GOT Polish Challenge: Brown

Hello everyone!

This is the last day of the GOT challenge this year, so I'm a little sad that I didn't do all the themes, and use those oldies... I had no problem finding old brown nail polish in my collection, Today I wanted to use my vintage Guerlain N°3 Brun (click to see my blog post about it), which is my darkest brown.

I stamped with Color Club: Miss Bliss (click to see my blog post about it), a pink linear holographic polish, and two stamping plates from MoYou London; Sailor Collection 03 and 07 (XL). I used one pattern from 03 on 3 fingers, and a similar pattern (from 07) that nearly looked reversed on the thumb and ring finger.

After I applied Seche Vite, it looked like the brown polish turned the holographic pattern into a darker pink, and I think it looked better that way. It also dulled the holo a little, but without top coat it wouldn't have lasted long.

I've been thinking a lot lately about which challenges to choose now that this one is over. There are two interesting ones, and in addition there are new challenges each week in the groups I'm participating in on facebook and G+, and I have a lot of nail art ideas. But probably I won't be able to publish blog posts every week, so I'm a little sad that I probably can't participate.


Will you be participating in any nail art challenges this autumn?

More brown nail art below! :-)


Lani

An InLinkz Link-up

Old bottles of polish: Guerlain N°3 Brun

Hello everyone!

Guerlain N°3 Brun is one of my oldest bottles of nail polish. You might remember it from my vintage collection post. This is a dark brown creme polish with a subtle shimmer. You can see it on the photos that are taken in the sun. I hadn't used it for years, and the bottle seemed empty. But after adding thinner, the polish behaved like a one coater. So I added more, and then I noticed the shimmer! :-) I'm wearing 2 coats+ Seche Vite. The photos of the thumb were taken before top coat. Look how shiny it is! I don't know if this polish is a teenager or a young adult. Please let me know if you remember/ know.


I'll start with swatches, and then you can take a closer look at the bottle. (I'm sorry about my nail shape. It's because three nails on this hand are broken.)

Now I never wear brown polish. But a long time ago I used brown a lot. And it felt very strange when I was going to paint my nails, but now I like it again.

The bottle:

There's no text on the other side.

Sadly Guerlain is on the list of brands that are tested on animals, so I don't recommend buying from them. I just wanted to show you my vintage nail polish. And I wanted to show it before you see the nail art I made for the GOT Polish Challenge.


What do you think about this polish? Do you like brown nail polish or do you hate it?


♥ If you know anything about Guerlain N°3 Brun, please let me know! ♥


Lani

Penguin nails - freehand nailart - inspired by Stefan Christmann photos

Hello everyone!

Matte version

This was supposed to be shared on Penguin Day (April 25th), but I really struggled making penguin nail art, until I finally made something worth sharing. This is the second design attempt, and it took forever to paint.

I started with a white creme nail polish; IsaDora #603 Tip White. To paint the penguins I used acrylic craft paint and a detail brush. Although the grown up Emperor Penguins have a little yellow on them, I chose black and white only to make them easier to paint. 4 photos are with Seche Vite top coat, and 3 photos are with Gosh Matte top coat.

Matte version

I was inspired by amazing penguin photos taken by Stefan Christmann while he lived in Antarctica. You can see his work on his site: NATURE IN FOCUS or on facebook: Stefan Christmann Photography.

Like last time, I made two types of penguins, Emperor Penguins & Adélie Penguins. Every year around this time, penguins start their northward migration to escape the cold. Only the Emperors stay on the south pole during the coldest "summer" months.

Did you se what I made for Penguin Day in 2012? Click here to see it.

I applied matte top coat before I started painting, as Cutenails tells us in one of her YouTube videos.

Matte version

The detail brush was bought from Fab Ur Nails Shop, and I liked that it has a little resistance to it, if you understand what I mean.

My problem when using acrylic paint on my nails is that I can't wipe it off with water. What do I do wrong? Should I dilute the paint more? If you have any advice, I'll be very happy.


Lani

H&M Want a lemon + new wide H&M brush

Hello everyone!

This is the first time I'm showing you a pastel yellow creme nail polish. For some reason I thought my skin was too pale for colors like this. But after seeing many beautiful yellows on Marias Nail Art and Polish Blog, I wanted to try one. I love the color. It's H&M Want a lemon. And as I always like to mention Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) do not test on animals, and can be found on the animal organizations' cruelty- free lists :-)

The first coat was streaky, but as I got used to the new wide brush, it was easier and easier to apply the polish. This is 3 coats and one coat of Seche Vite.

Here you can see the old and the new brush:

Left: Old H&M brush. Right: New H&M brush

I bought this polish a few weeks ago, and was surprised that they had changed the brush. It looks like the bottles with the new brush have a narrow cap, and come in a little plastic box. The old bottles have a cap in the same size as the bottle, and come in a plastic bag.

H&M Want a lemon

I also bought the gorgeous IKB blue called Serenity now, and a kind of pastel grey- green called Chill out. They also have the wide brush.

H&M Want a lemon

This yellow was the base for the yellow zebra saran wrap mani that you might have seen on A.I.S. one and a half week ago. Hopefully I'll show it here on the blog too, soon.


Lani

H&M Pink bling bling over H&M Pink Macaroon

Hello everyone!

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

This is 1 coat of H&M Pink bling bling layered over 3 coats of  H&M Pink Macaroon. Plus top coat. I haven't felt more girly in a long time.

H&M: Pink Macaroon, H&M: Pink bling bling 

These were both bought in December 2012. I'm not showing you Pink Macaroon on it's own, because I had problems with application. For some reason I still had some small nearly bold spots even after 3 coats, but when I layered H&M Pink bling bling over it, as I had planned, it didn't show at all, and the glitter fixed everything.

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

Pink Macaroon 

Pink Macaroon is a pastel pink creme nail polish. I have a lot of H&M polishes, and was surprised by the formula, but have heard that it's a common problem with pastels.

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

Pink bling bling 

Pink bling bling looks different in different light conditions. Although the jelly base looks light pink in the bottle, I couldn't see that it made Pink Macaroon any darker. In daylight it looks like a pale glitter mixed with a little holographic glitter. In the sun or very bright light you can see colors (pink, orange, yellow, silver, and if you magnify it you can also see light blue, purple and very dark glitter) but in the shade the glitter looks more white. Inside in the evening (low light) it looks like small silver and holographic glitter. The holographic glitter is red, green and orange (and blue?). The holographic part of the glitter reminds me of Out The Door Northern Lights. But Northern Lights is more subtle. It has tinier glitter and is much more dense than the H&M glitter. Pink bling bling consists of tiny hexagonal and even tinier round glitter, but you'll have to magnify the photo very much to be able to notice the shape.

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

Sun:

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

Shade:

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

Is this something you would wear for Valentine's Day? Maybe with some hearts on an accent nail?

H&M: Pink bling bling layered over H&M: Pink Macaroon

Lani

Sat- ART- Day Club: Hallowe'en

Hello everyone!

This is the first time I'm participating in a Sat- ART- Day Club Challenge. We get one theme every Saturday. For Hallowe'en I made this skittles mani, with a smiling ghost, a black cat glitter french, a mummy, dripping blood, and stripes of blood. You can see all the other participants Hallowe'en manicures at the bottom of the post.

Play To The Judge Nail Art Contest #2: Dots over flakies

Hello everyone!

This is my entry to the Play To The Judge Nail Art Contest #2 ends 8/17, which is hosted by the blog Concrete and Nail Polish.

Play To The Judge Nail Art Contest #2: Dots over flakies

If you want to see the other entries and read everything about the contest, click on the badge below.

GOSH 611 RAW ROSE

Hello everyone!


Today I want to show you Raw Rose by GOSH. Raw Rose is one of the three nail lacquers from their 2012 spring collection, together with Drizzle (dusty mint green) and Blissful (red). There is a photo of the three nail polishes in my first Weekend Haul post.

GOSH Raw Rose

The color of Raw Rose is a kind of pink that looks like it has been mixed with beige or grey. In my opinion it is work appropriate, and a color people of all ages can feel comfortable wearing. Sometimes it leans to brown, and sometimes to pink. The formula is a little on the thick side, (like all my creams from GOSH), and easy to apply. I used two coats. My base-/ top coat is also from GOSH.

To show the color, I put it next to: a flower, other nail polishes (brown, pink, red) , rose quartz, green leafs, terracotta, and a fabric that looks similar to Drizzle's color.


Raw Rose without top coat: