Another No sponge Gradient

I decided to try another one of these after my last post because I still had two China Glaze polishes from the same collection that I have not tried.

I couldn't quite decide what glitter to use on top. It looks really good on the pink, not so much the purple. It is Mod Lacquer- Technicolor Noise. One of my favorite glitters! It is a mixture of pink, green, and blue glitters in various shapes and sizes. Get it on Mod Lacquer's Etsy.

The two bases I started out with were both two coats. The purple is Lime Crime- Lavendairy. Seriously, these are some of the best polishes out there. They are a cool pastel, yet almost neon, and all the ones I have tried are nearly one coaters! I did two here just because. And for once they are in stock on Lime Crime's Website! The pink is Zoya- Kitridge (Zoya Tickled Collection Summer 2014). It is just your standard bubble gum pink shade.

The Jellies I used were both from the China Glaze Sunsational Collection from Summer 2013. The pink is China Glaze- Heat Index, and the purple is China Glaze- Are You Jelly? The pink was really easy to work with, but the purple is fairly opaque, so you can actually see my brush strokes on my index and pinky.

All in all I am happy with these. Have you tried the no sponge gradient technique?

Simple Swatch + No Sponge Gradient

I really haven't got the hang of sponge gradients, so I am just going to stick with the no sponge technique that Rebecca Likes Nails came up with last year. Unfortunately the base I used was a little too dark, so the gradient is not too noticeable...

I started off with 2 coats of China Glaze- For Audrey, a classic. Then I used a little amount of polish to get the gradient effect by using China Glaze- Keepin' It Teal (Sunsational Collection Summer 2013). I did two layers of that.

Then I just applied the glitter, Sephora Formula X- TNT. Seriously phenomenal polish! I used one coat here which was perfect to cover my entire nail! Definitely a must have for any polish addict. 

My Version of Unicorn Pee

A little over a week ago, Chalkboard Nails posted some amazing nails using the coveted Clarins 230, layered over Different Dimension- Dueling Unicorns. I will probably never get my hands on Clarins 230, I just can't see myself wasting that much money on one polish, and would not want a loved one to do that either... But I was fortunate enough to get the "dupe" of it in a swap (I actually have 2), but it really just has the same kind of effect. I was going to layer it over Dueling Unicorns to see how it compared to Clarins 230, but I decided might as well make my own version:

These were very hard to get good photos of!

I started off with two coats of Lilypad Lacquer- True Blood, which is one of my favorite holos. It is a deep deep purple, but also has some red tints to it. Then I layered one coat of Max Factor- Fantasy Fire over that, which is the more available version Clarins 230, but quickly becoming hard to find in the areas that have it.

In the bottle Clarins 230 mainly has a red base, but has that awesome sparkle that shifts to every color in the rainbow. Fantasy Fire is more of a purple base, but has that same shimmer that shifts to every color, that is why it is compared to it so much. The shimmer is extremely hard to capture, so I am going to end this with a blurry shot so you can see the sparkles more, and a side shot of my nails:

Orange Skittle

I have been super into doing skittle nails lately. It comes in handy when you have a lot of untried polishes and just can't decide what to do! Here is what I did:

The awesome glitter is Lush Lacquer/Polish Me Silly- Summer Lovin which is now discontinued. It is a mix of medium white and blue hexagonal glitters, along with some large pink hexagonal glitter, all in a lightly tinted orange base. Since the base is so light, I layered it over two coats of OPI- Where Did Suzi's Mango? (Brazil Collection Spring 2014), which is also one of the colors used in the water marble.

The other two colors used in my water marble are also from the OPI Brazil collection. The yellow is OPI- I Just Can't Cope-Acabana, and the darker orange is OPI- Toucan Do It If You Try.

Lastly, the orange textured polish on my middle finger is Zoya- Beatrix (Pixiedust Collection Summer 2013). I used two coats of that.

4th of July Nails

As promised yesterday, here are my 4th of July nails!

 

Here is what I did last year. This years water marble came out MUCH better.

I used a whole bunch of polishes for this! First, the base I used for every nail is OPI- My Boyfriend Scales Walls (Spiderman Collection 2012). My go to white, not your traditional stark white, but still white enough, and a very good formula.

The glitters:
My index finger is Sally Hansen- Red White & Hue (Color Frenzy Line). I am not too sure if this is limited edition, I just stumbled upon this at Target and had to get it since I don't have a red white and blue polish in a clear base. I know Hard Candy has one too. The formula wasn't the best. I tended to get a lot of the clear base on my brush rather than glitter, so it got a little thick.

My pinky is Polish Me Silly- Razzmatazz (Formally known as Lush Lacquer). This polish is no longer available unfortunately. It is just red and blue medium hex glitters in a clear base.Very easy to work with.

Red and Blue:
Everyone in the nail polish world knows about Sally Hansen- Pacific Blue being changed to an awful formula along with some other loved Xtreme wear polishes. I have heard these polishes are great for water marbling, so I gave it a whirl. I think it came out pretty good. It didn't spread out as easily as the OPI's I used, but it got the job done. It especially got the job done for the stripes on my middle finger since it is so creamy and opaque. I got the striping tape from Nailvinyls, and used various sizes.

The red is a new one to my collection and the nail polish world, which is OPI- Coca-Cola Red (Coca- Cola Collection 2014). This polish is FLAWLESS! I used it on my other hand for the base before applying the Sally Hansen glitter. Super creamy and opaque, and almost a one coater. I think I may have a new favorite red.

I think that covers everything. If you are in the US, have a safe and fun holiday!

KB Shimmer Skittle

I lied on the last post. I am going to post my fourth of July nails tomorrow, on the actually holiday. Here is a skittle I did, which I thought was a good idea at the time, not really feelin it:

I think this would have been much better without the grey on my pinky....

The color on my index and middle finger is KB Shimmer- Make My Grey (Spring Collection 2014). I love this polish! It is a light grey crelly base, packed with large, medium, and small coral, navy, and purple hexagonal glitters, and some random purple squares in there. I will never get tired of grey polishes.

The color on my pinky is KB Shimmer- When The Doves Sigh (Spring Collection 2014). This is such a fun mix of glitters, but just didn't go with these other polishes like I thought it would. It is a dark grey base, almost a one coater, with too many glitters to describe.... It is just a variety of purple, pink, and blue glitters in various shapes and sizes, and a light sprinkle of small holographic glitters.

Lastly, the textured polish is Zoya- Nyx. It is a dusty blue shade, but kind of has a little grey in it too, which is why I paired it with these polishes. I used two coats for all the polishes.

KB Shimmer Textured Halfmoons

Yes, more textured halfmoons, but I just can't help myself when I see a perfect color combo, especially if it is the same brand! Here it is:

Ain't it pretty?

I started off with two coats of the base colors, and added a fast drying top coat before applying the stickers for the half moon shape. The purple is KB Shimmer- Pansy-Monium, and the green is KB Shimmer- Honey Dew List. Both are from their Spring 2014 Collection. I love that indies are pushing out normal creme polishes now because you know they try to make them high quality, and they definitely are. Super creamy and easy to work with.

The Colors I used for the half moons are from their Early Summer 2014 Collection. The green is KB Shimmer- Partners in Lime and the purple is KB Shimmer- Too Pop to Handle. Gorgeous shades. I didn't try taking these off without foil, so I am not sure if they are easy to take off like the OPI Liquid Sands and Zoya Pixiedust. I am assuming you still need foil since they have the super chunky glitters like the new Zoya Magical Pixiedusts, which do require the foil removal method!

Up next will be my Fourth of July nails!

My First Attempt At Chevrons

Nail vinyls are all the rage right now, and I finally convinced myself to get some since I will have time to use them this summer! I got mine from NailVinyls who carry a nice variety, including simple stripe tape which I loved the idea of since regular rolls of striping tape are such a hassle to deal with! Anyways, here is what I did:

I of course chose your non traditional polish to paint over the tape...

First I applied 2 coats of the base colors, which are actually holos, but are not showing up super holo as they are :(. The dark periwinkle is Cirque- Sky Woman (Heritage Collection Summer 2014). Amazing, that is all I have to say! And the lighter periwinkle is Enchanted Polish- April 2014.

I started applying the nail vinyls in the middle of my nail so they would be pretty symmetrical, and I think that worked out well. Then I applied a fairly thick coat of KB Shimmer- She Twerks Out (Early Summer Collection 2014). An amazing textured polish, but isn't showing up really textured here.