Halloween Nails With Lumina Lacquer Mick Or Treat

I didn't pick up any new Halloween polishes this year, so I decided to wear an old favorite: Lumina Lacquer Mick or Treat! It's a super fun glitterbomb with fall-colored glitters--think red, grey, orange, black and yellow--in all shapes and sizes. You've got hexes, squares, stars, circles, crescent moons and, the extra special cherry on top: Mickey Mouse-shaped glitters!

I wore Mick Or Treat over a deep burgundy in my original review, so this time I used OPI Take The Stage for my base. Above is one coat of Mick Or Treat. You have to really fish for the Mickey glitters (I only got one with this mani), but they are worth it!

Mick Or Treat was limited edition, so unfortunately it's no longer available. Lumina in general doesn't seem to produce new collections anymore. They were one of my favorite indie brands and I really miss having new Lumina's to look forward to!

Twinsie Tuesday: OPI Take The Stage

Hey guys! Sorry for the late post today. As you might have noticed, I must confess that it's been a struggle to fit in time with my blog lately. But I'm trying! So thank you for keeping with me!

I didn't want to miss Twinsie Tuesday, so I whipped up a little something for this week's theme, which was to do a season-inspired mani. For me, fall brings to mind rich shades of red and orange and burnished metallics. OPI Take The Stage, an orange-tinged bronze, incorporates a little bit of both. Bronze is my favorite nail color to wear in fall. It just makes me want to curl up in a warm blanket with a hot drink and a candle. :)

If you like the look of Take The Stage, you can still find it for retail pricing on Ebay. This was like the second or third OPI I owned. I remember buying it in a duo pack with Extra-va-va-ganza. This was back in 2010--Take The Stage was part of the Burlesque Collection--but it seems so much longer ago than that!

                        

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Sarah at Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Zoya Savita

Savita is one of the most beloved of Zoya's Matte Velvet shades. This rich, regal purple satin is definitely one of my favorites! I love the color itself and the shimmer is to die for. There's just the right amount!

Something happened when I was painting with Savita that I've never experienced with a nail polish before. It smelled. And not just a strong nail polish/chemical smell, but almost...skunky or sour? I really can't describe it, but it was weird. It was noticeable until the polish dried, then after that I couldn't smell it. But it was such a random irregularity that I thought it was worth mentioning.

Other than some stank, Savita had a nice enough formula. Like a lot of mattes, you have to watch your brushstrokes so you don't wind up with lines, but the opacity and consistency are both great. What you see above is two coats.

What's your favorite Matte Velvet? And have you ever had an especially smelly polish? I'm curious if I'm the only one!

a-England Gloriana

A-England Gloriana is a warm-toned red foil with bright gold flakes. This came out in last year's Elizabeth & Mary Collection, inspired by Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary of England's Tudor Dynasty. A-England is one of those brands that I wouldn't feel foolish owning every polish they've ever made. I love the colors themselves and you can really feel the amount of care and thought put into each shade.

The burnished red base of Gloriana is stunning enough in its own right, but when you add on those gleaming bits of gold, then you've got something really special! The flakes are nice and prominent too--no shifting to just the right angle or squinting to see them.

As always with a-England, the formula here is buttery smooth and richly opaque. I used two coats for this mani.

Gloriana is an absolutely perfect fall color and captures its inspiration so well. When you think of Elizabeth, aren't her firey red hair and golden jewels the first two things that come to mind? I trimmed my nails yesterday and I think I accidentaly went too far into nubbins territory, but Gloriana does make them feel a lot more elegant. :)

Twinsie Tuesday: Ruffian Manicure

We're doing ruffian manis this week! I haven't done one of these in a while, so I thought I'd try something a little different this time. I've got these plain black Sally Hansen Salon Effects nail wraps that I haven't known what to do with. Unfortunately I no longer have the original packaging so I don't know what this design is called. I got these in a set from Target a long time ago and these are the only ones from the set I still have left, because honestly, I don't quite get the point of plain nail wraps. I like wearing them for the fun and intricate designs. If I wanted black, I'd wear black polish, ya know?

But I digress. My point is, i figured now was as good a time as any to use these wraps. I layered them over a base of Orly Key Lime Twist, a neon highlighter yellow, to create the ruffian design. The wraps had dried up a bit, so they were more stuff and brittle than usual, but they still got the job done!

I always love a good pop of neon! The nail wraps made it easy to get a smooth, even curve. I think it'd be a lot of fun to do this same concept with one of the fancier Salon Effects too.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out my Twinsies too!

Tiffany at Polished To Precision

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sarah at Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Lisa at The Polish Playground

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

Claire at Kerruticles

​ ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amanda at Amandalandish

Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland

Alaina at The Little Canvas

China Glaze Cabin Fever

This polish is magical. I can see why it took three different sightings of the CG Great Outdoors display for me to actually find this color! It's a gorgeous color-shifting shade that morphs from rusty red to bronze to green to gold. It changes to all the different colors of autumn leaves!

Natural light:

 Shade:

 Direct sunlight:

As with most duochromes, you have to conscientiously place your brushstrokes, but other than that, Cabin Fever is easy to apply. This is two coats.

I have to take my hats off to China Glaze on this one. The color shift is super strong and I love that you get so many beautiful fall colors in one polish. It takes on completely different personalities with each lighting change. If you ask me, it's not only the best polish of the Great Outdoors Collection, but the best duochrome polish from a mainstream brand in a long time. Like, remember the awesome that was the China Glaze's own New Bohemian Collection? Cabin Fever is just as good as those! Hey CG: more of this, please! :)

Twinsie Tuesday (On A Thursday): Ms. Marvel-Inspired Nails

I know, I know, I'm two days late (getting over a bad cold), but I didn't want to miss this week's theme: inspired by a favorite fictional character! I've mentioned on here many times that I'm an avid comics reader. One of my favorite books right now is Ms. Marvel. This comic received quite a bit of mainstream attention when it launched, as the heroine, Kamala Khan, is a Muslim teenager. While religion is an important part of Kamala's identity, the comic isn't about religion. It's just awesome stories of a smart, brave and somewhat awkward teenage girl trying to figure out her place in the world while kicking some major ass.

Also, there's a giant teleporting dog. If that doesn't sell you, then I dunno what will.

Seriously, it's an adorable and funny read that I can't recommend highly enough. Even if you don't normally like comics, give this one a try. The writing is very contemporary and accessible, with lovable characters and fresh storytelling.

Now, y'all know I'm not super great at nail art, so I stuck with a simple mani inspired by Kamala's costume.

                           

The blue is Deborah Lippmann I Know What Boys Like and the red is Essie Geranium. I added in one of my Born Pretty superhero nail decals for the lightning bolt. Here's how it came out!

It's nothing fancy, but I like it just the same. Sorry it was so late, but hopefully you enjoyed it too! :) And remember to check out my fellow Twinsies' manis!

                        

Alaina at The Little Canvas

Alice at Nail Art in Wonderland

Amanda at Amandalandish

Amanda at Fashion Footing

Amber at Nails Like Lace

Bridget at A Painted Nail

Chelsea at Nailed Blog

ChiChi at I'm Just Me...ChiChi

Claire at Kerruticles

Jessica at Blue Velvet Lacquer

​Lisa at The Polish Playground

Marisa at Polish Obsession

Marisa at Polish Those Nails

Megan at A Beauty in the Business

Róisín at Cuti-CLUE-les

Sara at The Call of Beauty

Sarah at Cloudy with a Chance of Lacquer

Savannah at Addicted to Polish

Sharon at Behind Green Eyes

Steph at Lovestruck Lacquer

Tiffany at Polished To Precision