Giveaway Winners & The Battle #10 - Matte vs Holo

Pin It

Thank you to everyone who entered my 'Because I Passed My Exams' Giveaway.
Congratulations to Sarah Lundy & Jewell Sparkled who won the Harlow & Co $20 voucher and the NZ Polish Prize Pack, respectively.
Please contact me ladies, I would hate to draw new winners!!!

Yes, The Battle is back. One of these days I'll manage more than 1 challenge a month, I promise!!!!
Today it's holo vs matte... come on there is NO comparison. Holo all the way, baby!

ILNP Grape Alicious

ILNP Grape Alicious with Essie Matte About You

Half 'n half

Even though Grape Alicious looks nice matte, the holo absolutely dies. I can't tell you how happy I was when Orly Glosser magically restored the rainbows!

Now I need to do a Duochrome vs Foil look because I skipped Challenge 9, woops.

Hope your weekends were absolutely amazing in some little way :)


xxx
NPA

Battle #8: Animal Print Vs Tribal

Pin It

It has been so long since I've posted one of these nail art challenges, does anyone actually remember that I was taking part?!!

This week's challenge is Animal Vs Tribal prints.
Tribal print wins every time! I had a friend that always wore a cheetah print dress when she was on the pull, and I don't have the fondest memories of her, so there's my aversion to animal print!!!!

Tribal Print Mani

I'm too crap at free-handing so I stamped these. I love the colours together; they evoke images of Central America - I'm thinking the Aztec and Maya!!!
Are you proud of my stamping? Only the middle nail is patchy, oh yeah; Michaela's improving folks!!!!
I used The Polish Well Skinny Dipping as the base and stamped an image from a random large plate with China Glaze Passion 

Are you on Team Animal Print or Team Tribal Print?


xxx
NPA

The BATTLE #7: Geometric vs Flora

Pin It

Ok, I've enjoyed an almost  3 month hiatus on The BATTLE Nail Art Challenge, but here I am with Challenge 7. I chose to go Geometric with this one, I hope this stamping counts!

Geometric Nail Art

I started with a base of Maybelline My Varnish in 357 (I think, the labelling was confusing) and stamped on this neat pattern of BM 319 using Jade Vermelho Surreal. I was trying to get the complimentary red to show up in the holo stamp, but it's not really noticeable. I topped this mani off with a layer of Seche Vite.

I love subtle stamping, especially with vampy reds!!

I'm going to try to knock out a couple more of the BATTLE challenges over the next month, maybe catch up to everyone else?!

Do stop by the other participant's blogs to see their nail art interpretations:
Two Matejas Creating
An Indie Girl's Passion
Lacquered Tips
My Wondrous Marvellous Obsession
Cats n Nails
Jibber Jabber
Life in Color!

Annie Suzie 

Polished Polygot  


xxx
NPA 

The Battle #6: Stripes vs Dots

Pin It

I thought candy cane nails would be a great way to incorporate Christmas in to this challenge, so I'm Team Stripes! (Though in reality I'm more drawn to polka dots!!!)

BM207 stripes over BB Couture Santa's Sak

sun

sun

macro

I'm wearing BB Couture for Men in Santa's Sak (from one of their Christmas Collections) and I stamped it using Konad Special White Polish and plate BM 207.
I prefer the orientation of the design on my index and middle nails, the other way round looks a bit munted on my short nails, the stripes are too close together.

The stamping looks pretty terrible, it was a hot day and I just couldn't get a clean transfer!!! I hate that about the Konad Special Polishes!!! Maybe it happens with other brands too, must see if chromes behave the same way when stamping in the heat?

So even though this Battle wasn't a high point, I still enjoyed having candy cane nails. I got my only candy canes this year from my Polish Elf too, so this design feels incredibly apropos!!

Not sure if I'll attempt the polka dots too... we'll see.

Don't forget to see what the other BATTLE participants are up to:
Two Matejas Creating
An Indie Girl's Passion
Lacquered Tips
My Wondrous Marvellous Obsession
Cats n Nails
Jibber Jabber
Life in Color!

Annie Suzie 

Polished Polygot


It's closing in on New Year's Eve now, what are your plans... for your nails, that is?


xxx
NPA

The BATTLE #5: Pretty vs Punk - PUNK

Pin It

Seeing as I'm not a 'punky' girl at all, I really didn't know what qualified as a punky nail look. At first I considered using silver studs, but I couldn't find them, so I settled for some pink and black stamping.

BYS Pink Panic and OPI Black Onyx

lamp

lamp

lamp

Herringbone just seems to remind me of punky/skatey girls clothe;s so using the design on plate BM 322 I stamped it on with Konad Special Polish in Pink and Black.

I tried to add a funky bow stamp to my ring finger but after several attempts it just didn't show up, so I abandoned the plan and just redid that nail.

Tip: wait for the stamping to completely dry before you finish it off with top coat. I was in a bit of a rush so there was some slight smearing...

Pink Panic is an almost neon pink creme but the combination of night time and lamp and crappy camera really faded it :( I tried tweaking the colour of the last photo, but it doesn't even come close to it's awesomeness.

Was my attempt punk enough or do you have some better punk looks I should check out?

Stop by the other nail blogs doing BATTLE:

Two Matejas Creating
An Indie Girl's Passion
Lacquered Tips
My Wondrous Marvellous Obsession
Cats n Nails
Jibber Jabber
Life in Color!

Annie Suzie 

Polished Polygot


xxx
NPA 

The BATTLE # 5: Pretty vs Punk - PRETTY

Pin It

For Challenge 5 I was faced with Pretty vs Punk. I personally go pretty every time, I just can't pull off punk! But I wanted to have a stab at both looks, so I kept Pretty ultra simple...

 What could be prettier than Candeo Colors Orchid?!

Candeo Colors Orchid over China Glaze Taffic Jam

shade

shade

macro

I've posted Orchid before worn alone, but I found the glitter got a bit too textured with multiple coats, so I layered it over China Glaze Traffic Jam a berry pink creme. I used 2 coats for these photos and it was just perfect. So very very pretty and the holo glitter looks like it's glowing under the shimmery base.

Tomorrow I'll show you my Punk look.

Don't forget to see what the other BATTLE participants are up to:
Two Matejas Creating
An Indie Girl's Passion
Lacquered Tips
My Wondrous Marvellous Obsession
Cats n Nails
Jibber Jabber
Life in Color!

Annie Suzie 

Polished Polygot


xxx
NPA

The BATTLE #4: Neon vs Pastel

Pin It

I had some fun with this challenge y'all!

SPLATTER TIME

Splatter Mani with a base of Sinful Colors Unicorn

overcast

overcast

overcast

macro

To achieve this look I applied 2 coats of Sinful Colors Unicorn, which is a pastel yellow creme. It looked slightly uneven, but I knew the splatter would cover most of it up so I didn't add a 3rd coat.
Next I splattered on China Glaze Blue Sparrow which is a 'neon' blue with ultra fine glitter, using a straw. Once that dried, I splattered on China Glaze Flying Dragon another 'neon' purple with ultra fine glitter. After that one dried I splattered on my final neon, Pool Party also from China Glaze. It's a super neon pink that always photographs more orange, I think because it leans a little red/pink. I finished up with 1 thick coat of NYC GCS which left my nails glossy and even to the touch.

My last splatter mani was a whole year ago when I was doing the 31 Day Challenge, so I felt like the time was right to give it another go. Even though I completely taped off my nails, the clean up was horrendous! It might have just been the fact that I used neons for the splatter... Anyway the acetone didn't do the trick entirely.

An entire pastel splatter mani would've been fun too! Or a spun sugar mani in neons or pastels, yum reminds me of candy! Maybe I can work those in to another challenge.

If it were up to you, would you pick NEONS or PASTELS ?

Don't forget to check all the other participants Challenge #3 posts:
Two Matejas Creating
An Indie Girl's Passion
Lacquered Tips
My Wondrous Marvellous Obsession
Cats n Nails
Jibber Jabber
Life in Color!

Annie Suzie 

Polished Polygot

xxx
NPA

The BATTLE #3: Pink vs Purple

Pin It

Ok, for this challenge I had to choose both!
And the perfect polish arrived for the job: Girly Floam!

Ninja Polish Girly Floam

sun

sun

sun

macro

Girly Floam is a fine pink and purple matte glitter in a clear base. I wore 3 coats and got fairly good coverage. It's pretty thirsty and I only used 1 coat of Glitter Gloss before taking these photos, so trust me when I say it looks better with another coat of NYC GCS!

In the future I see myself using a base colour with Girly Foam and I know it'll be a hit with my friend's daughters.

So what do you think, PINK or PURPLE?

Don't forget to check all the other participants Challenge #3 posts:

Two Matejas Creating
An Indie Girl's Passion
Lacquered Tips
My Wondrous Marvellous Obsession
Cats n Nails
Jibber Jabber
Life in Color!

Annie Suzie 

Polished Polygot


xxx
NPA

The BATTLE #2: Black vs White

Pin It

Yeah, so this post is soooo late, sorry if you were looking forward to it!
It's been a really busy 2 weeks and the blogging has been suffering as a result. My nails have been changing almost daily, but the posting, not so much!

So this is the second challenge: Black vs White:

 OPI Alpine Snow

sun

sun

indirect sunlight

Nubar Black Polka Dot

OPI Metallic 4 Life

Wet n Wild Fergie Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night

Pahlish Typewriter Keys

For this challenge I went for both black and white. I have heaps of black glitter top coats so I pulled a few of them out for once!!!
I started with 2 coats of OPI Alpine Snow, followed by 2 coats of;  Nubar Black Polka Dot (pinkie), OPI Metallic 4 Life (ring), Wet n Wild Fergie Tonight's Gonna Be A Good Night (middle) and Pahlish Typewriter Keys (index), over top. Then I finished with a coat of NYC GCS top coat.

In the macro shots you can see lots of bubbles, woops! Might need to thin that top coat...

My favourite top coat is the Pahlish. Black and white shredded matte glitter plus iridescent white glitter and shimmer is so gorgeous!


In a battle are you for BLACK or WHITE?

Don't forget to check all the other participants Challenge #2 posts:

Two Matejas Creating
An Indie Girl's Passion
Lacquered Tips
My Wondrous Marvellous Obsession
Cats n Nails
Jibber Jabber
Life in Color!

Annie Suzie 

Polished Polygot

xxx
NPA

The BATTLE: #1 Blue vs Green

Pin It

I had lofty hopes for some amazing nail art with 2 of my favourite polish colours, but disorganised as ever I just have a swatch for this challenge.

It is a gorgeous polish though!

Smitten Polish I Want It Now

sun

sun

shade

sun macro

shade macro

I Want It Now embodies the both green and blue nicely. With a forest green jelly base and green, turquoise and black hex glitter, it can look both warm and cool. I applied 3 coats to achieve full coverage, with absolutely no drama. I topped it off with 1 layer of Glitter Tamer for a beautiful shine.

Smitten Polish is available on Etsy and Llarowe

For the record, I'm on green's side :)

Don't forget to check all the other participants Challenge #1 posts:

Two Matejas Creating
An Indie Girl's Passion
Lacquered Tips
My Wondrous Marvellous Obsession
Cats n Nails
Jibber Jabber
Life in Color!
Annie Suzie

For everyone of age in the US I hope you go out and vote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fingers crossed for 4 more years under Obama, hopefully without the Republicans blocking every single piece of Democrat introduced legislation!!

xxx

NPA