Saturday 29 August 2015

August Challenges - a rather long summary post mostly of #clairestelle8august

So here we go with the August challenges. A bit different to my usual format, it will be a long post with just a few words between the pictures, and only one picture per mani (or maybe 2)

So I started with Golden Rose Holiday 77, which was one of the 8 textured polishes I bought in Turkey, and huge thanks to my lovely friend Iva who told me about them!!
Golden Rose Holiday 77
Golden Rose Holiday 77
The first challenge was Gradient so I did a gradient with Golden Rose Holiday 77 and 79, stunning textures!
Golden Rose Holiday 77 and 79
Golden Rose Holiday 77 and 79 
The next challenge was Hawaiian, so I stamped Vivid Lacquer VL014 with Kleancolor Neon Sapphire over my gradient. This wasn't a huge success but since I hadn't top coated the textured gradient I had no choice but to run with it.
Vivid lacquer VL 014 and Kleancolor Neon Sapphire
Vivid lacquer VL 014 and Kleancolor Neon Sapphire
Then I added some cute dragonflies from Vivid Lacquer VL014 with Hit the Bottle Snowed Under
Vivid Lacquer VL014 with Hit the Bottle Snowed Under
Vivid Lacquer VL014 with Hit the Bottle Snowed Under
And then I added topcoat! the white seems to melt into the blue and I really liked what I ended up with!
Vivid Lacquer VL014 with Hit the Bottle Snowed Under
Vivid Lacquer VL014 with Hit the Bottle Snowed Under
The next challenge was Aztec and I used Apipila 09 and Kleancolor Madly Black over Polished by KPT Swimming with Mermaids. Swimming with Mermaids is a thermal so you'll need a quick shot of that in its transition phase - it's beautiful! and then the Azetc stamping.
Polished by KPT Swimming with Mermaids
Polished by KPT Swimming with Mermaids
Apipila 09 and Kleancolor Madly Black
Apipila 09 and Kleancolor Madly Black
Apipila 09 and Kleancolor Madly Black
The next challnge was Green, so slightly in the wrong order here is the base of the Aztec mani, the beautiful Swimming with Mermaids in its cold stage.
Polished by KPT Swimming with Mermaids
Polished by KPT Swimming with Mermaids
- cold
The next mani was really just an addition to the Aztec theme. I used the same Apipila plate and Essence Stampy 001 to add some white stamping. The image was quite small but I wanted to cover the nail so I had a go at sort of rolling the image onto the nail so it stretched a bit - that needs some practice!
Apipila 09 and Essence Stampy 001
Apipila 09 and Essence Stampy 001
The next mani I did was another green one - such a lovely green with fine blue particles - and it applied like a dream.
El Corazon Kaleidoscope Spring Green 07
El Corazon Kaleidoscope Spring Green 07
The next challenge was Beach Towel and I did this in two stages - firstly stamping stripes with Lealac LLC A, Kleancolor Concrete Gray and Hit the Bottle Purple Reign over the Kaleidoscope mani.
Lealac LLC A, Kleancolor Concrete Gray and  Hit the Bottle Purple Reign
Lealac LLC A, Kleancolor Concrete Gray and
 Hit the Bottle Purple Reign
For the second stage, inspired by my daughter's beach towel, I stamped with A England Lancelot and Apipila Super Plate B.
A England Lancelot and Apipila Super Plate B
The next challenge was Triangles - I was quite surprised how few plates I had with triangles on - I love this one though - Messy Mansion Leadlight Lacquer A06 stamped with Hit the Bottle Snowed Under - and yes, I stamped this on top of the beach towel mani.
Mesy Mansion LL A06 and  Hit the Bottle Snowed Under
Mesy Mansion LL A06 and
 Hit the Bottle Snowed Under
Then there was Birds - I was thinking owls for this one but I saw Deliciate Nails do these gorgeous peacocks and I just had to do them too! I used the beautiful peacock plate from Emily de Molly EDM04 and A England Proserpine over China Glaze Daisy Know My Name and Leighton Denny Funky Town.
Emily de Molly EDM04 and A England Proserpine
Emily de Molly EDM04 and A England Proserpine
Emily de Molly EDM04 and A England Proserpine

Then there was Palm Trees, and although I don't really like yellow, I rather liked the yellow and blue combo under the peacocks, so I took a chance and carefully removed most of the stamped layer. I then added a gradient of A Enland Gloriana, A England Proserpine and China Glaze Daisy Know My Name. This was a pretty bright combo but I think it made a good background for the palm trees on UberChic Beauty UC 2-03 which I stamped with Kleancolor Madly Black.
UberChic Beauty UC 2-03 and Kleancolor Madly Black
UberChic Beauty UC 2-03 and Kleancolor Madly Black
UberChic Beauty UC 2-03 and Kleancolor Madly Black
The final August challenge was Carnival. I wasn't sure what to do and in the end I decided I'd do fireworks because you do have fireworks after carnivals, don't you.  I don't have any firework plates so you have to use your imagination a bit.
I started with Moyou London Artist 04 and SV by Sparkly Vernis Gilded Lemon Drops over Colors by Llarowe Aubergine Dreams and then added 2 True Pro Metallica Athena with an un-named Ebay plate - the image is actually a dandelion I think but it could be a firework!
Moyou London Artist 04 and SV by Sparkly Vernis Gilded Lemon Drops
Moyou London Artist 04 and
SV by Sparkly Vernis Gilded Lemon Drops
un-named Ebay plate with 2 True Pro Metallica
un-named Ebay plate with 2 True Pro Metallica
 And then  I added some glitter with Avon Magic Effects Tassled Trim, this looked very pretty and sparkly in really life!
Avon Magic Effects Tassled Trim

Thursday 27 August 2015

Colors by Llarowe Aubergine Dreams

Colors by Llarowe Aubergine Dreams is part of the Fall 2015 Collection, all of which I have to say look pretty stunning. The collection launched on Rainbow Connection at the weekend, and I was very restrained, I just ordered the 2 darkest ones!
They arrived today and and as I had caught up with the August challenges there was no reason why I couldn't try one of them.
This polish is utterly beautiful. It applied really well, excellent coverage even on the first coat although I did add a second for a perfect finish and then a quick coat of Glisten and Glow HK Girl top coat. I bought the top coat really just for stamping but it dries so quickly I find myself using it all the time.
Holo polishes often frustrate me, they look stunning but I really struggle to capture anything on camera. I really think the holo gods were smiling down on me today - it stopped raining, the sun came out and I got a reasonable picture! I am quite pleased with all the pictures I took, they are pretty colour accurate, even the one I took with  the flash.
This aubergine purple is just gorgeous, dark with the perfect amount of holo. Under my LED desk lamp it is very distracting but even when the holo is not apparent it is still a beautiful colour.
I am so pleased I chose this one, I really like this kind of shade, dark, leaning slightly towards blue - just perfect - a definite me colour and one that will certainly be worn again this Autumn.
Colors by Llarowe Aubergine Dreams
Colors by Llarowe Aubergine Dreams
 Colors by Llarowe Aubergine Dreams
 Colors by Llarowe Aubergine Dreams
Colors by Llarowe Aubergine Dreams
Colors by Llarowe Aubergine Dreams - with flash



Wednesday 26 August 2015

August Challenge - how long can a mani last?

Well, for the first 2 weeks of August we were on holiday in Turkey which was lovely. It was hot and we didn't do much but that was perfect as I really needed a rest!
I didn't sign up to do any challenges in August - the big challenge was could the mani I did at the end of July last for 2 weeks?
I went for nude with a glitter, which I always do for holidays - nude so that growth wouldn't look too bad and any chips would be less noticeable, glitter to hide chips and scratches and because it was going to be sunny and it would sparkle!
Well, I am pleased to say that Leighton Denny Have it Your Grey and Bourjois Rainbow Apparition lasted really well. There was a small amount of tip wear, more on my right hand but other than that I think it still looked pretty good.
I got tagged for #mynailsandmydrink and I also did #mynailsandmybook just to amuse myself!! Like I said, it was a restful holiday!
I kept up with my Instagram as well as I could, given slightly patchy Wifi, and decided that I really did want to do some nail challenges once I got home, despite the huge backlog of proper work that needed to be done.
I decided I would catch up with all the #clairestelle8august prompts - I am going to do one brief blog of all of them in a couple of days, otherwise I'll be blogging day and night!
Any way, here are the holiday nail pics
#mynailsandmydrink
#mynailsandmybook
right hand after 2 weeks
left hand after 2 weeks