Thursday, April 25, 2013

Pink Gradient + Stamping

Happy Thursday everyone! It's finally warming up where I live and actually sunny, which puts me in a wonderful mood! :)  I'm about two weeks away from finishing the semester so I'm really excited to be one step closer to graduation and take a break over the summer.

Anyway, let's talk polish!  Today I have another gradient and stamping combo to show you.  This one is super easy and only used two colors. I started with two coats of Sinful Colors Easy Going, a light pink creme that is very opaque and wonderful for stamping.

This is a swatch of it alone for reference (with a completely different nail shape...lol).

Natural light.


Next, I sponged Wet n Wild Dreamy Poppy, a bright pink creme (my favorite lately), onto the tips.


Natural light.


Then I used Shany Plate SH20 and Easy Going to stamp on the design.


Natural light.

Well, that's all for today.  I hope you have a great rest of the week!

Thanks for reading! :)

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Water Designs Experiment

Hi everyone! Today's manicure is a fun one if you like water marbling or spotted manicures.  I've been seeing various tutorials floating (haha!) around the internet about how to use water and alcohol for a homemade spotted manicure and I decided to experiment with it.  I only used 2 things for this manicure: water and rubbing alcohol.


Natural light.


I started with my base color, Essie Nice is Nice, a gorgeous creamy lavender.  Next, I filled a cup with water and dripped a couple drops of Ulta Downtown Diva into the water (this is the same exact technique you would use if you were starting a water marble).  Then I took a fan brush and dipped it into the rubbing alcohol, and then tapped it on the side of the cup to spray the alcohol into the water.  The nail polish floating on the water immediately starts to curdle and make designs.  Then you simply dip your finger into the design and there you go!  This is super easy and way less work than a water marble (although the designs are much more abstract and you can't really control how they turn out).


Natural light.


Have you heard of this technique or tried it yet?  Do you like it?

Thanks for reading! :)

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Springtime Gradient + Stamping

Hello hello!  As promised in my last post, I have a brighter spring manicure for you today (e.g. pastel colors).  Aaah pastel colors.  I've noticed I don't post about them very much.  I have a tendency to gravitate toward bright colors as soon as spring starts, and often the spring-appropriate pastels get ignored.  In fact, I only have about 6 pastel nail polishes in my collection and I used most of them on this one manicure!

Alright, on to the pictures!

Natural light.


Natural light.

For this manicure I used:
Sally Hansen Mint Sorbet (base color and stamping color)
OPI What's With the Cattitude? (light blue)
Essie Nice is Nice (lavender)
Sinful Colors Easy Going (light pink)
Shany Plate SH21 (SH18 has a dupe of the same floral print, FYI.)

I started by painting my nails with one coat of Mint Sorbet, letting it dry fully.  Then I used a small piece of cosmetic sponge and dipped it into What's With the Cattitude?  I lightly dabbed on the nail polish, creating a faded stripe about a quarter inch above the cuticle line. This is the start of the gradient.  Next, I used a fresh piece of sponge, and dabbed on Nice is Nice, slightly overlapping it on the blue and creating another faded lavender stripe. Finally, using the same technique, I applied Easy Going to the tips of my nails. 

Note: I tried to use the easier gradient method where you literally brush polish right onto the sponge in your desired pattern and then apply it to the nail, but these pastels are just too sheer to show up on the green background.  Due to the sheerness of these polishes, I had to apply the colors individually and went over each nail twice to build up the opacity of the colors.  It would have definitely been easier with more opaque polishes, but I was already committed at that point, so I just made it work. :)

After the gradient dried, I used Shany Plate SH21 and Mint Sorbet to stamp the design.  I finished the manicure with a coat of top coat.

Thanks for reading!  Hope you enjoyed! :)

Friday, April 5, 2013

Pure Ice Alter Ego

Today wanted to show off a really pretty nail polish that sat in my untried pile forever.  I have no idea why I waited so long to wear it.  As soon as I put it on, I couldn't stop checking out my nails.  It's Pure Ice Alter Ego, a dark, chocolate brown jelly packed with tiny gold flakes and larger silver/white flakes.  The bigger white flakes reflect pink and green in certain light, but it's not obvious on the nail at all. I only noticed it when I was looking at the macro shots, but thought it was worth mentioning anyway.  Despite the base being a jelly, it is perfectly opaque in two coats due to the density of the flakes.  The small gold flakes are so fine that it almost looks like gold shimmer.  This polish has a lot of depth!

I know this isn't a typical spring color, but it's just too pretty!  Don't worry, I'll have lots of bright manis to show you soon! :)

Artificial light.

Artificial light.

Artificial light.

Artificial light.


Thanks for reading!