The theme of the day is inspired by color, so I decided it was the perfect time to"think pink" and take the opportunity to create this soft pretty pink hearts mani just in time for Valentine's Day!
Polishes used: China Glaze - Laced Up & White On White. Stamping plate : Cheeky CH15
- Adventures In Water Marbling With A Side Of Rage-
Well folks, here we have it. The day you've all been waiting for and the day I've been stressing over since the beginning of this challenge. The dreaded water marble technique...
Polishes used: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear in Pacific Blue & Going Green, China Glaze - Happy Go Lucky
While there is most definitely a strong learning curve, once I got the hang of it I actually found it to be pretty fun. It took a little bit of trial and error, but I have to admit that overall I'm pretty pleased with the results for my first attempt! The process was quite messy, but I'm fairly certain that is partially due to me shrieking with rage face and knocking over my entire setup midway through the process. For your enjoyment, I have included this artists rendering of the events that took place today:
If you are thinking of trying this technique, be sure that your water is room temperature or slightly warmer. I found that cold water caused my polish to dry on the surface or sink to the bottom in droplets. Also, hold your brush close to the water surface when dropping, holding the brush too high above didn't work out for me at all.
Many people recommend using cuticle oil, vaseline or tape around the skin to minimize on cleanup time. But being the rebel that I am, I threw caution to the wind and hit this water marble raw dog. I didn't choose the thug life, thug life chose me.
Give water marble a try, it can really create some brilliant designs!
Check out this great picture tutorial from fellow blogger PolishandPearls.com and let me know if you try this yourself!
One of the best things about this ongoing challenge is all the new things that I am learning! I have always been a fan of Galaxy nails, but I honestly had noidea that they were so easy!
Polishes used: Orly - Liquid Vinyl & Sweet Peacock, China Glaze - Laced Up, White On White, Fairy Dust &Techno, OPI - I Have A Herring Problem
This was spectacularly easy to create! The only additional tools I used to create this look were a makeup wedge and a small dotting tool.
While I was working on this design, one of the things that I learned is that you will definitely have better luck with wet makeup wedge than with a dry one. If the sponge is too dry, you may end up with tiny sponge pieces on your nails, which are a pain to pick off!
The first step is to paint the nails with one coat of black polish. Once dry, I used the wet makeup wedge to begin sponging on a very tiny amount of the blue polish in random areas.
There is no need to wait for the blue polish to dry, just go ahead and sponge on a tiny amount of lighter blue/gray polish over the first. You want to keep a light hand with this, or you will cover your original splotches.
Now it's time to add the pink. You want barely any polish at all on your wet sponge for this, it's only meant to give your galaxy a hint of pink.
Once all the polish is dry, it's time to add the sparkle. This is where the magic really happens, and each nail begins to look like a real galaxy! I used a very thin layer of fairy dust and was amazed at how good it looked. I also hand placed the glitter from Techo in random areas to look like bright stars in the night sky. I finished off by using my smallest dotting tool dipped in white polish to add one or two randomly placed VERY tiny dots to each nail, which gave a bit more dimension to the finished look.
Topped off with a nice coat of Seche Vite, I've got a super shiny galaxy on each nail!
Today I want to spread the love and share with you a few great blogs that are currently hosting giveaways! If there is one thing most people know about me, it's that absolutely love entering contests and giveaways online. There are some great items up for grabs, so you definitely do not want to miss out on these!
First in the round up is Haute Lacquer's Second Blogiversary Giveaway! In honor of 2 years in the blogosphere, Haute Lacquer has teamed up with the wonderful Shimmer Polish to offer 5 great shades to one lucky winner! The giveaway Ends Feb 22, 2013 and is open to US and Canada.
Next we haveAmy Loves... Maybelline Giveaway! One lucky reader is going to win an awesome Maybelline Fit Me Foundation Set, which includes foundation, concealer, and setting powder in the shade of their choice. The giveaway Ends March 1st, 2013 and is open Internationally.
Finally, be sure to head on over to Nailtopia's Spectacular Giveaway and check out the 2 great nail polish prize packs that you could win!As an added bonus, I even spotted one of my favorite polishes, China Glaze - It's a Trap-Eze in one of the prize packs. I know someone is going to be very happy when this contest ends! The giveaway Ends March 8, 2013 and is open to US and Canada.
There we have it, our contest/giveway roundup for the week of Feb 2 - Feb 9!
