Essie 'Ballet Slippers'

I couldn't possibly choose any other polish today...

Neutral Manicure with Chunky Gold Glitter

I did an impromptu manicure this morning, using one of the oldest polishes in my collection:

 

Back in the day, I really used to love Revlon's selection of sheer neutral polishes. I used to use them a lot for French manicures, or on their own for a subtle, polished look. I still have 'Sheer Nude - 004' (which used to be my absolute favourite), 'Sheer Blush - 005', 'Sheer Innocence - 013' and 'Sheer Cotton Candy -030', all of which I purchased approximately 10 (or perhaps even more) years ago.



My Revlon Sheer Neutral Polishes

Over the years, I've experimented with quite a few other brands of sheer neutral polishes, and these Revlon's have fallen out of regular rotation. I'm pleased to see that they have held up quite well over the years, and are still usable. The only thing is that they have become a bit more thin than I remember them being initially. I decided to use one of them, 'Sheer Innocence' to do today's quick and simple manicure, along with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear 'Set the Stage'.



Polishes Used: 'Set the Stage', and 'Sheer Innocence'

Neutral Manicure with a Twist

This manicure was designed around two polishes from the Nicole by OPI Carrie Underwood line of nail polishes. The colours were 'Southern Charm', a magnificent pinky-tan neutral shade, and 'Carrie'd Away' a slightly textured gold glitter polish. These polishes were released in early 2014. I think I bought them sometime around last summer, but I'm only getting around to trying them out now!

Polishes Used	Plate Used
Nicole By OPI ‘Southern Charm’
OPI ‘Midnight in Moscow’	Pueen Buffet Leisure Collection:
OPI ‘Chick Flick Cherry’	PUEEN97
Nicole By OPI ‘Carrie’d Away’

Design-wise, I kind of just threw this look together. After painting my nails with the two main polishes, I decided I had to add a little more visual interest to the look, so I added the stamping and colouring on my middle finger, and the dotting on my thumb. 

Overall, I like the finished look. It's not one of my favourite manicures ever, but I do think it turned out OK. Also, I was really impressed by 'Southern Charm'.  This turned out to be an extremely natural looking neutral shade for me, as the colour is quite close to the colour of my natural nail bed. It's so fantastic! 

Modified Anniversary Mani

Today I have a modified version of my 'First Blog Anniversary' manicure from my last post:

I toned-down the manicure by changing the thumb, index, and middle fingers to a neutral polish, and then I stamped a design on the middle finger in gold, to tie the whole look together.

Polishes Used	Plate Used
Essie ‘Brides to Be’	Messy Mansion Leadlight Lacquer
Orly ‘Halo’	- Plate A01
Sally Hansen Color Foil ‘Liquid Gold’

The neutral polish that I used was 'Brides to Be' from Essie's 2015 Bridal Collection. It's a beautiful creamy taupe colour, that looks like a lighter shade of the same colour of my natural nail bed. The glitter polish is Orly 'Halo' from their 2012 'Naughty or Nice' holiday collection. It contains a mix of gold and silver glitter particles. The metallic gold polish that I used for stamping is one of my most used polishes - Sally Hansen Color Foil 'Liquid Gold'.

Overall, I'm really happy with the way that this manicure turned out. It gives a nice 'muted bling' effect that looks both casual, and elegant all at once. Also, it's always nice to be able to get two looks out of one manicure!

Vintage floral print mani

Today I have a quick and easy vintage-looking floral print nail-stamping manicure to share with you:

The base colour is OPI's 'Hands off my Kielbasa' from the Spring 2013 Euro Centrale Collection. I recently purchased this polish on clearance at a beauty supply store. It's a shimmery bronzy-pinky-tan colour, and I have nothing like it in my collection. It's not the type of colour that I would usually gravitate towards, but for the price, I thought I would give it a try. It's a very neutral, understated look on me, so it probably is going to get most of its use as a base for nail art.

For this manicure I paired '...Kielbasa' with a black polish using a floral print stamping image. The end result reminds me of a vintage, ornately-patterned, silk curtain or wallpaper!

Polishes Used	Plate Used
OPI ‘Hands off my Kielbasa!’	Messy Mansion MM46 ‘Flowers Theme’
Konad Special Polish in Black

If I had to do it again, the only thing that I would change about this look would be to add some sort of black or predominantly black accent nail - just to spice up the look a little!