NOTD: Essie DJ Play That Song + Cult Nails Seduction

Work this week has been crazy and I haven't had the energy/time to edit photos once I get home. AT THE SAME TIME, I hate not posting so ~~

You can click the smaller pix to view them full-sized :) Someday I'll figure out how to add a nice media gallery in Blogger but for now, this will do. I wasn't able to watermark these images taken on my phone because the 'edit' feature wasn't working on my instant uploads for some reason but I do want to post them. They're good pictures and since they are phone pix, I don't care terribly about watermarks!

This manicure is still on my nails today - I put it on 2 days ago and it's going strong with only the most minimal of tipwear!! The polishes used in this manicure were:

- Nail Pattern Boldness Glitter-A-Peel Basecoat

- Essie DJ Play That Song - 2 coats [Warm red-leaning purple jelly]
- Cult Nails, Seduction - 1 coat [LE Flakie polish in a blue leaning purple base]

- Revlon Quickdry Topcoat

- 

Essie, DJ Play That Song - 

• This shade is the 'title shade' from Essie's DJ Play That Song Summer 2013 Neons collection. It is a JELLY FINISH. Now from what I was led to believe, a jelly-finish nail varnish is meant to give you that squishy, semi-sheer (Translucent) high gloss finish that cameras just love.I don't understand why people criticize this formula for being too sheer. DUH, THAT'S KIND OF THE POINT.
• 2 coats on its own were good enough for me because I was going to add glitter on top. 3 coats would be ideal if I was wearing it alone. Perhaps 2 coats over white?
• The formula is on the thinner side so take care not to overload your brush and flood your cuticles. Apply carefully and patiently. 2-3 thin coats should do it depending on how much you want to build it up. 3 coats felt best for the ideal translucency and color. 

Note: It will never be as opaque as a creme finish on its own. Don't be stupid and expect a jelly formula to perform like an opaque creme and you'll be fine :)

Cult Nails, Seduction

• Seduction is a sheer purple (blurple) base packed with tons of multicolored flakies in varying sizesThey flash different colors prettily in the light but are predominantly in a purple or orange state. There are some great flashes of green or a more pink shade in there too.
• In the sunlight, my nails photographed as IF they were matte, but no matte finish was used. It shows off the flakies beautifully and clearly though, so enjoy the detailed view!
• There was no issue with this formula. Just the right density and viscosity - 1 coat brushed on, not even dabbed, was enough for the above effect. 
• You could wear it alone (2-4 coats depending on intensity of base color you desire and thickness of coat) but it is another JELLY FINISH formula, so quit your complainin' if you can't get it opaque on its own. It looks great layered over blues, purples, dark vampy colors, and black :)

Enjoiiii :) Cult Nails is available at shop.cultnails.com and each polish retails for $12. 

NOTD: Essie Orange, It's Obvious + Cult Nails Captivated

This is a manicure from "The Vault" aka my Google+ Instant Upload Photos that otherwise never see the light of day. I wore it last summer and with summer right around the corner, I figured it was an appropriate combination to share!

Essie, Orange It's Obvious - This is a beautiful and vibrantly opaque orange shade from Essie's Navigate Her Spring 2012 Collection. It is a brignt punchy tangerine orange creme opaque in 2 easy coats. If I was careful, I could do 1 thicker coat too, but 2 made sure there no bald spots on my nail. Make sure you've got 2 layers of basecoat on underneath this because it stains like a mf'er otherwise! I learned my lesson on that the hard way. When worn by itself, it dries to an extremely high-gloss finish, but I like to put on topcoat just to protect it from tipwear and chipping.

Cult Nails, Captivated - I usually adore Captivated coupled with Cult Nails, Scandalous - it's like the two were made for each other. Whether I actually mix the polishes together and apply them as one, layer them, or even create a jelly sandwich, Cult Nails Captivated + Scandalous are soulmates. I was craving something more bold (Scandalous is a jelly finish so it gives everything a more soft and dainty appearance), so I layered just one coat of Captivated over Orange, It's Obvious for the above look. 

Captivated itself is also a jelly polish with a coral base, and can be built up to nearly-full opacity on its own. It will lean a lot more coral/red when worn alone as compared to the manicure above. The formula is chock full of gold and coral glitter, and the jelly finish gives it a little bit of a pinkish translucency around the edges when worn without undies. 2 coats give you a squishy semi-opaque look and three will cover you right up. 

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I am defiinitely planning on wearing Captivated a lot more with the weather getting better though! I'm so bored of wearing OPI Tickle My France-y to work, even though I do love it. It's work-appropriate but OH SO BORING to people used to neon glittery nails by now lol.


UPDATE/DUPE ALERT - Icing, Tiger's Blood ($4.50) - Check out ThePolishAholic's post here for pictures and things!

Cult Nails Manicure Party

I've got a pretty impressive stash of nail polish by a small indie brand Cult Nails. The family business is run by the wonderful Maria, and her husband and children often pitch in to help. She has certainly taken the Indie world by storm and does not hand-mix her own polish like most Indie brands. The fact that polishes are mixed in a lab though, just makes them all the better in terms of formulation.

Cult Nails retails for $12 a bottle (A slight price hike from the previous $10 price tag), but I am too stingy and usually stock up when there are sales!

I have more now, this picture is slightly outdated haha

I own a nice plethora of nail polish but also have a Cult Nails glass file (Which is the ONLY thing I use to file my nails now) and some rhinestones & studs I received in a goodie bag with one of the purchases (It was like a grab bag deal/sale she held a while back)

A good friend of mine came over for a sleepover and being deprived Indian children, we decided to do some mehndi designs on my arms. She wanted to practice and said she was getting rusty. Of course, in return for her hand art expertise, I offered her a manicure and whipped out all my Cult Nails collection. Secretly in the back of my mind, I did this so I could type up a Cult Nails themed manicure post in the future LOL. 

We tested out various combinations and in the end, she went with a simple (but gorgeous) manicure using Cult Nails, Manipulative. 

Cult Nails Charlatan over Nevermore (1-coat Black Creme)

Left: Bad Devious Nature + Charlatan   Middle: Flushed     Right: Flushed + Charlatan?

I loved this on her but she felt like it was too dark.
Cult Nails Flushed on its own (Left) and over a purple or a black (Right)

This is just 1 coat each of Scandalous (Left) and Manipulative (Right)
Color builds up so don't mind the sheerness!

And we have a winner! Pleas eignore my crappy yellow bare nails xD

Her manicure + the henna art on my hands!!

BONUS PICTURE OF MY HENNA! (Click to view full-sized)

NOTD: Cult Nails Disciplined ft Floral Frankens

Hi guys! As I mentioned before, I'm having a spot of technical difficulties. While you guys wait with me to get Photoshop installed and running again, I am trying to use some older pictures taken on my phone and get content up with them. They aren't bad pictures actually because the HTC Vivid's camera is suprrisingly good, but they won't be watermarked and they're certainly not as good as my digital camera pictures.

Today's NOTD has a frankenpolish that I mixed myself! It is a holographic grey nail polish mixed with a rainbow of glitters. There is slight linear holographic effect, but it is mostly a scattered holo. The glitter is not overbearing and you only get a few pieces here and there when you apply the 2-3 coats (Depending on thickness) you need to reach opacity. I used this only on the ring finger of each hand.

I used 2 coats of my franken polish on my accent nail (Aka ring finger) and 2 coats of Cult Nails, Disciplined on the rest of them. The accent nails also use the following polishes for the design:

• China Glaze Lemon Fixx
• Essie In The Cab-ana
• Essie First Timer
• I DON'T REMEMBER THE PINK I USED!
• Small and Medium dotting tools to make the flowers/dots

EPIC Blog Sale - Thinning out the stash

Hi girls! Read my previous post to see what has prompted this polish purge!

~~~ WELCOME TO THE BLOG SALE 

If you follow me via GFC, you are entitled to Buy One, Get One Free! Please contact me at blishful@gmail.com if you want to buy something! You can also leave a comment with the polishes you want! I can invoice you the amount OR you can send it to me at my paypal account, prysmatiq@yahoo.com. 

Again, arrange a sale at blishful@gmail.com or in the comments below
Pay for your polishes at prysmatiq@yahoo.com please!

Shipping is $2.50 to start, + $0.50 for every polish thereafter unless you buy enough for me to bill you flat-rate! ($5.95 for a small box that holds 6-7 polishes, and I think $10 for the medium that holds a shit ton more). FREE SHIPPING IF YOU SPEND $50+

There is a limit of 3 free polishes! You still has to pay shipping though, because I am saving for Vegas, after all.

A. THE INDIES

Aha, probably the section you girls want to see the most, so it is also the section that comes first.

365 Days of Color - Now In Technicolor - $10 (1 mani)
a-England - Ascalon - $12 (Swatched)
Alta Costura Vernis - Twisted - $10 (Swatched, just didn't like it as much as I hoped)
HITS - Hestia - $8 (Swatched)
Dandy Nails - Inside The Fire - $10 (Swatched, I just don't like the bar glitter)
Dollish Polish - Spank You Very Much - $10 (1 mani, glitter looks like it sinks a bit, but shaking it fixes that)
Dollish Polish - Super Bass - $10 (1 mani)
Pretty & Polished - Candy Coated - $10 (Used in 1 mani)

Cult Nails - Would prefer to swap for Cult Nails colors I don't already have! Also, as always, Nerd Lacquer or Nail-venturous polishes w/ the exception of Floam. I don't own a single Nerd yet!!

$16 each. $8 each if you are a GFC Follower -

• Seduction - $16
• I Got Distracted - $16
• Living Water - $16
• Iconic - $16 (Old Formula) - PENDING

B. OTHER COOL STUFF. OPI, ESSIE & THE LIKE

Essie - $6 each (Or 2 for $6 if you follow me via GFC, remember that!)

A Crewed Interest (See fill line once pix are up)
Beach Bum Blu (See fill line once pix are up)
Chinchilly (See fill line once pix are up)
Imported Bubbly (See fill line once pix are up)
Mamba (See fill line once pix are up)
All Tied Up
Blue Rhapsody
It's Genius
Lapiz of Luxury (BN)
Stroke of Brilliance (BN)
Turquoise & Caicos
Oui Madame
Over The Edge

OPI - $9 each, or 2 for $9 if you are a GFC Follower. All are full-sized bottles

Turquoise Shatter
Alpine Snow, Matte
Pink Me, I'm Good!

Stranger Tides
Skull & Glossbones
Steady As She Rose
Mermaid's Tears
Planks A Lot

Dress to Empress - PENDING
Not Like the Movies
Uh Oh Roll Down the Window
Fresh Frog of Bel Air
Extra-va-vaganza
Ruble For Your Thoughts
Peru-b-Ruby
Lighten Up, You're Two Pence
Just Tea-Sing
It's Totally Fort-Worth It
Royal Flush Blush - PENDING
Java Mauve-a
Suzi Skis In the Pyrenees - PENDING
Lincoln Park After Dark
Under The Apple Tree - PENDING
Lucerne-tainly Look Marvelous

MATTESE-ELITE - $5 each (2 for $5 if you are a GFC Follower)

Twiggie
Cosmic Blue
Certainly Fabulous
Lilac Me All Over
The Boss
Attitude
Purple Irony
Consigliere

C. LOWER-END DRUGSTORE FINDS

GOSH - $7 each, lot for $30

Dusty Rose

Gold

Gasoline

Matte Effect Top Coat

Ocean

Maybelline Color Show - $4 each, whole lot for $10 (blah blah lot for $5 if gfc follower blah blah you get it)

Fierce N Tangy

Styled Out

Twilight Rays

Sally Hansen XTreme Wear - $12 for whole lot, $2.00 each

Wet Cement

Blue Icing

Mint Sorbet

Royal Gala

Mystic Lilac

Celeb City

Golden Child (85% full)

Sinful Colors - $.0.75 each or whole lot for $4 - PENDING

Unicorn

Let's Meet

Glass Pink

Shauna

Savage

Bali Mist

Spoiled - $1 for both

Papa-paparazzi

I Got a Confection to Make

Revlon - $5 each (2 for $5 if gfc follower. sounding like a broken record)

Not So Blueberry

Royal

Whimsical

Radiant

Violet

Mistletoe

D. OTHER RANDOM BRANDS

Julep - Rachel, Meryl, Sasha - $10 each

Icing Magnetix - Green - $8, BN

Icing - Evergreen - $4, Swatched

Color Club - Factory Gire (Typo? Fire?) - $5

Jordana - Lilac Hearts - $3

~~~ RULES FOR POSSIBLY SWAPPING

I will consider swaps on a very limited basis because ideally, I want to reduce my collection.

1. The Cult Nails polishes - it would be ideal if I could swap these for other Cult Nails colors I don't have yet. The colors in the blog sale are doubles.
2. If you could let go of a Nerd Lacquer, please contact me about arranging a swap? I can't afford them outright but can pay you their weight in other nail polishes!! Because I know concerns have come up, I don't own a single NL and if I could obtain one of my wishlist colors, it would stay with me forever!
3. I have wanted Nail-Venturous Flying Blue Jay for ages. Ever since I saw its first swatch. So if you have that, again, I cannot afford it outright but please please please contact me to arrange a swap!

I'll update tomorrow when I get some sun to swatch the pictures, but for now, let the text suffice!

CULT NAILS -Meetup

Hello all! I just remembered that I have Instant Upload set up between my Android phone and my Google+ account. I'm not the biggest fan of G+ in general, but this feature sure is EXTREMELY handy.

The only reason I balk at posting often is because of how much work is involved with uploading pictures, editing and watermarking them, sizing them properly, etc etc.

I have decided not to care much about watermarks for now....should people re-use the pictures, well...I'll consider it a compliment. Honestly, my photos, cuticles, and nails are not all that impressive anyway.

With the creator of TWEE AND HONEY!

MOVING ON - On July 30th, I attended a New York City meetup hosted by Maria of Cult Nails. She organized an event at Bowlmor, Times Square, NYC where us girls could talk nail polish, network, kick back with drinks and food, and of course, go bowling. 

I didn't have my camera, and my phone was dying, but I'm going to photo-spam you with what I do have! SO GET READY!!!

I wore Cult Nails - I Got Distracted on my fingernails. It is GORGEOUS and I'll give it a proper swatch and review later on!

Out and about, you see the polish particles more this way!

So SHINY and holographic even indoors! This is in my basement.

I got to the event and I was VERY nervous. Take a peek at the first image I posted above. Amy of Gotham Polish was there, KelBel Cosmetics was there, and OMG Carly of Lacquered Lover was there. These are some damned popular ladies in their own right, and I was able to interact with all of them!! I met the creative genius behind Twee and Honey as well, who actually brought a special little bottle of her nail polish remover along with a special bottle of a glitter topcoat she made especially for us! It was a limited edition shade she named NYC Cultie Meetup, and I am the proud owner of a bottle!!!!!!


Jessie's Girl was there. You know of the cosmetics brand, right? You better! At first, I thought it would be a PR representative and polish enthusiast but she was actually Jessie's Girl - the daughter of the man who created the brand.

This was nail polish and blogger heaven.

It was like feeling like I belong...our love for polish and bloggers tied us together. I could speak all the jargon I want and I happily chatted away the time!

Maria and her husband are absolute angels. They bring generosity and friendliness to a new level, going so far out of their way to arrange things for absolute strangers, but fans of their polishes nonetheless. They had no reason to host the meetup, or do anything, but instead, I am still speechless over all that they did. I ordered my first legal drink (July 30th was my 21st birthday, and I've been advertising it to the world, so see how sneaky I was about it this time! I am sure you all are tired of hearing about it)

So on account of it being my birthday, our extremely friendly waitress at Bowlmor brought me 2 of the drinks I ordered. I asked her who the other one was for and she said that they had mixed up a little extra, and it was my birthday, so I best not complain ;)

Then on top of THAT, Maria told her to put the drink on her own tab. You see what I mean when I say that I am amazed by her generosity? I don't know that she will ever read this post, but today, August 7, is her birthday....so a big huge happy birthday to you as well Maria!!!

I look pale and ghastly. Blame Flash and my poor attempts at makeup :(
Maria is on the left looking amazing, and I'm on the right haha.

I WON OUR BOWLING GAME! w00t

Yep, she is Jessie's girl!

AND THE BEST PART OF THE NIGHT WAS EASILY....

COMING HOME TO THIS: