Tribute to Blogger Colorful Crack: Manis for Gosia

Gosia of popular beauty blog Colorful Crack recently announced her retirement from her blog due to other commitments.  Her friends from the blogging community are coming together to create manis to wish her good luck on her next endeavors.  #manisforgosia

One of Gosia's favorite indie polish brands is Superficially Colorful Lacquer.  She swatches the new collections for the brand, and I noticed a trend of her creating an awesome accent nail for each swatch.  Pulling from my own SCL collection, I created a monochromatic mani using Eye of the Storm and accented the ring nail with a sparkly coat of Imaginary Narwhals to create my mani in honor of and inspired by Gosia.

Eye of the Storm is a very dark and cold blue, somewhat metallic, with a little bit of holographic glitter. In some lighting it leans more navy and in others it leans more blue.  It dries semi-matte with a hint of sparkle.  Imaginary Narwhals is a silvery holographic micro glitter polish with occasional silver stars in clear base. It's fun and sparkly, but you have to fish a little for the stars.  After two days, you can see there's minimal tip wear!

Indirect lighting on the pool deck

Shade lighting on the lawn

Disclaimer: all products were purchased by me.  No affiliation with Superficially Colorful Lacquer and its products.

Monday Mani: #52WPNMC with Girly Bits Just My Cup of Tea'l and Polynesian Sunset

It's Week 34 of the 52 Week Pick N Mix Challenge with this week's prompts being lilac and teal or pastels. Considering I have a most-likely-diagnosable problem with the amount of blues and purples I buy, I figured why not give the lilac and teal a shot. Luckily for me, I have the perfect duo of untrieds to fit the bill.  From my stash I picked from one of my favorite indie handmade brands, Girly Bits. Pam released a custom polish trio in June 2014 exclusive to the GBCF Facebook group, two of which happen to be a purple and a teal. For the purposes of this nail art challenge, I'm arguing it's a lilac. ;) 

Since these were released as customs, they were available only one time to a select group of people and did not have an official description. As provided by Pam at the time of preview for purchase: "This teal leans slightly more blue than #islandtime and it has more aqua shimmer and less gold. This purple is slightly darker than #endlesslove, with prominent pink shimmer and silver holo sparks in addition to the base holo." I applied both colors in thin layers (with top coat), and both, as is my usual experience with GB, were super easy to apply and dried quickly. I had not discovered the pink shimmer (which I thought at the time was a pink flash) of Polynesian Sunset until later under the lighting of my bedroom light fan, a very pleasant surprise. I enjoyed Polynesian Sunset for two days with very minimal tip wear (only one minor chip), which is also my typical experience with GB, as a monochromatic mani. I later applied Just My Cup of Tea'l ruffian style, mimicking nail art from this post.  Both are jam packed with holo and stunning colors.

As you will see in the nail art photo, my index finger is not pictured.  To my surprise, the lilac layer pulled up with my vinyl upon removal.  While I patched the screw up with the teal polish, I felt it wasn't camera ready.  I have had the teal on since Thursday with extremely minimal tip wear, only one chip (I'm sensing a theme).  Girly Bits polishes are VERY hardy.

In the shade with indirect lighting

In the shade

In the shade with indirect lighting

In the shade

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. Professionals 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 Girly Bits or their products.

An InLinkz Link-up

Monday Mani: #52WPNMC - Elevation Walk A Little Farther and Girly Bits Winter Sanctuary

Week 32 of the #52WPNMC is about Outlines.  I wanted to try out my new zebra vinyls from Nail Vinyls and thought this was the perfect prompt to do so.  Now, as we've already learned, I don't own any neons, which, I have to admit, make for a pretty stellar zebra pattern.  So I had to make do.

Walk a Little Farther is from the January 2015 collection by Elevation Polish and is a soft baby blue with intense blue micro shimmer.  I wore it for one day on its own and got several compliments.  The shimmer is not that prominent unless under more intense lighting.  Formula was on the thick side so I actually created bubbles during application.  My nail chemistry has a harder time with EvP so I'm still working on my technique with it, but overall I would say it's a nice creme.

I laid down my nail vinyls and applied the sparkly gorgeousness that is Winter Sanctuary, a collaboration between Girly Bits and epic blogger Cosmetic Sanctuary.  It's a stunning medium to dark cobalt blue shimmolo with a hint of purple and a scattering of holo microglitter in it.  Now, I didn't put on enough to see the hints of purple, but I for sure see the lovely sparkliness of the microglitter.  This has quickly been put on my favorites list.

Here's my epic fail whale confession: I'm still perfecting my technique with vinyls in trying to figure out when to take them off for clean lines.  Instructions say right away, so the balance is trying to get the second polish on in one coat.  As a result, I tend to put on too thick a coat.  When I put on the PDQ top coat from Colors by Llarowe, it smeared Winter Sanctuary.  So I waited longer on the right hand before applying the quick dry topcoat (which seems counterintuitive, honestly) and it smeared a little less, but nonetheless smeared.  So not quite sure about that, but I'm hoping it's user error.

I definitely want to wear both these colors again, in a more monochromatic look to enjoy their full beauty.  Perhaps each with just tips for a little pizzazz (I'm starting to get bored with a monochromatic look, which is what I usually do to fully enjoy the beauty of polishes).  I'm loving the zebra look so I'll still be experimenting with those to get my technique perfected.

Let me know what you think in the comments!  Any tips or suggestions as to the smearing?

Indirect shade lighting

Indirect shade lighting

Indirect shade lighting

Indirect shade lighting

Indirect shade lighting

Direct sun lighting

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.  Professionals 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 Girly Bits or Elevation Polish and their products.

An InLinkz Link-up

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.

An InLinkz Link-up

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.

An InLinkz Link-up

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.

Day4JNAC - 13 Days of January Nail Art Challenge: Monochromatic

It's no secret blue is my most favorite color.  Yo Cupid Take A Hike by Colors by Llarowe is my biggest lemming so I'm constantly searching for a dupe.

Now, I can't say for sure this is a dupe since I don't own both to compare, but I CAN say that this is literally the exact shade of blue that is my most favorite color.  You know how you have a favorite color, but it's a certain shade within that spectrum that's your most favorite shade, the one that you think is the best representation of that color?  Yeah, this is it.

Say hello to Dream Walker by Darling Diva Polish.  This is almost a one coater polish.  I tried out some new stickers I got and I can't believe how gorgeous this looks.  I decided to be simple and go REALLY monochromatic for this post.  Just mono, haha.  I could just stare at my nails all day long.  I love it.  I'm going to get some serious mileage out of this bottle!

Also, holo.  That is all.

Photos taken outdoors in the shade.

An InLinkz Link-up