very chip-prone, but I’ve never had an issue with the wear of the Gelaze polishes.

Frankly, my application was shoddy – I did it late in the evening while watching TV (usually I’m fully absorbed in manicure-land), so I wouldn’t be surprised if I don’t get two weeks out of it. Knowing I did a lousy job, I’ll be happy with one.

Bonus Pedicure

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Manicure Monday – 1/14/19 – Nina Ultra Pro Caribbean Blue

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Manicure Monday - Nina Ultra Pro Caribbean Blue

I wrote the previous Manicure Monday post the Saturday prior to publish. Then, on Sunday, I got rid of the Nude Mood manicure and started anew. So this, really, should’ve gone live Monday. We’re catching up from a lag!

I’ve been doing a lot of neutrals on my fingers and reds on my toes. And I love both – they’re classic, professional, effortless.

A Polish to Gel Manicure

But I wanted some color in my life, so I reached for Nina Ultra Pro in Caribbean Blue and my Sensationail Polish to Gel kit.

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