Pastel Squared

Hey guys!

I swear I'm going to run out of names for these tribal inspired posts...please comment any suggestions - all are welcome ;)

Anywho, these are the nails I wore on the first part of my summer holiday. I used a peel of base coat so I wouldn't need to lug acetone as well as other stuff in my suitcase. It lasted a surprisingly long time, considering it's made to come of easily...

These were done using my Face of Australia pastels again, and I love the way they looked. Clean and simple.

What I used:

Aside from the FoA pastels, I used

ulta3 'blue heaven', 'eighties fuchsia', 'banana split', 'lily white'

essence 'wake up!', 'viva la green', 'black is back'

Thanks for dropping in!

xNai

Aztec Love

Hey guys.

Today I have for you another foray into the Face of Australia pastels I bought a while back. This time I wanted them to be a little bit more punchy, and so did this tribal design with them.

It's quite simple, but really a striking look. What do you think? Something you'd recreate?

What I used:

ulta3 'lily white'

essence 'black is back'

Face of Australia 'boys 'n' berries', 'after dinner mint' and 'easy peasy lemon squeezy'

Thanks for dropping in,

xNai

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

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

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

Too hot for a sweater

Well hello there!

Today I have an argyle dotticure for you in both matte and gloss.

Argyle Dotticure - Gloss

Argyle Dotticure - Matte

What I used:

China Glaze 'For Audrey'

Revlon 'Rock' and 'Fierce'

Rimmel's Mattifying Top Coat

I'll be posting a tutorial for this mani soon, so keep your eyes peeled like an emperor's grape.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

xNai

Passionfruit fields forever

Hello again!

Today I have for you my first attempt at watermarbling. 

Now don't laugh at this first picture, I was trying different combinations of colours, to see which ones might spread well enough to let me create designs.

I started from the thumb, and landed on a decent combination on the pinky.

I then proceeded to marble my left hand, and this is what it looks like!

This is Revlon 'Cotton Candy' and 'Passionfruit'
You can see on the index finger, that the flower is a little smudged.
I'm pretty sure it happened because I didn't clean the top of the water properly before pulling my finger out, and got some of the wet polish on the design.
Such a shame!

Very proud of these babies, they were my first successful watermarble!

Thanks for stopping by,
xNai

Double Dutch

Hello again DarlingHearts.

Today we have some more ombré, but with a twist!

I was inspired to do these by a graphic design @mpnails posted on Instagram (note: don't open the link if feet creep you out..), and just had to work it out.

To achieve this look, I did the background gradient first, and once that was completely dry with the aid of a top coat, I taped off the triangles, and did that gradient.

Love the way these look, and how completely vibrant they are! I chose contrasting colours to really add an element of oomph.

What I used:

Revlon 'Rock' and 'Siren'

Essence 'A Lovely Secret' and 'Raspberry Swirl'

Thanks for stopping by!

xNai

Crown Jewels

Hello again darling hearts!

Today I have for you some BYS Colour Change polish and glitter placement in a Nailside inspired design.

The purple used here is BYS 'Bright Purple (N288)'. This is a colour change polish that when cold is this first deep shimmery purple, and when warm, turns into a bright fuchsia.

This next image shows what each colour is like - I dipped my index and ring fingers in cold water, and then tried to get a pic of them all showing the diff colours.

I think I managed okay!

The base of this design is Revlon 'Cotton Candy', and for the triangles in the centre I used a base of Revlon 'Metallic' and NOPI 'Make U Smile' for the glitter placement. I used Metallic as a base, because I knew that the glitter placement would never cover ever corner, and I wanted the silver to really make an impact!

As always, thanks for stopping by!
Hope the new year is treating you well, and your resolutions are still standing. I know I don't even bother anymore - my commitment to the cause is pathetic! ;)
xNai

Poiple and Owange

Hello there lovelies!
So today marks the second of our 'This is Halloween' challenges -  the dreaded watermarble!

I'm not gonna lie to you, I kinda intentionally went into this one with like zero inspiration, and the only thoughts to cross my mind were 'please don't mess up, please don't mess up, please don't mess up...WHY WON'T YOU SPREAD?!'
Thus, you get simple, and still themed, sorta, watermarble!

Orange and purple watermarble

For this watermarble, I used revlon polishes, Siren and Rock, because I figured they're thin enough to spread.
I had wanted to add in some black and green, but none of my blacks at the time were spreading, and the green was just dropping to the bottom of the cup. Sad face.
Still, these colours look wicked together.

In more direct light

You can see that I've dipped two fingers in at a time, as the flowers sort of meet between my fingers!

Then I decided to mattify it using my Rimmel Matte Finish top coat.

Mattified Marble

I like the way it sort of sharpened the edges of the marble. It might have something to do with the fact that without the glare from the glossy finish, you can really see the design. The actual colours don't look quite as rich though. You win some, you lose some!

And that's that for day to of the 'This is Halloween' challenge!
Go have a look at some of the other challengers, there are some stunning, and really inspired manis around here!

Thanks for stopping by,
xNai

                                                   

Purple Lightning

I have for you some prettiful colours, and awesome (in theory) patterns.

We've got some purple sponged ombré action happening, with a lightning bolt accent finger.

Sadly the dark purple (Revlon Rock) didn't take too well to being part of an ombré, so it looks a little patchy.

For the lightning bolt I used Nailside's tutorial, although not too well, I must admit.

This second pic is just an attempt to show you the beautiful holo effect spectraflair I used for the lightning bolt.

What I used:

Revlon 'Rock', 'Gum Drop' and 'Metallic'

Spectraflair top coat from Angela over at Gloss 'n' Sparkle

See you soon!

xNai