Thursday, March 27, 2014

6:00 AM

Twin Blog Post: Tiger Print



     Hi everyone, I'm back from my short break with a special post for you today. It's time for the monthly twin blog post challenge. This time around is a little different. Since we have an odd number of members in the Facebook group I was teamed up with not one but two fabulous bloggers. I guess you could call this a triplet blog post.

     This months theme is Animal Print. Hannah from The Dalai Lamas Nails, Tina from  Light of the Moon Nails and I were given Tiger Print. We all decided to go a non-traditional route as far as colors go and to not do exact matches of each other. I can't wait to see what they came up with!

     It took me a bit to decide on my final concept for this manicure. The ideas that kept popping into my head were far beyond my meager nail art skills. I also wasn't sure if I wanted to do something really bright or keep it on the subtle side. I opted to land somewhere in between but leaning more towards the subtle.

Tiger-Stripe-Nail-Art-Non-Traditional

     I used Cult Nails Faded for my base color. This is by far my favorite grey polish. My original idea was to go with only the silver stripes and have a blinged out tiger but I worried that it wouldn't photograph well. I was hoping for a lighter hand with the blue to have it look like a shadow under the silver but as you can see that didn't work out as planned. I do like how this turned out though.


     Would you have guessed it was Tiger Print if I hadn't told you? After doing this manicure I've got the itch to try it with traditional colors too. I might have to make a post about that in the near future. Now, how about we take a look at with the other ladies have come up with for this month.




Monday, March 17, 2014

9:27 PM

The Get Lucky Nail Art Challenge: Day 4 Freestyle



     Happy St. Patricks Day! It's the last day of the Get Lucky Nail Art Challenge and today's theme is Freestyle. I decided to go with something very simple given since I've had such a busy week.


     For this mani I used 1 coat of Cult Nails Hypnotize Me over 1 coat of Carpe Noctem Green Goddess. The accent nail is Maybelline Bold Gold stamped with Sinful colors Last Chance and Bundle Monster Plate Bm03

     Thanks for sticking with me through this rushed challenge. I hope you enjoyed the manicures. Now let's see what everyone else came up with for today.


   



Sunday, March 16, 2014

6:11 PM

The Get Lucky Nail Art Challenge: Day 3 Shamrocks, Pot of Gold, Rainbows, or Leprechauns



     It's day 3 of the Get Lucky Nail Art Challenge and today's theme is Shamrocks, Pot of Gold, Rainbows or Leprechauns. I have to admit that this last week has been extremely busy for me and I've had some pretty poor time management skills going on, but I wanted to complete every day of this challenge. This post is being thrown together faster than any post I've done before so please bear with me.

     For my manicure today I really wanted to play around with negative space, so I skipped the base color and freehanded each design on my nails. I decided to go with a different design on each nail.


     I actually really like how my little pot of gold turned out. I think it's the best nail in this manicure. Please forgive my poor painful looking cuticles, work has been particularly rough on them and no amount of lotion or cuticle oil seems to help. Hopefully, I can get them back into shape over the next week. And I promise to be back with a much better post tomorrow.

     Now let see what everyone else came up with for today's theme.



Saturday, March 15, 2014

7:00 AM

The Get Lucky Nail Art Challenge: Day 2. Ireland Inspired



      It's day 2 of the Get Lucky Nail Art Challenge and today's theme is Ireland Inspired. I have to be completely honest and tell you that I had no idea what I really wanted to do with the manicure. Even as I sat down to do it I had no plan in mind. I knew that I wanted to include the Irish Flag and the Claddagh symbol but that was it. So I got a few supplies together and just kind of let things happen.


     My pointer finger sort of happened by accident. I had my white base and started to freehand some clovers on it. They weren't turning out very well so I dipped my clean up brush in acetone and tried to remove the clovers without removing the white. Instead of removing the clovers it sorts of smeared the green around giving me an acid-washed look and I thought it was pretty cool. I decided to use it as a backdrop for my Celtic knotted clover image from Bundle Monster plate BM-403.

     The ring finger is a nod to the Irish flag without being an exact replica. I wanted to do something a little different but still have the same feel. I freehanded the stripes using my striping polishes. I'm not thrilled with how it came out but I guess this is what happens when you have absolutely no plan in mind.

     For my pinky, I decided to stamp the image of the Claddagh from Bundle Monster plate BM-418. I actually had a Claddagh ring when I was growing up and loved it. Even though I wore it the wrong way. The saying goes if you're heart is taken the tip of the heart should be pointing towards you and if you're single the tip should be facing away to invite love in.

     The middle finger I had no ideas what so ever to do and ended up using the same clover image as the pointed finger placing the image head to tail to look like an intricate Celtic knot pattern.

     Hopefully, for tomorrows challenge I can find a little more inspiration and have a manicure that I'm pleased with. Now let's check out what the others have come up with.
  

Friday, March 14, 2014

6:00 AM

The Get Lucky Nail Art Challenge: Day 1 Shades of Green




     It's time for another nail are challenge hosted by Jessica of Be Happy and Buy Polish. Just in time for St. Patrick's Day, this is another one of those laid back challenges where you can hop in and out as your schedule permits. Once again I am hoping to participate on each day. If you'd like to join in on the fun but want to know more about it just check out the facebook group. 

     To be honest I had no idea what I wanted to do for the first day. I had so many partial ideas floating around in my head, but not one of them seemed to spark any excitement in me. Then while browsing Pinterest I came across an image and I knew that was going to be my inspiration.  The design was simple so I knew I could pull it off, yet it made an impact on me. I don't know about you but I love it when a manicure has those qualities.

    I started out with a coat of Finger Paints Paper Mache and then did a gradient with Paper Mache and Sinful Colors Exotic Green. I really liked how this turned out and was tempted to stop there, but I knew that I wanted more. After all aren't challenges supposed to take you a little out of your comfort zone and push you to do designs you wouldn't normally do?

Lustrous-Lacquer-Green-white-gradient

     After my gradient was dry I applied painters tape diagonally on my nails and used 2 coats of Sinful Colors Last Chance. I wasn't thrilled with the results. Last Chance was too dark compared with the rest of the manicure. So I freehanded 2 coats of Exotic Green over Last Chance and that seemed to pull it all together.

Lustrous-Lacquer-Green-white-manicure

     Please ignore my pinkie nail as I smudged it right before taking the picture and didn't have time to do that nail over again. All in all, I'm pleased with how this turned out. Now let's see what the other participants came up with for the first day of this challenge.




Wednesday, March 12, 2014

6:00 AM

Darling Diva Polish - Ringer Goes Blonde (LE)


      Today I have for you a possible LE polish from Darling Diva Polish called Ringer Goes Blonde. I'm not sure how many of you follow Darling Diva on Facebook but if you do, you'll know that this polish was created by Mr. Darling Diva Polish and sold while the Mrs. was away for the weekend. When I first saw this posted online I knew I wanted to have it solely based on that fact and ordered one right away. As of this posting, this polish is still available for purchase.

     Ringer Goes Blonde is not your typical shimmery top coat. Sure at first glance you might think that looking at the bottle you will see hints of red and green. But that's where the "typical" part stops. It's my opinion that RGB is a shimmer top coat on steroids.

Darling-Diva-Ringer-Goes-Blonde-Lustrous-Lacquer
2 coats without topcoat
   
     I decided to start by swatching RGB on its own and was pleased with the results. I knew I wasn't going to get full opacity with this but what I did get was better. The fiery orange translucent shimmer reminded me of the flickering embers of a fire. I instantly thought of being at the cabin on a warm summer night. Listening to the waves wash up on the beach and watching the fireflies float around as the bonfire slowly dies out.


Darling-Diva-Ringer-Goes-Blonde-Lustrous-Lacquer
2 coats without topcoat
     I knew there was more to this polish than just the fiery orange shimmer. Where was the green that I could see in the bottle? That's when I decided to swatch RGB over black to see it's full potential. I used one coat of Finger Paints Black Expressionism as my base. (The ultimate black polish by the way. You can find my post on it here.)

Darling-Diva-Ringer-Goes-Blonde-Lustrous-Lacquer
2 coats over Black Expressionism

    
     See what I mean by a shimmer top coat on steroids! The intensity of the color shift just blew me away. Now instead of being reminded of flickering embers, I'm reminded of a stunning opal. In the bottle, I was only able to see red and green shimmer but on the nail, you get so much more! As I shifted my hand around the colors almost appear to glow off my nails. I didn't want to take this off. In fact, I left it one for a full hour during my swatching fest because I liked it so much.
 
Darling-Diva-Ringer-Goes-Blonde-Lustrous-Lacquer
2 coats over Black Expressionism

      I only own one other shimmer top coat and I have yet to use it, but I feel like I may be disappointed with it after this. I do see a comparison post in the future though so be on the lookout for that. What do you think of Ringer Goes Blonde? Have you come across a top coat that was this intense before? How do you feel about how this polish came to be created, do you like to hear about the Mr.'s behind the scenes getting involved? Thanks for stopping by and checking out my post. Happy Polishing!

Monday, March 10, 2014

6:00 AM

What's in a finish? - Sheer



     Today I'd like to take a look at the sheer finish for nail polish. What used to be reserved only for french manicures has quickly been adopted into the world of nail art. In fact, OPI currently has a new collection coming out consisting of only sheer polishes. But what is a sheer finish?

     A sheer finish nail polish has a half transparent finish to it. In other words, you will still have a very visible nail line even after 2 coats. As shown below with China Glaze Heaven.


China Glaze Heaven
   
Sally Hansen Whisper
     Usually, you would find sheer polishes in neutral or soft pink shades, but many companies have expanded into other colors as well.

Loreal Tweet Me
     We are also starting to see some shimmer or sparkle added to the sheer finish as shown in Loreal's Tweet Me. In my opinion, I think this year the sheer finish will be making a come back, and will no longer be reserved for the typical French Manicure.

     How do you feel about a sheer finish nail polish? Do you have any favorites? Thanks for stopping by and Happy Polishing!

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

6:00 AM

Cult Nails - Angel Whispers


     Today I have the sparkly magical goodness that is Cult Nails Angel Whispers to share with you. Angel Whispers is a soft, pastel pink with micro shimmer from the Passionate Dreams Collection.

Cult-Nails-Angel-Whispers-Passionate-Dreams-Collection-Lustrous-Lacquer


     I was pleasantly surprised at how well this covered. I was expecting a sheer polish that would take at least 3 coats if not more for good coverage. The polish was thicker than I'm used to working with and I only needed 2 coats for this manicure to reach full opacity. The thickness may be a result of the extremely cold temperatures during shipping that many of us are dealing with this winter. It wasn't so thick that the polish was unusable or difficult to work with, however. And I did let it warm up for 3 days before using it.

Cult-Nails-Angel-Whispers-Passionate-Dreams-Collection-Lustrous-Lacquer

      The texture when dry reminded me of a mild Zoya Pixie Dust. With a layer of topcoat, Angel Whispers was transformed to a feeling of softness that reminded me of a lush baby blanket that I brought my daughter home in. I don't know about you but I love when a polish reminds me of an event in my life or sparks an emotion.

Cult-Nails-Angel-Whispers-Macro-shot-Passionate-Dreams-Collections-Lustrous-Lacquer

     I really love how this macro shot turned out. I think it highlights how delicate Angel Whispers is and how perfectly it is named. It also reminds me a little of cotton candy. Anyone else craving something sweet now?

     If you'd like to pick up your own bottle of Angel Whispers they are available at Cult Nails. And while you're there check out the new rewards/referral program that started this week along with their $3 sale polishes. Happy Polishing Everyone!

Monday, March 3, 2014

6:00 AM

What's in a finish? - Iridescent



     Today's what's in a finish post is about iridescent finishes. This one is a little harder for me to put together for you as the descriptions I've found are pretty short and sweet. An iridescent polish is often mistaken for being a duochrome or shimmer polish. The main difference is that they have less obvious flashes of color than a duochrome.

   

Comparison picture of Zoya Adina and Wet n Wild Grey's Anatomy
     Please excuse the picture. It was one of the very first ones that I ever posted. Long before I knew how important good clean up was and was still having an issue with getting a nice nail shape. I recently realized that I own very few iridescent polishes and haven't used most of them.

     I'm still not sure if I could pick out an iridescent polish in a line up of shimmers and duochromes even with all the research I've done. If anyone has a trick or tip they'd like to share please do. And I hope I haven't confused all of you with this post. I myself thought that most iridescent polishes were on the sheer side but have found that not to be the case.

     I hope you have enjoyed this post. Id love to hear your thoughts on this finish of nail polish. Happy Polishing!

Sunday, March 2, 2014

8:26 PM

3K Giveaway Winners

     Hi there. I just wanted to take a quick moment to let you know who won my giveaway. E-mails have already been sent out. Now I'm just waiting on responses.

Prize Pack 1: The Krafty Gurl Trio - Megan R
Prize Pack 2: The Shirley Ann trio - Marcia B
Prize pack 3: Avon Polish Trio - Shandra F
Prize Pace 4: The LynBDesigns Trio - Jaclyn S


     Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to check out my face book page and liked it. Having interactive fans and someone to share my nail polish journey with is a rewarding experience. I hope you all continue on this journey with me.

Happy Polishing!

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