Punk Gradient

Hi all! How are you doing? I'm doing fine, but busy. I'm really close to the end of the semester, so it gets really chaotic really fast. Also, not fun, but my last final is on December 28th. Boo.

Anyway, on to more fun topics. Today I have a gradient mani to share with you. Gradients are my favorite way to extend the life of a mani, in cases I don't have time to change my current one, but I already grew bored of it.

Today's mani started with China Glaze Strawberry Fields (which was my first nail polish reviewed here). I love this pink glassfleck and it's a perfect shade for summer (which already got here!).

But I couldn't leave it alone and in less that a day I added a gradient with Essence Galactic Black (it's a shimmery black, but the shimmer is almost invisible in real life). It seemed a little plain so I thought: "Uhm, what can I use to brighten this up?"

Glitter, of course!

The glitter is Love & Beauty Crystal/Multi by Forever 21 (don't we all love the creativity of F21's polishes?). This was also sent to me by the awesome Eileen (since there are no F21 in my country). I loved this polish because the polish is shredded in irregular bits instead of a regular shape, it's really unique in my opinion.

For creating the glitter gradient I just carefully dabbed over the color gradient. I called this "punk gradient" because, somehow, the shredded glitters and the color scheme reminds me of Daft Punk. Yeah, I don't even know how my mind works.

On the macro you can appreciate the irregular shredded glitter and the pastel colors. I really liked this mani and would like to recreate it sometime.

What was the latest mani that you just loved?

Thanks for reading!

The very hungry glitter

Hi guys! Phew, it's been a while, huh? Sorry for the hiatus, lots of things happening. I'm currently attending my last semester of my Graphic Design undergrad, and working on my thesis project. Also, I broke a nail on my 'swatching' hand, it was the saddest nub ever, and I didn't feel like painting my nails or taking pics of them for a while.

But, my nails are slowly growing back to their old self, and today I finally felt like taking pics of my mani :)

Today's mani is a glitterbomb from China Glaze's fall collection On Safari named I Herd That, which was sent to me by the love Eileen aka The Sneakerette.

 I Herd That is one of the two glitters from this collection (I also have the other one, I'm not Lion) and it's a warmer shade, mainly with gold, copper and tiny bits of holographic micro glitter.

 I Herd That was very easy to work with and was practically opaque in 2 coats. I did 3 on these swatches because I had a tiny bit of VNL. It is a very hungry glitter though (therefore the title of this post), I needed 2 coats of Gelous and top coat to smooth it out. Still, it's really worth it.

And for funsies, here's a last macro shot of the amazing tiny pieces of glitter. Do you like this kind of shots? I recently got a macro add-on for my camera and thought it'd be fun to add a macro shots to my posts from now on.

And that's it. Thank you for reading and keeping up with me. I don't know how often I'll be posting, but I hope to write you again very soon!

Wear Purple Day

Hi girls! Today I want to share with you my first HARE polish, which I used today in honor of Wear Purple Day. Apparently this month I'm all about supporting causes.

Wear it Purple exists in order to help GLBTIQ (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer) youth at risk. Run by students, we aim to stop the ignorance, bullying and suicides.

I look forward to having a society that doesn't discriminate based on who you choose to share your life with or how you want to run your life. Seriously, life is too short for hate. I also look forward to have marriage equality in my country.

That said, for my purple mani I busted off two untrieds from my stash: Essence Passion for Fashion and HARE Why so Igneus? (my first HARE! *yay*).

Funny though, when editing the pics I noticed my bottle had a glittery 'stain', but not from my polish. It proves the true handmade nature of these polishes and doesn't bother me :)

HARE Why So Igneus? is a mix of green and purple in a sheer purple jelly base. The largest pieces of glitter are square, but there's also mini hex and micro glitter. Since it's pretty sheer -and I wanted to save the precioussss- I layered it over Essence Passion for Fashion, which is a very bright blue toned purple, applies really nicely and it's opaque and shiny in two coats (I'm tempted to say it's a bit jelly-ish, but not totally).

This is one -dabbed- coat of Why so Igneus? over two coats of Passion for Fashion. I love how the green glitter shine from the base. The glitters spreaded nicely and there was no need for 'fishing' them out of the bottle.

Overall, I was really happy with my experience with HARE, all from buying to actually wearing the polish. I bought directly from Nicole on one of her Etsy sales/restocks, and it wasn't as hectic/chaotic as I though it'd be. Her polishes are also available at Llarowe.com now, so it's even easier to get your hands on them (I know because I have a 2nd one on the way hahahah).

And don't forget to show your support to the LGBTIQ community by wearing purple today. Have a great weekend!

a-england sisters

Hi girls! Several weeks ago Adina from a-england polishes held a wonderful promo and I used the chance to add two new beauties from this brand to my collection.

I had heard many wonderful things of the scattered holos from a-england (and had personally witnessed their magic with Ascalon). I wanted one of the scattered holos from their first collection, but I couldn't decide which (they looked so close!). So I ordered both in the hope that, after trying them, it'd be easier to choose just one to keep.

So after some weeks of wait I got Lady of the Lake (purple) and Tristam (blue) on the mail. At first I was a little disappointed because on the bottle both colors look extremely close.

So I swatched it on my nails in the hopes that the difference would translate better. All the pics are 2 coats of nail polish, plus base coat and topcoat (using it didn't dull the holo effect).

First we have Lady of the Lake which is a dusty purple with a subtle scattered holo effect.

Then came Tristam, a dark blue with the same scattered holo.

These pictures were taken in direct sunlight in the hopes of capturing the holo, while staying color accurate. I'm awful at it though, these polishes look a million times better in person. The holo effect is really evident in sunlight and adds a nice depth to the colors.

Both Lady of The Lake and Tristam were a dream to apply, like I've come to expect from all a-englands they're just flawless. I even got to wear them for almost a week with only minor tipwear and a tiny chip on one finger.

So, are you wondering which one I kept? After wearing them for days I decided it's worth to keep both, at least for the time being. I couldn't decide on a favorite from this pair of 'sister' polishes.

Have you tried a-england? They are a bit pricey but well worth it, in my opinion, because of their formula and unique colors (plus Adina offers free international shipping).

Mani for a Purpose: PCOS Awareness

Hi girls! Today I want to share a special mani I did for a blog hop. Norelis from Fierce Makeup and Nails proposed this idea to spread awareness for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome also known as PCOS, a disease that has personally affected her, as it does to thousands of women.

But what is PCOS? From Pub Med Health

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition in which a woman has an imbalance of a female sex hormones. This may lead to menstrual cycle changes, cysts in the ovaries, trouble getting pregnant, and other health changes.

PCOS can present different symptoms on women, some are:

• Significant weight gain
• Facial hair increase
• Blood sugar problems
• Insulin intolerance
• Significant hair loss
• Depression and anxiety
• Infertility
• Cysts
• Excessive blood loss
• Irregular or extreme menstrual cycles

For this cause some nail bloggers united by creating teal and white manis, the colors for the PCOS Awareness.

I started with a-england Galahad a beautiful dusty teal that barely needs 2 coats to be opaque (I think you can get away with one thick coat, but I do mine thin, so I did two).

Then I added a coat of Lynnderella Love, Lace & Lilacs, with a little bit of dabbing for better glitter placement. I liked how it looked over this different color base, with its mix of opaque white and iridescent glitter it almost looks like snow falling.

It's a very simple mani but I found the effect really cute. Don't forget to visit the other bloggers participating and go teal for September! :)

Nails Inc Baker Street

Hi girls! Today I want to share with you a polish that had me obsessed for weeks before I could finally get it into my hands, and nails.

Nails Inc recently released a bright blue named Baker Street. I'm not particularly fan of Sherlock Holmes but the color drew me in right away and I needed it in my life. I had a bit of trouble obtaining it since most of the e-tailers that carried this brand didn't ship internationally. I ended up grabbing this one from a random user on eBay UK.

Once it arrived I painted my nails with it right away and it's perfection in a bottle. The color is so vibrant and hard to describe. Sometimes it's a true blue and other times it leans a bit purple, I tried my best to represent it accurately here.

Formula wise it applies flawlessly. It's not too thick or thin, just the perfect consistency. I also didn't had a problem with the Nails Inc brush. The swatch here shows Nails Inc Baker Street with base coat and top coat.

Did you also fall for Baker Street? What is your favorite Nails Inc? This is my first polish from this brand, but I'd love recommendations for other colors with great formulas.

Thanks for reading!

Soft Mint

Hi girls! Back to your regular scheduled posts. Today I want to share with you one of my favorite manis that I've done lately. It mixes color gradient and stamping. Let's take a look!

My base for this mani was China Glaze Refresh Mint. It's a very pretty mint green and opaque in 2 coats, the formula was a bit on the thick side but nothing a couple drops of thinner wouldn't help. Pastel colors tend to have trickier formulas, but this one was not bad.

Then I added a color gradient with Essence Viva La Green which is a beautiful bright blue-toned green. I haven't worn it as a full mani -yet- so I can't comment on its formula.

Anyway, I stamped over the whole thing with Konad White Special polish and BM-221plate. The flower pattern is one of my favorites of this set, it's so delicate and seemed to go well with the colors I had.

All in all, I really loved this mani. The combination of colors and stamping turned out in a really beautiful subtle effect. I also found that the combination of Viva la Green tuned down a bit of the redness that's typical of wearing pastels (commonly known as "lobster hands")

For the days I wore this I couldn't stop thinking and craving mint ice-cream, hmm.

Do you like the combination of stamping and gradients?

Thanks for reading!