Born Pretty Store's Peel Off Candy Color Polish #16

Have you ever been in a situation where you want to delay painting your nails for something special, but don't want to be seen with naked nails in the mean time (#thestruggleisreal)? This polish is the fix for that unique and frustrating situation. BornPrettyStore.com has this peel off nail polish and it's actually pretty amazing. With two coats of this quick-drying polish you can be on your way, and when you're done with it you can just peel it right off! It peels easily and cleanly without damaging the nail, too. Word of warning: Paint your nails after a hot shower or other water-based activity because it will cause premature peeling.

The color is nice, too. It's got great pigmentation and doesn't need a top coat (why would you?).

Head on over to my Instagram to see a video of the peel-off in action!

A video posted by A Fistful Of Fingernails (@a_fistful_of_fingernails) on May 18, 2015 at 12:28pm PDT

For 10% off at Born Pretty Store use code GVG10. 

Plus, they already offer fast, free worldwide shipping, so it's double awesome. Have a look around their store because you're going to find something really cool with a great price!

Nonie Creme's Colour Prevails

Nonie Creme (of Butter London fame) has launched a new line of polish and cosmetics at Walgreens and Drugstore.com and let me tell you, it's fabulous! The most interesting feature of the new collection is the Precision Painter brush that's on the polish and other items (like eyeliner). It's ergonomically designed to help you paint better. Awesome, right? I don't know if there's a super specific way to hold the brush, but I will say that having that wing piece available to rest on your hand however you choose to hold it is very helpful. Plus, at $8 a bottle this range is super affordable!

Cry Baby on the left, Tattle Tail on the right

Tattle Tail

OPI's Push and Shove

OPI's Push and Shove is the most unique polish I've come across in a while. To me, it almost feels alive like a crackle or texture polish. Once layered over it's special base coat, the silver colors smooths itself out to give an almost chrome finish. It's highly pigmented (this is one coat) and very reflective. The instructions say to not use a top coat, but since without one the polish is not guaranteed to last past 24 hours, I took a risk and tried one---no major differences were found, so TC-away, everyone!

Ulta's Baby Doll

I had a freebie coupon from Ulta so I grabbed a pink that I thought could be sheer. I wanted something light and clean looking.

This is two coats. The color's nice, but a bit chalky and not opaque or sheer enough, you know... it fits right in that spot on the spectrum in between the two. It's a nice color to have in the nail art arsenal even though I don't see too much of a future for this one as a solo artist.

Swatch: Nails Inc's Leather Effects in Dalston

During a trip to Sephora to pick up my Beauty Insider Birthday gift, I picked up Nails Inc's Leather Effect polish in Dalston. The "effect" is basically a texturized, matte, leather-esque finish. If you're familiar with crackle polish, this works the same way. Paint it on like you would a regular polish and then wait for the polish to go to work to make itself all leathery.

It dries really fast (I put on 2 coats--no top coat!) and the color is definitely Spring/Summer appropriate. The bumpy texture isn't distracting like I thought it might be. It feels sort of rough, but not snag-your-clothes rough. I really like this polish! It's vivid, eye-catching, and feels like it's high-quality.

Swatch: Hard Candy's Sweet Tooth

I must say, I love milky-looking polish colors. I never expected to find one at Wal-Mart (my Wal-Mart's nail section is trashed 99% of the time), so color me shocked when I ran into a Hard Candy display, fully stocked, and packed with interesting polishes! This was a reasonable price ($4), so I grabbed it. Sweet Tooth looks whimsical and candy-esque and has a decent lasting power. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised!

Swatch: OPI's A Oui Bit of Red

I love OPI's A Oui Bit of Red! It gave me jelly-vibes in terms of pigmentation, even though it isn't a jelly. It's a bold color with a tiny bit of shimmer--it's a traditional "candy apple red" color.

Swatch: Butter London's Slapper

Guess who's town got an Ulta? This girl. And you know what comes with Ulta? Butter London. A dream come true! On opening weekend I picked up Slapper:

It's a bit more green than I had hoped, but it's a good summer color!

China Glaze's It's Alive

Ignore the random pink glitter--it's just a reflection of my shirt. This is an awesome mossy green glitter with hints of gold. It was almost opaque in one coat... but I put on two for good measure! I love unusual colors so this hits the sweet spot. I'm lovin' it!

OPI's Sanguine

Sorry folks, no fancy jumbo posts this week because I recently hurt my back pretty bad and it totally derailed my week... so let's have some swatches instead!

Here's the vampy Sanguine by OPI. It's super dark, but when it hits light you can really see the blood-red shimmer peek through.

China Glaze's Ghoulish Glow (Glow in the Dark)

This post makes me laugh because the picture is so ridiculous. I thought when taking this picture in the dark with my new camera that it would give up on picking up the surrounding light and just be a shot of glowing nails... but nope! My camera gave it a nice try and I ended up with this bizarro, nuclear-looking nail shot.

Anyway, China Glaze's Ghoulish Glow is really neat because it transforms your normal nails into glow sticks without really altering your manicure. At most, Ghoulish Glow gives your nails a slightly milky look in normal light. This polish does take some "light charging" where your nails have to pick up the light it's been exposed to in order to actually glow in the dark. Thicker coats give you a more solid patch of "glow" (see: middle finger). This stuff is uber-perfect for Halloween... and dare I say raves?

OPI Glim-Merry Gold Glitter Top Coat

I was gifted this bottle of OPI's Glim-Merry Gold Glitter Top Coat and my eyes nearly bugged out of my head when I saw it. It's so glittery! The glitter is really fine so no scratchiness is to be had.

over OPI's Kennebunk-port:

While this picture doesn't capture the sparkle, you can see that you get really good coverage with one coat. I'm really looking forward to experimenting with this glitter!

Zoya's Casey & Evvie Swatches

Casey:
I'd best describe this color as a deep, deep burgundy. Zoya describes it as "Vampy", which is completely accurate. It's a lovely color, especially for those who want dark nails but are still wary of wearing straight black (Can you believe people still think black polish is only for "goth" and "emo" kids? Ludicrous!).

Evvie:
Evvie is a dark moss green. It's very similar to Essie's Sew Psyched, but Evvie is darker. It looks really nice on my olive skin tone and applies really nicely. Evvie is a winner in my book!

Zoya's Storm (Spoon) Swatch

I've been looking for a glitter-infused black polish for the holidays... you know, because sometimes plain black is kind of a downer. So, I ordered a sample spoon from Zoya in Storm and subsequently had my mind blown. It's gorgeous! At first glance it looks like it only has plain silver glitter in it, but really it's holographic glitter (check out all the colors!). If you're into galaxy nails, this is your perfect base color.

Sephora X's Chaotic + New Way to Sample Polish

Sephora has a new line of polish out called Sephora X that is...
"...a state-of-the-art line that is breaking new ground on the nail scene. This collection of rich, bold lacquers delivers unprecedented color, spectacular shine and incredible long-wear. Our experts scour the globe for the most innovative ingredients, materials and technology so you can experience never-before-seen effects first. Immerse yourself in the latest looks, trends and technologies, found only in SEPHORA X."

When I was in my local Sephora I wasn't really drawn to the display... nothing really stood out in a "Wow! OMG!" sort of way. There was a wide range of options, but I wasn't feelin' it. I was, however, fascinated by Sephora's new way to sample polish. At the top of the display is a roll of tear away, clear plastic sheets with an outline of a finger that you can paint the polish on. How genius is this? I love it because A) I don't want to ruin the polish on my nails with a new polish I might not even like and B) I'm kind of skeeved out by trying polish on my nails that any person with who-knows-what grossness could have also used. Plus, you get to take the sheet home and hem and haw at it for as long as you like!

Swatched: Sephora X's Chaotic

Cynthia Rowley Nail Color Duo

Sometimes shopping at TJ Maxx can result in some awesome finds that I wouldn't otherwise get in my podunk town. I thought I struck gold when I spotted these Cynthia Rowley Nail Color Duos for around $5, so I grabbed the neon pink and purple pair (they don't have names) and went on my merry way.

Firstly, the colors in the duo are great. The pink is so neon that the picture above is completely inaccurate. The purple is straight-up purple, but it's on the summery side.

There are a few glaring problems with this polish duo. You know there's an issue when a polish that isn't advertised as a matte polish dries matte. This stuff dries quickly and doesn't even itself out. Even better, it chips badly in under 24 hours. Hello, poor quality!

This is really a shame because the colors are beautiful, but they're not even worth wasting top coat on.

Zoya's Lara

Here's Zoya's Lara from the Beach Collection 2012. I was lacking in the pink department and this polish definitely filled my need. It's bright. It's cheery. It's pink, y'all.

Zoya's Sooki vs. America

Let's play a game called "Spot Sooki". One of these nails is painted with Sooki, the others with America.

Can you tell which one is Sooki? It's the ring finger. Yeah, I can barely tell a difference either, except Sooki is every so slightly darker than America. If you were a neurotically season-conscious polish-wearer, I would use America in the summer and Sooki in the winter, but it's not like anyone would care if you didn't.

So, should you buy both? No, but if you already have one of the two and it's running on empty and you can get the other as a freebie, it's a good replacement option.

Sally Hansen's Magnetic Nail Polish in Graphite Gravity

I really, really resisted the magnetic nail polish trend, but with a coupon and a Target gift card I figured I'd give Sally Hansen's Magnetic Nail Polish in Graphite Gravity a try.

WHY DID I RESIST? Stupid, stupid me! It has such a unique feel and it's very unlike a frost or metallic polish. You know how frosts and metallics sometimes make your nails look worse because they show every little flaw? That doesn't happen with this polish. Instead you get this soft, rich, fluid look. It's very hard to describe accurately. I love it and I'm so glad I grabbed a bottle.

Swatch: Revlon's Whimsical (430)

So I was walking past the cosmetics section in my local grocery store while kind of looking at what was around, but not looking for anything specific, when I walked past Revlon's nail display and actually said out loud, "Whoa." The display had all sorts of non-traditional, Revlon-y colors (reds, dark reds, pinks) and instead had bright, Summer-y colors like limes! What the what! I nabbed the unusual Whimsical (which I've read is an almost-dupe for Deborah Lippman's Glitter in the Air) and made my way to checkout.

Check out this glitter. It's got super tiny aqua, pink, and silver glitter, and also has medium aqua and pink glitter pieces. What's cool about Whimsical is that the glitter isn't in a clear base, but rather a sheer, milky, baby sea foam one. With multiple layers it gives the effect of looking at something shiny that's submerged under a few feet of ocean or lake water. You know it's shining, but can't really see it unless it's closer to the surface. That's what happens here---different levels of submersion give depth and new visual interest to the glitter.

Bottom line: It's funky. It's fresh. It's girly without being vomit-inducingly sweet.

3 Coats: