March Challenges - #smooshynailsunday and Easter (#2)

This week's #smooshynailsunday was a special edition for Easter with 4 colours! I used Avon Peppermint, Avon Luxe Lavender, Nails Inc Power Pink, and Leighton Denny Brick Road.

Then I stamped and just to show I don't always get it right I am including this layer in the blog post. I decided to go for pastel blue, but the image I chose was a bit too solid and the blue didn't show up over the other pastel shades. I used Born Pretty BPL-027 and Esmaltes da Kelly Wendy. The overall look was pretty but I may as well have smooshed a 5th colour.
Luckily I saved it, I think, with Emily de Molly EDM02 and Barry M Cotton.

Easter smoosh!

 

Born Pretty BPL-027 and Esmaltes da Kelly Wendy

Emily de Molly EDM02 and Barry M Cotton

 

 

 

When Colours Collide - Orange, Purple and Pink

This time round we decided to collide three colours rather than two- orange, purple and pink.
I started with a base of Nails Inc Power Pink. The I added chunky zigzags from Pet'la The Perfect One with Virtuous Polish Diligence, a very neon orange.
Then I added slimmer zigzags with the same plate and  Hit the Bottle Purple Reign.
I thought it looked OK but the pink base maybe should have been a pinker pink.
Anyway, just to be sure I used Hit the Bottle Magenta at Your Own Risk and Pet'la Plate Spinning to add one final layer. This was quite subtle over the rather bold mani but I think it added just enough pink for me to be happy!
One final thing to say is I am glad I went orange then purple rather than the other way round - that orange is very bright!!

Pet'la Plate The Perfect One, Hit the Bottle Purple Reign
and Virtuous Polish Diligence

 

 

Pet'la Plate Spinning and
Hit the Bottle Magenta at your own Risk

 

June Challenges - Squares

The challenge for #clairestelle8june for tomorrow was Squares. I had 2 other challenges for the same day so I decided to sneak this one in early.
It's one of those many part mani's - I like to take pictures along the way in case the next step is a disaster but then it seems a shame not to share them all!
I started with a base of Nails Inc Power Pink and then added a coat of Hare Polish Why So Igneous? the most gorgeous combination of green and purple square glitter, along with smaller green and purple glitters in a sheer purple base - square glitter!!! I love it so much!
I then stamped using the overlapping squares on Moyou London Artist 04 and Essence Stampy 001, not the neatest stamping ever but I am blaming Essence for running low again! - I need a bucket load of white stamping polish!!
Then I added a coat of Kandy Colors Grape Much? I love the way this softens the look and did I mention I am turning this into a pond mani :)
Then I stamped with Lealac LLC-A and Essence Stampy 001. I really love this Lealac plate with its huge images, I am amazed at how many times I have used it. The image I chose is actually diamonds but turned 45 degrees they are almost square!
And finally, another coat of Kandy Colors Grape Much?
I love the build up of colours here, and I can just see the odd glitter peeping through!

Lealac LLC-A and Essence Stampy 001
with Kandy.Colors Grape Much?

Hare Polish Why So Igneous?

Moyou London Artist 04 and Essence Stampy 001

Moyou London Artist 04 and Essence Stampy 001
 with Kandy.Colors Grape Much?

Lealac LLC-A and Essence Stampy 001

Lealac LLC-A and Essence Stampy 001
with Kandy.Colors Grape Much?

June Challenges - Pink /Radial Gradient

Today I have done a radial gradient for #30daysofcolourchallenge. Not sure I'll be doing another of these anytime soon, it took forever to clean up!
I started with a base of Nails Inc George Street, a pale pinky nude and then I sponged the gradient using Nails Inc Piccadilly Circus, Power Pink, and George Street.
Although not  a huge fan of pink, I like all 3 of these, Piccadilly Circus and Power Pink have a slight blue tinge and George Street is a lovely nude. I think they worked reasonably well together but I am not convinced this was the most successful mani. It needs some practice, but to be honest I prefer a linear gradient, so this may well be a one off. The pictures aren't the greatest either, I don't think my camera likes gradients - I think they do actually look better in real life.
It did, however, make a nice base for my Flamingo mani.

Pink /Radial Gradient

An InLinkz Link-up

April Challenges - Pink and Easter

Today I am have done the #30daysofcolourchallenge which was pink and then the Easter prompt for #ukstampersapril.
The pink I chose was A England Iseult. I don't have a huge amount of pinks, but I bought this one recently, it was still untried and I thought it would also be a good base for the Easter mani.
Iseult is a beautiful shimmery pale pink. As always with A England polishes, superb quality but I did need three coats to get full coverage, my nail line was still visible after two. Although extremely pretty, this is not really a shade I would wear on its own - I have a preference for the more gothic look but for combining with stamping I think it is a lovely addition to my collection. I can see this making a loving base for a negative space mani sometime in the future!
I am afraid the photos aren't great, it is so grim outside, really dark for mid-morning.

For the Easter mani I added a gradient using Nails Inc Instyle Power Pink. Then I used Emily de Molly plate EDM 02 to stamp a pattern that I thought was quite Eastery using my Virtuous Polishes.
I used VP Naomi (teal), Queen Ester (purple), and Miriam (pink).
I chose an image which is supposed to be stamped in the opposite direction but I wanted it going across the nail, in 3 bands of colour, allowing the darker end of the gradient to show at the tips.
Although colourful manis are a bit outside my comfort zone I am quite pleased with how these turned out. Again, the light is still bad so the pictures are not as clear as I'd like.

A England Iseult
#30daysofcolourchallenge

 

 

Easter mani - EDM 02 and Virtuous Polishes
#ukstampersapril

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Dry Watermarbling with Nails Inc Royal Botanical Gardens and Instyle Power Pink

Today I thought I'd have a try at dry watermarbling. This is where you create the water marbled pattern in a cup of water, but then leave it to set for a couple of hours. Then you carefully lift it out, lay it on some tissue to dry and then cut up it so that you can apply it to your nails like decals.
I used Nails Inc Royal Botanical Gardens and Instyle Power Pink. I figured the cup was a bit small so I took the precaution of painting my nails with Nails Inc Royal Botanical Gardens so if I didn't have enough decal it wouldn't be the end of the world (well it wouldn't anyway but you know what I mean).
To my enormous surprise it did dry and I was able to lift the pattern out intact. I cut it into pieces and then one by one I top-coated my nails and added a piece of the pattern. I tried to press it down fairly firmly before the decal completely dissolved but did have the same issues as I do with stencils and nail vinyls - flat surfaces and curved nails don't go.
Another coat of top coat once I had trimmed and cleaned up did sort some of it out, but it wasn't perfect, so I hid the imperfections under a coat of Dance Legend Top Sahara!!
I can still see some imperfections but it looks pretty, I love the two colours together and I am encouraged enough to want to try it again!
Who would have thought a year ago I would wear a water marbled mani, with pastel bluey/teal and pretty pink, and what's more I really like it!!!

Dry Watermarbling -
Nails Inc Royal Botanical Gardens and Instyle Power Pink

 

A2Z Series - B is for Bold

Thursday again, so time for the 2nd A2Z challenge. Last weeks was such fun and it was great to see all the Angles manis. The prompt for this week is Bold.
Two things spring to mind when I think of bold. Firstly, where something stands out against its background, like letters or numbers or a pattern and then bold as in brave and courageous.
I decided I'd better do something brave, by my standards at least, and choose a mani that would stand out. On the whole, most of my manis are quite understated and even if I wear a bright, or loud colour, I would wear it as a block rather than with something contrasting.
I've just bought some nail vinyls from She Sells Seashells so I thought this would be a great opportunity to try them out, starting with the straight line stencils as I thought they'd be the easiest. And then, what colours to do? Inspiration struck whilst waiting for my daughter in Jack Wills.
I chose Nails Inc Power Pink as that in itself seems quite a bold choice (the name and the colour) and then the lovely dark Nails Inc Motcomb Street, as I felt that would be a good strong colour to wear against the pink. Power Pink does have a slight blueness to it, probably why I like it so much, so these colours don't really clash, but bold enough I think!
Well, did I say the stripes would be easy? Maybe not! The idea is simple, but I should probably have done a dry run. I never realized how curved my nails are in every direction until I tried to line stripes up so that they would be parallel, and how hard to place them so that the stripes would be equal! I got quicker at putting them on but apparently they work best with 1 coater polish, which makes sense. I'll use a polish that works for stamping next time I think. I did enjoy playing with them, and I will be trying again :)
The result is not quite the perfect image I had in my mind but I am pretty pleased with them and they do look bold !

A2Z Series - B is for Bold
Nails Inc Power Pink and Nails Inc Motcomb Street

  

 

Look HERE to see what everyone else got up to - I can't wait to all the others, and click on the InLinkz too.

An InLinkz Link-up