Sunday 31 March 2013

Set fire to the fingers

Hey guys!

Today I have for you the glory and, for some, lemming that is Max Factor's Fantasy Fire!
If you're unaware of FF, it's a multichrome purple shimmer jelly that, like all multichromes, has a glorious range of colour shift which changes depending on the undies you wear it with.

Here I decided to try it over Revlon 'Bubble' as everyone knows what it looks like over a navy or royal blue (like Revlon 'Royal').
For this mani I used one coat of 'Bubble' and 3 very thin coats of FF.
Direct, diffused (cloudy) natural light
I love the effect of FF over this hot pink, I think it makes for a nice punchy, girly mani.

Indirect, diffused, natural light
Artificial light
In these three pics, you can really see the bright fiery orange, from whence comes FF's name I would imagine.
In the next two, you can see some of the gorgeous green, almost turquoise, shift.

Indirect, diffused, natural light
Indirect, diffused, natural light
What do you think of Max Factor's Fantasy Fire? Is it a lemming of yours, or just a bit overrated?

Thanks for stopping by!
xNai

Wednesday 27 March 2013

The bread of our affliction

Hey guys!

So from Monday night until next Tuesday night it's Passover, the Jewish festival celebrating our exodus from Egypt among many other significant things.
One of the main signifiers of the festival is Matzah - unleavened bread - that the Jews made in their rush to leave Egypt. Now, many millennia later, we must still suffer through this wonderful experience.

I decided, thanks to Jenny over at 10 Blank Canvases and her excellent tutorial, to do matzah nails this year, instead of the 10 plagues I did last year, and these are them!


Mine are not quite as delicate as Jenny's, as I didn't have the right colours, or enough time really - had to get cooking for the feasts!



And here is me actually holding some matzah for a comparison. I couldn't find a piece of Yehudah matzah at the time, which is more colour accurate to these nails, but hey, you get the idea!

Anywho, wishing you all a chag kasher ve sameach!
xNai

Friday 22 March 2013

Pastel Chagall

Hello...I've been expecting you...*strokes pure white cat with creepy look on face* (yeah, alright, so I'm weird...what were you expecting?)
ANYway...

This mani was inspired by the brand new (at the time) pastel collection put out by Face of Australia. It came at a 'FINALLY' kind of moment for me, because I had been scouring shops for pastels since about August, waiting for spring/summer because thats when all the pretty bright colours are released.
Everyone was raving about this collection, and I can see why. Have a look for yourselves:


These polishes are pastels, but so bright and punchy in their colour - just perfect for summer/spring!


I only have 5 of the 7 in the range, as the others (a dusty lavender/grey and a pretty pink) didn't really appeal to me.

Application for most of the colours was just amazing, considering their pastel nature. The purple, yellow and orange applied nicely to full opacity in 2 coats. The blue took three thin coats, but was easy to apply, whereas the green took 3 as well, but was a bit more temperamental - patchy at times. I've since been using Revlon 'Jaded' instead - almost a dupe in colour, and much nicer application.

What I used:
ulta3 'lily white'
Face of Australia 'boys 'n' berries' (purple), 'once in a blue moon' (blue), 'after dinner mint' (green), 'easy peasy lemon squeezy' (yellow), 'would you like some orange sherbet?' (orange)

While the names are adorbs, espesh the yellow and orange, they're a pita* to write or even talk about!

As always, thanks for stopping by!
xNai


*pain in the ass

Tuesday 19 March 2013

French is overrated...

Hello again my darlings!

Today I have a quick and dirty mani for you.
I did this one Saturday morning when I was in a bit of a rush to go out, and had naked nails.
Since I started this whole adventure into nail art, I've become known for it among my friends and peers, and I knew I couldn't go out with nothing on my nails, even if it was as simple as these.

I decided to go for a sort of French mani with this nude and blue gradient, which didn't work as nicely as hoped (note the ring and middle fingers).
This picture also alerted me to my terrible habit of not filing my ring finger to the same shape as all the others! What the?!


Then I gave up on that time consumingness, and just did an actual french tip on the other hand.
I didn't want the blue to actually be the size of my free edge, as I thought that might end up being too much, so I just did a very thin tip, as you can see.


Clearly my frenching skills are in dire need of some improvement! eek!

What I used:
essence 'nude it!'
ulta3 'blue bird'

Anywho,
Thanks for stopping by, you gorgeous thangs you!
xNai

Saturday 16 March 2013

Ziggy's Gift

Hey guys!
Today I've got some chevrons and gradients for you, on Danya's nails. Maybe one day you'll even get to see these girls' faces! 
All the rage at the moment, and so I decided to give it a bash, and put my own twist to it.


These are really bright in real life, with the blues positively popping off the nails.
I used more colours in the chevrons than in the ombré, to get the same fading effect. In future, I would probably use a different colour than 'Fly' for the second to last row, as it's a bit too green.


What I used:
(In order from darkest to lightest)
mode 'tatt-tastic'
essence 'walk on air'
Sinful Colors 'why not'
OPI 'Fly'
China Glaze 'For Audrey'
essence 'you belong to me'

As always, thanks for stopping by!
xNai

Wednesday 13 March 2013

Fly away Peter, fly away Paul.

Hey guys!

Today I have for you the glorious Cotinga by Gloss 'n Sparkle (which I named, for the stunning turquoise cotinga bird).
Cotinga inspired this splotchy laser stripes mani, and it came out beautifully. 




Unfortunately I can't remember the polishes used for the splotches, but I can tell you that that gorgeous accent glitter is Cotinga, and let me tell you, it looks just as spectacular on light blues, purples, and even silvers as it does on black.
This is two very light coats of Cotinga, with no dabbing or placement required. Truly a delight to use!

As always, thanks for stopping by!
xNai

Saturday 9 March 2013

The Forest of Tribes

Well hello there!
Today I have some fantastic green gradient, and fun tribal on top.

Let's start with the gradient itself

Green Gradient
For this, I used Essie 'Mojito Madness' and 'Navigate Her'. These look beautiful together.

Then, using Revlon 'Emerald' I drew some fine tribal detailing on the top, and after a day or two, I mattified them using Rimmel mattifying top coat.
Gloss Green Tribal Left
Gloss Green Tribal Right
Mattified Green Tribal

There's a tute for this design as well if you'd like to see it. It's a fairly straightforward design, but let me know in the comments if you'd like the step by step instructions.

Thanks for stopping by,
xNai

Wednesday 6 March 2013

With ya head in the clouds

Hey guys!

Today we have some simple clouds.
I had just received OPI 'Fly' and wanted to try it out. I love this blue, and think it works nicely with my skin tone, but didn't want to leave it too plain, and here we are!


The green at the tips is actually a glow in the dark polish, which sadly I couldn't get a decent image of, but had a lot of fun with in bed :)


What I used:
OPI 'Fly', and 'Zom-Body to Love' from the 2011 Halloween collex
An unnamed L.A. Colors green

Thanks for stopping by!
xNai


Sunday 3 March 2013

Chunks of blacky goodness

Hey, you! Yes you. Right there...reading this! How are you?

Today I have a fairly pic heavy post, showing off a lemming of mine that was finally crushed a little while back.
I am, of course, talking about Kleancolor's 'Chunky Holo Black'.
And oh my, did it live up to my hopes and expectations.

Anyway, on with the show!

Indirect light with an AWESOME backdrop.
NAME IT.
Look at the range of colours in this glitter. All the way from a dark cherry red through orange, yellow, bright greens, and on some angles, into a deep blue.
In the shade


Mattified, in shade

Mattified in artificial light.

All I can say about this polish, is how happy I was to finally be wearing it. You all know how strange it is for me to be wearing one solid colour, let alone a glitter, and I wore this one for nearly a week!

Thanks for stopping by,
xNai