Hard Candy Icky

Today's manicure is Hard Candy Icky. This is another Hard Candy from spring 2001 - along with Stop and Girlie. This is a glittery foil-like metallic silver/pink. It almost looks like a metallic pinky nude indoors, but outdoors it really sparkles.
This mani is one coat of Nailtek Foundation II, one coat of CND Stickey, two coats of polish, and one coat of Seche Vite.

Ciate Silhouette

Today's manicure is another Ciate called Silhouette. Silhouette is another varnish from the Golden Era collection, which has been discontinued from the core Ciate line. It's too bad, because this polish was the best Ciate I've tried so far in terms of application. I didn't have to thin and it was opaque in one coat - but I applied two to smooth it out. This varnish is a vampy sparkling golden dark red. It's not particularly unique; it is pretty close to China Glaze Vampy - but a bit more blackened.

Ciate Mojito

Today's manicure is Ciate Mojito. It was unsatisfactory out of the bottle, so I put in 2 BBs and 10 drops of Spa Ritual Nail Lacquer Thinner (this only has two ingredients - butyl acetate and ethyl acetate). This was still the least attractive Ciate I've tried on the first two coats (and they're usually so thick!) - this is as streaky as a yellow creme! This is three coats and it still has a little vnl and some bald patches. I can't recommend it for the formula, but the color is unique in my collection of 65 other greens.
This mani is one coat Ciate Underwear, three coats polish, and one coat Ciate speed coat.

Hard Candy Girlie

I'm back and I got some sun (unfortunately). Today's manicure is Hard Candy Girlie. This was released in Spring 2001 along with another recent mani - Stop. Like all Hard Candy, this is no longer produced - but does pop up on eBay from time to time. This is Chanel Kaleidoscope on crack and turned up to 11. It is essentially the same slightly green tinged silver, but this version has twice the texture and sparkle - it's like a glitterized foil version of Kaleidoscope.
It is thinner than the Chanel. It took 3 coats to get good coverage.
Mani is one coat Nail Tek Foundation II, one coat CND Stickey, three coats polish, and one coat Seche Vite top coat.

San Diego Bound

Sorry to disappoint my 2 readers, but I will not post a new mani until Monday when I come back from Comic-Con. Representing for fashionable nerds everywhere.

Ciate Golden Globe

Today's manicure is Ciate Golden Globe from their Golden Era collection. This polish has been discontinued from their main line. This mani was also a pain. After doing a manicure with old formula OPI yesterday, it was truly difficult to return to the obstinate Ciate line. However, this morning I received a package containing Ciate underwear base coat and speed coat top coat and I wanted to see how they play together with the varnish. I prepped the mani and tried to apply polish and, like all the other Ciate I've applied so far, it came out overly thick and lumpy. I am waiting to hear back from Ciate as to why they don't have mixing balls in their polish and to see if they recommend a thinner, but I just had to bite the bullet. I threw in two bb pellets and added about 50-60 drops (in 5 drop increments) of Nubar nail lacquer thinner. If you can believe it, the polish is still a bit thick, but it was much less stress to work with. On the plus side, this is a gorgeous polish - it's a vibrant blackened golden olive shimmer with peach and green microglitter. Ciate's base and top coat seem great to me. Both were easy to apply and dried crazy fast. This mani is not perfect, but it seems bubble free at least. Mani is one coat Ciate underwear, two coats polish, and one coat of Ciate speed coat.

OPI Matterhorn Mauve

My manicure of the day is OPI Matterhorn Mauve. Matterhorn Mauve is from OPI's Alpine Collection of Fall 1993. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I love old formula OPI; it may be thin, but man is it smooth. I don't wear pink much, but I like this - it's a rich salmon pink.
Mani is one coat Nail Tek Foundation II, one coat Creative Nail Design Stickey, two coats polish, and Seche Vite top coat.

China Glaze Moonpool

Today's manicure is a discontinued China Glaze polish called Moonpool. I actually don't have collection information for this one; all I know is that this is a beloved green among polish collectors. This is a grass green shimmery varnish with a golden glow. It's a bit frosty, but the visible brush strokes are pretty minimal.
This mani is one coat of Nail Tek Foundation II, one coat of Creative Nail Design Stickey, two coats of polish, and one coat of Seche Vite (since this is an old formula China Glaze, and not B3F.

Hard Candy Stop

Today's manicure is in honor of a flinty woman I know - Hard Candy Stop. The entire fabuluous Hard Candy nail varnish line has been discontinued, sadly. They were THE nail polish when I was in junior high and high school. They seemed quite expensive at the time, so I only had 3, but I cherished them. Those matching jelly rings are marketing genius!
You can still find Hard Candy on eBay, which is where I got this bottle of Stop. Stop is a classic red shimmer with sparse gold microglitter. I believe this polish has a bit of the flavor of OPI La Boheme. I swear I even saw a flash of green sparkle in there. This mani is one coat Nubar Nu Nail, two coats of polish, and one coat of Nubar Diamont. Stop was opaque in one coat, but I did two to even it out. Hard Candy polishes have one of my favorite formulas, I find them so easy to work with and they never seem to thicken.

Ciate Hour Glass

Today's manicure is Ciate Hour Glass from their Golden Era collection. It has been discontinued from Ciate's core line. The color is an electric blue like OPI Blue My Mind on steroids. Once again, I'm having Ciate trouble...This polish is thick and runny and ended up with brush strokes and mega bubbling on a few tips. The mani base and top coat combo I tried this time is from Rescue Beauty Lounge. I did RBL base coat, two coats of polish, and RBL top coat. This didn't seem to work as well as Nubar did. I'm working on communications with Ciate to see if they recommend a thinner. Maybe I ought to give in and get Ciate base and top coats...