Beauty Barrage: Manicure Monday - Silver Glitter

Monday is almost coming to a close, so I'm rushing this post. I didn't do Manicure Monday last week because I knew I was having my nails done later in the week. I attended a wedding last Thursday with the hubby, so I went to the salon to get a blow-out and a mani-pedi that morning. 

The thing is, I have some standards when I get my nails professionally done. I'm really super critical of manicurists because come on, if they do a bad job, I might as well just do it myself at home. I have only found two manicurists I like at two separate salons that are both at the Podium - one from David's named Flor, and the other at Bench Fix that I forgot the name of because I've only been there once. I haven't tried the Nail Spa at Shang and the nail salons at Megamall though. If you've tried any of them, please let me know in the comments! Don't ask me about other places that aren't in the general Ortigas/Kapitolyo area though, because I just go to the salons near my neighborhood for convenience.

That day though, I was pressed for time so I decided to just go to the David's along Shaw. I really don't like the manicurist there, because I have had my nails done multiple times there before (since it's the closest proper salon near me), but it really seems like she doesn't make enough of an effort to do her job well. I had no choice though, and I thought I'd give her yet another chance, but sadly, I was disappointed once again. Sorry but I just have to rant.

See, I usually bring my own nail polish, especially the ones that I have a hard time putting on myself since I'm so manicure-challenged. Since I was wearing glittery silver shoes and accessories that day, I decided to do silver glitter on my nails. I brought Forever 21 Love and Beauty Nail Polish in Moonbeam for the base and Nicole by OPI's Make U Smile from the Justin Bieber collection to put on top of it. We accidentally ruined one of the nails (the manicurist and I moved in opposite directions at the same time) but I noticed after I left the salon that she didn't bother doing it over. She just tried to patch it up with more nail polish which turned out looking a bit lumpy. She also didn't bother spreading the glitter around my nails. I told her to do two coats so the glitter would show up more and she did, but she didn't make sure that the glitter was visible on every nail. It looked very inconsistent. There were also some blank spots. They're hardly noticeable but they're there. Frustration!

Anyway, bad manicurist aside, I liked the combination of Forever 21's Moonbeam and Nicole by OPI's Make U Smile. Metallic nails just add instant bling to a look. 

I wanted an elegant look since I was going to a wedding. The silver foil of Moonbeam looked great with Make U Smile's big hexagon and small dot glitter. 

My Instagram pic of it last Thursday didn't quite catch the details but it looked very classic and polished.

I liked that the effect was subtle. It wasn't too glittery and the silver had this matte look. The glitter would just catch the light every now and then without being too flashy. 

The combination of the two lacquers surprisingly came out really smooth. My nails don't feel crusty despite not having a top coat. We also only used one coat of Moonbeam and two coats of Make U Smile but the polish is still intact right now. 

Forever 21's Love & Beauty Nail Polish only retails for 100 pesos a bottle. I have a few of them and I've found them to be quite resilient, with lovely, uncommon colors and textures. 

Nicole by OPI's Make U Smile from the Justin Bieber collection is one of my treasured polish bottles. I'm making the most of it because I doubt I'll be able to find any more when I'm out since it was a limited edition release. I tried it over blue polish before and it looked fantastic. 

All right, that's it. Until next Manicure Monday, peeps!

Other lacquer love posts can be found in the Manicure Monday tag.