Hooked On Polish: watercolor

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Some Grungy Neons

Well helloo you!

Before anything else, I want to wish my boyfriend a very happy birthday! We had only started dating this time last year so I didn't really do anything for his bday, heck I barely knew him! But now I do know him, and I do know how lucky I am to have him, so happy birthday hon :)

Now onto the nails! I finally got me some neons to play with. I've been craving neons for the first time in my life (probably all the bloggers' fault for posting pretty pretty swatches) so I got some of the new China Glaze neons and some random ones. When I sat down to polish, however, I could not decide how to wear them! I really think I short-circuited from all the pretty colors, it was just too much for my poor brain.

I tried using two that were close in color for the two-accent-nail look, but it was still too bright for my unaccustomed eyes. I tried layering it over white, not layering it over white, thought of a gradient, you name it, I did it. Finally it was getting late and I was cranky knowing I had to work the next day, so I just sort of applied them all on a nail. My intention was to recreate this mani by Rebecca but my watercoloring skills are disappoint. Then I just started brushing everything on with my paintbrush, unintentionally using this tutorial from Nails Adored.

My pointer finger is a bit of a *spoiler alert*!

So...yeah, that's pretty much what I ended up with. I haven't decided if I love it or not, I'm actually still wearing it as I type. It's definitely fun and different. The pointer looks different because I stamped with Essie Blanc while experimenting, then switched to Whirlwind White when I decided to go for it. I just wish my stamping would have been straighter, still can't get the placing perfect.

Next time I'm definitely wearing the neons on their own, eye searing be damned!

Oh, the polishes I used were:

China Glaze Sun Kissed
China Glaze Surfin' for Boys
Spoiled I'm so Jaded (or Permission to Proceed)
Pop Beauty Mandarin
Bettina Jeans Over Dyed
BM 201 and Sally Hansen Whirlwind White for stamping

Is there anything specific you're craving this season? Is it a different style for you?
Have a good day!

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Black and White Challenge Day 4 - White Base with Color

Beware of the fail ahead! You should probably avert your eyes, it's not pretty.

Still here? Ok then. Today is day 4 of the Black and White Challenge from Mateja at Purple Glitters and Dolores at Colorful Bottle. The mani of the day was white base with some color and I thought of watercolor nails! Mind you, this only happened because I failed hard at creating the mani idea my boyfriend gave me.

Behold!

Sorry for the less than stellar cleanup!

I started with two coats of Sally Hansen Hard to Get and I was really liking the stark white nails! It made them look longer somehow. I almost didn't watercolor at this point. I should have listened to myself.

Oh. They look like clown nails or something. I tried to replicate Chalkboard Nails' look but I didn't have the same colors and I just don't like the ones I chose. I'm not even 100% on which color is on which nail because I changed them up between nails when I saw they didn't spread or mix like I thought they should. The general idea though was red, yellow, blue and purple. A lime green snuck in there on one nail too to see if I could salvage it but, alas, it was too late.

I'm sorry I don't have anything better to show you but after a day of dress shopping I'm just too beat to redo them. Not to mention that I already missed the challenge "deadline" on almost every time zone (I think?).

Remember to see what the other ladies participating came up with! You probably need it after seeing mine.

Taya