Monday Mani: Secret Galaxy by 6 Harts

This one I had a HARD time taking off... in fact, I didn't take it off until I *had* to because my whole pointer finger of polish fell off in the shower.  The tip wear on this was incredible, which is a testament to the high quality of the polishes I used.

Base coat by Northern Polish, two layers Willa by Zoya, two layers Secret Galaxy by 6 Harts, and top coat of Glitter Glaze by Girly Bits.  There is incredible sparkle to Secret Galaxy that I had a difficult time capturing on camera.  Holo only seems to want to be captured when the photo is blurry!  So you'll see that in some of my photos in an effort to show you that super sparkle.  Ignore my poor clean-up job - the macro setting is very kind to point out what the naked eye thought was fine!  All taken under studio lighting on a white background.  Love love love Secret Galaxy!

Let me know what you think of the color in the comments below!

Disclaimer: polishes purchased for my own personal use.  All opinions are my own.  No affiliation with Northern Polish, Zoya, 6 Harts, or Girly Bits.

40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Week 4 Orange, Purple, and Green + Reciprocal Gradient

Oh, boy, was this a toughie of a challenge!  I had reciprocal gradient as the pattern challenge and while I was familiar with it, I couldn't exactly remember what it was so I had to look it up.  I was also a little apprehensive because I've not actually done a gradient at all yet, but I knew enough about this cool technique to wonder if the colors weren't going to work well or just look like a hot mess (spoiler alert: I was right).  Thanks to a great Youtube tutorial by My Simple Little Pleasures, I was quickly able to learn how easy it is.  Patience and time are the key!  So I sucked it up and dove in.

Picking colors from my stash was hard.  I don't really own orange, and not much plain green.  It also doesn't help all my polish is currently stored in boxes due to my living situation so searching is a litte harder.  :)  The recent A Box, Indied had all three colors, but I felt the purple was too sheer for this and didn't "go" well in tone.  I felt a plummy purple was more appropriate.  However, I worried this darker color palette would be difficult for a gradient, even though I liked the undertones of the color combo.  I decided to risk it anyways.

I used Different Dimension Witch & Fabulous as the orange and Colors by Llarowe Doctor Bombay's Potion as the green, both from the October A Box, Indied.  From CbL's fall collection 2015 I chose Aubergine Dreams as the purple.  Luckily, because I had been wanting to try a gradient for a while I already had on hand Glisten & Glow's Ctrl-Alt-Del latex barrier.  Despite being scented, it smells like bathroom cleaner to me.  Although it doesn't bother me, I have read reviews previously to be cautious that it does bother some noses.  It is incredibly easy to apply, but I do need more practice on where to place it to get best results (there's some cracks and cervices I missed).  This stuff is awesome enough, though, that I might use it on every mani!  Especially since I'm lazy and also not skilled with clean-up (which you'll see from my pics below).

Doing a gradient is incredibly easy - I just painted onto up&up latex free foam cosmetic wedges - it's the waiting part that's the hardest.  I had to do several layers to get the orange to show, but it did eventually (kind of) work.  I used chevron vinyls to create striping down the middle to reveal the reciprocal aspect.  I've recently discovered the awesomeness that is Girly Bits' Glitter Glaze quick dry top coat - dries super fast, super tough, and super glossy that makes holo and glitter pop.

While this isn't my most favorite mani I've done, I am proud of my sponging technique on first try.  Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Shade lighting

Shade with indirect sunlight

Full sun in an attempt to show all the glitter and holo

Disclaimer: items were purchased by me for my personal use.  All opinions are my own.  No affiliation with the brands mentioned in this post

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday Mani: #52WPNMC with Superficially Colorful Tsahik Accented by Darling Diva The Alchemist and Dark Ritual

This week's Monday Mani features red, orange, and green from the #52WPNMC nail art challenge.  My mani was inspired by Lacquerologist's gorgeous mani from last week, which I discovered in my feed on Instagram and you can find on her blog here (and, yes, I SO want that KBShimmer now!).

I used Superficially Colorful in Tsahik for the orange, Darling Diva in The Alchemist for the red, and Darling Diva in Dark Ritual for the green.  I'm not a big fan of orange in general and, thus, don't have really any in my stash, so I thought I was *really* stretching it using Tsahik, but thought I could roll with it since it's described as a bright holographic orange/coral red polish.  What I discovered pleasantly surprised me: while in indoor lighting it clearly leans coral in hue, in the outdoors it lights up to an almost-neon orange.  Crazy cool!  Formula was ah-mazing on this, and could easily be a one coater depending on how you applied it.  I went for two thin coats.  As is the case with my Darling Diva polishes, no application issues there either.  Although I was a little impatient applying topcoat (need to get better about that!), it really brought out the holo in Tsahik, which otherwise dries as semi-matte.  Dark Ritual is a deep blackened evergreen linear holo and The Alchemist is a bright red holo.

Tell me in the comments what you think!  It's hard to put these colors together - did I pull it off?

Indirect outdoor lighting under shade

Full shade

Full shade

Full direct sun

Monday Mani is about showcasing beautiful indie polishes that I've purchased through lifestyle shots. So many swatches out there are captured under lighting and conditions that aren't common of 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. Professional blogger swatches are perfect - here's my life lessons from a handmade artisan.

Disclaimer: All reviews and opinions are my own. Products were purchased with my own money. No affiliation with Superficially Colorful, Darling Diva, and their respective products.

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday Mani: #fightforlightandlive and Girly Bits

Yesterday afternoon I discovered the #fightforlightandlive and #depressionawareness mani movement on Facebook.  Being a mental health professional first and foremost, I didn't want to miss out on participating.  I figured better late than never!

I had just opened up my three Mystery Bags from an exclusive sample sale for group members that handmade indie polish maker Girly Bits ran earlier this month.  The bags contained OOAKs, Oops, Prototypes, Testers, Discontinueds, and the like.  Among them was a beautiful green/purple holo duochrome (if I'm guessing correctly) and I thought it perfect to try out since it was a newbie and green.

While I had some application and drying issues - an anticipated risk of mystery samples - that affected clean up and appearance, it is quite the lovely color.  If the application issues were worked out (which may be the reason it didn't make it into production), I think this prototype would turn into a huge hit!  Next time I think I will build with super thin coats as I think I was a little overzealous with my painting.  This is two semi-thick coats with Zoya's Anchor and Armor.

Sadly, my camera was NOT cooperating with capturing the purple side of it.  When I walk into full sun, it turns into a full blown muted purple shade and the holo lights up.  While the naked eye can clearly see it, my camera clearly cannot.  Which is SO unfortunate because I wish I could easily show you how dynamic a color this is!  Instead, I tried my best with different lighting and angles in hopes of highlighting its beauty.

Post in the comments below what you think of the color!  And, please, help fight stigma surrounding mental illness and become an advocate for changing society's perspective.  Visit your local community agency or NAMI chapter, and help educate yourself and others about mental illness disorders.  Together we can #stampoutstigma and be agents for change!

Shade lighting

Direct sun lighting

(aka when my camera should have captured the purple instead)

Indirect sun lighting

(trying to capture the purple at a new angle)

Indirect sun lighting

Indirect sun lighting

(can see the purple a little bit)

Disclaimer:  All products were purchased with my own money.  All reviews and opinions are my own. Not affiliated with Girly Bits.

UPDATE: Earth Day Gifting

As you all know, I got super lucky recently and procured a spot in an artisan gift basket opportunity for Earth Day.  Thirty amazing gift baskets stuffed with artisan handmade products will be delivered to 25 celebs and 5 press for the upcoming holiday.  Today, I had to submit my photo for the guide that will accompany each basket.  I took hundreds of photos and couldn't decide on one.  This is my first time having my photos in an official guide and I wanted it to be perfect.  Below is the photo I settled on with the help of the Coordinator.  I will be sending each celebrity my awesome luxurious soy candles, one Birthday Cake and one Mango Peach Salsa, my top sellers.  The following talent will be receiving my eco-friendly soy candles: Hayden Panettiere, Ginnifer Goodwin, Edward Norton, Adrian Grenier, Kate Bosworth, P!nk, Leonardo DiCaprio, Rachel McAdams, Emily VanCamp, Woody Harrelson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Daryl Hannah, Malin Akerman, Ted Danson, Orlando Bloom, Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Hartnett, Sting, Barbra Streisand, Alicia Silverstone, Courteney Cox, Cameron Diaz, Sheryl Crow, Mark Ruffalo, and Natalie Portman.