That girl is on fire

Hello again!
So apparently I'm like the worst blogger known to mankind, what with all my unscheduled leaves of absence - life kind of takes over periodically, and my scheduled posts only last so long!
My apologies, dear readers.

Anywho!

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

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

Argyle Dotticure

Hey guys!

As promised, here's the argyle dotticure tute. It's actually really very simple, and you can take this basic design and turn it into many different styles.

 What you'll need:

Two contrasting colours. Here I have Revlon 'Rock' and China Glaze 'For Audrey'.

Two different sized dotting tools

Paint your base coat and colour.

Using your large dotting tool, and place a column of dots down the centre of the nail.

On either side of the first column, place more dots, staggered from the first, as shown.

Using the smallest dotting tool, connect the large dots diagonally on one side, making sure to continue the little dots all the way to the edges of the nail.

Continue joining the large dots, and when done, top coat to seal in your design, and enjoy your super simple dotticure!

You can try matte top coats, glitter, and a myriad of other options!

Let me know how this goes for you, if you try it out.

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

I'm nekkid!

Hello darling hearts!

Today we have some nude and neons.

I had been seeing the nude and neon combo a lot recently, as it has been summer in the northern hemisphere (thank god we're finally there ourselves - I hate winter. HATE), and this is a nice subtle way to do the neon trend.

And yes, I'm aware that wasn't the right shade of nude for my winter fingers, but I bought it cos I know when I'm tanned, that should be about spot on. In the mean time, I could dream...:)

Then for a competition, I decided to add on some glitter, like so:

I had to fish through multiple coloured glitters, just to find the necessary colours, and let me tell you, the blue and the pink? NOT an easy task!!

What I used:

essence 'nude it!', 'wake up!' 'let's get lost'

Revlon 'Bubble'

Sally Hansen 'Mellow Yellow'

China Glaze 'Electric Pineapple'

And for the glitters:

Blue - Milani Jewel FX 'Teal'

Gold - essence 'make it golden'

Orange and Green  - Lush Lacquer 'dipping dots' (buy it and others here. Do it. Trust me.)

Pink - Wet n Wild 'Party of Five Glitters'

For all the glitters I used the glitter placement technique - paint it onto some foil, then use a toothpick to pull the indiv glitters out. Then I tried to put as much back in the bottle as possible, as I didn't want to waste too much.

Thanks for stopping by!

xNai

Locks, knocks and dots.

Hello again, fancy meeting you here!

Today I have for you some interlocking dots.

I had been wanting to try out this technique for flipping ages, since I saw it originally a while ago, but just couldn't work it out! Then I came across @slacquerr's tutorial on IG, and it ALL MADE SENSE!!

Here is my version

You can't really see the distinction between the pink and orange on the middle finger, which is a shame, but oh well, you get the idea!

What I used:

essence 'let's get lost!', 'passion for fashion', 'wake up!'

Revlon 'Bubble'

Sally Hanson 'Mellow Yellow'

Thanks for stopping by!

xNai

She's a brick...

Well hello there!

Today is the 29th, and that means graveyard nails, and a fairly pic heavy post.

I decided to give you step by step images of what happened to my nails for this challenge!

Blue Gradient

I started with a blues gradient for this mani, and I used 5, count 'em, FIVE blues to achieve this look.
I also didn't use top coat yet, as obviously, this is only step one!
The blues are (lightest to darkest): ulta3 'bluebird', 'blue heaven', Sinful Colors 'why not', essence 'Walk on Air', and ulta3 'midnight fever'
Also, this is probably the fakest my nails have ever looked to me. So strange - they look like stick on nails, eh?

Blues Gradient

This is me trying out a new hand angle. Thoughts?

Then, because I loved the gradient so much, I did it on both hands, and on my right hand, I chucked a bunch of different top coats, to see how it would look.

L-R we have Seche Vite, a Spectra Flair top coat from Gloss 'n Sparkle's Etsy store, my Rimmel Matte top coat, and two essences - 'glitter top coat', and 'space queen'.

Slightly blurred to show the holo, and the glitter sparkles.

For step two, I did a bit of a watermarble. I used ulta3 'lily white' and Revlon 'just tinted top coat', to create the alternating marble, so the blues would show through.

Any clues yet as to my design?

I had real trouble finding the right polishes to achieve the alternation in the marble. Obviously I couldn't use a fast drying top coat, and the Just Tinted spread so nicely on its own, but was a pain in the backside when it came to spreading in the white. Oh well, managed it eventually!

Tada! Completed graveyard mani!
I decided I wanted to do something a little bit out of the ordinary for this, not your typical skull and crossbones, cemetery at midnight mani, which I know I could never do justice to anyway, so I was thinking laterally, and came up with this: a watery death/grave!

The idea is someone's drowning, and that's their hand sticking up out of the waves, calling for help that will never come...Macabre, right? :)

For the hand I used 2 essence nudes, 'nude it!' and 'toffee to go', and painted it onto a plastic ziplock bag first, allowed it to dry for a couple hours, then stuck it straight onto my nail like a decal! Applied some topcoat, and was good to go!

I am really SO happy with this mani, thought it looked magnificent from beginning to end.
What do you guys reckon? Too morbid, or just right?

As always, thanks for stopping by!
xNai


ps: Points if you can recognise the reference in the title...;)
                                                     

The best wiz and witchard o' their age!

Hello there lovelies!

So, as I have previously mentioned, I'm just a little bit of a PotterHead...Just a touch of the mania..:)

So for today's nails, as it is the 26th of October, and the day for witches in the This Is Halloween Challenge, I decided to recreate one of my very favourite Potter manis: The Final Battle.

The Final Battle

These nails depict the last and intense battle between Voldemort (that's right, I'm a badass. Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself...) and Harry. It's a movie reference rather than a book reference, because I don't believe this is what JK would have been picturing, and nor is it what I picture...ANYWAY.

I first saw these nails on @trincess on Instagram, and instantly fell in love with them. OMFG, they're glorious!

Granted mine aren't quite as insanely cool, but I think I did a decent job considering I'm not actually an artist...:)

On the thumb I did the Deathly Hallows:

Deathly Hallows

And on the other hand, I did the house colours and stylised crest again. This is the first halloween mani I've done for both hands, and how could I not? It's Harry!

House Colours and Crest

What I used (prepare for a long list...):

For the Final Battle:

essence 'black is back', 'LIME UP!', 'fateful desire', and 'fame fatal'.

ulta3 'frog prince', 'banana split', 'lemon', and 'mango mayhem'.

For the Deathly Hallows and Right Hand:

essence 'black is back', 'fame fatal'

ulta3 'banana split'

Revlon 'Metallic', 'Emerald', 'Royal'.

Chi Chi 'Glamourama', and 'Bronze Ambition'

Anywho, I hope you enjoy these as much as I genuinely did making them!
As always, thanks for stopping by!
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

Spots and Dots

Allo poppets! (I am rapidly running out of ways to greet you, the unknown, and at this point, vacuous internets...)

We've got here some pretty pastel inverse dots. I went hunting at the beginning of winter for pastels, which are hard to come by, let me tell you, and this is what I found!

This look was achieved by painting the base colour, and then, using a medium sized dotting tool, placing a few randomly onto the nail. After that, I used a smaller tool, and filled in the gaps. Once the larger dots were mostly dry, I used the small tool, dipped in the original colour to create those 'holey' spots.

Colours used:

Revlon 'Jaded' and 'Gum Drop'

Sadly, both of these polishes are jellies, which I didn't know at the time, and required 3-4 coats for opacity. Such gorgeous colours though, and the purple's scented!

Have a good one!

xNai