Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: A New Technique

Hello!

Today's challenge prompt is "A New Technique to You". I decided to try my hand at needle drag nail art or what I think is also referred to as 'dry water marbling'.

I started with a base of Seche Clear and one coat of China Glaze Lighthouse. Once that was dry, I worked on one nail at a time to create the flames. I did this by painting another coat of Lighthouse on and then dabbed a few drops of OPI Burning Love and OPI Socra-tease Me. I ran a needle through the polish to mix it up and create the design. Once each nail was complete, I topped it with a generous coat of Seche Vite.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

For my first attempt, I think it turned out really great! More soon! ^_^

Let's check out the other participants' too:

Haul: March!

Hello!

I can't believe March has come and nearly gone already! Time sure is slipping, quickly on by... my March was awesome! How was yours?

First up, Pretty & Polished happily surprised me by bringing back Tart and Cheer Camp (already swatched yesterday!) just in time for my birthday! If you are unaware, when you order during your birthday month, ask to be in their birthday club and give them your birth date in the comment section of your order, and they will send a mini polish along as a gift! It is my understanding that each year's birthday polish will be unique and otherwise unattainable. It's a fun bonus!

Pretty & Polished Tart, Happy Birthday 2013, and Cheer Camp.

In the middle of the month, I made a long-overdue trip back home to Minnesota. I miss that place every day. I ate a TON of delicious food. My small town has a plethora of amazing independent restaurants that I crave food from every now and again, so I ate pretty much everything I've wanted from home in the last year in one week (the new diet started the Monday after I got back lol). 

Every time I'm home, I go to see my awesome stylist at a little independent salon in the local (tiny) mall. She is so awesome! This time I asked for dip-dyed ends in jewel tones, and I couldn't be happier with the result. My hair is very dark brown and the colors pop nicely. Check out how awesome that purple is in the sunlight! It glows!

Outdoors, sunlight!

You know I had to eye the nail polish display while I was at the salon. I found OPI Russian Navy. I'm not sure on it's availability, but I've never seen it anywhere before. It's a gorgeous shimmer polish, so it was a happy find. My aunt from Alaska was also in town at the same time, and she gifted me the polish on the right. It is Suncoat Petal Blush. I've never heard of this brand before, but it says it is water-based, meant to peel off, and made in Canada. I've already used it and love it as a base for milky glitters!

OPI Russian Navy and Suncoat Petal Blush.

And now onto the birthday gifts! I am so spoiled! Besides new tires for my car, I got the following lovelies:

Jade Hypnose, Vermelho Surreal, and Mystic Gold. Jessica Pumpkin Delight. AEngland Princess Sabra. Model's Own Ibiza Mix. All from Ninja Polish.

AEngland She Walks in Beauty. CrowsToes Her Goose Got Cooked. Hare Polish Ocean of Alloys. Nail Pattern Boldness Boop-Oop-A-Dupe. Contrary Polish Santorini. Emily de Molly When Planets Collide. Picture Polish Cosmos. All from llarowe.

Brash Blue Dream and Denim Doll. Finely milled glitter for nail art. Fresh Sugar lippie in Rose. Stila Liquid Luminizer in Kitten Shimmer. Tarte Amazonian Clay eyeliner in Indigo and mascara in Lights, Camera, Lashes.

Phew, major hauling! It was fun, but I think I'm on a 'break' for a bit. My three-drawer Melmer is nearly full, so I need to stop with the buying! On the other hand, my wishlist is nearly complete..... *evil laughter*

More soon!! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Pretty & Polished Cheer Camp

Hello there!

Pretty & Polished Cheer Camp. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I have the lovely Cheer Camp from Pretty & Polished today!

Pretty & Polished Cheer Camp. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Cheer Camp is a delicate and pretty light pink jelly base with shiny pink micro glitter, pink satin hexes and purple satin hexes. Once on the nail, this ends up being a really lovely neutral.

Pretty & Polished Cheer Camp. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with a base of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener, two coats of Suncoat Petal Blush, two coats of Cheer Camp, and one coat of Seche Vite. The formula on this is great, no issues here. Plenty of glitter coverage using a normal application method.

Pretty & Polished Cheer Camp. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: OPI Every Month Is Oktoberfest

Hello!!!

OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is Every Month is Oktoberfest from OPI's fall collection.

OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

This is a wonderful shimmer polish. The base is a deep blue, but it's so packed with red shimmer that the overall color is burgundy.

OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, two coats of Every Month is Oktoberfest, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. Formula is great!

OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

So gorgeous! Deep and vampy with beautiful shimmer. It's elegant, in a dark way. I love this way more that I thought I would.

OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon!! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Pure Ice Love

Hello!

Here's one I thought I had posted way back in February... oops! This is Pure Ice Love.

Pure Ice Love. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Love is a light pink creme with barely a hint of shimmer. This has a very vintage feel to it, in my opinion. Maybe it's the pearl-like shimmer?

Pure Ice Love. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, two coats of Love, and one coat of Seche Vite. Formula on this was pretty good. It's well-pigmented and almost a one-coater. My application was just a bit streaky, so I needed two coats for even coverage.

Pure Ice Love. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Pure Ice polishes can be found at Wal-mart. Not sure if this one is still around, since I've had this forever, but happy hunting -- the displays are always a mess when I go to look! :p

Pure Ice Love. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Colour Opposites

Hello!

Today's prompt is "Colour Opposites", so I chose red-orange and blue-green!

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with a base of Seche Clear, then one coat of Color Club Wildflower and Zoya Robyn. A thin coat of Seche Vite to speed up dry time, then stamped the floral image from Bundle Monster plate BM-12 with Konad Special Polish in white. NYC In a New York Minute sealed everything up and this was good to go! I love how this turned out -- bright and simple!

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: OPI Pirouette My Whistle

Hello!

OPI Pirouette My Whistle. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Here we have a very quick post on OPI Pirouette My Whistle. This is one coat of Pirouette My Whistle, plus one coat of Seche Vite, over Care to Danse? from last week.

OPI Pirouette My Whistle. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Pirouette My Whistle is a clear base filled with silver sparkles and white, translucent satiny hexes. No issues with formula. It flows easily onto the nail and provides perfect coverage in one coat.

OPI Pirouette My Whistle. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is a very delicate addition to any mani. I'm loving the subtlety!

OPI Pirouette My Whistle. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon!! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Water Colour

Hello!

Today's challenge prompt is "Water Colour". This is a new technique for me and my first attempt at it!

Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I started with a base of Pretty & Polished Cheer Camp. I used small dabs of Zoya Robyn, Sinful Colors Let's Talk, and Zoya Shelby then dabbed acetone over that to create this tye-dyed look. Once dry, I topped it with one coat of NYC In a New York Minute.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: OPI Care to Danse?

Hello!

OPI Care to Danse? Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Meet Care to Danse? by OPI.

OPI Care to Danse? Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Care to Danse? is a very sheer, delicate lilac jelly polish. 

OPI Care to Danse?  Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with a base coat of Sinful Colors Nail Hardener. It took four coats to get to the opacity shown here. No topcoat today because this was nice and shiny on it's own (and I was going to use it for nail art. It's the base I started with for this 31 day challenge mani). The formula on this is perfect. Easy application. Nice and squishy finish. Very, very sheer though, but that was expected.

OPI Care to Danse?  Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Candy Lacquer Princess Celestia

Hi!

Candy Lacquer Princess Celestia. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I have the gorgeous, Princess Celestia from Candy Lacquer to introduce to you today.

Candy Lacquer Princess Celestia. Outdoors, natural light (shade), no flash.

Princess Celestia is a complex glitter topper. A clear base suspends holo dust; small iridescent hexes; satiny, pastel hexes in white, pink, blue, and green; large white hexes; diamonds; hearts; squares; and gold holo stars. There's a lot going on in that bottle, so I may have missed something. It's a very pretty combination that looks stellar over the dark blue of Date in the Moonlight.

Candy Lacquer Princess Celestia. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are one dabbed coat over Essence Date in the Moonlight from a few days ago. I used one coat of Gelous and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute to smooth it out. As usual with Candy Lacquer, the formula is good. No issues with suspension or tricky glitters. Everything came out of the bottle readily. I even got a little crazy with the glitter on that middle finger. :)

Candy Lacquer Princess Celestia. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Candy Lacquer can be found right here!!

Candy Lacquer Princess Celestia. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Essence Date in the Moonlight

Hello!

Essence Date in the Moonlight. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

This is Essence Date in the Moonlight.

Essence Date in the Moonlight. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

I picked this up on a whim at Ulta a bit ago. I remember being intrigued by the bright blue shimmer in the deep, denim blue polish.

Essence Date in the Moonlight. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

The shimmer is not that apparent. Had to pull out the flash to get it!

Essence Date in the Moonlight. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today are a base coat of Seche Clear, two coats of Date in the Moonlight, and one coat of NYC In a New York Minute. Terrible brush, as usual, but the formula is okay. Streaky on the first coat, perfect with a second.

Essence Date in the Moonlight. Indoors, artificial light, with flash.

More soon! ^_^

Crumpet's Laid-Back 31DC: Stamping

Hello!!

Today's prompt is "Stamping"! Yay! As a personal goal, I am trying to incorporate as much stamping into this challenge as I can. I hope this will help me get better at it, so for today's mani, I went all out and used a three-layer stamped design.

Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

I started with a base of Seche Clear, and two coats of China Glaze Fast Track. Once dry, I used Zoya Cheryl to stamp the background image from Bundle Monster plate, BM-314. After that, I used China Glaze Agro to stamp the leafy fern design from BM-03. Finally, I used Konad Special Polish in black to stamp the cute owl from BM-309. I sealed it all with one coat of NYC In a New York Minute.

Indoors, natural light, no flash.

The only trouble I had with my stamping today was the owl design. I had first tried to stamp with Color Club Wildflower, which usually works for me, but that was a no go. I even tried it out on paper first and it worked, so curvy nails caused fail? In the end, I was able to stamp over the failed image with another color and loved this look.

More soon!! ^_^

Stash Swatch Initiative: Candy Lacquer Fluttershy

Hello!!

Candy Lacquer Fluttershy. Indoors, artificial light,  no flash.

Another favorite of mine! This is Fluttershy by Candy Lacquer!!

Candy Lacquer Fluttershy. Outdoors, sunlight, no flash.

Fluttershy is predominately satin yellow hexes -- two sizes, normal and tiny! There are also satin pink hexes and matte pink hexes. A smattering of pink holographic butterflies live in there too! Cute and whimsical! I love it, especially how it is so reminiscent of an aerial view of a field of flowers! Perfection in a bottle!

Candy Lacquer Fluttershy. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

Swatches today show one dabbed coat of Fluttershy over last week's Cult Nails Let Me Fly, plus one coat of Gelous followed by one coat of Seche Vite. The formula is good. The butterflies are sparse, which I think really works. I didn't have to fish them out, but I was watching for them and placed them purposefully on certain nails for an overall, balanced look.

Candy Lacquer Fluttershy. Indoors, artificial  light, no flash.

Candy Lacquer can be found right here! Happy shopping!

Candy Lacquer Fluttershy. Indoors, artificial light, no flash.

More soon! ^_^