NPC Day 9: Had to Have it, Still Haven't Worn it

Hello polish lovers!

Today's prompt in the challenge is Had to Have it, Still Haven't Worn it.  When I saw this prompt I immediately knew which one I would use.  KB Shimmer's You Autumn Know, from the Fall 2013 collection.  I had to wait through 2 restocks on Harlow & Co., in order to get this.  I immediately fell in love with the swatches I was online and was so happy when I was finally able to get it.  I did use it as an accent once but for some reason I never did a full mani.

I love this polish!  This is 3 coats.  You Autumn Know is a white jelly base loaded with gold, orange and purple hex glitters in 3 different sizes mixed with orange and purple micro bar glitter.  I am usually not a fan of bar glitter but this is soo small that it doesn't bother me.

So pretty.  Although this is from a fall collection the colours work very well for spring as well.  I think the reason that I had not worn this before is I am so hesitant to use glitters because I hate dealing with the removal process.  I am going to have to get over it, because this is so pretty and soft.

That is all for today, I will be back Monday with the Most Expensive prompt, if I do not post Sunday.

Tomorrow I am going to the Maple Syrup Festival in Elmvale, a small town about 20 mins from my home.  I went for the first time last year with my sister and loved it so I am really looking forward to this year.  Not only will I be coming home with many maple syrup products but last year there was a Kleancolor vendor so I am hoping he is back so I can pick up a few more for my collection.

Until then, polish happy!

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NPC Day 8: Boutique Untried

Hello polish lovers!

Today's prompt is using boutique untrieds, like Butter London, A England, Deborah Lippmann and others.  I took this prompt to mean more exlusive/expensive polish without being a luxury, designer brand.  I chose Butter London and A England for this prompt.

This is 1 coat of Butter London Billy No Mates!  How have I not used this polish!  And for it to be a 1 coater!  So good.  I love this tone of grey.  Once this was dry I used MoYou London Suki Collection Plate 01 and A England Dorian Gray.

Another polish that I can't believe I haven't used.  Dorian Grey almost looks like blackened steel on the nails...gorgeous!  I love the combination of the two cool tones with the organic nature scene.  I also love owls so, double win.

That is all for tonight, except to share that I got my first order of Mundo de Unas stamping polish and I am super impressed.  I will also have an Indie review for you soon of 3 Guilty Pleasures Polish's that arrived today as well.  A double nail mail day, for the win!

I will be back on Friday with the next prompt of Had to Have it, still Haven't Worn it.

Until then, polish happy!

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NPC Day 7: Drugstore Untried

Hello polish lovers!

Today's prompt in the challenge is using a drugstore untried.  I decided to use three.  I started with a base of 2 coats of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Coin Flip, a copper foil finish.

I am trying a new position so that I can show more polish detail.  Also you will notice this is my swatching hand again.  My broken middle finger nail has, although still broken, and held together with Super Glue, grown out enough that I cut down the other nails so they are almost the same length.  That weird bit on the side is the glue holding the split together,  I need to file it down more.

Once Coin Flip had completely dried I got out the Scotch tape and cut triangles to section off the nail.  The triangles that remained I filled with Mint Sorbet, a minty green creme, and Strobe Light, a pink and holographic micro glitter.

Strobe Light is not really showing well, except as the flash of sparkle.  Next time I will definitely use it with a creme to make it stand out more.  I was really impressed with the formulas on all the polishes used.  They were all Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear.  I am usually impressed with the Sally Hansen brand.  I can't believe I left them untried for so long.

That is all for today but I will be back on Wednesday with my Day 8, Boutique Untried...I really shouldn't have any but have more than I thought.

Until then, polish happy!

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NPC Day 5: Jelly

Hello polish lovers!

This is going to be a quick one.  Day 5 Prompt is Jelly and I chose to do a pond mani using China Glaze Keepin' it Teal.  This is a very sheer teal green that is another in my collection that I will have to try with LeadLighting.

I used the ant image from Pueen 45 and Kleancolor Matte Black and layered and repeated the image at different angles, layered with coats of Keepin' it Teal.  I don't know if it was a total success but I don't mind the finished product.  This is 5 coats total and you still have slight VNL so that will tell you how sheer it is.

That is all for now.

Until next time, polish happy!

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NPC Day 3: Random Untried

Hello polish lovers!

So I am really behind this week on the challenge so I will be posting 3 times today.  First the Random Untried.  I took random to mean a polish that I only had one example of the brand and it is one that I received from a giveaway.  It is even more random in that it does not have a name, although the tag claims it is a limited edition colour.  The brand is Rue Beaute and it came in a skull shaped bottle with a silver cap.

When i took the brush out of this polish I noticed how sheer it was and so started with a base of OPI Alpine Snow.  It took 3 coats of the neon pink polish to get opaque enough that you could not see colour variance streaks.

I can see this working for the LeadLight technique for stamping but it is way too many coats for a base colour for me.  Once this was dry I got out another untried, Kleancolor's Matte Black, for the stamping, using MASH 45(please excuse the mess of my middle finger but matte polish dries very quickly and the entire image did not transfer, so I re-stamped...with not great results).

I think this polish is not going to become a favourite, but I will try it for LeadLight and let you see the results.

Back in a few with Day 4.

Until then, polish happy!

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NPC Day 2: Pastel

Hello polish lovers!

Today I have my Pastel mani from the Never-ending Pile Challenge.  I was originally going to to a more intricate design with a gradient of three colours and then my stamping with a fourth but I ended up running out of time and did not wait long enough before the sponging and it removed my white base in spots.  There is nothing to do in this situation except start over, and since we were going to see the new Captain America after dinner, I did not have enough time.  So here is my simplified mani using 2 untrieds from the Formula X line.

I started with a base of 2 coats of Unmistakable, a pastel green-blue(looks more green IRL).

This is a very pretty polish and would not be untried except for the fact that the first time I tried the Formula X line the polish began chipping almost immediately so I avoided it.  This time I did not use a base coat and it adhered to my nail much better.  I will have to experiment with my base coats because I hate not using them, that last thing I want is stained nails.

Once this was dry I added my stamping, using another untried, Formula X Brazen, a pastel blue-toned pink.  If I did this again I would use a brighter polish for the stamping because the tones for Unmistakable and Brazen were too similar and the stamping did not show up as clearly as I like.  The plate is MoYou London Pro Collection 02.

You can see a slight difference in colour in the 2 photo's as one was taken using natural light and the second is in my light box.  The first is more colour accurate.

First ever close up, but I wanted you to see the prettiness of the flowers.

That is all for today, but I will be back on Friday...probably late...with the Day 3 prompt of Random Untried...I have no idea what that will be yet.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 28: Art Nouveau

Hello polish lovers!

It's the last day!  I made it...with a few late posts in there, but posting every day very difficult when I don't have a set schedule at work and with this cold I am still trying to get over.  So some days were better than others.

For the Art Nouveau prompt I began with 2 coats of SOPI Chestnuts About You! a gorgeous copper-y rose gold metallic.

Once this was dry I added my stamp, one of my favourites from Messy Mansion, William Morris and Friends plate MM16.  I love how intricate the images on this plate are, they are very indicative of the Art Nouveau style, with flowing organic forms.  I chose the grape vine image(its my favourite).

I used Konad Black to stamp with and I love how crisp the image turned out.  I have used this image a number of times before and I keep going back to it.

That is all for today and the end of Gnarly Nails Nail Art A-Go-Go Challenge.  I will go back to my regular mix of reviews and nail art on Sunday.  There are also a few polish comparisons that I want to do as well.  As well as posting about a few Awards that I have been nominated for that I have never gotten around to creating posts for.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 27: Pointillism

Hello polish lovers!

Last post of the night, and the shortest, because I am tired and fighting a bad headache.

For the Pointillism prompt I decided, of course, to use my dotting tools.  I did not want to do anything representative, and so went to the basics and did overlapping dots.

I started with a base of 2 coats of Barry M Papaya(can you tell I want summer to come already?).

I then used a small dotting tool and SHID Lightening to dot all over my nails.

I repeated with SHID Lickety-Split Lime leaving an area bare.

And again with SHID Mint Sprint, moving out slightly again.

And lastly with Barielle Shades Girls Night Out, moving out again.

I then topped with SV(because I learned my lesson last time).

That is all for today(finally).

I will be back tomorrow with my final installment of this challenge, Art Nouveau.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 26: Graffiti

Hello polish lovers!

I am back with my next challenge mani, Graffiti.

When I thought about this prompt I immediately thought of the type of graffiti that was shown in the documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, as apposed to tagging and spray painting.  When I watched that documentary I immediately fell in love with the work of a street artist using the name Space Invader.  Most of Space Invader's work is tile work depicting classic 8-bit arcade game characters, like the space invaders, Pac-Man, the Pac-Man ghosts, and others.  I knew I would not be able to recreate the 8-bit look with polish(although small square studs would have worked, Ah hindsight, always 20/20), so I attempted to capture more the feeling of his work.

I started with a base of 2 coats OPI Lost on Lombard, a brick red crelly.  I only have the mini's from this collection, San Francisco Fall 2013.

Once this was dry I got out BM422 for the brick pattern and Kleancolor Black(I did not use Konad because I wanted the stamp to look more like a shadow and so did not want the lines too opaque).  I then started in with my dotting tool a small striping brush and the following colours:  SHID(Sally Hansen Insta-Dri) Blue-Away, Cobalt Blue, Kleancolor Black, Grass Green, Sinful Colors Snow Me White and Barry M Blood Orange and Key Lime.

Unfortunately I did not use SV but my Nubar Top Coat and did not wait quite long enough for the polish to dry to stop it from smudging.

That is all for this post but I will be back soon with Pointillism.  The last post for today.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 25: Watercolours

Hello polish lovers!

Today I have 3 posts for you...then I will be caught up with the Challenge...just in time for it to end.  That's right, tomorrow is the last day of the current challenge so let us begin.

I will start off by saying I made 4 attempts to finish this mani in time for it to be posted on the correct day, the first looked horrible...not even a fail but just ugly.  The second was going ok until I attempted to clean up and destroyed it with an inopportune sneeze.  The third was my fault as I was now frustrated and did not wait long enough before attempting my gradient and ended up removing most of my base coat.  The fourth is the one I will show you, still not 100% happy but at least it is not a fail.

I will not show you the base alone, I have shown it before, Sinful Colors Snow Me White.  Actually one of my favourite whites as it is almost opaque in 1 coat.  I use 2 to ensure no streaks.

Once this was dry(this time) I got out my trusty sponge and some Barry M polishes: Papaya, Grapefruit and Turquoise, and created a gradient.

I was attempting to recreate the look of one of the first techniques they teach you when you are learning how to paint with watercolors and that is to keep a pool of colour on you page and slowly add another colour to create a slow transition.  I have to say, using a sponge is easier(as long as you wait long enough).

Photo taken with flash

Once this was dry I used OPI Matte Top Coat to make it look more like paint and less like polish.  I used white as a base instead of Papaya because I wanted the colour to look slightly translucent, as true watercolor does.  This is also why I used mostly Barry M Gelly's, although Turquoise is not a jelly and it was the most translucent(and also the most difficult to work with).

That is all for this post but I will be back shortly with Graffiti and Pointillism.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 24: Abstract

Hello polish lovers!  Long time no post;p

Today's prompt was Abstact, and I used this as an excuse to do one of my favourite types of nail art, gradients.  I worn you, I decided to include a pic of what this gradient looked like before clean up!  So messy!  This was inspired by 2 of my favourite Abstract artists, Rothko(who did colour fields), and Bridget Riley(who did, I want to call it, optical illusion paintings).

I created a gradient using all OPI colours, Greenwich Village, Jade is the New Black and Ski Teal We Drop....here comes the mess...

I used a new type of makeup sponge for this, I usually use the really cheap Walmart ones but I bought these on clearance at Winners and they have a much finer texture and create a smoother gradient.  I use a Q-Tip and acetone to do the big clean and then finish with a small brush and more acetone.

Once this was coated in Seche Vite and completely dry I got out my MoYou London Sailor Collection 06 plate and Essie No Place Like Chrome to do some stamping.

I almost like it more before I did the stamping...I need to learn that sometimes less is more...only very occasionally, but this appears to be one of them.

That is all for today but I will be back tomorrow with the next prompt of Watercolour.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 23: Oils

Hello polish lovers!

Its another double up day, I have recently come down with a cold and it is just not making me want to do nail art much....mostly because it is impossible to blow your nose with wet polish.

Anyway, yesterdays prompt was Oils, difficult to do with polish since polish has a lot of the opposite characteristics of oil paint.  Most difficult is the differences in drying times and the difficulty to create brushstrokes.  So for my interpretation I did not want to deal with brushstrokes and used, instead, Jackson Pollack as my inspiration.

I started with a base of 2 coats Sinful Colors Snow Me White.

Once this was dry I got out a variety of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri polishes, (Lightening, Rapid Red, Cobalt Blue) a new Kleancolor, Grass Green, and my Konad Black.  I decided to stamp for this and used BM416 making sure to stamp each colour in a different direction so that the overlap was random.

I quite like this effect, this is the first time I have stamped over a stamp multiple times.  I like that each nail is random and the colours almost appear to be fighting.

That is all for this prompt, but I will be back in a few with today's prompt of Abstract.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go. Day 22: Surrealism

Hello polish lovers!

Today's prompt in the challenge is Surrealism, and I have fallen in love with these nails.  I was originally going to do Dali's The Persistence of Memory but I remembered a painting that I fell in love with in Art History, I loved how graphic it was.

Source

This is Rene Magritte's Son of Man.

And here is mine.  My base colour is Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Blue Away.  I used Sinful Colours Snow Me White and Color Club Silver Lake and a Q-Tip for the clouds.  The Son of Man itself is Nubar Midnight Matte for the suit and bowler hat, OPI My Vampire is Buff for his face, Snow Me White for his shirt, Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Rapid Red for his tie, and Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Lickety Split Lime for the apple.  The shadows are Midnight Matte added to the original colour, and the highlight is Snow Me White added to the original colour.

Matte

I ended up liking this so much I did clouds on my other hand and wearing it all day yesterday and today.

That is all for today, but I will be back tomorrow with the next prompt of Oils.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 21: Snow Day

Hello polish lovers!

So the prompt from yesterday was Snow Day and I was immediately transported to my childhood where my mother would have a stock of 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles in the cabinet for just the occasion.  When the weather was really bad(and in Ontario in winter the weather is frequently bad) if the schools were closed we used to spend the day doing puzzles.

I started with 2 coats of Color Club Silver Lake, a light toned grey with slight brown undertone, opaque and non streaky in 2 coats.

When the base was dry I used Sally Hansen Insta-Dri in Rapid Red and MASH plate 43 and then stamped over my accent nail with BM319 and Konad Special Black Stamping Polish.

Unfortunately I did not wait quite long enough before top coating so a few fingers have some slight drag marks.

I will be back in a few with today's prompt of Surrealism.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 20: Pop Culture

Hello polish lovers!

I know this is late but you are going to be getting 3 posts tonight so I am caught up for the new week.

Thursday's prompt was Pop Culture and I immediately thought about Pop Art, which is an art movement that was heavily influenced by Pop Culture.  So for my mani I decided to go for comic book nails.

I started with 2 coats of China Glaze Electric Pineapple, a bright chartreuse yellow.  Once this dried I got out my stamping plates and Barry M Greenberry.

My thumb and pinkie are from MoYou London Pro Collection 07 and the rest of my nails are from a MASH set, I don't know why MASH has their lettering on their plates backwards, you end up with them backwards on your nails as well which looks weird.

Anyway that is all for this post but I will be back as soon as I edit the rest of my pics for the next 2 prompts.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 19: Game Night

Hello polish lovers!

Today I have my Game Night nails for you.  So in my house game night is either Scrabble or Trivial Pursuit.  Since we played both of those games on Family Day, they were particularly fresh in my mind.

I chose Trivial Pursuit nails for this prompt.

I chose China Glaze First Mate for my main colour, since it is similar to the background of the game board, and a 1 coater, and I am still in love with it.  My ring finger is 3 coats of China Glaze Oxygen a cream jelly formula.

Once this was dry I added striping tape to create my pie piece shapes and used OPI Pink Friday, Barry M Turquoise, OPI Need Sunglasses?, Orly Prince Charming, Barielle Shades Central Park and Color Club Wham! Pow! to fill in the different categories of questions.  I went with the original colours as apposed to the new ones, the have replaced brown with purple now.

That is all for today but I will be back tomorrow with my Pop Culture nails.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 18: Sci-Fi

Hello polish lovers!

Time for my Sci-Fi nails.  For this prompt I decided to go way back and chose my first fan-dom.  I always loved the Star Wars movies...when I was little it was mostly because of the Ewoks...this was only increased when they came out with the 2 Ewok movies, Battle for Endor and Caravan of Courage and finally with the Ewok cartoon.  So I decided to do Wicket, my favourite Ewok, and the trees of Endor.

On my accent nail I began with 2 coats of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, and on my other nails its 2 coats of China Glaze The Grass is Lime Greener.  For Wicket I used Color Club Wham! Pow!, Butter London Tea & Toast, Orly Prince Charming and black and white stipers.

The trees are A England Dragon and BM407.

Of course I had to matte it.

Anyway that is all for today but I will be back tomorrow with my Game Night nails.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 17: Animation

Hello polish lovers!

Sorry I didn't post yesterday but it was Family Day here in Canada(Ontario to be exact) and we all spent the day together.

So yesterday's prompt was Animation and I took the opportunity to try out some nails that I have been wanting to do since last summer....Adventure Time nails!

They definitely did not turn out the way I wanted them to but I don't think they were that bad for a first attempt.  They all started of a base of OPI Alpine SNow.

I think LSP turned out the best but I will list the polishes that I used here for you:
LSP-OPI A Grape Fit!, and Need Sunglasses with a black striper.
Finn-OPI My Vampire is Buff and a black striper.
Jake-OPI The "IT" Color and black and white stripers.
Princess Bubblegum-Color Club Flamingo, China Glaze In a Lily Bit and the Grass is Lime Greener, OPI Need Sunglasses and a black striper.

That is all for now but I will be right back with my Sci-Fi nails.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 16: Doodles

Hello polish lovers!

Today I have my Doodle mani.  I decided to recreate the design that I used to put in all my notebooks when I was bored in High School.

I started with 1 coat of China Glaze First Mate.  This is a new polish for me and I am kind of obsessed.

Sorry about the size of the watermark, I pushed the wrong button.

First Mate is the perfect navy blue, blue in all lights, it is not like some navy's where you have to be in certain lights or it looks black.

Once this was dry I used a small dotting tool and China Glaze At Vase Value and began creating my doodles.

In case you hadn't noticed I have been using the new polishes I got quite a bit recently, but they are so spring like and I am so ready for winter to be over.

That is all for today, but I will be back tomorrow with my Animation mani.

Until then, polish happy!

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Nail Art A-Go-Go, Day 15: Round and Square

Hello polish lovers!

Today I have my mani for the Round and Square prompt.  I used this as an opportunity to try out 4 of the new China Glaze Spring Collection, City Flourish.  I missed out on most of the Avant Garden collection from last spring( I have Mimosas Before Manis, Budding Romance and Keep Calm, Paint On) so I was excited when I was able to pick up a couple when Sally's was having their 2 day sale last week.

My pinkie is In a Lily bit, a light pink based lavender creme, opaque in 2 coats.  My ring finger is At Vase Value, a light and bright blue creme, opaque in 2 coats.  My middle is What a Pansy, a deep blue based purple creme, opaque in 2 coats.  My index is Grass is Lime Greener, a bright almost neon green pastel creme, streaky and requires 3 coats to be opaque(yet still my favourite colour of the collection).

Once this was dry I got out my Pueen Sumptuous stamping plates and found many images that would work for the prompt...so I did a different image on each finger nail.

The images in order from left to right are: 02, 16, 13, and 20.  They are all stamped using Konad White.  I think my favourite is my ring finger, I love that blue.

That is all for today, but I will be back tomorrow with my Doodles nails.

Until then, polish happy!

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