52wkCrumpet18: fish braid and non-glitter topper

This is week eighteen of Crumpet's 52 week challenge! The "rules" are very flexible and you have all week to accomplish the mani. As always, must be done on your own nails, using the colours suggested (or parts thereof).
This week's prompt: fish braid and non-glitter topper (either each alone or combined). I chose both and combined in an ambitious skittlette idea I had throughout the week. I really like this mani and will have a hard time getting rid of it next week. It just all seemed to come together.

I started with a black base (China Glaze Liquid Leather) on all nails. The skittlette is AABBC and I painted the C nail first using my non-glitter topper of Zoya Maisie. I also painted the bottom of the BB nails in Maisie as a base for a reverse French fish braid. The bottom of the AA nails were painted in China Glaze Deviantly Daring.

Then I started the fish braid pattern, the same on all AABB nails: first up was China Glaze Want my Bawdy, followed by Unpredictable and then Deviantly Daring. These are all from CG's New Bohemian Luster collection (which really is no longer new!).

I had no problem layering the duochromes over each other. They all pick up different aspects of the non glitter topper, so a very under-the-sea type of mani that really sparkles in the sun!

I topped first with Out the Door but then added a coat of Poshé to really add some shine. Done deal for the week - now to check out the others! Bye girls x.

An InLinkz Link-up

Duochrome shimmers à la Lucy

Ode to Lucy! I saw this last week or so and immediately was in the mood for duochromes. Lucy's original post used white cross stitches (didn't really like that) but otherwise was totally totally fab! (here is her post).

I used two duochromes for the mani and applied over a dark blue base. I started with ILNP Mutagen, an almost Ozotic 503 dupe. Almost. The polish shimmers in green through purple to brown. The other side is Ozotic 502, a copper-brown-red shimmer. I alternated one coat Mutagen, one coat Ozotic, one coat M, one coat O. Then top coated.

When all was dry I added some black cross stitches. Probably not good enough, but effective. Then top coat again. Very simple and beautiful mani. I got heaps of comments on them at the market. Apologies, these photos were taken after two days of wearing the mani as I had no time (in the daylight) to take pics! But still looking good!

piCture pOlish Aurora

This, without much a do, is the beautiful piCture pOlish Aurora. Really not much to say, as it speaks for itself! I will say that besides being hard to photographically capture, it eats top coat so in the meantime from taking these snaps I have added another coat, and will probably do another tonight.

I started with one coat of OPI Lincoln Park after Dark – as that was the darkest colour on my studio table and I was too lazy to go get another black! It works well. Lincoln has the slightest purple tinge and I think that works well with the whole purplesque of the polish. Then I applied two coats of Aurora.

This time I did cuticle clean up as I went along. So, once after Lincoln, then, if needed, after Aurora. Seemed to be a good idea though I was a bit too zealous on my one index finger. Oh well. The polish is an obvious duo (multi) chrome and has flecks of glitter in it. Hence the need for top coat to bring out the shine. The predominate colour is a purple to blue to green to turquoise shift. At some angles (more in artificial lighting) you will see a copper towards bronze hue. The opalescent glitter flecks pick up the blue-toned colours and give the impression of a starry night. Hence, Aurora.

trying to show the glitter aspect

It really is very, very pretty - but not omg amazing (for my taste). It is very purple toned (and I love purple), but not a deep purple. More the a-england Avalon purple, which I personally find hard to wear on its own. What I am trying to say is that the polish is cold-hued. So depending on your skin tone this can be good or bad.

artificial lighting

I am definitely very glad I have it, especially since it is a limited edition and pp has stopped with their gorgeous Ozotic duochromes. Hoping they will be making more of this type of polish going forward. It is like having a rainbow on your fingers, a definite show-stopper.

OPI Navy Shatter over lots of blue

This is a new OPI shatter for me, got in a recent destash. I always thought navy blue is a nice alternative to black. The only downside to shatter is that it eats top coat, so I usually apply two thick coats.

I started with a black base then two coats of China Glaze Deviantly Daring. DD is a fab duochrome which shimmers teal. Very stunning over black and a polish I use often at Ripponburn. Great base for art, too.

Then I topped with a thin coat of shatter. That is key, thin coat. Shatter is weird because you don't think it is doing anything until presto, effect! A pretty simple mani, but very effective. The duochrome underneath adds depth and shimmer to the shatter. And the blues on blue add a bit of elegance. This was top coated twice with Out the Door.

Life is going along nicely here, though still a tad too full. Day by day one step closer to the end of the month and the café blues are behind us (I hope). Have been to another market and it was mega fab! Finished a custom pendant and even surprised myself! More in blogs later. "Day" job of marketing cinemas is also coming together really well with an Opening Night Gala this Sat eve!

China Glaze Agro in skittlette with hearts

What a total hectic of a time it has been! And it is still not over. There are so many things I want to write about; for those who follow and myself for future reads. Time just gets way from me from day to day. It has been over a week since my last post, and my FB pages are pretty bleak as well. But I know things will be looking up soon and I will be back on the social marketing bandwagon!

This was the mani I was rocking for my first craft faire on Easter weekend (blog to follow on that as well). I fact, I wore it a couple of days before and after. The base is two coats of China Glaze Agro. Love this green - perfect autumn shade. I decided to do an AABBC skittlette, leaving Agro alone on the AAs. I had made some wee bracelets with a heart and Agro as a background, so I recreated this on my nails.

The hearts were drawn asymmetrically and are in Ozotic 502 Sands. The duochrome shifts from gold to brick red to brown through copper. Very earthy. The pinky received a coat of CG Electrify - also from the Hunger Games collection. A very Katniss look – in fact, I made a ring for the craft faire (just for fun).

right hand

Since I last wrote I have had two garage sales at the café, with one more to go this Saturday. I never had so much business! But you would not believe the amount of work involved getting all the old (bought with café) cr*p down from the attic areas and put out on tables. It was massive! Our fault for not insisting she (landlady-preowner) clean out her junk before selling. But I was wide-eyed and anxious for my fantastic wine bistro plan! Dumb. There are still things to do, all very overwhelming at the moment. But we had good sales and some big ticket items are gone.

just part of a massive massive pile

Then in the midst of all this the film society had their members only night (and final night of the season). I got yellow flowers!! All a tad emotional and I got a bit teary eyed. So sad to see the venue go - seemed perfect for the film nights. Generally sad to see the venue go.

There is another mani to post, and with Anzac day tomorrow I am working on my mani for that. And Ripponburn today. Also, getting my paperwork together to apply for NZ citizenship hopefully Monday (yeah, big yeah!!). May have a mani client tomorrow (need to get my studio up and running - have secured web domains, need business cards....). I "rewarded" myself with a small polish buy. Just because, I felt like it. Some indies from overseas.

Bye girls! Thanks for being a part of my wild ride!

Shatter green on green

I really should wear my shatter polishes more often. What I *need* is a silver or white based shatter. Like OPI Solitaire but in shatter. Only have two, black and this one: a dark green teal shatter from OPI's SpiderMan collection.

I started with two coats of China Glaze Unpredictable. They call this a turquoise duochrome but I think it is lighter, and has elements of teal and light green. I thought it would be a soft and similar undercoat to the shatter.

Now, I should have top coated this before moving on. I totally forgot. If you top coat before adding the shatter then the shatter doesn't "pull" your undercoat away. The Mr and I started watching some lame movie (World's End) and I just didn't pay attention! So, in case you are (re-) learning this, first top coat before shatter. Then you apply just one simple coat of shatter. Don't be tempted to go back over, try and do it right the first time with one or two strokes. I like this shatter. it has some frost glitter in it (like lizard scales) and is a dark deep teal green

right hand

Today is Sunday and so far nothing has happened at my café. The last two days were super busy and to make me even happier, I sold two pairs of earrings!! But today, the cars just race by. It also doesn't help that the place across the road bad mouths us and tells its customers that we are never open. They are mean and greedy and want all the business for themselves. Honestly, how can you be fuller than full? But, big corporate from overseas. They think differently. I hold my little fort and hope for some nice people to stop in for a wonderful coffee and breakfast - and maybe some jewelry!
On another totally different note! Just one more follower then I am up to 50!!!!