Sun Blocks

 This week the sun came out and stayed for several days. It finally feels like summer is coming, so I had to do something summery on my nails. Plus I had to try the 2 new China Glaze Sunsational Summer polishes I picked up.

I started with 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme wear Mellow Yellow. It was quite streaky and I would have used at least 3 coats if I were to wear this on its own.

Then I used scotch tape to block off half of each of my nails. I tried to cover up the streakiest or worst looking portion of the yellow on each nail while keeping the 'random' look. Then I used one thicker coat of China Glaze Too Yacht to Handle, removing the tape immediately to keep the lines as crisp as possible. 

With flash

Then I blocked off some halves and some quarters of my nails with tape and did one thick coat of China Glaze You Drive me Coconuts. You drive me coconuts is a jelly finish, so you can see how the color is altered over the yellow and blue, particularly where I've covered both on one nail. I prefer it over the yellow because it's brighter and retains more of the pink, but it gives a cool patchwork effect either way. 

Fluorescent light

I touched up a few spots with a nail art brush where polish had leaked under my tape. Then I finished the whole thing with a coat of OPI rapid dry. My bottle is getting low, so there are quite a few bubbles on some of my fingers and my left hand got a little smudge and just wasn't looking as great as I'd like, so I have a rare shot of my right hand for you today.

Natural light.

Overall it's bright and summery, super shiny and has attracted a lot of attention already. My 4 year old niece couldn't stop touching my fingers when she saw them!

See you again soon!

Honey Ryder

I LOVE James Bond! I have all the movies. So when I finally saw the new OPI liquid sand Bond Girls collection for sale, I had to contain myself and only buy half of them. I've already put Tiffany Case on my toes and this week I have a simple mani on my hands with Honey Ryder.

I used essie protein base coat and 2 coats of Honey Ryder. On my ring finger a did 3 simple stripes of Ink Nail art in gold. Obviously, no top coat. The dry time for the liquid sand was pretty good actually, although I didn't leave it quite long enough before I started cooking dinner and you can see the result on my middle finger in a couple of the photos.

Under fluorescent lamp

Sunshine. Most colour accurate.

Indirect sunlight.

The pictures don't do justice to the shimmer that this polish has; the texture really catches the light. I think this polish lives up to the Bond name. It's like gold meets champagne and I love it!

See you again soon!

Rhapsody in Blue

Today I have as much blue as I could cram into one manicure for Austism awareness month. 

I started with Essie protein base coat and 2 coats of no name brand Mondorama on all but my ring finger.  On my ring finger I used 2 coats of Finger Paints cerulean seascape. In retrospect, I may have just stamped on one finger and then called this manicure a day; it didn't end up quite how I had imagined it. 

To my ring finger I added some no name blue glitter polish to the tip and then put 3 blue rhinestones along the tip line. I usually dump a few rhinestones onto the parchment I'm working on and pick them up with a dotting tool dipped in a small dab of clear polish. 

On my index and middle finger, I sponged the tips with Revlon PetalChrome. I'm not sure I'm loving the effect of sponging with a chrome polish; it shows off every imperfection and any unevenness in your sponging. Sometimes the way it catches the light makes it looks like you got a glob of polish on your nail instead of purposeful sponging. 

Over top of the sponging, I did a coat of OPI rapid dry then I stamped with Konad special polish in blue and Bundle Monster plate BM-201. 

On my pinky and thumb, I water-marbled with PetalChrome, Cerulean Seascape, Mondorama and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Blue me away. I like the effect of chrome in the water marble, but it does tend to dry quite quickly, so you will have to work fast to swirl the polish. 

I finished my index and middle finger with a coat of Essie Matte About You. I smudged my left index finger after I put the matte on. Below is a before and after that shows why investing in a long thin striper brush is a must!

Maybe a little busy for me overall, but each individual technique turned out pretty well. 

Bonus! I apologize to those of you, like me, who hate feet. After I did my blue mani, I came across OPI's new Bond girl collection and had to buy a few. I couldn't not try them, so I took the pink off my toes (not too well, didn't want to ruin the new mani ... you can see the residue) and tried the blue one, of course! Tiffany Case is a textured glitter that shines like a blue disco ball - it's packed with so much small blue and silver glitter that you have to get super close before you notice the base is actually a matte polish. 

What do you think of the liquid sand trend?

See you again soon!

Black & White, Straight up with a Twist

Bought a new almost white polish today, so I decided to do a simple black and white manicure.

I started with a base coat of Essie's protein base coat. I just started using it, so we'll see if it actually makes a difference on my nails. Then I used 3 coats of Essie Waltz. It's a gorgeous milky white, but it is quite sheer. The coverage was okay after 3 coats, leaves some visible nail line and has almost a jelly-like finish; it maybe could have used a 4th coat for more opacity. It would be a great polish to franken with some pastel glitter ... but that's for another day.

For the tips, I used Essence chic reloaded. Chic reloaded is black with pink and blue shimmer that makes it look almost charcoal grey in some lighting. Instead of a classic french tip, I went with a curve. I used a long thin striper brush to paint the outline of the curve first. Then I filled it in with one thick coat using the striper brush.

A nice combination of macro settings, acetone remover and not moisturizing before a photo make my skin look like a 70 year old's. 

Finally, I added some black flower nail stickers to my thumb and ring finger and finished with a coat of OPI rapid dry.

I got to do something with manicure that I haven't been able to do recently ... take a picture in the sunlight! It really shows off the shimmer of chic reloaded.

I really like how this mani turned out. Simple and classy, but with a funky twist, just enough to keep it interesting. What do you think?

See you again soon!