{Mad About Nails} Halloween French Tips

I've had quite a few people comment on my nails in the past ask what I was using or wish I'd done a close-up so they could see better, etc., etc., and had a realization: Why not do a feature on nail polish? It's not book-related (Unless you're wearing the new HUNGER GAMES-inspired line from China Glaze, but I'm not even going into how wrong that is...), but it's fun. Plus, if I do this feature, I'll be more likely to re-paint my nails this week and less likely to let them chip their way to the bare bones (which would mean that I could see my nails...and if I see them, I want to bite them!).

Welcome back to another edition of Mad About Nails! 

Here's my third Halloween-inspired look for October!

And...you may recognize the awesome polish I'm wearing from last week's post! ^.~

Here's a video of the materials used

(Or keep reading below!):

YouTube Link

These two are POWERHOUSES for
long-lasting manicures!  One lasted
1.5 weeks, the other for 2!!!

I started off with a basecoat of ORLY "Bonder."  Many of the professional nail studios use this as a basecoat when doing nails for their clients.  It's a rubberized coat that helps polish adhere to the nail.  It stinks, but it's great!

I finished everything with a top coat of Revlon's "Quick Dry Top Coat."  I'd heard it was a rival for the legendary Seche Vite, but with fewer harsh chemicals.  It also doesn't go bad in the bottle or shrink when used.  I was intrigued, and so far, this stuff is FABULOUS.

Together, this combo has made my nails last, on average, 1.5 to 2 weeks. They're both awesome!

THE DESIGN:

Why am I using the same general colors as last week? Well, I snagged a nail and tore off all the polish EXCEPT some color clinging to the tip. I looked at it and went, "That would look great as a French Manicure!" And there you have it!

SIDE NOTE: As a nail biter, French Manicures are hard. You see this perfect area to bite! It's hard to resist temptation and revert to bad habits. This is why I don't frequently wear this style...

Anyway!

I started out with OPI "Rosy Future." It's a translucent pink that allows you to still see the natural moons of your own nail peeping out. It's also delightfully opalescent and almost duochrome in nature due to the pearly sheen when it catches the light. It's a great shade for a French Manicure!
"Rosy Future" is currently part of OPI's core collection, which means it's permanent. I'm not sure if my bottle is from this collection or from the launch collection that introduced the shade in 2003. It really stinks and was a little watery, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was from 2003. I could have gotten it later than that, too, but it's definitely a "Black Label OPI," so I've had it since before OPI switched formulas when they dropped the B3 formula in 2006 and went 3-Free. The color may be slightly different from its current incarnation due to this. Some "Black Labels" don't look the same as the core colors!

I had heard that Maybelline Color Show Polka Dots wasn't the greatest polish in the world, but it looked so cute that I wanted to try it anyway! I chose "Dotty." I like it a lot, actually! It layers really nicely! This is the THIRD week in a row I've used this polish (See below for the previous two looks), and I'm still a fan. So I don't know what annoyed people about it!

"Dotty" is a sheer, buildable jelly polish, but I used it on top of opaque colors, so there's no jelly texture on the nails.

I layered "Dotty" over ULTA's bright-orange "Sun of a Gun" and Wet n Wild Wild Shine "Black Crème" as base colors.

The fun thing about "Dotty?" Because she's a buildable jelly, she looks amazing in a whole-new way when layered with black! This polish has an orange base with black and white glitter shapes. When you do more than one layer of "Dotty," some of the white glitters turn orange! They don't' look orange against an orange polish because they're whiter than the polish, but they look orange against the black! When the orange base layers over the white glitter, it looks like orange glitter! SO MUCH FUN!

I really enjoyed this polish and have had quite a few compliments this week. I want to wear it FOREVER...but I have too much else to do in October! It's a holiday month, after all!

I topped everything off with OPI "Rapi Dry Top Coat" because it's a little thicker than the top coat I normally use. Sometimes glitter needs a thicker top coat to create a smooth nail, and after the disastrous "Jolt," I wanted a clean design!

AND LOOK!

I have used Maybelline "Dotty" yet again!
This is the third time this month I used this nail polish!

Check out my post for more details on these two looks!

First as an accent:

Next as the full design:

If you do a Halloween-inspired look, shoot me a link or tweet me a pic! I want to see what everyone else is doing this month!!

 Is anyone else obsessed with nail polish? What are you wearing right now?