Messy Puzzle

Hi dear readers !

I'm back from Barcelona, I had such a great weekend ! The Cosmobelleza fair was really fun and interesting,   I took some pics and I'll prepare a post for this week :)
I brought back some very pretty polishes, decorations, tools, etc ... Now I have to swatch them (but I don't have enough swatchicles haha), and find them some space in my Helmers :)

For today's mani, I played with colors in a messy way. I wanted a colorful base for a black stamping, so I used the usual sponge technique but I applied the colors in a completely random way, as I saw on Mema's Mani's blog a while ago.

I sponged directly on the nails (protected by a base coat as I always do), I didn't use any color base. I did spots of colors randomly on my sponge and tapped it, that's all :) The colors faded together in a messy gradient :)

I used Flormar 429, Flormar N013 and China Glaze Spontaneous for this. After I did two coats of sponging, I stamped the jigsaw with Bundle Monster plate BM319 using black Konad polish.

I even took a pic of the sponge after I did the manicure so you get an idea of how random it was :)

I hope you enjoyed this manicure :) 

Have a nice day !

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Hello !

Je suis de retour de Barcelone, j'ai passé un excellent weekend ! Le salon Cosmobelleza était vraiment chouette, très intéressant. J'ai pris des photos bien sûr, je vous prépare un billet pour cette semaine :)
J'ai ramené quelques jolis vernis, des décos, des accessoires ... Il me reste à swatcher les vernis (mais je n'ai plus de swatchicles, argh!) et leur trouver de la place dans mes Helmers :)

Pour la manucure d'aujourd'hui, j'ai voulu jouer avec des couleurs mises un peu n'importe comment. Je voulais une base très colorée sous un stamping noir, j'ai donc utilisé la technique classique à l'éponge sauf que j'ai mis les couleurs dessus en gouttes aléatoires, comme j'avais vu sur le blog de Mema's Mani's il y a quelques mois.

J'ai appliqué directement les couleurs sur l'ongle "nu" (avec une base tout de même, je ne zappe jamais cette étape),  sans utiliser de couleur de base. Ca a donné ce petit air délavé aux couleurs, qui se sont bien mélangées pour un résultat quelque peu désordonné :)

J'ai utilisé les vernis Flormar 429, N013 et le China Flaze Spontaneous. Après avoir fait deux "couches" de sponging, j'ai ajouté un motif puzzle avec la plaque Bundle Monster BM319 et un vernis Konad noir.

J'ai même pris une photo de l'éponge après, pour que vous vous fassiez une idée de la façon dont j'ai mis les couleurs :)

J'espère que vous aimez ! 

Bonne journée :)

Duochrome Gradient

Hi dear readers !

I'm so sorry I didn't post last monday, but I've been busy with Christmas preparations ... So that's a bit late, but I wish you all a merry Christmas !

I did this manicure last week and was totally in love with the gradient !
I used two duochromes for this, China Glaze No Plain Jane for the base and Catrice Genius in the Bottle for the second color.
I love how they married together ! The color swifts made me crazy :p

Unfortunately, it was really hard to capture and you'll mostly see two colors on the pics :( I took many pics for this, trying weird hand poses to capture the different reflects but it didn't really work. Trust me, it was really fascinating in real life :)

So as I said above, I used China Glaze No Plain Jane for the base, then applied strips of No Plain Jane and Catrice Genius in the Bottle on a sponge and sponged my nails.
I added some stamping with Bundle Monster plate BM20 and black Konad polish. I really like this pattern :)

What I dislike about most duochromes is they are really thin and the manicure looks work even when it's fresh. That's why I usually don't wear them. To avoid that here, when my gradient was totally dry, I added Genius in the Bottle alone on the tips with the sponge. It looked way better like that :)

Do you like it ?

Have a nice day :)

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Hello !


Je suis vraiment désolée de n'avoir rien posté lundi, mais j'ai été pas mal occupée avec les préparatifs du réveillon ... C'est donc avec un peu de retard que je vous souhaite un très joyeux Noel !

J'ai fait cette manucure la semaine passée et j'ai adoré le dégradé !
J'ai utilisé deux duochromes, China Glaze No Plain Jane et Catrice Genius in the Bottle.
J'adore comment les deux se sont assortis ! Les reflets duochromes me rendaient folle :p

Malheureusement, ces reflets étaient très difficiles à capturer en photo et vous verrez principalement deux couleurs :( J'ai pris des tonnes de photos pourtant, avec des poses bizarres pour essayer de capter tous les effets, mais ça n'a pas vraiment marché. Croyez moi, en vrai c'était plutôt fascinant :)

Donc comme dit plus haut, j'ai utilisé China Glaze No Plain Jane en base, puis j'ai appliqué des bandes de ce vernis ainsi que de Catrice Genius in the Bottle sur une éponge et j'ai fait mon gradient.
J'ai ajouté un peu de stamping avec la plaque Bundle Monster BM20 et du vernis Konad noir.

Ce que je n'aime pas avec les duochromes, c'est leur texture très fine qui fait que même toute fraîche, la manucure a l'air un peu usée. C'est ^pour ça que j'évite ce genre de vernis en général.
Pour éviter celà, une fois le dégradé bien sec, j'ai remis un peu de Genius in the Bottle sur les bords libres à l'éponge. Ca avait tout de suite meilleure allure :)

Qu'en pensez-vous ?

Bonne journée :)

Purple & Holo Gradient

Hi dear readers !

Here's a quick post with a beautiful gradient I did some days ago.
I hope you'll like it as much as I did :)

I used A England Princess Tears as the base, applied some of it and some of China Glaze Urban Night on a make up sponge and dabbed in on my nails. The purple wasn't strong enough so I waited for the nails to dry then sponged again :)

I especially love how the holo particles from Princess Tears seem to mix with Urban Night (which is a creme, if you don't know this polish) in this gradient. It almost looks like I used a third color in my manicure :)

I planned to stamp on this one, but changed my mind when I saw the final result. It doesn't need a stamping :)
I was inspired by this mani from The Nailasaurus :)

Do you like it ?

Have a nice day ^^

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Hello !

Petit billet rapide avec une manucure réalisée il y a quelques jours :)
J'espère que vous l'apprécierez autant que moi ...

J'ai appliqué A England Princess Tears en base, j'en ai mis un peu sur une éponge ainsi que du China Glaze Urban Night et j'ai réalisé le dégradé à l'éponge ... Le mauve n'étais pas assez présent à mon goût donc j'ai attendu que tout soit bien sec et j'ai recommencé à tamponner mon éponge :)

J'aime beaucoup la façon dont les particules holo de Princess Tears se mélangent à Urban Night (qui est un crème si vous le ne connaissez pas). On dirait presque que j'ai utilisé un troisième vernis pour cette manucure !

J'avais pensé à stamper par après, mais au vu du résultat du dégradé j'ai changé d'avis. pas besoin d'un stamping :)
Mon inspiration vient d'une manucure de The Nailasaurus :)

Vous aimez ?

Bonne journée :)

Grey Gradient

Hi dear readers !

Last week, I wanted to make some gradient nails with a stamping, but I didn't know which color to work with. I did so many purple, pink and blue manicures lately, I didn't know what to chose ... Then I though "hey, you never work with grey. Why not give it a try ?"
And so came this manicure ...

I stamped it later, but I love the gradient on it's own, so I'll show you the stamping later this week :)

I started by painting my nails with China Glaze Recycle, then I applied three polishes on a make up sponge and created the gradient.
The polishes I used, from darker to lighter: China Glaze Recycle, Models Own Grey Day, China Glaze Snow.

I loved the result, grey isn't such a sad color :)
I also admit that I really love a lot the gradients with the lightest color on the tips ! I already used this method with other colors and always liked the result.

What do you think ? Do you like this one ? :)

Have a nice day :)

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Hello !


La semaine passée, j'ai eu une grosse envie de gradient nails avec un stamping par dessus, mais je ne savais pas avec quelle couleur travailler. J'ai déjà fait beaucoup de gradient en bleu, rose, mauve dernièrement, je ne savais pas quoi choisir ... Et là je me suis dit: "tu ne travailles jamais avec du gris. Pourquoi ne pas essayer ?"
Et voilà comment est née cette manucure ...

Plus tard j'ai aouté le stamping, mais j'aimais déjà le résultat du gradient tout seul, donc je vous montrerai le reste plus tard cette semaine :)

J'ai commencé par poser deux couches de China Glaze Recycle, puis j'ai mis 3 vernis sur une éponge à maquillage et j'ai créé le dégradé.
Les vernis utilisés, du plus foncé au plus clair, sont China Glaze Recycle, Models Own Grey Day et China Glaze Snow.

J'ai adoré le résultat, le gris n'est pas si triste comme couleur au final :)
Je dois dire aussi que j'aime beaucoup les dégradés où la couleur la plus claire est sur les bords libres ! J'ai déjà utilisé cette méthode dans d'autre dégradés et j'aime le résultat.

Qu'en pensez-vous ? Vous aimez ?

Bonne journée :)

Butterfly Nails

Hi dear readers !

While I was in Spain last month, I saw on Facebook that the Nailz Craze stamping plates were available to order ! I didn't hesitate one minute and order both of them.
Nailz Craze two first plates have a fantasy/fairy theme, you can find stars, rainbows, unicorns, clouds, ... on them.
The pattern I wanted the most was the butterfly wings ! So when I got my plates, I couldn't wait to try them :)

I started with a yellow/green sponge gradient for the base. I used 3 colors for this:
Catrice - Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy
Yes Love - 116
Essence - Wonderland Green Card
I stamped the wings with black special Konad polish and made the white dots with China Glaze Snow and a dotting tool. Finally I put one coat of Seche Vite and sadly it smudged the black design a bit :( I should have wait a bit longer for my stamping to dry :)

Nailz Craze plates can be found here and they cost 7$ each (+3$ shipping). Trust me, they are worth it ! The designs are great, well engraved, and they are big enough to cover bigger nail beds and/or thumbs. The plates themselves are bigger than a classic Konad or Bundle Monster (they don't fit in my plate holder haha)

Do you like it ? :)

Have a nice day :)

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Hello !

Pendant mes vacances en Espagne le mois passé, j'ai vu une annonce sur Facebook comme quoi les plaques de stamping Nailz Craze étaient disponibles. Je n'ai pas hésité une seconde pour commander les deux !
Les deux plaques Nailz Craze tournent autour du thème de la fantaisie, du féérique, et on y retrouve des étoiles, des licornes, des arcs-en-ciel, des nuages, ...
Le dessin que j'attendais le plus, c'était les ailes de papillon ! Dès que j'ai reçu mes plaques, j'ai donc essayé ce motif ...


J'ai commencé par un dégradé à l'éponge jaune/vert en base. J'ai utilisé les couleurs suivantes:
Catrice - Easy Peasy, Lemon Squeezy
Yes Love - 116
Essence - Wonderland Green Card
Ensuite j'ai stampé les ailes avec du vernis noir Konad et ajouté les petits points au dotting tool, avec China Glaze Snow. Pour terminer, j'ai posé une couche de Seche Vite mais il a fait un peu baver mess motifs noirs :( J'aurais du attendre un peu plus longtemps que ça sèche.

Vous trouverez les plaques Nailz Craze ici au prix de 7$ chacune (+3$ pour les frais de port) Croyez moi, elles en valent la peine ! Les motifs sont superbes, bien gravés, et sont assez grands pour couvrir les ongles plus larges et/ou les pouces ! Les plaques en elles-mêmes sont plus grandes que les Konad ou Bundle Monster classiques (en fait elles ne rentrent même pas dans mon porte-plaques xD)

Vous aimez ? :)

Bonne journée !

Galaxy Nails

Hi dear readers !

I have something that was new for me to show you: Galaxy Nails ! I still wonder why it took me so long to make this nail art, it's so beautiful AND easy !

There are plenty of tutorials on the web for this, but I followed the one made by La Manucurieuse some weeks ago. It's in french but the images are enough to understand. Galaxy Nails consist of sponging multiple colors and glitters on a dark base. You don't have to try to be precise, the more random your sponging is, the more the result will be pretty :)

Here are mine !

Here are the colors I used, in the order I stamped them:

Essence Black Out for the base
China Glaze Snow
Eyeko Indigo Polish
China Glaze Shower Together
Essence Gabriella
OPI Last Friday Night
China Glaze Wireless
CND Sapphire Sparkle

In the end I added some "stars" with a dotting tool and China Glaze Snow.

Do you like it ? Have you tried Galaxy Nails yourself ?
I loved this nail art and i'd like to re-do them with pastel colors :)

Have a nice day :)

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Hello les filles !

Aujourd'hui, je vous montre quelque chose qui était nouveau pour moi, les Galaxy Nails ! Je me demande vraiment pourquoi j'ai mis aussi longtemps pour me décider à essayer cette technique ... C'est beau ET facile !

Il y a pas mal de tutos partout sur le net pour les faire, moi j'ai suivi un des plus récents que j'aie vus, celui de   La Manucurieuse. En résumé, les Galaxy Nails consistent à appliquer plusieurs couleurs et paillettes à l'éponge, par dessus une base foncée. Pas besoin d'être précis, plus votre sponging sera fait "au hasard", mieux sera le résultat :)


Voici les couleurs que j'ai utilisées, dans l'ordre:

Essence Black Out pour la base
China Glaze Snow
Eyeko Indigo Polish
China Glaze Shower Together
Essence Gabriella
OPI Last Friday Night
China Glaze Wireless
CND Sapphire Sparkle

A la fin, j'ai ajouté les "étoiles" avec un dotting tool et China Glaze Snow

Qu'en pensez-vous ? Vous avez déjà essayé les Galaxy Nails ?
Moi j'ai adoré, et j'aimerais les retenter avec des teintes pastels :)

Bonne journée ^^

MSMD: A England Holographic Gradient

Hi dear readers !

For today's manicure, I totally copied something the Swatchaholic did a few months ago ! So this is going to be a Monkey See, Monkey Do monday ;)

Here's the original manicure: http://the-swatchaholic.com/?p=5804
I used the same polishes as she did, except I sponged them from top to bottom instead of from left to right as hers.
Here's my version of this manicure:

The gradient is made with A England Tristam and Saint George, the stamping is made with A England Princess Sabra and plate BM215.
Only A England holo wonders for this beautiful mani ! I loved it a lot, but I couldn't say if Tristam was blue or purple, with the gradient and stamping combo it looked like color changing all the time :) (well I know it's blue, but it was disappointing in this manicure :) )

What about you, do you like it ?

Have a nice day :)

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Hello les filles !


Pour la manucure d'aujourd'hui, j'ai totalement copié ce que the Swatchaholic a fait il y a quelques mois ! C'est donc un lundi Monkey See, Monkey Do aujourd'hui :)

Voici le nail art original: http://the-swatchaholic.com/?p=5804
J'ai utilisé les mêmes vernis, la seule différence étant que j'ai fait le gradient de haut en bas plutôt que de gauche à droite.
Voilà ma version de cette manucure !

Le gradient est fait avec Saint George et Tristam de A England, et le stamping avec Princess Sabra et la plaque BM215.
Que de merveilleux A England holos pour cette jolie manucure ! J'ai beaucoup aimé la porter, mais je n'ai pas pu dire si Tristam était bleu ou mauve, avec les reflets du gradient et du stamping, il semblait changer de couleur tout le temps ! (bon je sais qu'il est bleu, mais là c'était déroutant à voir lol)

Vous en pensez quoi ?

Bonne journée :)

Nude & Stamping

Hi dear readers !

Today's manicure is one I didn't like that much ... Not that I hate it, but it's not the kind of stuff I usually paint on my nails !
I used Catrice Karl Says Très Chic for the base and I must say I'm really not used to wear nude or neutral colors like that one.
I also think the glitters I sponged are a bit too much, I should have left the manicure with the stamping only !

Let's see what I did:

I started with two coats of Catrice Karl Says Très Chic for the base, then stamped with China Glaze Millenium and Konad plate m73, and finally sponged some China Glaze Tinsel on the tips. I should have skipped that last step, I think it would have been better without the glitters !

What do you think ?

Have a nice day :)

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Hello :)


Aujourd'hui je vous montre une manucure que je n'ai pas trop aimée ... Pas que je l'ai détestée ou trouvée vraiment moche, mais ce n'est pas trop le genre de couleur que je porte d'habitude !
J'ai utilisé Catrice Karl Says Très Chic en base et je dois dire que je ne suis pas habituée à porter ce genre de couleur nude/très neutre.
Je pense aussi que les paillettes que j'ai ajoutées à l'éponge sont de trop, j'aurais du en rester au stamping uniquement !

Voyons le résultat ...
J'ai commencé avec deux couches de Catrice Karl Says Très Chic en base, puis j'ai stampé avec Millenium de China Glaze et la plaque Konad m73, et finalement j'ai mis un peu de China Glaze Tinsel sur les bords avec une éponge. J'aurais vraiment du sauter cette dernière étape, les paillettes sont définitivement de trop à mon goût.

Vous en pensez quoi ?

Bonne journée :)

Summer Gradient & Hibiscus

Hi dear readers !

I'm a bad blogger, I forgot to post yesterday ! Being off work doesn't help, it seems I tend to forget which day it is haha :p

Anyway, I have a mani that I loved a lot for you today!
Besides yellow, there are colors I don't use a lot (at all?) on my nails, I'm not a big fan of anything orange-y. That includes peach, corals and all those kind of colors. But I love gradients with orange and bright pink, so I decided it was time to use the only peach I have in my stash, Salmon & Garfunkel by Catrice !

I used it as the base of my sponge gradient, along with Flormar N003 and OPI Koala Bear-y. Then I stamped white hibiscus flowers with Konad special polish and Bundle Monster plate BM318.
Oooh, I loved the result a lot ! It's one my fave manicures ever !

I made this manicure 4 days ago and I still have on my nails, which is rare for me, but I love it so much :)

I wanted to show you the gradient on it's own, here it is:

It's a bit more bright in real life but my camera didn't want to pick the real colors.

What do you think ? Do you like bright pink mixed with orange or peach shades ? :)

Have a nice day :)

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Hello les filles :)

Je suis une mauvaise bloggeuse, j'ai oublié de poster mon billet du vendredi hier ! Le fait de ne pas travailler pour le moment n'aide pas, j'ai tendance à oublier quel jour on est lol :p

Pour me rattraper, j'ai une manucure que j'ai adorée à vous montrer aujourd'hui.
S'il y a des couleurs que je ne porte quasi jamais en dehors du jaune, ce sont bien les teintes orangées, corail, pêche, bref tout ce qui contient de l'orange en général. Je n'en suis pas vraiment fan.
Par contre j'adore les dégradés avec de l'orange et du rose vif, donc je me suis décidée à utiliser mon Salmon & Garfunkel de Catrice, le seul vernis pêche que je possède !

Je l'ai utilisé en base de mon dégradé à l'éponge, aux côtés du Flormar N003 et de l'OPI Koala Bear-y. Ensuite j'ai tamponné des hibiscus blancs avec un vernis Konad et la plaque BM318 de Bundle Monster.
J'ai A-DO-RÉ le résultat !


J'ai fait cette manucure il y a 4 jours et je la porte encore en ce moment, ce qui est rare pour moi, mais je l'aime vraiment beaucoup :)

Je voulais aussi vous montrer le dégradé tout seul.

L'ensemble est un peu plus lumineux, vif, en vrai mais mon appareil photo a fait des siennes.

Vous en pensez quoi ? Vous aimez les mélanges de rose et de tons orangés ?

Bonne journée :)

Review: Born Pretty Store Water Decals

Hi dear readers !

I hope you're fine ! My week is going to be very calm and I'll have more free time to read your blogs and prepare stuff for my own as I took one week off work to rest :) I'm not going anywhere, I'll just stay at home and enjoy that week with my bf and the kitties! The real holiday will be in august ;)

On to today's post ! Again, Kevin from Born Pretty Store asked me if I'd like to review some thing from their great shop. This time I chose to review water decals, as it's a something I like a lot (but use to rarely imo haha)
They have a large choice of water decals, from flowers and lace to cute characters like Hello Kitty, Snoopy ... Everyone should find something they like.

I got the Flowers and Butterflies patterns, I've always loved that sweet and cute style. I got a sheet of no less than 133 decals, which makes a lot for the price: 2.99$, free shipping.
There are silver butterflies in different styles, flowers and very pretty arabesques. Here's a view of the whole thing:

Water decals are very easy to use. There are instructions on the back of the pack, but I think they have been translated from Chinese with something like Google Translator, and some sentences are funny or have no sense.
If you never used water decals before, here are the instructions:

- Paint your nails with the desired color and let dry
- Cut the desired pattern from the water decals sheet and soak it into room temperature water for 20 seconds
- Remove carefully the water decal from the paper with tweezers and place it on the nail. As long as it is wet, you'll be able to move the decal until you find the look that you want
- Tap a paper towel gently on the nail until it's fully dry. At this moment, the decal will be stuck on the nail and won't move anymore
- Finish with top coat of your choice

That's all ! It takes a little longer than simple stickers to apply but the result is much better, the water decals look like they are inlaid in the polish, there are no clear borders, neither thickness as with stickers. Here's the result:

The last pic is overexposed but it shows the patterns better. I used two arabesques and two butterflies.

To get this result, I first painted my nails with two coats of Essence Hang Loose, then sponged with OPI Done Out in Deco. Then I applied the decals as explained before, and sealed with one coat of Seche Vite.

I love how the water decals looked, they have a foil finish and are very shiny. And they were more than easy to apply, I tried other brands that were sometimes hard to place on nails but these were simply perfect.

You can get these on Born Pretty Store for 2.99$, and other patterns are from 2.99$ to 4.73$. Click here to see all their water decals.
Shipping is always free*. Don't forget to use my code AYUUMIK31to get 10% off your order :)

*you can add a 3$ fee to your order to get an insurance with a tracking number, but it's optional.

Do you like it ? Have you ever tried water decals from BPS or another brand ?

Have a nice day :)

From the vault: China Glaze Classic Camel

Hi dear readers !

This will be a very quick post, it's finally friday and I'm very tired from work ... I just took a long, bubbly bath with sweet Lush products and all I want is to go slepping now haha :D

I didn't have time to edit some of my most recent pics, so I decided to show you a very old mani from last summer, which I didn't dare to show until now as I was not satisfied with it. You'll tell me your advice on it :)
I didn't have my lightbow then, so the first pic is take indoor with halogen lamp, the others were taken outdoor with natural light.

The base is China Glaze Classic Camel, a pretty shade that doesn't suit my skintone. At all. I really didn't like it on me on it's own, so I stamped some flowers with Bundle Monster plate BM06 and a purple polish I don't remember but it looks like OPI Diva of Geneva.
Then I sponged randomly around the flowers to hide some of the Classic Camel.
It looked better on me like that but I wasn't totally satisfied with the final look. And sorry for the tip wear, at that moment I had to take my pics on the second or third day to get some sun outside ... I really love my lightbox, it makes things more easy :)

Don't get me wrong, I like Classic Camel. It's really pretty with it's shimmer, but it's just not for me. I might use it as a base for some nail art again but never as a full manicure ;)

What do you think ?

Have a nice weekend :)

Monkey See Monkey Do: Taped Zigzag Gradient

Hi dear readers !

It's monday again, so it's time for another Monkey See Monkey Do challenge :)
For today's manicure, I chose te re-create a design originally posted by Makeup Withdrawal. If you don't know her blog yet, please check it, this girl has beautiful  nails and she does really pretty things on them !

Sooner this month, she did a blue gradient including some stripes made with striping tape. I decided to copy her style but in pink :)
Please check the original manicure here :)
Here's my version:

Do you like it ?

To get this result, I painted my whole nails with two coats of H&M Pure White and used Seche Vite to make it dry faster. Then I added striping tape (the one I have is from Born Pretty Store and works great) in a zigzag pattern and sponged with H&M Pure White, China Glaze Something Sweet and P2 Heartbeat.
Now I tried this technique, I always use a makeup sponge and paint stripes of polish directly on the sponge before dabbing it on the nails.
Then I removed the striping tape and sealed all with a coat of Seche Vite.
That's all, it's easy to recreate but the striping tape part is a bit long, you'll need to be patient if you want to give it a try :)

What's your advice ?

Have a nice day :)

Sunday (late) Stamping Challenge: Sky is the Limit !

Hi dear readers !

This week I was inspired by the Sunday Stamping Challenge, but I couldn't show it sooner. Monday was a MSMD day, and I have a blogging routine I don't want to break. You know I post three times a week, mostly because I get back from work late each day and I don't have all the freetime I'd like to paint my nails. I don't want to force me to write more than what I planned or blogging wouldn't be a fun hobby anymore.
I hope you understand my feelings about this and are not bothered to see my challenges on randoms days :)

On to the manicure, sunday's theme was "The Sky is the Limit". I've been wanting to use that cute clouds plate for a while, so I went for a gradient and clouds as an accent :)

This time I made my gradient with a make up sponge and applied the three colors directly on it. I love the result, it's what I expected from this technique :)

The polish I used are China Glaze Secret Peri-Winkle (light), Essence Chuck (medium) and CND Midnight Sapphire (dark)
Then I stamped the clouds with plate Konad m79 and white Konad polish and added some Seche Vite.
I stared at my nails a lot, I liked how it turned :)

What do you think ?

Have a nice day :)

Monkey See Monkey Do: Peacock Nails

Hi dear readers !

It's time for my second MSMD challenge :)
I tried to copy something a bit hard today ... The Polished Perfectionist's Peacock Inspired Nails ! (Please click here to see her version)

You already know I love gradients, but the hard part was to find the three polishes that would look the most like what she used ... And I didn't have any green or blue like hers, can you believe it ? I should really get a royal blue creme ...
Let's see the pics and talk about them below !

The stamping is a mess, isn't it ?

For the gradient, as I didn't have the right colors, I used these:
- H&M Moody Model, which is a dark teal, nothing like the green Amy used but I think that color is ok for something  "peacockish".
- Catrice It Blue My Mind, the worst idea I had ... It has shimmers and it doesn't suit the rest of the look at all :( I should have used a ligher creme blue, the result would have been better.
- Catrice Purposely Purple, which was the best choice, it's a nearly dupe for China Glaze Grape Pop. But I didn't add anough purple, and my cam focalized on the blue so you almost can't notice it.

For the stamping, I really had some hard times ! I had to re-do it 3 times and the result was still the same, parts are missing. At least I had a great tip in my comments recently (sorry girl I don't remember who you are, my memory is too bad), before stamping I did a thick coat of Seche Vite. So when I failed, I just had to add a very few remover on a q-tip and remove the stamping without messing the gradient !
I stamped with China Glaze Hi-Tek and BM plate 212, then added drops of Flormar U18 and U33 which looked great imo.

So, this is a partial fail for me, I'm sure I could have done it better, but it's still okay. I might buy the polishes she used and try again because it was such a gorgeous job !

What do you think ?
Do you like peacock related stuff ? I do a lot, these birds have such magical stuff in the colors of their feathers ... I need to buy some peacockish jewelry :)

Have a nice day !

Bright Turquoise & Green Gradient

Hi dear readers !

Did you see that gradient trend lately ? They have been everywhere on blogs since a few weeks ! You know how I love gradients, so this trend make me very happy. I saw a lot of pretty ones these last days :)

My way to do gradients has always been the same: dip a kitchen sponge in a drop of polish, then dab it on the nail with a move from the tip to the nail bed. I never tried to improve it or make it a different way.
With the actual gradient trend and tutorials popping everywhere, I decided to try another way ! For this gradient, I painted the sponge with the two polishes then dabbed it on the nail. The result is smoother than what I usually had, and I like it :)

First I painted my nails with the lighter color, Catrice Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.
My second color is the lovely Custom Kicks by China Glaze. I painted one thick line of each color on my sponge and dabbed it on the nails, that's all !

I added some extra bling with one coat of China Glaze Wireless.

Next time I'd like to make it even smoother, I'll try to use a make up sponge and mix my colors together with a toothpick before applying them on the sponge, just as The Nailasaurus explains in her tutorial :)

What do you think ? Have you tried any gradient yet ? Do you like the trend ?

Have a nice day :)