Indie Brand Manicure Contest Entry

Nails by Kayla Shevonne is holding a nail art contest and I, like a ninny, have waited until the very last minute to post my entry even though I finished and photographed it weeks ago. The theme of this contest is Indie brand polishes. Everything, or nearly everything, used has to be a polish made by an independent nail polish brand.

In order from pinkie to thumb I used: Chromatological Constructs (CC) Kashmiri Namkeen Chai, CC Chough, Nail Venturous Lacquers Granite, CC Kashmiri Namkeen Chai, CC Chough.

On the pinkie and index nails I did a gradient using CC Bai Hao (Oriental Beauty). On the middle nails I gradiented with CC Chough.

I then did a glitter gradient on the pinkie and index nails with Sonoma Nail Art Clockwork. I used CC Bai Hao to create the lace patterns and the design on the middle nail as well.

With a toothpick I placed individual glitters from Sonoma Clockwork onto the lace patterns.

Chromatological Constructs is a line I have been working on myself over the last six months. Chough is a polish from the Corvus collection. Bai Hao and Kashmiri Namkeen Chai are from the Camelia Sinensis collection. These polishes are not for sale yet but one of my goals this summer is to get the materials I need in bulk to be able to produce these for sale.

I've got the blues

Julie G Dance in the Dark gives me the blues. Why? Because it's blue.

Now many of you may not think that's such a bad thing. Honestly I wouldn't think it a bad thing either except that I thought I was getting a purple polish when I bought it. Really, it appeared to be a blue-leaning purple in the store but when I started applying it all I got was blue. Blue blue BLUE.

I suppose it's not a bad blue but it wasn't what I was expecting at all :(

That isn't my camera turning it blue. It really is a deep, vibrant blue. This is two coats, taken in full sun.

Obviously I wasn't happy with with the color so I topped it with Essie Shine of the Times.

Sparkles are usually a sure-fire way to cheer up :)

My First try with Acrylic Inks

I mentioned with my first Halloween mani post that I had bought some acrylic inks to use for nail art. Well I thought I'd show you my first attempt with them. I started with OPI Berlin There Done That (two coats plus top coat):

 

I used black, gold, and copper inks for my design. One thing about the shimmery inks like the gold and copper is that they are quite sheer and show up better if used over a darker color. Layering them or using a bit more of the ink works well also though, as you can see I found out the hard way, it takes longer to dry that way.

Oh well, life is a learning experience. Now I know to let the ink dry thoroughly and have more top coat on the brush.

Another note about acrylic inks: you have to wait until your mani is COMPLETELY dry or the calligraphy nib will etch right through or catch on the polish and won't distribute the ink properly. This makes it the perfect way to change up a day or two-day-old mani.

NO H8 November 8

We've all been there to some degree or other. 

The kid on the bus or the playground that pushed you around, the name calling when you had to get glasses or braces, because you were too short or too tall, or just because you didn't look like everyone else. Bullying isn't just something relegated to childhood either, it happens to adults too and especially on the internet where the lack of face to face contact gives people a sense of anonymity and disconnection from the people on the other end of the connection.

Bullying is not funny. It is not cool. It is not right. And more importantly, it is not okay.

Most of us are, thankfully, residents of countries that support tolerance and many of our families have settled in these places simply for that reason. Generations later, it is our responsibility to perpetuate that message of tolerance across our new social platforms, including the internet.

As members of the nail polish blogging community, we all share a love of beauty, color, and lacquer. Other than that, we are remarkably different: from our race to our religion to our hair color...even to our polish application techniques. To marginalize anyone because of those differences is completely unacceptable and today I take a stand against that. I refuse to allow other people's view of "normal" dictate how I behave, believe, and blog.

In solidarity with a multitude of bloggers linked below, my purple manicure represents my proud commitment to the No H8 movement. Today, November 8, I dedicate my post to ending bullying of any kind and to encouraging diversity and imperfection among our colorful community.

For today's mani I chose Illamasqua Prosperity, one of the new Rubber Brights polishes. My decision to use an Illamasqua polish was influenced by their work with the Sophie Lancaster Foundation.

Our lives are like threads on a giant loom, what happens to one person can influence many people, and so I used one of my hand-mixed polishes, Ancient Pu'erh, to represent this connection in my nail design.

Remember, just because someone is different or doesn't have the same skills to the same degree as you it doesn't give anyone the right to put them down or bully them for those differences.

Queen of Hearts

I am starting this post off by stating just how much I love the Alice in Wonderland directed by Tim Burton. In fact I just got done watching it again <3

For this mani I started off with one of OPI's newest Designer Series polishes, DS Indulgence. I absolutely love the golden sparkle in this polish. It is so unbelievably jewel-like and pictures do not do it any justice whatsoever.

If you are wondering why you cannot see my pinky nail here it is because I stamped on it and then realized that I hadn't taken swatch photos yet. Silly me. Here is a photo of the first layer of stamping on my nails done with Wet'n'Wild Black Creme and Mash plate 12.

I then stamped with Cheeky plate CH3 in Black Creme on my ring finger and my franken Sugar & Spice on my index and middle fingers as well as my thumb. I then used Sugar & Spice and Mash plate 19 on my pinkies and used Sally Hansen XtremeWear White On and a striping brush to put a line delineating the stamped/non-stamped portions of the three nails with partial stamping.

I had the hardest time getting my extra-large stamper to pick up those blasted hearts. I ended up having to go back to my original stamper in order to get the polish to transfer.

Nurse! I need a Doctor!

I had a LOT of fun with this manicure. I also got to test the school-glue-as-peel-off-basecoat method since I knew I was going to be using glitter. Huzzah for planning!

I used one coat of glue on my nails and let it dry completely before applying my regular base coat and two coats of Essie Skirting the Issue. Which, I might mention is THE perfect blood red jelly for Halloween manicures. I am so glad I bought this!

Then I used Orly Right Amount of Evil and topped with another coat of Skirting the Issue and top-coated with OTD top coat.

I waited about twelve hours before moving on to the next part of the manicure just to make sure everything was dry and set. With a toothpick and a cuticle pusher I then went to work peeling of the polish on my ring finger nails. I know, I know, I could have made everything simpler if I'd just skipped over those nails in the first place but I hadn't thought about the next little touch until I was already started. And besides, it gave me an excuse to test the glue-as-base-coat without ruining the entire mani.

 No nail damage!

All peeled off!

Peeling it off did take nearly as long as if I had just stuck my finger in acetone to soak the stuff off but it certainly resulted in less nail damage! Perhaps it would have been easier if I'd used two coats of glue.

After cleaning off the residual polish with remover I used my regular base coat and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Green Tea on my newly-bare nails. I decided to try out another glue tip and covered the area of my finger around my nails with glue in preparation for a bit of splatter. I did mention that Skirting the Issue is THE perfect blood red, right?

Prepped for splatter

Messy messy messy

 Left hand

Right hand

So now that my family officially thinks I'm strange . . . Oh who am I kidding, they already knew it! LOL! And yes, that is a syringe pen. I picked it up for a dollar at the Spirit Halloween store. I kind of smudged the red splatter on my left hand with the top coat but I think I like it better that way honestly. It makes it look more real.

Spiderweb French

I think I might like creating spiderwebs a bit too much! LOL! I got the idea for this mani from a post on Mini Nail Blog. My nails aren't as long as hers but they are nearly the same shape so I thought I'd give it a try. I started with two coats of Sally Hansen InstaDry Orange Splash.

I then used Cult nails Deal With It to create an uneven french tip.

And with a striper brush I used China Glaze Urban Night to create the spider webs.

 Right hand.

Left hand.