Musical Month: Ingrid

The musical month continues with the new song Niina chose for us.
Today's inspiration is Johanna Kurkela's beautiful song called 'Ingrid'

The lyrics (of the chorus – no way I'm translating the whole song!!) in English would be something around these lines:
""Today I'm cheerful, look at me -
doing my work with a smile on my lips.
And you're so blind to see
how I'm exhausted down till fingertips.""

I wanted to illustrate the dark and the light side we all have in us – and I definitely wanted to add a dash of hope in the form of wheat stalks. I believe we all have the seed for good in us, which we can foster and let grow to something beautiful – and also nourishing for others – with the right people  and love around us. The album cover was also clearly shot on a field, so maybe that's where the crop idea came from...

The base colours were picked from my oldies – as I have already packed my fave new polishes and shipped them to Spain where we are going to move shortly. The dark polish is Essence Urban Messages Nightline (it's definitely more blue IRL than in these pics), and the light peach is Nicole by OPI Persuasive Peach. They both needed four coats Now I remember, why I didn't pack them...

I picked the colours, and the idea for sponging, from the cover art of the album, which I really appreciate in so many ways. That's exactly the kind of landscape I watch from my desk at home, ever changing with the turn of the seasons, and I love it!

For the dark stamping, I mixed Konad's shimmery blue and Mundo de Unhas black stamping polishes. The bronze stamping polish is Kiko mirror 629.

The wheat stalk image came from Born pretty plate BP-L007, and the swirly image from BM-314. The latter is one of my most trusted stamping templates. It seems to save every manicure heading for disaster..  I actually have to stop myself to putting it on every other mani I make. Do you have those images, which just simply call your name every day?

But enough about me! The other girls have made awesome nails, too! Go and see at least Janina's art at her blog "Never grow up"!

Musical Month: Ungettable

My newer favourite in the Musical Month challenge (see more about the challenge in the previous post) is, ironically, an old song from the Finnish Band Naryan. Or well, not an old old, but from their album published in 2013. Maybe I'm so old already, that two years ago is practically 'now' for me.. :D

The song is called 'Ungettable' and I simply love the atmosphere, rolling guitars and beautiful violins in the song – and the band's way of visualising their art.

It might be deep, it might be dark – but somehow it's still hopeful and purging!
You can read and see more about Naryan on their website, and hear the song 'Ungettable'in Youtube.

The base in most of the nails is OPI Skull & Glossbones, and on the ring finger GAP Starry Night. I have to say I was a bit disappointed on the Starry Night: it took four coats to be passably opaque, and still I felt the glitters got a bit buried in the base..

The stamping is from BP-L015 With Essence Dark grey Stampy polish. Thumb and pinky got some simple marbling with saran wrap – and the pinky a tribute to the band logo with striping tape.

The other girls have been listening to these same songs, and striving to find inspiration in them. I think the results are really pretty! See Janina's awesome work in her blog 'Never grow up'!!

 Let's see, what we are going to make up of Niina's songs...
<3

Free as a (Pink) Bird

Here's a happy manicure I did to honor the migratory birds, that are forming huge flocks, already preparing for their trip to south. They gather around their friends and family, feed as much as they can, and seem to plan their journey in an enthusiastic manner. How does that sound familiar to an academic seasonal worker? :D

In the middle and ring fingers, and on the thumbnail I'm wearing Wild and Mild Diamond - Queens
(as you might know, I'm a sucker to everything NYC-related. So I had to buy the whole New York themed collection from this brand, although I don't especially like the brand, the polishes are a nightmare to store plus the bottlecaps don't align...)
Pinky and index figers have two coats of Color Club Wild Orchid.

Stamping I made with with Kiko Mirror 618 and Essence dark grey stamping polish (a LE some time ago), both images from plate BPL-025

You will be seeing some Born Pretty stamping plates in the blog in the near future. And, hear this: all the products were purchased by me, with my own hard earnd money, from my own free will. Just so that you know. :)

A side note, though: I'm just a little bit bewildered by the discussion on bloggers selling their ethics and gravitating towards money and marketing. Maybe some bloggers do that, maybe some don't even if people think that -- and maybe there are many of us to whom this is not even an issue. I've never accepted any collaboration nor even products for review. I'm a bit confused with all the statements and disclosures and policies I possibly should be explicating, when the only thing I want to write about is the polish and stuff (bought by me) I play with and which brings me so much joy. So please bear with me and the occasionally missing commercial details - and feel free to ask if there's a question related to this bothering you!

Dotty Dot Dot... Pastel Flowers

The Spring is here!! That simply calls for a flowery, pastel-y manicure!

 I shopped some Essence colours on clearance a while ago. I had read a tip about If I were a boy - and I'm glad I took it! The best pastel blue creme I've seen!

When I came home I noticed that I happened to have bought a green, a blue and a purple in matching tones! Combining them was a must.

This manicure is made with:
Essence
If I Were a Boy (blue)
Oktoberfest LE Mauserl (green)
Oh My Glitter (purple)

I took inspiration for these flowers from Misscelinas pic I saw in Pinterest. I tried to find a link for you to the corresponding blog post, but didn't find it. Go check her awesome blog out anyways - just click her name above!!

TPC: Reverse Leopard

Usually, your leopard mani has light/coloured dots, and black/dark contours or circles around them. Ever wondered, how it would look the other way round? 

Well, here you got it, my second Tri Polish Challenge manicure for February!

Base here is Barielle Make It a Latte (the colour of this is nothing like latte, by the way...)

I added random dabs with Color Club Hot Like Lava, as I had to include a pink.

Then I painted the contours using fine nail art brush with Orly Boho Bonnet mixed with white and Essence Nail art twins Romeo, which is a dark silver polish.

I simply can't decide if this was a good or a bad idea. You tell me!!

An InLinkz Link-up

GOT Polish: Springtime Flowers

Is it a bit early for springtime flowers? Well, I don't care!
This is my green mani for the GOT polish challenge

The base polish here Essence Fruity LE "Kiwi". I had to paint four coats, but the result was really nice with the glitters peeking through the polish.

The ring finger is the accent finger again, with Essie Navigate Her and sponging with Color Club The Lime Starts Here.

And then I added rhinestones to a flower shape. What a cutesy-flowery style! Although I could have used a thinner topcoat... ahem...

 On other fingers I added stamping with Konad white and DRK-A, and then some yellow dots with Orly Spark.

The pics didn't turn out too well – lobster hands, bubbling top coat, cuticles in bad shape and all that... But I really loved this manicure! I'll have to give this style another go soon, maybe even with more murky colour palette or jewel tones... Hmmm...

An InLinkz Link-up

GOT Polish: Blue Matte and Holo Dots

This GOT polish dots themed manicure features an oldie glitter topper and some play with matte and sparkle.

Essence Hello Holo sat in the untrieds for a LONG time. And if I say a long time, it's not about days or weeks, rather months or years... Somehow I thought nothing much about it, but it really is a nice and sparkly topper.

 I begun the mani with two coats of Catrice How I Matt Your Mother.
In accent fingers I added some dots with Essence Nail Art topper in Hello Holo.
The thumb got a coat of Hello Holo, topped with Essence soft touch top coat.

This manicure was inspired by some other blogger - and I'm so bummed I can't find the design anymore!! Please shout out if you have done something similar in the past! I'd love to give you the credit!

 I like to wear dark colours when I occasionally file my nails down to nubbins. I feel the dark plums, deep burgundys and blackened colours look too heavy on real talons my nails so often are - I'm a bit lazy in keeping them short :)

An InLinkz Link-up

TPC: Corral de Campanas

My last Tri Polish challenge manicure in January  is actually the first I made. Oh technology, how easy you make it to deceive others...

We celebrated the New Year -and the beginning of the no booze January- with an extra special wine, Corral de Campanas by Quinta de la Quietud. The hubby suggested I paint my nails in the style of the label – what a great idea!!

Base here is Nails White, two coats. On it I painted random dabs with OPI From a to Z-urich, Essence Colour&go Wake up! and OPI Y'all Come Back Ya Hear.

Lastly (but not leastly haha) I added the lines with a fine nail art brush and Mavala black.

Although I messed up a few points, I was quite happy how the mani looked compared to the original. I'm looking forward to February and more wine labels to get inspired by!!

An InLinkz Link-up

GOT Polish: Blue Pirouette

The blue themed post in the GOT polish challenge is dedicated to a non-blue polish – one of the prettiest glitter toppers ever: OPI Pirouette My Whistle. If you own it, this is the kind of manicure you're going to do, sooner or later. And, believe me, it pays off...

 I paired it first with a blue jelly polish.

I proceeded like this:
a coat of Essence Cool and the Gang
a coat of OPI Pirouette my Whistle
a coat of CatG
dabbings of PMW
a coat of Seche Vite

Just admire the depth!! Such blue! Very jelly! Wow!

I couldn't stop myself here - although I maybe should have. I added an accent finger with iridescent glequins in the left hand, and China Glaze Snow Globe in the right.

I'm useless in glitter placement, sorry! I need some more excercise...

Finally, I aimed for some kind of a seabed effect with the stamping. The pattern is from the DRK-A plate, stamped twice: first with Essie Fair Game, and then with Orly It's Up to Blue.

Some more Seche Vite, and I was ready (to regret I didn't stop earlier..)

An InLinkz Link-up

GOT Polish: Rays of Light

This is my most fitting manicure ever to post for the GOT (golden oldies thursday) polish challenge, where the theme today is 'stripes'.

 

 I had the base polish in my untrieds for a year or so before using it for this manicure – and then I forgot all about the manicure and the pics, so that all the material you're seeing here ha been lying in the vault for a year or so. Definitely an oldie!!

The base is two coats of Essence Crazy Good Times Candyction – an awesome jelly-ish brightest red with glass flecks. Why on earth did I let this polish stay untried for so long?!?

 

I then sponged on some random spots with Primark unnamed neon yellow polish (stinky as heck!), did a cris cross pattern with striping tape, and topped them off with Finger Paints Winter Sky. I used a coat of SecheVite to smooth out the surface.

It may not be the prettiest manicure I've ever done, but it's definitely one of the most... hmm... original? Interesting? Personal?

An InLinkz Link-up