ABC Challenge: L

Hello!! Happy October!! October's the best month IMHO - it's properly Spring-y, Christmas is creeping nearer, and it's my birthday month! What more could you want!? Oh, more blog posts? Okay! XD

Today's post is brought to you by the letter 'L'. Anyone who follows me on IG knows I have an addiction to the Liquid Sand / Pixie Dust glitter 'texture' polishes, so naturally I had to share this gorgeous grey one with you. Here's Zoya London!

OPI brought out a bunch of 'Liquid Sand' polishes, Zoya called theirs 'Pixie Dust', and there are a few more brands floating around that haven't made it to NZ yet (the biggest one I can think of is the Sally Hansen 'Sugar Coat' range). I love 'em!! Extra glitter, extra sparkle, perfect camouflage for any nail-surface imperfections and tip wear is super subtle - yep, it's love. Zoya London is a deep green-grey Pixie Dust that is honestly a bit dark for my tastes, but it's so darn gorgeous, it's been pulled out a bunch of times anyway. I used two coats for these photos, no top coat.

These textured polishes are the most forgiving polishes you'll ever find. If you're like me and tend to bump your nails into things before they're dry (Hi, I'm Ally and I'm an impatient clutz), textured polishes will become your best friends. Bumpy ridges on your nail surface? Hidden. Smudges from rushing out the door after painting? Concealed. Can't be bothered changing your polish for every tiny little tip chip? Covered! Clean up's a bit of a pain in the [bleep] but otherwise, I could live off these babies for quite some time.

Having said all that, they don't tend to lend themselves to easy nail-art-ing. The formulas that I've experienced are all very similar - thick, glittery, goopy - so any kind of precision is a whole lot harder than with regular polish. My solution? Tape! Can't go wrong with a nail art process that requires slapping on a tonne of your second colour XD.

The base is two coats of China Glaze Pelican Gray. Did I do this diamond-tape mani kinda recently? =/ I suddenly feel a bit repeat-y. Sorry if I have! It's just it's super easy, works with ANY polish and has a pretty nifty effect for the amount of work required. I really need to work on becoming more patient so I can create some more awesome stuff for you guys!

I think the blue-grey-ness of Pelican Gray really brings out the green-grey-ness of London. And in case anyone was wondering ('cause this puzzled me for years), "grey" is the British spelling, and "gray" is the American one - like color and colour. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure that out >.<!

Thanks tonnes for popping by! I really do appreciate the ongoing support and feedback! Take care, lovely people, and I'll see you soon ^_^.