Clovers and Gold

I wanted to wear some St. Patrick's day looks, and this is one that I pinned a while ago (originally painted by Glitter and Nails) and have been wanting to wear because the colors are awesome together.  My camera, however, does not capture Four Leaf Clover at all.  The problem, I think, is my flash.  When I simply use a lamp to light my photos the colors are MUCH truer, but the pictures are always blurry.  When I use the flash they are clear, but colors are off.  Do you have any tips?

*1 coat Hoof Lacquer
*2 coats China Glaze Four Leaf Clover
*3 coats China Glaze Gingerbread
*2 coats Out the Door

In real life, Four Leaf Clover is much darker and greener.  Here it looks like Aquadellic or For Audrey, but it is actually a really pretty blue-green cream.  It applies easily and I used 2 coats to get a clean, smooth finish.
Gingerbread is a polish that I bought a couple of Christmases ago and it is just stunning.  Macro photos are always rough on coverage, but in real life you can't see any gaps or nail.  I used 3 coats, even though I don't usually do full-coverage glitter, and loved it!  It is a warm holo gold glitter in a clear base.  It is pretty dense, but still sparse enough for layering in one coat.
I loved this look and it wore well until I went to work.  Then some tape took off a whole index nail and somehow I lost a whole accent nail.  I spotted it on the floor later--it just slipped off, like I had a glue base!  It made removal a lot easier, but it also made it come sooner than I had hoped.  

Chameleon Stampede Anniversary

I have some posts that I am working on writing up and choosing photos for, and I have been taking some much-needed rest this past week.  I know that this is no where near as advanced as a lot of the entries that she has so far, but I just had to do something for Mandy's anniversary countdown contest over at Chameleon Stampede!  Mandy is such a sweet woman and an amazing nail artist (I would LOVE to have her stamping skills).  Her blog is adorable (check out her Tutorial chameleon) and just gets better all the time.  She is so encouraging and wonderful to talk with and I really want to support her as she celebrates all of her amazing work this year!

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*2 coats Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Green With Envy
*Color Club Holiday Splendor
*Aengland St. George
*1 coat Out the Door

I love dots and haven't worn them in a while.  I also like to try to get in some holiday designs, so I used greens for St. Patrick's day.  I started with 2 coats of Green With Envy, a light yellow-green cream that covers pretty well, but really needs 2 for full opacity.  Then, with 2 different sized dotting tools, I dotted on St. George and Holiday Splendor on my tips. 
St. George is gorgeous and a dream to use, like all Aengland polishes seem to be. I waited a long time for this one because shipping has become an issue from England, but when there are promos it is totally worth the wait.  This is a dark blue-green polish packed with micro holo shimmer.  You can see the color in the bottle better than on my nails in this picture.  I used this first because it is such a smooth polish.
Holiday Splendor is one of my favorites and an amazing polish.  It is a bit gritty because it is a light blue-green jelly packed with holo glitter.  I love how squishy and sparkly it is and will find any excuse to wear it!

So, here's some sparkly green to get you in the spring mood.  I love dot manis and, while I wish I had made these a bit more like a gradient with fewer dots at the bottom, I love how they look and am happy to have some sparkle on my hands.  Make sure that you head over and give Mandy some congrats, check out the other ladies who contributed and, if you are so inclined, give me a vote!