Tri Polish Challenge: Day 4

The last day of this months Tri Polish Challenge! I didn't have enough time to do something too intricate, so I just did these:

Not the best lighting since it decided to rain :(

I stuck with my plan, and managed to use all three colors for each day!

To achieve this look, I just used the 3 ring binder paper reinforcement stickers. I applied two coats of the base colors, added a fast drying top coat, placed the stickers, and painted one coat on top! I love how these turned out aside from the fact the purple on top of the green looks kind of muddy, but that isn't too much of an issue. I am still trying to master half moons.

A reminder on the colors I used: coral- China Glaze- Mimosa's Before Mani's, green- China Glaze- Def Defying, purple- China Glaze- Gothic Lolita. I am sad to see these colors go :(. I love this challenge because it is a way for you to get good use out of some colors, especially if you hoard polish like I do.

Next months colors are pink, turquoise, and orange. Interesting color choices...I can't wait!

Tri Polish Challenge: Day 3

I am going to keep this short and sweet:

 

!!!

I am going to try to use all three colors (even though you don't have to) for each day. I think it keeps it more interesting.

Here is a shot with all five phalanges!

You can see the three colors I chose for this month HERE.

I forgot to say in my first post that we are allowed to use black and white, and also glitter toppers. So, I took advantage of that rule for today's nails.

The black used on the leopard print is Orly- Liquid Vinyl.

The amazing black and white glitter is Lush Lacquer- Salt n' Peppa. This is the only black and white glitter I own. There are some many out there, and this seems to be the only one that has tiny micro holographic glitters in it! It pretty much has every shape and size of black and white matter glitters in it, too.

Hope you enjoyed :), and be sure to check out everyone else'!

Simple Swatch: Gloss 'N Sparkle

I have been eying this brand for a while, but was always too late to get my hands on some whenever Llarowe restocked. Finally, I was actually looking at the lemmings of mine, and it didn't say they were out of stock! So, I grabbed three, and here is the first of them:

 

Natural Light

 Artificial Light

Gloss 'N Sparkle- Pink Cigarette

The picture Llarowe uses looks much more purple. It is definitely one of those pinky purpley shades, with a lot of blue undertones. I want a solid creme of just the milky base!

The glitters in it are black and white medium sized hexagonals. It gives it the feel of all the "Sprinkle" type polishes that are out. Examples: Illimasqua's Speckle polishes, Deborah Lippmann's Spring 2013 selections, and Nails Inc Sprinkles. Hard Candy has a few to choose from now, too.

But Pink Cigarette has a nice twist with the large red hexagonal glitters in it. I thought I wouldn't like it since I'm not really a fan of red, but I absolutely adore it! I used two coats. It is very easy to apply, but you will have to play around with the glitter a tiny bit.

For all you US folks, you can purchase Gloss 'N Sparkle on Llarowe. For every one else around the world, you can get them at Shop-Eclecticco, Femme Fatale Cosmetics, and Gloss 'N Sparkles' Etsy. They range from $10-$14.

Tri Polish Challenge: Day 2

I totally didn't do Day 1 on Tuesday because my water marble failed. I was happy to see that Smashley Sparkles did an amazing one though, and we are using two of the same colors! So, I went a little simple with day 2, and did something you have already seen from me, but I love doing these!

A quick over view of the challenge: Each month there will be three colors chosen, and you have to stick to the three polishes you chose for those color categories for each day. This month is coral, purple, and green, which are like my favorite colors! The days of the challenges are Tuesday and Thursday of the last two weeks of the month.

Another dotticure gradient

I used all China Glaze, the coral is Mimosa's Before Mani's (Avant Garden Collection), the green is Def Defying (Cirque De Soleil) and the purple is Gothic Lolita (Electropop). I think these colors are all very spring appropraite, and I really like how they look together :)

I can't wait to do the next day! Check out all the others ladies amazing creations.

St. Patrick's Day Nails

I am going to keep this short and sweet:

Shade

Sunlight

I of course had to incorporate green and gold, and I had too many ideas for what green to wear. So I figured, why not try a new technique, and use multiple greens?

The gold on my ring finger is China Glaze- Ultamate Holiday, which was an Ulta exclusive 2 years ago for the holidays, hence the name. But they released a gold exactly the same for last christmas. It is one of those glitters that dries to super glittery texture. It eats up a lot of top cot so I added a generous amount of Gelous, and then one coat of CND Air Dry. That is how I got dat shiiiine.

For the rest of the nails, I started with two coats of OPI- My Boyfriend Scales Walls. Then I used a combination of the saran wrap and water color method. I added random blobs of the colors, and used the saran wrap to spread it around. I didn't add a top coat to the white, so every time I patted the saran wrap on my nail, it would take not only the green polish off, but also the white! So, in order to fix that, I added more color, and dipped a brush into acetone and spread the color around that way. The dark green is China Glaze- Four Leaf Clover, I thought that was an appropriate color choice. The medium green is OPI- Green-Wich Villiage, and the lighter green is Orly- Green Apple.

Hope you enjoyed these! I really like how they turned out :)

Simple Swatch: Magnetics!

Textured polishes are all the rage right now, so I decided to bust out my "off trend" magnetics. I got a few from China Glaze, and one from Nails Inc, and Color Club. The thing I hate about brands and trends, is they always release the same colors! Especially with the magnetics. But China Glaze came out with a second Magnetix collection that had "bright" and fresh shades. This one is my all time favorite:

 

China Glaze- Con-Fused?

Sooo awesome! I love the magnetic effect because it looks like you took a lot of time on some crazy blending, but it is just a simple magnet doing all the work for you! I especially love this shade, I thought it was appropriate for St. Patrick's Day, too.

Formula wise, these polishes are amazing. They are pretty much one coaters, but I used two coats for reassurance, as always. They are a little streaky since they are a frost finish, but once you do the magnetic effect, you don't see any streaks!

You can still find these one various E-tailors such as Trans design, Head2Toe Beauty, and Victoria's Nail Supply. I am sure you can find them on clearance at ULTA or Sally's, too. My ULTA has a ton!

Sorry this isn't very creative. But it is still nice to look at! I might be doing more simple swatches or simple nail art the next couple weeks, strictly due to having no time :(

Sorry or the absence

School is getting pretty serious right now. I am only taking one class and an online class, but my Microbiology class really needs to get more of my attention, rather than nail polish taking all my time.

My online class ends in a little over a week, so that will allow a little more time for nail polish/nail art since I won't need to read nearly as much. But I am starting to get more hours at work for once, and I am volunteering at my vet. One step closer to starting my career! On top of all that, I am doing makeup for an Easter production. Here it is from last year :). So hopefully those wont conflict too much.

I want to get back to posting every other day, if not, every day. But I am joining the Tri Polish Challenge which is going to be a lot of fun! You can get more info on the challenge here. I have been itching to do a water marble, so expect to see one soon, hopefully :)

If you read this, thank you. Hopefully this will be the only time I have to write something like this.

Will this make you feel better?

What a happy family :)

You can tell how old this picture is by how tiny my nail polish collection was! There were like 50 in that container.

I plan on having some pictures of actual nail polish either tomorrow, or saturday!

Polish Days: Vintage

Polly from Polly Polish picked a less traditional theme for this month. I was expecting something green themed or St. Patrick's day, but Vintage is totally opposite!

I thought about using one of my ancient Sally Hansen polishes that I got probably in elementary school. But a fellow follower of mine at Nail Art Novice suggested "vintage wall paper". She sent me a link to Holy Grail Nails' tutorial, and I knew I had to save it to do it for this months Polish Days! Too bad what I did was a total fail!!

 

My pictures are awful too because there was no sunlight this morning, and I still haven't had time to figure out this light box situation!

Please ignore the pinky.

I used all the rest of the polishes I got from the China Glaze Avant Garden Collection. I used the first two HERE. The base color I started out with is China Glaze- Keep Calm, Paint On. I used two coats. It is the perfect sea foam green with subtle shimmer. It is pretty much the same color as Zoya- Neely from their Lovely collection, except it has shimmer.

Then I used a paint brush, turned into a nail art brush to make the stripes using China Glaze- Fancy Pants. The brush I used was way too thick! I think that is why I hate these so much, plus I can't make a straight line to save my life. I definitely need to practice doing stripes more. Either my brush just sucked, or this wasn't the right polish to use for stripes because I ended up needing to go over the lines with a second coat.

After those dried, I used the largest dotting tool I have for the larger dots. My lines were too thick, so that is why the larger dots are all wonky :(. Then I went in with a smaller dotting tool and added the last color, China Glaze- Tart-y For The Party, a simple purple shade.

All in all, this definitely isn't my best work. It looks good from far away, but it is a hot mess close up! I will try to recreate these soon. I love the color combo though!

Make sure to check out the other ladies entries!

Jelly Sandwitch + Glitter Gradient

I am going to keep this post short and sweet, but at least I have something to show you!

This is my first time doing a glitter gradient starting at my cuticles. It is so much harder than a gradient starting at the tip of the nail! Since the main color is a flakie polish, I just had to try it out with a matte top coat!

 

 

 

You can see the flakies better now. Plus when I took my second set of pictures, the sun decided to come out.

I started off with one coat of HITS- Can Can, which I think is long gone now. I got it from Llarowe when it was on sale. The glitter I used for the gradient is Essie- Stroke of Brilliance from their Luxe Effects line, and is fortunately permanent! Lastly I added Essie Matte About You top coat.

Hope you enjoyed this! I have a class that is ending soon, so hopefully that will alloy more time for nail stuff!

Monochromatic Skittles

I have totally been neglecting this :(. I haven't had much time to do my nails, school is taking over my life! But these are making me feel better :)

I've been itching to do a skittles manicure for a while, and this is what I came up with!

Sorry for the dry cuticles...

This is my first attempt at leopard print on my nails, and I really like the outcome! They are so easy. Expect to see more from me! I am also still on a french tip kick.

I started out with two coats of Zoya- Blu, a new polish from their Lovely Collection for Spring 2012. This is one of the two polishes I got from that collection. I love it! It is the palest blue I have, and the formula is amazing. It is my first creme polish from Zoya, and they have yet to disappoint me. I got my first Zoya about a year ago, and they are quickly becoming one of my favorite brands!

I added Lush Lacquer- Splitter Splatter on my index finger. It is one of their matte glitters, with blue micro glitters, medium and large white and blue hexagons, medium black and white squares and black and white bar glitters. The perfect amount of glitter mixed all into one!

Onto the leopard print. The medium blue shade is Sally Hansen- Pacific Blue, a cult favorite, and the most vibrant blue, ever. And the dark blue is one of the Blue Cross Christmas snowmen polishes, which have no names. I used the same shades on my tips.

What do you think? I really love them, except it isn't very balanced. I should have switched what I did with my index and middle finger. Other than that, I think it is a perfect monochromatic manicure!

Matte Flakies Using Cult Nails

Oh my gosh guys, I am in love with these. It is so hard to keep up with all the polishes from these indie brands. I saw Aglayanails use this polish, and immediately checked to see if it was in stock, and snatched it up! I feel this is the closest I will get to Unicorn Puke

 

I used one coat of OPI- OPI Ink, and two coats of Cult Nails- Seduction

Remember when flakies were all the rage in the beginning of 2012? Then magnetics took over.

I have never really liked matte nails, but I loooove matte flakies. I feel it makes the flakies pop a little more. I have been wanting to do glossy french tips with flakies, too, and finally did it!  It was pretty easy to achieve this look as well.

After applying the two coats of Seduction, which applied amazingly, I applied a fast drying top coat (Seche). Then I applied french tip stickers to my tips, and simply added Essie- Matte About You top coat! I absolutely love the way it came out, and I really don't want to take it off!

You can find Seduction HERE, and grab it while you can since it is limited edition. I am happy I finally joined the Cult, and plan on purchasing plenty more in the future! Also, expect to see a lot more matte nails with glossy french tips in the future.