Two-fer Tuesday: Mango Bunny Mums the Word and Blue Moon

Today I have two Mango Bunny monthly exclusives to share with you! The September exclusive is Mums the Word, which is a fabulous crelly polish inspired by mums (also known as chrysanthemums) which typically bloom in fall. Mums the Word has a pinky nude base, with a smattering of pink, red, orange, purple and yellow glitters of various sizes. The formula was great; the first coat was a tad sheer, but it built up very nicely. I used three coats so I would have completely opaque coverage, but might have been able to stop at two with slightly more careful application. The glitter was nicely distributed and I didn't have any troubles applying it. The October exclusive is Blue Moon, which is a soft linear holographic periwinkle. This also had a very nice formula and was super smooth and easy to apply-- I believe I just used two coats here (though maybe a possible three to cover all my bases), but no issues at all to report!

Mums the Word:

Blue Moon:

I am really happy with both these polishes and they are each so pretty in their own respective ways. Definitely two winners! Mango Bunny is in the midst of changing their subscription service/process-- instead of a subscription, they will offer two LE polishes each month: a glitter topper and a crelly. You'll be able to buy them singly or as part of a duo. If you are interested, I would pop over to their site-- they also have some very pretty winter polishes available right now!

Colores de Carol Stargazer (June 2015 Exclusive)

Ok, I didn't end up posting as much I planned last week-- whoops! Trying to get on top of things. I'm only six months late posting about this polish. Today I have the Colores de Carol (yeesh, I have such a hard time typing that) June exclusive, Stargazer. This is my first Colores de Carol polish, and I decided to spring for Stargazer because it was the exclusive polish for my birth month and because the color was pretty unique. Stargazer is a golden beige with a blue/green duochrome shift and holographic finish.

Honestly, I had major issue with the formula of this, but hear me out. When I applied this polish, Seattle was in the middle of majorly hot summer and I think it affected the polish. The formula was on the thick side when I applied it and the brush seemed incredibly floppy, which made it frustrating to apply. I ended up using three coats to get the look I wanted, but probably should have stopped with two, just due to the thickness because the third coat dragged a bit.

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I find the color to be very unique, though the formula was a bit annoying when I applied it-- though I am pretty sure it was due to the extremely warm temperatures. I am less pleased with the floppy brush, but I have a couple more Colores de Carol polishes to try so we'll see if it is all of the brushes or just an unfortunate combination. I'm not ready to give up on the brand altogether-- I'll put it down to bad circumstances!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Many Splendors

Today, let's tackle Texture Tuesday-- from an unexpected source no less. This is one of the last polishes from Rescue Beauty, as part of the Fan Collection 3.0. Today I have Many Splendors, which is a polish inspired by "...a night-sky black polish that, like Uluru, responds to its environment revealing fiery flashes of red orange from within." The result of this inspiration is a the polish I have to share with you now! Many Splendors has base of black glitter that is shot through with gold, orange, and red glitters. In some light the base looks more brown than black, so it's a little bit a chameleon in that sense. 

Many Splendors was a little sheer in the first coat, but built up nicely in the next coat. Unfortunately, I can't remember how many coats I used-- I think it was probably three in the end, but two might have been sufficient. I didn't have any issues applying it, and as mentioned, it does try to a textured finished. If you want to make it glossy, it will probably require several coats to smooth everything out.


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I  wish I had put some top coat on this so I could show you what it looks like all shiny, because it looks very beautiful like that. As a texture, this wore well-- I actually wore this for 4-5 days with only minor tip wear. Awesome! This polish is no longer available, but I feel it really accurately captures the inspiration and is a pretty unique texture! I like it!

Mango Bunny Polish Pinking About Summer

Is it too soon to be thinking of summer again? Probably, but that doesn't stop me! We have already had a lot of rain and wind this fall, which has me wishing for sun and warm temperatures already. In an effort to cheer me up, here's a splash of color to get the week started right! I have a polish from Mango Bunny's Sunkissed Neon collection and this is Pinking About Summer, which is a happy neon pink with a slight holographic finish. I am reminded of watermelon when I look at this polish. 

Real talk: these photos have been kicking around since this summer. I can't remember any details about this. As far as I recall, the formula on this was good and I didn't have any issues. I probably used three coats, but possibly two. My photos make this lean a little coral, though I believe in real life it was decidedly more neon pink. The holographic finish is definitely on the subtle side, but adds a nice little sparkle to the polish.

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Pinking About Summer is a perfect summer color, and perfect as a much needed pick-me-up during the grey months of winter. If you are currently craving some brights in your life, the entire Sunkissed Neon collection is still on the Mango Bunny site, but hurry before they are gone!

Colors by Llarowe November Polish of the Month Cornucopia

Hey look, it's not a Purple Friday post! But there will be one more, as the Huskies won the Apple Cup and will go to a bowl game! Woo! Now, moving along: even though I am running behind, today I have the CbL November Polish of the Month, Cornucopia, to share with you! These polishes are released once a month, and then they're gone (though you can also purchase them through the international stockists)! I would describe Cornucopia as a deep burgundy with a strong holographic finish.

Like most CbL polishes, this had an excellent formula-- a touch thick but easy to control and incredibly opaque. I can't remember how many coats I used-- probably two! In any case, I had no issues and this was a joy to wear.

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A brief shot in the sun (well, sorta) from my iPhone:

Only a month behind! I figured I better get this one on the blog asap-- I had hoped it post it early in the month of November but got distracted by various things. Unfortunately, I missed the preorder window of the December POTM (grrr, so annoyed!) so I'll have to see if I can catch it from Harlow & Co. Once again I am not disappointed-- Cornucopia is gorgeous and perfect for the season!

Great Lakes Lacquer Harvest Moon 2015: Come, Reap

Today I have a new-to-me brand to share with you, Great Lakes Lacquer! This is a brand based out of Michigan, hence the name. So far the owner, Mariah, has put out a few collections and releases a few LE polishes each month. This is one of the September LE polishes, Harvest Moon 2015: Come, Reap which is based on the tradition of the Harvest Moon as the end of the growing season and the beginning of the dying season.

Harvest Moon 2015: Come, Reap is a pretty red-orange with a strong shimmer with scattered holographic glitters. The formula is a bit on the jelly side, but isn't too thick or too thin. I am pretty sure I used three coats here to get the coverage I wanted, but it might have been two. In any case, it was no big deal and I had an easy time applying it! 

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I'm afraid my photos aren't the best-- this is a very pretty polish in person! I am definitely becoming a fan of this brand! This was a gorgeous red polish and I'm very happy I picked it up!

Different Dimension Light Year

Unfortunately, today's polish was not very successful, at least on me. I snagged Different Dimension Light Year during the Llarowe "close out" sale because I thought it was a cool looking polish. Light Year is a bit of problem child in trying to describe it-- I would call it a gray-green base with a strong golden yellow shimmer. Depending on the light, the base color can change between more grey and more green looking, but the golden shimmer is ever-present. The formula was a bit on the thin side-- the first coat was a bit sheer, though it built up nicely in three coats and I didn't have any trouble applying it.

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All in all, I do think this is unique color and I don't really have anything else like it, but I fear it looks ghastly with my skin tone! Which is a huge bummer, but at least I bought it on sale! I wish this leaned a little more green or a little more grey because where it falls makes it difficult for me to wear, though I seldom tend to worry about these things.

Purple Friday: Apple Cup Edition: Enchanted Polish November 2014

And... here we are what will most likely be the last Purple Friday post of the year! Today is our big rivalry game (the Apple Cup) against our cross-state university, and this year they are doing quite well, while UW is only doing okay... which could make it a very painful game. I certainly hope it's a good game, and that we win, but I'm trying to stay realistic (but still optimistic). We are having brunch with friends and then doing a quickie tailgate (aka just drinking) before the game. We have friends visiting town from California (we were all in band together) and it will be fun to spend some time with them-- away from the kiddos!

I initially had grand plans to do some amazing nail art for the Apple Cup, but with Thanksgiving and my mediocre nail art skills... yeah, it wasn't going to happen. I wish! Maybe next year! So once that idea fell through, I wasn't feeling particularly motivated or inspired to pick a polish. With the help of my husband, who occasionally has a passing interest in my polish hobby, helped pick one out. We settled on Enchanted Polish November 2014, hoping that this will bring us some good luck because the Huskies won the Apple Cup in that month and year. November 2014 is a deep, eggplant purple with a strong linear holographic flame. The formula was good, and went on very smoothly-- I just needed two coats! Love that.

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This is such a gorgeous, deep, dark mysterious purple-- I think it's so lovely! The holo flame is nice and deep (though not totally overwhelming) and it's such a beautiful color. Why have I waited so long to wear this?! At least that tragedy has been remedied!

Go Dawgs! Beat the Cougars!

Thanksgiving Mani: Nine Zero Stuffed

Happy Thanksgiving all! Hope everyone has a nice day and long weekend planned! My parents are coming for dinner at our house, which will probably be chaos, but oh well! Hopefully the turkey turns out! As a quick Thanksgiving mani, I decided to whip out a new-to-me brand, Nine Zero Lacquer! I saw swatches of the brand's Thanksgiving trio and knew I had to have them. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, so it's great to see it getting some love! For this mani, I went simple and pulled out Stuffed to use. Stuffed is described as a "gold holographic micro glitter with warm, seasonal glitters mixed in." The primary glitter I see added in is burgundy, but there's some red and possibly orange in there too. When I first applied this, I tried painting it on like I would any normal polish, but the glitter placement was a little sparse, so I ended up dabbing a first coat on the nail to get good coverage, then painted on a second and third coat like normal (with maybe a bit of dabbing to cover any thin spots). But it was super easy to use, packed with glitter, dried quickly, and I think you could also use this as a glitter topper if you didn't want to do just straight up glitter. Winner winner turkey dinner! It was a bit of a thirsty glitter, though, and I did need two layers of top coat (I am currently using the Essence gel top coat) to give it a smooth finish. All in all, an excellent polish and it works perfectly for the holiday! I'm excited to have discovered this brand and look forward to sharing more of their polishes with you!

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Stuffed is bling-tastic thanks to all the gold holographic glitter-- really shines! It freaked out my camera a little-- I should mattify and take a photo to capture it a bit better. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Two-fer Tuesday: Fairytale Finish Neverending Fairytales October Box

I initially meant to get this posted last week, but discovered that I had somehow deleted pictures of one of the polishes and so I had to go back and reswatch it this weekend! How annoying! But it was easily remedied, at least. So this week I can show you the October box, which was inspired by fall!

This first polish I have to share with you is Leaf Jumping, which is a salmon pink crelly with a variety of different colored glitters in there, including turquoise, blue, red and yellow. I needed to give this a good roll to get the glitters mixed up again because it had been sitting for awhile, but it applied very well. I probably could have gotten away with two coats, but used three coats here to make sure I had the glitter and opacity I wanted. I didn't really have to dab, though the first coat was a bit sparse in terms of glitter, so I made sure that I had more glitter on my following coats.

This next polish from the box, and the one that I think is the true standout is Autumn Twilight. This is a difficult polish to describe, but I'll give it a try! Autumn Twilight has a deep, blackened purple base with mix of shimmer, purple and bronze glitter. I honestly can't quite remember how many coats I used here-- I think maybe two, but I might have used three, as that tends to my MO these days. This was packed with glitter and went on very easily; no issues at all! Perfection!

Another great sub box from Amanda! I kind of wish Leaf Jumping had of a more autumnal base color, but I like the unique color combination of the glitters. Autumn Twilight is definitely the winner here, but again, I like them both!

Rescue Beauty Lounge Pardonne Moi

I think everyone knows by now that Rescue Beauty Lounge is going out of busy-- which I find not terribly surprising given their business model, price point, and the plethora of other indie and boutique polish makers out there-- today I have another polish from their Je t'aime Je t'aime collection. Today I have Pardonne Moi, which is described as a "satin finish of an exceptional indigo blue overcast with iris purple." This polish is a metallic blue with a slight purple duochrome on the edges-- it's more apparent in the bottle than one the nail, but you can see flashes. This isn't really a satin finish in my opinion, a shimmery metallic but I can't really remember

The formula on this was a little on the thin side, so I needed three coats to get the coverage I wanted. I would suggest being careful, as it can leave streaks due to the metallic nature. Also being a metallic, it dries fairly quickly.

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I know my photos do show a few streaks, but it's not terrible in real life, even for a metallic. You can currently purchase this for $8 (down from $20!) on the Rescue Beauty site.

Sunny's Body Products Mystery Autumn Box

 Hey look, two posts in one day! Disclaimer: this box is already sold out so you can no longer purchase it, but I wanted to write up a quick review anyway because I thoroughly enjoyed this box and I love Sunny's Body Products (technically I still have the Halloween box to review too)! This time around, Sunny decided to do something a little different-- she picked out 8 autumn relevant scents to make products from, but each box had a mix of seven different products, picked at random. It was a fun way to do it, and I was really looking forward to what I would receive.

There was one lip product included in the box, and I got the newly released lip jelly, which is described as a "beautiful blend between lip balm and lip gloss specifically designed to be a hydrating, smooth jelly perfect for all day use." The scent of either product is Pralines and Cream, which is pretty self explanatory.

This is the first time I have used the lip jelly, but I liked it! The scent was great, sweet but not too much so and it was easy to use and apply.

The hand care I products were the Intensive Cuticle Therapy in Caramelized Pralines, which is described as an "absolutely irresistible homemade baked blend of warm vanilla caramel with dark brown sugar and butter drenched pecans."

I'll be honest-- this was my least favorite scent, but for a specific reason: it reminds me too much of popcorn, which I haaaaaaate. I might be the only person on the planet that feels this way, but the scent of hot buttered popcorn makes me want to vomit. The butter note is very strong here, and to me, overpowers the rest of the other notes and I just can't handle it. I haven't actually used it yet, so maybe it mellows out upon actual usage, but it's hard to get over all that butter, yuck.

 
Next I got the Hand Butter in Cornucopias and Gourds, which is descibed as a "gentle hint of cloves, fresh dried herbs, earthy mums, and freshly fallen leaves followed by the heady warmth of fresh cut wood. It's Autumn in a bottle!"

Given how much I loved the Autumn Mums scent from last year's Autumn Box, it's perhaps not a huge surprise that I love this scent. This one is very spicy and little goes a long way, otherwise the scent can get a bit overpowering. But despite that, this is definitely one of my favorite scents from the box.

Another favorite that I lucked out getting was the On-the-Go Hand Lotion in White Pumpkin and Lilac which is described as a "sweet scent is anchored with notes of amber, cedar wood and sheer musk. Hints of lilac petals and autumn lily flowers are followed by a blissful combination of pumpkin seeds, spicy coriander, fragrant cinnamon sugar and luscious cashmere vanilla." 

Oh man oh man-- I love this scent! It's kind of spicy and kind of floral-- a perfect blend. I love this one so much. Definitely one of my favorites from this box! 

I also received the Hand Sugar Scrub in Pumpkin Marshmallow which is described as "ooey gooey and completely YUMMY! A fabulous Fall treat! Cardamom, cinnamon, marshmallow, cooked pumpkin, Madagascar vanilla, buttermilk, caramel-glaze, and a hint of graham cracker."

Surprisingly, this doesn't smell that edible to me, as I would expect for a scent called "pumpkin marshmallow." I love how smooth and soft this makes my hands feel, but I don't love the scent as much I thought I would.

 Sunny has switched up her cuticle oil packaging, making them slimmer and putting a metal rolling ball instead of a plastic one. I received the Cuticle Oil in Sweater Weather, which is described as a "unique, fresh scent that blends crisp juniper berry and sage. The earthy clean smell will remind you of being outside in the brisk air, surrounded by the beautiful changing leaves during the fall with notes of juniper berries, fresh eucalyptus, and sage and a tiny bit of woods, sweet spearmint and dew mixed in." 

I really like the packaging changes that have been made here. Plus this scent is great, so I think this might be my winner for the whole box!

I got the Triple Thick Body Lotion in Pumpkin Cornbread, which is described a "sweet pumpkin is blended with cornmeal, ground clove and cinnamon in this warm fall bread, straight from the oven."

I'll be honest-- I didn't expect to like this scent. Surprise! I actually love this. The cloves, cinnamon and pumpkin notes take the lead, with the cornmeal note finishing it up. It's spicy and not too sweet.

There was one scent I didn't get:  Spiced Pumpkin Latte, which is described as a "delicious blend of rich milk and creamy butter followed by the intoxicating and heady scent of coffee, decadent pumpkin, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sweet notes of sugared maple and chocolate cream round out this satisfying and heart-warming scent." 

Overall I really liked this box and I enjoyed the twist on her usual seasonal boxes! Can't wait to see what she cooks up for the holidays!

HPB Presents Green Monochromatic Polka Dots!

So I ended up missing last month's Hobby Polish Blogger's Link-up, which was Halloween themed. Between my kids' birthday and getting sick I just didn't have the energy to come up with any manicures! But this month I wanted to get back at it and participate! The November theme is monochromatic, which means using one color in various hues. At first I thought I would do purple, but I already do Purple Fridays, so I scoured my "to be used" polish pile and was inspired by some new Fairytale Finish polishes that had just arrived and decided to go green, which is highly unusual for me! Green is not my favorite color and one I don't tend to wear often, but for some reason this week I had the hankering for green!

My base color is Colors by Llarowe Onesies, which is a soft mint green holographic. I then chose three darker green shades and grabbed my dotting tools and decided to randomly layer on polka dots. The darkest green is Fairytale Finish Turning Over A New Leaf, a dark forest teal green holographic, then CbL Believe in Miracles, a bright teal holographic, and then FF Autumn Reflections, which is a deeper wintergreen mint holographic.

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 I am generally pretty happy with the way this looks. Sometimes trying to make something look random is very difficult, hah! I definitely want to tweak a few things, such as varying the layers if I'd known just how opaque looking Autumn Reflections was going to look over the others, but like I said, I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out! Guess I'm going to have work on my doting skills.

An InLinkz Link-up

Purple Friday: Colors by Llarowe Grape Jelly and Enchanted Polish Rainbow Juice (with pulp)

Another Purple Friday post eeking in before the clock rolls over-- but not for lack of effort on my part, though! I got my manicure done and took pictures and then my internet wouldn't work! Darnit! But we're rolling now, so quick, let's get on with it! This week we're playing a team with a worse record than we have, so hopefully we can win!

This week I actually did have a manicure in mind-- specifically, making a jelly sandwich because I was wanting to play with some polishes I had lying around. I pulled out Grape Jelly from Colors by Llarowe, which is a sheer, deep purple jelly. I applied two coats making sure to let them dry in between coats!) and then layered a coat of Enchanted Polish Rainbow Juice (with pulp) on top of that. Rainbow Juice (with pulp) is a holographic glitter topper with small holographic glitter and larger flakies. Then I layered another coat of Grape Jelly on top of that! Grape Jelly is definitely a bit on the streaky side, so my coats aren't terrible even, so I'll have to work on that. I don't think the finished product looks too bad, though! It may not be the most unique look out there, but it does have a nice sparkle!

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I really love this look! It's not perfect, but suddenly I have a great urge to buy a bunch of jelly polishes and make jelly sandwiches with Rainbow Juice (with pulp). I think this would look fabulous with pretty much any color!

Go Dawgs! Beat the Beavers!

Girly Bits Fathomless

Today I have a fun polish to share with you! This is Girly Bits Fathomless! This is an older polish, released back in 2013 as part of the "Season of Sparkle" collection. It was recently on sale and is now retired-- I snatched it up on a whim even though greens tend not to be my thing. The Girly Bits website describes Fathomless as a "deep teal, with glowy blue/green micro glitters that peek through the jelly lacquer." PS-- I think it's awesome that the GB website lists retired polishes, along with a shade description and the collection it was released in?! So helpful for those of us who are crazy like this.

This had a great formula. It definitely felt a bit jelly-like in its consistency, just a touch on the thick side. With the first coat, I got pretty good coverage but few sheer spots towards the tips of my nails-- a second coat evened everything out no problem! Fathomless dried fairly quickly down to a more matte finish, so definitelu need a top coat to make this nice and glossy. Luckily it's not a very thirsty polish and one layer of top coat was all I needed to make it smooth and shiny.

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I took few photos with my iPhone to better capture the shimmer, because I couldn't photograph it properly at night with my camera. 

I personally think this is a great Christmas polish and I'm pleasantly surprised at how much I love this color, given that it's not really my wheelhouse (green, near-black). But there's something about the sparkle and flash and how it never looks quite black that snuck up on me and sunk its claws in-- so I love this! It's greenish blue, blueish green, shimmery, dark and deep-- love it!

Colors by Llarowe Fall-o-me

In an effort to catch up with monthly polishes, today I have the October Polish of the Month from Colors by Llarowe, entitled Fall-o-me. Fall-o-me is dusky deep periwinkle with a strong pink shimmer and holographic finish. This is a perfect transitional color for the fall-- it's deep but not too deep, and the shimmer gives it dimension. I used three coats here, though I probably could have gotten away with two. I guess I was just kind of on autopilot mode! Three gives it a nice depth, though! The formula was a touch thick, but in a good, easy to use sort of way and this went on smoothly! 

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Absolutely gorgeous! While there are other dusky purples with pink shimmer in them (Cult Nails Flushed comes to mind) but not with the holographic finish. I love this!

Seahawks Sunday: Liquid Sky Lacquer Go Hawks!

I usually don't paint my nails for the Seahawks because I tend to have my nails painted for the Husky games on Saturdays, but this week is an exception because my husband and I are attending the game tonight! So I wanted to a) paint my nails and b) get up a quickie post to show you!

This is a pretty simple mani-- I had Go Hawks! from Liquid Sky Lacquer kicking around-- it's a mini bottle that she released one of the years the Seahawks played in the Super Bowl. It's a glitter topper with blue and green hex glitter and small green microglitter in a clear base. I initially thought I might layer it over a grey base, but decided to use silver instead. The closest silver I had on hand was A England Excaliber, so there you have it! I used two coats of Excaliber and then dabbed one coat of Go Hawks! on top. I think it looks good!

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Hope you all are having an enjoyable Sunday! Go Hawks!

Purple Saturday: Julep Danica

Welp, didn't get this up last night. And now I'm posting as the game is being played, haha. In this week's I-can't-catch-a-break story, on Thursday I managed to take an extremely graceful fall in the middle of a street while I was walking to work and rolled my ankle, causing a nice sprain. Luckily it didn't seem to swell too much, nor is it turning any nasty colors, so I'm managing by swallowing Aleve and taping it to keep it stable. It's definitely still tender, but I can walk on it. And then yesterday the terrible terrorist attacks in France happened, and I just wasn't feeling up to posting last night. But I did want to paint my nails... and that didn't really go as planned either. I started late and the polish I originally picked end up not being what I was looking for. So I just wanted something that would work, and quickly. So I grabbed Julep Danica, which is a gorgeous "blue violet iridescent chrome." Danica is definitely blue leaning, though it has a duochrome aspect to it that makes it more red purple at some angles and lights, thanks to the pink and blue shimmer running through out this polish.

I did not do an excellent job of applying this polish. I didn't let the polish dry enough in between coats, and applied probably slightly thicker coats and I had some bubbling issues. Argh. My fault. The formula on this was good-- easy to apply, not too thick or too thin. As it is a chrome polish, you have to be a little careful not too load too much on your brush to avoid streaks. It's a very pretty polish and my photos below do not really do it justice.

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I wasn't really happy with these photos-- I snapped some with my iPhone that might give you a better hint at the duochrome nature of Danica.

I think this is a polish I will need to reswatch at some point, haha! I'm not very happy with my paint job or my photos, but Thursday and Friday were such crappy days that I can't really work up the energy to care at this point. I painted my nails!

Go Dawgs! Beat the Sun Devils!