Show Me Your Nails 2.0

[Tamara76]

Due to some technical glitches with the original Show Me Your Nails Thread, I am starting a new thread with @vegchililover78's blessing (She says "hello," by the way!).

Please share your nail looks, nail art and manicures!

...And don't forget to check out @Beadshopgirl's Nail Stamping Thread for stamping inspiration! ❤️  

https://community.sephora.com/t5/Nailed-It/The-Nail-Stamping-Thread/m-p/3328865

[itsfi]

@WinglessOne, thank you. The second one came out better than I expected.

[RGbrown]

@itsfi 

Do you have MT Izzy Wizzy (yes?) or Zoya Leia? How does this Essie compare, if so? I've been curious, but haven't run across it in person yet.

This looks fab! Love the subtle shimmer ✨

[itsfi]

@RGbrown, I did some swatches of Essie Iced Out, Zoya Leia and Morgan Taylor Izzy Wizzy. It was grey and overcast today and I wasn't able to capture the differences on my nails but if the sun's out tomorrow, I'll see if I can get a photo of the three toppers on my nails where you can actually see the nuances of each topper. 

There's a very smooth finish with Essie Iced Out - it gives off a pearlescent sheen over the white base. In the photos, it looks likes the difference between Zoya Leia and MT Izzy Wizzy is the color that pulls through them - pink with the Zoya and blue with Morgan Taylor, but when applied, you can see differences in the consistency and finish. There's a certain metallic sheen to both, but with Zoya Leia, the base is more sheer and prismatic with a pearly white tint to it. With MT, I don't pick up white in the base, the shift is more noticeable when painting on the color and there's more luminosity to the finish. 

[itsfi]

@RGbrown, outdoor lighting of the glazed donut nails with different toppers:

One coat of Zoya Genesis as base, with 2 coats of each of the following toppers:

• Essie Expressie Iced Out
• Zoya Leia
• Morgan Taylor Izzy Wizzy

And a close up shot:

[tinaa40]

The Essie one looks the most "chrome" out of the three. Have you tried Opi throw me a kiss?

[itsfi]

@tinaa40, I’ve not tried that OPI shade but looked it up just now and it’s really pretty. Thanks so much for the recommendation. 💅🏼 

[RGbrown]

@itsfi 

Ahhhhhhh, more pics, yay! These are all amazing, thank you so much for such a great comparison! ❣️❣️❣️💖💖💖💗💗💗

[RGbrown]

@itsfi 

This is fantabulous, THANK YOU! And huh, there's a bigger difference in Leia and Izzy than I realized, so hey, I guess both are justified after all 😋 (and so is Iced Out, of course...sigh, another for the list 🤣)

[itsfi]

@RGbrown, I was also surprised by the differences. Definitely justified to have both. 😂

lol, the lists just get longer and longer. I'm happy with Essie Iced Out. If you catch it on sale, it's worth picking up.

[itsfi]

Yes!!! I do have MT Izzy Wizzy @RGbrown - I love that polish! ♥️ Off the top of my head, I think compared to Essie Iced Out, the Essie has more of a metallic sheen to it. I’ll grab MT and post comparison to Iced Out this weekend. I don’t think I had Zoya Leia, though I am not for certain because ummm, I might have just a few Zoya polishes 😆 I’ll check to see if I have that one as well. 

[RGbrown]

@itsfi 

Leia is the pink/purple cousin to Izzy Wizzy's pink/purple/blue. They are ridiculously similar in appearance aside from Izzy having a slightly wider color range. They definitely fall into the "don't need both" category (and yet I have both, sigh 😅)

Thank you in advance for the comparison! I do get the feeling from your pic here that Essie is a smoother finish (not in a bumpy way, but particle size, like a smooth foil or chrome vs something like a microflakie mix). I am curious to see them side by side! Bless you! ❣️

[itsfi]

Lol @RGbrown. I love that you have both. 🥰 Now that you mentioned how Leia looks, I actually think I may have picked it up as part of a Zoya set. Side by side comparisons will definitely be done. I’ll be sure to tag you. 

[ather]

@itsfi  Ooooo the first try looks great! But the second coat you nailed it!! I knew you could do an incredible job!! 

[itsfi]

Awww, thanks @ather! 😊 The Essie topper has a bit of a metallic sheen to it and I think it gives the mani a nice overall look.

In some photos of HB’s manicure, her nails look like a clear glaze or like a nude / flesh shades base with a top coat that gave it a wet glazed look and feel. I want to try to get that effect on a mani; 💅🏼  will have to do some more research and rummaging through my stash. 

[Titian06]

Wow, so pretty, @itsfi ! 😍  I love how take 2 turned out! 🤍✨🤍

[itsfi]

Thank you @Titian06. 😃 I like the look of the second try; I think it helped that the base was more sheer while still having some coverage. 

[Titian06]

@RGbrown @WinglessOne - Since I know both of you are using swatch sticks, where did you buy them and any particular brand?  I bought a bzillion nail polishes (or so it seems) this weekend, and I like the idea of swatching the colors.  When I Googled swatch sticks, well, I was overwhelmed!  I decided just to ask the "pros"! 😄

I have a label maker that I took to work years ago, so that's not an issue...assuming I remember to bring it home. 🤔

[WinglessOne]

I buy these from Amazon. I don't remember exactly how I settled on these vs. all the others available... I'm sure price was a big factor, though there are cheaper options. I do remember skimming reviews and not finding many recent ones complaining about broken or warped sticks. 

They ship 50 sticks to a plastic bag, and there's a binder ring inside each bag. Most of the rings in my bags were subpar (very weak closure and pop open too easily) so I initially used other rings I already had, though I knew I'd eventually ditch the rings altogether and just keep all my sticks loose in containers. Anyway, some reviews mention broken sticks, and part of that problem may be that the rings aren't packaged separately. I can see breakage happening during shipping. Of the 400 I've ordered so far, none have arrived broken or warped. 

Some reviewers also mention sticks being different lengths. That seems to be from folks who've ordered multiple times and got a new batch of shorter or longer sticks than usual. Mine have all been the same length. 

The best part of looking for swatch sticks at Amazon is browsing the "see all customer images" photo gallery and seeing all those satisfying photos of swatched polishes and dips. 🙂 It's also interesting to see how different people label their sticks: some use the included number stickers, others write on sticks with Sharpies, and I've seen one person print labels vertically, 

l

i

k

e

t

h

i

s

—which is... interesting. I use 3/8" (9mm) tape in my label maker for these sticks and it fits perfectly. 

Oh, and I use top coat on all my swatches. That's not necessary, but I figure it'll help extend their lifetime, and it's a good way to use up some top coats I don't use anymore on my nails. I don't waste base coat on these. 

Enjoy swatching your collection! 

[Titian06]

@RGbrown @WinglessOne - Thank you so much for this great info on swatch sticks! 😘  I haven't used my label maker since before COVID so I'll have to check the size.  I know it's not very wide since it fits in three-ring binder index tabs.  Whether or not replacement cartridges are still being made is another question! 😄

[RGbrown]

@Titian06 

I knew I wanted clear (instead of opaque) and screws to hold them (instead of jump rings), and once I had those parameters, I just looked for the cheapest ones I could find on Amazon at the time. There aren't that many with the screws, so that narrowed my options down a good bit 😋

There are also some sticks with two or even three nails on them, which might have been a cool idea if I had started with those...do one glossy, one matte, maybe one with a topper, or show toppers over several different bases, but eh, iirc, they're a good bit more expensive for a big collection like mine, but it might be something you're interested in. 

There are also round discs that have something like 10 or 12 around them. I believe I've seen them on Sally's site if you don't want to support Amazon! 

These are the ones I've bought the last few times, and as a bonus, they're usually available via subscribe & save, so I can knock another little bit off the price  

Check tape width on your label maker...half inch is a bit too wide for most sticks (I use quarter inch, or 3/8 will work too!) 

And yay! Welcome to the world of collecting!! ❣️

[Everinne]