52 Week PICK N MIX Challenge Week 1: Teal & ‪#‎31Nails2014‬: Day 6: Inspired by a NAILS cover

Hello everyone!

This nail art was inspired by the NAILS cover of the October 2012 Issue. I made this for day 6 in Nails Magazine's 31 Days of Nail Art Challenge 2014 ‪(#‎31nails2014‬) back in January. But because I haven't showed it here on the blog yet, and because "teal" is one of the prompts for week 1 in the new 52 week challenge, I'm writing about both today. First I'll tell a little about the new challenge, and then about trying to solve the task for #‎31nails2014 Day 6, which should be inspired by a NAILS cover. And at the end of the post you can see what everyone made for week 1 if you click on the Inlinkz Link Up. I'll also link to the #31Nails2014 nail art I've made so far.

The 52 Week PICK N MIX Challenge #52WPNMC consists of two prompts each week for a year, and we can make one of them or both or combine them. Needless to say, I'll probably not be able to make nail art and blog about it every week, but I'll do it when I can. This week I chose to do "teal", and next week I hope to do both a pattern and a color. But most weeks I'll probably do a combination. If you want to find out more, you can read what the creator of this challenge writes. Just click here.

‎31nails2014‬: Day 6: Inspired by a NAILS cover:

I struggled with this challenge. First I tried to make the baby blue to white gradient, and stamp a puzzle pattern over it, but apparently my sponge had dust on it... Then I tried to make caviar nails... And some other things happened. So a week of valuable time was lost. Then I got stuck on day 6, although I had made the ombre nails a week earlier. Finally on Friday I tried the "blue and green spray on water/ spotted nails", and it looked horrible in my Ott- Lite and indoor lighting. I wish we had more daylight in winter, so that I could make more challenges per day. And I struggled taking pictures in indoor lighting/ with an Ott- Lite without making the polish looking matte.

What I did & how it was supposed to be done:

This manicure is inspired by the OCTOBER 2012 ISSUE NAILS cover. After I made this nail art and applied a second coat of Seche Vite, I found out how it can be done, and a bigger picture of the cover nail art... Lol. Here is a picture tutorial. I used regular nail polish, and used different techniques back and forth until it looked a bit like the original manicure.

As MaeLing Parrish does in her tutorial, I started with a random pattern, but I used blues and greens. Then I stamped with blue stamping polish and Messy Mansion MM02. I saw that I had too much contrast, and tried to darken the light areas and to lighten the dark areas. To do that, I turned the plate into a palette by turning it, and used a dotting tool and some sheer polishes; a blue jelly, green flakie and blue flakie. And then I felt it needed more green. If you compare my manicure to the tiny little picture that I tried to copy, this doesn't look that bad.

Products used:

Christian Dior #489 Cobalt and here
Yes Love: F23
MI-NY: #177 Blue Sky
Gosh: #540 Ocean
Gosh: #618 Tilted Blue
Essence: #02 I'm backstage
Ruby Kisses: MNP29 Blue Ray Drama
Konad: SP Blue
Messy Mansion: MM02 (stamping plate & pallette) (used many many times)
XL stamper
Dotting tool
H&M: Blue Wave
Lilypad Lacquer: Blueberry (blue jelly)
Nfu- Oh: #56 (green flakie in green jelly)
Nfu- Oh: #52 (blue flakie in blurple jelly)
And as usual back then: IsaDora #600 Clear as base coat and Seche Vite top coat.

After the stamping I saw that I needed to make some changes, so I ended up using a lot of colors. I hope I have remembered all of them. If I do this again I now know which ones that worked best, so the list will be shorter.

In January one of my goals was to do this 31 Day Challenge. I did the nail art for some of the days, and we were allowed to use old nail art, so I didn't have many left to do. But I only made a few blog posts about them. I hope to show the rest before the year is over. You can see the ones I've made so far in my facebook photo album.

Lani

An InLinkz Link-up

Favorite Color Combo- stamping nail art

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Favorite Color Combo

Today's challenge in Adventures In Stamping is "Favorite Color Combo". My favorite colors are green and purple. Here I use different shades of the two colors. I like all kinds of purple, from pastel to vampy dark, and from nearly pink to nearly blue(, maybe because I also like pink and blue?) I also love most greens, but not all of them. In this mani I tried to put my favourite colors together, but now that I see the result, I don't think it's my favourite color combo.

Favorite Color Combo

Used:

Thumb:
GOSH: #002 Misty Mauve
Nfu- Oh: #50

Index finger:
Picture Polish: Honey Dew
Picture Polish: Gene Doll

Middle finger:
IsaDora: #714 Lilac Bikini
Konad: SP Green

Ring finger:
Golden Rose: Jolly Jewels #105

Pinkie:
Joss: C701 Kyoto Green
Konad: SP Violet Pearl

GOSH: #002 Misty Mauve , Nfu- Oh: #50, Picture Polish: Honey Dew, Picture Polish: Gene Doll, IsaDora: #714 Lilac Bikini, Konad SP Green, Golden Rose: Jolly Jewels #105, Joss: C701 Kyoto Green, Konad SP Violet Pearl

Stamping plates:

I used Konad m69 on the pinkie and middle finger. I also stamped with Konad SP Green and Cheeky Jumbo plate 9 Wild at Heart on the thumb, but it didn't turn out so well, but here is a photo of what it looked like before the stamping, where you can see the thumb:

Favorite Color Combo- before stamping

I liked it like this to. Here is one more photo with the stamping. (The Jolly Jewels polish didn't look sheer in real life)

Favorite Color Combo, bottle: Konad SP Violet Pearl

What is your favorite color combo?

Lani

World Ovarian Cancer Day

Hello everyone!

Today is World Ovarian Cancer Day. This is a type of cancer that I didn't know anything about, but if you want to read about ovarian cancer, just click here. I am very glad that I found out that some girls were going to make teal nail art to help raise awareness about ovarian cancer, because that made me learn about it. Because this is a kind of cancer that often get detected late, it's important to be aware of the symptoms, and to read these 5 facts that every woman should know. According to MedlinePlus; "cancer of the ovary is not common, but it causes more deaths than other female reproductive cancers." You can see the other manicures made for ovarian cancer awareness at the end of the post.

List of what I used:

mi-ny: #56 Klimt- pastel turquoise

Messy Mansion: MM07- rose stamping plate
Gina Tricot: #76 Brilliant blue- turquoise, used for stamping (leafs)

Konad: Black- stamping polish (roses)

mi-ny:  #247 I love London- flakie (Some of the photos are taken before adding the flakies.)

Seche Vite after each step

mi-ny: Klimt, Gina Tricot: Brilliant blue, Konad: Black, mi-ny. I love London,
Messy Mansion: MM07

It was interesting to see how different mi-ny: 'I LOVE LONDON' looks over pastel teal and over black. I used only one coat. 'I love London' is a very sheer pastel turquoise base with red flakies and tiny blue flakies. The red flakies can shift to orange and yellow (as you can see over the black roses), and light green (as you can see in the bottle). mi-ny is not tested on animals :-)

mi-ny: I love London

I chose to use this Messy Mansion stamping plate today, not only because I love the rose images, but also  because Messy Mansion donate 10% of their website profits to projects that benefit women. One of the projects gives girls the opportunity to go to school even when they are menstruating. Many girls in developing countries can't go to school those days of the month because they can't afford sanitary products. When a more affordable product is made, it gives a job for those women who make them, and the risk that the girls drop out of school is also reduced. The other project getting money from Messy Mansion, gives women who are incontinent or have other problems after childbirth, a chance to have the operation they need to be able to live normal lives. When I checked Messy Mansion's web site now, I found out that it's a different charity each month. You can read more about their "Women Empowering Women"- project here.

Messy Mansion: MM07

Edit: After reading Nail-to-Nail Interpretations' blog post, I want to add a link to Teal Toes. You can  raise awareness of ovarian cancer by painting your toenails teal, and getting your friends to paint their toenails teal too, and talk about ovarian cancer when someone asks about it, and making sure that they know the signs of this disease.

Below, you can find more manicures made for ovarian cancer awareness. A click on the thumbnails, will take you to their blog post. If you want to join in, you can add the link to your blog post at the bottom of one of our blog posts. It looks like the Inlinkz will work for a few more days.

Lani

Mattified version of OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest+ Nfu- Oh 51+ ORLY Sunglasses at Night

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Matte top coat over ORLY Sunglasses at Night, over Nfu- Oh 51, over OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest

This is the matte version of last post's nails. I used the cruelty- free GOSH #600 MATT EFFECT TOP COAT.

Layering: OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest+ Nfu- Oh 51+ ORLY Sunglasses at Night

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(If the photos appear to be too far to the right, please use Google Chrome!)

Layering: OPI Every Month is Oktoberfest+ Nfu- Oh 51+ ORLY Sunglasses at Night 

You have probably seen Oktoberfest everywhere, but here it's peeking through ORLY Sunglasses at Night and Nfu- Oh 51. I had planned to wear Oktoberfest on its own, but got some bubbles, and had thought about combining it with Nfu- Oh #51 since the first time I heard about it. I had expected Nfu- Oh 51 to look purple over Oktoberfest, and was a little sad because it didn't. I wanted to try my new Orly bar glitter, and liked it much better. What do you think?

Polish Me Happy aka World Mental Health Day

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As I'm writing this it's 10th October. This year World Mental Health Day will focus on depression as a global crisis. I try not to focus on sad things on this blog, but mental illnesses are such an important thing to be aware of, and to know how to handle. I made this manicure to help raise awareness about depression, and to give a hug to all of you who need it. I will also give you some links to what Scrangie and others have written about depression (in a much better way than I would be able to).

Geometry- Polish Days September

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Geometry- Polish Days September

On Polish Days, once a month, we all try to make a manicure and post it at the same time. Some weeks before, Polly Polish tells us what the theme/ task is, so that we have some time to think and prepare. And today our theme is GEOMETRY.

 Click on the badge and go to Polly Polish and read more about Polish Days and how you can join in.

H&M Coral Road+ Nubar 2010 mattified

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H&M: Coral Road+ Nubar: 2010+ Gosh: #600 Matt effect top coat

Today I want to show you the mattified version of Coral Road by H&M (coral cream) with Nubar 2010 (flakie) layered over it.

Nubar 2010 over H&M Coral Road

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Nubar 2010 over H&M Coral Road

I love flakies, and today I want to show you Nubar 2010 over a coral cream.

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

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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.

OPI Lady in Black+ Deborah Lippmann Private Dancer+ Cult Nails Seduction

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(If the photos appear to be too far to the right, please use Google Chrome!)

OPI Lady in Black+ Deborah Lippmann Private Dancer+ Cult Nails Seduction

Today I just want to show you what I was wearing in a birthday on Friday. I had a very limited time to get ready, so please don't look at the scratches and the too quick clean- up. But I liked this "dark purple with flakies look" so much that I took some photos of it when I came home.

Nfu- Oh 51 over H&M Notoriously Beautiful

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Nfu- Oh 51 over H&M Notoriously Beautiful

Today I want to show you one of my favorite nail polishes; Nfu- Oh 51. You might have seen it earlier on my blog, but only briefly. This time I chose to layer it over a dark blue H&M cream to hide my nail line, because Nfu- Oh is a jelly. And to use less of the Nfu- Oh. When I wear it alone I use about 4 coats (if I remember correctly). You might also have seen the dark blue cream called H&M Notoriously Beautiful in the same post, (where I tried to get the look of Deborah Lippmann "Ray of Light". To see it, click here.)

Nfu- Oh 51, H&M Notoriously Beautiful

Accessorize Aztec+ flakies+ Accessorize Crystal Shimmer+ mat top coat

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Today we will go straight to the end of the "playing with layering"- phase of wearing Accessorize Aztec. If you have seen my post where I layered it over green, you are probably ready to see something strange. (To see that, click here.)

I must admit that the color of Aztec was so strange, that I decided to take it off the same evening that I put it on. But first I just had to try a flakie on top of it, and my new holographic glitter, and then I mattified it. After trying again and again and again to capture the purple in Aztec by itself, I suddenly realized that it became a bit easier to see the purple on my photos for each extra coat. Even the first layer of regular top coat helped. The strange thing was that the camera showed very little purple, but exaggerated the multi chrome effect. (Yes, I know I need to learn photoshop, and learn to use the other camera...) So I have a huge amount of photos of Aztec that I do not know if I will show. These photos should also have had a little purple in them. Aztec is a dark green- purple duochrome. It is the color I could imagine as a result of pouring Zoya Jem into a bottle of green foil or something.

GOSH #611 Raw Rose+ Nfu- Oh #49

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GOSH #611 Raw Rose+ Nfu- Oh #49

Here is where last post continues. When I came home with GOSH #611 Raw Rose, the first thing I thought was that it was perfect for Nfu- Oh #49. Then, when I saw the bottles together, they were not so similar after all. But I really like them together. I think this is a very cute manicure. To go to my last post, about Raw Rose, click here.

GOSH #611 Raw Rose+ Nfu- Oh #49

This is two coats of GOSH Raw Rose, with GOSH base-/ top coat, and Nfu- Oh #49 layered over it.

TL Design: #96 Bombay + layering

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TL Design #96 Bombay

Today I want to show you  TL Design #96 Bombay. First nailphotos of it on its own, and later with Accessorize Aztec on one accent nail, and then with OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Air layered over Bombay. And finally some other layering options on my nail wheels.

TL Design Bombay:

Layering over GOSH 609 Drizzle

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Today I will show you photos of how I layered other nail polishes on top of GOSH Drizzle, when I tested out what would look nice together with this dusty green. When I started thinking about which effects I wanted to combine with Drizzle, I remembered the gold I had seen in Zoya Yara. So I chose a gold glitter, but I also wanted to see how other glitters would look, and different flakies, holo, and some other polishes.

A little layering experiment.

I am wearing base coat and two coats of GOSH 609 DRIZZLE, no top coat. You will see nailphotos of 10 different nail polishes on top of that, then with one more coat on some nails and top coat, then with mat top coat, and in the end as I liked it best, with some mat and some shiny nails.

Left hand

Left hand:

One coat of each, from left/ pinkie to right/ thumb:

Deborah Lippmann:  Boom Boom Pow (small and large hexagonal gold glitter)
H&M: Metallic Blue (micro teal glitter/ shimmer)
Glitter Gal: 707H silver 3D/ Holo (silver holographic)
Skinfood Party Tox Nail: #8 (white/ pastel teal glitter)
Orly Rock Candy (pastel teal)


Right hand:

One coat, left/ pinkie to right/ thumb:

NUBAR: 2010 (flakie: orange- green)
Finger Paints: Twisted (flakie: orange- green- blue- red)
Nfu- Oh #54 (flakie: green- teal- light blue)
Nfu- Oh #56 (green jelly with green micro glitter and green flakies)
OPI: Fresh Frog of Bel Air (small green glitter and big silver hexagonal glitter)

As usual, I used GOSH base/ top coat.

Nfu- Oh #52+ #54

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Nfu- Oh #52 is one of my favorite nail polishes. Earlier, I had only used it over other blue nail polishes. This time, I wanted to see how it is on its own. And this is the only nailphoto that I took of it on its own that was nice:

Nfu- Oh #52


Nfu- Oh #52 has a blue jelly base with flakies that look mostly green, and sometimes pale blue. It is sheer, so including base coat and  top coat, this is probably 6 layers. And therefor my nails look a little disfigured on some photos. And also, I got some bubbles. Next time, I will see if it is better to use a skin colored polish under Nfu- Oh #52, to make the nail line disappear, so that I can use fewer coats.

Before taking the rest of the nailphotos, three days later, I put one coat of Nfu- Oh #54 over #52, because I thought it needed some more  flakies.


Nfu- Oh #54

In the bottle, Nfu- Oh #54 looks like this perfect turquoise jelly filled with turquoise flakies, that shift to green or pale blue. But the base color is so transparent that I only use it as a layering polish. But it is a very nice layering polish because of the amount of flakies you get on the nail with only one coat.

And I do not know if it is just something I imagine, but I think it freshens up the blue base of #52. In my opinion it made #52 more beautiful. The only bad thing was the total amount of layers, with yet another coat of top coat...


Nfu- Oh #52 + one coat of Nfu- Oh #54:

Deborah Lippmann Sweet Dreams, HR Red Magma, and different untrieds.

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Today I want to show you Deborah Lippmann Sweet Dreams (opaque pink/ fuchsia flakie), compared to Helena Rubinstein Red Magma (opaque red flakie), and different untrieds (peach, orange, purple, lavender, some blues, and green), with different finishes.

First two bottle shots, then some nailphotos of the left and right hand, and later closeups of the two flakies.

Above (right hand), from left to right: 

H&M dou nail polish "Festival Fuchsia"
H&M "Metallic Petrol" (from a 3- pack with multicolored small glitter+ silver), 3 coats
Gina Tricot (also called Bella nail polish at ginatricot.com) #48 "Diva"
H&M "Urban Spirit", 3 coats
Gina Tricot #47 "Lilac me"
(+ GOSH base/ top coat)

Trying to get the look of Ray Of Light+ a purple flakie accent

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After trying some Deborah Lippmann testers, I wanted to keep "Ray Of Light" on my left hand, and "Sweet Dreams" on my right ring finger, and try to make the same look on the other hand. Sweet Dreams is a fuchsia flakie, so it looked purple over Gina Tricot #48 "Diva" (a blue cream with a little purple in it, similar to "I know what boys like"). So this is where last post continues!

As yesterday, please overlook the scratches! I am very clumsy, so now there are new scratches too. But if I did not show the photos with scratches, you would not see the color shifting flakies so well. This is just something I did for fun, so some of the fingers ended up with way too many layers. My left ring finger is the worst: base coat+ 2 coats Diva+ topcoat+ 2 coats Sweet Dreams+ top coat+ Nfu- Oh #51+ I love Candy+ 2 or 3 layers of flakies...

The first thing I did when I came home with the testers on my fingers, was to see if I had something similar.

This is:
Thumb: Gina Tricot #48 Diva (2 coats)+ Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light (2 coats),
# 1: H&M Sweet Blue Dreams+ Nfu- Oh #52,
# 18: H&M Notoriously Beautiful+ Finger Paints Twisted, and
# 13: 2 coats Dior Addict #220 (beige) + Nfu- Oh #51(3 coats)

Well, lets start with the left, and try to make the ring finger purple with pink flakies.
The first thing I did was to put Nfu- Oh #51 over Ray of Light, (but of course that did not give the desired effect. I do not know what I was thinking.) If you have always wondered what Nfu- Oh #51 would look like over Ray Of Light, take a look at this ring finger:

Swatch after testing Deborah Lippmann Ray of Light

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I was very surprised when I found some Deborah Lippmann testers, when I was shopping. Here is what my left hand looked like afterwards:

This is two coats. Under all this is Gina Tricot 48 Diva. I was in a hurry, and had no time to take pictures of it for you, before I left home. I hope Ray of Light is opaque enough to not show the color beneath it.

There are some scratches because a woman came into the shop, and "had to" stand very close to me, and I therefor had to move my bags with my wet nails. :-( But some of the scratches were there before I put the testers on.

RAY OF LIGHT