Harry Potter (Slytherin) Themed Franken Collection

Left to Right: Emerald Encrusted Assets, Avada Kedavra, Malfoiled

Left to Right: Crabbe & Goyle's Death Burger Deluxe with Cheese, Nagini, Dead As A Dumble-Dorenail

I made all six of these in one evening. I had been gearing up for frankening and my manglaze franken juggs package arrived on Saturday. My favorite is Emerald Encrusted Assets, though Dead As A Dumble-Dorenail looks better in person (and it's my favorite OPI-esque name). I split the Malfoiled franken between two jugs (because it was super thick. You see, it was perfect until I went and added Green Sparks! mineral pigment from TKB and the franken immediately turned into a gel/paste. DO NOT RECOMMEND these for frankens) and added more clear to the Malfoiled and black to make the Avada Kadavra. I made Nagini by splitting the Dumble-Dore Nail between two jugs and adding NYS Amaranth. Some of these turned out great texture wise, but Malfoiled and the two Vintage Leaf Glitter heavy ones (Dumble-Dore Nail and Nagini) where a gooey bear to work with. All of the following swatches are three coats and topped with Seche Vite. These photos were taken indoors with an artificial light source. Now I have to decide which of these to wear with my Draco Malfoy halloween costume...


Avada Kedavra

1/2 bottle of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Toast
1/6 bottle of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Clear
1/4 bottle of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Black Creme
1/4 tsp Apple Green Pop Pigment from TKB
1/8 tsp MAC pigment in Green Brown
+ some Green Sparks! mineral pigment from TKB
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Crabbe & Goyle's Death Burger Deluxe with Cheese

1 bottle of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Clear
1/2 tsp Martha Stewart Nephrite Glitter
1/2 tsp Martha Stewart Peridot Glitter
1/2 tsp Martha Stewart Sterling Glitter
2/3 bottle of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Confetti
Special Note:
The amount of clear polish I put in this franken means the glitter won't stay suspended and the nephrite glitter bled into the base and turned it black after I took these pictures. I don't know if the glitter would have bled if I had only used Confetti base, but the glitter would probably not sink to the bottom. The glitter did not appear to bleed into the silver foil based polishes I made.
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Dead As A Dumble-Dorenail

1/2 bottle Hard Candy Trailer Trash
1/2 bottle of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Clear
1/4 tsp Martha Stewart Olivine Vintage Leaf Glitter
3/4 tsp Martha Stewart Verdalite Vintage Leaf Glitter
1/4 tsp Martha Stewart Nephrite Glitter
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Emerald Encrusted Assets

1 bottle of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Confetti
1/3 bottle of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Clear
1/4 bottle Wet n Wild Craze Morbid
1 tsp Martha Stewart Sterling Glitter
1 tsp Martha Stewart Sterling Vintage Leaf Glitter
1/4 tsp MAC pigment in Emerald Green
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Malfoiled

1/2 bottle of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Toast
1/6 bottle of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Clear
1/4 tsp Apple Green Pop Pigment from TKB
1/8 tsp MAC pigment in Green Brown
+ some Green Sparks! mineral pigment from TKB
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Nagini

1/2 bottle Hard Candy Trailer Trash
1 bottle of Wet n Wild Wild Shine Clear
1/4 bottle New York Summer Amaranth
1/4 tsp Martha Stewart Olivine Vintage Leaf Glitter
3/4 tsp Martha Stewart Verdalite Vintage Leaf Glitter
1/4 tsp Martha Stewart Nephrite Glitter

Hard Candy Walmart Halloween LE

I happened to run into the three new Hard Candy Walmart Halloween bottles - Wicked, Zombie, and Mischief, when I spotted a Walmart off the freeway in SGV and made a quick detour. These polishes are a little thick and goopy, but didn't really give too many application problems and they have pretty good coverage. All of these swatches are three coats.

Wicked

Mischief

Zombie


Comparisons:
Mischief is a pretty generic shade, I have more than five black loaded with silver glitter, so I picked the ones with denser glitter for comparison.


Wicked is a bright orange glitter loaded into a greenish sheer black base. It's pretty similar to China Glaze Ick-A-Bod-Y from their current halloween collection (Awakening 2010) but the glitter is a little brighter and more dense.


Zombie had two dupes right there at Walmart. Pure Ice Cheatin and Nicole by OPI Gone Wishin. I couldn't bring myself to buy three identical bottles, but i did get the cheaper Cheatin to do a comparison. Cheatin is pretty much the same, but much less dense. It would take several extra coats to build to the same opacity as the Hard Candy.


These pictures were all taken indoors with an artificial light source.

Hard Candy Manic

Today's manicure is Hard Candy Manic. Manic is from the OG Hard Candy line that has been discontinued for a few years.
Manic is a glowy/iridescent blurple shimmer. It has a lit from within quality. I think it's beautiful. I'm sure it would look great in sunlight if we get any.
This mani is one coat SpaRitual resurface base coat, two coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual tout de suite top coat.


Photo w flash:

Hard Candy Mermaid

It's been awhile. I think I have SAD. It's so dark, cold, and gloomy in Southern California lately that I just haven't been motivated on the nail blog front.
I do have an indoor photo setup, but I love sun photos much better.
I'm working on my dedication issues...
Today's manicure is Hard Candy Mermaid. Mermaid is from the OG Hard Candy line that has been discontinued for a few years.
Mermaid is a frosty green teal metallic shimmer. It does have obvious brush strokes up close. I actually HATE frost finish. It's pretty much always an instant deal breaker for me, especially with brush strokes. That said, I give every HC polish in my collection a chance since they are my Pokemon.
This polish IS pretty. Frost finish (despite its immense defects) can be the most vivid and light reflective of all the finishes.
I don't have much in my collection to compare to (since I do hate frosts) but this color is much deeper than China Glaze Metallic Muse from the Khrome collection.
This mani is one coat SpaRitual resurface base coat, two coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual tout de suite top coat.

Hard Candy Dork

Today's manicure is Hard Candy Dork. This mani was a reader request, which are always welcome.
Dork is an iridescent peach with golden pink undertones. Dork was part of OG Hard Candy's Radioactive Line, consisting of 8 iridescent polishes.
The nail on my ring finger is two coats of polish over 1 coat of black creme.
Unfortunately, the sun has been scarce this week and I took these pictures indoors - the polish practically looks like a creme. It's much more glowy in person. The last picture taken with flash is the most accurate representation. It's also a bit sheer, showing some vnl with three coats.
This mani is one coat SpaRitual resurface base coat, three coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual tout de suite top coat.



with flash:

Hard Candy Walmart Recap

I have now covered all 16 of the Hard Candy Walmart varnishes.
In case you are considering ordering any from walmart.com and don't want to puzzle out their enigmatic labeling system**, here it is deciphered for you:

left to right:
Betrayed = Fishnet
Orange = Lava
Yellow = Splendid
Lime = Sweet P
Green = Envy

Teal = Frenzy
Navy = Mr. Right
Deep Purple = Rumor Mill
Purple = Hot Pants
Periwinkle = Mr. Wrong

Black = The End
White Pearl = Sugar Daddy
White = Break Up
Pink (Heart Ring) = Hypnotic
Pink (Round Ring) = Pretty in Punk
Rose = Date Night

**Obviously, this may be subject to change on Walmart's part - so you may want to double check the picture to help you order what you're really after.

This collection consists of
six cremes:
Fishnet(jelly-ish), Splendid, Frenzy, Rumor Mill, The End, Pretty in Punk(jelly-ish)
The cremes are decent, but the formula is nothing very special. I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend them, but I prefer Rescue Beauty Lounge or Illamasqua for magical one coat cremes.
If you like the color, I certainly wouldn't discourage you from giving these a try.

three foils:
Lava, Mr. Wrong, Hypnotic
I think these foils are the stand-outs of the collection.
All three are fantastic - though it bears repeating that Hypnotic is sheer.

three shimmers:
Envy, Mr. Right, Sugar Daddy
These are nice, but not incredibly unique.
Sugar Daddy is best as a layering polish.

two dense glitters:
Sweet P, Date Night
I'm just not that into these. They are not sparse enough to make great topcoats and not dense enough to wear alone (for my personal taste). The colors are not very saturated either considering they're flashy glitters.

two chunky/sheer glitters:
Hot Pants, Break Up
These are strictly for layering, but are quite interesting. My second favorites after the foils.

I, for one, am looking forward to trying something new. I hope you didn't suffer too much under my Hard Candy-spamming routine. Stay tuned.

Hard Candy Walmart Pretty in Punk

Today's manicure is Hard Candy Walmart Pretty in Punk.
Pretty in Punk is a basic hot pink creme. It's mildly jelly-ish and there's some visible nail line with three coats.
This mani is one coat SpaRitual resurface base coat, three coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual tout de suite top coat.
This marks the end of the Hard Candy Walmart collection! I guess I need a recap post :)

Hard Candy Walmart Date Night

Today's manicure is Hard Candy Walmart Date Night.
Date Night is a soft salmon pink dense glitter. It would make a fine top coat, but is dense enough to be worn alone. The photos are a bit dark, but they were taken indoors.
This mani is one coat SpaRitual resurface base coat, three coats of polish, and one coat of SpaRitual tout de suite top coat.

shown here with flash: