Sunday Stamping - Frozen Snowflakes

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's Adventures in Stamping challenge was to stamp over blue.  One of my fave blue polishes, Lilypad Lacquer Sherbet, has been sitting on my desk waiting for me to use it again, so I decided to use it as a base for some stylized snowflakes and flakies!

I TRI-ed to Do Another Needle Marble...

Hello, Fireflies!

The end of another month, the end of another set of Tri-Polish challenges.  Let's finish this month with an awesome, awesome blue - Lilypad Lacquer Sherbet, said to be a dupe for Enchanted Water For Unicorns.  I don't know for sure, because that's one I could never get my hands on.  I'm happy with this, though, it's so beautiful, pigmented, and bright.

I keep trying to do those darn marbled nail arts.  Neither with nor without water seems to work for me.  I was going for a look inspired by a needle drag mani by I Can Do That.  Mine is called, I Tried To Do That, but No.  *sigh*

What do you do with a mess? Slap on some more polish! I added dots with Butter London Old Blighty, a creamy brick red, and my trusty white and black stripers.

I think it looks kinda aquatic, with bubbles or something.

Like I say, when it doubt, add dots.  If it looks abstract enough, no one can tell you screwed up.

Bottle shot:  Lilypad Lacquer Sherbet, Butter London Old Blighty, and nail art stripers in yellow, white, and black.

Any helpful hints for doing marbled nails?  I seem to be perpetually blocked with that technique! Is there some makeup or nail art technique you are just hopelessly fumbling with?

An InLinkz Link-up

Sunday Stamping - Over a Purple Holo Gradient

Hello, Fireflies!

Today's challenge was to stamp over a holographic polish.  When I saw that, I was sooo happy.  Not only because I love holos, but because I already had done this mani, and was looking to embellish it:

This is a simple dabbing gradient (no sponges, just dabbing the polish brush in layers over a previous polish.)  I started with a reddish holo from Daring Digits.  It has no sticker, I don't know what it's called.  It's very light - almost translucent.  Over that, Lilypad Lacquer Blooming Violets, a pink-leaning violet.  The third is by now mostly defunct Liquid Lacquer, and it's called Houses of The Holy.  It's a purple jelly, and very light, almost too light to see, really.  I didn't know..  The last is gorgeous royal purple I Love Nail Polish Amanda Hugginkiss.

My husband thought it looked so sophisticated.  He's so sweet.  He really loves purple, and has taken a shine to any purple manis I do. 

To stamp, I chose this floral pattern from Dashika Big SdP-L plate and Wet 'n Wild Black Creme. (The other hand I stamped with Cult Nails Nevermore, which did a better job.)

I love stamping over a gradient.  For one, it makes the gradient look fantastic, no matter how sloppy of a job you did. 

Also, like the best company dinners, it looks complicated, but it's not.

I was even able to do *both* hands!

Bottle shot:  Daring Digits [unknown], Lilypad Lacquer Blooming Violets, Liquid Lacquer Houses of The Holy, and I Love Nail Polish Amanda Hugginkiss. (Not pictured: Wet 'n Wild Black Creme, and Cult Nails Nevermore.)

I love happy coincidences where I can make a nail art work for a challenge.  You might see some other incidences of that this month, where I found a nail art from the vault that worked for a challenge.  I like working smarter, not harder!

What do you think about turning this gradient into something that fulfilled the stamping challenge?  Would you have rather started a new look from scratch?

Seeing the Forest Green for the Trees

Hello, Fireflies!

One of my fave holo colors is green.  I've shown you minty ones earlier in the week, and today I want to go darker.

This.Is.Gorgeous.  It might as well be called that, but it's actually Lilypad Lacquer Emerald City.

I love how it is just a *touch* blue.

Moving from green with a bit of blue to green with a bit of olive and brown, this is Lilypad Lacquer Wild at Heart.

It is a pretty cool jungle green!

This one isn't a holo, and it's way more blue than green, but the base colors look so similar in the bottle.  I had no idea it would be this blue on the nail!  This is Lilypad Lacquer Great Galaxy.

This has so much shimmer!  I've layered it over black on my thumb, which really makes the glitter pop.
It looks great on its own, too.

This polish *looks* like it's layered over black, but it's not.  It's not layered at all, and it's only ONE COAT.  This is Carpe Noctem Woodland Camo.

I love when a polish gets those blackened edges and really shines in the center, like it glows.  The formula was perfection.

Leaning a little more olive again, is Cameo Colors Lacquer This Is War.

This one I layered over black on my thumb.  By itself, it takes 3 or so coats to get opaque, and it's still a little watery-looking, but it has great shimmer.

Here's the bottle shot:  Lilypad Lacquer in Emerald City, Wild at Heart, and Great Galaxy, followed by Carpe Noctem Woodland Camo and Cameo Colors Lacquer This Is War.

Side-by-side comparison - no dupes here, not even close.

They are all so gorgeous, it's hard to pick a fave.  I was really surprised how blue some of them are!  What's your favorite?

That's Plum-Crazy!

Hello, Fireflies!

I made it to day 2, with an awesome plum holo compilation and comparison to show you!  I love plum.

Hmm.  Another Lilypad Lacquer?  Yep! This is Velveteen.

I do so hope it's named for the Velveteen Rabbit, which is one of my fave stories.  Also, why I may still have one or two of my fave, well-loved stuffed animals from my childhood.  This polish is also going to be well-loved in my collection.  Great application, lovely holo, perfect plum.

Girly Bits What Happens in Vegas...Ends Up On Facebook was an LE made for a convention, and then released to the general populace for a few mins before it sold out.

This is a lighter plum base with lots of holo.  Girly Bits was one of the first Indie Polish makers, and she's still got it.

Of all the Enchanted Polish Calendar polishes, I think February 2013 had the widest distribution.  I was very happy to get one because I love purple, and February is my birth month.  Go, Aquarians!

This one has a green duochrome effect that I couldn't capture well, but you can kinda see it a little in this pix, along the tips. 

Lastly, I want to show you this beauty, Euphoria, from Superchic Lacquer (WonderBeauty Products).  It comes the closest to the dark plum base of February 2013, but doesn't have the green shift.

I love this type of deep, rich plum holo. 

Here's the bottle shot:  Lilypad Lacquer Velveteen, Girly Bits What Happens In Vegas...Ends Up On Facebook, Enchanted Polish February 2013, and SuperChic Lacquer Euphoria.

No dupes here!  Velveteen seems to be lighter on the nail than in the bottle, and the Girly Bits does, too.  February almost seems darker on the nail than in the bottle.

Are you plum-crazy for plum holos?  Which is your fave, even if I don't have it here?

Ah! Minty Fresh!

Hi, Fireflies!

I have an idea this week to do a bunch of comparison posts.  Let's see if I can make it all week!

First up, I wanted to go mint!  Seems like mint is a hot topic lately in the polish-sphere, so I pulled some of my mint untrieds to compare.

If you haven't yet heard of Lilypad Lacquer, you need to.  They are a newish Indie out of Australia, and her holos are really quite beautiful.  This is My Enchantmint

This is a crisp, green mint with a subtle linear holo.  Application is flawless.  I did not want to take it off... but I have more mint to show you!

I'm glad I was able to get Enchanted Polish July 2013.  It's a gorgeous mint with a nice subtle linear holo. 

This is a little bluer than the Lilypad, and not as opaque, but it is probably one of my fave EPs.

This polish, Enchanted Polish A Little Fishy Told Me is a charity polish for BASE camp in honor of Talia Joy.

I'm not sure if it's a traditional mint, really.  The blue shimmer is pretty, but it makes this polish look grey/blue.  I actually really like it, but I can see where people might be disappointed that it's not a Talia Joy mint.

This polish surprised me!  In the bottle, Layla Emerald Divine looks very light and pale!  It's actually an in-your-face gorgeous green holo.

Layla formulas are a little finicky, and usually apply better if you have an aqua base on, or have buffed your nails.  I find that a ridge-filling base coat works pretty well for me, especially since this type of mirror-chrome holo shows every ding and divot in my nails.

Urban Lacquer Mother Minter isn't a linear holo, but it's a lovely mint jelly with a smidge of micro holo glitter.

It's very sheer, and I would definitely recommend layering it unless you want to wear 4 coats like I am. 

Here's the bottle shot.  It never ceases to amaze me how similar these polishes can look in the bottle and be totally different on the nail.  From left to right, Lilypad Lacquer My Enchantmint, Enchanted Polish July 2013 and A Little Fishy Told Me, Layla Emerald Divine, and Urban Lacquer Mother-Minter

No dupes.  The Lilypad is close to EP July in color, but the finish is different. 

So, what do you think of all this mint?  Any faves?