Colores de Carol Double Trouble

TW: cancer, death

A year hiatus and I come back with this. I deeply apologize.

What an awful year. As if a global pandemic isn't bad enough. Not only is it around the second anniversary of my aunt's death, but my father has also been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. If my family is fortunate we have 18 more months maximum with him. TS Eliot was right- April truly is the cruelest month.

I barely purchased any polish this year. It's not that I'm not interested in polish anymore. I still very much enjoy nail paint. Between trying to cut down on debt, focusing on weight loss (2019 was the year of the road to gastric bypass), and now my father's illness, my nails were very much on the backburner. I went bare for days before finding enough energy and motivation to resume my routine. My plan was to only buy nail polish if I really wanted it and could afford it or as a non food reward. Upon my father's diagnosis I permitted myself a small amount of retail therapy as well. As a bariatric patient, a few dollars on new toys is preferable to binge eating when stressed (a major trigger of mine).

Today's polish was one of my retail therapies.

Natural Light

Girl Scout Cookie nails

It's Girl Scout Cookie season! This was my favorite time of the year when I was in Scouts along with platform tent camping in the fall. I felt strangely festive for it. You know where it's going.

Valentines Day mani featuring Nvr Enuff Roses

Long time, no see! Between getting back into dolls and pursuing weight loss surgery, nail polish is kinda on the back burner. I don't feel myself running out of passion anytime soon. I'm just not changing my polish as often lately.

For Valentines Day I decided to do a rose themed mani. What else was more perfect than Nvr Enuff Roses? It's inspiration is Tuxedo Mask, who is best known for throwing roses at enemies.

I don't wear a lot of black or super dark polish but I do love this one. Maybe it's that Sailor Moon connection? Maybe it's the shimmer? Who knows. It's just pretty. I like pretty.

The roses were reverse stamped. I'm more of the "color in the design directly on the stamper" versus "making decals on a mat" kind of person. I just can't seem to get the mat method down. Luckily I have enough stampers to make enough for a hand at a time. I'm pleased at how vibrant that the roses are against the dark background.

What was your Valentines Day mani?

Items Used:
Base Polish: Nvr Enuff Roses
Stamping Polish: Cirque Colors Momento Mori
Red Polish: Sally Hansen Insta Dri x Crayola Scarlet
Stamping Plate: Pueen Nature Lovers 02

Supermoon Lacquer Moon Healing Escalation

I didn't do much Black Friday shopping this past year. Definitely didn't do much of that "treat yo self" BF shopping either. Only bought one polish, and that was from the Supermoon Lacquer sale. There was only one Moon Healing Escalation for sale, and I had the fastest ninja fingers. I was amazed I was the lucky snagger, as owner Mardi called me!

Essie Valentines Day 2019 collection swatches and reviews

I was recently looking in the holiday section of my local Target when I noticed this Essie display. They had the cutest shrink wrap designs on the bottles! I grabbed all six immediately.

This limited edition collection is a mix of finishes. Half of the collection is glitter and most are toppers, however. The brushes are the new wider Essie brushes that were previously only found in Europe. I much prefer this brush to the older forms. I think the thinner brushes made the polishes streakier to me. Consequently I rarely bought Essie polishes.

All swatches include glossy top coat and matte top coated accent nails. All glitters are also over black and white to see how they look that way.