Holo Month - Reeds In A Lilypad (Lacquer)

Hi Goddesses

Today sees the start of holo month (there's a LOT headed your way), some SUPER simple nail art .... and a secret, but we'll save that to the end.

On base we have my new favourite brand - Lilypad Lacquer - and the divine pinkholobomb that is Bubble Yummo.  You've seen it already on the blog, but wow I can't get enough of it.

On stripes we have OPI Miami Beet, OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls and China Glaze Purple Panic.

I used a thin striper brush to apply my stripes at random angles, intersecting and overlapping with no distinct pattern.  To be honest, this is where I am happiest, being random :)

I loved the effect here, and the best bit?  (and the secret) ..... when I applied the first stripe, it was supposed to be vertical, and went on wonky ... and so this mani was born, as I turned my accidental wonk into deliberate randomness.  A fail, saved, and a much better mani as a result!

Enjoy xx :)

Tri Polish Challenge - Day 4 - Bright Daisies

Hi Goddesses

It's a sign of how messed up my schedule is that I am blogging about a mani I am still wearing!  Not only that, I've worn it for 4 days, which must be some sort of CrumpetLand record lol.

So I went floral for this one too.  I don't know why, all I can see in my head at the moment is pink and red and orange and flowers!   

Just a reminder of my polishes - all China Glaze - Purple Panic (pink), Style Wars (orange), Towel Boy Toy (turquoise).  I also used OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls as my base.

I wanted to create bright daisy shapes, and I did that - BUT it bugs me and amuses me that they got larger and larger!  The thumb is the first nail I did, and it's SO much better than the others!

I used a small dotting tool to add some turquoise embellishment (as green was out of the question), and I like the subtle variety it brings.

So that's the end of this month's Tri Polish Challenge - we'll be back next month with more :)

Enjoy xx :)

Tri Polish Challenge Day 3 - Roses n Stripes

Hi Goddesses

I am feeling very floral at the moment.  I think the success of actually being able to do some roses went to my head, or maybe it's that summer's on the way.  THEN I saw Missy's awesome Grunge Rose mani HERE and ooooh it stayed on my mind, but as time was short, I wondered if I could freehand it rather than do all the faffy stuff.  So I did.

A reminder - my 3 polishes are all China Glaze - Towel Boy Toy (turquoise), Purple Panic (pink) and Style Wars (orange).   My base was (as always) OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls.

I started off with 2 coats of white, and then used my Born Pretty striper brush to add my lines.   I then did a big colour blob with a large dotting tool, where I wanted the rose to be, trying to make the shape a little irregular.

I then used my white and my size 0 Born Pretty nail art brush to draw in the folds of the rose.

I had mixed thoughts on this afterwards.  I wish I hadn't used all 3 colours - personally, I think the turquoise is a little jarring.  Secondly, I think I maybe should have done a white blob before the coloured blob - the rose shape doesn't stand out enough for my liking.

Still, it's more adventurous than my usual art, so that pleases me.   

Enjoy xx :)

Tri Polish Challenge 2 - Gradient + Dots

Hi Goddesses

Today is Day 2 of this month's Tri Polish Challenge, where the colours are pink, orange and turquoise.  Today I'm wearing just 2 of those polishes, together with white as my base.

My mani is a variation of some nail art I've had pinned for the longest time.   It's such an utterly simple design, and whilst I didn't copy this exactly (with ever decreasing dots), it was my inspiration.

I learnt something too doing this mani.  My turquoise is China Glaze Towel Boy Toy.  It's fabulously shimmery ... and therefore quite sheer.  So, epiphany of the year - if you want to practice / start gradienting, a semi-sheer polish makes it SO much easier.  It lands on the nail much more softly, and so it's much harder to create that block / hard line of colour that is so common to early gradienting attempts.

This gradient was achieved with a base of OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls, and then TBT on top (only TBT on the sponge).  Because it's so sheer, it does half the job of the gradient for you - you just have to make sure that each time you add more sponging to your mani (I did 3 layers), you start nearer the free edge than last time.   Seriously, if you're itching to try a gradient, this is the most effortless one I've ever done.

I then dotted with Purple Panic which is my pink, using both ends of my dotting tool.  PP is a neon, and what I found really amusing is how on camera (but NOT to the naked eye), the pink took on a purple tinge at the edges of each dot, and in some lights.

All in all, I LOVED this nail art.  The possibilities are endless, and I'm sure I'll be creating some super easy summer looks in this same style.

Enjoy xx :)

Tri Polish Challenge - Day 1 - Polka Dots

Hi Goddesses

The Tri Polish Challenge is back, and this month it's the turn of pink, orange and turquoise to get their moment in the spotlight.  I went with all China Glaze for my picks - Towel Boy Toy (surprisingly shimmery), Style Wars (perhaps the glossiest crelly I've ever come across) and Purple Panic (not purple at all).

To be honest, this isn't the mani I was planning, but this is how it looked at the halfway point, and it just looked so simple, so clean, that I didn't have the heart to take it any further.

So this is a little skittle-eee-doo-dah, with all 3 polishes.  I then took my 2nd largest dotting tool to add some OPI My Boyfriend Scales Walls polka dots, and then the other end of the same dotting tool to add some smaller pieces in the blank area.

The intention was to then put opposite colours in the large white dots - so, orange and pink inside the white dots on the turquoise nail, and so on - but as I said, it looked so simple ....

Let's face it, we've all had manis where we've gone that 1 step too far ... and ruined it.

So there you go - Day 1.  Enjoy xx :)