Faded holo

I hit a bit of a "polishers block" last week.  I REALLY wanted to use one of these polishes, Fashion Addict, and was trying hard to find something creative to do with it.  Honestly, I really just wanted to wear it all on its own, but my polish and photo skills aren't up to par to be a swatcher.  After agonizing and finally settling on something much too late at night, I had to remind myself that my blog started as a way to remember looks and polishes I liked--not to impress anyone.  I might need to gently remind myself again, but next time I  really just want to enjoy a pretty polish, I am going to let myself be okay with that :)

So, here's how I enjoyed the beauty that is Fashion Addict:

*1 coat Gelous base
*2 coats Color Club Fashion Addict
*4 coats LynB Designs Defender of the Downtrodden
*1 coat Out the Door

Fashion Addict is a gorgeous dense scattered/linear-leaning lavender polish.  I used 2 coats to even out a couple of thin edges, but this one is actually a one-coat polish if you want.  I love the dusty shade of purple and the intense holo--can you blame me for itching to wear this one?

I bought Defender of the Downtrodden in one of LynB Designs' recent sales (which she generously has all the time--take advantage!).  This soft dove gray has scattered holo throughout.  I used 4 VERY thin coats that dried really fast.  It sounds like a lot, but really wasn't bad at all--the pale gray just needed some layers to cover my nail line, but would be perfect over another gray cream.  I added a little lavender rhinestone to the gray to tie them together and sealed it all up in top coat, which made the holo come alive!
For winter, I really liked this faded coloring and this was a look that I couldn't take my eyes off of in the sun!

Crumpet's 31DC: Reversed Polarities

Reversed Polarities?!
Basically no one knew what that meant.  Some examples were photo negatives, but that really didn't sound appealing or...right.  The only thing I could think of for that prompt was magnets--I couldn't get past the "polarities" I guess.  So, I went with a magnet look:

*1 coat Gelous base
*2 coats OPI Danke-shiny Red
*Sally Hansen X-treme Wear Gunmetal
*1 coat Out the Door

Since I couldn't get the image out of my head, I went for an old fashioned magnet.  I used Danke-shiny red, the ever-gorgeous glow, for my base, and added Gunmetal on the tips using striping tape for a guide.
For all of my fails with striping tape at Christmas, this all came out crisp and clean--let's hope I've gotten my touch back!

So what would you have done with that prompt?  If you haven't added to the InLinkz below, please share your ideas!

Haute momma

So, what I actually wore today was China Glaze Some Like It Haute.  This is yet another gem that my mom gave me for Christmas.  I am a blessed girl!
I had been eying this polish for a long time and am in love with it!

*1 coat Hard As Nails Hardener
*1 coat Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out
*1 coat China Glaze Some Like It Haute
*2 coats Hoof Lacquer

In the bottle this looked black to me, so I layered it over Black Out.  When I did that, something interesting happened.  The contrast became very clear, showing Some Like It Haute to be a very dark charcoal gray micro glitter packed with silver shimmer and small silver holo hex pieces.  It. Is. Amazing!  I am kind of in love with this one.  Pictures can't do it justice!

 

Ignore those tips that took a beating when I went back to work today.  I could not keep my eyes off of my hands.  It is almost like a galaxy nail with one brush stroke.  Gorgeous in the sun!  I like dark colors like this best on shorty nails and am so sad to see it go for another challenge mani!  Not that something awesome isn't coming, but this beauty has me hooked right now!  Do you have any polishes, even ones you really wanted, that just blew you away on the nail?

31DC: Inspired by a tutorial

Here we are--the last original challenge!  I am so proud of myself for sticking with this all month and pretty impressed with how far outside of my little comfort zone I ventured!  I have learned a lot of new techniques and found a ton of places for improvement, but overall I am really pleased with a lot of the work that I did! 
Today feels a bit redundant, like my color inspiration did.  I used different tutorials for many manicures this month (gradient, galaxy, water marble, animal/sponging, etc.), even more manis for inspiration, and really have found so much help out there!  There are a million other tutorials I am excited to try, but today I wanted to do a dot mani from one of my favorite blogs, Chalkboard Nails.  I wanted to make this a little Halloween-y, so there aren't any untrieds today.

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*2 coats China Glaze Elephant Walk
*Julep Kate
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Black Out
*1 coat Seche Vite

Now, before I begin, let's talk about the elephants in the photos (no pun intended).  First off, those awful red cuticles are a little reminder of my beloved Supernatural mani yesterday.  I scrubbed and used q-tips.  They were getting drier, but not cleaner.  Sorry!  Secondly, today I did not work, which means that I let my hair stay down.  As long as it is, that made a big problem.  As I finished up, it rubbed right over the top of my tacky black dots.  I know, those streaks are the only thing I can look at too.  I liked everything else so much that I just didn't have the heart to redo it all...

I used Elephant Walk as my base because I didn't think it was opaque enough to use for dots.  I love the soft shimmer of this polish, which you can really see in the pictures.  Using the larger end of my dotting tool, I used Kate first, and then switched to the smaller end. 

 

The dots are supposed to overlap a bit (I wish I had done more of that) so I decided to do Black Out second, unsure of how well white would cover it.  Again, I started with the large side and then switched to the small.  I love how they look like little bubbles!  The ones my hair did not ruin turned out really cute.  I had to go back and adjust the shape of my dotting.  A couple moved down one side more than the other, almost like a little wave.  This would have been fine if I had done it for all for them, but I didn't.  That's one thing that is wonderful about this design--it's so easy to add dots in and adjust the effect!

 

 

 

That middle nail is my favorite!  It turned out the most like the tutorial and the dots are clean.  I think that I would like to try this again with a bigger difference in the sizes of the dots--these are kind of close, so there isn't a ton of contrast.  Overall, this is such an easy, cute design that can lend itself to any color combo or season.  You will be seeing it again very soon!

What tutorials have you found and loved?  What do you think I should try out next?

31DC: Inspired by a pattern

I'm was very excited about today's design!  Then, I got sloppy and took out a nail...it's pretty gruesome.  The pattern that inspired my mani today is: my bed! 

 

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener

*2 coats Sinful Colors Cream Pink

*2 coats Ulta Smoke Screen

*1 coat OPI Pirouette My Whistle

*Sinful Colors Snow Me White

*1 coat Seche Vite

 

 

This is my bedding that inspired my nails.  I love this bed set!  I had my eye on it for a while and then it all clearanced down.  Just to brag about how awesome this is--you see those little pillows?  They retail for $29.99 (I think...maybe $39) and I got them for $3.99!  Awesomeness!

I have come to really like Cream Pink.  It has a pretty, subtle shimmer to it and covers well with 2 coats.  I used Snow Me White and a dotting tool to make the button lines on the pink.  While my lines were a little crooked on a couple of nails, I love how this looked!  I think I'll have to work with this design again soon!

But those little dots were the death of me.  As I was focusing on my pinkie (the dots are really straight there!) I hit my ring finger with my other hand.  The polish was thick and tacky, so a big glob pulled up.  It was late, so I tried to hide it.  This is not my specialty. 

 

This is the first time I used Pirouette My Whistle.  I had been after it for a while and thanks to a coupon and a fully-stocked new Ulta, this beauty is now mine!  I was dying to try it and and I decided I'd use it instead of trying to dot on flowers like my duvet. Clearly I kind of regret that.  C'est la vie!

 

Aren't those little dots cute on the cream pink?  I sort of forgot that my pillows had 3 rows, but I think that 2 worked better for a space as small as my nails.  Do you have any tricks for painting disasters, besides starting again?  I'd LOVE to hear how you fix them!

31DC: Water marble

Dun dun DUN!  It is the dreaded water marble challenge!  Coincidentally, today is my four-month anniversary of starting this blog and I just hit 450 views!  I know that for many bloggers that is small potatoes, but I'm pretty surprised that I kept going this long and that anyone cares to see what I'm up to!  Thank you (yes YOU, right now reading this) for stopping by!
So onto the water marble horror.  Because galaxy nails were so amazing, I had the cocky idea that this would be much easier than I thought too.  I can hear you laughing now.
I watched tutorials and thought I was prepared.  This is what happened.

 

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*1 coat Zoya Ginessa on thumb as base
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Green With Envy (2 coats on all but thumb)
*Color Club Revvolution
*Color Club Wild At Heart
*1 coat Seche Vite

This is what was sorta usable out of all of my fingers.  One thumb.  Even that is a little funky.  I was going to skip this challenge, or swap it with tomorrow's, but I went for it.  It was pretty disastrous.  I wanted to use some Halloweeny colors, and thought that the super-opaque holos would be good.

I tried dripping the colors in different orders.  I tried dragging the polish differently.  The one positive was that my taping made for almost no clean up for my whole hand.  I kind of wish that I had photographed all the botched nails.  I want to be honest about polish adventures here, and I think that it helps when you are starting out to know that others have made messes too.  I want to know that I'm not the only one who makes a sloppy mess!  But, I also let my pride take over and kept a little dignity...

So I used the same polish and did a funky French with the marble as my accent.  I used 2 coats of Green With Envy and taped off the ends for Wild At Heart.  I actually like this combo for Halloween and may need to do it again before the month's over.

 

 

It's kind of hard to see the charcoal holo of Revvolution in the water marble.  The purple of Wild At Heart is more dominant.  I think next time I might just use creams, because Green With Envy tended to stay put and was a strong color.  My polish just dried so fast on the water that it was already a film when I finished dropping colors.  I couldn't really drag it and it all pulled down with my finger.

What have you found works with water marbles?  Are there some polishes that you find work better than others?  How do you keep it from drying before you're ready?  I think I'd like to try again, but I'd love some advice to help improve my technique!

31DC: Galaxy Nails

I LOVE today's challenge! I am SO excited to keep working at the galaxy mani! This is such an easy way to do nail art because it is imprecise. I didn't muck it up too bad for my first attempt, which make me think you really can't botch this one. The effect is so amazing and looks so complex, but this went really quickly for me. I looked at a lot of tutorials and photos to get color and technique ideas because this looked so intimidating. I mainly used Adventures in Acetone's colors ideas (especially Nubar 2010) and Polish and Pearls' technique.

*1 coat Sally Hansen Hard As Nails Hardener
*2 coats Fantasy Makers Nail in the Coffin
*Aengland Tristam
*China Glaze Elephant Walk
*Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Green With Envy
*Color Club Wild At Heart
*Nubar 2010
*1 coat Wet n Wild Kaleidoscope
*1 coat Seche Vite

Nail in the Coffin was my only untried for this mani. It is rather thin, so I used 2 coats which built well. I strayed from my beloved Black Out cream because this one has some micro shimmer that I thought would add dimension. I used a small wedge-shaped makeup sponge that I ripped up for each color to add the layers. I started with Tristam because it is a gorgeous, holo-filled dark blue, which I almost used as my base. I realized afterwards that you really can't see this one, in photos or real life. Oh well!

After that, I sponged Elephant Walk around the edges of Tristam. I tried to focus on different areas of each nail, which I will probably work a bit more on in the future. After the gray, I used Green With Envy to further define the "arc" of my galaxy, if there really is one.

I used Wild At Heart because it is a gorgeous deep purple filled with holo glitter. This looked amazing! It was a little sheer in places, so I sponged layers until I was happy with how it showed up. After that, I sponged 2010 over the top, mainly though the purple areas. This flakey really doesn't show up well in the photos, but was a-mazing in real life! The red of the glitter really added a different aspect to this. I'm glad that I sponged it because it let me be more particular about where it went and it actually was pretty dense.

Over the top of everything I did one coat of Kaleidoscope. This glitter is so pretty and I don't use it nearly often enough! It is sparse enough to really let your base show through and has a good mix of micro and medium silver holo glitter. I know a lot of people use white or silver polish to dot on stars. The larger pieces of glitter in this really served that purpose for me. It made the look really come alive and reminded me so much of the night sky! I used a thick coat of Seche Vite not to really dry this, because the thin sponging dries really fast, but to amp up the shine. I also helps sort of blend everything together, giving a smooth finish to it all.

This was my very first attempt at a galaxy mani (I guess, in hindsight, I probably should have practiced before the challenge day!) and I love how it turned out! I know that there is plenty of room for improvement and technique tweaks, but I could not stop looking at my hands! I will fess up to the fact that I really haven't been able to do a mani each day with my work schedule. On Sundays I try to get my challenge posts for the week painted and photographed, and then post and write each night. This means I'm painting a lot of themes in a row and don't leave the polish on long. I also do the blogger-cheat and only paint my left hand. When I saw how this worked out, I couldn't resist painting my right hand too and wearing it until I changed for a pink mani. I cannot wait to do this again!
Have you played around with galaxy manis yet? Did you fall in love like I did? What colors did you find worked well? Any other cool tricks or techniques you discovered? I'd love to hear about them!

31DC: Animal Print

Now things are starting to get a bit tricky for me.  It's challenges like today that make me feel in over my head, but that's sorta the point, isn't it?
I'm not big into animal prints, so I was coming up blank for this one.  I really couldn't think of something to do when I looked over and saw my faithful friend sitting next to me on my bed. 

I got Nicky for my 4th birthday, which means that she's now...well, in her early twenties.  She's been everywhere with me, from sleepovers and doctors' visits to college and beyond.  She may not have aged gracefully, but that's okay.  She folds up perfectly to fit in the crook of my arm when I sleep (not that I do that anymore...) and has ears that were made to dry tears.  I wish that this mani was better, because she deserves the best, but I decided to do a little tribute to her for my animal print.  Today has one untried.

*1 coat Yello-Out base
*2 coats Essence Colour & Go Grey-t To Be Here
*China Glaze Elephant Walk
*Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Presto Pink
*1 coat Seche Vite

 

I decided to try sponging polish on to give a "poodle-effect" to my nails.  I started with Grey-t To Be Here, mainly because I was worried it was too light to sponge over Elephant walk.  This pale gray is loaded with pink shimmer and in the sun looks almost purple because of it.  It's really pretty, but not made for my skin tone.  Oh well, I'm over it!

 

I had not tried Elephant Walk yet, but it was a good contrast for Grey-t.  I used a small makeup sponge dabbed in Elephant Walk to texture my nails.  I dabbed it a bit on paper to make sure that it wasn't too thick, but it was pretty easy to get the hang of how much to use.  It's a little weird and not really what I had pictured but I actually like the way that the sponging turned out.  These colors weren't perfect, but I even like the effect hat they had.  It's that stupid bow that speaks for itself...

 

 

I probably should not have chosen a quick-dry polish for art because it got little strings quickly.  It also blobbed up pretty fast too, not leaving a nice, smooth finish.  I wish that I had taken photos without the bow, but what's done is done.  You live and learn, right?  I learned that this little bow was a mistake, but that I like sponging.  I'm excited to try this again with more colors.  More than that, I'm pretty proud that I thought a bit outside of the box for my print.  As the art required for this challenge gets more advanced (I'm looking at you, galaxy nails!) I'll probably have to get a bit creative!  What's your favorite animal print to work with--anything out of the ordinary?

LOTS of updates!

It has been one hell of a week!
This week was stressful, to say the least.  It was busy with both of my jobs and emotional.  I just hit a wall and lost it a bit on Wednesday.  God knew I was done, couldn't take anything more breaking me down.   Thursday things began to look up and the week has gotten so much better! 

*I tried two new polishes with interesting results.  I used two coats of Essence Colour to Go in Grey-t To Be Here.  I probably should have done 3 coats for coverage, but I didn't plan to wear this long.  The pale gray is filled with super-fine pink shimmer.  It is really pretty in the sun, looking almost lavender from all of the pink.  I wanted a simple accent, so I used a coat of Sinful Colors Pinky Glitter.  This one is in the colored iridescent family.  It the pink tinted clear base is packed with different sized light pink iridescent glitter.  This matches Grey-t perfectly and was a sparkly little compliment.  However, I decided to go loud.  So, I layered a coat of OPI You Glitter Be Good To Me on top of that.  I got this in a breast cancer awareness duo.  It is a clear base with lots of micro square light pink, almost coral, glitter and scattered larger magenta hex glitter.  I actually think it's quite pretty, and it looked just fine with the gray.  I wasn't in love with this, and can't pinpoint why.  Without OPI, it would be a nice, subtle mani to do again on all nails.  The gray did look a little funky with my skin and chipped like mad!  I only wore this for two full days and ever nail had sizable chunks missing.  For $1.99, I can accept that--I just need to remember it!

*This should be the last post about polish without photos!  My poor little camera never turned up and I am still really sad to have lost the pictures on it.  But, Best Buy had some cameras on sale, so I looked through the little point and shoots.  There it was!  The same camera I bought, about $20 cheaper, and in PINK!  So, I bit the bullet and ordered her and she came in this week!  That means I can post my (best attempt at) mani photos again.

*I won my first giveaway!  After a long day, drained from work and emotion, I came home to find an email from Kirsten at All That Glitters saying I won her Halloween collection in a giveaway!  The polishes are A-mazing and I am so excited to see the in real life.  I love how hard ladies like her work on their polish and wish I had the ability to buy more indies, so this is a real treat for me.  It was a boost to my spirit that I really needed and now I am so excited to own these pretties!

*A new Ulta opened in my neighborhood!  I love Ulta--there is so much to drool over there!  I popped in on Friday to see the new store and it is awesome.  They sent out a $5 off $15 coupon for the weekend, so I had to take advantage--maybe a couple of times...  I found Wet n' Wild Fantasy Makers Tombstone polishes for $1.99 and nabbed 3 colors.  They had such full displays that it was hard not to want EVERYTHING.  Then, as I looked through the China Glaze, a flash of silver caught my eye.  At the bottom of the OPI display to my right were a few rows of DS polish!  Needless to say, expect some holo goodness in my first pictures...

Here are some awesome giveaways that I have been meaning to get the word out on.  I have been exhausted and dropped the ball, but most of my list to share is still open, so here they are:

*Holographic Hussy: The amazing Claudia has some indies up for wins because she has been awesome for four months now!  Her followers keep adding up and she has a lot to be proud of.  Go admire her perfect swatches and dream about owning her polish collection...
This is open internationally and closes in one week.
*Lydia's Nails: Go give this girl some love because that's what she's doing for us!  No birthday or follower milestone--just a generous give away.  The girl has talent--scroll through her most recent series for the 31 day challenge (you will NOT be disappointed).
This is open internationally and you have 11 more days to enter.
*Pointless Cafe: She is offering up the amazing Butter London Fishwife!  I have jumped on the Butter bandwagon and her swatches of it are fantastic!  She's another talented one who is doing the 31 day challenge, so drool through her swatches and enjoy the art she has been up to!
This ends on Friday the 28th.
*Ashley Is PolishAddicted: I'm going to sound like a broken record here, but you have to go look through her 31 day challenge art!  I have nothing against long nails, but I keep mine short lately and love that she does too.  Her personality shines through her nail art and I know you'll instantly want to be her friend--I do!  I really love her style and work; I feel like we're polish sisters separated at birth!  I know, I know, I'm a creeper!  She has a BB Couture Dragon's Breath offered and it's a beauty, so head over.
This is open internationally and closes Saturday the 29th.
*The Crumpet: She is offering up Zoya Diva & Designer polishes!  I adore reading her blog.  Not only are her swatches and art amazing, but she is so much fun!  I love some good nail art, but I think that personality and spunk are really what hooks me on blogs, and she has both in spades!
This is open internationally and closes October 2nd.
*Oh Three Oh Four: This is a really cool giveaway.  In addition to swatching and promoting indies, she is offering up some.  For the giveaway, she is offering 4 Jindie polishes and lets the winner choose!  If you are unsure of which you would pick, just lose yourself in her swatches--it's not hard to do!
This is not open internationally and ends on Friday the 28th.
*The Nail Junkie: First off, this lady makes just about the cutest labels for her polishes!  I know that they are simple, but I totally love them.  She is offering up her new Halloween collection (and I think it rocks that she give away her own creations).  I love Pumpkin and Candy Corn--which one would you rock?
This is open internationally and end on October 6th.
*The TraceFace Philes: Speaking of The Nail Junkie, she is giving away some!  Traci is so good at giving love to Indie brands and her swatches are flawless.  She is also really great at describing the colors and polishes, which sometimes is even more helpful than photos when you are deciding to buy.
This is open internationally and closes in one week.
*Set In Lacquer: I love when bloggers make it possible for multiple people to win, and Kelly has 6 prizes up for wins!  She is offering some great Essie polishes and dotting tools, which I don't think you can ever have too many of! While you enter, take some time to look through her work--she has a great mix of lovely swatches and really creative nail art.
This is open internationally and closes in one week.

Phew!  Well, that's a lot to get caught up on, but it feels good because now I can just work on using and showing my hoard off (let's just be honest about what it is...).  So, thanks for listening while there was nothing to see and, as always, "May the odds be ever in your favor!"