Friday 28 October 2016

26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Halloween in the Wrong Colours

This week's prompt was Halloween in the wrong colours. I went for the least Halloweeny ones I could think of, neon blue and pink over a pale nude base.
It wasn't a huge success, the contrast wasn't great enough for some of the stamping so some intervention with a Sharpie was required.
I started with a base of Virago Exposed, a really pretty mauvy nude. This is such a lovely colour and a wonderful polish, virtually opaque in one coat. As I was adding to it and stamping I left it at one coat and no photo I am afraid as the light was appalling when I did these.
I then added Virago Unclad which is a lovely warm brown. I sponged this over Exposed, again no photo which is a shame as it looked so pretty.
Then I stamped blue cobwebs from Ejiubas Halloween with Colour Alike Cobalt Kick and then added pink witches, ghosts, pumpkins, spooky castle and spider with Colour Alike Fuchsia Flash.
This was where I had contrast problems, the eyes and windows were not that clear so I added them in with a Sharpie but I am not sure it made it any better.
If I had gone with idea no.1 I would have used neon pink over dark blue or vice versa but mani advisor (daughter Emily) said dark blue was too halloweeny - thanks Em - blaming the #nailfail on you :)
Anyway, three pictures - one just with stamping, one with Sharpie addition and one with a coat of Barry M Mani Mask Bashful Pink, just to see what it would look like.
Ejiubas Halloween
Ejiubas Halloween
 Ejiubas Halloween
 Ejiubas Halloween



Friday 14 October 2016

26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Blue and Silver

So, this is the start of a new challenge and I decided I would try to blog it- we'll see how I get on.
It is once a fortnight so I ought to be able to keep up.
I was recently quite extravagant and bought the whole Virago Varnish 77 Collection - 7 gorgeous autumnal shades, two of which were blue so they had to go in this mani, since early every other challenge is orange at the moment!
I did 2 nails on each hand with Virago Disco King, such a gorgeous glitter and I left them with no top coat. The other 3 nails were Virago Blue Vinyl which did dry to a vinyl like finish but I top coated them to get them super shiny!
I then added stamping with Avon Platinum Petal and a new plate, Ejiubas Celtic - in collaboration with Opal Hazlett. Love this plate!! I think I will be using it a lot!
Originally this was how I was going to leave the mani but it didn't look right so I stamped the same image again with Hit the Bottle I Blue it all on polish. The tone of the blue stamping was a better match for the blue glitter and I was happier with that look.
(and please ignore the white/grey toned flesh - at least the blues are the right colour even if my hands look dead)
Virago Blue Vinyl and Virago Disco King
Virago Blue Vinyl and Virago Disco King
Avon Platinum Petal and Ejiubas Celtic
Avon Platinum Petal and Ejiubas Celtic
Hit the Bottle I Blue it all on polish and Ejiubas Celtic
Hit the Bottle I Blue it all on polish and Ejiubas Celtic