Nude and Mauve Ombre with Lacy Glitter

I recently received a package of some current Color Club shades. As I pulled the bottles out of the box, fate took control and lined up four of the shades from lightest to darkest. They looked gorgeous in an ombre together, and I had to oblige the universe's wishes.

Of course, I was still missing a fifth shade, and while I was searching for the perfect polish, I figured it couldn't hurt to add some glitter, either.

So, the four fated Color Clubs that I was destined to use are:
Color Club Blank Canvas (white)
Color Club Barely There (light tan)
Color Club Get a Mauve On It (mauve)
Color Club Midnight Mulberry (plum)

Then, I grabbed A England Elaine for the thumb, and added a layer of Sally Hansen Eyelet from the Luxe Lace line on all the nails. The glitter density was good, but I ended up with a lot of bubbles on the nails. Not sure what happened there.

I haven't done an ombre in a while, but I totally should wear them more often. They're really gorgeous and chic, especially in shades of nudes/neutrals like this. Big thanks to the universe and to Color Club for setting me up to hit one out of the ombre park (IMO)!

Glam Polish Welcome to Storybrooke Collection Swatches & Review

Glam Polish has a new collection out, Welcome to Storybrooke, inspired by ABC's TV show 'Once Upon a Time'. I personally watch and enjoy the show; not only am I a sucker for fairy tales slash anything Disney related, but there's lots of good eye candy for both ladies and the fellas. Speaking of eye candy, let's take a look at these Glam Polish shades!

Hat Trick is a multichrome holographic that shifts from a pink-rose to copper to green. I've chosen to layer my swatch over black, because that's how I would wear it out into the world.

The Thing You Love Most is a multichrome holographic that shifts from violet to pink to orange. Again, I've layered one coat over black for my swatches to amp up the multichromatic effect.

A Land Without Magic is a teal-leaning emerald green holographic with iridescent microglitter and shimmer. I used two coats.

Desperate Souls is a deep, blackened purple with a holographic finish. It has a pretty green shimmer to it that shifts to a warm pink when seen at an angle, though unfortunately I had a tough time capturing it in my photos. Two coats.

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree is a deep, plum colored holographic with a magenta shimmer to it. This is by far and away my favorite of the shades I received to swatch, which is not to say the others were bad! This one is just that good. It's fully gorgeous and luxe. Two coats.

Second Star to the Right is an indigo holographic with blue glass flecks (I called them "sparks" in my notes) that shift to pink/violet. It leans more purple in person; my second photo is most accurate. Two coats.

So, what do you think? My top picks are Fruit of the Poisonous Tree, A Land Without Magic, and Hat Trick. All of the shades had great formulas, and dazzled with their complex finishes. No duds here, it all comes down to your personal color preference.

The Welcome to Storybrooke collection is available now from www.glampolish.com.au. Shipping rates to the USA are $7.95 for the first polish and $1.00 for each additional polish.

Undone (The Sweater Song) Nail Art

If you want to destroy my sweater, hold this thread as I walk away...
Today's 31 Day Challenge prompt is "inspired by a song." I had a lot of ideas knocking around in my brain, including stormclouds with male symbols raining out of them (It's Raining Men - get it?), but ended up going with a literal representation of the lyrics in Weezer's Undone - The Sweater Song. I did a minimal, sketchy style, and though I wasn't crazy about it at first, it's really started to grow on me!

Nail polishes used:
Contrary Polish Purple Egg
Floss Gloss Moon Baby
Essie Matte About You

I used two coats of Purple Egg as the base, and then freehanded on the sketchy sweater and thread with a small nail art brush and Moon Baby. I added a layer of topcoat to seal and protect, and then finished with a layer of matte topcoat. How freaking divine is Purple Egg mattified? I'm baaaasically obsessed.

See how I've been inspired by songs in the past:

• Tik Tok - Ke$ha
• Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend
• Lose Yourself to Dance - Daft Punk

Purple Galaxy Nails, Inspired by the Pelican Nebula

Galaxy nails day for the 31 Day Challenge! I don't do galaxy nails nearly enough. They create such a stunning effect for so little effort. For this year's nail art, I was inspired by a photo of the Pelican Nebula that I found on NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD). I didn't end up using enough pink in for the look to match exactly, but that's okay. I love the depth in these.

Nail polishes and supplies used:
OPI Who Are You Calling Bossy?!? (black)
Zoya Sailor (navy)
LVX Orchid (orchid)
Misa Loveliest of Lilacs (medium purple)
Nicole by OPI American As Apple Pie (red)
Nicole by OPI Yoga Then Yogurt (white)
China Glaze Lotus Begin (light purple)
Formula X Freaky Like Freud (holographic glitter)
Triangle makeup wedges
Edinburgh Realism #4 nail art brush

I started by painting my nails black. Then, I used a torn piece of the makeup sponge to apply a bit of navy on my nails -- admittedly, that part doesn't really show as well as I was hoping it did. Using new bits of sponge for each color, I sponged on streaks of red, then medium purple, medium orchid, and light purple.

I mixed a bit of white polish with acetone for a thinned out, watercolor effect, and used it to do a bit of freehanding inside of the light purple sponging (you can see it in the middle of the large purple nebula sections). A holographic glitter, used sparingly, gave the effect of distant stars, while white polish and a pinpoint dotting tool created some closer objects. The final step was to freehand a handful of stars with cross lensflare.

Go where one girl has gone before:

• Maroon and yellow galaxy nails
• Hyperspace jump nail art
• The Pleiades Star Cluster galaxy nails

Handpainted Geometric Gradient Facets

One difficult thing about the 31 Day Challenge, for me, is that even if you have extenuating circumstances (like, say, you fall asleep watching Monday Night Football), you still have to get the next day's manicure done. When I woke up on the couch at 1:30am this morning and realized I had geometric nail art to do, it was pretty tough to drag my ass over to my nail table. BUT I DID IT! Because that's how I roll.

Nail polishes used:
Misa Dusty Magnolia (nude)
LVX Orchid (pink)
Misa Loveliest of Lilacs (purple)
JINSoon Cool Blue (blue)

The technique for this nail art is pretty simple to break down. I painted my nails nude, and then began adding geometric facets with a small nail art brush and pink polish. About a third of the way down the nail, I started doing the facets with purple. Two thirds of the way down, I did the facets in blue.

The last step was to blend the gradient. I created custom blends of pink/purple and purple/blue, and painted them in the areas where the colors met. It looks pretty seamless, especially at arm's length.

This year, I've changed the "tribal print" prompt to geometric in an effort to be more culturally sensitive. Here are the manicures I've done in the past:

• Peach and yellow patterned
• Stenciled hand cave paintings
• Navajo blanket weaving

Fireflies in the Field at Sunset

We don't have fireflies where I live, and I've always been fascinated by them. I've spotted them off the side of the road on a couple of family vacations, but nothing more! There's something so romantic about them, isn't there? I attempted to recreate a bit of their firefly magic in today's gradient nail art for the 31 Day Challenge.

Nail polishes used:
Misa Loveliest of Lilacs (purple)
Misa Lovely Lychee (pink)
Seche Wild One (coral)
China Glaze Happy Go Lucky (yellow)
American Apparel Hassid (black)
OPI Matte Topcoat
Yellow acrylic paint (firefly halos)

This nail art started with the sponged gradient. I painted on my purple base, and then used a triangle makeup wedge to sponge on a gradient of purple, pink, and coral, with the coral at the tips to mimic a setting sun. After that was finished, I used a small nail art brush to paint on the grass/rushes with black polish.

I used the bubble technique and yellow acrylic paint to make the firefly halos. Be sure to check out my quick tutorial for this technique if you've never tried it before! I added a dot of yellow polish in the center of the halos for the little fireflies themselves, and finished the manicure with a layer of glossy and then matte topcoat.

This manicure has quite a few steps, but none of them were particularly hard! It's all about layering techniques and styles for good effect. I'm so pleased how these turned out and I think they really read as fireflies in a field.

Check out my gradient manicures from past challenge years:

• Pink ombre manicure
• French manicure gradient
• Textured leather gradient