Here are pics of my polish stash. I corrected the colors the best that I could, but I'm still working with a crappy camera that wants to turn everything yellow, and a makeshift lightbox. I haven't bothered with swatches, because just about every polish ever has been swatched and photographed better by other bloggers, but in the remote chance that I have a polish you have never seen swatched, let me know and I will do my best to capture it for you.
OPI:
By far, the polishes I have the most of are OPIs. For almost 15 years I wore acrylic nails, and the salon I went to used only OPI colors. I would buy the ones that I liked best, in case I needed to touch-up between manicures, or in case OPI stopped making the color.
These glitters really freaked my poor little camera out!
Spark de Triomphe, Simmer & Shimmer, Show It & Glow It, Merry Midnight.
Blue Moon Lagoon, My Private Jet, Not Like The Movies, Yoga-ta Get This Blue, Shanghai Shimmer, Rally Pretty Pink.
Light My Sapphire, Brand New Skates, Festive Fuchsia, Deer Valley Spice, Princesses Rule, Hawaiian Orchid.
Here Today Aragon Tomorrow, Stranger Tides, Mermaid Tears, Ski Teal We Drop, Siberian Nights, Planks A Lot.
Y'all Come Back Ya Hear, Not In Kansas Anymore, Prune Danish, Wanted...Red Or Alive, Heart Throb, Bubble Bath.
Shatters: Red, Silver, White.
Sephora by OPI:
Teal We Meet Again, Mermaid To Order, Lagoon-a Beach, Underwater Fantasy, Wild About Shimmer, Read My Palm, Metro Chic.
OPI/SOPI Minis:
SOPI Modern Flower: Handpicked For Me, It's Bouquet With Me, Iris I Was Thinner, Leaf Him At The Altar.
OPI Alice In Wonderland: Absolutely Alice, Thanks So Muchness, Off With Her Red, Mad As A Hatter.
Essie:
Wicked, Retro Red (my favorite red evah!), Splash Of Grenadine, Lilacism, Main Squeeze, Mesmerize.
Chanel:
Vamp, Metallic Vamp, Black Satin, Berry, Fantastic, Passion Gloss.
Lippmann Collection:
Bad Romance, Superstar, Funky Chunky, Ruby Red Slippers, Don't Tell Mama.
(I realized after I got Bad Romance that it is a virtual dupe for CG Mummy May I, and I like MMI better, so I was going to return BR, but now I am thinking I will save it for a giveaway if I ever get any followers!)
Orly:
Iron Butterfly, Razzle, Royal Navy, Royal Velvet, Space Cadet, Lunar Eclipse, Galaxy Girl.
China Glaze:
Silver Lining, Mummy May I, Zombie Zest, Atlantis.
Liquid Leather, Rose Among Thorns, For Audrey, Re-Fresh Mint, Lemon Fizz, White-On-White.
Crackles: Black Mesh, Cracked Concrete, Lightening Bolt, Crushed Candy, Fault Line, Broken Hearted.
Hmm, I just noticed the bottle for Broken Hearted is different from the other five. Weird. I got them all from Sally's, at the same time.
Sinful Colors:
Pinkie Glitter, Hottie, Innocent, What's Your Name, (very old school) #87 Pearl Tint.
Pure Ice:
Strapless, Cheatin', Spitfire.
Ulta:
Pinata Yada Yada, Bombshell.
PYY is a dupe for Lippmann's Happy Birthday, at 1/4 the price! And Bombshell is a pretty red with holographic glitter. It is my go-to Christmas Party polish.
And now for some brands that I probably never would have discovered if it weren't for the fabulous nail bloggers that I follow. You girls rock!
Zoya:
Gemma, Harley, Breezi, Pippa, Caitlin, Dove, Lolly.
Cult Nails:
Iconic, Captivated, Always Winning, Let Me Fly.
Color Club:
Wild At Heart, Worth The Risque.
Misa:
Date Nights To The Twilight, Genie In This Bottle, Toxic Seduction.
BB Couture:
(awaiting photo)
Man Glaze:
(awaiting photo)
Some random stuff that I only have one of (for now!):
Sally Girl Glow-In-The-Dark polish; Nars: Orgasm; Hard Candy: Sky; Butter London: Henley Regatta; NYC: Starry Silver Glitter; Kleancolor: Holo Chrome; DelSol: Girls Night Out; Sally Hanson Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips: Girl Flower.
Some nail art stuff:
Konad Special Polish: Black Pearl, Violet Pearl, Psyche Pink, Metallic Silver; Super Nails Silver Rush holographic ultra-fine glitter; Stripe Rite striping polish: Metallic Silver, Glitter Purple, Glitter Fuchsia, Glitter Silver.
Manicure/Pedicure items that I use sometimes:
Palladio Nail Brilliance High Shine Topcoat; CND Air Dry Top Coat; Northern Lights Hologram Topcoat; Boots Cuticle Oil; Sephora by OPI Drying Drops; Mary Kay Quick Dry.
Manicure/Pedicure items that I use almost always:
Sally Hanson Instant Cuticle Remover; OPI Chip Skip; CND Stickey Base Coat; Seche Vite Top Coat (the BEST); Sally Hanson Dry Kwik (just as good as OPI/SOPI but way less expensive!).
(Not pictured: vitamin E oil. I swear by it! I use it on my hands, feet, nails, elbows, under my eyes, sometimes even in my hair.)
Since my natural fingernails have always been very thin, weak, peely, and warpy, I have been using soak-off uv gel to reinforce them since I stopped getting acrylics (I was lucky; 15 years of acrylics did not damage my nails at all. They still suck just as much as they did before!). I don't use tips or sculpt my nails out past the natural nail, I just paint the gel over the natural nail. Sometimes I file the shine off the gel and polish my nails as usual, sometimes I add glitters to the clear gel to make a gradient effect or a funky french, and sometimes I use colored gel nail polish (Gelac) over the gel. I love the soak-off gel because it doesn't damage the natural nail at all, unlike acrylics and powder gels, and it is really easy to DIY. Below are the items I use for my gel coating:
Clear Gel and Clear Builder Gel (the builder gel is thicker than the regular gel, it's good for smoothing out warpy and bumpy places), Cleanser Plus (to remove the tacky residue after curing; you can also use rubbing alcohol as long as it is 90% concentrated or more.), Dehydrator (gets rid of oils on the nail that would prevent the gel from sticking), and Bonder (basically a base coat, but for gels). Not pictured: pure acetone for soaking off the gels, and vitamin E oil for soothing the nails and cuticles after soaking.
And this is my cute pink uv lamp!
I got it from Fraulein 38. It came in the coolest box!
Even with international shipping and having to purchase a European-current-to-US-current converter, I still paid WAY less than I would have for a lamp of similar quality here in the US.
Well, I think that's about it! Whew!
