Adventures in Layering Polish

Earlier this month I was looking at my collection and wanting to combine some polish magic together to create one amazing stunning look!!!



There is nothing too complex about today's post, not nail art directions or anything. This is purely a fun trick to bring something new out of your collection just by playing. My inspiration polish for this look was Indigo Bananas Hole in the Sky, which I have swatches of here in case you forgot what it looked like.

I wanted to create the same look, glowing flakies, jelly base, super awesome shimmer and a holo finish to top it off but instead of purple I wanted a teal look!



TA-DA!!!! I practically squeed out loud when I looked at this for the first time under my lamp. It was just gorgeous.





To start off the look I did two coats of Smitten Polish (now Dreamland Lacquer) Lazy River, which is a green leaning teal jelly polish with iridescent green flakies. Then I topped that with a magical shifter polish, Smitten Polish A Wedding Dress that Isn't Bright Turquoise – a sheer turquoise polish with lovely golden shifting pigment that mimics unicorn pee.



And then to top the whole thing off I put a layer of Indigo Bananas spectraflair holo top coat 35 (for a linear holo finish).



The results were stunning and when I took these nails out in the sun, oh man was I SOOO distracted. I could not stop staring at my nails. Just look at that golden glow and the holo finish and the glowing flakies! Too much to take in! :)

I'm sorry to say the Smittens here are no longer available, but you never know what you can find on the secondary market.

So now I ask you what are some cool layering experiments you've tried in your nail polish collection? If you haven't tried yet, I totally challenge you to do so! I think this is a super fun way to use some older polish and create your a whole new stunning look!

Lake Tahoe Vacation Nails

Hey guys, I return from vacation today but I'm pre-posting once again so I can vacation without worries and so you won't worry about missing a thing!!!



Today I get to show you my ever so awesome vacation nails. Usually like to do a good skittle nail when I go on vacation so I don't get bored too easily with my nails.

For this awesome look I used my Smitten Polish neon flakies, and because I'll be in the sunshine, I added a layer of Indigo Bananas Spectraflair Holo top coat (SF 35)! Both of these brands are some of my absolute favorites so I was so happy I could pair them together. Also fun fact: turns out these ladies are friends in real life too! Yay for happy nice makers!!!



As you can see, the top coat makes these beautiful polishes sparkle in the sun. And now for the specifics, from thumb to pinky we have, Smitten Polish Terra Opal, Smitten Polish Lazy River, Smitten Polish Ice Pop Paradise, Smitten Polish Aer Opal V. 1.



And as you can see in the shade, the flakies come out to play! Soooo much fun! Love that the addition of holo does not overshadow the flakie goodness in these either. For the stamping I broke out my Rica Blackout Polish again and used my MoYou London Explorer 25 plate.



So what do you think?! I totally love to holo all the things so I just love that I was able to holo these flakies, it is the ultimate vacation look.

Vertical Neon Smitten Gradient

Hey everyone, happy Friday. It's been a pretty busy week but I wanted to help enable you all in case you hadn't picked up the Smitten Polish neon flakies yet, they are available in her shop thanks to a restock she had earlier this week.

In case you need a refresher, I reviewed* and compared these puppies here and here, but last night I thought it was high time I combined them all in a single look. So I have seen quite a few vertical gradients out there and thought combining these eight polishes would make a spectacular bright rainbow look!

To create a vertical gradient of this kind, I didn't use any make up sponges, just painted with the brushes. I would paint one side 2/3 of the nail in one color, and then go over the other side with the other color for 2/3 the nail. Leaving the middle 1/3 of the nail to be a combo of the two colors. 

So let's take a look at the individual nails and I'll show you which colors they are.

This is Aqua Opal (left) and Ice Pop Paradise.

This is Lazy River and Aqua Opal. 

This is Terra Opal and Lazy River. This is my favorite nail because the middle third turned out the best! 

This is Ignis Opal and Jar of Sunshine. Now Jar of Sunshine takes over here, but trust me, Ignis Opal is in there, just didn't layer well with the strength of the neon in Jar of Sunshine. I also have the original version of Ignis, which is why it probably looks a bit different than the website. 

This is Aer Opal and Pool Noodle. These two look the most similar, but they are actually quite different. Because they were on my pinky they had the least opportunity to create the middle third of a mixture, so the whole nail looked mostly one color. I have the first version of Aer Opal if anyone is wondering, I think that is why my Aer looks less purple than the shots on the website. 

These all retail for $11.50 on the Smitten Polish website. 

So I just thought I'd show some more love to these awesome neon flakies. They clearly deserve a revisit now and again, they are quite awesome in my ever so humble opinion. Do you have any of these? Found a way to combine them that I haven't tried yet?!

*These were originally sent to me as press samples for my honest review.

Smitten Polish Neon Flakies Collection Pt. 2

Hey guys, get ready for a super fun week. Not only is it a short work week for me, but I've got some awesome posts set up – starting with this one!

*Press Samples*

Say hello to the Smitten Polish Neon Flakies Pt. 2, plus some comparisons with Pt. 1 later in the post! These lovely new neon flakies will be available for pre-order Wednesday July 1 at 2 p.m. CT for 24 hours.

I'm going to cover the application first, because the formula for this whole collection is very similar. Application is great for this whole collection, most people could probably get away with two coats, but I applied three because my nails are longer and I didn't want even a hint of visible nail line. I love the jelly finish on these, makes the polish look extra shiny and squishy! The formula is easy to work with, the flakies are all evenly distributed and lay flat on the nail with zero drag upon application.







First up we have Smitten Polish Pool Noodle. This lovely is a beautiful neon pink jelly polish with golden iridescent flakies throughout. My photos make it a little less neon than this polish actually is, but it is truly bright, trust me!







Next we have Smitten Polish Jar of Sunshine. To me this is seriously a glass of Sunny D (remember that drink!?!) bottled into a nail polish. I love this neon traffic cone orange neon flakie. This one also has the golden iridescent flakies. This too, was brighter in person than my photos could capture.



I included a these comparison shots with the similar Opalescent Elements warmer shades. Please keep in mind that these neon polishes seriously freaked out my camera so the colors here aren't exactly accurate, but I thought it would be helpful to see them side by side. From right to left : Aer Opal, Pool Noodle, Ignis Opal and Jar of Sunshine. Aer Opal is clearly more purple than Pool Noodle, but their flakies are the same, just different bases. I would say that Pool Noodle is definitely brighter. Now the bases of Ignis Opal and Jar of Sunshine are very different. I would almost say that Ignis Opal is a more pastel type of neon finish that is a great orange leaning coral finish. Jar of Sunshine is clearly a bright neon orange finish. Ignis Opal flakies are green leaning, while Jar of Sunshine has the golden flakies.

 

Now onto the cooler shades of the collection. 







This is Smitten Polish Lazy River. When I first saw this polish my heart skipped a beat. This is just the most perfect color, clearly my favorite here! This is a lovely green-leaning teal jelly polish with green iridescent flakies. This isn't neon like the other two, but a lovely shade of teal and the flakies make it nice and bright.







And finally we have Smitten Polish Ice Pop Paradise. This is a close second favorite of this collection, it is the most stunning shade of blurble (a blue leaning purple). This jelly flakie polish looks purple and blue all at the same time and has green iridescent flakies. I love how chameleon this polish is – sometimes blue, sometimes purple with a lovely green flash.



And now I have the cooler shades of the Smitten Polish neon flakies. From left to right: Terra Opal, Lazy River, Aqua Opal and Ice Pop Paradise. Terra Opal is clearly a neon green with the golden flakies and Lazy River, while green leaning, is clearly teal with green flakies. Aqua Opal is a gorgeous almost cerulean blue with green flakies and Ice Pop Paradise is a blue leaning purple with green flakies, where the blue looks more navy than cerulean.



These are all really great and unique in my collection. Clearly my favorite is Lazy River is my favorite, but they are all so lovely.

So what do you think? Which do you like best? What do you plan on adding to your collection. I really like how they all look together, they would make an awesome set!

Once again these are available for pre-order at the Smitten Polish website on Wednesday July 1 at 2 p.m. CT and will be available to purchase for 24 hours – so no worry about having to hit the order button right at 2, which is always convenient!