Sunday Stamping - Spring Floral

With everyone calling out for the beheading of Punxatawney Phil for getting Spring all wrong this year, I can't say it's been bad here in Florida.  I actually really like this cooler weather, and it means I can open up the house and have a little fresh air before it's A/C all day, every day.

Model City Orange You Just Peachy.  A lovely peachy-canteloupe orange with a scattered holo.  Model City's Spring collex is 5 pastels with a very subtle scattered holo.  Some people have been upset with the collex because it's not more holo - but she clearly says they are a pastel collection with only a very little bit of holo.  And, that's what they are.  If you're looking for rainbows, look elsewhere.  This one actually has the most holo of the group.

I love this with a matte topcoat. 

I stamped with Sally Hansen Chrome Precious Petals and the DRK-C plate.  I did orange and pink together in ways I never would have dreamed.  No topcoat, so I could enjoy the contrast of the chrome and the matte.

Do you like orange and pink together?  Matte and Chrome?

If you'd like more information about Model City Polish, you can find them on Facebook, and her store on Etsy.  I'll have the rest of the collex later this week. 

Dark and Colorful

Black polish used to be so .... Goth.  Thank goodness that trend has changed, and now black is chic, fun, and mainstream.  Case in point, this interesting polish from Emily de Molly:

Muted Madness.  Bright, carnival-inspired matte glitters... in a black base?  And yet, it works.  I would have liked a little more glitter, but otherwise, I like it.

I did a dotted French tip in Milani White on the Spot.  Do you think it would look better if I mimicked the red, green, and blue glitters?

This next polish isn't quite black, but it is a very dark eggplant purple, with a heavy gold shimmer. If you can say the name of this polish without thinking of Wayne's World and headbanging in the car with all your friends, you are a stronger person than I am.

NailNation 3000 Bohemian Rhapsody. 

I love NailNation holos, but she even has some glitters that I'm really liking!  It's so pretty, it can almost make me forget about that hangnail I tore off before I took the pix.  What was I thinking?!

Emily de Molly is a brand out of Australia, and NailNation 3000 is made in the US, but you can find both on Llarowe.

The Darker side of Contrary Polish

I love wearing darker polishes.  I know I have li'l nubbins, but I don't care - I'll wear what I want!  I hope you will, too.  I want to show you a couple of Contrary Polishes I picked up that have a bit of a darker side to them.

Mystery.  I think this was part of Contrary's Holiday collection, but I'm not sure.  I found it on sale at Llarowe, and I'm glad I did.  I love brown polishes, and the gold shimmer in this one is so pretty.  Gold and brown are so nice together.

I wanted to do some nail art, so I picked a color that I thought would help bring out that shimmer.  This is Sinful Colors Zincing of You, and the beginning of Nailside's infamous cloud mani design.

I also really love blue and brown together, so I used China Glaze Adore, a metallic blue, to finish the cloud and to add some dots.  I'm loving all this metallic shimmer!

Lopsided bottle shot.  Oh, Blogger, why u no fix this?

Bright Night.  It's actually a bit of a dark night to me, but there is a bright blue shimmer to it, which adds some really pretty depth to this polish.

 

I was inspired by Robin Moses' design for 'Elegant Blue Tentacles" to do this version: 

I even did my right hand:

I used Barry M. Gelly in Blueberry for the 'tentacles', Barry M. Blue Moon for the dots, and added the iridescence with Sally Hansen Sea and Be Seen.  Bottle shot:
 

You like Contrary Clouds or Tentacles?


If you'd like to find out more about Contrary Polish, you can find them on Facebook.  She sells minis via e-mail through her blog, but you can buy full-size polishes through Llarowe, and some other e-tailers (she has a list on her blog.)

Contrary Polish - Love Lyrics

This collection really put Contrary Polish on the map.  It was the first collex from them that I had to attend several restocks and hustle to get the ones I wanted into my cart without getting cartjacked!  I only wanted two from the collection, and I'm really happy with the ones I got.

Feels Like Home.  This is a taupe color with a pink shimmer.  Contrary Polish's claim to fame is their shimmer.  I was considering not getting any of these because the shimmer from Creeping Moss, the first polish I bought from her, was .... meh.  This collection turned it around!

I love (and have) quite a selection of taupe polishes, and this one has a unique shimmer and is really quite demure and lovely.

Ain't no Sunshine.

If you can ignore the part about how he cheats on his girl because she's not around, it's a beautiful, melancholy song by Bill Withers.  And I feel the same way about this polish.  Grey/blue, but with a white flakie shimmer.

The color is reminiscent of Illamasqua Raindrops, but it's not a dupe, IMO.  I saw some nail art by Raggio di Luna that I thought would look nice with this color, so I did my version here. 

Are you loving the Love Lyrics collection?  Ain't No Sunshine is a clear winner for me, and the reason I stalked this collection, but there are some beautiful polishes here.  If you'd like to find out more about Contrary Polish, you can find them on Facebook.  She sells minis via e-mail through her blog, but you can buy full-size polishes through Llarowe, and some other e-tailers (she has a list on her blog.)

I'll have a couple more Contrary Polishes for you tomorrow, with some more nail art.  Stay tuned!

Mod Lacquer - Southwest Spring Collection

Mod Lacquers is a new-to-me Indie.  This collection caught my eye the moment I saw it - pastel milky-based glitter sandwiches?  I wanted it.

First impressions are very good for this brand.  I love the bottles, I like the labels - though they are only on the bottom, and I am wanting one on the side of the bottle, too.  All the formulas were great - even distribution of glitter, no streaking, average dry time, and opaque at two coats.

Puesta Del Sol.  This translates to "sunset," and it would be a very pretty sunset in lavender with blue, white, red, pink, and yellow.

Salida del Sol.  Translates to 'sunrise' in English.  This would be a very cheerful sunrise, indeed.  Yellow base with orange, yellow, blue, green, and red.

Cielo Azul.  "Blue sky."  I love pastel blues, but this was my least favorite of the collection.  I think it's the red glitter, actually.  It is a little jarring for me in this mix. 

Verde Montaña.  "Green Mountain."  This is my fave of the collection.  Light pastel green, soothing pastel glitters - very reminiscent of Easter and Spring.

As a surprise (at least to me!) I was gifted a mini of their lacquer, Nonpareils.  This is a white milky base with multi-colored glitters, much in the vein of KBShimmer Oh, Splat, and the like.  Very cute and festive.

If you'd like more information about Mod Lacquers, you can find them on Facebook, or at their Etsy shop.

It's a Dandy Spring!

The Spring collex for Dandy Nails has all my weaknesses - grey, milky bases, blue..  Let's see if you can resist better than I did!

Started Out With A Kiss.  Ever so sheer and demure. I really could have used undies with this polish.  I also had quite a bit of glitter stuck on the bottle, so maybe it was supposed to be more dense on the nail.   I decided to use it as one layer for a multi-glittered look.

I added Elevation Polish Daisen, and I like the combo.  Lookie at those circle glitters! Too cool.

Bound To Fall.  Oh, grey jelly with blue glitter makes me weak in the knees.  Especially flakies.

I thought this color would be a great compliment to a nail art by Robin Moses I'd seen with daisies.  Her tutorial is on You Tube, and she could explain the process better than I could.

I used Zoya Bevin and a little white for the petals, Zoya Cheryl and Illamasqua Gamma for the daisy centers.

Piece of Youth.  Have you seen the movie, "My Cousin Vinnie"?  If you have, then you know how I want to pronounce the name of this polish.  Youts.  haha!

Lovely turquoise with yellow glitters!  Like spring in a bottle.  Which made me think of another daisy nail art I wanted to try, on Pinterest from Ruth's Nail Art.  Sunshine-y daisies!

I used a white nail art striper for the petals, and Zoya Pippa for the centers.

Paranoia In Bloom.  This one was hard to photograph, but so beautiful!  A dark teal base with teal, blue, purple, and maybe holo microglitters that come together as a foil-looking polish. 

I wanted to see what it would look like with more bling, so I used F4 Rockerfeller.  I like this glitter, but I'm not sure I did it any favors using it here.  I think it would look better with a glitter that was more gold, less white.

So, did you (bound to) Fall for Dandy Nails?  It started with (a kiss) WonderWall for me, and my love affair with Dandy Nails has been strong ever since.  I wouldn't want to make her Paranoid (in bloom) by stalking her, but this collection definitely has a Piece of my (Youth) heart.

Quick! Like a bunny..hare!

Hare is one of those Indies that made a splash B.Me.  (Before Me)  I had no idea about them, but when she came back, everyone was looking forward to her return.  I can see why,  I've really liked her creations that I've tried.

Cast In Bronze.  Reddish-purple jelly with bronze glitters.  There is a little bit of curling on the squares in this polish, but it hasn't affected the polish performance yet.  Certainly no taco glitters.

I added a swirl at the tip with Amy's Nail Boutique New Penny, a copper holo that matched the bronze glitters perfectly!  For a little contrast, I took my trusty black striper and added a swish and a couple of dots.

Impala Inocense.  I love Impala polishes.. from the bottle to the formula and colors.  This one is very sheer, though, so it worked great as undies for King of Carat Flowers.

King of Carat Flowers.  Love!  Delicate, pretty, great formula, no fishing for glitter.  I love a great understated glitter that is also interesting.  Gold, purple, lavender, and different shapes.

Electric Flame.  This one probably could have used undies, too, but I kinda didn't care.  Squishy orange!  With pink flakies!  I did not want to take this one off.  I really liked it.

I couldn't resist a little 3-D glitter - shaped like a hare. 

Supernova Springs.  Blackened jelly with dark green glitter.  It just looks like you could go swimming in it..

Bury the Hatchetfish.  This may well be my fave Hare polish.  This is a surprising polish!  I thought it was just going to be another taupe, but the flakies really take it to another level.

Both of the flakie polishes get even better with some topcoat. 

I've known I like flakies, but BTH and EF make me love them even more.  Are you a fan of the flakie?

If you'd like more information about Hare, you can find her on Facebook and on her Etsy store or webpage.