Mix and Match Mani

Today's manicure has a little bit of everything - I used crème polishes, metallic polishes, glitter polishes, nail stamping, light colours, darker colours, and two different but complimentary manicures on each hand! 

Purple Water Marble and Stamping Mani

Today, I have yet another water marble decal mani to share:

Purple Water Marble and Stamping Mani

Polishes Used:
Finger Paints 'Violaceous Vase'
NYC 'Water Street Blue'
China Glaze 'Lotus Begin'
NYC 'Sidewalkers'
NYC 'Prince Street'
NYC 'NY Blues'

Plate Used:
Pueen PUEEN 57

I really love the colour palette of this manicure!  Lotus begin is such a lovely light purple, and the other colours work beautifully with it! It was also really fun to do a multi-coloured stamp for the first time in a while. I used the effect on my middle finger, and I love the way it turned out!

Crackle Polish Challenge #13 - Dragonfly Double Crackle Mani

2015 Crackle Polish Challenge Manicure #13

Featured crackle application:
Layering a crackle decal over a crackle background to achieve a 'crackle on crackle' effect

Featured crackle polish:
Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat 'Vintage Violet'

Dragonfly Double Crackle Mani

Polishes Used
    Crackle Decal:
        Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat 'Vintage Violet'
        Wet n Wild Wild Shine 'Bijou Blue' (also used as base coat under glitter)
    Glitter:
        Finger Paints 'Daubigny's Garden'
    Crackle Background:
        Sally Hansen Color Foil 'Minted Metal'
        Nicole by OPI 'Gold Texture'
    Solid Nails:
        Nicole by OPI 'Canadian Star', from the Justin Bieber Collection

I chose dragonfly themed colours for this manicure. They are are a combination of cool, shimmery and iridescent polishes. Here's a picture of the bottles.

Polishes Used

This was quite an elaborate manicure to do. The most time consuming part was making the nail polish decals.  To do this, I spread a large swath of (an inexpensive) nail polish over a flat piece of plastic. I used one of the flat sides from one those annoyingly difficult to open transparent rigid plastic packages that pretty much everything you buy these days seems to come encased in. It was great to find a use for them other than accidentally cutting myself, and frustrating me to no end! LOL!

After the polish was completely dry, I put a few different crackle polishes over the swath. When that was completely dry, I attempted to remove the polish from the plastic. At first, I was trying to peel the polish away from the plastic. I had a little difficulty with this method, so I added a layer of topcoat, to try to make it a bit more pliable. I was then able to peel and lift the polish when it dried.

I actually made two crackle sheets, using different base polishes. Due to all of the problems I had with the first sheet, I tried a different removal method for the second sheet. For that one, I tried bending the plastic backwards, along the edge of the dried polish. It worked like a charm - the polish lifted easily and cleanly without topcoat.

The next step was to cut the dried polish into shapes using hole punches. I made heart shapes, and dragon fly shapes since those are the 2 decorative punches that I have. After that, the decals were ready to be applied. I also have a bunch left over, for future manicures.

I've included a pictorial tutorial below:

Here is another collage showing different pictures of the manicure. The thumb close up shots give a better view of the green and gold crackle background, under the decal.

This manicure was a lot of fun to do, and I really like how it turned out! So far, this is one of my favourites from the challenge!

Crackle Polish Challenge #1: Crazy Decal Mani

2015 Crackle Polish Challenge Manicure #1

Featured crackle application: Background for nail decals

Featured crackle polish: OPI 'Turquoise Shatter'

Today's manicure is the first instalment of the '2015 Crackle Polish Challenge'!  My first idea was to use crackle polish as the background over which I would place nail stamping decals made using advanced stamping technique. The finished look is a bit clashy, but it was a lot of fun to make, and to wear!

Crackle Base

Polishes Used:
OPI 'Turquoise Shatter' and Finger Paints 'Margarita Mambo'

The teal and chartreuse crackle base kind of reminds me of watermelons! Appropriately, I have a cute watermelon wedge on my right index finger! I love the combination, however in hindsight, I should have used more neutral colours since the decals are already so colourful. A black/gray crackle base, or white/gray, black/white, or any of those colours with silver would have been nice. This might call for a do-over! Here is a picture of what the base looked like before the decals were applied, followed by a collage of all of the polishes I used:

Decals

I used 18 different polishes for the decals in addition to the 2 that I used for the base coat. I've listed them along with the decal images they were used for.

Polishes Used:
Konad Special Polish in Black was used for the outline of all of the decals

Teddy Bear Head (left thumb) - 1:

Detailed Breakdown of Polishes Used

Sinful Colors 'On the Bright Side'
Sinful Colors 'Nirvana'
Sinful Colors 'Daisy Daze'
China Glaze 'Feel the Breeze'

Lollipop (left index) - 2:
Sinful Colors 'Cream Soda'
China Glaze 'White on White'
Sinful Colors 'Decadent'

Cat Head (left middle) - 3:
China Glaze 'White on White'

Cat (left ring) - 4:
Sinful Colors 'Energetic Red'

Wrapped Candy (left pinky) - 5:
Sinful Colors 'Cinderella'

Carrot (right pinky) - 6:
Sinful Colors 'Citrine'
Sinful Colors 'Exotic Green'

Bowl of Rice (right ring) - 7:
China Glaze 'Be More Pacific'
China Glaze 'White on White'

Dog? (right middle) - 8:
China Glaze 'Pelican Gray'

Watermelon (right index) - 9:
China Glaze 'Rose Among Thorns
Finger Paints 'Louvre This Pink'
Finger Paints 'Art You Wondering'

Cupcake (right thumb) - 10:
China Glaze 'Don't Honk Your Thorn'
China Glaze 'Feel the Breeze'

Plate Used:
Moyou London Suki Collection Plate 03

Overall, I really enjoyed making the decals for this manicure. I've been wanting to use this particular Moyou London plate to make coloured decals for ages - It feels great to finally be able to cross that off my list! Also, I think that the 20 polishes that I used in this mani may be a personal record for me!

Swatches from my Black Friday Dollar Polish Haul!!!

Today I have some polish swatches to share from my big 'Black Friday' haul a couple of weeks ago. Originally, I planned not to do a haul post, because sometimes they can be a bit boring. However, I changed my mind because I recently decided to swatch all of the colours that I got during the sale, so I thought that I might as well post the swatches!

As I mentioned in my 'Black Friday Mani' post, I purchased some polishes at Sally Beauty Supply for only one dollar each.  I purchased 23 bottles in total: 5 Finger Paints, 6 China Glazes, and 12 Orlys. Here are pictures of the bottles, and the swatches grouped by brand. The polish names correspond to the bottles' order in the picture from left to right.

Finger Paints:
'Hollywood Decadence', 'Tails of Love', 'Margarita Mambo', 'Mistful Thinking', and 'Kitchy Tangerine'.

I just love the three bright citrus colours on the right side of the nail wheel: the shimmery lime green, lemon yellow and tangerine orange are all colours that I will definitely enjoy using.  The muted, matte glitter, 'Hollywood Decadence', and the textured teal 'Tails of Love', are a bit off the beaten path compared to my regular tastes, but these kinds of sales are a great opportunity for me to try new things with minimal investment. The glitter might make a nice accent finger for a grey or silver manicure, while the teal reminds me of a mermaid's tail. That could be interesting for an ocean themed mani.

China Glaze:
'Stop that Train!', 'Seeing Red', 'Intelligence, Integrity & Courage', 'But of Corpse', 'Rest in Pieces', and 'Getting to Gnaw You'.

For this set of swatches, I know the reds and grey will get a lot of use. I'm also really excited to have obtained the more adventurous Halloween shades on the left at this amazing price. I originally passed on the shades during their initial release, because they aren't polishes that I would use on their own on a regular basis, so I could't justify paying full price for them. However they will be great for nail art, so I'm so happy to have them now! 

With Christmas coming, I can see myself using the green, 'But of Corpse', as a textured tree or wreath. The glitter, 'Rest in Pieces', reminds me of crumpled leaves, and bits of sticks - like if you dropped something on a forest floor in autumn, the little bits of stuff that would stick to it! That might come in handy in a fall themed mani. The last shade, 'Getting to Gnaw You', might actually pass as an edgy, sophisticated year round look with lots of topcoat to even the surface.  It also would look nice as wood, soil, or other natural textures in nail art - like tree trunks, pine cones, acorns, etc.

Orly:
  Darks and Purples
    'Goth', 'Wild Wisteria', 'Royal Velvet', 'Darkest Shadow', 'Close Your Eyes', and 'Blend'

I love all of these colours, and I know they will get a lot of use.  The only one I would normally not buy if it weren't for the great price is 'Close Your Eyes', the medium purple/plum second from the right.  I normally avoid wearing medium purples for a full mani, because I don't think that they compliment my skin tone very well. However, purple is a great colour for nail art, and it will incorporate nicely into a variety of colour schemes.

  Neutrals
     'Pink Nude', 'Orly Platinum', and 'Highlight'

I don't think you can ever go wrong with neutrals.  On their own, they are timeless, elegant, and great for any occasion.  Also, they are a great foundation for nail art.  

  Brights
     'Hawaiian Punch', 'Hot Tropics', and 'Hook Up'

The yellow polish, 'Hook Up', will be fantastic either as a full mani, or incorporated into nail art. I'm more likely to use the pinks in nail art though, just because I find them a little boring on their own. That's not to knock the polishes, because they are nice shades. However, I generally find it hard to get excited about dark pinks and reds simply because they are probably the most common nail polish colours. Don't get me wrong, they will get used - it's just that I prefer to use more creative approaches with these colours in order to freshen up the look.

And so, that's the end of of what is probably one of my longest ever posts! And here we have yet another reason why I'm not usually a big fan of haul posts - they take so long to do! LOL!

Anyways, I'm planning to do holiday-themed nail art for the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned to see what I come up with!