40 Great Nail Art Ideas: Glitter Topper or Flakie

Happy Friday everyone! I'm here for a quick 40 Great Nail Art Ideas post! This week the prompt was Glitter Topper for Flakie and my particular patter was Houndstooth/Tweed/Plaid. And since I'm Christmas looks all month here at Newsie Nail Novice, I of course broke out some great red and green glitter for this look.



For the base of this look I used a Different Dimension Armstrong, a beautiful gold holo with some bronze flakies throughout. Then I added a layer of Model City Polish Christmas with a Chance of Snow.



Then I broke out my VERY first stamping plate ever, some Konad plate that had a plaid design (sorry I don't remember which one it was) and used KBShimmer Eyes White Open to stamp two plaid designs over the glitter.



This look was a little too much for me. SO much going on. But how perfect is that glitter for the holidays? I'm not much of a glitter person, but for anyone who is, this is a must have!

As usual don't forget to look at all the other ladies' nail art looks with glitter or flakie toppers!


   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

Indie Metallic Holo Comparison Showdown

Happy Monday everyone! When I got back from my girls weekends in San Luis Obispo earlier today, I had a nail mail package courtesy of Fair Maiden Polish. Recently I purchased a few newer polishes they had released when they restocked their Garden Party collection just last weekend.

Included in this order was another golden holo polish, and while I wanted to compare it immediately to the LE Fair Maiden Polish I had that was similar, I realized I probably had a whole slew of golden holo indie polishes I could compare.

So off to my shelf I went in search of some comparable golden holos. It's definitely been one of those colors I have purchased a lot of lately. And who doesn't love gold?! It is the perfect accent for any look.

While in search on comparable golden holos, I realized I had some other metallic holo polishes I wished to compare. So since I was super busy last week and left you with nothing on Friday, I thought I'd include two comparisons in one post – an Indie Metallic Holo Comparison Showdown!!!



Now I'll start with the golds, since that was my original mission. None of these are exact dupes, but they are similar.



The cast of characters in this comparison are, from thumb to pinkie, Different Dimension Armstrong, F.U.N. Lacquer TGIF, Fair Maiden Polish Gilded Garden, Fair Maiden Polish Secret Garden and ILNP Iconic.







 

Application on all of these were very easy to manage. Armstrong, TGIF and Iconic all were opaque in two coats. The Fair Maidens had a thicker consistency and took three coats for perfect opacity.

The differences in these polish is varied. I would say Armstrong leans more champagne with copper gold chrome flakies and has the strongest linear holo finish. TGIF has a more true gold finish with matching chrome flakies and a more scattered less strong linear holo finish. Gilded Garden is also a golden holo with pink iridescent flakies which create a lovely pink flash. Secret Garden has those same flakies but a more coppery gold finish. Both the Fair Maiden Polishes had a softer scattered holo finish. I would describe Iconic as a rosy, lavender-leaning gold holo polish with brighter golden flakies throughout (which I never noticed before comparing all these polishes side by side) and a strong linear holo finish.

Now let's take a look at the chrome flakie holos I had that I had been itching to compare for quite some time now!



This case of characters contains only two brands – ILNP and Indigo Bananas. The Indigo Bananas polishes here were released well before the INLP flakie craze that has been flooding the interwebs lately – so they definitely hold a special place in my heart. The colors, from index to pinkie are, Indigo Bananas Taffeta, Darling?, ILNP Happily Ever After, Indigo Bananas Bridal Veil and ILNP Fame.







All of these polishes had the same great coverage and application. Opaque in two coats, smooth application and no difficulty with the flakies sticking up or creating texture here.

I think the biggest differences in these polishes lie in their content and holo finishes. The Indigo Bananas seem to have a more scattered less dense holo finish with heavier emphasis on the flakies. While the ILNP has a strong linear holo finish with much more holo content per polish, balancing the holo with the flakies. Also Happily Ever After and Taffeta, Darling? are clearly different shades of purple and Fame has some golden flakies as well, making it the slightest bit more golden that the straight silver flakies in Bridal Veil.

While all these colors are definitely similar, I am sure glad that I have them all and can definitely see a purpose for all of them!

Do you have any of these polishes? What do you think? Which of these do you like the most?!

Coral Polish Comparison Showdown

I don't know about you but warmer weather always gets me longing for a good coral manicure. And being that coral is one of my absolute favorite nail polish colors, you better believe I have a bounty of it!



And boy do I have a ton of coral polishes! There are all different types of corals. Pink leaning, red leaning, orange leaning. For the purposes of this post, I decided to compare all my cremes and holos that were in the coral family.

Let's start with the creme's first. I'll start with the pinker leaning polishes to start off with!







From thumb to pinkie we have:

Essie Wife Goes On: This is a gorgeous pink leaning coral, but truly more of a watermelon color. A great summer color! This is two coats.

Essie Come Here: This was my favorite of these five polishes. My favorite type of coral is a more red orange leaning coral that is still bright. This is two coats.

OPI Live.Love.Carnival: This is a lighter, pinker coral than Come Here. This is a great bright color, but a bit to pink for my liking. This is two coats.

Essie Sunday Funday: This polish is almost practically a dupe for Live.Love.Carnival if it didn't have these fine silver flakies, which doesn't really make it a true creme I know. This was three coats the formula was pretty watery.

KBShimmer You're So Coral: Honestly, this polish shouldn't even be in the comparison. This polish is a lovely orange/peach leaning coral, but it's more neon than anything, and unfortunately I just couldn't capture it's beauty in this post!  This is two coats.

Now on to the darker cremes.







From thumb to pinkie:

OPI Aloha from OPI: This was my newest addition to my coral collection, and the real reason this post came to life. I had to see how my new polish compared to my collection. While I love the color of this one, a bright perfect darker coral, the formula was not great, it took three coats for this opacity.

Zoya Heidi: This polish is an oranger leaning coral, but still a big favorite of mine. This is two coats.

Zoya Rocha: Almost a dupe with Heidi, except it has a very hidden shimmer and is a smidge darker, that you can only detect in certain lighting. This is two coats.

OPI Red Lights Ahead, Where?: My all time favorite coral, and it still holds true. More of a red orange coral, bright and pigmented. I just love this polish and it has yet to be dethroned as my favorite coral creme. This is two coats.

Essie Hip-Anema: This polish is less of a coral and more of a tomato red-orange. Still bright and well pigmented, and very good for stamping! This is two coats.

Now on to the indie holos! Some of these are a stretch for coral, but I picked all my polishes in the pink/orange/reddish coral family. We'll start with the lighter/pinker colors.



From thumb to pinkie:

Different Dimension Coral Rose: This is truly in the lighter pink coral category and was my first coral holo polish. I do like it, but I favor a more bright and vibrant, less pink holo! This polish took three coats for this opacity.

Colors by Llarowe Nice Melons!: This is less of a coral and more of an orange peach holo. This polish was very bright, but had the weakest holo glow of the lot of holos I feature in this post. This was opaque in two coats. 

KBShimmer Whole Lava Lovin': This polish is a bright pink holo that leans more cherry to me. Though it looks very similar to the next two polishes, it is a tad lighter, just didn't really photograph that way. It is happy and bright and fun, this is two coats. 

Colors by Llarowe Lucy, I'm Home!:This is a bright pink coral holo that is just lovely. When I originally purchased this, I thought my search for the perfect coral holo was over, that was until I discovered the world of orange-red holos (my more preferred coral family color). This is two coats.

Fair Maiden Polish Total Eclipse of the Heart: This polish is a tad darker than the previous two, but is the brightest polish of the group, but leans a darker more raspberry pink holo polish with stronger violet undertones. This is two coats.

Now on to the orange/red holos!



Smitten Polish The Second Lobster: This polish was an oops mini batch from Smitten, and I just had to get it since I love The First Lobster so much. It basically is a lighter less bright version of The First Lobster (middle finger). This also had a thinner formula and required three coats for opacity.

KBShimmer Rust No One: This polish leans just a tad more orange and darker than The Second Lobster, but is a really gorgeous orange leaning coral in my eyes. I just love this polish. This is two coats.

Smitten Polish The First Lobster: I think this polish still holds the title of my favorite coral polish, though some wouldn't classify it as such. But this is one of my absolute all time favorites, it is bright and the perfect amount of red-orange holo. This is two coats.

Elevation Polish Yeti Hides in the Mini Apple: This polish popped up this year and quickly stole my heart. I thought it was a real contender to maybe dethrone The First Lobster in my heart at my top coral holo, but this is a more cherry holo. Still gorgeous and amazing in its own right. The formula was perfection, almost a one coater. This polish also had a golden shimmer and flakies inside, setting it apart from the other classic holo finishes featured here.

Bear Pawlish Bathory: Bear Pawlish is a newer to me brand that I haven't had a ton of time to play with. I threw it into this post, because I orignally purchased this polish because I thought it might be in this family of color. It's not, instead is a gorgeous smoky raspberry, a perfect fall holo in my opinion. I have nothing in my collection like it. This is two coats.

So which polishes win here? Well everyone's taste here differs. For me, I would have to say my two favorite cremes are Essie Come Here and OPI Red Lights Ahead Where? And for the holo category I would have to say Smitten Polish The First Lobster and Elevation Polish Yeti Hides in the Mini Apple.

But there is a shade of coral here for everyone to love. How do you like your corals, more light than dark? More orange leaning or pink leaning?

Have any coral recommendations for me to check out?! None of these are actual dupes of each other, they are just close, which is why I feel justified in owning them all! :-) Hope you enjoyed this post, it was a lot of work to put together!!!

Different Dimension Aquila and Lyra with Born Pretty accents

I don't typically post on Sundays, but I had some time to show off some amazing limited edition polishes I recently purchased from Different Dimension and I wanted my readers to have a chance to snag them while they are still listed in the shop (and I don't know how much longer that will be since these polishes are just super spectacular!



Aquila and Lyra are part of Different Dimension's Shooting Stars series, which are limited edition polishes that are typically offered one time a month and then they are unable to purchase again. The maker made extras after the preorder for this set of Shooting Stars, and they are currently available in the shop, so I thought I'd hop to it and get this post up!









First up we have Lyra which is a gorgeous holographic polish with cooler multichrome flakies dispersed among silver flakies, it is gorgeous inside and out. It is such a complex flakie, very different from what I've seen on the flakie market so far. Which is why I wanted to share before the sell out and are never seen again! Lyra retails for $13.

For the nail art, I broke some Born Pretty Store Butterfly Water Decal, which was perfectly complimentary to the flakie nail art. And application was a breeze too! Just cut out the decal you want, remove the plastic topper, use tweezers to hold in warm water for 20 seconds. Then use the tweezers again to remove the image from the paper, place on the manicure (which should be fully dry) and use a tissue to absorb any remaining water off the nail and decal. Then top coat and you are good to go!









Next up is Different Dimension Aquila, which is another holographic polish with teal leaning multichrome flakies and what I think are some teal holographic microglitters. This one feels very aquatic to me and I definitely see myself using it in an ocean themed mani or two in the future. Aquila also retails for $13.

For the nail art here I used one of the new Born Pretty Store plates I was provided for review, BP-L 005, which is currently out of stock, but I'm sure they'll restock soon. I've been very impressed with the Born Pretty Store plates I've tried out so far and the images on this plate are super fun and varied. I can see myself using this for quite a few looks in the future! And to stamp I used KBShimmer Eyes White Open to stamp the image – this white is my holy grail white. I'm so happy I found it, you'll be seeing much much more of this coming up I promise!

Now to give you even more incentive! Pointless Cafe has a Four Year celebratory post up which may have a Different Dimension discount code in it (expires tomorrow so you better hop to it!). Also KBShimmer is celebrating a milestone as well and there may be a good code for you to use to save 20 percent on your order – and if you stamp, you NEED Eyes White Open. And for all your Born Pretty Store needs, feel free to use my personalized discount code TRAH10, for ten percent off!

Now go and take advantage of the discounts and the limited editions before they are not available anymore!

Green and Gold Skittle Nails

Hi everyone, today I am featuring two polishes I paired together using nail vinyls to create a fun skittle nail look.



To create this look I used two really amazing polishes, which unfortunately are not available for sale anymore. So I'm sorry to make you drool at these hard to find polishes, but they just paired too well together!



Ok so this amazing green polish is Octupus Party Nail Lacquer Chimera. This lovely polish is a olive-leaning green polish with a holo finish and various multicolored flakies scattered throughout and subtle gold flashes of color. The mastermind behind Octupus Party Nail Lacquers, Dave, released this beauty on his birthday and I'm not quite sure if it will be back at some point or not, but you never know with him. He likes to keep his fans happy!



The gold polish I used was Different Dimension Armstrong, part of the Shooting Star Series which was inspired by Astronauts. Armstrong is a beautiful bronze holo polish with tiny copper flakies scattered throughout. The holo in this one is very strong in direct sunlight, below.



Overall I just really loved how this skittle came together. I like how each polish had its own subtle hint of flakies, which I'm really starting to like the most regarding this whole flakie craze. I think that flakies are best served as a subtle extra to a color or look which gives it an extra unique little something. I like when there is a just a tiny scattering of flakies, because flakies all on their own look a little textured to me, and I was never much into the textured trend. I like smooth shiny nails! I also really like how the gold flashes of Chimera complimented the bronze shine of Armstrong.

I also just really love skittle nails because I wear them longer because it takes me longer to get bored of them!

What do you think about this whole flakie craze? You like it in your face, or as a subtle extra? Or with added holo?

P.S. Stay tuned everyone! I've got my blogiversary coming up on Friday and you won't want to miss the epic giveaway I am hosting to celebrate!

Floral nail art for a summer wedding

So as I am getting older, I attend less and less weddings! It's somewhat of a relief, as I remember summers where I was going to one every other weekend.

Earlier this summer my husband and I had the pleasure of attending a wedding, and I feel like it just might have been the first wedding we attended where neither one of us were actually in the wedding – which is bliss. No need for a fancy bridesmaid dress or tux or a fuss about your appearance. No showing up early, making sure things are on schedule – just attend, enjoy your meal and have some fun.

My husband and I at the festivities!

Us with the lovely newlyweds!

Anyway, so today I am sharing with you the nails I sported for said wedding!

Since this was an outdoor wedding, I decided to go for a floral theme. I went to my recently purchased pile and pulled out Different Dimension Garden Goddess and then picked out a floral stamp to go on top.



Garden Goddess' formula was a little on the thick side, but it wasn't so much so that it was difficult to work with. The holo finish in it is a little weaker than some holo bombs I sport, but it is subtle and I think it's beautiful. 



I stamped using MoYou London Pro Plate 06. I used Essie Hip-Anema, which is an orange-leaning red creme polish to stamp with. Was hoping it would go well with my coral dress.

Where to purchase: You can purchase Different Dimension polishes at their shop on Etsy. I believe I purchased this polish at Llarowe for $13.

So I hoped you liked my wedding nails today guys! What nails and designs do you typically sport for weddings? Do you do different designs for outdoor weddings or indoor weddings? Share with me you wedding nail tales!

Recreating Different Dimension's The Lovers, The Dreamers and Me

So I was recently lusting after some beautiful blue holo polish that was included in Llarowe's A Box, Indied for April. Obtaining an A Box, Indied can be difficult, because they are highly sought after and usually contain polishes you can only get if you get your hands on the box. They are also $50, which is expensive for most people. Myself included.

Anyway I was really wanting Different Dimension's The Lovers, The Dreamers and Me polish, which was only available in the A Box, Indied. So I went into project mode to see if I could recreate the polish. First off, I'll show you some swatches of it from a fellow blogger over at Cosmetic Sanctuary. Lisa was kind enough to share her swatches with me, so go visit her site and take a look around! I'm sure you'll love it!





The Lovers, The Dreamers and Me is a bluish purple holographic polish. The to photo is under indoor light with the bottle light right under a bright light (close to sunlight).

Here is my recreation!









I used two coats of a cobalt blue polish I own, Essie Butler Please, and a coat of my favorite linear holo top coat, Colors by Llarowe Leather and Lace. I think I got pretty close, but my blue is a bit brighter, and less purple toned. But I'm happy with my imitation nonetheless.

I really need to practice doing more work with my current polishes. I definitely need to take a break from buying polishes. I need to take up more nail art as well. Just got some new stamping plates from MoYou, so expect some fun nail art coming up soon!