Nail Art & Holos

Hi guys!

This week I'm rather busy & so far didn't have any time to take photos of my make up, clothes or something else.

That's why I decided to post a few manicure pics I did in the last months. 

Enjoy :-)

Sponge mani using MAC "Light Affair" as a base, topped with one layer of Kiko #298. FingerPaints "Art Dealer Teal-er", Barielle "Berry Blue" & China Glaze "Fairy Dust" for the design.

Another sponge nail at using Sally Hansen Insta-dri "Rose Rush" as a base & China Glaze "Grape Pop" for the sponging.

OPI "Day at the Peach" 

OPI "What's Dune"

OPI "My Private Jet" (holo version!)

Mille Feuille nail art with China Glaze "Grape Pop" as base & Illamasqua "Load" for the design.

Sephora by OPI "Read my Palm" as a base, Maybelline "Coral Cabana", China Glaze "Grape Pop" & CND "Silver Chrome" for the dots.

OPI "Grape Fit" & CND "Asphalt" for the base. Essence tip painter in "Heavy Black" & "So Funky", L.A.Colors art deco nail art lacquer in "Vibrant" & "Purple/Blue Glitter" for the nail art, OPI "Dim Sum Plum" for the dots.

Mille Feuille nail art with Zoya "Kelly" as a base & Illamasqua "Load" for the design.

Peacocky Look & Matching Mani

The weather gods must have heard me, today there was enough sun to take some photos *yay*

eyes: (from inside to outside) MAC "Waternymph", "Parrot", "Marvel", "Contrast". "Rapidblack" Penultimate Eye Liner to line.

cheeks: Chanel "Espiègle", NARS "Albatross" as highlighter

lips: Peacocky Kissable Lip Color

For this nail art I used Orly "Bailamos" as base, then drew random swirls with L.A.Colors Art Deco nail art painter in "Vibrant" & Barielle "Berry Blue".

Dark, But Not Black!

I'm always on the hunt for dark polishes that don't look black & at the moment I've a little weakness for dark blues with an extra oomph.

Sephora by OPI "Go My Own Way" (from their Fall 2010 collection) fits perfectly into this category:

It falls somewhere between dark blue & dark teal & has a dusty quality to it. There are also blue shimmer particles, but they only show up at certain angles.
The polish has an almost metallic finish, but is surprisingly unstreaky *yay*! There's nothing worse than a streaky metallic finish, right?
I did 2 coats to achieve complete opacity. Drying time was a little longer than usual (even with Seche Vite), but after about 20 minutes the polish had dried completely.


Barielle "Blackened Bleu" (from the All Lacquered Up Fall 2009 collection) is another beautiful polish that fits into the same category:

It has a black base with tons of teal microglitter that really show up on the nail. It's uber-sparkly & even though the base color is rather sheer, it takes only 2 coats to get opaque. Gotta love it :-)

Two Layering Combinations

Today I'd like to show you two layering combinations that I'm especially fond of at the moment.

The first one is Barielle "Elle's Spell" (a red jelly with multicolored flakies) from their 2010 "Holiday Hustle" collection over OPI "Lincoln Park After Dark" (a blackened eggplant creme):

I did two coats of OPI LPAD & then layered one coat of Elle's Spell over it. In the bottle Elle's Spell looks as if it had mainly red flakies & small glitter particles, but on the nail they really come alive & show their whole glory. The flakies aren't only red, but also yellow/gold & I think I can also detect a hint of greenish shimmer.
You can also wear Elle's Spell alone, it takes 3 coats to get it completely opaque. It's equally stunning on it's own & I really hope Barielle will bring out more colors like that!


The second layering combo that I have for you is Lippmann Collection "Ruby Red Slippers" (a black jelly with small & large red hexagonal glitter) over Illamasqua "Boosh" (a black creme):

 

You only need one coat of Boosh to get an opaque black base. Boosh might be my favourite black polish ever. Wet'n'Wild "Black Creme" would be a much cheaper alternative, but it's not that easy to find over here. 
Then I layered 2 coats of Lippmann's Ruby Red Slippers over it. The result is really sparkly, but also quite elegant IMO.
Of course you can also wear Ruby Red Slippers alone. As with Elle's Spell it takes 3 coats to get opacity.