Purple to orange gradation & nail art stickers

Purple to orange gradation & nail art stickers

Oh my... I had such a hard time photographing this mani that I'm just going to post this single pic of it... I'm sorry. :/ The puple base is Golden Rose Classics Metallic Nail Lacquer #10 (phew!) and the orange is Jessica Pumpkin Delight (Scrangie has an awesome swatch of it on her site). As usual, nail art stickers, blah blah blah. ;)

Orly Preamp, pink glitter gradation & nail art stickers

 

Orly - Preamp, pink glitter gradation & nail art stickers

Hi all... I'm trying to make a comeback after several weeks' hiatus. Here we have Orly Preamp, a super pretty pink with tiny duochrome glass particles. Lately I've been obsessed with gradations, and this is Pretty Woman PW9 sponged over Sinful Colors Forget Now plus nail art stickers, which is another staple of mine.

Leopard spots on pink glitter + leopard pedicure

Leopard spots on pink glitter

This is bunch of different pink glitter layered on top of each other (Gallery Colours Purple Sparkle, 2 coats; Saffron #03, 1 coat; Top Beauty unnamed iridescent glitter explosion in pink base, 2 coats, Maybelline Violet Water, 2 coats) with leopard spot nail art stickers.

Pedi warning, feet ahead!! :p

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 Matching pink leopard mani & pedi

Royal purple & silver nail art

Royal purple & silver nail art

The purple is Golden Rose Fantastic Colour 180 - and boy, oh boy did I spend at least half an hour trying to fix the colours. My camera insisted that I was wearing a bright blue polish instead of this beautiful rich purple (and that I had a serious case of lobster hands).

Gold gradation on wine & nail art stickers

Gold gradation on wine & nail art stickers

Hey, my mani matches the layout! :D This is Sally Hansen Save the Date with a Nails Inc. Wardour Mews and Essence Make It Golden gradation, topped with nail art stickers.

Nicōle by OPI Kim-pletely In Love, CND Teal Sparkle & nail art stickers

Nicōle by OPI - Kim-pletely In Love, CND - Teal Sparkle & nail art stickers, 3 + 2 coats

Ugh, my nails were *way* too long in these pictures taken last September... I think I layered Kim-pletely In Love over one coat of Nubar Pink Crème, my HG baby pink. I can't stand the Kartrashians, but their Nicōle by OPI nail polish line is pretty sweet.

Classic French manicure & floral nail art stickers

 Classic French manicure & floral nail art stickers

I decided to do a French manicure for a change. The base for this one was three coats of Sally Hansen Royal Icing, after which I then freehanded the tips with a white striper, following with one more coat of Royal Icing, the floral stickers and the top coat of my choice, which is always the red SH Insta-Dri.

Blue & white floral nail art

Blue & white floral nail art

The base is Gina Tricot Marina (such a beautiful colour but man what a crappy formula it has), the tips were first sponged with white and then painted over with Kleancolor Shining Sea. Finally, I added some nail art stickers, rhinestones and white dots. The bottom picture is the most color accurate.

Tricolor gradation & nail art stickers

Tricolor gradation & nail art stickers

Golden Rose 185, Gina Tricot Viva Glam & nail art stickers

Golden Rose - 185, 2 coats

Golden Rose 185 & Gina Tricot Viva Glam, 2 + 1 coats

Golden Rose 185, Gina Tricot Viva Glam & nail art stickers

Revlon Sublime Strawberry & nail art stickers

Revlon - Sublime Strawberry, 2 coats

I was debating with myself whether to get this polish for the longest time. I mean it looked nice enough on other people, but didn't I already have several dupes of this same shade already? It was the 'scented when dry' label that made me pull the trigger, and am I glad I did just that. As soon as I had unwrapped the polish and took my first good look at it IRL - love. Sublime Strawberry is the perfect blend of pink and coral, and ohmygosh it smells good! It's like holding a handful of those scented erasers from your childhood to your nose, I couldn't stop smelling my nails! :D So the scent is very fakey, but in a good sense. Revlons always tend to bubble on me but I had no problems with this particular polish.

Revlon - Sublime Strawberry, 2 coats & nail art stickers

Since I suck at stamping, I once again used nail art stickers. :p These really cutesy 3D cotton stickers stayed on for a whole week without any significant wear or discoloration.

Grey franken & nail art stickers

Grey franken, 1 coat & nail art stickers

There's nothing special about this franken, it's just Wet 'n' Wild's black & white cremes mixed together. I just don't see the point in buying a separate grey creme polish when I can make one myself... The result isn't a completely uniform grey but you can see the tiny separate black and white pigment particles, which I think is pretty neat. And it's a one coater! I found these Lolita-esque stickers at - of all places - a flea market, but I think they were a little too small for my nails. :/

Hedy's okē.dokē Steal This Teal & nail art stickers

Hedy's okē.dokē - Steal This Teal, 2 coats & nail art stickers

Great name, not so great of a polish. For me, Steal This Teal was a bit of a let down as it's way dustier than I had expected based on other people's swatches. Ok, so Steal This Teal desperately needed some sort of cheeriness added to it; cue a whole sheetful of butterfly and floral 3D nail art stickers. The designs needed two thick coats of TC to smoothen things out (hence the bubbles galore), but the stickers themselves were great as they didn't stick out anywhere on my super curved nails, and they came off with ease.

Phloxes or daisies, which ones do you prefer?

More mani-matching flowers from mum's garden. I'd love to have Steal This Teal look like this, but it isn't as blue or saturated IRL. See the first two pictures for more accurate representation of the colour.

Orly Polo Princess & nail art stickers + French pedi

 Orly - Polo Princess, 2 coats & nail art stickers

In August, my younger cousin got married and I got to attend my first wedding in over a decade! My outfit, accessories and mani/pedi were all very matchy-matchy: a linen dress with black & white oversized floral print, a light pink shrug, a black satin clutch and a silver toned necklace + earrings with pink plastic roses. You can see my sandals in the pic below (if you dare to take a peek at my footsies). I chose Polo Princess because it was matched the colour of my shrug perfectly, and of course I slapped on a ton of floral stickers. :p


Pedi warning, feet ahead!! :p

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 French pedicure with rhinestones

I swear this pedi wore like iron - I had no chips at all for three weeks! I layered two different pinks over my base coat, then painted the tips, applied a coat of white jelly and finished with a thick coat of SH Insta-Dri. I waited until the next day before placing the rhinestones, topping them yet again with the Insta-Dri (I didn't lose a single one of them during the three weeks! Thank you Sally!).