Spring Fling Challenge Day 5: Watermarble or Gradient

We made it to the last day of the challenge!  I chose to do a subtle glitter gradient for today's theme.  I used a few long time nail polish favorites that are still readily available at Ulta or Walgreens.

I chose Essie Turquoise and Caicos as the base for this manicure.  It's a slightly squishy, jelly finish and this was 3 coats on my nails.  Next I layered a coat of OPI Pirouette My Whistle, which I am still loving as a glitter top coat.  To finish the gradient, I dabbed Essie Set in Stones around the base of my nails in a curved fashion.  What do you think?

Maybe it's just me, but I feel like this sort of is reminiscent of a Tiffany look.  My bottle of Turquoise and Caicos ends up looking almost exactly the same as a Tiffany & Co. bag when it's on my nails. 

Outdoors - sun

Right hand! What?!?

I'm sorry this is a slightly picture heavy and not very descriptive post, but I'm writing this later than normal! So, I'll just let you decide what (if any) pictures you like! 

I've had fun with this challenge and a big thanks to Elena and Kelly for coordinating this!  It has been wonderful getting to know the other ladies that participated in this and I looked forward to checking their posts everyday!

Have a great weekend and I hope Spring weather is finally here for you!  Thanks for stopping by!

~ Hayley ~

Spring Fling Challenge Day 3: Patterns of Fashion

I'm back again for day 3 of the Spring Fling challenge presented by Elena and Kelly!  The theme this time is Patterns of Fashion...and I get to show off a fun indie today.  For today's theme, the pattern I chose is polka dots.

Check out this pretty polish named Marmolada from Elevation Polish.  This is a dusty blue jelly with light blue, silver and purple circle glitter.  This was two coats over two coats of Essie's Who Is the Boss, a pale dusty blue cream that was from the 2012 Wedding Collection.  I decided that Marmolada may have had more depth if I had just used 2 or 3 coats on its own...so that is my plan for the next time I wear it.

Shade

I definitely have to give a shout out to my Polished At Heart other half, Jackie, for pouncing on this color for me so I could add it to my collection.  You can only buy Elevation Polish on their website, and they sell out fast so pay attention to the restock dates!

Shade

So that was my representation for day 3 of the challenge.  I have no idea what's in store for tomorrow but I'm excited to see it!  I'm off to check out the other Spring Fling posts and you should too! :)

Spring Fling Challenge Day 2: In Bloom

Wow day 2 of the Spring Fling Challenge came fast!  This is like a nail polish and blog boot camp session for me! :)  Today's theme is In Bloom.
I would've loved to have possibly ventured into hand painting a watercolor flower as an accent nail instead of the accent I did, but I have never done nail art before.  I'm not into stamping or nail art but attempting a simple flower on one accent nail is something I can see myself trying in the future once I get better.

Because I was timid, I chose the flower-named polish, Delphinium.  She is a limited edition Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure color that was part of the 2011 Tracey Reese collection.  As you probably guessed, it is discontinued but I have found bottles on eBay (and where mine was purchased at Christmas) so I'm sure there are still some floating around.  They may re-promote this color in the future, since I heard they recently did it with Green Tea...which I am obsessively trying to find! 
The formula on Delphinium was easy to work with and I used two coats.  It's no secret that my love for a good dusty lavender/ lilac is alive and well...

For the accent nail I used CND Effects in Gold Sparkle.  This polish is similar to Essie As Gold As It Gets but the flakies are much smaller and a lighter shade of gold.  This was also 2 coats and was still very subtle on the nail.

Again, be sure to check out the other participants of the Spring Fling Challenge listed at ECKlipsed by color and Tuxarina

 Thanks for stopping by and see you tomorrow for day 3!

~Hayley

Spring Fling Challenge Day 1: Indie Skittle

This first day has made me realize that skittles are hard, but I *think* I was able to pull off an ok set of *kinda* matching colors. Since this is a Spring themed challenge I went with pastels. My husband was laughing at me as I pulled all my indies out and made a little lineup on the living room floor (as we watched some Doctor Who which has lately been my other obsession). Then I proceeded to eliminate the colors that weren't pastels. This is what I came up with:

On my thumb (which I realize you can't see very well) is365 Days of Color Crush on You (Valentine's Mystery Bag exclusive), then we have Eggcentric Bunny on my pointer, Nomad on my middle, Frolicking on my ring and Rainbow Honey Be Mine as underwear for 365 Days of Color Jellybean There Done That. I have more 365 Days of Color in my collection than any other indie and ironically, most of those are Springy shades!

No tulips were harmed during these photos

 

 

Be sure to check out the other participants of the Spring Fling Challenge listed at ecklipsed by color and tuxarina.

Spring Fling Challenge Day 1: Indie Skittle

Well, for the first day of this challenge I have learned two things:
 1.  My indies don't skittle well together.

I find that odd because I generally stick to a core color comfort zone when I buy polishes. In this case, I can get 2 possibly 3 to look okay together, but not 5.  Also, I don't have that many indies in my collection yet...so maybe that means I just need to buy more polishes!

Direct Sun

The best I could come up was this skittle, which is really only one indie polish.  (I'm sorry EcklipsedByColor and Tuxarina! - This is my first challenge; be gentle!) 
I originally wanted Tryst Lacquer's Fluer-y of Flowers, to replace the void I have for not owning Illamasqua Speckle.  I love the idea of this polish...a light lavender with tiny black speckle and light blue glitter. 
Unfortunately, most of the light blue glitter has fallen out of suspension in my bottle so I don't think I get the intended effect. :(  Needless to say, I still absolutely need the Illamasqua!

This leads me to the next thing I learned with this skittle...

 2.  Essie Mint Candy Apple looks so bright on me, I don't even recognize it compared to other swatches I've seen.

I don't know why it leans this way on me.  It's just...different than I thought it would be and I'm fairly sure it's not my bottle.  The other color I used is Kiss Me Here by Pure Ice, a pretty grey cream.

Anyway...I still intend to have some fun with this challenge!  Thanks again to ECKlipsed by Color and Tuxarina for hosting this.  Here are the themes going forward, so join in!