ABC Challenge: S is for Spotted (Sort Of)

Howdy, everyone!  Another late Tuesday/early Wednesday and we're on to another ABC Challenge post!  This week's letter is 'S' and it's one of the few letters that I've known what I was going to do for awhile.  Since I've started manicuring my nails on a regular basis, one of my favorite techniques is water marbling.  I know most people have a love/hate relationship with this technique, as it tends to be messy and fussy and somewhat wasteful, but you can't argue with the results you get when it works.  Today, rather than doing a straight water marble, I've used a water spotting technique (see what I did there with the 'S'?) to create a different texture to a regular marble.  Here are my spotted (slightly) nails!

The main difference between a spotted water marble and a regular one is that instead of swirling several polishes together to create pattern, you spritz the polish-coated water with rubbing alcohol, hairspray, or hand sanitizer.  This causes the polish to separate and create "spotted" patterns into which you dip your prepped nail, just like you do a regular marble.

You'll notice that I'm referring to this manicure as a 'sort of' spotted mani, mainly because the polish I used didn't spot up like others I've tried before.  In an effort to do something different, I used all duochrome polishes (see polish list at the end of the post) and it seems like those tend to make a different type of pattern than the creme polishes I've used in the past.  However, I'm calling this a happy accident because I love the result!

I am so excited to see what everyone else came up with for this letter!  Please stop by and check out the other ladies' posts, you can find them via the thumbnails below!

As always, thanks so much for reading!

Polish List:
Sally Hansen Nail Prisms~Ruby Sapphire, Amber Ruby, and Golden Cinnabar
Color Club~2 random duochrome polishes I got in a set with no names...*sigh* why do they do that??

Love & Beauty Gradient

Howdy everyone!  I mentioned in yesterday's post about my nail polish buying spree over the weekend...I was supposed to be on a "no-buy".  Yeah, that didn't work out so well lol However, since I bought new polish, I have a fun little manicure to show you today using a couple of the polishes I picked up at Forever 21.

Forever 21's nail polish line is called Love & Beauty, and, as luck would have it, I love them and I think they're beautiful! (See what I did there, huh, did ya?)  This gradient was created using L&B's Blue/Green and Purple polishes.  I'm not being descriptive there, Blue/Green and Purple are actually the names on the back of the polish bottles.  Blue/Green is a really lovely duochrome that shifts from emerald green to teal to bright blue.  You can see a bit of purple and gold shift in the bottle in the photo above.  I didn't find that those shifts translated to the nail, but it's a beautiful polish regardless.  Using a sponge, I dabbed some Purple on the tips of my nails.  Purple is a really deep magenta-y purple almost metallic polish.  To pull everything together and add a bit of depth, I applied a coat of Nicole by O.P.I in Top of My World, an opalescent micro glitter in a clear base. I think ToMW added just the right touch of sparkle, even if I do dislike their bottle and brush.

....more after the jump....

ABC Challenge: C is for Color Club

Hi, all!  I'm a little late to this party, but I've joined the ABC Challenge hosted by Kimber at Kimber's Lacquer Korner.  They're actually into the 3rd week, "C", but she was kind enough to let me join anyway.  I'm looking forward to this Challenge as the rules are pretty relaxed.  Basically, it's a weekly manicure posted on Wednesdays.  The only rule for the manicure itself is that either the brand, color or technique has to start with the letter of the week; in this case, "C".  Super relaxed and super fun!

So this week, "C" is for Color Club.  While strolling through Marshall's with my oh-so-patient and wonderfully fantastic boyfriend the other day, I came upon their polish section which never fails to disappoint.  I was lucky enough to pick up a mini set of 4 duochrome Color Club nail polishes for $4.99!  They're so very lovely!  Take a look:

Unfortunately, neither the packaging nor the bottles had any names or numbers to reference, so I'll just have to make them up as I go along.  I decided I wanted to use the green, purple, and blue polishes and do a gradient for this challenge.  Here's what I got:

....more after the jump....

Oil Slick Manicure

Howdy, everyone! I am so excited about today's manicure, I can hardly contain myself! I first saw these nails on Esmaltes da Kelly (I can't seem to find the specific post, as I initially saw it on Pinterest), but had absolutely no idea how she did it.  I don't speak or read Portuguese and Google's translator feature is less than informative sometimes.  In any case,  I knew it looked pretty darn awesome, so I filed it away in my brain as something to figure out at a later date.  Then, earlier this week, The PolishAholic (bless her for her awesomeness!) posted this. And, now I know how to do it!  Here are my results:

Isn't it gorgeous?? *swoon*  I apologize that I don't have an outdoor photo to show you, I managed to delete them from my camera before downloading them to my computer.  I'll retake them tomorrow, providing the sun cooperates :)

Basically, this is a water marble (see my how-to here) using duochromes instead of cremes.  So simple yet so brilliant, there was no way I was going to figure this one out alone lol  I started with a coat of Sonia Kashuk's Rock Star, my new favorite deep purple polish.  For the marble, I used Sally Hansen's Nail Prisms in Amber Ruby, Ruby Sapphire and Lapis Amethyst (I want to try this with Turquoise Opal, but it's too precious to waste on a first run), China Glaze No Plain Jane and Nina Ultra Pro in Molten Gold.  And you just can't argue with the results! 

Thanks so much for reading!

Grrrrrreat! Manicure

Howdy, everyone!  We're back around to another weekend already.  Is it just me or does it feel like this summer is passing by in a blur?  Or a blaze, more like, with as hot as it's been!  I love living in Chicago, but it does feel like the summers get shorter every year.

I have a fun manicure for you today.  Let's get to it!

   

I started here with two coats of Sinful Colors Let's Meet, a mustard yellow shimmer.  Over that, I sponged on some Nina Ultra Pro in Molten Gold which is a pretty orange-y pink to gold duochrome.  To finish the gradient, I applied just a bit of Sinful Colors Timbleberry to the very tips of my nails with a sponge.  Timbleberry is a deep coral pink creme which almost verges on neon.  After a coat of Seche Vite, I wore just the gradient for a day, but it just didn't seem like it was finished.  The gradient seemed like it was waiting for something, it just felt like a background.  So, I decided an animal print was in order and what better print to go with than tiger stripes for an orange/yellow gradient?  With my black nail art striper polish, I painted on some stripes.  I think it completes the manicure nicely, don't you?  It's definitely more eye-catching this way!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed my post :)

Purple Hex

Hello, everyone! It's been a few days since I posted, sorry about that.  Everything I've put on my nails the last few days just made me very unhappy and I didn't even want to take pictures of those failed manis.  Yesterday, however, I stopped by my local Sally's Beauty Supply to pick up some new pretty, sparkly things!  Yes, yes, I know I said I wasn't buying any more until I'd tried everything I had, but I've gotten through most of it and I was jonesin' for a fix lol

So, today I have a fun, purple-y, sparkly manicure that I'm a little bit in love with.  Here it is (in the shade)!

The base color here is actually four(!) layers of Sally Hansen HD Hi-Definition in DVD alternated with Nina Ultra Pro Nail Lacquer in Purple-Xing, with an extra layer of Purple-Xing on top.  I got a little impatient waiting for all of that to dry, but I LOVE the color!.  DVD is a turquoise to lilac semi-duochrome with lots of glittery flecks.  Purple-Xing is small holographic, round glitter set in dark blue to purple base.  Both are gorgeous alone, but I dig the way they look layered.  On top of all that, Sally had a BOGO coupon for Cina Nail Art products so, of course, I had to buy a couple of those!  The large hexagonal holographic glitter you're seeing on top of my nails is from their Midsummer Dream kit.

Purple-Xing is my very first bottle of Ultra Pro and I love the formula!  It has a nice consistency and goes on very smoothly.  And the color was such a knock-out in the bottle, I had to have it!  My Sally's is having a sale this week ($3.49 per bottle) so I may have to go back and purchase a few more bottles!

 

Here's a sunlit shot:

I'm so glad this manicure worked out well...I was getting worried, after several "meh" manis that I was losing my touch!

Thanks so much for stopping by and leave a comment if you liked what you saw!  :)

Celestial

Hello and welcome!  I hope everyone had a great week.  Today marked the beginning of the NATO Summit craziness here in Chicago, well, not really the beginning as protests started a few days ago.  However, I think Saturday ought to be the really "exciting" day.  How I wish I didn't have to go to work!

Anyway, to take my mind off of the craziness, I went polish shopping today!  Wet n Wild has a new Stars & Stripes line which consists entirely of larger glitter polishes.  I bought 6 bottles at CVS :)  They retail for $1.99 and CVS had a buy one, get one 1/2 off sale so it was totally worth it!

I started this manicure yesterday with two coats of Sally Hansen's Nail Prisms in Lapis Amethyst.  I did a subtle gradient over that with Sally's HD Hi-Definition Nail Color in Laser.  Lapis Amethyst is a bit more subdued than the Turquoise Opal I used in my last post; the duochrome isn't as evident in this one.  Laser is a gorgeous glittery royal blue and purple shade that I got for half-price at Walgreen's on Wednesday.  I liked the effect of the polishes together but it was missing something.  And, today, I found it:
 

Introducing Wet n Wild's Fast Dry Nail Color in Stars & Stripes.  I literally gasped when I saw this on the shelf this morning.  I have quite a few glitters, but I did not own a star-shaped holographic mylar glitter with little stripes of holographic mylar glitter in the same bottle...now I do!  I really love this polish!!  Here's a closer view.

You can see the holographic effect on the stars on my pinky in this one.  This manicure is so sparkly, I can't wait to check it out in the abundant sunshine we of the Windy City are supposed to have tomorrow.  And speaking of Saturday, if you're in the area, come check out Pets @ Paulina at Roscoe, Lincoln and Paulina by the Brown Line stop.  The merchants of Paulina Station are sponsoring nine different pet adoption groups.  They'll be there with foster animals and applications for adoption.  Even if you have reached your pet quota, stop on by and say hi!  Thanks for reading!

Glittery Gradient

Good evening!  I hope everyone is having a great week so far.  Mine has been a bit up and down, but it's starting to look a bit brighter.  Especially with today's manicure!  Check out this lovely, sparkly beauty!

Isn't it purdy?  I was perusing my nail polish collection looking for a color I hadn't used in awhile and came across my bottle of Sally Hansen's Nail Prisms in Turquoise Opal.  This polish is so lovely.  I can't even remember when I purchased this line, but I know it's been several years; possibly close to 10 years!  Despite that, the formula is holding up quite well.  Turquoise Opal is a duochrome polish that changes from a vibrant green to an almost lapis blue to fucshia with golden undertones throughout.  Do not ask me how one polish can do all that, just believe me that it does :) 

For this manicure, I started with two coats of Milani Nail Lacquer 3D Holographic in 3D 510.  In the case of 3D 510, I think "holographic" is a bit of a misnomer unless I'm misunderstanding the term.  This polish has a lovely glittery finish with a lot of gold flecks accompanied by iridescent bits that flash blue to green to pink.  However, there is no holo halo (as I like to think of it) and it looks to me just like a glitter polish albeit a very sparkly one.  On top of those two coats, I sponged on Turquoise Opal again using the gradient technique by The Nailasaurus.  I think I'm getting the hang of it and I really liked the result this time.

Here's another look.  You can start to see the duochrome effect in this one.  Try as I might this morning I couldn't get a good capture of the color here.  I wanted to try again this evening but it's been stormy and dark here so it was a no-go.  In any case, I hope you enjoyed my ramblings this evening and that you have a great one yourself!