Ruby Slippers and Valentine FAIL

This was my Valentine's Day mani, sorry if it's a little old and stale. I wasn't sure I would even post it, because the water marble I did was a big, fat FAIL. Anyway, here's the pics of the base color first, because it rocked!

Savvy Ruby Slippers. 3 coats. 2 coats was enough, but I thought an extra coat would add a little more depth. Really pretty burgundy-leaning red jelly base with two sizes of red glitter. Gorgeous! I don't own China Glaze Ruby Pumps yet (I know, sacrilege!), but I think this will keep me happy until I have it. I actually prefer the deeper base this has, I think it suits my skintone very well. All pics are clickable, and I definitely recommend it for these! HAWTNESS!

Here is a shot with flash, so you can see the base color better - it's far from black, which also makes me happy! ☺

FYI, the tip pull/shrinkage you see in these is from Seche Vite - I still haven't mastered how to use this without severe shrinkage. Oh, and for everyone who raves about this topcoat, why hasn't anyone ever mentioned the overpowering reek of this stuff? My husband can smell it from over 10 feet away when I use it, and it almost makes my eyes water! I'm not sure I would have bought it had I known about that. So, you can see I'm not a fan of the legendary Seche Vite, but I have yet to find another thick topcoat that works better for smoothing out even the most gritty glitter polishes, so I may just put up with it for now.

Anyway, on to the fail. (:P) It turned out nothing like I pictured in my head, and I'd like to think some of the blame can go to the polishes I used. At least one of them wasn't behaving, so we'll pretend that's the problem. LOL.

I marbled with the 3 on the left. Then, it looked so bad that I covered it up with Orly Prisma Gloss Gold. I know, I know - I should have just left it alone, right? It just made things worse. Oh, well, here's 2 pics. ugh. Don't say I didn't warn you.

My thumb almost turned out, see? *insert maniacal laughter* This lasted all of a day. I just couldn't stand it! Way to ruin a perfectly good red glitter polish, huh?

Thanks for reading!