GOT Polish Challenge: Pastel

Well, it's not Thursday today but I can reassure you this post has been in planning since Wednesday night last week. I knew I wanted to use Sweet Hook by China Glaze, my first pastel polish after much resistance from my part, but didn't know how I would use it. After some frustration research, I end up with some saran wrapped, drippy nails. It took me three goes to create the mani you see below from having to do and redo the drips; they would come out crooked, too fat or too chunky. This was an OK try but I actually liked the second one better didn't take photos of it but never mind, I'm happy with the result.

For my last attempt, I started with two coats of China Glaze in Sweet Hook, which has been used a lot in this blog, and let it mostly dry. I then applied one thin coat of Australis' Aqua (please don't judge, it was an early time for this blog) and saran wrapped it off while it was still wet. I then dotted a line of Butter London's Union Jack Black along the tips of the nails and two dots at different levels of the nails to create the drops' base. I let that dry for a few minutes before taking the Topshop Nail Art Pen in Black, tool that I have used almost to the bottom of its container, to smooth out the dotted lines and creating the neck of the drops. It turned out super chunky so I waited for it dry for a while before creating the highlights on the drops with the white Nail Art Pen from Topshop. Once all that was done, I finished with one coat of HK Girl top coat.

This nails were chunky on the tips, I could feel them and it bother me a little but I kept them on overnight. When I woke up, they were a lot smoother and looked nicer, unfortunately I had to go to work before the sun had come up so I couldn't take new photos (mostly from tiredness). When I finished work I had a tiny little bit of tip wear and was tempted to cover it and take new pics but the day got on the way and that thought went out the window. What I figure is that the thick tips protected this mani and allowed me to keep it for a few days before it peeled off in thick, black chunks.

The thing about this mani, even though not perfect, has shown me that I have come a long way in nail art. I used to get frustrated because I couldn't come up with acceptable stuff and would just take it all off without posting anything on this blog. This time, I had basic tools, knowledge of how to use them, better colour theory and most important of all, a lot more patience and persistence to create a funky mani (from afar, it looked better from afar). Who would have thought painting nails would have so many benefits?

Till next time, 

Laura

Sunny Holographic Mani

Hello, hello! I was feeling inspired outside the GOT challenge and the Revlon Parfumarie range; this stimulus arose by looking at some pretty holographic polishes in the sun and let's face it, who doesn't like holo on their nails?

I started with two coats of Union Jack Black by Butter London in all but ring fingers, let it dry and applied on two dabbed coats of L.A. Girl in Supernova on the prepped fingers. While that was drying, which btw took forever, I applied two coats of the silvery holographic goodness that Ozotic 509 is and let it dry. I then stamped what I would like to call the stained window pattern from MoYou's Suki 04 plate with Konad's Black Special Polish. I topped all fingers off with one coat of HK Girl topcoat that helped the drying time of Supernova.

I ended up getting a lot of shrinkage on the black nails and usually I would point the finger at Seche Vite for that terrible trait, but this time I'm pretty sure it was Supernova's clear base and my piling of it on the nail. It ended up looking very thick and I actually had  a couple of the black nails pop off in one piece in the shower. :(

It was really pretty while it lasted and very rainbow-y. Blurred photo for effect.

And some  photo spam because you can never have enough holo!

Yeah, that's it from me. I'm just hoping more inspiration comes my way.

Till next time,

Laura

GOT Polish Challenege: Purple

My purple Golden Oldie polish without doubt would be B Collection by Bloom in Dubai (which is no longer in sale!!!). I have done a few posts praising it and showing it as a base and part of nail art. Since I got Dubai, I have gotten a few other purple shimmers by different brands that may have their own qualities but this one has a very special place in my heart. 

For today's challenge, I wanted to create a white based purple gradient with glequins but that turned out to be a terrible experiment. Then I had recalled this post from Penny Pinching Polish, where she tries a heap of polishes for stamping over black and white to see what works. I never really though of using sheer-ish polishes over black thinking that they wouldn't show up. Dubai as a stamping polish never crossed my mind so today was a good day as any to prove that this was a good all-rounder polish. 

The base was done with two coats of Union Jack Black by Butter London and once dry, I stamped it using Dubai and two patterns from the MoYou's Suki 04 plate. I topped it all off with one coat of HK Girl Top Coat. 

I was stoked with the way this turned out. The stamping gives the black a very subtle depth in the shade/artificial lighting but once it comes out to the sun this mani really lights up.

I didn't think I would be able to love this polish anymore but I just can't stop looking at the multicoloured shimmer. Isn't it pretty?

I had some trouble photographing the shiny version of this mani so I matted it to make it easier. Unfortunately, the matte top coat killed the shimmer and left some  bad brushstroke marks so I went back to shiny after taking the following photo.

Yeah, I like the shiny better.

I'm pretty sure Dubai is gonna stay on my 'favourite' pile until it runs out. 

Till next time, 

Laura

It Was On A Starry Night...

You may be familiar with 'Dia de los Reyes Magos' or Day of the Three Wise Men, which is celebrated in some Latin American countries and parts of Europe on the 6th of January, as far as I know. The Wise Men would be the ones that would bring presents to kids instead of Santa Claus, however, the custom has changed, depending on who you ask and some kids get presents on Christmas and today. The adults get to eat 'rosca de reyes', a cake in the shape of a ring with crystallized/glazed fruit and whatever other food the host of the wants to serve. On the nails, I figured showing the star that guided the Three Wise Men to Baby Jesus to give them the gifts would be suitable for the occasion. I must be honest though, I intended to post this at Christmas time but never got around to writing up the words for the photos but it turned out for the better.

I  started with two coats of Butter London's Union Jack Black and saran-wrapped one coat of Max Factor's Extra Frost to create the night sky. I let that dry and used striping tape to create a thin triangle along three of my fingers to create the tail of the star... or comet, whatever you wanna call it, and used Essie's Good As Gold to colour it in. Topped it all off with one coat of Seche Vite.

I had some gold star studs but the mani would looked a bit odd with two different tones of gold so I painted the star with the Essie polish and let it dry for about half an hour. I had to bend the star a little bit so it would fit properly on the nail without snagging onto e v e r y t h i n g like some larger studs tend to do if left flat. I attached it with a drop of Seche Vite but I did it when it wasn't quite dry/tacky so I got some of the Good as Gold on the base. 

That could be considered star dust from the comet... Yeah... It could.

I had a bit of trouble photographing the prettiness of this mani so I tried it with sunlight (photos above) and in the lightbox (photo below). Oh! I also dented my index finger twice, once with a ring because I thought it would be a good idea to take off a ring while the polish was still tacky, and the second from moving my hands around normally.

I was really happy with the way this mani looked, the depth of the 'sky' and the continuity of the comet's tail did it for me. I even kept this for FOUR days. 

Hope you guys have had a good and safe holiday season. Here in this part of the world we've been having 40 degree days, which feels totally like summer.

Till next time, 

Laura.