Thursday, August 22, 2013

Let’s walk the indie polish hall of fame, shall we? Nailventurous FLOAM

Yes, you heard (or read) correctly; I, me, myself, was able to obtain a bottle of the much sought-after and VERY original Floam!!! THANK YOU, blog sales: the rummage sales of the polish world!!


. . . complete with the original consistency of sheetrock mud/joint compound – I should know – I stepped off a ladder into a 5 gallon pail of it when I was 4. Ah well, once I got the hang of it, I was able to lay down a not too shabby coat for my double accent nails!



Ahhh that 90's Floam! ...and its cousin, Gak. :-)

When those Floam-esque Salon Perfect polishes came out, I had to get one, and Shocked was the one that jumped off the shelf at me…I kinda have a thing for hot pink. J I also got Bang because it looked – being the operative word – like an awesome neon orange, but upon the realization that it’s just a sorta lame mix of pink & yellow, that one went back to Wally World. You’d think my OSGD (obsessive swatch Googling disorder) would’ve prevented that misconception!

My sincere apologies for the large gap between polish & cutes here.  I think I took this after I'd been wearing this mani for a few days - and I probably (stupidly) pushed back my cutes to boot.

Really fun, no?! I just wish I didn’t feel so weird wearing these types of “kiddie combos” to work… even though I spend the majority of my day in a cube and no one really notices my nails, I don’t like when my nails totally don’t go with my attire. Since I’m obviously not wearing neon dress pants to work. Whatever! It’s a good thing I have a copious stash, so polishes don’t tend to hang out on my nails very long. ;-)


I already commented on the consistency of Floam, but I’ll expound: at first, I had no idea how I was going to get that obtuse mélange of microglitters to lay nicely without forming giant mountain peaks and valleys below…but after doing one hand, I somehow managed to find a technique that worked. At the moment, I really can’t recall what that technique was, but I think it was mostly being very, very careful and sloooow. ;-) I mean, it’s already “dry” and sticky, so keeping the brush out of the bottle for awhile wasn’t going to make it much worse. The nice thing was that you only had to deal with it once per nail – one coat was more than sufficient!

See those peaks & valleys?! Oi. :-/

Explosion was much thinner and took 2 or 3 coats for full coverage/opacity. Next time I might try putting it over a neon pink (like Sinful Colors 24/7 or the very creatively named Kleancolor Neon Pink). Now that I look at these again, I believe I did put a coat of China Glaze You Drive Me Coconuts over the thumbnail on my right hand because a) I had just gotten it & b) I wanted to get an idea of what a jelly sandwich might look like, using Shocked & YDMC. Pretty boring, actually. Too much of the same color, methinks!

I'm not even sure if Nailventurous is still making & selling her Floam, but if you're hankering for something with the same colors as the original Floam, I would definitely recommend Salon Perfect Kaboom from the same collection as Explosion. Although it will take more coats, they'll definitely be easier to apply than this hallowed goop! Bring ON the thinner!!! :-D



6 comments:

  1. I JUST got done commenting on another blog that showed the Salon Perfect Polishes. I was commenting about Floam and the fact that I HAD TO GET IT and I haven't even tried it yet. I don't know if I got it just because all nail polish collectors "should" have it. Or if I really do like the polish. My kids like wearing it...so it has gotten some use. I think I like the pink one the best. Glad you are back!

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    1. Hehe!! I DO think it's a fun polish, but as I entitled the post, it seems to be a part of the polish hall of fame, so maybe it's necessary for us addicts? I bet the girls do like it - it's all kinds of fun brightness. :-D And I bet you got a "normal" bottle, so it's not all kinds of gloopy? ;-)
      Thank you, Essie dear! I'm glad to be back!! :-D

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  2. I think your SP swatches look better than Floam. I never really GOT Floam...never understood the hype? I've seen SP swatches that looked really weird, but yours look pretty cool...especially the green and blue one. ;)

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    1. Yeah, it's kinda one of those things that is very hyped up, but it's still a fun polish, and after I thin it, I will enjoy it ever so much more. ;-) I think nostalgia plays a big role in its popularity, because so many of us remember and had fun with the Floam toy. Plus it might've been the 1st polish that used tiny neon matte glitters. Because now I see all sorts of mixes of those tiny matte glitters. Candy Lacquer has quite a few that look pretty nifty.

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  3. Heehee remember our adventures with floam? Love the color combinations here. I have a lot to learn!

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    1. Yes, I definitely do!! Ahhh Floam! :D
      Remember the one polish you were looking at in Wal-Mart and I told you it's microglitter which can be a pain in the butt, but it looks really fun and it's a duplicate to a really well-known polish? Well, Nailventurous Floam is the one I was talking about. So if you like how it looks, go get yourself that Salon Perfect (like the pink 'n blue one). It'll need a lot of topcoat though, if you hate the gritty feel. ;)

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