Three Little Kittens

 Time for some cute kittens! I decided to go all out and paint the cover to one of my childhood favorites, The Three Little Kittens.

 I started with a layer of Morgan Taylor Ahead of the Game over a coat of OPI Alpine Snow, since I didn't feel like doing three coats of yellow to get it bright. However, this yellow was surprisingly easy to work with!  My index and pinkie nails were then painted with Morgan Taylor Varsity Jacket Blues. I then started with the white cat on my middle nail. Her fur is OPI Alpine Snow, shaded with a combo of Varsity Jacket Blues and very watered down China Glaze Liquid Leather. Her dress was done with OPI Where Did Suzi's Man Go? and Sinful Colors Feel the Vibe. 

 The black cat was colored with more Liquid Leather tipped with Alpine Snow, and her dress was done in the slightly darker Morgan Taylor Doo Wop, shaded with watered down Sephora by OPI Metro Chic and with heart-shaped dots of the same color. Ears on all three cats were done using Where Did Suzi's Man Go mixed with Alpine Snow to make an orangey-pinky color.

The wash bucket between the white and black cats is a combination of Metro Chic and Sephora by OPI Happy Earth Day, filled with bubbles in Alpine Snow and Varsity Jacket Blues. 

The tabby cat is a mix of Doo Wop, subtle touches of watered down Where Did Suzi's Man Go, Metro Chic, and Sephora by OPI Happy Earth Day. He wears a shirt of SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality and pants of Liquid Leather.

On my index and pinkie nails, I used striping tape to cordon off a section, then filled it with Ahead of the Game. I then added mittens using Flower Good Bud-Dy, OPI Where Did Suzi's Man Go, and Spa Ritual Dreams Becoming Reality.

Colors Used:

Morgan Taylor Ahead of the Game

OPI Alpine Snow

Morgan Taylor Varsity Jacket Blues

OPI Where Did Suzi's Man Go?

Sinful Colors Feel the Vibe

Morgan Taylor Doo Wop

SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality

Flower Good Bud-Dy

Sephora by OPI Metro Chic

Sephora by OPI Happy Earth Day

China Glaze Liquid Leather

Layered Print

 This was an interesting result of an attempt to match a complex print on one of my favorite shirts. I didn't match it perfectly, but I love the effect of all of the layered stamping! I used half a dozen different shades of teal with as many stamping designs as I thought would work together. It was fun!

 I began with two coats of Color Club Blue-ming. I then stamped on a faux-crackle pattern (Pueen 45) in the slightly lighter China Glaze At Vase Value. Next, I added a light heart-chain pattern (Pueen 27) using L'Oreal Not a Cloud In Sight. 

 A lacy ribbon stamp was next (BM-321) using Sally Hansen New Wave Blue. The stamp has a curved 'V' of lace, so I applied it in random directions on random nails. I followed that with a more tightly packed vine-floral design (BM 312) and OPI Amazon...Amazoff. I only used sections of what was on the stamper, and spread pieces throughout each nail. Next, I added a leafy design (BM-312) using Nicole by OPI Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam. Finally, I decided to punch it up with some itty bitty flowers in Sinful Colors Black on Black.

Colors Used:

Color Club Blue-ming

China Glaze At Vase Value

L'Oreal Not a Cloud In Sight

Sally Hansen New Wave Blue

OPI Amazon...Amazoff

OPI Khloe Had a Little Lam-Lam

Sinful Colors Black on Black

Pueen 27,45

Bundle Monster 321, 312

Crackled Ombre

 I decided to go to my spreadsheet of polish for inspiration, and utilize the first polish I had listed as still untried. That turned out to be a crackle polish! For an interesting effect, I did a horizontal ombre under it and mirrored the gradient with teardrop studs. I love it!

 The ombre was created using SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality on my thumb, Nicole by OPI I Sea You and Raise You on my index, Sally Hansen Blue-ming Fast on my middle, Julep Bess on my ring, and Tea Beauty Mint Leaf on my pinkie.

 The crackle polish is Sally Hansen Star Burst, a black crackle with a generous mix of silver glitter. I was a bit worried that it was going to be a bit too goopy to work, but it cracked easily once applied. I really like the effect when paired with the changing shades of blue.  As a last touch, I used three colors of teardrop studs to mirror the ombre.

Colors Used:

SpaRitual Dreams Becoming Reality

Nicole by OPI I Sea You and Raise You

Sally Hansen Blue-ming Fast

Julep Bess

Tea Beauty Mint Leaf 

Sally Hansen Star Burst

Rainbow Waves

I really have started to enjoy messing around with nail foil. I've gotten better at working out the wrinkles, and now I think I've even found a combo that works so that the top coat doesn't wrinkle or cloud the shiny design.

 I just received a whole variety of awesome nail foil from Dollar Nail Art, and I really couldn't wait to use it! As soon as I opened the box, I started prepping for these nails.

 I decided to start first with this lovely bright silver holographic "wave" design. It proved frustratingly hard to capture the bright holographic flair in my lightbox, but keep scrolling for some bright colors at the end of this post!

Next, I decided to stamp a boxy design from Bundle Monster plate 322 using Wet n Wild Black Creme. I like that it breaks up the silver while still letting plenty of the holographic goodness show through. To compliment that design, I added matte black diamond glitter (also from Dollar Nail Art) to my thumb, middle, and pinkie nails.

Click to see photos taken outside!

Blaze of Glory

This is the beautiful and amazing Blaze by Daily Hues Lacquer. It is amazing duochrome bronze/copper linear holo. I took so many photos trying to catch the beauty of this color!



Blaze was easy to work with, and these photos show three coats, though it was passable with just two. The formula was on the thicker side, but not unmanageable.

The shift from soft bronze/gold to reddish copper is fairly subtle, but definitely present. The amount of holographic flair is rather amazing, without really dulling the color. Normally I can barely capture holographic sparkle in my lightbox, so I'm amazed it was bright enough to show up in these first photos!

This is going to definitely be a image-spam post, so please click through to see more photos!

Tequila Sunrise

 The prompt for the Weekly Challenge for the Nail Polish Queens this week was 'cocktais'. I am completely in the dark about cocktails; all I know is that they're colorful, alcoholic, and I love playing with the umbrellas. So I turned to a friend and she suggested Tequila Sunrise!

 I began with OPI Samoan Sand as an undercoat, to try to cut down on how much buildup a thin yellow jelly would need. I then started layering on Sinful Colors Yellow Out There, which is a sunny yellow jelly with scattered holographic bar glitter. It's a subtle effect, but it does really shine in sunlight!

Next, I used Sinful Colors Curry Up on my tips. It's a light melon orange jelly filled with red glitter and silver bar glitter. However, it was nowhere near dark enough to make a meaningful gradient. I added the sheer tint OPI Amberrassed across most of the nail, followed by a generous pass of Sally Hansen Vitamin D-Light. Next, I used a bit of a darker red tint with OPI Be Magentale with Me and Sally Hansen Jell-ous? before finally adding a touch of OPI Don't Violet Me Down. The violet was sheer enough that it did a wonderful job deepening the color without turning everything purple.

 And lastly, I remembered that I had cheap little dollar store FIMO fruits, so I added those along with little red gems to represent cherries.

Colors Used:

Sinful Colors Yellow Out There

Sinful Colors Curry Up

OPI Amberrassed

Sally Hansen Vitamin D-Light

OPI Be Magentale with Me

Sally Hansen Jell-ous?

OPI Don't Violet Me Down

Galactic Stars

 I was in a bit of a creative rut and couldn't figure out what I wanted to do for nail art. So I decided to fall back on redoing one of my favorite things ever, galaxy nails! Can't go wrong with that!

 I began with one coat of Sinful Colors Black on Black, followed by Claire's Bright Lights Big City. This polish is AMAZING. It's an incredibly flashy scattered holo microglitter in a black base. I tried catching some of the holo goodness in these photos, but it's so hard to get on camera! In any case, this was a magic polish to use as a backdrop to galaxy nails. It gives everything a wonderful depth!

 Next, I proceeded to use a makeup sponge to dab on first China Glaze White on White, then Sinful Colors Mint Tropics, followed by Sinful Colors Fly Away, and finally SpaRitual Shoot for the Stars. I love how quick galaxy nails can come together!

Lastly, I dotted on small points of White on White, then added a few twinkling stars for good measure.

 Trying to get a better shot of all of the holo sparkletastic goodness!

 And again, with some bottle shots of Bright Lights, Big City

 Colors Used:

Sinful Colors Black on Black

Claire's Bright Lights Big City

Sinful Colors Mint Tropics

Sinful Colors Fly Away

SpaRitual Shoot for the Stars

China Glaze White on White

Transitions

 I've taken my first steps into the indie polish realm after seeing all of the amazingness that is out there. It probably helps that I'm in love with both linear holo polish and thermal polish, two things that indie brands seem to be doing extraordinarily well.
I recently purchased two thermal polishes from Daily Hues Lacquer, and they are amazing! These are my first thermal jellies, and I am in love with how responsive they are to temperature change compared to cremes. Even in summer, if I touched something cool the tips of my nails would stay purple for a long time! I love the effect of going from bright blue when warm to deep purple when cool.

These are Daily Hues Nelle (solid jelly) and Daily Hues Priya. (Jelly with glitter). I loved the color so much, I couldn't decide between them! Priya has an amazing amount and variety of glitter, and after a proper bottle shake it wasn't difficult to get the glitter out.

Being jellies, these did take four to five coats to cover my nail line. Extra layers just helped with the depth of the jelly sandwich for Priya, though!

 Just because I wanted some extra thermal fun, I stamped a design from Pueen plate 46 using Dance Legend Termo Trio No.1. Because the stamping transferred such a thin layer, it changed incredibly fast and was hard to capture on camera. However, it went from appearing dark blue, to lavender, to light sky blue as it warmed.

 Keep reading for more photo overload!

Vibrant Sunset

 I love painting clouds and gradients, so of course sunsets are a ton of fun. My friend Muse suggested the theme, so of course I had to tackle it!

 I knew I wanted to do a blue-to-orange gradient, but I wanted it to have a softer tone. So rather than sponging over a bright white base, I used the slightly more subdued cream OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around (also, it was still on my desk from yesterday). Next, I used a cosmetic sponge and built up a gradient using Color Club Hydrangea Kiss (soft blue), Rimmel Reggae Splash (Peach), and China Glaze Life Preserver (Orange). I added the sun on my middle nail using a halo of OPI I Just Can't Cope-acabana, which is a great yellow, and a little China Glaze White on White. I decided to orient my thumb sideways so that I could line it up to show the full landscape!

 To make the clouds, I first started with a medium-sized pointed brush and small amounts of Icing Purple Haze, a medium purple. I then darkened the upper edge of each cloud with Sinful Colors Mesmerize, a darker, cooler purple. I used a little Rimmel Reggae Splash on the underside of the clouds to lighten them. After that, I used a toothpick and some more of the white and yellow polish to outline and highlight the edges of the clouds, leading more to the 'backlit' look.

As a final touch, I used China Glaze Liquid Leather to add a black horizon across each nail. I also added a little tree and a windmill, because windmills at sunset make beautiful photographs!

Colors Used:

OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around (base underneath gradient)

Color Club Hydrangea Kiss

Rimmel Reggae Splash

China Glaze Life Preserver

OPI I Just Can't Cope-acabana

China Glaze White on White

Icing Purple Haze

Sinful Colors Mesmerize

China Glaze Liquid Leather

(Trying out doing group bottle shots, let me know what you think!)

Quite Quilted

 Quilted nails are fun! I don't know who pioneered this idea, but it's definitely eye-catching! I do still need to practice my line spacing, but it's not too noticeable.

 I started with OPI Pepe's Purple Passion on each nail save my ring nail. On that nail, I used OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around, a nice light cream tone. I wanted to experiment and see how this would look over stamping, so I used more Purple Passion and Bundle Monster plate BM-312.

 I then mattified everying. While that was drying, I used a floss pick to add the quilted lines to each nail. It's such a fun effect! I decided to bling it up a little with some gold glitter placed at the line intersections.

Colors Used:

OPI Pepe's Purple Passion

OPI Don't Bossa Nova Me Around

Watermelons

 I really like how these turned out! Watermelons have such a fun color scheme. I even managed to wear pink without feeling too girly today.

 I began with the perfect watermelon-y color, ORLY Butterflies. It is an amazing jelly polish, very pigmented while still having that translucent squishy jelly appearance. I added teeny black microbeads and layered a little more jelly over the top to give it a fun 3D seeded look. I took a porous sponge and a teeny amount of NYC Pinstripe White to add a little texture to the appearance of the watermelon.

 On my index and pinkie nail, I used Sinful Colors Curry Up and Revlon Emerald City to paint watermelon rinds. I then added a hint of white to the tip of each pink nail, followed by a line of greens to represent the edge of the rind.

Colors Used:

ORLY Butterflies

 NYC Pinstripe White

 Sinful Colors Curry Up

Revlon Emerald City