Summer megapost

Okay so, summer camp is a hard place for manicures, and this summer was kind of a hard time for me in general. I think I managed to have painted nails (though sometimes heavily chipped nails...) nearly every day at work, and I even managed to do some fun things with them! But obviously I did not manage to update this blog at all, so, here is a round up of five of my more interesting summer manicures.

Salon Perfect's Kaboom (Neon Collision Collection) over Zoya's Snow White

I haven't really been into the texture trend -- in fact, I've always kind of assumed I'd hate it -- but when Salon Perfect came out with their Neon Collision collection I decided to try it, because I like neon things and neon matte glitter sounded like a lot of fun.

I got a lot of questions at summer camp (from campers, parents, and staff) about how I did my nails this week, and one camper told me that it looked like grass. (Another camper said it looked like sprinkles, and I must say, I'm inclined to agree with that kid. Now I just need a matte glitter that looks like rainbow sprinkles...)

As far as texture goes, I actually thought I might be okay with this -- but then I remembered that my job at camp is teaching kids how to knit, and I did not want to handle yarn all day with textured nails, so I added two coats of Seche Vite. Oh well.

Wet n Wild's Hollywood Walk of Fame (Fergie collection) over Orly's Mirror Mirror

My 4th of July manicure, obviously. I picked up Hollywood Walk of Fame on a whim, and honestly the fact that I was really into American Girl probably had a lot to do with it. It was kind of a pain to work with -- getting those stars out of the bottle can be hard work, and I ended up with a lot of clear polish on my nails, which led to bubbles. Also I don't really like the look of the bar glitter, especially since there isn't enough of it for it to really be a significant part of the manicure. I doubt I'll be getting much more wear out of Hollywood Walk of Fame, but I did enjoy wearing it this once.

Hard Candy's Black Tie Optional over Zoya's Robyn

I found Black Tie Optional when I went to Walmart to buy Kaboom, and since I've been wanting a black and white glitter for a while, I decided to get it. I paired it with Robyn in the hopes that it would have sort of a TFIOS feel, but the blue was maybe too dark to evoke that properly (which is weird because I feel like it didn't look so dark before I added the glitter).

This was another week that I got a lot of questions about how I did my nails, because from a distance it looks like a super cool paint splatter effect that would've taken a lot more effort than it actually did. Also I told a babysitter (who was picking up a camper) that it was Maybelline Color Show, whoops.

China Glaze's Techno sandwiched with China Glaze's Creative Fantasy

One of my good friends started painting his nails this summer, so we've taken a lot of trips to the nail polish store. I really liked the look of this purple color he bought, and I thought it would look good with the glitter I bought, so he let me borrow it. When I sat down to paint my nails I discovered that it was actually a jelly (which meant that I had to explain jellies to him because he had no idea what that meant). I don't normally buy jellies because, like texture, I've always assumed they're not my cup of tea, but since I had one in my hands I decided to try a jelly sandwich and I loved it. Why have I been avoiding these for so long?!

Wet n Wild's Glamorous sandwiched with China Glaze's Heat Index

So on our next trip to the nail polish store I decided to pick up a few jellies of my own. I thought Heat Index would look good with a gold glitter, so I borrowed Glamorous from another friend. This manicure was inspired by all the pink and/or glittery nails that I saw my campers sporting, and also by a pink & glittery shirt that said "girls can do anything" that I really wish I could find in my size!


I don't have any pictures of it, but after my success with jelly sandwiches and my foray into texture with the Neon Collision collection, I decided to finally try Liquid Sand! My friend bought Tiffany Case from the Bond Girls collection and graciously let me borrow it. (I am usually too possessive to let people borrow a new nail polish until I've tried it myself, so I appreciate when other people are less selfish.) I loved it and kept it on way too long, until it was severely chipped (even though this was after I was done with summer camp!) and then one day it turned weirdly chalky after a shower and I decided that was a sign that I really needed to remove it.

So that's pretty  much what I've been up to nail-wise for the past few months! And maybe now that summer is over I will be better about updating this blog on time. I make no promises, though.

DFTBA, even when you're taking photos before work and it's a few days
after you painted your nails and Zoya doesn't play nicely with your topcoat
so four of your nails have had the polish come off in one big chunk.