V - VIP

Look who's doing another ABC challenge post! Only five letters left...

Today I'm going with Orly VIP for the letter V.

I have to admit I had difficulties with this one - that is, I almost didn't find a V polish in my stash until I ran through the minis. And there it was, this sweet little bottle of glitter.

The base polishes I used here are Gosh Diva in pinky, middle and thumb and Color Club Miss Bliss in ring and index fingers.

Then I added a sponging of Orly VIP on pinky, index and thumb; striping tape stripes on pinky with VIP; and stamping from Pueen 05 with Kiko mirror 616 onto the middle finger.

I have been loving the textured polish trend lately, so I left the glitter stripes without a top coat. You can really see the texture in this pic - and I liked it! How about you? Do you prefer to feel the polish or are you a smooth operator?

U - Ultra-astral

Oh yes, the ABC challenge continues with the letter U.

 There are surprisingly few U-polishes, at least in my stash. In fact, I found this single one. But no worries, as it is one of my most loved polishes. I mean, neon AND glitter! Greatest nail idea ever!

 To add to all this pink and glitter, I decided to go for hearts as for the decoration. Not too original, maybe, but it made me happy - and I think that's what the nail hobby is all about!

The base colour in all the nails is Color Club Ultra-astral. Pinky and thumb got a whole nail image stamping from Pueen 01, and the ring finger a winged heart from the same plate. Middle finger sports Barry M Croc effect, and index finger bursts with random heart sequins and a black heart from eBay / chinese bazaar.

I don't know if I'm becomig old, but I somehow thought these weren't work appropriate - and removed these before a big meeting. Ok, you have to look the part, but seriously - why are some nail designs work appropriate when others aren't? Why do we even need to think it like this? (Outside of obvious safety/hygiene reasons, that is..)

Gutter Snow

The first layer of snow this winter has landed! Somehow it's horrible and marvellous at the same time... I don't know what made me want to to celebrate it - with a manicure, of course.

I've had this polish waiting for quite a long time. Mainly because it's clearly a layering polish, but I couldn't decide which colour and tone I should layer it on. It could look fab over darker colours (the iridescent glitter!!), but then the black glitter wouldn't show. And if i choose something in between, what colour should it be...?  Does this ever happen to you? I really wish I had a personal manicure design assistant at home...

 Then it struck me! I'll layer it over an ombre!!

As the base I made an ombre from grey to black. The polishes used were (from pinky to thumb)
OPI I Vant to be A-lone Star
Essence Twins Romeo
A England Dorian Gray
Essence 50's girls You're a Heartbreaker
Essence Circus Circus My Sparkling Acrobat black creme

Each nail then got a warm winter coat of Lacquistry Gutter Snow. And what a beauty it is!! Just look at the iridescent tiny glitter over any of these base colours! Jenna, the creator of this and other fab Lacquistry polishes can really be proud of herself!

The black hexes took some fishing, but otherwise the application was a breeze. And all it took to even out was a single coat of Sehe Vite.

We Have a Winner!!

Remember the giveaway I had?

We have a winner - And she is:

Katariina

Congratulations!!
She has been sent the prize, and hopefully she has already received it and is now messing around with these topper goodies..

Thank you for all my followers, old and new, for sharing your polish shopping tips and other thoughts with me in this giveaway! I can't tell you how much the interaction with you means to me!

Here's a pic of a mani I wore recently to keep your interest up :) I used a Manhattan polish, Mavala white polish sponged on the tips and stamped on the barbed wire from a BM plate.
There is more to come - in the nail art front as well as the interaction front...

T - Take the Stage

In case you were wondering, I AM still alive AND the ABC challenge continues!
This is my feeble attempt on the mosaic mani you've probably seen in so many nail blogs.

The base is two coats of OPI Take the Stage. I would have used three coats for full opacity on its own, but under some mosaic I settled for two.

Second I added random brushstrokes with OPI Tease-y Does It and Alessandro Virgin Temptation, and lastly the stamping with Konad black and BM208.

I have been doing loads of gorgeous and fun nails, for myself as well as for people I know. Some days I've almost felt like a happy nail pro - and some days I've wanted to stay as far as I can from all nail related things. I never imagined there would be a day I didn't want to spend with my precious little bottles...

Anyways, I'm live and blogging again, and with a huge stash of photos to share with you. So stay tuned!