Goooooood afternoon!
Summer has definitely cranked up here. With the hot weather comes my brightest colors. While I do truly wear what I want regardless of seasons, I tend to be seasonable in my color choices. I know that sounds contradictory, and I'm sorry for that, but it is what it is lol.
For work today, I had picked out a black and white outfit, so I wanted a pop of color for my nails. This was a hard decision, but I settled on Morgan Taylor's Shock Therapy. I can't even express how much I love this neon magenta. The only color I have similar to it is Zoya Charisma, and it's not the same. Shock Therapy was two, super easy coats with SV to seal it. I almost stamped a zig zag pattern over it, to match my skirt, but decided against it.
This week's Stamping Sunday challenge was birds and flowers. My base is a gradient of Zoya Purity, Tiana, and Eden, and that was over two coats of Purity. The stamped images were from FUN 14, stamped in MdU tutti. Seche, then Zoya's matte topcoat.
Sometimes, I really want to love a brand, but it just let's me down. Now, I'm the first to admit that I change my manis daily, so chipping and tipwear isn't a huge deal to me, but, for the most part, I don't have that issue much anymore, except with certain brands. Friday, I wore one that I just should have known better.
When I was at Salon Centric a while back, hunting down Essie's neons from last summer, I came across their Cashmere Satin collection. Most of them were meh, but Spun in Luxe caught my eye. I finally got around to trying it out last Friday. I treated as I would any other matte, texture, satin, ect., but since I planned to stamp, I topcoated it. Two coats gave it opacity and SV to top it. Stamped over with myonlineshop Jr. 20 and MdU blue, and another coat of SV, then Essie's Matte About You. Sadly, I had some chipping out of the shower Friday morning, and it progressed through the day =\ Looks like that one will be hitting my destash pile.
As I did last summer, where I practiced water marbling every week, I've decided I need to work on my gradients. I'm just not happy with them most of the time, but I think I'm finally getting it. I think the gradient I did last Thursday could have been better, but it wasn't horrible.
I started with a base color of China Glaze White on White, 2 coats. For the gradient, I used Bottoms Up and Flip Flop Fantasy, which looks more orange than it really is. The colors freaked my camera out. SV to even it all out.
And Wednesday was simple stamping. The base color is OPI's This Color's Making Waves, which is gorgeous by the way. Stamping plate was Winstonia W311, stamping color was MdU mint.
Good afternoon!
I've got some new pretties to show off today! I'm just loving all the bright colors that everyone seems to be coming out with this spring and summer; I think they know what a sucker I am for them lol.
Today's mani was rather simple, but I love the color. Yellow itself is not unique to my collection, but a yellow with a turquoise shimmer is. Zoya Daisy is just that. I found the formula a little tricky to work with, I needed 4 coats for it to be even. Three might have been enough, but it's hard to tell with the lighting in my bedroom sometimes.
Yesterday was water marble day :) It came out more subtle than I intended, but it was still pretty. The colors are from China Glaze's Electric Nights collection, which I totally recommend getting as many as you can. They're gorgeous, and I love the glitters, too! I used Treble Maker and UV Meant to Be over White on White, then topped with Seche.
I actually did up this week's Stamping Sunday challenge, which was "roses aren't red.... flowers in unusual colors". I've never seen flowers in neon colors, unless they're dyed, so my base was a neon. This is Morgan Taylor's Pink Flame-ingo. It was a little streaky, but needed no white undies, so three coats was good for it. I stamped over with MdU sky blue, from her new Candy collection, and Winstonia W315. Seche to finish it.
I officially have no more new textured polishes :( Instead of a true textured polish, I went with a textured look, meaning I used a Crackle! Yes, I still love them, and wish I could some neon ones for summer. For this mani, I started with a base of Color Club's Disco's not Dead, which a pretty, light yellow creme. For all it's pastel-ness, it has a decent formula, and only needed 3 coats. Seche over that, then a coat of China Glaze's Crushed Candy, another coat of Seche, and a coat of Matte Magic.
Thursday was a purple-y kind of day. Zoya Leslie was my base at three coats. Leslie is such a pretty color. Seche went over that, then it got stamped with MdU violet and FUN 14. Another coat of Seche to finish it.
This next mani is my absolute favorite in quite a while, and that's saying a lot. I only used three colors, and a glitter, three of them from the Electric Nights collection. The white base is White on White. The others are Glow With the Flow, Home Sweet House Music, and Point me to the Party. This was such a fun mani to create, and I loved it.
At least here in Florida it has! I think we've seen the last of winter as of last week =\ I'm not ready for the warm weather we've been having, but hey, what can you do?
Good evening! I hope you made through your Monday. Mine was rather busy, and with the cursed time change, I'm tired lol. I needed to get this post up before I decide to go to call it a night. Here we go!
Today's mani was inspired by this pretty green top I have that I got at Macy's. Let tell you, this top is more green in person than what it shows on the site. However, ^^^that pic is more what my mani should have been inspired by :P Either way, I love how it turned out.
The base color wsa 2 coats of Colors by Llarowe Thriller. I only just got this in the last few weeks; I really regretted not getting it when it was first released. Sadly, though, I think the Michael Jackson tribute collections are discontinued because they are no longer listed on the site. Glad I got it when I did! Stamped over Thriller were images from my FUN 14 plate and Mundo de Unas black. Seche to seal it.
The challenge for Stamping Sunday this week was black and white. For my base, I applied three coats of Morgan Taylor's All White Now. In spite of needing three coats, this white is pretty nice. Applied right, you could do just two coats. It's not horribly streaky or patchy, or too thick. The black was Color Club's Beyond, the image from Born Pretty Store bp-15. I'm a little impressed with how nicely this plate stamped, considering my first plate were from BPS, and they were crap.
A few weeks ago, I picked up a new to me texture from Formula X for Sephora. I recall hearing about a texture collection from them last year, but, since I live an hour from the closest Sephora, I never followed up on it. I found Galaxy in a destash sale and snapped it. It applied a little thick, but was opaque and gritty (lol) in two coats. I know my pics make it look black, but it's actually navy blue, and it stains a little. The gold sparkle in the bottle doesn't translate to the nail.
Thursday's mani was bright and fun, at least to me. It reminded my very of some the clothes I wore in 90's :P You could say it was Throwback Thursday mani. Anywas, the base was three coats of OPI's You Are So Outta Lime!, which was layered over 2 coats of OPI's Put a Coat On!. Over Lime went a coat of Salon Perfect's Rogh Around the Edges, then two coats of Seche.
I think Wednesday's mani has got to be my most favorite mani, ever. It's rather simple, no nail art at all, but it's just so gorgeous. The base was three coats of KBShimmer's Low and Be Bold, which is just.... wow. I don't have a blue even like this, and I have a lot of blues. The closest would have to be Nails, Inc. Baker Street, and it's more cobalt. It's nowhere near as vibrant as this. It's almost crelly like its formula, which is why it needed three coats. Over this beauty went two coats of Dark Matter, also from KBShimmer, then a coat of Seche, then Wet 'N Wild's matte topcoat.
Tuesday was another mani featuring KBShimmer, this one Funky Cold Patina. This crelly is so awesome! First, I just love the name. Funky Cold Patina= Funky Cold Medina :) Second, THAT COLOR!! Such a beautiful turquoise. Love! Formula was easy to work with; I needed three coats, but that was more user error than anything else.
I almost stamped over this, to make it more turquoise stone like, but I ran out of time that night. Seche smoothed it out nicely.
Good morning! I hope everyone is doing well this fine Tuesday morning :) I am, and I also had a great weekend, I hope you did as well.
Well, I wrapped up the monthly challenge I was participating in and started with Valentine's manis on Sunday. I don't know, for some reason I'm not really feeling it this year, but I'm still plugging along with them. I love yesterday's mani, and I really love Sunday's before I stamped it.
Yesterday's mani was the traditional red mani, featuring KBShimmer's Whole Lava Lovin'. I love this red holo, it's the only I have felt the need to have. This mani only needed two easy coats, then was topped with Seche. I stamped over that with Mundo red and Fab Ur Nails 14. I wasn't sure how the red over red would look, but I loved it after it was topped. Subtle and very pretty.
Of course, leave it to me to want to wear a fabulous holo on a craptastic weather day so the holo won't show, even with a flash >.<
Stamping Sunday's challenge was, for obvious reason :P, was Valentine's nails. I decided that I wanted a bright water marble for the base. It was inspired by a water marble I remember seeing in a FB group I'm in, but I don't remember who, sorry! The colors used were all OPI:
Do You Have This Color in Stock-holm?
My Dogsled is a Hybrid
I Just Can't Cope-cabana
Suzi Has a Swede Tooth
Marbled over 2 coats of OPI Alpine Snow Matte. Honestly, I think I should have stopped with the water marble, because I thought is awesome, but nooooooo. Stamped I did. Mundo blue and Messy Mansion MM03, Seche, then OPI Matte Coat.
Friday was the last day I did for the 31 day challenge, and the prompt was inspired by a flag. I chose the flag of my not so distant ancestors, the st. Andrews flag of Scotland :) The is 2 coats of OPI No Room for the Blues, then Seche. Stamped image is from MJ XXIX and is stamped in Mundo white, then topped again with Seche.
Thursday's prompt was inspired by art. For this, I picked water color art. My base was OPI Alpine Snow Matte. To create the water color look, I used OPI's Sheer Tints, and just applied them randomly, then added a coat of Seche so I could stamp over. The tulips came from Fab Ur Nails 14 and were stamped in Mundo black.
Again, leave it to me to do something like this on a crappy day lol.
Wednesday's prompt was inspired by a pattern. I like my end result, but I do not like the base polish, which was from Sally Hansen's Velvet line. The color is called Velour, and it has got to be one of the weirdest polishes I've used. The formula was thick and kind of streaky, and the finish was.... strange. It was matte but it had a bit of a texture to it O.o Not what I was expecting.
I wanted to stamp over this, so I topped it was Seche. The stamped image came from Sugar Bubbles 021 and the color used was Mundo Fiji. I love images like the one I used. Topped with Seche, then matted with Morgan Taylor's Mattes a Wrap.
When it came time to take this off, lemme tell you, it was a bitch. I've never had a matte, or texture, polish give me such a hard time with removal. This is not a keeper, for these reasons. The color is also very much like Zoya Mira, so I don't feel that I need to keep it. It's on its way out!
Tuesday's prompt was inspired by fashion. I knew a few weeks ago what I wanted to do for this :) I watch The Young & The Restless, and one of the female characters wore this beautiful, royal blue and black plaid dress.
My base color was 2 coats of China Glaze Frostbite, then Seche. The plaid stamp was from MJ XXIX, stamped in Mundo black. Seche, then China Glaze Matte Magic, which should be called Satin Magic, because it's definitely not matte.
Ignore the crooked stamping :P I still struggle with placement and straightness lol. Overall, I was pretty happy with this.
Good afternoon!
I've got some catching up to do :P I totally meant to post over the weekend, but well, getting our taxes done was topmost of my list, so yeah lol.
I'm still taking part in the 31 day challenge, although that'll be coming to an end this weekend. I want to start on Valentine's manis, and the end of the challenge is actually this weekend, so it coincides nicely. For now, here's the manis I've got from last week on through yesterday.
Yesterday's theme was inspired by a book. I bet you can guess which ones :) The base is 2 coats of ILNP's Undenied, stamped over with Mundo light gold and Messy Mansion MM05 and MM21, then topped with Seche.
Sunday's Stamping Sunday theme was pink and black; it was also inspired by a movie day. The movie I picked may not be as obvious as the book inspired :P I picked Memoirs of a Geisha, I absolutely love that movie. The pink base is 3 coats of Zoya Gie Gie. The stamping polishes are Mundo mexican pink and black, the images are all from Sugar Bubbles SBS 022. Topped with Seche, course.
Textured Friday managed to be tied in with inspired by a color. My color was L'Oreal's Bad Bad Grey from their Dark Sides of Grey collection, inspired by Fifty Shades of Grey. I've seen some bad reviews about the textures in this collection, but I like this one. My mani only needed 2 coats.
Thursday was water marble day. I did a chocolate and vanilla marble with OPI colors, Suzi Loves Cowboys and You're so Vain-illa over Alpine Snow. OMG, I think this my favorite marble, I really love how this came out!
Wednesday and Tuesday were both fails for those days' challenges. I don't remember what Wednesday's was, but Tuesday's was half moon, and yeah, didn't work. For Wednesday, though, I did a stamped mani. The base was three coats of Zoya Kitridge, then a coat of Seche. Stamped over that with Mundo silver and FUN 14.
For Tuesday, I simply did 3 coats of Zoya Julie.
And, lastly, for Monday I did a jelly sammy, using 2 coats of Jordana Fairy Dust sandwiched between two coats of Orly Butterflies.