Before & After: Dragon's Fire

(Nothing to disclose)

Hello!

Oh, man, I'm so excited about this polish and this manicure. Flakies, Flakies, Flakies!!

Take a look at this warm, glowing, happy lovely, LynBDesigns Do I Look Like A Frolicker?:

LynBDesigns Do I Look Like A Frolicker?

LynBDesigns Do I Look Like A Frolicker?

LynBDesigns Do I Look Like A Frolicker?

Wow, just wow, wow, wow. Okay, yes, I am a flakie lover, it's true. But seriously, isn't this like a campfire in a bottle?? Or at least pretty darned close?

From the moment I put this on my fingers, I knew I had to try a gradient with it, using a red flakie polish at the tips. If anything can make it look more like fire, that would be it.

So, I did a gradient with Hits Flamenco, a red jelly with gold flakes.

Then, inspired by the fire-look of it, I stamped a fire-breathing dragon from MoYou London's Suki 02 using Sally Hansen Rapid Red and Red-io Active:

The stamping is subtle, because I wanted it to seem like it was coming out of the colors in the gradient, and I didn't want it to be too garish. It showed up well in most lights, but my lightbox was so busy catching all the gorgeous flakes that the dragon receded a little.

I love this, and flakie gradients are now my new thing. The jelly polish and the light diffusion of the flakes makes the gradient so easy to do, and so beautiful to look at!

I think this is a great look for heading out of summer into fall. What do you think?

Hugs,
M.

Before & After: Stamped holo gradient

Hello!

Today's prompt is to do a manicure that's inspired by a blogger. This was an easy choice for me--the blogger that has had the most influence on me is without a doubt Laurie of Dressed Up Digits. Laurie is, plainly and simply, the queen of gradients. If it can be gradiented, she has gradiented it--even magnetic polishes. Oh yes. And not just of doing gradients, but then doing amazing stamping over them. Total and complete bliss.

Clearly, then, I had to do a special gradient, and a special over-stamp for it.

I started with a base of Color Club Angel Kiss, a beautiful light blue linear holo:

Color Club Angel Kiss

Then, I did a gradient using Angel Kiss and Hits Apolo, a darker blue holo. Finally,  I stamped over it using Nfu-Oh 61, and Cheeky plate GA30:

Blue holographic gradient, stamped

I am soooo proud of how this came out. These two blues go so beautifully together, and the subtle stamping feels like clouds in a blue sky to me. I love love love it, and it's another one I never wanted to take off. I will absolutely be wearing this again. :)

Thanks so much for looking, and please check out the other participant's manis, linked below.

Xoxox,
M.

Something funny happened on the way to the mermaid...

Hello everyone!

Today's challenge in CNTs is to do a mermaid manicure. Since I just did a traditional one of these a while back for an MSMD monday, I wanted to do something a little different for this one. After bouncing some ideas off of my awesome buddy Dina (of Secretary's Nail Art), I decided both to use some non-traditional colors and to do a flakie mermaid rather than a glitter mermaid.

I started off with a coat of Barielle's Secret Encounter, a deep wine purple shimmer. Then, I topped it with two thin coats of Hits Can Can, a purple jelly with blue and green flakies. :) The look was subtle, so I didn't want to go for a stark contrast by using silver or gold to stamp the 'scales', so I tried China Glaze's Metallic Muse, a light blue metallic that stamps like a dream.  Here is what that looked like:

It's definitely pretty, yes, but it takes away from the flakies a bit more than I'd hoped, making them seem sparse and putting the focus on the scales. At this point, I'd normally either remove the stamp, or start over (I often use my thumb as my testing ground).

But, having just been thinking a lot about glitter sandwiches, another solution occurred to me.

What about a stamping sandwhich?? Where, instead of the glitter being between two layers of polish, the stamp was?

So, I put another layer of Hits Can Can on top of it, and here's how it turned out:

That's much better! Now the is more contrast between the flakies and the stamp, but the stamping still shines through loud and clear.

I love this manicure, but what I love more are the thoughts running though my head of how I can play with this stamp-sandwich concept...

Thanks for reading! Please check out the other mermaid manis by my fellow CNTs below. :)

M.

NOTD Before: Hits Mari Moon Dreamer (Or, Into The Way Back Machine :) )

Hello!

Yesterday I showed you the 'after' potion of what I did with Hits Mari Moon Dreamer (one of the polishes I got in my swap) and said that I'd show you the 'before' part today, so I could give the polish the full attention it deserves. So here goes. :)

Dreamer is, at head-on first glance, a blue-purple duochrome. But even at this head-on glance, it's not typical. It has little micro-flecks of teal-blue and purple glitter that catch the light; you can see some below:

Hits Dreamer straight on, full sun

But then, when you start moving it around, it starts to shift, and the color intensifies. Not just through blues and purples, but through wines and golds, and finally into a full-on coppery red:

There it is! I can't take a picture of a manicure without a cotton fiber sticking to a nail...>.<

Hits Dreamer in the shade

Hits Dreamer...Never get tired of that rainbow of colors

Hits Dreamer--yes, it really is that pretty.

Yes, it really is that pretty. Every color that you see in the bottle shows up on your nails. Every time the  light changes or you move your finger, a new color appears. The colors contrast and combine as you watch--it's mesmerizing.

I don't know what else to say except...man, I gotta get myself down to Brazil. With a really, really big empty suitcase. :)

Thanks for reading!

M.

NOTD: Hits Mari Moon Dreamer + Olympics Opening Ceremony Challenge

Hello!

Today I have a NOTD for you that was actually a Before & After, but I'm not going to present it that way. The reason is that the base polish is Hits Mari Moon Dreamer, one of the gorgeous Brazilian polishes I got in my recent swap, and it needs a whole post of its own to do it justice (it needs that many pictures, yes, lol). So, I'll just show you the After part here, and then we'll hop in the way-back machine and do the Before. :)

The challenge in PCF today is to create a manicure with the theme 'Olympics Opening Ceremony/Flag'. I opted to focus on the opening ceremony side of it...One of my favorite moments from any opening ceremony comes from the 2010 Winter Olympics, when they unveiled the stadium torch. Although there was a malfunction and the torch didn't work right at first, it was still exceptionally beautiful, and I thought the symbolism, color, and shapes were a moving tribute to the torch:

So, I set out to do a manicure that captured that moment somehow, to the best of my ability. I decided on a stylized representation of the torch in this moment. Here's what I did:

I started with Hits Mari Moon Dreamer as my polish, since it seemed to have similar colors to the ones I love in the picture. I stamped a firework with Shany Plate SH13 using Color Club's Fashion Addict, to reflect the fireworks, and using the same polish I stamped part of a geometric pattern from Konad plate m64 to mirror the geometric intersection of the bars in the torch. Finally, to capture the glow, sparkle and color of the flames, I dabbed on Lush Lacquer's Cheetahlicious glitter on the designs, and covered up the whole thing with Seche Vite.

The best part is that for once, the sun came out when I stamped with a holo, so the glow that I was hoping would come with the holo actually did show up in the sun, making it (in my opinion) even more like the play of colors in the original:

And finally, as a preview for the swatches I'll be showing you of Dreamer, look at this beautiful duochrome color shift that happens even with all of this stamping on top of it! That's some impressive duochrome...:

So, there is my tribute to the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. I'll certainly be watching on Friday--will you?

Thanks for looking, and please check out all the other Opening Ceremony/Flag manicures done by my fellow bloggers, linked below!

M.

NAIL MAIL!: My first swap (or, OMG, OMG, OMG, such pretty polishes!!!!!)

Hello everyone!

I never do haul posts, mostly because my hauls are not that interesting. However, today I got my very first swap package in the mail!! Of all the wonderful things that have come out of this blog, I never expected to meet so many cool people, and the coolest by far is Janaina; after we found a number of things in common, she suggested we do a polish swap. I've never done a polish swap before, and I didn't know quite what to do or expect. I got my package today, and I have to say, before anything else...I'm sorry Janaina, the package I sent to you is nowhere near as cool as the one you sent to me! You really did an incredible job, and I'm going to have to make it up to you next time!!

I am so excited by these, I just had to share them here. I told her that I love jewel-toned polishes the best, and adore duochromes and flakies. Look at the amazing goodness she sent to me:

Swap Haul!!! Holla!!

Ana Hickmann: Escandalo!

She knows I don't like pink, but she took a chance on this one, because it's a pink she loves. Believe me, if I didn't like it I would say it--but the truth is, I absolutely love it. I own ONE item of clothing that has pink in it--only ONE--and it's *this* exact pink. It's rich enough and close enough to red that I adore it. Janaina--get outta mah head!!!

Hits: Can Can

OMG, a flakie. A flakie a flakie a flakie!!! And not just a flakie, but a freakin' gorgeous multichrome green-blue-purple flakie. When I hold this, I can't help but stroke it like Golem with his One Ring...my...precioussssss...

Hits Multigirl: Dreamer

Hits duochrome!!! I've been lusting after this for ages. It's amazing and it's awesome and it makes me do the happy duochrome dance. In case you didn't know, it's sort of like the lambada, but with jazz hands that flash around your nail polish for everyone to see.

PanVel Make Up Stars: Cleopatra

How incredible is that metallic purple! I bet that it would be great for stamping but I'll never know 'cause I am not going to waste a drop on anything but pure base color. The color is actually even prettier in person (you know how that problem-child purple is to photograph) than it is here if you can believe it. Another absolute home-run.

Risque Niasi: Besouro

And last alphabetically, but certainly not least, Risque Niasi Besouro! This didn't pick up well in the bottle, so I'll have to swatch it for you soon. I've never seen anything like this, ever. It's like a silver-black duochrome that flashes a jewel-toned rainbow at the edges, primarily purple, but with some blue and green and yellow. This is the most unique polish I've ever seen, and I can't believe I get to own it. I didn't find anything anywhere close to as unique as this for her so I owe her big, big, big. All I can say about this polish is...WOW.

For any of you out there who have been thinking about a swap, as you can see, I highly recommend it! I was warned it is like Christmas for adults who love polish, and it really is. I haven't been so excited to open a package in...I don't know how long. :)

Thanks so much, Janaina. I cannot express how much you rock! And now I must go put on some of these polishes, I can't wait another second!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

M.

Rainbow favorites: Red!

Hello!

So excited about today's post, because it's about my favorite color, RED!! It is really impossible for me to pick just one red I love and decorate it, so what I'm going to do is show you a couple of reds that are very cool.

First up is Hits Ares, from the No Olimpo collection: 

Two of my favorite things combined into one--red and holographic polish. The sparkle in this lights up the strawberry red color and makes it sing...This is one of those polishes that is so gorgeous on its own it's hard for me to bring myself to stamp them. And that's not easy to do, get me to NOT want to stamp a manicure. :P

I recently also got Orly's Grave Mistake on clearance from Sally's...I had seen it before but it just felt like another red, so I hesitated to buy it. Clearance prices make these decisions so much easier, hee hee! Turns out, I really love it:

It's more of a sexy red creme, and it's even darker in indoor light. It has a retro feel that I love...I may try to do a manicure with it that goes in a pin-up sort of direction.

Next up is my favorite orange...:) In the meantime, please check out the other bloggers participating in this challenge!

M.

www.manicurity.com

http://9mluniverse.blogspot.com/

http://captivatingclaws.blogspot.com/

http://web.stagram.com/n/atlcatsmeow/

http:/www.sytycp.blogspot.com

Www.sincerelyobsessedwithpolish.blogspot.com

Footballandfingernails.blogspot.com

wwww.nailpolishlane.blogspot.com

http://happynailsuk.blogspot.com

polishandsuch.blogspot.com

Nubbinnails.blogspot.com

http://followtheyellowpolishroad.blogspot.com/

http://wwww.freshairandfashion.blogspot.com

http://fancyphalanges.blogspot.com/

mylifeinpolish.blogspot.com

www.lacquerorleaveher.blogspot.com

lieslovesprettythings.blogspot.com

http://www.nailpolishlives.tumblr.com

http://fesnails.blogspot.com/

http://to-polish-or-not.blogspot.ca/

lightyournails.blogspot.com

http://natrcolorsnmusic.blogspot.in/

thiamere.blogspot.com

http://nailpolishrants.blogspot.com/

www.kellyskolors.com

NOTD: Hot Hot Hot colors + Hot Hot dots!

Hello!

I've been dying to use a new pride of my polish collection, Essie's Love, Beverly Hills. Since my group's sunday challenge this week was to use Hot Hot Hot colors, I figured this was the perfect time! Love, Beverly Hills is a striking red with a gold shimmer to it that gives it a glow (the second picture gets the color most right)--because it contains actual gold. What girl can resist the lure of nail polish with actual gold in it?

I decided to pair it with Hits' Flamenco, a red jelly with red and orange flakies. Seriously--if there are any polishes out there HOTTER than these, I want to know about it! (so I can buy them and wear them and stroke them and love them and kiss them).

Unfortunately for some reason, throughout this post, you will see I had tremendous difficulty photographing these colors. I don't know if it's the LBH, the combination, the interaction with the top coat, or the light that day...but I ask you to look past the sub-par pictures I have for you today. :(

Here is LBH as a base with Flamenco on my ring finger. You can see the gold Shimmer in the bottle, but you have to look close to see it on the nails in these pics (not IRL, though): 

Essie's Love, Beverly Hills + Hits Flamenco

However, as HOT as this, is, it didn't seem quite HOT enough for a HOT HOT HOT challenge. So I decided to add some dots to HOTTEN it up a bit, using China Glaze's Champagne Bubbles, and Sinful Colors' Tapping Nails and Serena & Chloe. Unfortunately, because of the issue taking pictures of this, I wasn't able to get a picture that showed all three elements of the mani together well...sigh. So, here are three pictures that show each element:

Shade picture that shows the design the best

That above picture makes my index nail look like it's the size of a house! Yikes! Everybody run and hide from the gigantic Nailzilla!!! Save your children!!!!!

Direct Sunlight that shows the real color and gold shimmer in the LBH most effectively

Shade picture that shows the Flamenco a bit...but still only a bit >.<

IRL, you can see all aspects at once. The gold shimmer makes the polish look velvety, the Flamenco flakies give a little texture, and the dots are just fun. Sorry that you have to kind of use your imagination and combine the three...!

Thanks for looking. :)

M.

NOTD mild Before & After: Hits No Olimpo Ares

Hello!

Red is my favorite color. If red is one of my color options for anything, that's what I'll take. I have more red polishes than any other (although my greens are creeping up fast!). And, I love holos...so of course my dream list of polishes includes a gorgeous red holo. :)

So when I saw Ares in Hits' No Olimpo line, I started to drool. But drooling was all I did because $10 for a small bottle (6ml) is not cheap.

But then...I accomplished a personal milestone and of course needed a suitable reward. And the polish went on sale at the same time, so it was fate. And polish was purchased. And there was much rejoicing (yaaay).

Here it is in the sun:

Oh, man. I don't know what heaven involves, but I'm pretty sure it includes an unlimited supply of this polish.

And here it is in the shade:

Even in the shade, the flecks reflect light and look like little bits of diamonds floating throughout the polish, although this was hard to capture on film. Unlike some holos, Ares is absolutely not dull or boring in the shade or indoors. Even when the holo effect doesn't show, it still looks like a pretty cherry polish with silvery-glass particles in it.

I should also mention that I put a coat of Seche Vite over this after I took the pictures, and couldn't tell any difference. So this holo goes well with a topcoat, at least with Seche Vite.

I couldn't bring myself to do any kind of major stamping over this color, because I was enjoying the holo effect so much. But after a day I thought I would give it a teeny bit of bling. So I stamped it with Color Club's Worth the Risque, using Red Angel plate RA-119. It's very subtle, and I think it adds to the beauty of the polish rather than taking away. Let's face it--when you already have RED and HOLO, you don't need much more of an attention-catcher, lol. Not that that has stopped me from going overboard before with holos (click here to see my crazy holo manicure).

So while I can't afford to wear this polish all the time, I love that I have it for when I need some holographic dare-doing. And now I wonder...is it too much to put a deep blood-red holo on my wishlist now? :)

Thanks for looking,

M.