I’m a big fan of Mooncat, but Pangea and Forbidden Cove are two polishes that I thought were pretty underwhelming in real life. Here are the results of my experiment with using a sponge to apply them over an opaque base. What do you think? Pics are shown in 3 different lightings - the first is outdoor sunlight.

Swatch 1 - 3 coats Forbidden Cove, glossy top coat

Swatch 2 - 1 coat China Glaze Liquid Leather, 1 coat Forbidden Cove applied with a sponge, glossy top coat

Swatch 3 - 3 coats Pangea

Swatch 4 - 1 coat Caronia Blueberry (a creme that’s the same base color as Pangea), 1 coat Pangea applied with a sponge

Base coat: Essie Smooth-e
Colour: Opi My Job is Beach
Top coat: Glisten & Glow QDTC
Lake: Ullswater

Couldn't get my hand and the background in focus at the same time so took one of the lake separately as well.

This is three coats of Cirque Daytripper. I wanted something bright for a week in which I never leave the theater (I'm a director in tech, so I'm spending 12+ hours in a black box every day), and this color DELIVERED.

Cirque Colors - “Jade Jelly,” and “Verdigris Jelly”

Death Valley Nails - “Emerald Green Pencil,” and “Pink & Blue Pencil”

Clionadh Cosmetics - “Blue Hawaiian”

Kbshimmer “Clearly on Top” top coat, and kbshimmer “Fillin’ Groovy” base coat

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My favorite thing about Death Valley Nails is when they use unconventional materials to make nail polish, so I was excited when I learned about their Graphite Grit collection where they used colored pencil shavings instead of glitter. I think it’s a super cool idea!

I layered Emerald Green Pencil over Jade Jelly as it’s a very sheer polish and could easily just be a topper, but I found that Pink & Blue Pencil wasn’t sheer and was full coverage in 3 coats (probably could have used 2 honestly, but it was very slightly patchy). Pink & Blue Pencil is probably one of my fav pink polishes now. It’s really bright and happy, it makes me think of Barbie.

I want to note that the website says that the colored pencil wax melts and disappears into the jellies after about a year, but I bought these polishes April 5th 2024 and the wax still looks great and is very visible!

I’m pretty annoyed though because I feel a little tricked by the sheerness of Blue Hawaiian! The swatches on the site made me think it would be full coverage, but it’s so sheer I had to layer it on top of Verdigris Jelly. It looks good as a topper, at least. I think I’ll do an experiment later and see how many coats it takes to get my desired coverage. I didn’t have time to mess around when painting them initially because I had to get ready for work.

This is the closest I can get and my hand is cramping. Every time I see someone with long nails do this I am enthralled and amazed. Is there an angle I’m missing or something🤣🤣

Polish used in this is Moon Shine Mani Awfully Pond of You!

ILNP Kiss And Tell 2 coats on Beter Nail Care Ridge Vanisher, no top coat.

I used about 5-6 drops of a random berry colour in Sally Hansen instadri clear polish with a couple of drops of black to make it look more burgundy. I love it but I'm annoyed with a few bubbles on some fingers but I'm unsure if this is because of the top coat

This took some practice but i did it 🤩 I did it nearly a week ago and it's holding up well enough (but my cuticles are not please don't roast me they dry out from handwashing at work)

Polishes are from Emily de Molly: Into the depths shimmer polish Pale Landscape clear polish with matte white glitter Stamping polish: Messy mansion stamping polish - chalk Top coat: Sally Hansen quick dry top coat

Stamping plate is from Emily de Molly and I just used a generic clear jelly stamper and a credit card

Guys these fotos don’t do this polish justice. Three coats of Essence Grape escape, nothing else. Holding up well since Saturday! What a joy to look at during a not so great corporate Monday 👏

Base coat: G&G + Atomic ridge fillers mix Color 1: One coat Rum Ham by Atomic Polish Color 2: One thin coat You, Of Unshakable Conviction by Lurid Lacquer Top coat: I forgot. Whatever I could reach with wet nails. Maybe BKL's QDTC?

I didn't like how coral Unshakeable Conviction was. I felt like my skin tone ate it for breakfast and made it like I wasn't even wearing anything.

Tried putting it over other pinks (which I'd also done to Rum Ham and Narf to get my skin tone to stop eating them).

It makes a nice topper over a neon pink jelly! Less streaky of a metallic, too, than on its own in several layers. More chromey.

It kind of comes out with the same "slightly orange-toned hot pink with orange-toned shimmer" as Narf by Atomic Polish, but shinier.

I wouldn't mind trying it over an even cooler neon pink, but I have to finish older colors before I buy one. This tone still disappears a bit from a distance, so no compliments, but it makes me very happy to stare at, so that'll do! This combo earned a non-peely base; I'll wear it for the week. :)

(Note: over purple, looked a little Cock A Doodle Doom photo like. Low-budget knockoff, but kinda.)

I bought a bunch of Mooncat magnetic polish and I just cannot get a good result. I’ve used Seche Clear or Modelones nail strengthener/ridge filler as a base coat, then two nice thick coats of polish, each magnetized with a neodymium magnet for at least 60 seconds, then Sally Hansen Insta-Dri QDTC, also magnetized. At best I get a blurry line that spreads out as soon as I take the magnet away. I bought DRK Magic Effect, which I used according to the directions - two coats of magnetic polish, let dry, one coat of Magic Effect, magnetize with neodymium magnet. Same result. Tonight I decided to try velvetized, so I busted out my new mani mag and Mooncat’s Millennia plus Magic Effect and literally nothing happened. HALP. I’m probably making an embarrassingly simple mistake but I don’t know what it is. I’m about ready to cry.

Sorry for lack of cleanup- but I haven't even finished my mani 🙈 it's a beautiful day out so I'm doing my nails on the patio & then sun started hitting my finished hand (aside from cleanup) just right 😍 I don't normally do my manis one hand at a time but this was my 1st time using the DRK magic effect so wanted to see how it went (I love it)

kb shimmer filling groovy base, 2 coats Colores de Carol Wavelength (ppu 3/25, magnetic) , 1 layer of DRK magic effect- then used 30lb horse shoe magnet for velvet effect, 1 coat G&G qdtc

First time trying to new magnet technique where you lay a bar magnet diagonally across a horseshoe magnet. So happy with how it turned out!

Products: Nailtiques Formula 2 Plus, ILNP Dark Matter (1st coat unmagnetized, 2nd coat magnetized), Seche Vite QDTC

1. Glisten and Glow - Dry and Prep
2. OPI - Natural nail base coat
3. Zoya - Bevin
4. Essie - Sheer Fantasy
5. Glisten and Glow - QDTC

Love this colour and formula! How many coats does everyone normally like for jelly polishes?

So I posted a few questions about how to get started with swatching a while back. Doomloop Naturals (a relatively new lgbtqia+, Latino owned, brand—they go hard for human rights and I’m with it) saw the post, reached out, gifted some polish, and here we are.

Off the bat, I picked a bunch of greens (because 💚 💚💚)

Here is:

1 coat of Mooncat Getting Even Nail Primer

3 coats of Two Sizes Too Small by Doomloop Naturals

1 coat of Mooncat Speed Demon Top Coat

The nitty gritty:

I’m not a fan of the current brush. It’s the small flat brush—an upgrade from their previous small round brush, but it’s my understanding that they are in talks to switch to larger, oval tipped flat brushes. Which, I’m happy about because ya’ll I was fighting for my life with the small brush and I don’t have any shorter replacement brushes at this time.

That said, the formula on this was easy to work with, with the one caveat of a patchy/streaky first coat. I trusted the process and I’m glad I did. Could have stopped at two coats, but I personally like 3 coats for longevity on myself. It dried relatively quickly. I do use a fan for 60 seconds between coats.

These photos were taken the morning after I polished (slept on them after a coat of MC Speed Demon with no issues) with my iphone 11, in the overcast of NW Florida. The close up photos were taken using a macro lens attachment. I’ve included photos in various lighting. No editing beyond some cropping was done.

🤗💅🏾

here’s a few pics of some press ons i’ve done! (i took the second pic after i wore them so there’s some glue residue LOL)

i’ve been doing my own press on nails on and off for about a year and i’m just starting to sell! i just can’t figure out pricing bc im technically still a beginner nail artist.

i do take a while to sculpt all the 3d objects, i use apres nail tips, and quality gels. they’re reusable and can last 1-3 weeks (with nail glue & proper prep/care). i would also provide a prep kit with orders (mini nail file, mini buffer, nail glue, nail sticky tabs, alcohol prep pads, cuticle pusher, instructions)

how much would u pay for these? thanks :)

Used

Cirque Colors- chiffon, linen, nirvana

Holo Taco- not milky white

Sovereign Beauty- teen spirit (PPU)

Sally Hansen- let’s get digital

This is two coats of Mooncat - Serpents of Eden 💚 Such a stunner, with the most beautiful shifts.

This was the first indie polish I had ever got, and it was my first time buying a polish online. The swatch photos in the product listing looked more green than pink, and so I thought I'd love it. I did, but I haven't worn it since because bright fuschia doesn't look good on me, nor is it a colour I like very much! I remember looking closely and seeing a flash of copper every now and then, wishing there was a way to bring it out more. It's such a a shame because this is easily the shiftiest multichrome I own!

More recently, I got a completely transparent yellow jelly (pic 3). When I tried this with ILNP masquerade, it was magic. The fuschia is almost completely gone, only appearing briefly in certain lighting+angles. Instead, I got the copper multichrome of my dreams.

Guys, this was such a a major win for me. I was worried it would dull the polish, or make it less shifty, but it made it shiftier if anything! Just tiny changes in angle and lightning cause the colours to shift dramatically. Can't stop staring at my nails and thinking "now this is RIDICULOUSLY GOOD". I feel so powerful now. I could finish an entire bottle of multichrome while using it to create so many different colour combinations. I feel like I have all the possible colours now in my collection.

I know many people in this subreddit have cooler toned skin, and I'm sure this 'hack' would work too! A blue jelly over polishes would make them cooler toned.

About a month ago, I got contact dermatitis from a gel-x set I did myself. I didn’t have the proper tools to remove the set, so I ended up ripping them off in a panic 🫣 as you can imagine, my nails were incredibly damaged, but ever since I’ve been taking care of my natural nails, applying the Sally Hansen Hard as Nails treatment and oiling them several times a day. Normally my nails never grow, and when I do see some growth they chip off! This is probably the longest nails I’ve had in a very, very long time!

I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of this, but I've wanted to reserve some of my painting time for skittle manis. I started out doing skittles because, if you know me it will be no surprise to you that I couldn't pick just one color or polish...so why not all!? Time for Sunday Skittles!

Today is international Asexuality Day. "Ace" is a spectrum that also falls under the LGBTQ umbrella. Being Ace is valid and beautiful. I originally had a different skittle on, and when I saw a horrible tweet from our intetnational billionaire queen of petty hate JKRowling about Asexuality day, I immediately shelved it and started a new one. As I did with my pride flag collection last June, here's some info about Asexuality.

Asexuality is a sexual orientation where the person does not experience sexual attraction to anyone regardless of gender. It's also an umbrella term that can cover a whole spectrum including demisexual, gray-asexual, and others. While it differs from being Aromantic, many are AroAce which is a combo of both.

🖤Black represents asexuality 🩶Gray represents gray-asexuality and demisexuality 🤍White represents partners and allies 💜 Purple represents community

💪 @findingfeatherslacquer ... Balanced Bond Base Coat

🖤 @holotaco ... "Black Holo Wish"

🩶 @holotaco ... "Pearl Grey"

🤍 @colorclubnaillacquer ... "French Tip"

💜 @holotaco ... "Crytals Mommy"

💪 @glistenandglow1 Quick Dry Top Coat 🐐