Happy Independence Day to my USA readers! Happy Saturday to everyone else.. I actually don't have a patriotic mani for you today, but if you're missing the stars and stripes, check out my Wonder Woman mani I did last month!
Today's manis - yes, TWO - are showcasing two of the many ways I use glitter!
This month's Challenge Your Nail Art challenge is short and sweet - three days of camping-related manis.
I've never been camping. I used to think I wanted to try camping, and then I remembered how much I hate mosquitoes, but how much they love me. Or that I like Western-style toilets. And A/C. And real showers.
I do love the idea of a dark night with a bright moon and a mist of fog, so that's what I tried to depict on my nails.
I started out with Darling Diva Polish What You Do For Money Honey, a dark green jelly with lots of gold shimmer. This jelly is a little tricky - took me 4 coats to get it opaque, and it never really dried. This one gets undies next time.
I painted a moon with OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls with some shading of Dance Legend Grey Britain. For the mist, I dabbed on a little One Direction NaNaNa and Sally Hansen Triple Shine Great White.
Bottle shot: Darling Diva Polish What You Do For Money Honey, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, Dance Legend Grey Britain, Sally Hansen Triple Shine Great White, and One Direction NaNaNa.
Sure, camping under the stars sounds romantic, but room service sounds nicer! Do you like camping under the stars?
Here in Florida, it's rained and/or stormed almost every day for over a month. I spend most of my time in the A/C, but even though I'm not out in the weather, it's still starting to affect me!
So, today's look is a subtle neutral one in greys and berry colors, in homage to these grey Florida days.
I've been experimenting with a look I saw Wayne Goss do in a video for mature eyes. It's a much older video of him, but I think the techniques are classic.
Here's a close-up of my eyes. I used the Coastal Scents Revealed palette and my now HG gel liner, NARS Black Valley. That stuff stays where you put it.
Here's what I used on the whole look: Mally Primed and Poreless, and Mally Face Defender. Kevyn Aucoin Creamy Glow in Pravana, Cover FX Setting Powder (as a bronzer), Nars Black Valley, L'Oreal HIP Shine Struck liquid lipcolor in Arresting, IT Cosmetics brow pencil, Rimmel ScandalEyes Retro Glam Mascara, and a blend of IT Cosmetics CC Cream in medium, and CoverGirl True Blend 1/410 to lighten it up a tad.
I'm having no luck with the Mally Face Defender. It's supposed to be a 'no powder' look, but I find that it looks cakier on me than if I used regular powder. Those of you who are successful with it, what foundation are you using? What's your secret?
To go with the look, I used a grey polish from Dance Legend's Smoky collection, called Grey Britain 1025.
It has a smooth texture, but a grey pebbled look to it, like ashes scattered amongst the grey. It's quite pretty and unique!
What do you think of my greyed look? What are your favorite greys to use?
Time for another round of undies and glitters, but today I have some iridescent or flakie glitters.
Sigh. My faves. Something about those flecks of color-changing goodness.
First up, the metallic blue of OPI Seventh Inning Strrretch with Zoya Manhattan - which looks yellow, but is really full of sparks of color and changes the blue to a funky, flashy green.
Above The Curve Adriel is a pretty rose pink with a subtle holo, and becomes a juicy raspberry flakie pool with Sweet Color WO12.
Flakies over black is one of my favorite combos. Wet 'n Wild Black Creme isn't really necessary, though with CrowsToes Helheim - it has a black jelly base all its own. Love those subtle purple flakies.
Another black/flakie combo is Wet 'n Wild Black Creme with Dance Legend Anna Gorelova #12. Reminds me of Finger Paints Twisted! Love the multicolored flakie rainbow goodness!
Are you a Flakie Fiend like me? What's your favorite flakie?
April showers bring ...Spring Flowers! I'm not waiting until May to show you these awesome nails! I started with one of my new favorite multichromes, Dance Legend Roz.
Have you ever seen such vibrant shifts? And that violet. Green, gold, copper, purple. Amazing.
I'm using these Lily water decals from Born Pretty Store in two different manis this week, I like them that much. I like them so much that, even though I got these from Born Pretty Store for review purposes, I bought another set of them during their water decal sale! Some were only 88 or 99 cents.
I love how the polish plays off the pink in the lily decals. If these were stickers, you might see lifting of all those pointy flower petals, but that doesn't happen with water decals.
I wish I could paint like this, but I don't need to with these decals. This is nail art anyone can do if they have some water and a pair of tweezers.
I received some water decals for review from Born Pretty Store, and they have been a nail art game-changer! Water decals are super easy to use. You may be able to tell that the decals are only as big as they need to be to accomodate the picture. So, when you cut it out, you don't have to cut it out exactly around the picture. The decal is smaller than the square I've cut out.
Soak the decal in a little bit of water (enough to submerge the sticker) and in about 20 seconds, remove it from the water. It should slide right off the paper backing. Use your finger or tweezers to hold the sticker. Wet your nail so there is some slippage, and then place the sticker on the nail. As long as the nail is wet, you should be able to move the sticker around to get it right where you want it.
Boom, there it is! Fancy nails in about 5 minutes.
I did another example with China Glaze Santa Red My List, a red metallic foil.
See? You don't have to be precise or use the decals in any particular order. You can cut them all out at once, or just pick out the ones you want to use.
Have you tried Dance Legend yet? They are a brand out of Russia, and I really like them. This is the second time I've actually ordered directly from them. It takes about two months to get the package from here all the way here to Florida, but if you're going to place a large order, it's free shipping. Sometimes, it's just worth the wait to be able to get whatever colors I want.
This is one of their new flakies, Hedgehog In The Fog, a pale blue cream with milky-white flakies. It really reminds me of Illamasqua Raindrops. I have Raindrops, so I probably didn't need this, but I love flakies, I love blue, and I loved the name. Pathetic, I know!
Final Fantasy is another new flakie in a purple base. I love the blue and purple and pink flashing together!
I decided to create some angles and shapes with the green. It's Dance Legend #67.. and it has a name, but they sent me the Russian version, and it's in Cyrillic! So, it's just 67 now - a dark green base with green iridescent glitter.
All of the formulas were great, and worked just fine for this nail art - no tape required, just a small nail art brush for the green lines.
Flakie goodness!
Bottle shot: Dance Legend Hedgehog In The Fog, Final Fantasy, and #67.
Would you order polish from another country, or just wait until it became available through a local stocklist?
Long-time readers of mine will surely remember that last Thursday, I had a guest post from Julie of Wishes of a Blue-Eyed Girl. I know, I can't remember what I had for breakfast last, not to mention last Thursday. She did a comparison post, and I contributed a couple of pictures of Pantone Parachute Purple.:
And, while not a dupe for the polishes she had, it's pretty. And I was just inspired by the beautiful green shimmer.
I had also just seen this manicure by Superficially Colorful, and I loved it. So, I pulled out my reinforcement stickers, and my new Dance Legend Malachite, which is a textured polish, and created this:
Without topcoat, you can see the 3-D texture of the green glitter, and I love how it blends into the green shimmer in Parachute Purple.
Bottle shot: Pantone Universe Parachute Purple, and Dance Legend Sahara Crystal Effect in Malachite.
This was a fun way to dress up Parachute Purple, and it
only took a reinforcement circle, which you can find almost any place
office/school supplies are sold. If you try it, I hope you post on my
Facebook page!
I love to dance. Hubby and I took ballroom classes many moons ago,
and we still like to kick up our heels now and again. We are no dance
legends, though.
This is: Dance Legend Creme Brulee. Awesome nude base with gold and green glitter.
The flowers are done with Priti NYC colors: Bells of Ireland, and...
...Priti NYC Canterbury Bells.
Per
usual, the Priti polishes were amazing. The Dance Legend was pretty
sheer; if I was to wear it alone, I'd pick a nice light nude undie. I
love how they come together in this floral mani, though.
Bottle shot: Dance Legend Creme Brulee, and Priti NYC Bells of Ireland (green) and Canterbury Bells (blue)
Do you like a glitter as a base for nail art, or would you prefer a plain nude, like the original mani?
