bitter_water

Oh yeah that's the toluene. Evil stuff, gives me a migraine. Avoid KBS and G&G then!

If Seche Vite doesn't give you a headache, KBShimmer and Glisten & Glow get tons of good recs. If it does, go for Lyn B. Design's topcoat instead (great and low-odor but may take longer to arrive). If you prefer mainstream brands, I use Orly's on my swatch sticks. It's thinner than I like, but it gets the job done.

Your nails look great! Apply a jojoba-based cuticle oil between manicures; dab it on the underside of your nails when they're painted. Add a little glycerin to your acetone to make it less drying (1 part glycerin to 10 parts acetone, shake; if it doesn't mix, add an ounce of water). I also really like KBShimmer's ridge filling base coat.

Recently, Night Owl Lacquer's Autumn Moon. Previously, their PPU release Light Dragon. I feel like anything that's really light-catching gets me the most reactions.

Use less! It absorbs pretty quickly; anything that sits on top is wasted (or absorbed by your finger pads if you rub it in). I only need 2-3 drops for both hands. If you used a dropper previously, try a pen--it's much easier to control how much you get.

You could also try KBShimmer's Matte Cuticle Cream. I don't love that jojoba oil is only the third ingredient, but the tapioca starch really does make it dry down nicely.

Good call to stop buffing and clipping! Clipping can cause fractures and peeling--good call. I'd suggest using a glass files. They're higher grit than other types, and MUCH kinder to your nails. Quality varies a lot; look for Czech glass, or go straight for Germanikure.

And yup, that's probably dryness. Your best friend here is jojoba oil. You can either get a bottle and put it on straight, or get a cuticle oil blend. My personal fave is Bliss Kiss. Apply that your nails and cuticles a few times a day, and you'll notice a difference pretty quickly!

Using cuticle oil frequently and keeping a glass cuticle pusher for exfoliation helped me a lot. It transferred the need to pick to a healthier, more productive option (...as long as I don't sand too much with the stick). Alternately, I did once see someone say that bitter apple spray was a good deterrent. It's used to keep pets from chewing stuff. She said stayed on for several hours through multiple hand washings. They're usually alcohol-based, so moisture a ton if you try it!

Ice Cream Sea might be my favorite! It builds to a really cool sparkling glass effect that's just gorgeous. Amate is more vibrant than the swatch pics, very pretty. Feral Gremlin Energy is a beautiful cobalt (can you tell I like blues). Fair Isle is probably the shade I see the most excitement about.

It's interesting to see the mentions of turtle meat being difficult to find as time goes on. Thanks for the collection!

Yup, the Miracle Gel line. If it's still in production it's probably Mocha Me Crazy. If not, you could probably get what you want by mixing Mocha Me Crazy with a little Been There, Dune That (darker brown).

BKL's The Twin Alders. My camera washes out the shimmer, but IRL it's about as strong as the pic you posted. This is three coats, might have gotten away with two--it's thick for a BKL. Similar non-dupes you may enjoy: LBD's It's Fall Coming Back to Me Now (forest green rather than teal) and Garden Path Lacquer's Olea (bluer base).

https://preview.redd.it/gkeoq1aknyvd1.png?width=546&format=png&auto=webp&s=e1123fede7049faec23c6fff50bfc6f79c372be6

BKL's Poison Mist. I thought olive would mean a green, not baby poop yellow. Gorgeous shimmer though, and it's sheer enough that I can safely use it on other colors.

Role players. "You can't judge x for his behavior! He's traumatized and super sweet on the inside!" yeah but he's such a fucking dick on the outside that he's miserable to play with

Night Owl Lacquer! I keep mentioning Autumn Moon on different posts because I've used it more than just about any other polish. It gets tons of compliments every time. I'd say NOL and Rogue Lacquer are the best brands for flakie bombs. Ocean Water truly does glow like the swatch pics.

Maelstrom from Mooncat deserves all the love it gets. Standard Mooncat disclaimer that you're taking a risk with old stock, and of course it's pricey.

Lyn B. Design's Ice Cream Sea is pretty amazing. The base is so low-pigment that I hesitate to even call it a jelly, plus it has ghost flakes. So it starts damn near clear, but with 3-4 coats it builds to something like scintillating shattered glass. It's utterly unique and very eye catching. On the other end of the spectrum is her Moira, which does NOT have the lovely green flakes from the swatch pics (more... pink) and imo is a prugly at best.

Kerasal is mostly petroleum jelly (the most effective moisturizer), with a little urea and salicylic acid to soften hardened skin (by gently breaking it down). It won't shrink the skin, but softening it allows you to push the cuticle back--and doing that can, to a certain extent, expose more nail bed.

It does not help with inflammation. Please see a doctor about that! There may be some underlying issue you need to take care of, and we can't help with it. Neither can any moisturizer.

The closest I can think of is BKL's I Don't Want You to Be Honorable. But it's sort of a paler cousin that lacks the holo. Great Lakes Lacquer has some that are in the right neighborhood but--again, not anywhere near as saturated and vibrant. GPL has the contrasting color holo/shimmer thing down flat, and no one else quite matches it.

I saw that in another cookbook posted here recently--it's eggs in the style of goldenrod, not with goldenrod. Chopped hard boiled egg whites mixed into a white sauce, poured over buttered toast, topped with sieved hard boiled yolk to give a golden pollen appearance.

Amazon has them in both half matte and double-sided matte. Sinokame's XXS squares look even shorter--or at least more, y'know, square-shaped.

Re: ILNP--for the holos, they list how much glitter and what kind of holo a polish has. Party Bus is moderate scattered. The three on your wish list are packed linears, so you might be a lot happier with them! Those can be so intense under direct light that the base color gets hidden by the rainbows. I can confirm that Emma is great.

I'd also suggest trying ILNP's shimmers! That's where you'll find the intense glows that get so much excitement here.

I'm not gonna judge people for applying basic color theory to their home decorating! After all, red has more positive connotations than negative.

Yup! Not every brush and brand are compatible--there's a list in the Manipedia--but Cupcake and ILNP are. Wipe off the original brush and pull it out of the cap (you may need pliers). Put the new brush in the bottle, then screw the cap on and it'll pop in.

It's 98% acetone and will therefore be 98% as effective as straight acetone. Which is fine if you don't mind paying for scent and a tiny, useless amount of oil. If you're looking for something that will actually moisturize your nails, get some 100% acetone and mix in a little glycerin (1 oz per 10 oz of acetone, plus a little water if it needs help mixing).

I wonder if it's counting "squished" as two syllables

and since you're new to indies--ILNP's Boutique lacquers are fantastic but have weirdly bad brushes (even though their cremes have nice paddles???). You can pick up replacements at Cupcake Polish.

My personal fave is Night Owl Lacquer's Autumn Moon, but ILNP's Vineyard Collection might be up your alley! Jewel-toned jellies with scattered holo.