First and Last 'Watercolor' Nail Art

Hello, Fireflies!

Still working on this month's challenge to recreate the first 4 nail arts that I recorded.  The second one I found was this 'watercolor' acetone-wash blue and gold mani.  I was so proud. *sniff* That pose is so awkward, though, it's almost painful.

I think it's harder to post these old manis than it's been to post my makeup-free face!

To start the re-creation, I used two coats of Nina Ultra Pro Blue La La, a dusty medium blue.  Love the color, but the brush was wonky, so my application was less than stellar.

The build up of blue wasn't all that exciting, so I'll spare you that and go to the final blue look, where I dabbed on Hope Girl BL03, Bettina Gems Sapphire, and Different Dimension Dewing It Right, and patted on acetone in between colors.

Then, the gold - my fave Maybelline Bold Gold.  I will admit that I tried the DIY Spotted technique on top of this, where you water marble a black with an alcohol spray, and failed utterly miserably.  It just looked matte black and lumpy on my nails.

Bottle shot:  Nina Ultra Pro Blue La La, Hope Girl BL03, Bettina Gems Sapphire, Different Dimension Dewing It Right, and Maybelline Bold Gold.

I don't know if the nail art looks much better, but I used two additional polishes, so I should get points for complexity.  In my mind, I am sooo much better than I used to be, but maybe I've not come as far as I'd thought! I'll admit, this exercise is a bit humbling!

Are you better at a skill you've been practicing for the last two years?

An InLinkz Link-up

Bettina Blast II

If you were paying attention yesterday, you maybe caught a glimpse of this color in the fan mani.  Isn't it gorgeous?  I totally don't get the name, though.

Grape.  It isn't even purple at all.  At best, maybe a periwinkle, though my swatch reads a little more blue.  But, if I rejected all weirdly named polishes, my collection would be very, very, very small.  This one was my very fave of the bunch.

Trend.  Yep, taupes are trendy now.  And, probably will be for some time, because they are so work-wear friendly.  I own a bunch of them - some more grey, some more purple.  This one definitely leans purple, but very dusty.

I tried replicating a look I saw on Pinterest, done with Julep polishes.  I couldn't find the original post, but here's the pin, if you're interested.

Bottle shot:

Finally, another look with all  four polishes.  This is another version of the abstract brush stroke mani popularized by Chalkboard Nails.  

This type of mani is like your favorite recipe to pull out for dinner guests:  looks impressive, is actually easy to do, and goes well with almost anything.

Bottle shot (with extra fan brush mani reminder)

You know you want Wags (Walgreens) to start carrying Bettina, so if you have any pull, let them know!  I can't wait to get access to more of their great colors.  What do you think?  Did you like the nail art?

If you'd like more information about Bettina Cosmetics, here's their webpage.

Bettina Blast!

If you've never tried Bettina polish, you probably live anywhere other than Puerto Rico or south Florida.  They need to be everywhere, though, because these polishes are awesome.

Jingle Belle.  This photographed a little frostier than in Real Life.  It's actually a nice nude shimmer.  Great application.

Sparkles.  This is one of my fave Bettinas, ever.  It's bright, bold turquoise.. with a twist.  It was hard to photograph, but there is a green shimmer!  It's very visible in Real Life, no worries.  What a fun color.

 Bottle shot:

 

This should give you a better idea of the opacity of Jingle Belle.  I painted it with a nail brush *on top* of Sparkles.  Do you see that green shimmer?

I did two manis that used all four of the Bettinas I'm using today and tomorrow.  I couldn't think of a better way to showcase them than using a  fan brush technique I just learned from a tutorial from Let Them Have Polish.  Cristina is the biggest Bettina fan, and is helping them expand their market (hopefully soon!)  If you'd like to see the tutorial, it's actually on Vampy Varnish's page.

The base color is Jingle Belle, and the tips are Sparkles.  Tune in tomorrow to find out what the two middle colors are, and see them in some more nail art!

If you'd like more information about Bettina Cosmetics, here's their webpage.

Bettina BOLD!

One of the brands I was most excited to try from our Central Florida Beauty Bloggers' meeting was Bettina.  One of our members has a great relationship with them and exudes pride when she talks about this brand.  It's infectious!

This is Bettina Sherbet.  I was expecting a softer shade, a creamsicle color... nope!  Sherbet is a bright, beautiful, glossy orange.  This is two coats, no topcoat.

 For fun, I sponged on some of Milani Fuchsia Fierce on the tips for a fiery gradient.

 And, I added a bit of a Color Club iridescent pink to the accent nail.  I should have stopped myself.

Topcoat finishes blending everything and smooths out the sponge marks.  Bright summer mani!

Have you tried Bettina yet?