One thing I love about late spring and early summer in Georgia is how green everything looks on rainy days. My back yard is a semi-intentional nature preserve, so it's full of lush greens in every shade when the world is wet. I did my nails on such a day, and this is the result. (I took the pictures that day as well, which is why they all turned out blurry.)
For the background color, I used OPI Here Today...Aragon Tomorrow. It's very dark, but definitely still looks green, particularly in the light. On top, I stamped a circular leaf pattern from Red Angel plate RA-120 with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Mint Sprint. After the fact, I think this would have looked better if I used two more similar greens. Aragon Tomorrow is a yellow based green, where as Mint Sprint is much bluer, but I was still pretty happy with the result.
You can see the base color better in this one.
How much do the seasons influence what you wear on your nails? What kind of seasonal nails do you like?
I've been feeling a little down this week, so I decided to let my inner ten year old do my nails. Seriously, I had a bedspread very similar to this when I was that age.
The base color for this is Revlon Colorstay Coastal Surf. I've been wanting a bright blue like this for a while, but it chipped on the first day! Boooooo! On top of that I put a coat of ELF Twinkle, which has tiny, multi-colored glitter in it that you can't really see in this picture.
Right side up
Finally, I stamped the two unicorns from Chez Delaney plate D10 using Konad Pearl White and added an iridescent jewel. In this next picture you can see the sparkles in Twinkle.
I've seen lots of examples of ombre nails over the last year or so, but it didn't seem like I had enough polishes in similar colors to do it. My best possibilities seemed likely to be blue or purple, since I have the most polishes in those colors, but the shades are all over the place. I was surprised to find, that I had a perfect line up of pinks, even though I don't wear pink nearly as often.
From pinky to thumb (lightest to darkest), these are Revlon Scented Cotton Candy, NYC Wall Street, Color Club Gum Yum, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Presto Pink, and Wet 'n' Wild Lavender Pearlescent.
I think I probably should have reversed the colors on my middle and ring fingers, but Gum Yum is so much brighter that it sort of reads as darker than it is. In fact, it was so much brighter than the others that I put a thin coat of the much sheerer Wall Street over it to tone things down a little.
Have you tried this? What colors do you have enough of to try it?
Today's mani is my attempt to recreate Deborah Lippman Across the Universe using less expensive polishes. I'm not often tempted by higher end polishes, which for me means anything more expensive than OPI at about $8, because I don't feel like there's enough difference to justify the price point. However, when someone else let me use her Across the Universe, I loved it. I've been on the lookout for a way to make it happen that would be a little more accessible for me.
This is one coat of Milani Teal over one coat of Revlon Top Speed Royal. It doesn't show up as well in the photos, but in person it actually looked a lot like Across the Universe. The main difference was that it doesn't have the effect that the glitter is floating in blue that the original polish has.
On the other hand, the glitter is really, really close. I think if I had a nice, dark blue jelly to layer this between, it would be perfect. A little Googling has revealed that Ruby Kisses has a couple of dark blue jellies, so I'm going to try to stop by the local independent beauty store and look for some of those soon.
Today's mani was inspired by the new biggest source of not getting other things done: Coin 'n Carry (this is a referral link to note that I sent you). The premise of the game is that you're a shopkeeper, who needs to make money and increase the popularity of your shop. To do that, you play mini-games that reward you with resources you can use to make items to sell in your shop. The mini-games are quick and fun, and the shopkeeping requires a bit of strategy. So, best of both worlds. If my blogging pace slows down, blame this. Here's a short demo video.
And now, on with the nails. For each nail, I chose something from one of the mini-games to stamp on. I was having trouble making my pinky design show up, so I decided to go back over it with my dotting tools. Now, it looks awful. Seriously. Don't look at it.
The base polish for all my nails is KleanColor Blue Pearl. The stamp designs and polishes are:
Thumb: Crab - Fauxnad B78, China Glaze Aztec Orange; Crown - Bundle Monster BM08, Sally Hansen Color Quick Gold Chrome
Index: Strawberry BM05, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Rapid Red
Middle: Diamonds BM09, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White
Ring: Lime BM04, Revlon Top Speed Emerald
Pinky: Hearts and Clovers BM 03, Revlon Top Speed Bubble and Emerald; Stars BM14, KleanColor Neon Yellow
I won't explain what games these symbols come from; you should come play and find out. However, I do want to note that there's a crown on my thumb because I currently have the month's highest score in The Claw, which involves grabbing sea creatures out of the water. The crab gives you the most points, and I attribute my success to muttering "crab grab" under my breath while launching my claw at it.
So, if you decide to come play, leave a comment or email me at the address in my profile with your shopkeeper name so I can add you to my friends. Just don't plan on beating me at The Claw!
China Glaze Instant Chemistry is the last of the three Magnetix polishes that I got a couple of months ago. (You can see the first two here.)
I definitely had the most trouble getting the pattern to show up with this one and the final result is more subtle. The color is really pretty, a very dark metallic berry, so I don't mind too much. On the other hand, if you really want to see the magnetic pattern stand out (and why else would you be buying magnetic polish?), I'd recommend going for one of the other colors in this collection.
It turns out thatPull Me Closewas my surprise favorite from this collection. What did everyone else think?
As you know by now, I recently got really into The Hunger Games. When China Glaze came out with their Hunger Games polishes, it gave me all kinds of ideas for themed manis. The first one was inspired by Katniss, and this one is based on Rue. Specifically, it's based on Katniss' tribute to Rue.
The base color is, appropriately, China Glaze Agro, the District 8 color from the Hunger Games collection. I absolutely love this color; in fact, it was my favorite from the collection. It has some gorgeous, if subtle, multi-colored shimmer that you can't really see in my photos.
The texture on this seemed like a dream going on - it could almost have been a one coat polish - but it bubbled a lot afterwards. So, I'll probably thin it a little next time I wear it.
I did the stamping with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Whirlwind White and finished off with a few flower-shaped jewels in two sizes.
My cuticles could have used a little work, but I'm happy with how the mani turned out.
