Sunday Stamping - Fairytale Nails

I don't know if I have one favorite fairytale.  Most fairy tales I know have a happy ending. though, and I love a happy ending, so that's what I focused on.  

I started with Cult Nails Tempest and Priti NYC Love Lies Bleeding.  No issues with either formula.  I'm digging on these Priti polishes.  I wonder if it's true that the Diamond polishes are the same thing, but for a fraction of the cost.

I used a lot of different stamps.. and I don't even know what all these plates are.  Why don't people put labels or identifiers on these?  One is the DRK-B plate, which I know you can get from Ninja Polish.  The one with the small images (and the one I used conveniently flashed out) has no identifier at all on it.  The other plate just has that "30" on it.  Very helpful.

At least this plate I know is Bundle Monster 303.  Smooches!  These stamps were made with Rivka Georgina (red holo), Cult Nails Tempest, and Maybelline Bold Gold.

So, what fairy tale doesn't have all these jumbled emotions leading to love, which leads to that BIG KISSING MOMENT, and then the girl gets the prince?

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

What is your favorite fairy tale?

Ding-Dong, Avon calling! And it's glittery and dotty!

As most of you know, I don't have a creative bone in my body.  I love nail art, so I have to go and find other pictures that inspire me and do my own version.  I found this pin of nail art of dots on a black background (sorry, the pin didn't refer back to the originator! If you know who it is, please let me know so I can give credit.) and this is my version, that I did with all Avon polishes.

Sparkling Sky.  I thought this would be darker, but I'm glad it's a lighter grey.  I love the holo glitter!  I would definitely wear this on its own.

I decided to do swatches with a little pop of art for all the colors I used as the dots. 

Lime Splatter (with Art Orange and Garden Green).  This is kinda lime?  Very yellowy, with a green tint.  More like lime juice than lime rind.  For me, the Speed Dry formula is the way to go.  You'll see that some of the other ones just don't dry fast enough...

Art Orange (with Lime Splatter and Arctic Waters)  This is somewhere between bright orange and burnt orange.. like a 70s orange.

Smoky Plumes (with Arctic Waters and Garden Green.  Purple/Taupe/Mushroom creme.  That shimmer?  It's not in Smoky Plumes.  I accidentally dragged it from Garden Green when applying topcoat.  Nice effect, though, right? 

Garden Green (with Lime Splatter and Smoky Plumes)  Not quite a garden green, really, it's a little darker.  But the shimmer is great... if you can wait long  enough for it to dry.  The regular polishes just take forever on me to dry.

Arctic Waters (with Lime Splatter and Art Orange).  I've tried to hide it, but my accent finger is a hot mess because I couldn't wait for the blue to dry.  AGAIN.  Such a pretty blue, such an impatient girl.

All the pretties lined up in a row:  Sparkling Sky, Lime Splatter, Garden Green, Arctic Waters, Art Orange, and Smoky Plumes.

Have you tried Avon polish yet?  They are always having some kind of sale, and a few of these I got for about $2 on clearance.  Apparently they have some scattered holos coming out in Campaign 12 that I'm looking forward to getting on clearance in Campaign 13 or 14.. lol.  Some of these are still on clearance now - are you going to get any?

Pretty Flowers from Priti Flowers

Ah, it feels good to get back to some nail art! 

I saw this nail art called 'Neutral Sakuras' - cherry blossoms done in neutral colors, with just a small pop of color for the blossoms.  It reminded me of a photo filter where everything is in greytones except for that one color pop.  So, I did my own version, all with colors from Priti NYC.

I started with two coats of Lambs Ears, a soft sage green with a hint of metallic shimmer.  I was super impressed with the formulas of all these Pritis.  Really nice, thin layers, no pooling - no foolin'.
 

Next, I did a gradient with Pearlwort.  I painted the tips with the polish brush, then used a cosmetic sponge with the two colors to soften the line.  Sometimes, this nail art stuff gets a little messy, but it's worth it.

I painted the stems with Slenderlady Palm, a dark tealish-grey, and a striper brush.  

For the flowers, I placed drops of Jersey Beauty Dahlia (hot pink), Gatsby Dahlia (orange jelly), and Lampshade Poppy (bright yellow) on a palette, and mixed them loosely together with a nail art brush so that the paint looked marbled.  The center of the flowers is Lampshade Poppy by itself.

The grey/green grey/blues.  Apparently, they like doing this balancing act. Top to bottom, Priti NYC Lambs Ears, Pearlwort, and Slenderlady Palm.

The flower brights. From left to right, Priti NYC Jersey Beauty Dahlia, Gatsby Dahlia, and Lampshade Poppy.

I love cherry blossom nail art, and this feels like a fresh take on an old favorite.  I hope you like this as much as I did!  If you create your own version of this, I'd love for you to share it on my Facebook page.

If you'd like more info on Priti NYC, you can find them on Facebook.  I loved every one of these, but I will say that their normal pricing is a little high.  I bought all of these during a couple of their sales.

Ninja Polish Enigma, second verse, not the same as the first.

After Ninja Polish released Divinity and Ambrosia, I knew that anything in this collection would be awesome.  I have three more polishes today, all based on that gorgeous red/gold shimmer.

Mystic Glacier.  This one is prettier than the pix, but even at three coats is a little sheer.  I will definitely be layering this one next time!

You can see hints of the green color shift in this pix. 

Pacific Coral.  This is the year I fell in love with coral.  So many pretties, and this is one of the best - because of that orange/gold shimmer.  It's a stunner, and ready for the beach.

100% Columbian.  Now, I don't understand why brown polish is so unloved.  I am diggin on it - especially with this shimmer.   It looks like someone hit my morning coffee with a creamer made of lava.  And magic.  Now, who wouldn't want a lava magic coffee?

It's pretty cool how different this shimmer looks in the three base colors.  I wonder what they're going to put it in next!  What's your fave?

If you'd like more info or to purchase these, you can find Ninja Polish on Facebook, and on their webstore.

You must be jossin' me about these JOSS holos!

When Llarowe started carrying this line of Joss Lacquer, I'd never heard of them before.  But, it's a holo collection, so I searched around for some swatches.  Then, I had to have them all.  They are all pretty linear, decent formula - no buffing or special base coat needed.  Come see the pretties.

Alternate Dimension.  Oooh, I love a coral holo.  The texture, the mix of pink and orange, I swoon.  Every time.  Great color for this time of year, and they look great on so many different skin tones.  This one is ready for the beach.

I took a cue from the Crumpet, and decided to use both hands to swatch for a few posts. We'll see how long this lasts because I just broke my index nail down to the quick.  I'm not naturally ambidextrous either, so some of this posing felt pretty awkward... like how I felt at my senior prom.

Flash Diamond.  I almost didn't get this.  It's a pretty polish, but... it's silver.  How many silver holos does a person need?  I figured I could pay for shipping, or get this and get free shipping.  If you don't need another polish for free shipping and you have a silver holo you love, you probably don't need this, either.

Tantastic Glow.  This was the polish that initially attracted me to this collection, but it wasn't my fave on me.  I love nude holos, but this one is a little more champagne that I'd hoped, and not as holo as I'd wanted.  It actually looks more like a frost than a holo, don't you think?

Sudden Impulse.  Yeah, I get all kinds of impulses when I see a gorgeous reddish holo, and they usually involve my credit card.  Isn't this gorgeous??  This is definitely a star player in this collex.

Flamingo Dancer.  Little play on words here, as it's pink like a flamingo, and snazzy like the Flamenco dancer outfits.  Very clever, Joss, very clever.  Did you know that flamingos get their pink color from the type of shrimp they like to eat?  It's true.  I am also very clever.

Overall, not a bad collection, but I was a little disappointed by Tantastic Glow.  The pink and silver are pretty, but are usually a part of almost every other holo collection, too, so it's likely there are lots of dupes.  For me, Sudden Impulse and Alternate Dimension are unique and pretty enough to own.  Which ones are your faves?

Hobby Polish Bloggers May Challenge - Inspired by Fashion

Aside from the Adventures in Stamping, I haven't really done a challenge before.  Usually, they are 30 days of different challenges every day.  This one is a little more loosey-goosey in that there are 4 challenges, and no set due date, so long as they're done sometime in May. 

The first one is inspired by fashion.  I interpreted this one as being inspired by MY fashion. 

I got this awesome dress 75% off.  That's fashion to me!

I got this awesome bracelet to go with it from Cheeky Vintage, a shop on Etsy run by a fellow polish lover.

And then I did my nails to match the dress pattern.  I started out with A-England Percival, a gorgeous red that simply glows.  I stamped with Finger Paints Black Expressionism and Pueen10.

Even in the bottle, Percival is gorgeous.

I love how the pattern looked so much like my dress!

I felt like a million bucks, though I spent so much less!  Have you done a mani inspired by fashion?  Did you look at your own closet, or at the runway?

Those neon holos are totally rad, dude! Like, Gag me!

I am a child of the 80s.  I did my time in pegged jeans, triple layer matching socks, and big earrings.  So, I was a little nostalgic for Different Dimension's 80's Baby collection.

You may remember a stamping challenge a few Sundays ago where I used a bunch of these polishes as the base for my Earth Day challenge:

Let's take a better look, shall we?

Totally and Gnarly.  Totally is the yellow/lime green, and Gnarly is the bright spring green.  They go together, well, like Totally Gnarly, dude.

Tubular (orange) and Ditz (pink).  Classic neon pairing!  The orange is a little muted, but the pink is straight bubblegum.

Whatever (purple) and Homeboy (blue).  "What-EVer" is more a part of my 90s (think Cher from Clueless) but I'm sure I got started in the 80s.  These are bright, true purple and blue.

The holo in all of these is a pretty subtle scattered holo, and is more for giving the appearance of depth than anything.  The colors are so bright and saturated - especially the pink, purple, and blue.  I don't know if they are true neons, as they don't dry matte and they don't need a white base, but they are certainly a bright pop of color.

Did this transport you to the 80s?  Was it a good trip for you?

If you'd like more information on Different Dimension, you can find them on Facebook, and on their Etsy store.