April Challenges - Nautical

I tried another of the new Barry M Coconut Infusion range, this time Aloha, a lovely corally pink. Beautiful polish and a lot more wearable than I was expecting, so pretty.
Nautical for #clairestelle8april - I'd been thinking about not doing red or blue for this and then I saw Iva @secretjewelgarden do purple, so I used the corally pink - I used UberChic UC 2-03 and Barry M Cotton and ... for the very first time... my Clear Jumbo Stamper from Nail Artisan  - for a first go I am really pleased with it. I need some practice but I am encouraged by my first use.
I couldn't quite resist the urge to test the Clear Jumbo Stamper a little bit more with some shadow stamping using 2 true Pro Metallica Aglaia and the same  UberChic image. I probably should have chosen a better contrast but I thought subtle was good in case it was a disaster! One to revisit, I think.

Barry M Coconut Infusion Aloha

 

UberChic UC 2-03 and Barry M Cotton

UberChic UC 2-03 and 2 true Pro Metallica Aglaia

February Challenges - Decade that I Love

The prompt for #clairestelle8feb was Decade you Love. There are so many different answers, when you grew up, met your first love, had children but I went for the style of art that I like most - ooh look another chance to do Art Deco!! I chose The 20s.
I started with a base of Hare Polish The Monster. This is a lovely polish but very sheer. I used 3 coats and even then I wasn't that happy with the coverage- I adore the colour but undies next time!
Then I added A England Proserpine and Moyou London Back to the '20s 05. I don't think I really captured quite how pretty this stage was but the Proserpine stamping worked so well with the greeny grey base.
Then I added 2True Pro Metrallica Aglaia and Emily de Molly EDM17, a lovely zigzag style pattern that looked very Art Deco to me
Then I added Avon Frosted Peach and Moyou London Holy Shapes 04  and then finally a matte top coat.
I think I kept the Art Deco look through all the stages and I was really pleased with the finished mani.

Hare Polish The Monster

A England Proserpine and Moyou London Back to the '20s

2True Pro Metrallica Aglaia and Emily de Molly EDM17

Avon Frosted Peach and Moyou London Holy Shapes 04

November Challenges - Owls

The prompt today was Owls for #clairestelle8nov. I stamped Messy Mansion MM19 with 2true Pro Metallica Aglaia and Artemis over Leighton Denny Undercurrent.
Undercurrent is the darkest glossiest green and I love it! I think it makes a great back drop for the 2true polishes.
I did the owls first and then added some foliage for them :)

Leighton Denny Undercurrent

Messy Mansion MM19

 

September Challenges - Holo and Mermaid Nails

The next two challenges were Holo for #30daysofcolourchallenge and Mermaid for #clairestelle8sept.
I started with Colors by Llarowe Lake of the Pines, a stunning green teal holo. This is another from the new Fall 2015 collection, again purchased from the ever wonderful Rainbow Connection.
This gorgeous green shade is just amazing and I will certainly be leaving this one out to wear again. This polish applied really nicely and gave such good coverage I didn't apply a second coat - I almost always do but it just didn't need it and I had planned to stamp over it later.
Sadly it was not sunny the day I did these nails so I only have cloudy outdoor shots and a couple of indoor ones, so another reason why this one needs to come out again soon!
I added a coat of a very pretty glitter, one of the gorgeous glitters toppers made by Nail Lacquer UK a couple of years ago, I still love this one - Ariel's Tails, which I thought would be appropriate for mermaid nails.
Then I stamped using DRK XL Designer 2 and 2 Tru Pro Metallica Aglaia. The polish and plate stamped well but the image did hide the glitter which was a bit of a shame. I could still see it glinting but it was barely visible to the camera.

Colors By Llarowe Lake of the Pines

 

 

Nail Lacquer UK Ariel's Tail

DRK XL Designer 2 and 2 True Pro Metallica Aglaia

 

An InLinkz Link-up

June Challenges - Stripes, Glitter / Tropical and another Hawaiian Shirt mani

It's another of those combined posts so I'll try to keep it brief.
2 scheduled challenges and a little extra one thrown in at the last minute.
I started with  Smitten Angstrom, the most stunning teal glitter. Full coverage, very sparkly, beautiful colour - just perfect.
I added stripes using Lealac LLC A and 2True Pro Metallica Aglaia for #clairestelle8june's challenge. This was a great combination, two quite similar colours but very different textures, fascinating to look at although the camera hasn't quite picked that up - it looks like the 2True is just floating over the Smitten.
Then I set about the hawaiian shirt mani for  #hawaiianshirtmanifriday. I added some foliage with Pueen SE01B and Hit the Bottle Absinthe Minded, and then the flowers with Pueen SE03B and Hit the Bottle Magenta at Your Own Risk.
This had been my plan for #30daysofcolourchallenge which was Glitter/Tropical but having done the hawaiian shirt mani, I thought I'd better try to add something for the 30day challenge.
One step too far I think! I tried to reverse stamp some more Pueen SE04B flowers with Virtuous Polish Naomi and filled in using the gorgeous glitter, Dark Metal Lacquer Bright Eyes but it didn't quite go to plan. It does look better in the pictures than on my nails but not a huge success. As it was so warm today the Virtuous Polish kept drying too quickly to pick up, so I didn't have  a clear outline to fill with the glitter - the end result was not as crisp and tidy as I would like, but it is glittery!

Smitten Angstrom

Lealac LLC A and 2True Pro Metallica Aglaia

Pueen SE01B and Hit the Bottle Absinthe Minded

Pueen SE03B and Hit the Bottle Magenta at Your Own Risk

Pueen SE04B Virtuous Polish Naomi and
Dark Metal Lacquer Bright Eyes

An InLinkz Link-up

Stamping! Sugar Bubbles SB 016 and 2true Pro Metallica Aglaia

Well I don't often do 2 blog posts in one day, but I couldn't resist a bit of double stamping. I love stamping as you may have noticed and really enjoy experimenting with double stamping - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but I think this mani counts as a success, I like it anyway.
I decided I'd stay with the 2true Pro Metallica polishes, this time using Aglaia which is a lovely teal metallic, although it looks slightly more blue on the nail. I love purple and teal together.
Having decided to stay with similar polishes, I went for much more of a contrast with the stamping plate, selecting a very swirly pattern on Sugar Bubble SB 016 to go over the geometric lines from my purple striped mani.
The image I chose looks like it should not cover the whole nail but tail off to one side. It sort of worked on the thumb but my alignment wasn't great so it covered all the other nails, not that I mind - I still like the end result.
I need a bit more practice with this plate, I smudged a couple of fingers, I think I allowed the stamp to pick up slightly too much polish so I need to refine my scraping angle. The etching is a bit rough too and I did get some cotton fibres catching while I was cleaning, but luckily I spotted them before the next stamp.
Anyway, overall, the polish stamped well and the plate was pretty good - mental note made to vary the scraping angle to get the best images.

Sugar Bubbles SB 016 and
2true Pro Metallica Aglaia