Nail Crazies Unite - Red and Black

This week's prompt was red and black and I had already decided that I wanted to do red and black roses and had chosen the plate I wanted to use, Lina 4 Seasons - Spring 01.
I hadn't quite decided which red but then my latest order from Glam Polish arrived including the February 2017 Limited Edition - The Boy Who Lived.
This is a red jelly packed with glitters and flakies - it is stunning and I just had to use it.
Actually with the detailed image I should probably have used a plain creme colour as I had real trouble photographing this. To the naked eye I can see the image perfectly but the camera couldn't so I had to add matte top coat.
I did prefer the glossy finish and I put a glossy coat back on after taking my pictures!

Glam Polish The Boy Who Lived

Lina 4 Seasons - Spring 01

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26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Blue Floral

I am having such a lot of fun trying to master the "blank" image on the Lina Stamping plate, Lina Make Your Mark 03 that I think background gradients will feature on a lot of my manis.
It is so much less messy than using a sponge for a gradient and as I only ever using a gradient as a background for stamping the results I am getting are encouraging and acceptable.
This time I used two blues- A England Tristam and A England Dancing with Nureyev.
Then I added flowers from Lina Make Your Mark 03 with Esmaltes da Kelly Wendy, and then a second layer of flowers with Lina 4 Seasons - Spring 01 and A England Natasha's Dance.
This was one of those manis that parts of the stamping were invisible to the camera at certain angles but overall I think the effect was quite pretty and of course being blue I really did like it!
I included a shot part way through to show the steps although I was a bit pushed for time so I did not do a a full step by step collage.

Partial blue floral mani

Blue Floral with Lina 4 Seasons - Spring 01

 

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Nail Crazies Unite - Anti-Valentines

Well, this was a tricky one - I wasn't entirely sure what Anti -Valentines was all about but I decided I'd go with a standard Valentines mani and switch the colours. Traditionally red and white would be the most typical colours so I went for opposites, with green and black.
I started with a base of 'Ard As Nails Missy, a gorgeous khaki green creme. As usual with these polishes it applied beautifully, and if you spot any blemishes it's where I still haven't mastered the art of applying a gel base properly!
I went for quite a simple design, having decided to do black on darkish green. Anything more complex would have been lost. As it is, the end result is quite subtle but that's OK, I really wasn't in the mood for bright and colourful - understated is fine!
I used A England King Cophetua, a delicate black holo, described on the website as a blackened green and I think it went beautifully with the khaki base.
Although I do have some newer plates, I chose a plate I have had for a while but really not used enough, Apipila Super Plate B as I thought this pretty heart image was solid enough to stamp in holo black over green.
I was really pleased with how these turned out.

'Ard As Nails Missy

A England King Cophetua and Apipila Super Plate B

 

 

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26 Great Nail Art Ideas - Black and White Valentines

Earlier in the week I had to do white watermarble for a challenge. I cheated and stamped of course using Dixie Plate DP02 and Avon Iceberg White over Colors by Llarowe Chasing a Unicorn.
I can finally wear this CBL because the gels seem to have stopped the staining, the old staining has grown out, at last and also wearing a nude gel base meant that the opacity of the polish wasn't a problem. This mani got a ridiculous amount of likes on Instagram!!
Anyway, I thought this white base would be perfect for the Black and White Valentine prompt.
I stamped a heart from Dixie DP02 on my middle finger, scribbly hearts from DP07 on the index and little finger and finally, using the Deluxe Dixie shrinking stamper, I shrunk the "couple under the umbrella" image for my ring finger.

Dixie Plate DP02 and DP07

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