Nail polish is like Duct Tape.. it has a light and dark side..

I was intrigued by the idea of nail art that uses a contrasting light and dark color to make a simple, but bold statement.  Aside from one polish, I was also having fun playing with the Illamasquas I got on sale!

Barry M. Gelly in Lychee.  If you were thinking that this "Gelly" is like a "Jelly/Jellie" then you'd be wrong.  It's more of a reference to a gel manicure, in terms of the glossy shine.  These polishes are actually fairly opaque, and some are even one-coaters.  Lychee is the nude of the collex, and I really like it! It's a porcelain look, both in color and shine.

I saw this look from Kimberly Maran on Pinterest, and it inspired me to do something similar.  I used Illamasqua Gamma to create a diagonal French.

I did take it one step beyond, however, and applied Nubar glitters in White and Black Polka Dot - black on the orange side, white on the nude side.

The second look I did was inspired by this vintage mani I saw on Grape Fizz Nails.   I started with Illamasqua Bacterium, a shimmery nude with an iridescent shine. 

I should have probably used tape for a cleaner line, but I wanted to try freehanding the line.  I used Illamasqua Vice, a cherry reddish purple, for the center.

 For this last look, I started with Illamasqua Baptiste, a shiny, dark purple.

For a fun twist on the light/dark theme, I did a Ruffian with one of their new glitters, in Speckle. 

Bottle shot.  If you turn your head, it looks normal.

Use the Force!  The Illamasqua Force! What do you think of contrasting light/dark manis?