April Challenges - Random and Grunge

The #30daysofcolourchallenge for today was Random and the #clairestelle8april challenge was Grunge. I can claim some responsibility for the grunge prompt. Claire always wears pretty girly colours and I suggested she wore something more grungey! What I meant was the more neutral shades, although when I googled "grunge" it seemed more grey than the greens and browns I was thinking of. Anyway I have used colours that in my mind are a bit grungey, but no less beautiful! I think the whole thing fits into random, so you are getting 4 stages of random.
I started with OPI Stranger Tides, a beautiful soft khaki shade. I love this colour, although I did need 3 coats for full coverage.
Then I stamped with Nails Inc Foubert's Place and a sort of water spotted design from Vivid Lacquer VL 010. I love Foubert's place too, a lovely warm khaki shade - I have seen some quite extensive arguments as to whether this is green or brown. I say green (a browny green)
Then I added grey, in the form of Saffron London Black, which stamps as a grey and I used the same plate and a leopard print image.
Finally, I added some delicate flowers from Vivid Lacquer VL 030 using Saffron London White which is a soft white. I really like the way it stamps and adds that prettiness to the whole mani.
I am really happy with the way this turned out!

OPI Stranger Tides
#30daysofcolourchallenge #clairestelle8april

Vivid Lacquer VL 010 and Nails Inc Foubert's Place
#30daysofcolourchallenge #clairestelle8april

Vivid Lacquer VL 010 and Saffron London Black
#30daysofcolourchallenge #clairestelle8april

Vivid Lacquer VL 030 and Saffron London White
#30daysofcolourchallenge #clairestelle8april

An InLinkz Link-up

April Challenges - Re-swatch - Cadillacquer Saviour and then some more spring flowers

Today's #30daysofcolourchallenge was to re-swatch, and although this is not something I regularly do, I knew which polish needed a second chance!
When I first wore Cadillacquer Saviour the weather was awful and the pictures I took were dreadful so I went on and stamped my Easter nails over the top of it, and promised it I would come back soon.
This is such a pretty polish, It is a teal holo with a pinky purple shimmer and flashes of tiny pink glitters. It applied well although I did use 3 thin coats for full coverage.
I had to cheat and use the flash to catch the holo as it still isn't sunny but I think I got better pictures than last time. My camera still seems reluctant to capture the real beauty of this polish but it is stunning!
I couldn't resist adding some stamping and although I had already done tulips for #clairestelle8april, I did some more. This time with Vivid Lacquer VL 030 which has little stumpy tulip like flowers, with one image being the negative of the other. I love that! I used 2true Pro Metallica Artemis and I really like the combination of the metallic finish against the holo, it has this amazing depth that's quite hard to describe. The camera couldn't pick this up in daylight but I think I might have got it on the indoor shot in between the reflections

Cadillacquer Saviour
#30daysofcolourchallenge

 

Vivid Lacquer VL030 and 2true Pro Metallica Artemis
#clairestelle8april

 

picture taken with LED light

An InLinkz Link-up

April Challenges - Spring Flowers

I am a bit late with this challenge, but I think I am all up to date now.
The #clairestelle8april challenge for last Friday was spring flowers and I very nearly stamped the flowers over Friday's Houndstooth mani but couldn't quite bring myself to do it, so the flowers are stamped over yesterday's stamped watermarbly nails instead.
I have done tulips before but what I really wanted to try was stamping with one colour for the heads and another colour for the leaves - that wouldn't work with my other stamping plate as the heads and leaves are all mixed up but then I saw my lovely friend Tracey from Bite No More using a different plate which was much more suitable for what I wanted to do, so I ordered the plate she used, a cheapy from Ebay.
So, I have used Essence Stampy 001 for the heads, and Virtuous Polish Green Pastures for the leaves. The contrast isn't great for the leaves, I perhaps should have gone with a paler green but they do look pretty.
I still see my stamping as a trial and error thing- some ideas and combinations work better than others but hopefully because I have recorded them on my blog I shouldn't repeat the same mistakes too many times :)

Spring Flowers
#clairestelle8april

 

 

April Challenges - Negative Space

Today I have skipped the #30daysofcolourchallenge today and done negative spaces for #clairestelle8april. I couldn't think of a way to combine them so I am doing two #30days tomorrow instead.
Claire's challenge - the negative space - eek I thought - maybe I should skip this too but I decided I'd just use a neutral base, and it would be a nice opportunity to try the nude polish in the Vintage Trio I got from Danglefoot Nail Polish.
Golden Oldie is a lovely warm nude with a subtle shimmer. It applied nicely and gave good coverage with 2 coats. Possibly a touch warmer tone than I would personally choose for nude nails, but very wearable and the perfect base for the negative space mani.
I used Apipila Super Plate A and A England Camelot to stamp this pretty swirly pattern. I was quite pleased with the finished look but I felt it needed something extra.

So, I used Leighton Denny Tiffany's to add a subtle touch of pink shimmer, just to tone it down a bit. I think for my skin tone the slightly pinker finish looked better and it softened the stamping a little, although I liked both.

Danglefoot Nail Polish Golden Oldie

negative space mani with Apipila Super Plate A

negative space mani with Apipila Super Plate A
with Leighton Denny Tiffany's

April Challenges - Shimmer and Retro

Today's challenges are Shimmer for #30daysofcolourchallenge and Retro for #clairestelle8april.
For the shimmer I have chosen Danglefoot Polish Grandma's Dress. I bought this polish recently in the Vintage Trio from UK Indie maker, Danglefoot Polish. The trio included this polish, a gorgeous mid-blue and a lovely darkish nude.
Grandma's dress is a pretty pinky nude shimmer, quite a dusky shade and very wearable.
This applied really nicely and pictures are taken with top coat. Although a bit wary of pink, I like the duskier shades like this and the shimmer is lovely.
The retro part of the mani was all planned out but the first image wouldn't stamp nicely, the first polish looked wrong, so after a couple of false starts I made it up as I went along. I had googled retro patterns and had an idea of the colour combinations I wanted - they all reminded me of 70's wallpaper!
In the end I stamped with Virtuous Polish Ruth (peach) and Naomi (teal) and Moyou London Back to the 20s 05 over the vintage dusky pink. I wasn't entirely happy with that - something was missing so I stamped Born Pretty Store BP L-003 with Essence Stampy 001. I liked that a lot more- the white seemed to bring it all together.

Danglefoot Polish Grandma's Dress
#30daysofcolourchallenge

 

 

Retro - Moyou London Back to the 20s 05
and Born Pretty Store BP L-003,
Virtuous polish Ruth and Naomi, Essence Stampy 001
#clairestelle8april

 

An InLinkz Link-up

April Challenges - Textured and Inspired by Fabric

Today's two challenges are Textured for #30daysofcolourchallnge and Inspired by Fabric for #clairestelle8april. I think they go quite well together.
I started with another of my lovely Avon Stardust polishes. This is Radiant Rose, a stunning raspberry pink/red. This is utterly gorgeous, and I think a little smoother than Teal Glitter and Polished Plum.
It looks so pretty in the sunshine but is beautiful in daylight too.
It applied well, lovely coverage in two coats and dried quickly.
For the 2nd challenge I added  a freehand stripe of Avon Stardust Teal Glitter down the centre of each nail and then using Moyou London Hipster 05 and Mentality Beige Opaque I stamped a tartan pattern over the two textures.
I think the alignment was pretty good and I love the way these look. I did not topcoat them, so although there is a risk the stamping won't last, it has kept that matte/textured finish. In fact I did this mani about 6 hours ago and it still looks fine. (24 hours later - still fine)
Photos taken with my favourite skirt which is very old, but I do love tartan!

Avon Stardust Radiant Rose
#30daysofcolourchallenge

 

 

   

Moyou London Hipster 05 and Mentality Beige Opaque
over Avon texture
#clairestelle8april

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

April Challenges - Creme and Tribal and a Jelly

Two more challenges yesterday, a creme polish for #30daysofcolourchallenge and tribal for #clairestelle8april, and then because I am trying to catch up, another for today's #30daysofcolourchallenge, a jelly.
For the creme polish I decided to swatch the new Nails Inc Marie Claire freebie Fiesta which is a gorgeous hot pink.
I am really fussy about my pinks but I love this, it's quite dark and has just that hint of blue that makes it a "me" pink.
Lovely application and really good coverage, this dried with a wonderful glossy finish although I have top coated it too for the pictures.
For the tribal nails I added a gradient with Nails Inc Atomic and Princes Street and then stamped with Essence Stampy 001 and Moyou London Explorer 22. I am not 100% sure the pattern is tribal but it was in my mind when I planned it.
Finally, the jelly.
I don't have a lot of jellies as I don't like having to build up layers to hide the nail line but as a polish over stamping that issue is sorted and of course there seem to be some wonderful pond manis around now - definitely on my list of things to try!
Anyway, I swatched Jacava Regent Street on its own a while back but it has gone a bit gloopy and I wsn't happy with it. This time as I am short of time I have just added a single coat over the tribal mani. It is still gloopy but it mattered less today. It's a shame as all my other Jacavas are still perfect.
This is a deep berry red jelly with holographic glitters. I am sure some were coloured when I got it but they seem to have lost their colour and the glitter distribution is a bit random due to the gloopiness!
All that aside I think it makes an interesting addition to the tribal mani and I'll try to use it again soon over stamping.

Nails Inc Fiesta
#30daysofcolourchallenge

sunset gradient 

Tribal nails with Moyou London Explorer 22
#clairestelle8april

Jacava Regent Street
#30daysofcolourchallenge

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up

April Challenges - Orange and a Skittle

Today the #30daysofcolourchallenge was orange. There are not many oranges in my collection, and only one untried so that's what I have gone for.
Kiko Cupcake 650 Peach (ok so it's peach, not orange but close enough) is one of the limited edition textured polishes Kiko brought out last year. I really wanted them all but only managed to get 5.
I am not sure why I wanted them so badly, I don't really like pale pastelly shades but these were so pretty and I love textured polishes.
I have to say, peach is probably not the best colour for my skin tone, certainly not at this time of year but I do like it. This is not at all glittery, the finish is matte but it has a really nice look and feel to it. Not too gritty and the sandy particles are mix of peach and a darker orange.
Application was good, 2 coats gave great coverage and they dried nicely.

Claire's April challenge is actually for the 8th so I am cheating a bit but I decided I would stamp over the Kiko for the skittle mani. It was either that or skip it - I am afraid I am way too conservative to wear 5 non-matching nails but I thought I might bear different stamping combinations. I went for a combination of Essence Stampy 001 (white), 002 (black) and Virtuous Polish Ruth (peach).
I chose some of the flower images from UberChic Beauty 1-02.
I am quite pleased with the result but still really uncomfortable with non-matching fingers so I think I'll be skipping future skittle manis.

Kiko Cupcake 650 Peach
#30daysofcolourchallenge

 

UberChic Beauty UC1-02 - the first layer of stamping

Skittle mani - UberChic Beauty UC1-02, Essence Stampy
001,002 and Virtuous Polish Ruth
#clairestelle8april

 

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

April Challenges - Easter

I already did one Easter mani but I really wanted to do one which was not all about pastels - the colour of my new Cadillacquer inspired me to think of Fabergé eggs and this is what I came up with for #clairestelle8april.
Cadillacquer Saviour was sent me as an extra when I bought another Cadillacquer last week from a really nice lady - how sweet is that! It is a gorgeous polish but the weather wasn't good enough for good pictures so that will have to wait for another a day.
Anyway, this is what I did. Two coats of Cadillacquer Saviour, and then I stamped with one of the images on Pet'la Plate Golden Russian and Virtuous Polish Deborah -  a bright vibrant blue that brings to mind the colour of turquoise stone. I then used the same plate and a 2nd image, the same pattern but larger, and A England Virgin Queen.
I am really pleased with how these turned out.
I might well try a third layer of stamping tomorrow but for now they are staying as they are.

Pet'la Plate Golden Russian,Virtuous Polish Deborah
and A England Virgin Queen
#clairestelle8april

 

 

 

Pet'la Plate Golden Russian and
 Virtuous Polish Deborah