March Challenges - Minimal and Fave Mani Technique

The last Challenges for March were Minimal for #ggfnachallenge and Fave Mani Technique for #firedazedchallenge.
For minimal I chose one of my favourite nudes, Leighton Denny In the Buff, a lovely soft very slightly pinky nude.
My fave mani techniques are still smooshing and stamping so I did both!
I smooshed with Leighton Denny Between Blue, Femme Fatale and Zero Gravity over my nude base.
Then I stamped with Sascha Gossen YS12 and Barry M Pitstop and then, finally, Sascha Gossen YS12 with Nails Inc Moonlight Shadow.
I loved the final look - I think the soft muted overlapping shades worked well together.

Leighton Denny In the Buff

 

#smooshattack with Leighton Denny Between Blue,
 Femme Fatale and Zero Gravity

Sascha Gossen YS12 and Barry M Pitstop

Sascha Gossen YS12 with Nails Inc Moonlight Shadow

When Colours Collide - Teal and Gold

As soon as the cover photo was posted for this challenge there was a flurry of water marbly posts in gorgeous teal and gold. Well, I don't do water marble  - it is so messy and for me the end result is so dreadful, it is one of those things I just accept as not being for me. Anyway, I love stamping too much.
I did want to do something quite organic, along the lines of our cover post, and on this occasion was not sure I wanted to use my water marble plate, so I went for the rather lovely water spotting image on Yours Cosmetics Sascha Gossen YS12.
I started with a base of OPI Ski Teal We Drop, one of those polishes I just love love love!!
Then I added a coat of a very special glitter topper I bought from Quirk a couple of years ago. An Ocean Potion is a stunning mix of teal and gold and was perfect for this mani.
Next I stamped the bubbles image from Yours Cosmetics Sascha Gossen YS12 with Colors by Llarowe Thing 1 & Thing 2.
Finally I used Avon Gold Leaf and stamped the water spotting image.
Then I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get a decent photo that i) was in focus, and ii) actually looked teal. I tried blue, green, white, brown, pink woollies and even no woolies at all, nothing worked, it all looks blue :(
Well, anyway, I loved the finished mani, I know it is teal! I love the mix of holo, sparkle, gold stamping and teal even if no-one else can see it!

OPI Ski Teal We Drop

 

Quirk An Ocean Potion

Sascha Gossen YS12 and CBL Thing 1 & Thing 2

Sascha Gossen YS12 and Avon Gold Leaf

 

 

40 Great Nail Art Ideas - 3 Shades of Purple with Splatter

Well, the colour prompt for 40 Great Nail Art Ideas was 3 shades of purple -  not a problem, I must have a couple of hundred purples. The pattern prompt however was Splatter. I did try! in fact my rough try on the UberMat indicated that whilst messy, it would work, so I did all the preparation ready to get messy and then failed! so after a number of futile attempts I went for plan B (which I would have done on the other hand anyway!) and stamped. I am not proud of my failure but I think I am pragmatic and that after a while there seemed nothing to be gained by getting frustrated.
I used Yours Cosmetics Sascha Gossen YS12 and an image which I imagine would be great for fake water spotting but I think looks reasonably splattery too.
I started with a base of HJ Manicure Lavender which is a gorgeous slightly dusky purple. This is a lovely creme polish, applied beautifully and dries to a nice glossy finish. Pictures are taken with top coat.
Having abandoned the messy splatter fiasco I stamped, first with Leighton Denny Really Royal and then Virtuous Polish Queen Ester.
I had planned to use this as a base for another mani but actually I liked it so much I left it as it was.

HJ Manicure Lavender

 

3 shades of Purple - Splatter

An InLinkz Link-up