Thursday, July 29, 2010

Fortune Teller




Again, no art.. I'm still obsessed with glitters. After my lovely run with Atlantis, which wore FANTASTICALLY by the way(6 days with no chips and minimal tip wear!), I decided to do Fortune Teller next.

First off, the pictures don't do it justice at all. It's so beautiful IRL, with the different sized glitters. I used to two coats, with two coats of Seche Vite on top to make it super smooth. I recommend two instead of three, because I feel it's opaque enough, and a third coat would just gunk up the glitter. It applied like a dream, though you need to be careful with the glitter placement so you don't cover up or overlap the bigger hexagon pieces. Still, it's very pretty, so I can see why it's so sought after! I'm hoping to pick up a matte topcoat soon, since hexy glitter tends to look pretty neat when mattified.

China Glaze gets an A+ on the glitters I've used so far.. even cleanup wasn't too horrible, especially compared to OPI glitter, which I need to literally chip off my nails. Using felt squares instead of cotton saves a lot of trouble.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Shiny!




No art this week, because I wanted to try out some new polish! The lovely Lynn sent me a bottle of China Glaze's Atlantis, plus a bottle of Fortune Teller, and a bottle of Ocean Love Potion by Sephora by OPI! I went with Atlantis first, because, well.. I'm a huge Stargate Atlantis fan, and I couldn't resist. It's so gorgeous! Three coats, it applied like a dream, nice and opaque without a very noticable nail line. I needed two coats of Seche Vite topcoat to make it completely smooth, but I love it! I can't stop staring at my nails, they're so shiny. My new favorite!

I have Fortune Teller on my toes, and it's quite lovely. I'll do a proper swatch for it after Atlantis wears off. :)

Thanks again, Lynn! You can check her out over at http://twoclumsyhearts.blogspot.com/

Monday, July 19, 2010

More van Gogh



I've always loved van Gogh. His paintings are just so beautiful and have such depth. Since I've already done his Starry Night piece, I decided to do his Wheat Field with Cypresses painting because I love the colors. I'm fairly pleased with how they turned out, especially the brightness of the colors. I'm hoping they'll last a while, too.. I can usually get a good five or six days out of a manicure with minimum to no chipping.

Also, I'm excited to be getting some new polishes thanks to a trade with fellow nail enthusiast Lynn. :) Atlantis! <3 Oh goodness I'm so excited. I'll admit, one of the main reasons I wanted CG's Atlantis was because of my love for Stargate Atlantis.. nerd power represent.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Mehndi nails



I love mehndi. I think it's an absolutely beautiful art form. Sadly, I'm really bad at trying to mimic it, but I did my best.. I probably should've used better contrasting colors, but I wanted it bright because my nails have been dark lately. So.. there you go.

I updated my trading post. I'm super tight on cash now because I'm going to Atlanta in September for my birthday.. no new pretties for me, for a while.

Polishes used:
OPI, Rumple's Wiggin'
Essie, Mint Candy Apple
Sally Hansen Complete Salon, Back to the Fuchsia
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, Mint Sprint
Sally Hansen Complete Salon, Fairy Teal
Sally Hansen Complete Salon, Yellow Kitty
Pure Ice, Wild Thing
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, Blue Blast

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Stained glass



I don't have much to say about this.. I got some new polish and just wanted something simple for this week. It's so hot, I wasn't feeling inspired to do anything complicated.

Anyway, I picked up three new polishes; Yellow Kitty, Purple Pulse, and Mint Sprint, all Sally Hansen. I really love Sally's Complete Salon formula and the brushes, it's never a hassle to apply. I used three coats for Yellow Kitty because it's a little thin and I wanted it nice and solid. It's such a pretty, soft buttery yellow color! :) Mint Sprint is typical Insta-Dri, two coats, solid coverage. I haven't used Purple Pulse yet.

Polishes used:
Sally Hansen Complete Salon, Yellow Kitty
Sally Hansen Complete Salon, Back to the Fuchsia
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, Blue Blast
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, Lively Lilac
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, Mint Sprint
Pure Ice, Wild Thing

Black nail art pen and jewels

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Gundam Wing



You know, I'm not ashamed of the fact that I enjoy certain anime. And Gundam Wing? One of my all-time favorites. It reminds me of being a kid and hanging out with my friends, watching it after school in their basement sharing a big-ass pizza. I met a lot of cool people through this show, and I'm sick of everyone automatically bashing people who watch anime. If it's still cool and hip to watch and enjoy shows like Rocko's Modern Life and Rugrats and Spongebob, why can't I be allowed to enjoy the few anime series I watch? Okay, enough with the soapbox. I just really like how these turned out, especially Wing Zero and the feathers.

Polishes used:
Nicole by Opi, Loyalty to Royalty
Milani, Diamond Dazzle
OPI, Alpine Snow
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, Lightening
Sally Hansen Insta-Dri, Blazing Blue
Sally Hansen Complete Salon, Gray by Gray
Pure Ice, Wild Thing
Brown, red and black acrylic paint
Some franken polishes