A girl and her love of nail polish

Archive for the ‘NOTD’ Category

Nail-aween Nail Art Challenge: Matte Dotticure

So this is my Day 2 post for the Nail-aween Nail Art Challenge from datyorkLOVES/Sassy Nails. There are 10 themes, and I have to complete all of them by the end of October, but other than that, it’s self-paced.

Today’s theme is a matte dotticure. I was really happy with the way this one came out, and it was really fun to wear.

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

I started with two coats of Orly Liquid Vinyl on all of my nails except my ring finger, which is two coats of China Glaze Riveting.

I added one coat of Poshe quick-dry top coat. As I did, some of the China Glaze Riveting transferred to the brush and then to my nail as I was painting the next black nail, and it left behind a bit of the orange shimmer. I really loved the way it looked, so I decided to do some minor frankening: I mixed a bit of the two colors together on some wax paper and then painted that on top of the black nails so they’d all have a bit of the orange shimmer on them. Topped all of that off with Poshe when I was finished.

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

Then I added dots. I started with Ulta Snow White dots using the head of a pin, then used a small dotting tool for the inner dots: black on the orange nail, orange on the black nails. The accent nail almost looks like a bunch of googly eyes, don’t you think?

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

To make it matte, I added one coat of Essie Matte About You. Unfortunately I didn’t let it dry long enough before I applied it, and it smeared some of the dots. 😦 The matte effect wasn’t very strong, perhaps I needed to add more.

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

Here’s a look at the manicure before I added the matte top coat.

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

Halloween Dotticure Dotting Nail Art with China Glaze Riveting

Nail-aween Halloween Nail Art Challenge

Check out all of the NailAween Nail Art Artists!

Category:

Holiday, NOTD

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Enchanted Polish Magic Mirror

Here’s a look at a lovely holographic polish from one of the indie polish makers that put holos on the map, Enchanted Polish.

Enchanted Polish Magic Mirror holographic indie nail polish

This is Enchanted Polish Magic Mirror, a lavender holographic polish with some shy flakies in it. I’ve seen some photos where it does look gray or almost silver, more like a mirror as indicated by its name, but on the nail it is definitely in the purple family.

Enchanted Polish Magic Mirror holographic indie nail polish

These shots are from the summer, in happy, sunny natural light, which really shows the holographic nature of this polish at its best.

Enchanted Polish Magic Mirror holographic indie nail polish

Enchanted Polish Magic Mirror unfortunately is discontinued, but there are a few Enchanted Polish shades available now from Llarowe. Both Llarowe and Harlow and Co. are slated to get Enchanted Polish restocks within the next week or so.

Category:

Indies, NOTD, Swatches

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Dollish Polish Team Salvatore

Who knows what tonight is?!?! That’s right, the premiere of The Vampire Diaries! Woo hoo!

So it’s only appropriate to bust out Dollish Polish Team Salvatore, an indie polish inspired by the show. In case you missed my supernatural nails post from the 30-Day Challenge where I professed my love for all things vampire, here’s my vampire-themed manicure from last month.

Dollish Polish Team Salvatore over A-England Morgan Le Fay

If for some reason you don’t watch, then all you need to know is that it’s a show full of beautiful people, nearly all of whom are either vampires, witches, werewolves or somehow otherwise touched by the supernatural. It focuses on a love triangle between a girl (maybe now a vampire?) and two vampire brothers whose last name is Salvatore. Hence, Team Salvatore — why should we have to choose? (But who’s kidding who: Damon, Damon, Damon.)

Dollish Polish Team Salvatore over A-England Morgan Le Fay

Back to the polish, I bought it back in August but have been saving it for today. It’s got a mix of red, black and silver glitter, some square, some hex, some micro, all in a clear base. Honestly it’s not a polish that I was in love with from bottle shots and swatches, but I really wanted it anyway. But seeing it now on my nails, I really love it.

Dollish Polish Team Salvatore over A-England Morgan Le Fay

I saw a lot of swatches of it over black and over red, and some over white. I considered gray, which I still think would look great, but at the last minute, my bottle of A-England Morgan Le Fay called to me. I liked the idea of using white but not having to deal with annoying white polish application problems. A-England goes on like a dream, plus Morgan Le Fay has a beautiful shimmer that I thought would complement the glitter.

Dollish Polish Team Salvatore over A-England Morgan Le Fay

So this is two coats of A-England Morgan Le Fay, and then two coats of Dollish Polish Team Salvatore. I topped it off with one coat of Gelous to help smooth out the glitter and then one coat of Poshe fast-dry top coat.

Dollish Polish Team Salvatore over A-England Morgan Le Fay

Dollish Polish is available via Dolly’s store on Big Cartel.

Hope you like this manicure, and go Team Salvatore!

Category:

NOTD

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OPI Nein! Nein! OK Fine! with Berlin There Done That

I’ve got a quick picture-heavy post today to show of a few of the OPI Germany Collection polishes. These are both really great colors for fall.

OPI Nein! Nein! OK Fine! with Berlin There Done That

OPI Nein! Nein! OK Fine! with Berlin There Done That

I started with two coats of OPI Nein! Nein! OK Fine!, which is a dark greenish-gray creme. It looks almost black in some lighting. It went on very smoothly, so pretty. I don’t have anything like it in my collection but The Daily Varnish says it’s a near-dupe of China Glaze Concrete Catwalk.

OPI Nein! Nein! OK Fine! with Berlin There Done That

Then I added two coats of Berlin There Done That, a taupe creme, to my tips. I topped it off with one coat of Poshe fast-dry top coat.

Here’s a look at Nein! Nein! OK Fine! by itself, two coats, no top coat.

OPI Nein! Nein! OK Fine!OPI Nein! Nein! OK Fine!

Category:

NOTD, Swatches

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Polish Us Pink – Pink Glitter Gradient

As you’ve hopefully heard by now, October is breast cancer awareness month. Several nail polish bloggers have organized the Polish Us Pink campaign, through which they will be posting pink manicures on Mondays throughout the month to help raise awareness. I’m joining in with today’s pink glitter gradient, which is dedicated to my grandmother. She was a breast cancer survivor.

This manicure is similar to the silver and gold glitter gradient I did last month. There’s a link to a tutorial in that one if you want to learn more about the technique.

Pink Glitter Gradient Nail Art with Essie Luxeffects A Cut Above

I started with a clear base coat and then added Sonia Kashuk Smoke And Mirrors, a silver metallic, to my tips (in retrospect I wish I had started with a pink polish instead of the silver but at the time I wanted something metallic. I now think something shimmery pink would have been fine).

Pink Glitter Gradient Nail Art with Essie Luxeffects A Cut Above

I then brushed on Essie Luxeffects A Cut Above (medium and small pink hex glitter in a clear base), concentrating on the line where the tips met my nail to start the gradient.

I added on a little bit of OPI Mad As A Hatter, which is a much-coveted densely packed multi-glitter with pink, purple, silver and turquoise, spreading that to about the halfway mark.

Pink Glitter Gradient Nail Art with Essie Luxeffects A Cut Above

And to top it off I layered on Ulta After Party, which looks pink in the bottle but I think technically is just red and silver micro glitter, bringing that almost the the cuticle line.

Pink Glitter Gradient Nail Art with Essie Luxeffects A Cut Above

Blurry to show glittery goodness

For more about breast cancer, please visit  the breast cancer page on the American Cancer Society’s Web page, which has lots of information about mammograms, treatment and how to get involved with the fight for a cure.

Here’s a look at some of the other bloggers participating in Polish Us Pink. Please click here to see them:


Category:

NOTD

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Nail-aween Nail Art Challenge: Water Marble

So this is my Day 1 post for the Nail-aween Nail Art Challenge from datyorkLOVES/SassyNails. There are 10 themes and I have to complete all of them by the end of October, but other than that, it’s self-paced.

So today’s theme is water marble. I’m not that happy with the way it came out. I tried to fix it, and I think that made it worse. Alas.

Halloween Water Marble Nail Art

I started with two coats of Ulta Snow White and then moved on to the water marble. I went with Halloween colors: black – Orly Liquid Vinyl; orange – Zoya Jancyn; purple – Sally Hansen Rock Hard; and white – Ulta Snow White.

Halloween Water Marble Nail Art

When I was done, I thought some of them looked a little messy so I tried to camouflage with some dots, using Sally Hansen Rock Hard. The polish was a bit on the sheer side, so then I started with a dot of Ulta Snow White and laid a dot of Rock Hard on top of it. Mistake. They didn’t look that great, and the smeared a bit on my index finger when I added a coat of Poshe fast dry top coat, making it look messier than it really was. I should have just left well enough alone and not tried to add the dots.

Halloween Water Marble Nail Art

Cleanup was a little tough with this; I suppose that’s par for the course.

Halloween Water Marble Nail Art

I did like the way the middle finger came out,and the ring finger almost looked like a spider web.

Nail-aween Halloween Nail Art Challenge

Check out all of the NailAween Nail Art Artists!

Category:

Holiday, NOTD, Water Marbling

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Sinful Colors Zincing Of You Leopard Print Nail Art

Wow, I definitely needed a day off after the manic posting schedule that was the 30 Day Challenge. But I’m back in the saddle today with my first leopard print manicure.

Sinful Colors Zincing Of You Leopard Print Nail Art

I started with two coats of Sinful Colors Zincing Of You from the new Hot Flash Metallics fall collection. It’s a sparkly taupe with a foil finish. Really pretty!

I’ve seen a lot of tutorials for leopard print manicures, but I used this video tutorial from CutePolish.

Sinful Colors Zincing Of You Leopard Print Nail Art

For the spots, I used Cos Bar Bronze from the Shops At Target collection. It was a little sheer, though, so I had to double up the dots. The black is Orly Liquid Vinyl, applied with a small dotting tool. It’s topped off with one coat of Poshe fast-dry top coat.

Sinful Colors Zincing Of You Leopard Print Nail Art

This is pretty quick and easy as far as nail art goes, just dab and dot!

(For more animal prints, see my zebra stripe french tips manicure.)

Sinful Colors Zincing Of You Leopard Print Nail Art

Here’s a look at Sinful Colors Zincing Of You on its own.

Sinful Colors Zincing Of YouSinful Colors Zincing Of You

Are you falling in love with the fall metallics trend?

Category:

NOTD, Swatches

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