Welcome, to the final day of the challenge! Just a recap this is a cooperative effort
between myself and Kelly of Tuxarina, the Spring Fling Challenge is a
five day mini skills showdown. We are fortunate to be joined by five
others representing both the US and International nail blogging
communities:
Hayley of Polished at Heart
Jackie of Polished at Heart
Erin of LovelyLacqueredLife
Ghila of Nails Noob
Lynette of Pink & Purple Dots
It was my intention to attempt a Watermarble, but the week after vacation is a crash landing. I solemnly swear you will see a Watermarble soon! Instead, I bring you my (in)famous "Lazy Glitter Gradient" a.k.a. "Fake It Until You Make It and Let the Glitter Distract". I started with a base of Sinful Colors' Candy Coated, a periwinkle leaning lilac, then I coated the top half of each nail with Julep's Julia, a stunning gold-purple micro shimmer. The entire nail was swept with Sally Hansen Complete Manicure in Snowglobe. Next three quarters of the nail was painted in KBShimmer's The Square. The Square is a purple-plum jelly with a cacophany of square glitters in a range of sizes suspended in it. The colors dance between purple, white and gold to turquoise and cobalt. This is an amazing instant jelly sandwich... or as I like to say "preserve press". The mani was topped with another coat of Snowglobe. It's not perfect, but it's fun! It's Friday, and I am going with it...
I can't wait to see what all the ladies have done! Please share the comments and share the love...
Thank you so much to all of the girls for participating! Lynette, Ghila, Hayley, Jackie, Erin you did an amazing job and stayed so dedicated! Love to all of you! A special thanks to my challenge partner in crime, Kelly. This is our third challenge together since October... what are we going to cook up next, dear? Hehehe...
Happy Friday, lovelies... enjoy!
Welcome, lovelies, to April and a new Challenge! A cooperative effort
between myself and Kelly of Tuxarina, the Spring Fling Challenge is a
five day mini skills showdown. We are fortunate to be joined by five
others representing both the US and International nail blogging
communities:
Hayley of Polished at Heart
Erin of LovelyLacqueredLife
Ghila of Nails Noob
Kylie of SparKylie Nails
Lynette of Pink & Purple Dots
Today's
theme celebrates the ground breaking individuals who have formed what
we know and lust as the "indie" polish movement. Indie lacquers take all
forms: glitters, holos, creams, semi-mattes, flakies, shimmers, jellys,
crellys, and cremes. The color variety is so bold and far reaching
there is something for everyone. The polishes are so desired, the
mainstream lacquer community is taking notice. OPI has introduced more
multi-colored glitters like Rainbow Connection and Polka.com. China
Glaze has introduced a black and white glitter, Whirled Away, and a
multi-colored glitter white crelly, It's A Trap-eze. Most recently,
Illamasqua released their speckled polishes (pastel crellies with black
hex glitter) Freckle, Speckle, Fragile, Mottle, and Scarce . I can say I
own at least one of each kind of these indie inspired beauties.
For
the challenge I felt I was important to recognize the talent,
creativity, and perseverence of the independent polish manufacturers.
Hence the "indie skittle." Starting from left to right (pinky to thumb):
KBShimmer's Where My Peeps At? over OPI's Don't Talk Bach To Me
Whimisical Ideas by Pam's Seuss over OPI's Suzi Says Feng Shui
Windestine's Fireworks over Julep's Simone
Takko Lacquer's Glittergasm over Julep's Adrianna
Oopsie Daisies' Bluebird over Julep's Shenae
I can't wait to see what all the ladies have done! Please share the comments and share the love...
Stay tuned for day two.... In Bloom!
(Please note that KBShimmer, Windestine, Takko Lacquer, and Oopsie Daisies are available at Etsy. Whimsicial Ideas by Pam sells direct from her Facebook page. Takko Lacquer ships international with MeiMei's Signatures.)
Also, thanks to my awesome husband, Jesse, for assisting with the graphic. Also, he bought me those flowers for our anniversary last year...
I don't know if anyone else has been keeping watch, but haven't every mani "Elena's choice" so far... hehehe. What can I say, it's my need to go beyond the typical and usual shining through. Before I get into the post itself. Thanks to Erin for putting this together, and love to Lynette for joining us. Both of you ladies are amazing bloggers and artists! Happy Valentine's Day to both of you lovelies...
Valentine's Day is day where the most grand romantic gestures seem status quo. I figured that I had to get a bit bold and sassy. Also, thanks to Julep's winter collection neon has not died down and that is fine by me. I am still a fan of neutrals with a neon pop in fashion- a great hint of the unexpected. Well as with Valentine's Day, there is no hinting, we are full on neon, baby! I also wanted to celebrate my love of music, I constantly have it playing. I do have a soundtrack to my life.
Since I declared this the season of the trigger mani, I started with a coat of Julep's Fiona (neon green creme) and Madison (neon pink creme) for the base. With Stripe Rite in white, I painted the musical notes. On my index finger and thumb, I accented with two coats of Nicole by OPI's Love Your Life. ( a fishing expedition for those hearts...). I affectionately call this mani, "The Music of My Heart."
Now onto the dedication... this one is dedicated to someone I follow on Twitter, recording artist, record label owner, lover of neon, and 80s culture aficionado, Bylli Crayone. He has such love for his fans, it's incredible. I always have respect for someone who makes the time for others to feel special. You know how I feel about "sharing the love", so that is why I am sending this one off... Happy Valentine's Day, Bylli!
Happy Valentine's to Jes, my Mom & Dad, my best friends, my lovely bloggers-in-crime, and all of you who read and follow ECKlipsed by Color. *kiss*
Now go on and check out the amazing Erin at LovelyLacqueredLife and the lovely Lynette at Pink & Purple Dots. These girls are beyond fantastic with their nail art... Remember, share the comments, share the love!
Just a preview of what is to come... more Whimisical Ideas by Pam! I finally got my hands on some Takko Lacquers! Essie's Mojito Madness is all mine! Thanks to an awesome chick, there are some Laylas on the way...
I can't believe we are nearing the end of another challenge! Thanks again to Erin for putting this together... it's been super fun so far! I knew exactly what I wanted to do for today as soon as I saw "hearts" on the theme board. One of my favorite things about Valentine's Day are a little candy called Conversation Hearts ( now known as SweetHearts), manufactured by New England based Necco. So without further adieu, my version of Conversation Heart nails...
I started with a skittle manicure of the following shades: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow, Julep's Carrie, Essie's Mint Candy Apple, Sally Hansen Insta Dri in Petal Pusher, and Julep's Sally. I then drew hearts with my Stripe Rite in White. Within each heart (and around the one on my thumb) I used either, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Disco Ball, Wet N Wild's Can-Can you Hang the Mistletoe, or Julep's Harper as a glitter coat depending on the shade. Finally with my Sinful Colors striper in Be My Valentine, I free handed the words "Be Mine" on the heart on my thumb. To give the hearts that "powdery" candy texture, I finished with a top coat of Sephora by OPI's matte top coat.
My dedication today goes out to all the awesome people I have met while blogging. Though I know you through "conversation" (ha, ha) only, you have been so lovely and supportive while ECKlipsed by Color has been getting off of the ground. Special shout outs to Kelly, Ghila, Lynette, Amanda, Erin, Ave, Katie, Alli, Pam, Wes, Kylie, Hayley, Christina, Caitlin and Paula. (I will link to all of their sites tonight- you must check them out!)
Now go on and check out the amazing Erin at LovelyLacqueredLife and the lovely Lynette at Pink & Purple Dots. These girls are beyond fantastic with their nail art... Remember, share the comments, share the love!
I think this is the latest I have ever posted a set of challenge nails. I feel like such a slacker. Forgive me. So on to business, my lovelies. Today is technically a "girly" gradient or ombre. Now I may be sassy, sexy, and bold, but I have never subscribed to girly. It's in the same vein as why I don't love pink, butterflies, and roses... not my cup of tea. Tea, I do love though. As with the rest of the challenge, I have put my own spin on this and I hope you enjoy...
I started with a base of Essie's Mint Candy Apple. I have been in love with this shade since its release in 2009. I free-handed some white hearts at the base of each nail with Stripe Rite in white. My glitter gradient was achieved with Essie's Beyond Cozy, a luxe soft silvery-gold metallic full coverage glitter, Julep's Vivian, a stunning "champagne bubble" glitter, and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Snow Globe, an iridescent multi-hex glitter. Perfect minty confection.
As with all my other Valentine's manicures, this is a dedication. Today, I am sending love to my five dearest friends. Thank you for all the times you have been there for me, words can't express my gratefulness. Also, thank god for the fact that you all love the finer things in life... nothing wrong with that. So many great times spent, and so many more to come... Love you all...
Welcome to day two of the challenge- roses! Don't get me wrong, this is a beautiful flower- it has just never been a favorite. I knew that I had to do this with a bit of an Elena spin to make it work. My design today is based off of my wedding bouquet. I did have roses, but they were "Super Green" roses. (Thank you, Martha Stewart, for introducing me to something that had to be shipped from a greenhouse across the country...) It came out quite beautiful and I have a picture below to share with you. I have been dedicating my manicures so far during this challenge, and this one is for Jesse. He and I had our first date eight years ago yesterday, and we will be married five and a half years this month. Love you, Jes.
I also want to thank the lovely and generous, Katie from the Daily Varnish for assisting in today's manicure. She ran a contest on Twitter to guess her manicure color and I won. Being the cool chick that she is, she sent me that polish along with a few others ( and a bunch of other cool stuff). One of the polishes she sent was Revlon's Heavenly, a great square iridescent glitter coat. It looks like confetti and has a bit of a vintage feel. I layered this over Julep's Gayle.
For the main design on my thumb, I used Julep's Kate, Fiona, Ivy, and Gayle. I finished off some of the detailing with Sinful Colors striper in Jungle.
Now go on and check out the amazing Erin at LovelyLacqueredLife and the lovely Lynette at Pink & Purple Dots. These girls are beyond fantastic with their nail art... Remember, share the comments, share the love!
Dear (your name here),
It's day one of the Valentine's Day Nail Art Challenge. I wanted to thank you for all the love you have shown my blog. It makes my day to see your great comments and all the pages views.
I've got something special just for you. Just a little something to let you know how much I appreciate your support. I dedicate this mani to you...
I started with a base of Julep's Sally, a stunning ivory creme polish, to mimic parchment. I used Whimsical Ideas by Pam's Peppermint Schtick for an amazing splash of red and white glitter.
On my ring finger, I painted a piece of notebook paper with Julep's Kate, Annie, and Madison. On my thumb, the envelope was created with Julep's Kate and Teresa. The hearts were done with Sinful Colors striper in Be My Valentine.
Be sure to show Erin at LovelyLacqueredLife and Lynette at Pink & Purple Dots some love. I can just imagine how amazing theirs came out!
Love Always,
Elena
xoxoxo
I was a bit nervous to attempt this technique, I have to confess... There are so many bloggers out there who blow this technique out of the water, and I didn't want to end up as an epic fail. I have to say I blame it on the Cassiopeia, it was soooo pretty and made me think of stars and constellations. You see where my mind was going... oh, yeah. (No, not there.) Galaxy nails.
So I pulled out eight polishes and my trusty makeup sponge, and went for it. Honestly, there was no specific plan, it was haphazard layering and placing until I got the depth I was looking for. To finish off the look I added some freehand stars and dots with my Stripe Rite in White.
I am going to let the design speak for itself, so behold the pic heavy post starring the following:
Effervescence Nail Lacquer in Cassiopeia (indigo duochrome)
Effervescence Nail Lacquer in The Great Oz (emerald shimmer)
Essie in Turquoise & Caicos ( light turquoise sheer)
Essie in Blue Rhapsody ( slate blue metallic)
Julep in Ellie (opalescent seashell pink)
Julep in Madison (neon pink semi-matte)
Julep in Ivy (sapphire micro-glitter metallic)
Julep in Harper (opalescent mermaid blue multi-dimensional glitter)
Let me know what you think...
I have been feeling a bit homesick for my adopted state of Florida and it's two coolest residents ( Hi, Mom & Dad, xoxo). So why not a bit of color for a foggy and dark New Hampshire day?
I have yet to do a gradient and I also keep on forgetting to get makeup sponges to make it happen. Then genius struck... I was going to use glitter polishes and fake out the gradient. Let me tell you, it's super easy and it pulls off the look.
For my ring, middle, and index fingers I started with a base of Finger Paints Paper Mache. I then painted the bottom half of the nails with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow. I covered the remaining white portion and a portion of the yellow with Wet N Wild's Can-Can You Hang the Mistletoe. I then did a stripe of Sally Hansen Complete Manicure Snow Globe over a part of the yellow. Lastly, I used Julep's Harper at the base of the nail. I finished the nail with a coat of Snow Globe and painted starbursts with Stripe Rite in White.
My thumb and pinky finger were painted with two coats of Julep's Madison and I used Stripe Rite in White to achieve the lattice-work effect.
In the end it looks like drinking Mojitos, Pina Coladas, and Strawberry Margaritas in a Florida garden at sunset. Perfect. I'm booking my flight now...
Another day, another "Inspired By" post... today I want to introduce you to another one of my favorite artists, Janet Hill. I discovered her on Etsy and was just captivated. Her work is illustrative, detailed, and quite breathtaking. It recalls a time when things were just a bit more refined and elegant. I have purchased three pieces from her and was more than pleased. Also, I had the chance to exchange an e-mail with her and she is quite lovely as well!
The piece that I chose to work from was 2010's "Library Ladies". I love how the piece is demure and flirty at the same time, quite the feat (ha ha.)! I combined some basic illustration on the pinky and thumb nail, with a modified ruffian manicure on the ring, middle, and index fingers to symbolize the ladies' dresses.
I used Revlon's Graceful as a basecoat for this mani. For the apple colored dress I used the following shades, Julep's Fiona, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow, and Cynthia Rowley's Apple Shimmer. For the white dress I used, Finger Paints in Paper Mache, Julep's Fiona, and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow. Finally for the robin's egg blue dress I used, Julep's Daphne, Essie's Turquoise & Caicos, and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Golden-I.
I drew the books with Julep's Delauney and Sinful Colors' Nirvana. The pages were done with Stripe Rite in White. The leg with the golden shoe was colored with Julep's Teresa and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Golden-I.
I encourage you to go and support Janet's small business over at Etsy.
I loved doing this mani and look forward to another inspired post...
Also, thanks to the amazing Ghila at Nails Noob, I am converting my Twitter account to support ECKlipsed by Color. Feel free to tweet me @ECKlipse, I'll totally answer back...
Yesterday in my post I spoke about my love for the work of Josh Agle- professionally known as Shag. He is the ultimate in hipster sophisticate lowbrow art (also called pop surrealism). It's fun, it's fresh, it's retro, and it's very tongue-in-cheek.
Though his works tend to be very candy colored and glossy and are chock full of opulent and swanky subject matter, there is always a darker side lurking. It is not too often when someone asks you which piece do you like the most of this artist and your unwavering response is "every last damn one". I was so thrilled when Jesse liked him to. I remember saying when we were dating, " When we get married we are so going to buy a Shag". Luckily we did both of those things.
The piece I chose to interpret was "Fondue Set" from his 2004 Holidays On Ice collection. I primarily did this using nail art brushes and mixing different lacquers, and it was a bit tricky. I would have loved to sharpen up the detail a bit, but I think it is a decent representation overall.
For the sky I mixed Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Fuchsia Power, Finger Paints in Paper Mache, and Julep's Gayle. The mountains are a blend of Finger Paints in Paper Mache, and Julep's Gayle, and the mountain tops are the same with a bit more Paper Mache. The trees are January Julep Maven release, Fiona ( a stunning neon lime creme) and Stripe Rite in White.
The ski bunny's background was a blend of Finger Paints in Paper Mache, and Julep's Gayle. She was created with Stripe Rite in White, Finger Paints striper in Ch-art-coal Black, and her lips and eyelids were done with Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Sunkissed.
The fondue pot's background was a mix of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Sunkissed and Sinful Colors' Nirvana. The pot itself was a blend of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Sunkissed, Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Mellow Yellow and Finger Paints in Paper Mache. The chocolate in the pot was painted with Sinful Colors' Nirvana and the details were done with Stripe Rite in White and Finger Paints striper in Ch-art-coal Black.
Hope you enjoy this just as much as I did doing it! Now what will be my next inspiration...
Welcome back to my trend forecast for 2013! Once again a shout out to the Daily Varnish for the inspiration for this post series...
So, first and foremost brights are not exclusively neons, but super saturated hues. I do not think we are done with full rich shades any time soon. I think the tendency to contrast with them will be in full force. Julep is leading the nail pack with their January Maven releases- a collection of ( in their case) neons and nudes. It's very Resort Collection inspired and super fun.
My mom, Marina, who has always been my fashion consultant and all around beauty diva has been rocking this trend already. She has amazing nails and loves french manis. She has rocked french based nudes with such splashy shades as Revlon's Sassy, an acidic lime green, and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure in Back to the Fuchsia.
I wanted to showcase this trend a little differently. I love all the graphic nail art out there! Its great that we have so many talented nail pros in the forefront these days. I love the work of Madeline Poole. She has done manicures for Ke$ha, Kelly Osborne, Kreayshawn, and many other celebs in various fashion trades. Her style is not for wallflowers...
So, here is a Madeline Poole inspired brights and nudes mani. Jes loves this! He thinks it's super graphic and clean. I used Julep's Otte, Daphne, Delaunay, Harper, and Niecy. I also threw in Revlon's Graceful for good measure. The color that I am most excited about is... Essie's Mint Candy Apple! (I guess you could say this was one of my lemmings). I sharpened it up with some white lines in Stripe Rite. I got my nails done, time to go on a winter cruise to somewhere warm....lol.
Here are some brights and nudes combos that definitely deserve mention...
OPI's Don't Pretzel My Buttons and OPI's Don't Talk Bach to Me
Essie's Where's My Chauffeur and Essie's Beyond Cozy
LVX's Midori and LVX's Ecru
Julep's Bette and Julep's Ava
Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Wet Cement and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Caribbean Coral
Zoya's Pandora and Zoya's Zuza
OPI's A Roll In the Hauge and OPI's Did You 'ear About Van Gogh?
Do you have a fave brights and nudes combo that you are dying to try out?
Stay tuned tomorrow, for the next trend for the new year...
This post was partially planned, partially spontaneous, and completely inspired by Alli over at The Daily Varnish. (If you haven't checked them out, go over there right now.) This is the blog that truly got me to jump in the game. Alli and Katie do a fabulous job of keeping up on the latest colors, nail trends, color combinations, and product lines out there. Also, I think it's pretty amazing how they respond to every comment. Lately, they have been doing a bit of a year in review and also have been forecasting what 2013 may hold. Specifically, there was a post on the five trends of 2013- of course I had something to say about that...
So in honor of the New Year, five trends in five nights...
First up, Pantone's color of the year is Emerald, and I think we will be coming up green in 2013! Hallelujah! Finally a year with out an orange-based tone. First Honeysuckle, then Tangerine Tango, I get it corals are fun- but I love cool colors! Regarding Emerald, Pantone says, "Lively, Radiant. Lush... A Color of elegance and beauty that enhances our sense of well-being, balance and harmony."
Now since it is me- and I am not one for exactness- I am taking this to embrace all rich shades of green this season. My featured mani is OPI's Live and Let Die ( Yes, a Skyfall lacquer- not a gelcolor! Who is shocked?) Live and Let Die is a gorgeous almost-black hunter green with gold and emerald microglitter dancing along the surface. In order to ring in the New Year, I decided to break open a silver Julep Glitter Pot for my accent nail. In order to tame the glitter grit, I used about 4 coats of clear top coat. In the end it feels like OPI's Liquid Sand without paying $8.50 a bottle.
Other gorgeous greens ( or exotic emeralds, if you please...) that are worth mentioning:
Illamasqua's Viridian
China Glaze's Emerald Sparkle
Essie's Mojito Madness
Essie's Stylenomics
Revlon's Posh
OPI's Here Today Aragon Tomorrow
OPI's Jade is the New Black
Of course there are many more...which is your favorite green to rock in 2013?
Stay tuned tomorrow, for the next trend for the new year...
