Y - You're a Cracker

And here comes the second to last post in the ABC challenge!! As you might have noticed, I had to skip the letter X, as I didn't own a polish beginning with that letter. I could have cheated a bit and take any X by Sephora polish, but I take pride in sticking to my principles. If I decide it's the name of the polish that counts, the name it is then!

In this manicure I used Rimmel You're a Cracker* (three coats) and  L'Oreal Fluo Azur* (four coats).

*These polishes were acquired as presents /sponsorship at the reunion of bloggers of Pirkanmaa region*

I was not completely happy with these polishes: They required a coat too many, and I thought the namesake polish would turn out more orange and not so red versus the blue - it was truly completely orange in the bottle. (You didn't think that I or other bloggers would write we love a polish just because we got it for "free"?) The application was good, though, especially with the Rimmel one.

After I added simple stamping from BM312 using Konad white special polish I was happy again. The pics turned out great (according to my own low standards, that is...) and I wore this mani for days.

All is well that ends well! Let's hope for that for the whole challenge :)

Merry Christmas Manicure

This purple and blue manicure was supposed to be only a dress rehearsal, but it turned to my official Christmas manicure. The time I could have decorated my nails I spent decorating cookies. Well, it was fun and a bit artsy anyways - just the things I love in my nail hobby.

 The base colours here are OPI Into the Night and Revlon Parfumerie wild violets.
I have to say I was disappointed with the OPI opacity - it needed four coats. I loved the result, though, and it didn't stain.

I used Mavala white and Nicole by OPI Celebration in Red for the candy cane accent nail.
The inspiration for the mistletoe nail came from the awesome Canadian Nail Fanatic – one of the first blogs I started to follow and which I'll never let go. I used Pueen 15 image plate and Konad stamping polish in white, and then added tiny dots with CiR.

 This manicure is also the first one for a project I decided to start from the beginning of 2014. Want to hear more? Stay tuned!

Happy Holidays to You, my dearest readers!

Thanksgiving Marble

I hope you've all had a fantastic start for the holiday season, whether it's national, religious or all holidays you're celebrating!

This is a mani I wore for thanksgiving. We don't really celebrate that here where I live. But, personally, I have adopted it as the day to be conscious and thankful of all my loved ones, family and friends – and to say aloud how much I love and appreciate them. And I don't need turkey for that, although I tend to show love with cooking :)

The base in this manicure is three coats of Orly Revere. It's pretty, but I'm still looking for the perfect orange shimmer with opacity in max. two coats... Suggestions, anyone?

I added some simple dry needle marbling with autumn shades:
Revlon parfumerie Autumn Spice (the dark brown one)

Orly Reflection (the golden one)

Orly Radiant (the red one)

Don't know if I should say this, but this was one of the manicures that didn't look this good in person. Well, for once it was that way round...

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..)