Three Greens Nail Art Challenge

Hi everyone, I'm back with another Crumpet's 52 Week Pick and Mix Challenge. This week I chose the prompt three shades of green and/or yellow (the other prompt was fire and I couldn't quite figure out how to tie the two together, but Serene at Copycat Claws did an amazing job!).

So I didn't just pick out three greens, I picked four, because I just love green. It is my favorite color!



I started out with two thin layers of Color Club Kismet, because, I guess I can't do a manicure with out some holo!!! Kismet is a great super linear holo that is almost lime green leaning yellow green, just lovely.



Then I took three Zoya greens, from top to bottom, Noot, Hunter and Shawn and stamped them using this scale-y design.



It's harder to see the three greens in the light because, um, hello holo, but I think the effect is nice in the shade and in the sun!



The stamping plate I used is Lily Anna 09. I just love my Lily Anna plates, I seriously probably use them for more jobs than anything other plates I own (I own Lily Anna Plates 6-10). I think I want to collect them all because all the looks are so versatile. I might ask for some for my birthday (coming up in early March).

Overall I called these my dragon nails, because I just love the look of the scales and the green was just so dragon-esque!

My original concept for this mani was using Noot as the base and various green holo polishes in a dotticure gradient.



The reason I didn't stick with this one is because I feel the three shades of green holo get lost in each other. I decided to show it off though because look at how amazing Noot looks as a base. I can't believe this was an untried for me. I will definitely be breaking this out again for a nail art project in the future. Just look at how creamy and dark it is. Such a strong color, without being super black, which you can get with a lot of dark creme polishes. Just stunning!

Anyway, that is it for today. Don't forget to check out the other ladies taking part in this challenge!!!


   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

The Ultimate Fall Leaves Gradient Nail Art

You guys, I love fall. And I love the fact that I get to work in a town with the most beautiful trees. I mean take a look at my background on my iPhone, I truly love these trees.



These trees are the Chinese Pistache, and Los Altos is full of them. They are green most of the year, and then every year in November, the leaves turn from green to yellow to the most magnificent neon orange-red. So in honor of these trees, I created a matching manicure.



I mean I love this manicure so much, not only am I currently wearing it, I was originally going to wait to show you all this until Wednesday (to stick to my normal posting schedule). But I literally could not wait to share with you the amazingness that is this manicure. I think this might be my most favorite nail art ever!!!



To start this manicure I did two coats of Sally Hansen OMGhost (which has a great formula, except for some minor bubbling, and is especially great for stamping). After that I sponged on a gradient of Zoya Shawn, Kiko Melon 356 and OPI Red Lights Ahead Where (which is I think my most favorite coral creme of all time, see my blog header).



And then, because I still am super critical of my gradient, I added a layer of China Glaze Fairy Dust, because Fairy Dust covers a multitude of mistakes. To finish it all off, I stamped my favorite fall stamp ever, Bundle Monster BM H-11. I still feel like my gradient skills need some work, but practice makes perfect and I just truly love this manicure to death!



I never want to take this off, I am so in love with it! What do you guys think? I know a lot of us are all working on holiday nails in preparation for the fun holiday season, but I just can't get over fall. I haven't quite accepted winter is coming, because really in California, does winter ever really arrive?