Day 11: Polka Dots

I dreaded this challenge beforehand (well, not as much as the water marble, but anyways). I'm not any kind of a dotting wizard, and my experiments with dotting tools usually produce more inappropriate words than nail art. Well, here's my try.

My real inspiration for dotting is the ever-awesome mother-of-all-dots blog Another Bottle of Polish?! There are just too many creative dotty designs with french tips, with different-sized spots, dotty lines, and everything you could and could not imagine.

There was a real autumn weather for a change, windy and rainy. Suddenly the mud colours in China Glaze Metro collection seemed enticing. I decided to grab the gray creme Concrete Catwalk. I liked the colour, dramatically dark but a subtle gray at the same time, and wore it alone for a day.

I started dotting with China Glaze Thistle from my previously untrieds (the pic above) and went on with Essence Colour&go Frozen Queen. I had hoped the dotting polishes would stand out more from each other, but now it's difficult to even see that there are two different colours on each dot. But the good thing is, with the nail art there's always the next time, and quite near too!

Dotting was actually fun - the most difficult part was to stop in time. (I'm not sure if I managed it this time. The accent nail is pretty crowded.) You'll definitely be seeing more dots in this blog!
And here are the polishes I used (plus some Seche):

Day 10: Teenage Gradient

I was itching to try out the two OPI DS polishes I bought, and chose the silver holo DS Coronation.  Either it wasn't sunny enough outside, or it would have needed some more layers, or I should have layered it on the top of another polish, but for me the colour was just a "meh" experience. Thus no pics of Coronation on its own.

But then I decided to sponge on some OPI We'll Always Have Paris Suede and paint a layer of OPI Teenage Dream on the top of it all. Et voilà! There's a fun, glittery gradient mani pour vous!

This is almost an all-OPI mani, and it made me remember why I love OPI polishes so much: ultimate control with the brush, opacity in two layers or less, dreamlike formula and application, plus funtionally beautiful bottles. I have to admit I like anything that's pink and glittery, but I fell in love with Teenage Dream. (Until the time for removal...) Just look at the holo glitters in the bottle! I'll have to use it again soon!

And here are the polishes. Topcoat was Orly Sec'n Dry (I believe Teenage Dream needed two coats of it), boosted with some LCN Quick Dry Oil. The bottles go together oh-so-well!

Day 9: Under the Rainbow

The day nine of the challenge asked for rainbow nails. I had thought about just stamping rainbows on my nails from BM201 (I was on a lazy mood..). But going through my stash and spotting some untried Essence polishes inspired me and here we are: rainbow skittle!

I wanted to do it with all cremes, but had to cheat on my left thumb. I simply don't own a suitable yellow-green creme. This means shopping..

I almost included a pink polish. Even after I checked the actual colours of the rainbow from Wikipedia, I found it hard to resist the pink - my favourite colour on my nails. But if I've learned something in the Uni, it's: "You Don't Tamper With Scientific Facts", so I left the pink out. (How is it possible, by the way, that it could not be included, if rainbow is the continuous spectrum of all visible colours?  Is pink somehow between red and violet, the extreme ends of the spectrum and the top and bottom of a rainbow, and thus is not seen?)

The polishes I used (from left to right) are:
Revlon Revlon red, Essence Colour&go Wake Up!, China Glaze Papaya Punch, China Glaze Electric Pineapple, China Glaze Cha-cha-cha, Essence Colour&go Trust in Fashion, Essence Nail art twins Bella, Essence Nail art twins Bonnie, China Glaze First Mate AND Essence Nail art twins Thelma.

Phew! That was a lot of polishes!
All are two coats except Electric Pineapple, First Mate and Thelma, which needed the third one.

From all of these, the colour I'd definitely wear as a whole mani asap is the bright orange-red Wake Up! I'm trying to figure out the way to use it in one of the forecoming challenges...

Day 8: Copper Glitters, Too!

The challenge of Day 8 was metallic nails. I was inspired by some new polishes in the Essence Golour&go line: Just in Case (Brown), Be Optimistic (Copper) and Make it Golden (Gold glitter). All that glitters is not gold - copper glitters, too!

I painted every other nail with Just in Case and Be Optimistic, and freehanded a (wobbly) french with the contrasting colour. The right ring finger was left plain and topped with a coat of Make it Golden. Simple but fun!

I'm quite happy with how the colours play together. They remind me of some copper cooking pots and other kitchen decorations in estilo rustico. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens... eugh.

 And here are the polishes. I really like the new Essence glitters: this golden one, Blue Addicted, and Time for Romance, which is a burgundy shade. They have just the right proportions of fine microglitter and larger hex glitters in a matching jelly base. I can't wait my nails to grow just a little bit longer - I'm planning to do a major blue mani which will look absolutely stunning on long, sharpish nails. Just wait and see. (Warning: Some disappointment may occur.)

Day 7: Black and White Era

I've had these pics in my archive for quite some time, from since I started to think about doing this challenge. (Not literally from the black and white photography era, but almost...) Now, when I look at these, I can at least be happy that my skills in both photography and nail art have developped somewhat...

This is two coats (I think) of Essence Colour&go Fabuless as the base.  I really like to use this as my black polish, because it's not just your average black. It has tiny silvery shimmer in it, which makes the overall tone lean to graffiti.

I taped my nails diagonally and stamped with Konad special white polish and BM224. Starting from the pinky, I made the stamped area slightly bigger in each nail so that the thumbnail was stamped all over. I like that effect - have to repeat it with some other pattern.

The line is drawn with Essence Nail Art pen in Silver White.  I definitely should have used the Konad polish for the line also, now the lines stand out as if they were of totally differet colour. Well, you paint - you learn.

I made this mani to match one of my comfort dresses - that's the black and white fabric on the background. The dress itself is so shabby I only use it at home anymore. It's a shame that, eventually, that's the destiny of your favourite garments...