Ruby Wing Moonstone

This is my first Ruby Wing polish!  This one is called Moonstone and it changes color under the sun’s UV rays.

Shown here is one base coat, two coats of Moonstone and one topcoat of seche.  I had a few bald spots, I could’ve maybe went with three coats of this polish.  But it was really late at night and I didn’t really feel like it at the time.  I painted them and then went to bed… then I woke up with some serious shrinkage on the tips of my nails.  It looked like big time tip wear.  I guess this stuff really shrinks with seche vite?  But how well does it change color?  That’s the real question.  I couldn’t wait to run out into the morning sun to check them out.  It was overcast that day but Moonstone still performed well!  My nails turned from a pale bright blue to a deep dusky purple.  The next day I demonstrated this polish to my mom and she immediately had to borrow it.  So, Moonstone is no longer in my possession!  I’ll have to pick up another one of these.  And here’s the kicker–  the Ruby Wing sales display is only a minute from my office.

Absinthe Fever

If I was able to wear only ONE nail polish for the rest of my life what would it be?  A thermal! It’s almost like cheating cuz it’s multiple colors in one. Today’s indie nail polish is no exception!  I’m wearing Absinthe Fever that I picked up from my fellow blogger’s shop: Polish Alcoholic. Shown here is one basecoat, three coats of Absinthe Fever, and one coat of seche topcoat.

Absinthe Fever is dark green when cold, and light green when warm.  Even though it transforms between two different colors (like most thermals), I swear- there’s 4 colors in there!!  Sometimes the dark green looks like a bright forest green and other times it looks like a deep dusty teal like in my collage pic.  And when it’s warm it turns an electric spring green, but sometimes it looks more muted like a chartreuse.  I can’t tell if it just seems that way due to different lighting conditions, or if it really turns 4 colors.  I dunno, but me likey!

As you can see, I’ve got VNL after three coats… I know some people don’t like visible nail line.  But VNL has always been fine with me, especially with a jelly finish like this one.  Absinthe Fever is so freakin cool!  I also made sure to wear my Christian LaCroix Absynthe perfume yesterday and today so I’m all matchy-matchy.  I’m purely intoxicating, everyone!

Polish Alcoholic sells a bunch of other fun specialty polishes too like Mermaid of Log Ness (thermal) and Gold Digger (gold leaf topper).  Or check them all out here at her etsy shop: Polish Alcoholic

Thermal Polish from Brijits Digits Boutique

Today I’m showing you another cool indie polish from Brijits Digits Boutique.  This one’s a thermal color-changing polish called Orchis des Marais.  It’s a special polish with a fancy french name, ooh la la!  I hafta say, this is the most fun that I’ve had with a polish in a really long time!  Take a look at it and you’ll see what I mean…

Shown here is one basecoat of Sally Hansen Maximum Growth, two coats of Orchis des Marais and one coat of Seche Vite.  If you apply thin coats then you may want three coats of the thermal, but two did the trick for me.  It appeared violet when I first applied it but shortly after it started turning pink.  On the right-hand side of my photo collage you can see all the blue shimmer in there too- just gorgeous!  Orchis des Marais dries quickly and has a nice finish.  Thermals have a tendency to be matte and dull so I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

Here’s a pic of Orchis des Marais when I first woke up in the morning and my hands were cold as ice.  We haven’t turned the heat on yet this season.  Brrrrr!  ↓

And here’s a shot of my nails after a nice hot shower.  They’re bubblegum pink now and the tips are quickly starting to cool off as you can see.  ↓

Throughout most of the day my nails were a pretty gradient that started out pink and got more purple towards the tips.  They did change very easily too.  If you hold a cold drink you’ll see them shift right away.  Or if you get a droplet of water on your nail you’ll see a perfect little purple circle appear!  So much fun!  All day long I kept looking down- ooh I’m cold, oooh now I’m hot!  Also, I noticed that my right-hand middle finger was strangely cold and purple most of the time.  The weird thing is, that nail breaks all the time too.  It’s my one problem nail.  Maybe my chi doesn’t flow well in that finger?  LOL  You can see in the top left photo of my collage that it’s more purple than the rest!  What’s up with that?

Overall, I’m thrilled with this polish.  I need more.  In every color.

If you’re looking for a heat-activated polish you can find Orchis des Marais on Etsy at Brijits Digits Boutique.

What do you think of color-changing polishes like this one?

Heat Activated Mood Struck Polish

Today I have a fun polish to share with you – it changes with your mood!  It’s called Mood Struck Color Changing Nail Polish and it’s heat activated to change from teal to turquoise.  I’m a sucker for cheesey products like this- mood changing, glow-in-the-dark, I love them all!  I found this bottle on ebay and also picked up two shades that change in the sunlight!

This Mood Struck polish dried to a semi-matte finish.  And it just may be one of THE fastest drying polishes in the world!!!  It started drying instantly- so you better brush it on quickly, and with as few strokes as possible!  Otherwise, it gets goopy and streaky.  I used three coats here since I needed to even out the surface- and I didn’t bother with a topcoat because I really like the satin finish.

I wanted to photograph this polish in natural light so you could see what it really looks like in it’s natural state. But it’s so darn cold here- my nail color just won’t budge when I’m outside!  It’s pretty chilly in my house too, so I didn’t get much variation in color indoors either.  But I did notice that the tips of my nails were a bit cooler and were a dark teal color.  Whereas the base of my nail is warmer from my body temperature so the polish there was more of lighter turquoise.  It almost has a slight gradient effect !

Both pictures in this post show my nails after I dipped the tips in a small bowl of hot water.  I love the cool effect!  I can’t wait to try the polish during warmer months so I can see more of  this!