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...
Hello, lovelies, it is a beautiful thing to get back to regularly scheduled posting. I hope the new season finds you all well. Leave it to me to start Spring with a 2012 Limited Edition Holiday release from Illamasqua- Glitterati. Glitterati was featured along with Viridian as a varnish duo. I have to say it is an incredible color collection and such a luxe take on the Winter Holidays. The colors themselves are so universal they easily translate into year-round wear.
Glitterati is a sheer black-raspberry varnish that has silver holographic multi hexes floating in it. Though dark, edgy, and vampy, it appears mysterious, coy, and feminine. She is a complicated girl, and I am in love. Illamasqua was not lying when they claimed that this color could seduce. Coverage was perfect with two coats. Please note that two coats of a quality top coat brings this color to full potential.
I have been teasing some Whimsical Ideas by Pam for a while. I haven't sat down and swatched them yet, but I thought it would be a fun time to show a comparison between Glitterati and Pam's Peanut Butter and Jelly. Peanut Butter and Jelly has a similar raspberry jelly base but is slightly more purple leaning. Rose gold multi-hexes dominate this lacquer rather than silver holographic. I do have to say, they make a lovely combination, and there will be a trigger mani coming soon...
May your Saturday be sweet...
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
Day three brings a trend that started to take root in indie collections in 2012. I see it moving towards mainstream polishes in 2013. I'm talking about matte glitter. It's eye catching without being flashy, and complex without being busy. Matte glitter can work during the daytime when shiny, holographic, or reflective glitters scream cocktail time. (Not that there is anything wrong with that... lol)
I love the fact that any glitter can be "mattefied" with a decent matte top coat, but a true matte glitter has a distinctive graphic look. The matte effect will continue to be ever present in 2013, with basic glitter and its variants like OPI's Liquid Sand and Zoya's Pixie Dust.
Since our Indie goddesses brought this look to the forefront, I am featuring one of those lacquers in my mani. I also wanted to use this because I featured it in a Christmas mani, but want to show you how versatile this polish really is. Whimsical Ideas by Pam's Cookie Monster is a smorgasbord of cobalt blue, black, and white matte glitter. I can't say it enough, this polish applies like a dream. No fishing for glitter and absolutely no curling makes this a fave in my book. I wanted something bold and nothing that I have seen from other bloggers ( white or cream undies) or I have done before ( blue duochrome- Julep's Ivy- undies). Also, it was an awesome excuse to do a trigger manicure. (Like I need one.) I used Revlon's Posh and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Mellow Yellow. This makes me think of Rubik's Cubes, 8-bit video games, Popsicles, Crayola crayons and all that is awesome eighties nostalgia. Love it. A lot.
Some glorious mattes that deserve an honorable mention:
Polish Revolution's A Better Tomorrow
JENSations' Pinata
Mack Gives Back's Whip It
Happy Hands' Flowers on the Highway
Pretty & Polished's Elvis' Pink Cadillac
Nailventurous' Floam
Jindie Nails' Megapixels
Let me know if any of these matte beauties have made it into your collection!
Stay tuned tomorrow for another trend for the new year....
(Cannot wait for Pam's Valentine's Day collection!!! Mojo is very excited, too... or he wants a yogurt bite...)
Whimsical Ideas by Pam are available to order via e-mail. Please refer to Pam's purchase instructions on her Facebook page.
I can't believe we are in day four of the challenge already! I have to say even though I love Halloween, I have really enjoyed the Christmas themes. Also, I think the more you do something the better you get at it. As promised today is another "two-fer", a theme and a review.
Today I bring to you another smashing stunner from Whimsical Ideas by Pam- Cookie Monster. This polish is the most amazing shade of blue ( for all of you art buffs I think this is totally International Klein Blue). It consists of multi sized cobalt matte hexes, white matte hexes, and black matte hexes. Like Peppermint Schtick, this formula was smooth and applied like a dream! This polish works well over light and dark base colors. I highly recommend any of Pam's lovely Whimsical shades.
For my mani today, I went with the seldom used accent thumb. I have smallish nails, and when I want to do something detailed I need all of the nail real estate I can get. My base coat for this mani is Ivy, a new Julep December release. It's a gorgeous cobalt/indigo duochrome micro shimmer. I topped it with two coats of Cookie Monster. Amazing.
For my snowman I used Finger Paints Paper Mache for the body and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Emerald City and Sinful Colors striper in Jungle for the hat. I finshed the details with Sinful Colors striper in Be My Valentine and Finger Paints striper in Ch-Art-coal Black. I finished the mani off with a Sephora by OPI matte coat. (Pam highly recommends Cookie Monster plus matte.)
Once again, thank you to Pam, Kismet, and the "Whimsical Lovelies" for their support! Please check out Pam's site and purchase often!
Please check out the talented Miss Kelly at Tuxarina. She has been rocking this challenge so far and I am so excited to be doing this with her!
On the fifth day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me... presents!
Stay tuned...
I am so excited for today! All the lack of enthusiasm for Santa will be made up for in today's post. Today is a bit of a "two-fer" not only is it a theme day but I will also be giving a review on an amazing polish. I was introduced to Whimsical Ideas by Pam through awesome swatches of Seuss (I kinda need that color) at Chalkboard Nails. My reaction was I have to get my hands on those some time soon. I controlled myself and decided to wait until the holiday collection, Eight Whimsical Nights was released on Black Friday.
The first of the two shades that I ordered was Peppermint Schtick. This glitter coat is all kinds of awesome. It's a selection of matte red hexes, opalescent white hexes, and metallic red micro hexes in a clear base. The application is smooth and even. There is no need to dab this polish to hunt and peck for glitter or to place it on. I was so pleased and thrilled that I sent a thank you e-mail to Pam with pictures of this manicure. She is an extremely busy lady with the high demand for her collection, but guess what- she wrote back a lovely note and even posted the pics on her Facebook page. Cool nail polish and a cool chick. What more can I say?
So on to the mani... oh yes, lovelies, it's another trigger manicure. Not sure what this says about my attitude towards the holidays this year. *giggle* I started with a base of Julep's Delaunay- a warm chili pepper red.
I striped my index finger and thumb with Stripe Rite's white to emulate a candy cane. Meanwhile, I added a coat of Peppermint Schtick to my remaining fingers. I really think the white hexes look like pieces of glossy peppermint candy. Yum!
So I leave you with two missions, check out Whimsical Ideas from Pam and visit the fabulous Kelly at Tuxarina. I know Kelly was super psyched for today's theme as well.
Also, a big shout out to Debra and all the "Whimsical Lovelies" who have stopped by after seeing my swatches!
On the fourth day of Christmas, my nail art gave to me...Snowmen ( and another review)!
Stay tuned...
