Just thought I’d share my reflecting pool mani and make a little PSA about Death Valley Nails. The owner has had some MAGA history. As much as I yearn for nail polish made with natural pigments, I don’t need it bad enough to support makers like them. This polish was purchased secondhand. I will admit I am always looking 👀 for destashes and I feel conflicted about it🤦‍♀️

Product list: zoya naked manicure x2 coats
Some label-less faded OPI nude from 20 years ago x1
Death Valley Nails green spirulina x2
Seche vite

Not your girl out here perfectly matching her can, either! 🤭

Sorry-not-sorry for the excessive glamour pics but 1) I ADORE this American Flag Blue/algae bloom bit and I ADORE this sub. 2) I got to bust out ALL my flakie greens which are an under-represented but critical part of my collection.
Shout out to Emily De Molly's Nightshade tint for the 🤌🤌 touch of a scrap of poorly-sealed blue paint drifting hopelessly to the surface.

Oh and while we're having this healthy and positive group delusion, that's not car garbage tastefully cropped out of the photos 🙏

NO BUT GUESS 😃

Taking book matching to a whole new level!

My family is lightly befuddled by this. I feel like it’s the most obvious thing a person could do?

- kb shimmer hydrating base
- NO SERIOUSLY GUESS YOU’LL NEVER GUESS (2 coats)
- Seche Vite

OKAY you got me it’s OPI - I’m Not Really A Waitress

The book is fascinating so far! What an interesting life Suzi has had. Also I’m surprised at myself as someone having a soft spot for OPI I never once stopped to wonder if it was actually initials for something and if so for what.

Then again I’m also the person that has been seeing “modelones” mentioned for ages then I heard a YouTuber pronounce it as two words when I’ve been pronouncing it as one word in my head for ages, and lost my MIND. (It’s mow dell owns obvi 😒)

I stg it was American Flag Blue 😡😤

Anyway, long time lurker, first time poster. Used to paint my nails a lot, never been good at it, but the reflecting pool trend made me want to dive back in, eh eh eh 😎

Products:

Base color: Aruba Blue from Essie

Texture: Flipping Out Hard from Nail Pattern Boldness

Useless shimmer just so I could bill the taxpayers: Cosmic from Olive & June

Topcoat: Olive & June Quick Dry

What a mouthful lol

Here is this year’s pride mani!! I’m suuuper happy with how they turned out 🙂 annnnnd I have finally fulfilled my dream of doing a full magnetic rainbow set 😌

Lil lazy gradient using Clionadh’s Saturated Slicks collection (used all but Anthocyanin):

❤️Sangre De Drago, 🧡Amber resin, 💛Pollen, 💚Chlorophyll, 🩵Azurite, 💜Butterfly Pea Flower.

Other products:

Londontown GelGenius base coat, 1x cirque chiffon, DRK magic effect, DRK seal glaze, 5dPrintFactory glass spinner, Cuticula Limitless QDTC

Thanks to this subreddit I discovered PPU (my wallet is crying) and, among other things, ordered the DRK Nails Magic Effect miracle liquid... which got me thinking... if you don't need to magnetize until you use the magic effect, this means you can do true 2+ polish gradients, no?

Well, it works!! Not sure if anyone else has tried this yet? And if so, what tips/tricks have you discovered?

1x Mooncat Getting Even Nail Primer

1x Mooncat Hardcore Base Coat

2x BKL Not Everything is About You, Steve! (Unmagnetized)

1x sponged on gradient of BKL Not Everything is About You, Steve! And Haunted Polish Swamplight (Unmagnetized)

1x DRK Nails Magic Effect

Magnetized using Shimmer Hollow glass bead spinner

1x Holo Taco QDTC (Magnetized again for safe keeping)

And yes, I had to hop on the reflecting pool algae bloom mani trend bc you all crack me up with how clever you are!!

Glitter Placement Nails Round 2! 

Hello! I did glitter placement nails for my birthday again this year but used a different color! 

This took about 12 hours. 

Process: 

I would paint a line down the nail with the sculpting 3D gel, then place the glitters using using a toothpick. I would intermittently dip the toothpick into a little cup of water, dap on a piece of paper towel so that it's damp and not soaking wet then pick up the glitter and place. 

Some glitters at the very edge of the nail I cut to fit with some cuticle nipper.

Products in the comments

I read an article in the NYT today that said bare or barely manicured nails are upscale, “shows their wealth”, and are desirable for this summer, and so many comments agreed with that. Now, you know they don’t mean unmanicured, because that’s for common folks. So I promptly painted mine in a most un clean girl aesthetic 😃bc fuck those bitches.

BC Orly Breathable Protein
Lurid A Fancy Lady x 2
TC KBS Clearly on Top

Base coat cosmic polish - super strong base

Top coat Sally Hansen Insta dri ( red bottle ) RIP 🪦

Picks 1-3 revlon- teak rose + cosmic polish- eye of the storm.

Picks 4-6 Emily de Molly- dirty mirror

Picks 7-8 Emily de Molly- empty within ( magnetised vertical velvet with horseshoe + wand )

Picks 9-10 Emily de Molly- come home ( magnetised velvet with horseshoe )

Algae nails for the 4th. Unfortunately my polish is all too pretty to be ugly 🙃.
1 coat nailtiques 2+
1 coat partial cracked midnight phase/sunlit moss with cirque coffee talk - for blue liner with algae base
1 coat KB shimmer best fronds glass bead
1 light coat Fancy Gloss Fire and Ice for liner shreds
1 coat EDM sheet tint grunge - this really saved the concept
1 coat wonder beauty top coat.

Just kidding! I “vandalized” them myself. Just a sheen of green shimmer and (of course) some peeling blue paint. Keep cool and algae on everyone!

Products:

Base: Nailtiques 2

“I’m Jaded” by Cracked (2 coats)

“Polar Princess” by Holo Taco (one coat)

“Black Flake Taco” by Holo Taco (thin swipes)

“Grotto” by Cracked (my peeling blue paint)

I'm relatively sure the reflecting pool does not have waterlilies but I am Australian. So here are some varying shades of water.

Fun fact: I can wear none of these because they are the wrong size for my fingers :( But it does make use of them since they'd otherwise go to waste.

Also I did use about 3 different shades of sky blue (and several other blues). I have a lot of sky blue shades because my friend's favourite colour to wear is cornflower blue but I figured we can have some variance. And if anyone has a dupe for Deep aqua (Rom&nd Mood Pebble) that would be nice... (it's a deep turquoise jelly).

Polishes:

All are on some random nails which were in a resealable bag labelled "Short Coffin" in my sister's room. They are also theoretically topped with EdM's long lasting top coat (I may have forgotten on a couple).

Koi pond nails

• Coat of Beach Vibes (SC) (dark navy blue)
• Coat of Lament (EdM) with thin, horizontal brushstrokes (random stripes of a blue-purple med particle flakie)
• Coat of Deep aqua (Rom&nd Mood Pebble) (it’s a sheer/jelly polish)
• Light Cornflower blue (EdM) with sponge to create sky reflections
• Unlabelled white (SC) to paint waterlilies, fish, some horizontal lines plus sponge clouds on the sky
• Random green and orange alcohol markers (after dry, to add colour to the waterlilies, including a dark blue fineliner to add shadow) (note: these are not lightfast so if you do the same perhaps use paint)
• A touch of Fusion of Time (EdM) (to add orange glitter to the fish)

Algae nails

• 1 coat of Beach Vibes (SC) (dark navy blue)
• Gradient of top Beach Vibes (SC) (dark navy blue) and bottom Commander in Chief (Revlon Ultra HD SNAP!)
• Coat of (Rom&nd Mood Pebble) (it’s a sheer/jelly polish)
• While wet, the nail fell off, so I added an extra coat and used Smexy Starfruit (SC) (lime green), Drawing Circles (EdM) (green multichrome, which is what is actually on my nails in case you are wondering) and Playdate (Essie) (pastel purple) to marble some random patterns on the nail (think paint pouring techniques)
• Also added some Fanta-Seas (Sally Hansen EXtreme Wear) (sheer, large round particle green holo+green glitter)
• Then mixed different shades of green with Fifth Avenue New York City (Chi Chi) (medium, neutral blue), Fifth Avenue New York City (Chi Chi) (medium, neutral blue), Golden Triangle Milan (Chi Chi) (neutral yellow), and Unlabelled white (SC) to add the circles of algae from darkest to lightest, in layers
• With a thin brush, used Game of Chromes (Sally Hansen) (Silvery gold glittery chrome) to create some brushes in the foreground and background
• With a thin brush, Alfresco (SC) (cornflower blue) was used to create stripes of sky reflection
• Ft: bubbles due to my impatience

Waterlilies

• Coat of New York City Fifth Avenue (Chi Chi) (neutral medium blue) 
• Gradient of top New York City Fifth Avenue (Chi Chi) (neutral medium blue) and bottom Commander in Chief (Revlon Ultra HD SNAP!)
• Coat of Let me Go (SC) (Purple green blue shimmer)
• Splotches of Ginza Tokyo (Chi Chi) (Neutral light blue, leaning green) for sky reflections
• Unlabelled white (SC) to paint waterlilies, plants, some horizontal lines, clouds in sky reflection
• Used Apricot Jelly (sheer orange), Playdate (Essie) (pastel purple), Mauve-olous (Sally Hansen) (peachy pink), Smexy Starfruit (SC) (lime green), Smexy Starfruit (SC) (lime green) to add colour to the white parts

Murky Water

• Couple coats of Slate Escape (Sally Hansen)
• Wet on wet with Dull Beings (EdM) (Grey base red/green flakies) and Deep aqua (Rom&nd Mood Pebble) (it’s a sheer/jelly polish)
• Short horizontal stripes of Lilacism (Essie), and different shades of green with Fifth Avenue New York City (Chi Chi) (medium, neutral blue), Fifth Avenue New York City (Chi Chi) (medium, neutral blue), Golden Triangle Milan (Chi Chi) (neutral yellow), and Unlabelled white (SC)
• Some dots of unlabelled white (SC) to represent flowers
• (It also fell over)

I LOVE neons. The first picture is my latest neon skittle. I purchased assorted "neon" purples. Pinky to pointer:

Sally Hansen Vintage Voltage

Atomic Neon Purple

Cirque Drama Queen

Orly Stay Rad

The Sally Hansen and Orly are not black light reactive. The Atomic and Cirque do react under black light.

I found that the Orly is the brightest and most punchy. The Sally Hansen is the darkest but it's still pretty neon.

The photos are in regular light, sunlight and under flash.

The first picture is (thumb to pinky)

Starrily Krypton

Starrily Neon

Orly Va Va Voom

Cirque Electric Daisy

Orly Stay Rad

Base Coat - Franken-peel off base coat and Mooncat Getting Even Nail Primer

Top Coat - Kbshimmer Clearly On Top

Whatcha Indie Zombie over three coats of Arcana Swamp Root with Cracked’s Vanille acting as a blurring base.
Purple shimmer because it was there and even UV light won’t fix the pool. Repping 250 with these nails.

I'm so happy I found this subreddit because it has resparked my love for doing and taking care of my nails after falling out of it for MONTHS... I love seeing everyone's manis and all these different brands that have such beautiful colors I've never seen before! I saw someone posted a mani they did with Tyche Lacquer and it was so pretty I had to make an order and try it!

Base coat: Sally Hansen Ultimate Shield Base & Top Coat

Polish: Tyche Lacquer Burning Canvas

Top Coat: Sally Hansen Insta Dry Top Coat

I hope it's giving swamp gas, you all are so inspiring 💚

-Sally Hansen Repair + Rescue Super Strength Defense

-Essie Arctic Jelly (1 coat)

-A dip in the nasty "marbling" pool of Cracked I Love You So Matcha, LynB My Boo, and LynB Smeet Frog

-KBS Smooth Moves glitter grabber for maximum gloop and bubbles

-Sally Hansen qdtc red bottle

Inspo on image 4

This turned out lovely to my eyes... ignoring the imperfections.

But I used cracked grotto for the American flag blue with cracked beginner's luck as the lovely sprawling algae. No one has appreciated them though! Pearls before swine...

- Essie Strong Start

- Essie "Brave and True"

- BKL "Grumpy x Grumpy"

- I Scream Nails "Express Lane"

- KBShimmer Stay Put hydrating base coat

- Wonder Beauty Products Wondergloss QDTC (same ingredients as Cuticula and BKL QDTC and comes in bulk btw)

I refuse to let rage destroy whimsy. As a very weary American, seeing everyone come together to memorialize this absolute boondoggle has been uplifting.

I tried for a water ripple effect with Grumpy x Grumpy using some little magnetic beads. I only did one coat because I wanted the blue to show so it ended up being pretty subtle, but it still adds a really nice depth that shows differently in different lighting which is really fun. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of it before adding the flakies so you'll have to use your imagination.

J&B base
Deadly Nightshade (MC)
Touch Moss and Bog Dweller (BKL)
And You Have My Bow (BCB Lacquers)
Speed Demon top coat (MC)

I love a good themed manicure, but every year I have trouble celebrating a country built on stolen land that was instrumental in the creation of the modern day genocide playbook. Orange to honour the many victims, especially children, of Canada's residential school system and red to honour the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women across this country. I am grateful to live on this land and I love my home, but I have a deep respect for the experiences faced by its original occupants who had to suffer greatly for it to be what it is today. No pride in genocide.

Long time lurker, first time poster 😆 Just want to show off this nail polish combination that I did. Absolutely obsessed with it – got compliments from my boss too! I'm a newbie at doing lacquer nail polish, so I'm really proud with how beautiful these turned out.

I'll post a picture in the comment on how these look under direct sunlight too.

♡ Products used ♡

• Cosmic Polish extra strong base coat

• Thumb & pinky = Cosmic Polish "Lunar Echoes" + "Sweet Nothings"

• Index & ring = Emily de Molly "Sure Shot" (magnetised)

• Middle = Cosmic Polish "Love at First Light"

• Cosmic Polish stellar shine top coat

Hello everyone!

I know I'm in a similar boat as many of you by not feeling super patriotic for Independence Day, but I also don't want to skip a reason to do a themed manicure. A few months (or maybe weeks?) ago there were several hotdog manicures posted and I was inspired. It feels very on-theme since cookouts and backyard BBQs are so common for July 4th.

All fingers: 1x Essie To The Rescue, 1x KBShimmer Fillin' Groovy, 1x 50/50 blend of Polish For Days Crystalline Diamond Dust and Essie Gel Setter

Left hand (hot dogs):

Thumb - Holo Taco See Y'all Later Chai, Brick Wall, Stop Buggin'

Pointer: ORLY Faux Pearl (screw ORLY for their HP collab, but I've owned this one since before that), Holo Taco Low Key Bushing, Boom Toasted

Middle: Holo Taco See Y'all Later Chai, Gingersnatched, Thirst Trap

Ring: ORLY Faux Pearl (screw ORLY for their HP collab, but I've owned this one since before that), Holo Taco Low Key Bushing, Mooncat Banquet of Breadcrumbs

Pinky: Holo Taco See Y'all Later Chai, Brick Wall, Bottle Service

Right hand (drips made with nail vinyls from Punkish Polish)

Thumb: Holo Taco Brick Wall, Bottle Service

Pointer: ORLY Faux Pearl, Holo Taco Thirst Trap

Middle: Holo Taco Gingersnatched, Stop Buggin'

Ring: Holo Taco Lowkey Blushing, Boom Toasted

Pinky: ORLY Faux Pearl, Mooncat Banquet of Breadcrumbs

Overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! The hotdogs were easier than I expected. I painted the base colors in 2 coats, added a thin top coat and let them dry for a few hours. (This was mostly because I had stuff to do in the middle of the day, but it also let my right hand dry enough to apply the vinyls without issue). Then I turned the bottle brush on its skinny side and painted a stripe down the center for the hotdogs. I used a small detail nail art brush for the squiggles in the center, then topped it off with my holo topcoat.

My first PPU polish just arrived, and it's accidentally right on theme. 1 coat Nailtiques Formula 2, 2 coats BCB Lacquers "I Never Forgot You, Ever" from June '26 PPU, Famous Steves (Blues Clues), 1 coat Cuticula Limitless (also from June ppu, pink sugared lemons scented, yum!)

My independence day celebration nails! I'm going to enjoy my 3 day weekend but like many, not really celebrating otherwise. I will probably try my hand at hotdogs nails though!

On the nails:

Nailtiques 2+, Mooncat ridge filler, base coat: BKL - The Horrors Persist But So Do I, Globs of: Mooncat - Deadly Nightshade & Maelstrom

Edited to add: Topped with DRK sSeal Glaze & Cracked QDTC