31 Day Challenge: Day 24

Hi guys!
Today I'm going to be showing you what I think is my best design thus far for the challenge.

The theme is Inspired by a Book, and I knew exactly which book to choose!
My favorite author is Ellen Hopkins so of course I had to do one of her books. I even have an autographed book from her!

Coincidentally, her latest one just released 2 weeks ago on my birthday! I haven't had time to go buy it yet, but I did these nails inspired by the cover art!

I. Love. These. Nails.

I couldn't stop staring at them. They were so fast and easy and so visually pleasing!

Here are the polishes I used to create this look:

The base color is one of my all-time favorites, OPI Skull and Glossbones. (I recently bought the full-size bottle of this because the mini is not enough!)
For the coloring I used L.A. Colors Color Craze in Static Electricity & Nuclear Energy, plus elf Dark Navy & Dark Glitter Purple.

To create the messy watercolor look, I first mixed small amounts of the L.A. Colors polishes with clear polish on some paper. Using a dry brush I smeared some messily onto my nails. This made the polish really thin and give it just a hint of color.

Then, again with a dry brush, I smeared on some of the deeper elf colors and just quickly brushed them on to make them messy and splatter-ish.

Sadly, I did these nails and had to take them off 10 minutes later because they weren't an appropriate mani for where I had to go that day. Boo hoo.
I need to do this again and be able to appreciate the mani for more than 10 minutes!

What do you guys think? Did I capture the book cover well? Would you wear this grungey look?

german giveaway swatch spam part 3

Hey everyone! Welcome to the third and final swatch spam from the giveaway I won at From Head To Foot.
It took me a long time to get the third part done because I wanted to swatch the holographic ones on a sunny day!
And we have had terrible weather here in Newfoundland. So terrible. I actually had to wear a coat a few days ago. Cold and rainy and foggy, probably one of the worst June/July's ever.
Today it was supposed to rain, but then the sun came out! And I ran to my holo stash! Haha.

I'll show you the non-holographic ones first.

L.A. Colors - Metallic Purple. This is a really glittery foil polish, pinkish purple, but it's so shimmery that it mostly seems silver.

I don't own anything with this intense foil/shimmer finish! It's pretty cool. One coat.
I did a stamping test:

It works pretty well!

Flormar - 393 is a glitter topcoat.

It consists of mostly silver and red glitter, with a bit of blue and green. It's a strange combo! But I like it.

This is one thick coat of it over Catrice's Dirty Berry (swatch of that to come tomorrow.)
The glitter is sparse so it won't cover on its own, you need to layer it.

Any glitter is good with me.

Etos Effect Nails - 006. Standard streaky yellow creme. This is 3 coats but it needs more as you can see.

Now for the holos!!

I love the bottles, they're so cute.

Etos Effect Nails - 010. Purple holo! The holo isn't very strong, it is sort of linear and sort of scattered. 2 coats.

I love purple. I love holographics. I love purple holographics.

010 is very close in color to OPI - DS Original, but not as holo. (The other bottles pictured are Milani 3D - Hi-Res and China Glaze - Gamer Glam.)

Etos Effect Nails - 011. Normally I don't like orange but this shade of orange is okay with me! This one is a bit weaker than the first in regards to holographic effect.

Same as the first - 2 coats.

Very similar in color to China Glaze - TTYL but as you can see, not nearly as linear.
(I will be swatching my OMG collection polishes as soon as we have a day that is supposed to be sunny all day so I can take my time and do it well!)

Etos Effect Nails - 013. Raspberry holo! Again, 2 coats.

Again, not as strong as the purple one, but still holo.

Here's how it compares to other pink holos.
OPI - DS Signature, Teeez - Smooth, Etos Effect Nails - 013, China Glaze - QT, China Glaze - TMI.
(Swatches of the rest of those coming soon!)
It's close to Smooth and Signature but the CG ones are a bit more on the red side.

Once I get all my OMG's swatched, I'll need to make a holo comparison wheel! Haha.

Thank you once again, Martina! I'm so happy to have had the chance to try all these brands!

L.A. Colors Color Craze and Art Deco swatches

Hey guys! I meant to post way earlier but I got caught up doing submissions for More Nail Polish's franken contest and Swaafie's nail art contest! And tomorrow I'll be doing a submission for Leslie aka Nail Polish Art Addiction's nail art contest!
Everyone check out those contests.
When voting begins I'll be sure to show you my submissions :)

I also got caught up making swap packages! Swaps are fun but I am done swapping for a while, it got a little out of hand. Haha.

Today I'm going to show you all my L.A. Colors nail polishes.
This does not include L.A. Girl. (They are the same company right?)
Anyway. I have 5 Color Craze polishes and 2 Art Deco polishes.

 I'm going to start with my favorite - Sea Siren.

You might remember this polish from my 10 favorite polishes post.
Sea Siren is an awesome one-coat teal polish. It seems a bit streaky in the photo but it isn't. Beautiful polish. Still one of my faves for sure.
It is a bit hard to capture the color.

It is almost neon, and has a bit of lovely shimmer. I think my picture from the favorite nails post is the most accurate so I'll post it again here:

Love love love.
The rest of the Color Craze polishes I own are jellies.

Atomic is a teal jelly. VNL after 3 coats. Really pretty color though!

Static Electricity is a royal blue jelly, still sheer at 3 coats. Really nice color though.
I think these shades are better on short nails because the VNL is not as obvious.

Nuclear Energy. Again, sheer, 3 coats. Nice deep-but-vibrant purple.

Hot Blooded. I cannot refrain from singing the song Hot Blooded when I see this polish/talk about it.
Hot blooded, check it and seeeeee.
Okay. This one is only 2 coats but still sheer. True red jelly.

That's all for Color Craze!
Everyone should buy Sea Siren. If you can find it. Since I bought this bottle I have never seen another in any L.A. Colors display.
The rest aren't great, and they take a while to dry because of the 3 coats. But jelly lovers will love them!

Now for Art Deco. These aren't really swatches I guess but showing what they are.

I only have 2 Art Deco polishes. Black and Silver Glitter.
The silver one is great but the black one sucks now.
After you use these for a few weeks, doing things like zebra and leopard, they get super gloopy and unusable because when you do detailed patterns you end up leaving the bottle open for too long.
I don't use the black one anymore, I should probably throw it out. No amount of thinner makes it useable really. I started using this brush in Wet N Wild Black creme but now that I have nail art brushes, this one is not needed anymore.

The brushes are really thin and good for nail art. But not excessive nail art, because like I said, they dry up.

The silver glitter is all small silver glitter, all the same size, no holo. Nice for detailing.

That's all my swatches for today!
Now here is a sneak preview of my upcoming DS Original post.
(If we ever get sun. Tomorrow is June, yet today it was so cold I had to wear my winter coat. Pathetic.)

Soooooo holooooooo.

girly leopard tips

Hiiii to my new followers - I got 18 in the last 24 hours or so. Wow!

I'm not sure how I feel about the nails I'm about to show you.

I wore them 2 weeks ago or so, and this type of design just isn't my thing!

They're pretty, but I think I should have made the diagonal tip a bit less thick. 

But I had to cover up my stains! Haha.

I think it would have looked a lot better if perhaps I put the glitter on top of the edge of the blue instead of next to it. Wouldn't have been so big that way.

Here is what I used:

Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - White On

L.A. Colors Art Deco - Silver Glitter

China Glaze - For Audrey

I freehanded diagonal tips across my nails with For Audrey, let that dry, and stamped from Konad m57 diagonally across the nail so I wouldn't have to do much cleanup. I added a line of the Silver Glitter to define the tip.

One coat of Seche Vite and it was finished!

I have yet to do a french tip design, normal or diagonal, that I really like. 

My nails are so long right now, I should try another!

Maybe I'll give it a go tonight if I manage to get enough studying done while I'm at work today!

I promise my posts will improve again once I'm done exams!

bundle monster contest!

Hey guys, as a lot of you might already know, Bundle Monster is having a nail art contest where 25 lucky girls are going to win their new set of 25 stamping plates!
I entered my submission today, and I figured I would do a post about it now!

I redid nails you have seen before, but they were on short nails and it was a crappy picture. And my technique wasn't so good!
I love these nails so much, and they use Bundle Monster plate bm16, so they were the perfect entry!

Here is the photo I submitted. (With watermark added.)

(click to enlarge)

I used:
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Power Pink
Color Club - Pucci-licious
L.A. Colors Color Craze - Static Electricity
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Blue Me Away!
Wet N Wild Wild Shine - Black Creme (for stamping)

I used a cosmetic sponge to make the gradient, and a thick coat of Seche Vite to make it all even better!

I was a little weary of entering because you're not allowed to use a watermark, I really hope no one tries to steal my photo!

The voting starts on the 10th I believe, I hope all you lovely people will vote for me!
I'll be sure to post a link when the time comes.

my favorite nail polishes - part 2

Here is part 2! Top 5 faves!

#5: Color Club - Wild At Heart
This color is a fairly recent addition to my collection and I am very happy about it.
I found the Wild At Heart 7 piece set at Winners randomly (I also got Poptastic and Untamed Luxury there a few months ago.) I immediatly put this color on and was in love.
This is a dark purple shade, that in certain lights is very holographic.
The holo leans towards red/orange/yellow but can also show cooler tones depending on the light.
3 coats for full opacity, 2 maybe if you are really careful. This polish also dries really quickly!

#4: OPI - Absolutely Alice
This is from the Alice In Wonderland collection. I somehow lucked into getting this and its counterpart, Mad as a Hatter, in a local drug store long after they had been released and people in the states were sad about it being all gone.
I originally went there for MAAH, and Alice was there too. These were my first OPI's, so I was a little weary of the price, but I ended up buying both because I figured I would regret it if I passed it up.
I am so happy I didn't leave her behind!
The application on these isn't the easiest, you need 3 thick coats for full coverage, and it is a bitch to get this out of your cuticles when you clean up, but I think the hassle is worth the gorgeous royal blue glitter.
Even after the 6 glitters came out for burlesque, this is still my favorite. (runner ups? Bring on the Bling, Show It And Glow It)

#3: LA Colors Color Craze - Sea Siren
I bought this color at a local clothing store, it caught my eye on the counter as I was checking out.
I had no idea it was going to be as gorgeous as it is!
Totally opaque in one amazing coat.
Gorgeous turquoise polish with turquoise shimmer.
If I could find another bottle of this, I would buy it instantly, but in the few stores around that sell Color Craze I have never seen a second bottle. (And I have been looking. A lot.)

#2: Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Trouble Maker
This is something I picked up just because I love the name. (Weezer, anyone?)
And I ended up falling in love.
This is a dark purple creme. Beautiful application, totally opaque in 2 easy coats.
I'm also kinda fond of the brush in these polishes, it is really easy to use.
I love this color so much I could wear it over and over with no art!
(The nail I painted this on had bumps in it, I promise it's not the polish!)

#1: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Power Pink
Yes, my all time favorite nail polish is one that costs $2 at Walmart.
I actually have three bottles of this just in case they stop carrying it.
This is the only nail polish I have multiples of! (Except for Wet N Wild - Black Creme for my konad and Black Shatter, so this is my only real color that I have multiples of.)
I just think it is the perfect pink. It is a medium pink, not too hot, not too cool, with really really subtle pink shimmer. You basically can only see the shimmer in the bottle or when it is used as a mani alone. I use this so often. I love it. Worth the $2 for sure.
The application is good too - this is two coats.

 

Okay, that's all!
Surprised by my top 10? Love my top 10?

I think my favorite colors to wear are pretty evident, haha!

teal & hidden treasure!

So my most faithful reader, Jess, wondered what Hidden Treasure would look like over teal.
Ask and you shall receive!

Pretty!
Left to right: LA Colors Color Craze - Sea Siren, Atomic, and OPI - Ski Teal We Drop.
I don't see how Ski Teal We Drop is actually teal, but it's in the name, so I included it!

The hidden treasure kinda got lost against the lighter colors. It was hard to get this picture and it wasn't visible IRL unless you turn your nails around to reflect different lights.
When I could see it, it was lovely!

Here is how it looked most of the time.

Pretty much always visible on the darker color but not so much on the others.

Did that satisfy you, Jess? I hope so!