52wkCrumpet2: 3-tone gradient with pink hearts

This is week two of Crumpet's 52 week challenge! This is a great one as 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: three-tone gradient and pink (either each alone or combined). I combined.

I was in a bit of a quandary on what colours to choose for my three tone gradient. I had just worn blue and the time before red and brown. And also green. And I didn't want to do the sunset or butterfly gradient, again. So I decided to try a Zoya Pixie Dust gradient. That was ..... dumb. It is really hard to gradient pixie dusts as they have a lot of glitter particles in them that stick to the sponge. I keep forgetting that.

Even though the base looks predominantly green, there is a three tone gradient in there! I did start with a gently applied base of green (Zoya Vespa). The gradient is then achieved with Vespa, Zoya Godiva and OPI Solitaire. Solitaire (the white one) overpowers as it is also the tip of my nail. And Godiva is a faint tone, almost the colour of my nail bed. One coat of Out the Door and then a coat of Poshé. Pixies eat top coat and you could definitely feel the girt after just Out the Door. Poshé is nice and thick (and glossy and quick dry as well).

right hand

For the hand drawn hearts I used China Glaze Neon & On & On - this is one of my fav pinks. I painted them in different sizes and amounts, added a black one here and there. This was top coated again with Poshé to give a real gloss and smooth out the entire mani.
In the end I think the nails look like an advertisement for a game of bridge! Perhaps too Queen of Heartsy. The gradient is there, but quite faint. But in the shadows the hearts pop in neon!
Cheers girls x – looking forward to seeing all the others!

An InLinkz Link-up

Swirls and dots à la Lucy

Taking inspiration from the queen herself, I was enamored in one of Lucy's current manis. It was all swirls and dots (and you can read about it here!). Naturally, hers is in another league but I gave it a shot. And to be fair to myself, I didn't look at hers again until just now, so was working from memory. I stuck with my same colour combo, day 5 of the gelicious mani base. Since the gel only comes off with acetone-d remover, I used non-acetone remover to get rid of the other nail art and matte top coat.

I used acrylic paints for the whole design. I started with pure white on the pink nail (or on the blue nail of my right hand) then added a tad of red - or blue - (and again another tad) for the other lines. For the dots I mixed the red and blue with white for a similar yet lighter shade. I used the smallest dotting tool for the dots, thin 000 brush for the lines.

right hand

Now that I see Lucy's I realize that my spokes aren't very thin or consistent. But I like my dots! All in all, I think the right hand looks better than the left (blue lines and pink dots vs the other way around). And both hands together look really nice. Normal top coat sealed the deal and also brought the lines together much better.

I will probably put a coat of gel top coat on before the market so I can do manis and not worry about ruining my art. This is day 5 of the gel mani and that little bit of tip wear is still there (has not increased) with no other tip wear to be seen. Below my hands together and queen herself with the most beautiful "template"!!

inspired by lucy

Simple dotted flowers on a line

This is a simple dotticure flower design I did on my current gelicious mani. After two days of solid colours, I was ready for a small change. I decided to only put flowers on my blue nails. I matte top coated the pink ones.

For the pink lines I used China Glaze Pink of Me which is a smokier-greyish-type pink. I dotted two lines of that on each blue nail. Then I used Layla Grass in the Wind for one flower (and corresponding middle dot of the other) and OPI Alpine Snow for the white flowers and the other middle dot. I think I should have done all white flowers as the green is very faint and really doesn't show up as I thought it would. I top coated with Out the Door.

right hand

I do like the contrast with the matte coated pink nails (used Orly matte top coat). Something about pastel and matte. Always looks good. So this is day three of the gelicious mani. Still going very strong with no lifting, loosening or chipping. There is some tiny tip wear on my right index finger but that is most likely my fault for not sealing the tip well enough.

Gelicious blue and pink candy magic

Although I have some new totally fab "normal" polishes to try, I could not resist another gelicious mani. I'll be wearing enough normal colours while I am away soon. I only wore the fourth of July nails for 5 days and then I was over it. The mani was still going strong but enough was enough. They were also a tad thick, too, and that bothered me. All the layers of gel mani and then the nail art and then another coat of gel top coat to protect at glammy mani parties. Funny enough, you couldn't see it - but it felt heavy.

I decided to do a mini skittlette with two beautiful bonbon type shades: Aztec Blue and Strawberry Milkshake. They are so pretty! And I have a nail art idea for the next day or so. Aztec Blue is a robin's egg type blue. Not quite a For Audrey blue, but a beautiful soft shade. Strawberry Milkshake is a creamy pale pink, very delicate. I used three thin coats each. After two coats I was not happy enough with the coverage. Then, of course, cured with gelicious top coat.

The nails shine so much and the colours really pop! I applied an alternating skittlette with the blue and pink. It still takes the best part of 45 minutes to do my nails. Application is key, and wrapping the tips. I tried a new idea of wrapping first then painting my nail but I prefer the other way around. I paint the nail, wrap, then repaint the tips to smooth out. My technique is improving but still need to work on the wrapping to make it cleaner.

In pure digital timer time it takes 6 minutes for the three sets and full mani, but there is a lot of work between the sets. Thirty secs a cure x 4 cures (three coats plus top coat) x 3 sets (left hand, right hand, thumbs). Not really that bad as the mani lasts days. Better to invest in a good foundation and be happy and carefree for days!

I think this is the perfect look for dreary grey days, don't you?! Will update later with some nail art but am happy to rock this for a couple of days alone.

Lynnderella Elf Assured

Dilemma nails. Believe it or not – come on, you won't believe it – I spent time on these nails. Inspired by Procrastinating Polish, I decided to do some water-spotting and then add glitter. Originally, I was going to keep with the aqua blue water spot idea but there was this glitter that I hadn't used yet. So, why not combine??? In my mind, yes. On my nails, hmmmm.

I started with two coats of China Glaze Neon and On and On. I love this pink neon as it dries matte and covers fairly well in two coats. Not perfect, but good enough for what is to come. And the pink pops. I top coated and let that dry before doing the water spotting. Like water marbling – or anything water-y – there is heaps of clean-up and organization and preparation and just plain "work" involved. But I was game and had website pages uploading in the background, so also time. I used Orly Liquid Vinyl for the black.

Then I added a coat of Lynnderella Elf Assured (a destash glitter). The glitter is pretty cool, though am still unsure of how to wear it: black, white, metallic teal and pink bits in a clear base. Well, one coat did basically nothing for the nails. There were little bits of teal and white and pink but not at all like I thought it would cover (fishy, fish, fish). So I added another. And fished around some more. I don't know, it just seemed to be the wrong background. Way too tone-in-tone. So in the end I added just a wee bit of teal glitter (LA Colors). Now, that was too much! I tell you - not enough here, too much there. Arghghghgh!

So I went to bed (after top coating of course). It is raining like crazy here so not a lot of pics. In the "light" the nails don't look have bad, but really nothing special. All my time invested in the water spotting was to no avail as you can't really see it.
So my dilemma is: raining here today. Will it rain tomorrow? Does the craft faire take place in the rain? Do I go in the rain? Do I pull out my rain gear and "just do it"? What if I drive there and it is not happening? Do I redo my nails so they look like something worth having for the faire? Do I leave them for now? Am I taking this too seriously? 
And..... on a completely different note: where the hell is the electrician, who stood me up yesterday and still isn't here today????

a-england skittlette using Iseult and Princess Sabra

Am totally in love with a-england and have four (count 'em 4!) new polishes. I plain could not decide what to do, but thought I would start with the pink of Iseult (Mythicals). True, I am not a pink person, but this colour is so beautiful, I just had to want it!

Iseult is a shimmer pink. Like all the a-england's I have, there is a holographic velvet quality to the polish. The tiniest bit of grey shimmer makes the pink (or anything) luxurious. This is an AABBC skittlette with AAC being three coats of Iseult each. I decided on the third coat to even out the base totally. The polish is not sheer, but wanted a full coverage.

The BB skittlette is Princess Sabra (Legend), in its newer form. This is a gorgeous olive bronze that shimmers like wow! The polish has a nice yellow tinge, so definitely warm. Only two coats of this and all was top coated before continuing.

The ivy is freedrawn with black as the AA part of the skittlette. This wasn't as fiddly as in the past so I must be getting better. Managed both hands before continuing. I dot-filled the leaves with Princess Sabra and then added some Beauty Never Fails (Heavenly Quotes) for depth and accents. After that all dried a bit I added some more black lines and thick top coat.

I think the pink and green look totally fab together! In fact, I am very happy with this mani. Looks delicate and elegant. Living the pre-raphaelite dream! In fact, I have started a pendant based on the drawings as the colours work so well together. Apologies for the photo spam, but just too pretty!!!

What a day. I have a big lump in my stomach since the landlord drove through our carpark (she lives behind my café). When she exited she drove right across the road to my competition to meet friends for coffee! Just gutted. She has never supported our little café, though it would be in her best interest as we pay lease etc for her. Makes me feel sad. Add that to an almost non-event of a day. At least I got to skype with my girl!!!! That was great!

right hand

GOT: valentine – pink hearts on red

Am a bit late to the party here. And for some reason the inLinz is not working anymore, or at least not today. So can't join the rest of the party, either. Did this yesterday, which was the 14th here. Definitely two of my oldest polishes!!

The base is just one coat of OPI Red-y for Anything (from the Legally Blonde collection). I got this polish ten years ago at a press junket for Legally Blonde 2. In fact, I got three: red, white and blue. But I only have the red left. The red reminds me very much of Zoya Elisa (or vice versa). Still works well. And only needed one coat for complete coverage! Then I free hand drew hearts on a string (like about five million others this year!) and filled those in with an equally old Chanel Marilyn. This is really only a good dotting or nail art polish now. Has gotten a bit thick (could use restore on it, though).

For some reason the mani is really difficult to photograph. After top coat, the red is so shiny and reflective! The difference between the hearts and the background is not that great, either, so everything blends a bit. Better in real life. The thought with the hearts is that they are all hanging, but a couple are falling off, and one is lying on the ground. Or is it laying. Never can get that right!

What a day so far today. By noon two cars had driven in to the carpark, turned around, and drove out! What is with people? Will never comprehend that. Then, though, at noon customers started coming for breakfast and coffees, and to make it the best: I sold jewelry!!!! So, know what I will do tonight - must start pendants and earrings. I'd say, check out the others but my linky thing isn't working.