What my nails did while I moved house

Well, I moved.

All of my polishes survived intact, but to be honest it's not as if I gave them much chance of coming into harm's way. I transported them by car and now they're safely stowed away in the bathroom closet, eagerly awaiting a Helmer. We're planning a trip to IKEA in the next couple of weeks when we have a better idea of what we really need. It's easy to get out of control in that store, so we're not going without a list, lest we end up spending $100 on INGBORSTs and YOOBLIs and whatnot.

Anyway. Moving was very bad for my nails and cuticles. Before I started the heavy-duty packing I cut my nails very short and painted them a dark vampy color, L'Oreal Boogie, which I showed you in the previous post. As I was running out of my preferred Instant Artificials base coat at the time, I reverted to my original favorite, a combo of Palladio ridge filler and Palladio Fuse bonding base coat.

I don't know if it was the Palladio products or the L'Oreal polish or the the combination of the two, but here is my L'Oreal Boogie manicure after 6 (6!!!) days of packing, taping, wrapping, cleaning, washing, etc.:

IMPRESSIVE.

Because of this little experiment I don't think I'll be replacing my Instant Artificials anytime soon. It's a good product but it seems the Palladio combination works better for me.

Anyway after I took the Boogie manicure off, things got pretty real in terms of the hands-on moving work and I could only be bothered with my nails enough to slap on a sheer, very forgiving polish every couple of days. For this type of manicure I really like OPI Bubble Bath and OPI Moon Over Mumbai. Both are sheer enough to be very easy to apply, they hold up well, disguise any staining and if they chip a little or have some tip wear it's not terribly noticeable.

One day I was so over everything having to do with moving that I went to work with NO POLISH ON MY NAILS...AIEEEEEEEEEE horror show. Holy stains.

So now that moving is behind me (I'd like to say FOREVER but realistically I realize I can't live in a duplex for the rest of my life...unfortunately), I've been able to nurse my destroyed cuticles along to where I am enjoying putting a bit of effort into my nails again. One nice thing is that because I wore so many sheer polishes for so long, my nails are far less stained than they had been. I suspect that this will be undone in fairly short order, but it was nice while it lasted.

In any event, here's what I've been up to, color-wise:

This was a really cute combo that I'm bummed didn't photograph too well. Here's a bottle picture so you can get a better idea of the blue:

I'd had the Ruby Kisses polish for a while but picked up the Savvy not long ago. It's part of a new collection of six (I think?) polishes that, at my quick glance, seem to be intended as sparkly top coats. I liked this combo a lot and received some compliments on it. I'd like to try Glass Slipper over some other colors.

I was very happy to find Orly Rage; I missed it when it first came out and thought it was gone for good. I really love this finish in a polish, and this manicure lasted several days with no visible wear. Would do business with again!

I really cannot say enough about Misa polishes. The formula is crazy nice, and for $3 you really can't beat it. This one was a joy to put on. Misa does have the craziest, most awkward names for their colors...Right Here Now, No More Later? If you say so. I guess it doesn't matter as long as the color payoff is there.

Next up I have an Illamasqua for you, as well as some newer finds. I don't think I'll be buying any new bottles for a while because I'm quite content with the many (many...many many) colors I have for the time being. After moving and coming face to face with how much STUFF a person can accumulate, I'm not feeling very acquisitive of late.

But no worries! I'm sure it's just a phase!