Don't know if I am going to get all four black and white themes for The Nail Challenge Collaborative posted before the end of the month, but I will get them done! Today's is, once again, fashion inspired.
Here is the inspiration.
A Billie and Blossom animal print tunic. I found it HERE.
This is one of those manis that looks much, MUCH better from a distance.
I stamped with SH213 and added splotches of white on top.
Wish I would have had the pic of the dress in front of me when I was executing. If I had, I would have added a black french tip. Hindsight is 20/20, right?
I am way behind in everything, and that includes The Nail Challenge Collaborative. I considered not participating this month, but the theme is black and white and I love this prompt. It means that it is all about the design and I love that! I decided that I was going to go for fashion inspiration.
Here is the mani, shall we see the inspiration?
This is an Izabel London Panel dress. It can be found HERE. I really liked the color block look, and since I have never really done a color block...ever...I decided to go for it.
I started with two coats of Finger Paints Black Expressionism, my all time favorite black. I then used stripping tape horizontally 1/3 of the way down the nail and painters tape to block off 2/3 way vertically.
I then stamped over the whole nail with BM-306 and Konad Special White.
After stamping, I peeled of the tape, which left the black "negative" space.
Once again, the mood stone says it all. See you again soon!
Back again! Today's prompt for The Never Ending Pile Challenge is brown. I had several to choose from since I love brown polish.....I think I say that about almost every color, right? This is going to very pic heavy since I ended up loving the look almost as much as the polish I chose!
So purdy! But is it a brown? Let's look closer.
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This is three coats of Jindie Nails Clyde, one of a two polish Bonnie and Clyde collection. It was fully opaque at two coats, but you know me, it is all about the depth when it comes to flakies and glitter, so I threw another coat on for good measure. Technically, this is not a brown, it is a black jellie filled with lots of gorgeous flakies and shimmer, which give it a brown tinge.
Look at those flakies! I love me some flakies! There are bronze gold and copper flakies, plus pink glitter. The pink was shy for the camera, but you cans just barely see them on my index in the flash bottle pic above. This polish takes my breath away!
Next I stamped with GALS GA44 and Revlon Star Attraction, an antique copper magnetic polish.
What it ended up doing was making it look like the design was etched, even with top coat.
I loved the etched effect, even though it wasn't what I had in mind. I did some test stamping and had a polish that was copper colored....don't remember now what it was....but must have confused which polish was which and ended up with this instead. Happy mistake!
I am posting a lot more flash pics than I usually do because it really shows off the flakies. Get ready for the pic spam!
Yep, the stone tells the whole story. Thanks for visiting and commenting!
"Black?" you say. Yep, blacks. How can you have five top blacks from 2013? Well, I was devloping my collection over the last year. And I love wearing black polish. And the whole texture thing exploded this year, so you know I had to have some different finishes. If you love black nail polish, like me, you are going to want these in your collection!
Just a reminder. I
always paint to opacity and then add one more coat for the macro pics.
In other words, when it says I used 3 coats, you can usually achieve "in real
life opacity" at 2 coats. In no particular order:
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Julep Cleopatra - 3 coats
I fell head over tips with Cleopatra when I received it in my October Maven Box. I gushed about it in my original post and you can check that along with some nail art HERE. Let's just say that this rubbery finish channels my inner Irene Adler. "I would have you, right here on this desk, until you begged for mercy....twice."
Digital Nails Pandorica - Index and middle 2 coats over black - Ring 3 coats over black - Pinkie 4 coats no undies
What is a fave black list without a holo? Incomplete, that is what it is! I have a couple few black holos in my stash, but this is my favorite! It is from The Ladies Of Who collection, which also includes one of my all time favorite polishes, Run You Clever Boy, which you can find as my #1 brown of 2013 HERE. Pandorica actually represents Rory, the only long running male companion in the new series. The thing that makes this different from my other blacks is that the holo particles are suspended in a black GELLIE base, which leads to more depth. It also means that it is sheer and requires layering. My favorite combo is my ring finger, 3 coats over black. This may seem like overkill to some, but the depth achieved with this layering is phenomenal! You know what is coming next!
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Essie Belugaria - 2 coats
Another Essie Texture! This one caused a bit of a stir in the polish community. Most people did not like it. "Hard to apply." they said. "Too lumpy." was another comment. Yep, it is lumpy...lumpier than any texture I own...but I LIKE it that way. Feels (and kinda looks) like I have lava rock on my tips. As far as application, I used a light hand and had no issues at all. Kuddos to Essie for their willingness to take a chance and come out with something totally unique!
NOPI Totally In the Dark - 2 coats
There were a lot of black polishes with silver glitter this year, but this one stood out for me. The glitters are really micro flakies, which give a much more subtle silver flash. So purdy! You can see nail art with this HERE.
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Nails Inc Noho - 2 coats
My # 1 black of 2013! I love this shiny textured finish from Nails Inc's Leather line. I am not going to tell you how much...I'm just gonna give you the links and I think you will get the idea. Nail Art HERE, HERE, HERE AND HERE. Oh, and a guest post HERE. Do I need to say more? I think not!
Your turn! Do you like black on your tips. Do you think I went over board with the blacks this year? Which is your favorite? Thanks for looking!
Tina
Can you believe there are only two more weeks left in the 33 Day Challenge? I am sure there will be another one (or two) I will join in for December, but in the meantime, I am enjoying this part, the part where the end is in sight, I have almost all of the others done, and just need to show you, my lovely readers! The theme for today is lines, so I decided to go with simple race stripes. Very simple, but I am so in <3 with it (as you can tell by my mood rock :)!
This just makes me want to strap on some leather and hop on a Harley, or at least the hubby. Wait, did I just say that out loud?
This started with Julep Karmen, a red packed full of gold glitter. So purdy!
Next I added some stripping tape and covered with Nails Inc Noho, my favorite black texture (so far, I am waiting for OPI to come out with a liquid sand with gold holo glitter. Hear that OPI?)
After peeling off the tape, I had this stunning mani that makes me think of muscle cars and motorcycles. What do you think of? Give me a shout out to let me know! Now on to the other stripes.
There is snow on the ground here in Minnesota, so it's official, winter is here. How did that happen? It seems to have snuck up on me this year. October flew by and Christmas will be here before I know it. I have so much to do today, but all I really want to do is snuggle up in my big bed entombed in blankets and sleep the afternoon away. But, you, my lovely readers, come first and then....maybe....a little nap. Hell, vacuuming can wait!
Today's prompt for the CNT 33DC is "Pattern in your wardrobe". I knew what I wanted to do, and then my Oct Julep Maven box came with the pulchritudinous Cleopatra tucked inside. Yeah baby, look that word up! Urban Dictionary says, "When someone uses this word a shooting star falls from the sky, a phoenix is reborn and an unicorn mates." Needless to say, plans changed, as they so often do.
This simple little lovely was inspired by a top that I love to wear. Not only is it comfortable, but also flattering and I always get complements when I wear it.
Yes, when I swatched Julep Cleopatra, I immediately wanted to use it for a challenge mani, so I looked through the prompts and decided what it would work best for.
Occasionally I run across a polish that actually makes me have certain feels when I wear it. Cleopatra is one of those. Somehow I am more bold and self-assured with her. Here she is in her unadulterated glory. This is three coats of Julep Cleopatra, although two would have been plenty, I just wanted that smooth rubbery finish to stand out. Isn't she beautiful? I never would have guessed that I would be so head over tips in love with such a simple polish. No depth, no shimmer, no complications, just a striking rubber looking finish. I felt like I was wearing latex on my tips. I suppose she speaks to my inner dominatrix.
Here is the drawback to Cleopatra, she is a fickle mistress. This is three days wear. Her rubbery finish has started to shine and deteriorate. You can even see some cracking where my rocky mountain nail ridge is on my middle finger. If I were one of those people who wears a polish as long as possible, this would be a drawback, but luckily I am not :). I think the wear on this is partly because of a lack of top coat and you can see that this is not chipping, just "erosion". I am really rough on my nail tips since I type all day and often use them to do things I shouldn't, like pushing phone numbers. I think if you wanted to wear this longer, another thin coat half way through the week would cover all sins, like a good dominatrix should, and extend your wear a few more days. I love her anyways and feel she is worth the extra care. Alright, enough crushin, lets get on to the art.
I really love the combo of white and brown in this pattern, so I double stamped with Konad White, Milani Teddy Bear and Konad M5 (my very first stamping plate, by the way). I had to experiment on my polish pebbles to find a brown that would show up well on the black without the help of a top coat. I wish I could have found one that leaned a bit more yellow, but I still think it turned out pretty good.
Here is an idea of the full pattern on the fabric. What do you think? Do you like Cleopatra? Is she worth the short wear time? Let me know your feels :)
As always, thanks for looking, pinning and commenting!
Tina
