Lit from Within: October 2012
-->

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Halloween Costumes and manis

I did end up dressing in costumes this Halloween, and did up some manis to match!

For a Murder Mystery dinner party, I was Madame Garlique, a fortune teller (My hubby was Hannibal Schecter, the kosher cannibal)


For a bright, sparkly, out-of-this-world mani, I chose Kiko 401, a rich turquoise holo, and an accent nail of Color Club Blue Heaven.


The Kiko and the Color Club were not toooo finicky.  Somewhere between a Layla and a Jade.  They didn't require buffing or special base coats, but you did have to be careful in application - one swipe only on wet polish, or there would be bald spots.


Right hand:


For a Halloween/Birthday party we went to the following evening, hubby and I were Tacky Tourists!





For this outfit, I wanted the brightest red I could find, and ended up with Revlon Frankly Scarlet.



Per usual, it applied with the ease of all the Revlons I have.  I was a little disappointed that the gold shimmer in the bottle wasn't more evident on the nail.  I do have some tipwear because I wasn't able to take pix until after the party.


As I write this, the trick-or-treating has come to an end in my neighborhood, and the holiday is winding down.  I'm still looking forward to watching the Charlie Brown special that I recorded earlier, and having a piece (or two, or three) of leftover candy.

I may not have celebrated with ghosts or ghouls on my fingernails, but it was a fun time nonetheless!  Happy Halloween, everyone!

The SCARIEST Halloween mani EVER!

It's not ghouls, goblins, ghosts, spiders, or haunted houses.....


It's NAKED NAILS!!  EEEEEEEKKKKKKKK!



both hands?  *faints*



Happy Halloween!!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Skeleton Nails

I love Halloween!  Are you getting ready for some spirited fun?

My nails got dressed for the occasion with Fantasy Makers by Wet 'n Wild Nail in the Coffin.  I couldn't resist the bottle, frankly.  It's a tombstone!  What do you want on your Tombstone? (c) I want nail polish!


This polish looked so much more sparkly in the bottle.  I was hoping for some kind of rendition of Butter London Black Knight.  Not so much.  Still, for a a buck fifty, it's a nice black. Might be fun to mix up with some glitter and make my own version of Black Knight.


I had seen a couple of skeleton nail arts and I really wanted to try it myself!  The skull and pelvis I saw on Chalkboard Nails, and the rib cage was from a nail art tutorial on Whale's Nails.  I painted them with Sally Hansen White Tip.


I had painted the black with Ghoulish Glow, but I couldn't get it to glow in the dark. Sadness.  I read later that I needed a thicker layer of the polish.

I did, however, put glitter in the skull eyes for a little extra something creepy!


What creepy creatures are you painting on your nails this season?










Monday, October 29, 2012

Halloween?

When I started playing with these polishes, I wasn't thinking about Halloween, but there's something about green and purple that takes me there this time of year!

The base for all these glitters is China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard.  It's almost neon, but it's not - it's just really bright.  The second pix is shaded on purpose to give a more accurate color of the green.  It's not as yellow as it looks in the first pix.



As a surprise gift when I ordered some polishes from Nail Potions by Kunimitsu, I got a little mini of her Halloween polish, One Scary Outfit.  I figured this one would read Halloween, and it does!  I'm loving the focus on the black glitter with the hint of purple.


Swatching that combo made me wonder if I had any other purple glitters that would read Halloween if I put them over the same bright green.  First, I tried Candeo Mallard.  Candeo colors are very nice glitters - great formula, complex mixes of glitters.  I liked this combo, but I'm looking forward to trying it out over something less Halloween-ie.


Next, I tried Wet 'n Wild Colorcon in The Crown Is Mine.  Hmm.  Not Halloween-ie at all.  The lavender dominates, and the shimmer lightens the green too much.  I wasn't feeling this combo at all.  Pass.


Wild and Crazy in Paris is a color I picked up at a beauty supply store that specialized in ethnic products.  I'd never heard of this brand, but I loved this glitter!  No purple, but the green and black is very festive. 


Dandy Nails is becoming one of my fave Indies.  I have reviewed Wonderwall before, and I'm going to review Bathed in Light for you, too, which I fell in love with.  Like Disco Lemonade is another fun glitter with different greens and black and some holo glitters that flash purple.  Over the green, very Halloween, but I look forward to wearing this year-round. 



All together.  They all have similar colored glitters in them, but they couldn't be more different on the nail!  Thumb - Candeo Mallard.  From index to pinky - Colorcon The Crown is Mine, Wild and Crazy Paris, Kunimitsu One Scary Outfit, and Dandy Nails Like Disco Lemonade.


Will you 'make' a Halloween polish this season, or will you buy ones that are someone else's vision of the season? 

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Sunday Stamping - Birth Day Plate Number


Today's stamping challenge was to use a plate that ended in the number that corresponded to the date you were born.  I was born on the ninth of February, so I chose BM-309, and some owls!


This idea I had didn't really pan out in RL, but this isn't just about my successes.. it's about the journey, so here's my mani, warts and all...


I started with one coat of Kleancolor Holo Green.  So pretty and sparkly, though not exactly green.  I would have used more coats, but I knew I was layering.   On top, Sea Lore Adella.  I was going for a leafy green tree look. I liked this effect.



I used Finger Paints Black Expressionism and Maybelline Bold Gold for the owls.. but they just wouldn't stamp clearly.  I used top coat in between the glitter and the stamp, but I just couldn't get a good, clean stamp.


 My Thumb came out the cleanest, I think. 


I liked the idea, but the execution... whomp, whomp.  Try again!

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Spotted-ween!

This is a Summer bright color, China Glaze I'm With the Lifeguard... but it's going to be featured in a few Halloween manis this year!


I got OPI Spotted in a swap, and I couldn't be happier!  This was my first time playing with it, so I had a little trouble getting any kind of uniformity to the spotting.  Doesn't it look positively ghoulish over that bright green?


OPI Spotted goes over best with an almost-dry brush. Then you get the most spotting.  On my middle finger, I went over one section twice, and you can see it didn't spot at all, but rather gave more of a croc-cracked look.


I wanted to try it over a bright, scattered holo.  This is Holo Berry.  The Indie didn't put their name on the bottle, but I think this is 2Chix. If you know whose it is, please let me know in the comments.


It's a pretty berry with a strong scattered holo, like China Glaze Fairy Dust, though I admit it's not very Halloween-ie, or Fall.  I thought if I put a flakie over it, the effect would show through the Spotted.


The flakie/holo didn't really shine through the Spotted that much, but where it did, I loved how it looked.
Sort of a burning ember/hellfire effect.




 I actually liked it a lot with another layer of the flakie (Lorena Cinderela) over the Spotted.
 

And, right hand:


Do you like taking non-traditional Halloween colors and making them more seasonal?  I'll be showing you some more looks like that next week!


































Friday, October 26, 2012

Not-so-scary Halloween manis

These glitters have scary names, but don't really say Halloween to me, but maybe they do to you!

First up, The Monster! 

Undies are Attitude by Mattese Elite.  I suspect this polish is a response to the OPI Ballet Collection, because there are other ballet names in this collection, and they are all pale, sheer shades.  Mattese Elite is Ricky's NYC brand, and, though I don't live in NYC, they do have an online presence, and they often have great sales!



I really like the Mattese Elite brand - it's a good quality product, and they often have dupes for more expensive polishes.  This color made nice undies for Hare's The Monster.


I don't know any monster that looks like this.. maybe Sully from Monsters, Inc? 




I admit it, I have the mind of a 12-year-old boy sometimes.  The name of this polish makes me giggle.



Above the Curve Witches Tit (is it supposed to be possessive, as in the tit that belongs to the witch?  Then it should read, 'Witch's Tit') is a white base with black square and tiny glitters.  It also has this metallic green shimmer to it that is pretty unique!


I was wearing this with a white/black/grey dress, so I wanted to tone down the green a little, so I used one coat of Sinful Colors Aries over WT.  I love that you can still see the glitter.


Are you choosing not-so-scary manis this Halloween season?

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Sparkly, Spooky Black

I have some black combos to share with you today!

I know it's called ManGlaze, but women like it, too!  I have to confess, I'm seeing more blogs with men painting their nails, and it's pretty cool.



Matte is Murder, a matte black, is one of the first polishes ManGlaze came out with, and it's pretty much their signature color.  In my opinion, they make some of the BEST matte finish polishes available.


I used it as undies for Dandy Nails You Set My Soul Alight, but this glitter didn't really need any undies.  I'm loving Dandy Nails, they just keep putting out great glitters.  I don't usually wear plain black nails, but these multicolored tiny sparkles make it perfect for me.



The undies for this next mani is Sonia Kashuk Tango Mango.  I like her polishes a lot.  Very consistent formula, high shine, great color payoff.  This is a little bright for me, but it's a great Halloween orange!


 ..not that this polish needed any undies at all!  Joe Fresh Twilight is a flakie in a black base.  I thought it would be sheer, but it wasn't at all!


You can only barely see the orange around the edges, which I did on purpose to see if it would pull more of the orange color out of the flakies, but it really didn't.  To be honest, I was al ittle disappointed with the flakie payoff in this polish.  I wanted more.. MOAR flakies.


So I added my own!  Finger Paints Twisted, a lemming I never thought I'd get.  I managed to collect all the Finger Paints Flakies, and this is my fave, by far.  So gorgeous, especially over black.



Another sparkly black mani for you today!  It started off with Revlon Black Lingerie, which I got at Big Lots for about a dollar.  This is a great black!  My camera actually had trouble photographing it because it's so shiny.



Over that, I used Girly Bits Howl at the Moon.  Girly Bits is a very high quality Indie, and this polish is no exception.  Love that glossy black and the gold glitter - perfect for this season, or any season!




Bonus mani!  This one starts with Borghese Notte Black.  It's not as glossy as the Revlon, has a bit more grey to it.  I'd be hard pressed to choose this one over that Revlon or some other deep dark black polish.


This one I covered with Orly Androgenie, which looks like a galaxy in a bottle, but not so much on the nail.  I think it would take quite a few coats to get that look on the nail.


I amped up the sparkle with Lorena Cinderela.  All flakies just look gorgeous over black, don't they?


A little bit of holo sparkle from Out the Door Northern Lights.  Now that's a sparkly party!


 Do you like shiny, sparkly black all year 'round, or is it just for Halloween for you?





Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...