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

[ather]

@jaaayp  It’s too bad it’s not what it is suppose to be! They look gorgeous tho!! 

[jaaayp]

Thank you @ather 🥰

[JoSometimes]

@jaaayp The colours themselves look great! Too bad it took so many coats to get there. At least you didn’t have to count to infinity waiting for them to dry!

[jaaayp]

True... idk how you guys wait for the dry time!!! I can't go back 🤣 @JoSometimes 

[JoSometimes]

@jaaayp I can’t bring myself to switch after picking up so many lacquer polishes a sort period of time. And it’s not so bad. I just put on a movie or something on YouTube and watch while they dry.

[CynthieLu]

In the pics you've managed to turn them into something beautiful @jaaayp 

So sorry to hear your Amaxon Deals have been striking out 💔

[jaaayp]

@CynthieLu thank you 🥰 at least it's Amazon and hassle free returns. I should really try to find some outside of Amazon since I think I've tried all the brands they have available so far 🤣

[RGbrown]

@jaaayp 

Ahhhh, these are lovely colors and they look fab on you, though I'm sad they aren't what you expected!

I need a little help understanding something though; when you said "they are not jelly, they're sheer", what are you looking for in a jelly polish? Jellies are sheer by definition, so mayhaps you're actually looking for something else? 

[jaaayp]

Thank you @RGbrown 🥰 the below is true jelly. Semi sheer and glassy with like 2 coats (and this is white/light gray) These colorful ones had like so little pigment, I'm pretty sure these were like 4 or 5 coats!

 

[itsfi]

This is one of my favorite mani of yours @jaaayp. Actually, one of my favorite manis ever. It's so elegant and pretty. 😍

[RGbrown]

@jaaayp 

Oh, that's a pretty grey! The formula on that one is more crelly if you got that coverage in two coats though...jelly is sheer, cream is opaque, and crelly (literally cream + jelly) falls along that spectrum in between the two. Lots of brands don't really distinguish between jelly and crelly in their descriptions though, so it can be tough to find that sort of milky opacity you want.

If you've got a milky/crelly white or nude that you like the opacity of, you could always do a layer of it under the ones that are too sheer for your taste. I do that with my jelliest of jellies to help hide my stains and nail lines.

ETA: adding some pics!

L to R: Orly Oasis Jelly, OPI Turquoise Aesthetic, Morgan Taylor Ultramarine Applique

While named jelly, Orly is really a crelly, as it blots out the text underneath nearly completely. Morgan Taylor is a true jelly that you can see through easily, and OPI is a bit between the two...the text is partially obscured, but still visible. 

Meanwhile, my Ella+Mila jellies are the sheerest I've ever come across; when I did my haul photo, I had to lay the swatches on a piece of paper because the wood of my counter altered the colors substantially otherwise 😅

 

[itsfi]

Will be shopping this stash @RGbrown! 😍🛍

[RGbrown]

@itsfi 

That Ella+ Mila set was a lot fun (very sheer though, so be prepared for that if you get it)!

[itsfi]

Good to know @RGbrown; thank you! I find that I prefer the brand's toppers more than the polishes but the sheerness of a couple of these is what is drawing me to them - all for specific mani's I have in mind, so I should think it through more carefully before picking up one. I mean, it's not like I don't have any other polishes that might work as well. 🙄😂

[RGbrown]

@itsfi 

I know the feeling! I had talked myself out of this set multiple times because I have most of the colors already and didn't need more jellies, and you see how that went 😂

If you have the right colors but just want them more sheer, you can play with mixing a few drops with some clear polish and see if that scratches the itch.

[itsfi]

Oh, that is a brilliant idea @RGbrown! Thank you! I will do just that and see if it gets me the look / finish I'm looking for. Thanks again!

[jaaayp]

@RGbrown good tips! 👍 i always appreciate your thoughtful responses!!! I know what you mean. But I think these were just bad. The pink my ring finger was a purple that never showed up so that polish was dead to me 🔫 even your sheerest sheers are waaaay more pigmented than these. Think of these as literally just cream with no pigment. They also dont have that glassy finish look i like... I would have loved to show you a picture of what they looked like first coat (it looks nothing like your 2nd picture) but theyre already gone and I only used 4 to 5 coats to get rid of the streaks and get them even. They didnt level out and brushing over it just made streaks worse..... It's my fault though, they were on an incredible sale during prime and knowing they were no name, I bought it anyway 🤣 

[RGbrown]

@jaaayp 

I think I've confused myself; indulge my asinine question? Are they too opaque for you or too sheer for you?

Because I see plenty of pigmentation (color) with a bit of nail line (meaning they aren't a cream, though they aren't quite a true jelly either as the nail line would be much more visible, so they're somewhere on the crelly spectrum). Perhaps not *good* jellies that let you get by with fewer coats, but they're jelly/crelly.

4-5 coats for even coverage is ridic, I agree. Jellies can be streaky, it's part of the sheerness and something brands have to work hard to perfect; good brands do it pretty well, others not so much. But from what I can see, you did a good job working around that trouble!

Topcoat is where the shine comes from! (Or on my swatch sticks, it's actually the plastic, I swatch them all on the bottom of the spoon so I don't have to waste topcoat on them lol) Some pigments just dry matte, regardless of the formulation of the base. And those E+M swatches sticks have four coats to build up the color; they will never get opaque (well, the deepest one might because the pigment itself is so dark, but not the rest), just a little brighter/deeper in color with additional coats...they are true jellies that I had to put something more opaque under when I wore them. 

[jaaayp]

@RGbrown it's too sheer! It doesn't build any colpe intensity in color until coat #3.. and by then the polishes become opaque. It looks like a regular polish but maybe mixed in with clear gloss? Have you ever tried? It's not crelly as you would think it would be. At least in gel polishes? Gel polishes have jelly gel polishes where the shine is super apparent 🤔 which is pretty much all that I bought, just not in the brand I usually buy. idk if you're using gel, if you are, I would love some recs. The only one that really lives up to the hype that I've found is GAOY. Even without a top coat, it's shiny but I have to put on a top coat on gel because without it, the polishes cure sticky. I think they're made in Korea where jelly polishes really got popular. 

[RGbrown]

@jaaayp 

Ha, that's exactly how jellies are made...start with a clear base and just add a hint of pigment. Some brands add more pigment, leading to a richer, more vivid color and a bit more opacity, but that's the basic premise 😋

I have dabbled in gel in the past, but don't use it currently. Honestly though, after all the research I've done, I'd stay away from any of the cheap AliExpress/Amazon brands. Gel is more dangerous than most folks realize, and if I were to get back into it, it would be with a company that's much more transparent about educating their customers.

Gel is supposed to cure sticky, it's called the inhibition layer. The only products that won't have that are no-wipe topcoats. 

[Mellmars1185]

@jaaayp They look pretty! Sorry to hear they are not the formula you chose.