Monday, April 27, 2015

Monday Mani: #52WPNMC - Girly Bits Cosmic Ocean and piCture pOlish Sea Jewel

It is week 31 of 52 Week Pick N Mix Challenge (#52WPNMC) for which I chose the prompt Oceanic.  I picked two ocean-y colored and named(!) polishes just for the occasion, then used tip guides to create a faux mermaid tale reminiscent effect.  Although, on afterthought, I kind of wish I had thought of mermaid scales.  (And, yes, been less lazy with the clean-up.)

I used basecoat then put down two layers of black undies to make the colors pop even more (although I know the colors look fine on their own, I just wanted the extra effect).  First came two layers of Cosmic Ocean by Girly Bits Cosmetics, a blue/green/purple duochrome.  I could not find the purple, but I definitely saw several dimensions of blue and green.  It's just stunning (I've actually used it in my nail polish jewelry).  Then, using the tip guides, I put on a thick layer of Sea Jewel by piCture pOlish, a green and silver metallic green that dries with a smidgen of texture.  I layered on topcoat, which really made things pop even more.  I didn't have any troubles with application, and both dry fairly fast with my nail chemistry.

It is hard to capture all of the colors of Cosmic Ocean because it changes so easily and frequently under different lights.  You can literally move two feet and see a different color dimension to it.  I'm really digging how this mani turned out.  Tell me in the comments below what you think!



Under shade lighting, highlighting the dark green color aspect


Under shade lighting, highlighting the dark blue hues


Shade lighting


Direct sun, showing off all the sparkle!


Shade lighting, angled to show dark blue hues


Shade lighting, angled to show various dimension



Monday Mani is about realistically showcasing beautiful indie polishes that I've purchased.  So many swatches out there are captured under lighting that we simply don't use every day.  My intention is to show mani's under typical lighting and wearing conditions so you can decide if the beauty is right for you or not.  Please note that although colors are accurate on my computer monitor (Macbook Pro), colors do vary among devices.

Disclaimer:  All reviews and opinions are my own.  Products were purchased with my own money.  No affiliation with Girly Bits or Picture Polish and their products.




Monday, April 20, 2015

Monday Mani: Echinops and Kilauea by Elevation Polish used for the #52WPNMC

Today's post is brought to you by the epic Mr. Fail Whale.  On several levels.

I entered the 52 Week Pick N Mix Challenge (#52WPNMC) with this week's prompts being indie or neons.  Well, I always do Monday Mani's with indies so easy peasy.  I was hoping to meet both, but I actually don't own neons because they don't really speak to me.  So, as a compromise, I chose what I had closest to resembling neons.  Now, I had an epic idea in my head for some nail art - combine the ruffian and starburst vinyl looks - that, unbeknownst to me, would turn into an epic fail.  Insert sad face here, BUT it's all about learning, right?  So while you bask in my "wonderful idea" turned failure, please admire the colors instead.

I used Elevation Polishes with Zoya basecoat and topcoat.  My first fail is that my base and topcoat bottles are almost gone so getting polish on the brush and nail was difficult.  I first used Echinops as the base, a soft Lavender/Blurple creme base with medium/low density holographic pigment.  The second color I layered on top is Kilauea, a bold Magenta/Pink creme.  Oddly enough, my experience was different than the descriptions in terms of coats.  I wasn't too worried about coverage from Echinops since I knew Kilauea was going over it, but it could've used 3 thin coats for full coverage instead of the 2 I used, whereas Kilauea is much creamier and really perhaps only needed one coat whereas I used 2.  However, it having a color underneath I noticed it really affected its look and came out leaning more red than pink (as you can see from the pics, the bottle shot looks different in color than the mani).  I imagined this color to be that of hawaiian punch so I'll be trying it on its own.  I used the starburst vinyl from Nail Vinyls on my middle finger.  Depending on what kind of look you want, the vinyl could be cut in half and placed as a smaller burst on the nail.

As you'll see from my pictures, it wasn't exactly an awesome mani.  I experienced some odd shrinkage, I believe, on my index finger.  I had spotty coverage due to user error.  My polish smeared a little bit.  I think I need to be more patient when applying Elevations because I think the formula doesn't agree as well as some other indies I buy with my nail chemistry.  But I know many other bloggers who have great success with the formula so I'll keep plugging away at my efforts to get into a groove with it.  However, due to them almost feeling rubber-like, the wear time on EvP is amazing.  In the meantime, tell me in the comments your thoughts about my fail - perhaps it gave you a good laugh!


Echinops in the shade


Echinops in direct sunlight.  Oooo, holo!


Nail art in the shade


Nail art in the sun


Monday Mani is about realistically showcasing beautiful indie polishes that I've purchased.  So many swatches out there are captured under lighting that we simply don't use every day.  (I typically am not admiring my nails under Ott lights.)  My goal is to show mani's under typical lighting and wearing conditions so you can decide if the beauty is right for you or not.

Disclaimer:  All reviews and opinions are my own.  Products were purchased with my own money.  No affiliation with Elevation or its products.



Monday, April 13, 2015

Monday Mani: Only You and Wind's Indecision by Pahlish

Two beautiful handmade polishes are featured today from indie maker Pahlish, a 5-free polish small business located in Arkansas.  I debated about going for a monochromatic look with Only You, but decided to do tips with Wind's Indecision because it's so beautiful, and later regretted not doing monochromatic with each because they're just SO gorgeous.  These photos show one day of tip wear, and I have been impressed so far with their resilience.

Only You is a soft rose pink linear holographic with rose-gold and metallic gold microflakes.  The camera captured the pink more easily than the microflakes so I had some difficulty getting to color accuracy.  It is simply a stunning color in all lights.  Even though the description doesn't speak to holo, I swear there must be because there is so much sparkle to it when the light hits it!

Wind's Indecision is a bright blue soft holographic with a mix of pink, gold, and electric blue flakes. Wind's Indecision is one of their Special Editions celebrating Pahlish's third anniversary. It was inspired by the Pahlish classic "Train Underwater" using an updated twist.  Blue is my favorite color so of course I was all over this one.  Now, I only did the tips so I can't fully speak to its awesomeness until I do a full mani with it, but by gosh is this color beautiful.

I initially didn't have application issues with Only You, but started to when I got to my other hand.  However, I think I didn't shake my bottle up enough or something so the difficulties with application may be due to user error.  After all, it is chock full of flakes and sometimes those suckers can be difficult when applying or settle together in the bottle.  No problems with Wind's Indecision.


In the shade outside - Only You bottle shot


In the shade outside - Wind's Indecision bottle shot


Under direct sunlight outdoors



Monday Mani is about realistically showcasing beautiful indie polishes that I've purchased.  So many swatches out there are captured under lighting that we simply don't use every day.  (I typically am not admiring my nails under Ott lights.)  My goal is to show mani's under typical lighting and wearing conditions so you can decide if the beauty is right for you or not.

Disclaimer:  All reviews and opinions are my own.  Products were purchased with my own money.  No affiliation with Pahlish or its products.