Happy International Day of Happiness!

I started my day watching a solar eclipse, so why shouldn't my nails be smiling? I only wish I were further north! Did you see it too? If you're not smiling, do something nice for yourself, and turn to happy! :-)☺:-D

I started with white nails, and stamped the smileys with Bundle Monster BM-304 and Mundo de Uñas #2 Black, and my new Creative Shop stamper that worked from the start.

I used the leadlight technique and lots of sheer polish. I finally bought some polishes for leadlighting. What I didn't think about was that the different polishes didn't have the same pigmentation. So I had to apply two coats of some colors or mix some of the colors. It might have looked better if I only used one brand...

Sheer polish used:

Ellagee: Cadium Glass - yellow
El Corazon, Aquarelle tints: #07 - red
Dance Legend, top coat aquarelle collection: Chagall - purple
Dance Legend, top coat aquarelle collection: Levitan - green
Nailstation: Whisper - orange with orange glitter
OPI: Houston We Have a Purple -blue toned red

The OPI, the green and the purple were very pigmented. The yellow was as I expected, but I needed two coats. In comparison the other two looked more pastel, even after 2 coats.

Levitan makes me think about the movie Leviathan. Have you seen it? It kind of made me feel that there's no point fighting for something...

I've not been very active here and on G+, twitter and facebook lately, but I'm trying to share photos on Instagram. If you are on Instagram, I would love to follow you. I'm nailphotosbylani. If I don't already follow you, please write your IG name in the comments section.

Can you tell that the photos of the plate are inspired by the solar eclipse? LOL!

Happy polishing!

Lani

St. Patrick's Day Nails: Mutagen stamped with MM04

Hello everyone!

To make these St. Patrick's Day Nails, I started with a green multichrome called Mutagen from I Love Nail Polish. I used 3 coats and top coat. Then I used Konad: SN Black to stamp the pattern from an image on Messy Mansion's stamping plate MM04. Because I have small nails, I could use different parts of the image like this. The first photo above is taken before top coating the stamping.

Photos:

First a few photos of Mutagen on it's own, then more pictures of the finished manicure, and the plate. All the photos below are with top coat. Lighting: shade, sun, Ott- Lite, LED lamp. No under water photos this time.

Used:

I Love Nail Polish (ILNP): Mutagen
Messy Mansion: MM04
Konad: SN Black


MM04:

I bought MM04 because of this image only, and I can't understand how someone can draw such an awesome design. Now that I have the plate, I also like many of the other images. I love the hands holding a heart, and the clover images. The plate has a lot of images that are perfect for those who celebrate St. Patrick's Day, but they can of course be used any time of the year. I didn't hold the stamping plate straight on the photo above, so the images in the front appear larger than they really are. The plate is very well etched, as usual with the Messy Mansion plates. Sadly there are some tiny holes in my dear perfect soft stamper, so if you see some green dots where it was supposed to be black, that's why. If my next stamper is of the same quality, I will be more careful with it.


Mutagen:

This multichrome is a very vibrant green that changes color depending of the angle of your nails. It was difficult to photograph this polish. It looks even "greener" in real life. LOL. ILNP describes it as a mirror- like chrome. Mutagen is from ILNP's growing “Ultra Chrome” collection. I have the old version of Mutagen. Now they also have a holographic version called "Mutagen (H)". Mutagen is similar to, but not a dupe of Enchanted Polish: Hey Jude. Mutagen is less colorchanging than I had expected, but because of the vibrant green color and the mirror- like chrome effect, I love it.


What's your favourite multichrome nail polish?


Lani

#31Nails2014: #4 Radiant Orchid (Color of the Year)

Hello everyone!

The challenge for day 4 is Radiant Orchid. I first noticed the color called Radiant Orchid when I saw Chalkboard Nails had painted a beautiful Radiant Orchid on her nails. Then I learned that it's the Pantone color for 2014.

I think H&M Beauty Bandit is the nail polish that is closest to Radiant Orchid that I own. Here you see it on it's own:

This is 2 easy coats, no top coat. The formula was good, and I needed minimal clean- up. A nice purple cream.


Then I stamped with Pueen #13 and my lavender/ pink holographic nail polish. I really like how this turned out.

Products used:

IsaDora: #600 Clear (as fast drying base coat)
H&M: Beauty Bandit
Color Club: #977 Cloud Nine
XL stamper
Stamping plate: Pueen 13


EDITED: I've updated this post with the correct number for Cloud Nine. I also want to add that I used a very bright IKEA LED lamp for the photos. It's the same lamp that I've used for my holo pictures earlier. Sadly, I ruined this mani when I tried to apply studs, so I didn't get a chance to take pictures in the sun. And I had to use the photos that I took before applying top coat.

Sorry about posting so many blog posts, but I'm 14 days behind in Nails Magazines' 31 Day Challenge...


Lani

#31Nails2014: #2 Favorite color

Hello everyone!

I like very many colors, so to represent my favourite colors, I chose a multichrome nail polish that I've showed here on the blog before: Enchanted Polish 'Magical Mystery Tour'. I've used it for nail art several times. For Day 2 in Nails Magazine's 31 Days of Nail Art Challenge for January 2014 (31Nails2014), I've chosen to use this old photo:

Products used: Konad m51 & Enchanted Polish 'Magical Mystery Tour' & Konad: SP Black.

A click on the picture, or here, will take you to the blog post, where you can see lots of very different photos of this manicure. I've also used this multichrome polish for stamping nail art in this skittle, and this gradient. I've also written about this amazing nail polish and showed lots of photos of it on its own here.

This is my most photographed nail polish in 2013.

Lani

GOT Polish Challenge: PINK

Hello everyone!

The theme for day #1 in the GOT (Golden Oldie Thursdays) Polish Challenge, is PINK. It's run by the facebook group "Crumpet's Nail Tarts", and you can find information about it, and how to join in, on Debbie's blog; The Crumpet. I'll include a poster with all the themes below. What's special about this challenge, is that we have to use old nail polish! Yeay! At least one year old.

I got N°7 #70 Milan for Christmas about 4 years ago.

It came in a set together with the blackened blue Betty Blues, teal Totally Teal, vampy red Temptress, and a red nail polish called Rose Truffle:




I've used Milan several times, but never showed it here on the blog. Usually, I used it with a layer of holographic glitter over it, often on my toes. But this time I stamped over it and added glitter glue to the center of the flowers.

After a list of the products I've used, you'll find thumbnails with links to the other paticipants' pink nails.


The themes:



I like these themes, but I'm not sure if I can participate in this challenge in January, but I hope I can do more in February and March. What do you think about the GOT Challenge? Are you participating?


Products used:

IsaDora #600 Clear (as fast drying base coat)
N°7 Stay Perfect #70 Milan (pink)
Konad: SP Black (stamping polish)
MoYou London: Artist Collection #10 (stamping plate)
XL stamper
Stickles: Pink (glitter glue)
Dotting tool
Seche Vite (fast drying top coat)

I tried to only use products that are more than 1 year of age, but must have forgotten all about that when I saw my MoYou stamping plate...

This photo shows the stamping before top coat and before adding the glitter:

I'm surprised that so many are participating in this challenge. Just click on their thumbnails below, if you want to take a closer look. You can add your link with the Inlinkz on the end of any of our blogs.


Lani