Daisy Chain by Flash Your Tips: Swatch & Review

Does anything say "Welcome Spring" quite like a daisy? I submit that it does not! Daisies have always been my favorite flower, especially those tiny, delicate ones (that are probably not actually called daisies). I've also declared that Yellow is my Official Color for the end of winter. I'm so sick of cold and snow and grey skies, that I've been wearing quite a bit of yellow to cheer myself up! The mani I'm showing you today definitely put a smile on my face every time I looked at it :)

Meet Daisy Chain by Flash Your Tips. Daisy Chain is a clear based glitter topper filled with yellow and white satin squares alone with tiny black glitters. This is two coats over Sinful Colors Dream On, topped with Seche Vite. Photos are taken under Ott Lite.

I chose to layer Daisy Chain over this bright and cheery purple, as I really wanted the yellow to pop. I swatched it over a grassy green, but Dream On seems to be the perfect match (although Kansas Nail Graffiti has it swatched over a sweet pink jelly that is lovely as well)!

Daisy Chain went on smoothly enough to make me smile as well. The glitter was plentiful, and I didn't experience any dragging whatsoever. I think I love this glitter enough to go back for a full sized bottle! 

Daisy Chain is a part of Flash Your Tips' brand new All My Sisters line, and I do have the other three colors coming up for you! All polishes are available on Etsy, where minis run $3, and full size $7. Be sure to stop and like Rachel and Flash Your Tips on Facebook as well! I heard something about a giveaway . . . :)

*This polish was provided to me for an honest review. 

NEW 31 Day Challenge: Recreate Someone Else's Mani!

The final day, day 31! I'm a bit sad to see the end of this challenge, but also a bit relieved! I'm so behind on my review work, and my creativity began to suffer a bit toward the end there! I do still have two posts to do to catch up- I was sick last weekend, so I'll post my Childhood and Country manis this upcoming weekend.

Before I get down to the LAST mani of the challenge, I want to express my thanks. First of all: Crumpet! This challenge was SO much fun, and really pushed my boundaries several times. Thank you for coming up with the whole thing! Second: to every single participant: every single one of your manicures was wonderful. Thank you so much for your creativity, your time, and the peek into your lives. And finally: to my readers! This challenge was much longer than any I've done previously, and was daily, so my regular posting style did change dramatically. Thanks for sticking with me! So, without further ado: here is my copy cat mani for today!

The mani I chose to recreate can be seen here. It is from the Merge or Melt day, by Dressed Up Digits. I loved this mani so much that I considered buying the polishes that she originally used! But I'm not a huge fan of magnetics, so I went with what I had on hand. I started with a base of Sinful Colors Midnight Blue, then sponged on a gradient with the same and Sinful Colors San Francisco. My peacock stamp didn't want to cooperate, so I ended up with this swoopy design. I think it's from RA-107. I stamped first with Sinful Colors Black on Black, then again off center with Essie Penny Talk.

Thoughts? What was your favorite mani from this challenge? It was so hard to pick just one- I considered doing one massive post with about 10 that I wanted to recreate . . . be sure to check out the rest of the recreations in the links below!

New 31DC: Inspired by a Game

Today's prompt was a no brainer for me- my family plays a lot of games, and most of them are card games!

I started with a base of BNVS Bobbing for Apples (review coming soon!) on all fingers. I then drew out suits with a sharpie. I filled in the club and spade, and filled the negative space around the heart and diamond, with Sinful Colors Black on Black. The Q-A-K-J were done with a dotting tool and polish. I love this mani so much- red and black are just classic together, and cards are always so much fun! I can't wait to redo this mani the next time we have a card night :)

Be sure to click all the links below to see which games the other challengers were inspired by!

NEW DC: Inspired by Fabric

Hello, dears! I certainly hope that you're warmer than I am today- our high here in Wisconsin was all of 2 degrees! (Fahrenheit)

Our prompt for the day was nail inspired by fabric. The above picture is a scarf that I absolutely fell in love with this winter- a mixed Nordic print, knit scarf in grey and berry tones- gorgeous!

Here we have my attempt to recreate said scarf. I had this mani planned out from the beginning. There are so many stamping plates out there with amazing "ugly Christmas sweater" images on them, and I love them so much, that it didn't even dawn on me that I didn't own any of them! I had to improvise :) My bases are Sinful Colors Cool Grey (index), Sinful Colors Cool Grey topped with a few coats of Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure Polar Bare (middle, ring) and Wet N Wild Wild Shine Tickled Pink. I then drew the designs on with Sharpie. That's right: I own a HUGE pack of Sharpies in every color imaginable, and while the colors aren't as vibrant as polish or acrylic paint would be, they give me much more control over the image I'm creating. 

What fabric designs are you constantly drawn to? Nordic knits and paisleys are definitely eye catchers for me! Be sure to check out the rest of the fabric-inspired nails in the links below!

NEW 31 Day Challenge: Watercolor

Watercolor is another new technique to me- I'm gonna have a difficult time finding a new technique for day 17 at this rate!

I started with a base of Sinful Colors Beau Khaki. Then, one nail at a time, I painted on random spots of Sinful Colors Nirvana, Exotic Green and In the Mist. While the spots were still wet, I took my fan brush dipped in nail polish remover (belatedly realizing that you're supposed to use straight acetone) and swished it over the top of everything. I think it turned out nice, though- I love the camo look, especially on my middle finger! My father was a 25 year Army man, and this reminds me of the old school BDU's he wore when I was a kid :)

Have you tried watercolor manis before? What are your thoughts? While I like the finished product, I'm not sure this is a technique I'll return to very often.

Check out the rest of the watercolor manis in the links below!

NEW 31DC: Saran Wrap

Today's mani represents another brand new (to me) technique, the saran wrap mani! Though, in the spirit of full disclosure, I didn't have any saran wrap in the house, so I had to use cut up bits of a sandwich bag.

I began with a base of LA Colors Color Craze in Flicker, then Seche Vite. Once that was completely dry, I painted on Rimmel Sunset Orange, bunched up my bit of baggie and dabbed it off a bit. One nail at a time, of course. Then I painted on Sinful Colors Cream Pink about halfway up my nail, and dabbed that off a bit. 

I love the overall effect of this, especially since the yellow and orange are very jelly-ish, but I don't think I quite got the hang of it until I hit my ring finger- my ring and pinkie are by far my favorites :)

Check out all the other saran wrap manis in the links below!

NEW 31DC: Favorite Color Family

So excited to be moving out of specific color prompts! I just said on day 4 that my favorite color was pink, and it is. But my favorite color family, overall, is the monochrome gorgeousness of black, white and grey!

I went with my favorite, go-to nail art technique, to go with my favorite color family, the dotticure! I started with a base of NYC Sidewalkers, then did large dots with Sinful Colors Black on Black and Snow Me White. On top of the white went smaller dots in China Glaze Immortal, on top of the black: Sinful Colors Heavy Metal. 

I love the simplicity of this manicure, and am sad that it had to come off so soon :( But that just means I have to pull out something really awesome for tomorrow, no?

Check out the rest of the manis below- it should get really interesting now, as the themes are pretty open to interpretation!

NEW 31DC: Purple

Ahh, purple. Another nice, girly color that I love to play with :)

Today I started with a base of Sinful Colors Amethyst, then went over it with two coats of Lacey Lou's Stockpile (now called Penguin Polish) Delightful Mermaid. I stamped using Sinful Colors Inkwell and RA plate SE-12. I'm loving these new Red Angel plates of mine, can you tell? This was also my first go at stamping over glitter, and I'm a bit on the fence about it. Perhaps the glitter was too large and the argyle pattern too small, but it feels a bit busy overall.

Check out the rest of the purple manis in the links below!

NEW 31DC: Silver

Hello, dears! Hopefully the first day of your new year went swimmingly! Today was my first day back at work after a mini vacation, but it was a fairly easy day, so I won't complain :) 

Onto the polish, yes?

I knew I wanted to do something regal, and I've been dying after this crown image since it came in the mail (a whole four days ago!). I started with a base of China Glaze Immortal, then topped it with Sinful Colors Heavy Metal. I stamped using Sinful Colors Black on Black. The crown is from Red Angel plate RA-119, the filigree is RA-120. 

Quick side note: I got these Red Angel plates on Amazon. Something like $13 for 21 plates. There is only ONE plate in the whole bunch that I don't see myself ever using, and they stamp like a dream! Cleanup is a bitch on the super finely engraved plates, but what can you do? 

Check out the rest of the silver manis in the links below!

12 Days of Christmas: Elves!

So today's prompt is Elves, and I wasn't too excited about this one. I knew I couldn't pull off little elf faces, so I was at a loss. Then inspiration struck, and I decided to go abstract again!

I started with a base of Sinful Colors Last Chance with an accent nail in Sinful Colors Ruby Ruby. I taped off my middle finger to do the "elf tights" in Ruby Ruby, then added the dots in Sally Hansen Extreme Wear Golden-I. The dots on my index are Ruby Ruby, pinkie are Golden-I, both done with dotting tools.

There is a much better view of my accent nail here, and I kind of love it! I used French tip guides at a cockeyed angle to create my elf shoe in Last Chance, then dotted on the jingle bell tip in Golden-I. I was worried about how this would turn out, but I wish I had done the shoes on all my fingers! 

To fulfill my indie requirement, I used Slippery When Wet (unscented) top coat by Wonder Beauty Products.

Be sure to check out the other elves below, and come back tomorrow for tinsel!

12 Days of Christmas: Ornaments

Hello, dah-lings! Time for a Christmas nail art post again! Only 4 left, after today? And how am I going to put elves on my nails!?

Today's prompt, ornaments, is inspired by my favorite tree at my mother's house (she literally has one in every downstairs room in her home, including the bathroom!)

This is the tree in the parlor/computer/sitting room. The whole thing is decorated in gold and bronze with white lights, and I love the cohesive feel to it. It's so beautiful, and while it's not the tree that we put gifts under, it is my favorite tree in the house! This photo is taken with flash, to get the best idea of the colors . . .

 . . . while THIS photo was taken without flash, to give you the feel of sitting in a dark room, lit only by the Christmas tree lights, and just looking at the beauty of the tree, feeling the holiday spirit.

And here it is on my nails. I used a base of Sinful Colors Exotic Green topped with 365 Days of Color's Trimming the Tree, which even SMELLS like a Christmas tree! (But not mine, as mine is artificial.) The ornaments were stamped on with Sally Hansen Insta Dri Lightening, then gone over with Sinful Colors This Is It and a liner brush to give it some twinkle. The stamps are all from the Salon Express stamping kit. 

And here's a blurry, flash photo to show the glitz on the ornaments.

How is your tree decorated? Do you prefer a monochromatic, elegant look or a hodge-podge mess of heirloom ornaments? 

Be sure to check out the other challengers below!

Happy Hobbit Day! + A Mani

If you read my Leibster award post, or just retain a lot of random information that I post, you'll know that I am a huge nerd at heart, and the number one nerd franchise for me is the Lord of the Rings. I use that name to embody the whole of Tolkien's Middle Earth writings, most DEFINITELY including the Hobbit. So, of course, I was out at midnight last night for the premier! Actually, we were in the theatre waiting at 10pm. About 20 to 12, the other 5 people who were at our midnight showing showed up! There were only 8 people! I live in a smallish town, so it's understandable, though I was slightly disappointed to know that there are so few die hard Hobbit fans here! But it was nice to have the theatre practically to ourselves :)

Of course, this being a nail blog, there is a manicure buried in here somewhere, and here it is:

The One Ring, on my nails. I've seen a few of these today, so obviously I wasn't as original as I thought, but I still love them :)

I started with two coats of Sinful Colors This Is It, topped it with two coats of Literary Lacquers' Jealous Oberon, and then drew on the Elvish script with a Sharpie. Sharpies are seriously my new best friend for black detail work. I'm thinking about picking up one of those 24 packs of various colors and seeing how that goes! 

Has anyone else seen The Hobbit yet? Thoughts? I cannot stress enough how much I feel Martin Freeman was THE best possible choice for Bilbo! I hadn't even heard of him way back when he was confirmed in the role, but I've since watched BBC's Sherlock, and thought he would do well. Then he just blew me out of the water! It's like this was the role he was born for. I enjoyed most of the added bits (that is, bits that weren't in the book), with the exception of Radagast, who I thought was a bit campy. Though the hedgies were just too darn cute! 

I loved that the movie referenced the Lord of the Rings trilogy, though I thought that some of the visuals being basically identical was too much. 

Overall, it lived up to my expectations, which is saying rather a lot! I've been counting down to this film for about two years, and I wasn't disappointed. 

12 Days of Christmas Challenge: Candy Canes

It's December 7th, which  means today's nail art prompt is Candy Canes! This is easily the prompt that I was most excited about, and I knew right off the bat what I was going to do!

I didn't want to go with the traditional red and white candy canes, so I softened up it with pastel pink and green with white! This is only my second attempt at watermarbling, and while my first attempt wasn't stellar, it wasn't half bad! I thought that watermarbling would create the perfect candy cane swirl look, so I gave it a go.

I started off with bases of Sinful Colors Pink Forever (thumb, middle, pinkie), Sinful Colors Exotic Green (index) and Sinful Colors Snow Me White (ring- and I don't know why I picked this white polish- I hate it!) I painted a coat of Merry Christmas, Baby from my own Holiday collection over all nails. Then . . . the dreaded watermarble! I used Revlon Minted (middle and pinkie) and Wet N Wild Tickled Pink (remaining fingers) swirled in the water with Gelous. Why Gelous? Because, somehow, I don't own a single clear polish that is NOT fast drying! As watermarbling already requires a certain amount of speed, there's no way Seche Vite or Out the Door would stay pliable long enough for me to swirl it in the water. But I'm happy to report that, in a pinch, Gelous watermarbles just fine.

And there's my thumb! The light pink doesn't show up great over the only slightly darker pink, but I think my thumb is my favorite! Or my middle finger, I like that one too :)

So what do you think? Peppermint-y, even though it's not classic candy cane? Be sure to check out all the other challengers' links below!

From The Ashes: Phoenix by Pretty & Polished, plus a BONUS

Here is another beauty from Pretty & Polished that has been sitting in my draft folder for a little while (though not nearly as long as Bubble Tea!): Phoenix. I used Phoenix in my This Is Halloween Jack O Lanterns prompt, then used it all over my left hand (with an accent nail), as I'm barely proficient at nail art using my dominant hand! I'm just not ready to try it using my completely uncoordinated left hand!

Chelsea say that Phoenix is "an orange tiny and it is packed with small orange, yellow and red glitters as well as medium red hexes." This is one and a half coats of Phoenix over Wet N Wild Sunny Side Up, topped with Seche Vite. My accent nail is Sinful Colors Black on Black topped with two coats of Horrible Spray Tan by Absolut Lacquer.* Photos taken in natural sunlight. 

Phoenix is pretty much all matte glitters, except for those random accent hexes, and applies like most matte glitters do. You need a little bit of patience. Make sure each coat is completely dry before doing another, or you will get dragging. Comes with the territory. That said, I had no problems with application at all. The glitter is very densely packed, and the polish could become opaque in three coats, max, but I only bought a mini, so I'm conserving :) It does dry a bit rough (again, comes with the territory with matte and micro glitters both), so a thick topcoat or some Gelous is needed. Phoenix truly is a beautiful, fun polish that is well worth a little bit of patience on application. 

Purchase Pretty & Polished only Etsy, and check it out on Facebook. If you haven't caved and bought any yet, it's only a matter of time! And you won't be sorry :)

*Horrible Spray Tan is from the OLD Absolut Lacquer lineup, and was discontinued when Tisha recently revamped her shop. I did receive a nice package from Absolut in the mail yesterday, so expect to see colors from the NEW lineup very soon!

This Is Halloween: Graveyard

And here is my SECOND graveyard nail art to show off for the day! This one was supposed to be posted yesterday, but better late than never!

I started with a base of Sinful Colors Slate (another Walgreen's sale find!), then mixed it with Black on Black to varying degrees to try my hand at shading. It feels too simple, but it actually took me quite a while, and I'm quite proud of the finished result! 

Be sure to check out all the other challengers below!
Cheers,

-Liz-