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!

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!!!


   

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Review Girly Bits Lack of Pies

Recently I had the pleasure of trying my first Girly Bits Polish and I was very impressed. My second at bat with the company left me even more wowed!



This, my friends, is Girly Bits Lack of Pies and it is a chameleon of a polish. While I wore it I could not stop staring at it because it shifts so much. It goes from green to pink, sometimes there is a hint of mossy green and then it has that gorgeous show-stopping holo!



In indirect light, above and below, you see its many shifts between pink, mossy green and brighter green.



In direct sunlight, below, it almost appears a khaki green with wonderful holo payoff.



Overall this polish was a knockout for me. So much hype is given to many of the multichromes on the market, but I think this collection has been overlooked. This is multichrome, but isn't the same animal as the others on the market. It's color shifts are so unique, I seriously could not stop staring at my polish. The color shifts were also very obvious and even in the sunlight, you could see the shifts!



Application: This went on great with three thin coats, had absolutely no complaints about it's application. I topped with HK Girl Top Coat and it lasted a good while on my nails (I did not want to take it off).

Where to Purchase: I purchased this polish on Llarowe for $13. You can also purchase on the Girly Bits website, which is based in Canada (so shipping might be a bit more), for $12.50.

What do you think of this polish? I was so impressed that I definitely have to get Go and Shake a Tower and Billy Jeans after seeing how amazing this polish is!

Review of Dance Legend Strutter with Holo Stamping Fun

I have to say that Dance Legend Strutter is amazing. I unfortunately did not get a shot of this polish without my subtle stamp on top, but it is amazing prismatic bright in-your-face green!



This was a bright green with a subtle holo and it was just this amazing perfect green. I stamped a Color Club Beyond chevron (which is a holo-tastic grey polish), and the results were a rainbow party, but very hard to capture on camera.



See the little waves of holo rainbows? It was a subtle stamping job, but I thought it made my nails pretty original. Below is with no sunlight, so you can better see the stamping job, without all that holo getting in the way.





Overall this Dance Legend Wow Prism polish is absolutely amazing, I wish I had gotten a shot of this alone, but that just encourages me to wear it again. And believe me, I will be pulling this polish out again for sure. I'm super tempted to get more Wow Prisms, but I'm holding off on buying polish for the moment.

Application: Strutter went on perfectly with two thin coats. There was nothing to complain about regarding it's formula, not too thick or watery, did not flood the cuticles either. Upon removal there was also no staining (I used a base coat). Color Club Beyond was also super easy to stamp with, and I'm sure I'll be pulling it out again as a stamping polish!

Where to Purchase: Dance Legend polishes can be purchased through their website. I purchased this polish on Llarowe (was part of my packages that were stuck in USPS purgatory). They retail for $13. Purchasing from the Russia site will take a long while to reach the US from what I've heard. Strutter is not currently in stock at Llarowe, but some of their other Wow Prisms, if that tempts you!

Finally St. Patrick's Day Nails

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Green is my favorite color and I have Irish ancsestry on both my mother and father's side heralding from County Cork and County Armagh! Needless to say, I never need an excuse to wear green!



 I hemmed and hawed over what to wear for St. Patrick's Day. I had so many great and festive stamps I could have put to good use, but after the weekend I had (I was stranded overnight in Santa Cruz Saturday night and had very little sleep) I decided to keep it pretty simple for the most part.

The sparkle wow portion of the manicure (the index, middle and pinky finger) is KBShimmer Get Clover It. This is a mix of shades of green and gold circle glitter suspended in a green jelly polish. The shades of deep green and gold make this the perfect St. Patrick's Day nail polish!

Because I am getting into stamping, I couldn't simply just wear glitter, so for an accent I used a base of Zoya Holly, which is a really beautiful bright green shimmer polish. I stamped two different size clovers from Winstonia plate W105 with Essie Penny Talk. To add a bit more gold glitter to the whole accent, I did one coat of Essie Gold as it Gets.

Application: KBShimmer Get Clover It is a tricky devil because you want to make sure you get even dispersal of those great circle glitter. There was some dabbing involved to perfect glitter placement, so I'd say this is about three coats. Zoya Holly applies like a dream and could almost be a one coater, I used two just to be safe. Essie Penny Talk is the greatest stamping polish, WOW. I haven't tried it to stamp before, and it made the whole process so much easier than it has been! Maybe the fact that I was just doing a single image at a time, but Penny Talk transferred so well! Essie as Gold as it Gets was just a last minute add, and I'm not sure I'm super thrilled with it in this manicure, but I guess it adds something special.

Where to purchase: KBShimmer sells Get Clover It for $8.75. I purchased Zoya Holly from their website and their polishes retail for $9. Essie polishes, including Penny Talk and As Gold As It Gets are available as many retail locations such as Walgreens, Kohl's, Ulta and all over the internet. They retail for $8-9.

Looking ahead: With no holiday hanging over my head, I have a slew of ideas for upcoming posts including comparison swatches, new stamping plates, going to finally try an ombré with a makeup sponge, spring colors and so much more. Anything you want to see? Connect with me via email, Facebook or anyone of my various social media connections!

What are you sporting on your nails today?