Summer fruits nail art

Summer fruits nail art

Yellow & green gradation

...No, it isn't really a gradation at all

The polishes used are:
- Rimmel Sunshine (yellow creme)
- Revlon Pineapple Fizz (yellow glass fleck)
- Etude House YL803 (yellow jelly w/ opalescent glitter)
- Misa Mega Margarita (green glass fleck)

Etude House LUCIDarling Glittering Pink Jewel & China Glaze Cracked Concrete

Etude House LUCIDarling - Glittering Pink Jewel, 2 coats

I think I own 20 dupes to Glittering Pink Jewel, but hey - glass flecks in creme base, one of my favourite finishes! And it has a pretty name, and it's so... PINK! 8) As with all of my LUCIDarling polishes, I had to thin this one quite a lot because the first coat applied like cold porridge.

Etude House LUCIDarling - Glittering Pink Jewel & China Glaze - Cracked Concrete, 2 + 1 coats

The China Glaze crackles aren't among the best (uhh, crack-wise?.. also, the brush is way too skinny and soft for applying such thick polishes), so I was half-expecting a nail fail when I chose to put Cracked Concrete over the pink Etude House. But hey, this one really did work, unlike most of the Crackle Glazes. I really like those thin strands on my pinky and ring fingers!

Etude House WH004

Etude House - WH004, 2 coats

Another mildly disappointing lacquer, Etude House WH004. I was so excited to finally pull this out of my untrieds and slap it on, hoping to soon see a duochrome heaven on my nails. Yes it's black but I wasn't expecting it to be so... black. :-L It looks pretty cute here but I had to look hard to see the teal-to-blue-to-pink effect, even in bright daylight. I was visiting my parents when I wore this and hadn't brought any layering polishes with me for my 1½ week visit, but I bet that a polish like, say, Pure Ice Busted layered over would do wonders to this.

Etude House Glittering Sherbet Blue & lace nail art

 Etude House - Glittering Sherbet Blue, 2 coats

I'm not sure if this polish is really called Glittering Sherbet Blue as it has no name printed on the label, but that's what the majority of eBay sellers are calling it. I have no complaints about the formula, the polish was easy to apply and it has one of those wide brushes that I love.

  Etude House - Glittering Sherbet Blue & lace nail art, 2 coats

I followed this tutorial and used a well pigmented dark blue to create the effect. When the polish was dry enough not to smudge underneath, I added a coat of opalescent glitter similar to Sinful Colors Pearl Harbor, a coat of clear and finally top coat. I loved this effect and will be sure to use this technique again.

Etude House Sparkling Indigo & OPI Catch Me In Your Net

 Etude House - Sparkling Indigo, 2 coats

I just noticed that I mislabeled the pictures - they say Sparkling Blue when it's supposed to be Sparkling Indigo. I'm sorry, I blame it on my flue. :< I'll fix the pics once I'm done gathering enough energy to do so. In any case, Sparkling Indigo is a silver foil in blue jelly base and it's simply divine. Great application, wonderful wide brush.

 Etude House - Sparkling Indigo & OPI - Catch Me In Your Net, 2 + 1 coats

I made the mistake of thinking that Sparkling Indigo was wonderful enough on its own, but when I added a coat of Catch Me In Your Net over it it rose one step above divine. Wow, just... wow. The sparkle is out of this world!

Etude House BL504 & Nfu-Oh 54

Etude House - BL504, 2 coats

BL504 is yet another colour hard to describe - is it blue? Indigo? Blurple? It doesn't look quite as saturated as this IRL, the creme base has a little bit of smokey hue in it. The glass flecks in this one are iridescent, changing from blue to very pinkish purple.

Etude House - BL504 & Nfu-Oh 54, 2 + 1 coats

I love the scaly mermaid effect that Nfu-Ohs give but boy do they make my nails look chunky! ("Do my nails look fat to you?" *lol*)

Etude House PP904

Etude House - PP904, 2 coats

Here's another one of my new Etude House lacquers. This one's an odd little birdie who does not know if she's taupe, mauve, brown or purple. The creme base lands somewhere between muddy taupe and purple, and the colour of the shimmer changes from golden orange to a greenish tint depending on the angle. These Etude House lacquers practically apply themselves, and although the formula is just a little bit on the thick side there was absolutely no bubbling. It was really foggy and bleak outside today so I'm not really satisfied with these photos... but the middle one is the most colour accurate.

Etude House BL009

Etude House - BL009, 2 coats

Ah, it's good to be back home - especially when you've got half a dozen packages waiting for you at the post office! I received a bunch of Etude House lacquers from Hong Kong and among them was this little beauty, known only by her code name BL009. *cue James Bond music* The abundant green shimmer is super sparkly and the base colour lands somewhere between dark, inky blue and teal. I had to trim a few stray hairs off the brush but otherwise application was a breeze.

Green & mint spam!

Franken - Green holo, 2 coats

 Sally Hansen - Glow, 2 coats

 Sally Hansen - Glow & franken - Swamp Thing, 2 + 1 coats

 LA Girl - Metallic Olive, Sinful Colors - Call You Later & Dare2Wear - Disc Jockey, 2 + 1 + 1 coats

OPI - Green-wich Village & Dare2Wear - Disc Jockey, 3 + 1 coats

Barry M - Mint Green & Nubar Moodies - Mint to Turquoise, 2 + 2 coats

 Etude House - Beach Green, 2 coats