Challenge Week 44: Halloween Mani

Finally catching up here, it's been a long time since I've posted a challenge mani almost on time :D

Halloween hasn't been celebrated here for that long - it is a bit like Valentine's day that we never celebrated either, one day it wasn't here and the next it was. But where I really don't get Valentine's I think Halloween is totally fun.

One thing I have realised since I started getting into nail polish back in 2009 is that it is an AHMAZING holiday for polishes. Cool colours and interesting combinations with glitters, shimmers and glow-in-the-dark finishes.

Back in 2010 China Glaze released their Awekening collection consisting of three colours: Zombie Zest, Ick-A-Body and Mummy, May I. I finally finished my collection when I got Mummy, May I this summer gifted to me from one of my wonderful birthday group ladies. So when I received it I knew my Halloween mani would be with these three beauties:

As I mentioned in my patchwork mani post I have been doing tape manis a lot and since I wanted to use all three of them I decided I'd do one for this.

And to make it more "halloweenie" I decided to stamp as well. It is something I still need to work on because stamping is a real hit and miss for me. Luckily this one actually turned out o.k. This is Dashica XL SdP no. 58, and it is awesome!

 I didn't go to any parties so I didn't get to show them off to others than friends and family :D

So how did your Halloween nails look like? And any good parties around where you live?

Challenge Week 43: Spiderweb Mani

This will be a short post since I have the Halloween mani as well to post today.

These were done late at night when I had swatched Ninja Polish Color Changing Garnet(will be showcased later this week) and thought spiderwebs would look great over this. I was afraid black would drown so I did them in white - not so sure it was a good idea...but I think they turned out okay for a first timer.

Cold weather has arrived here and unfortunately my cuticles suffer immensely - no amount of cream and oil seem to change the sad state of them...

Challenge Week 42: "Pink 4 Breast Cancer Awareness" Mani.

I did these at the same time as week 41 and couldn't seem to find a creative way of doing this mani so instead I grabbed and untried Cult Nails polish, Devious Nature and painted my nails.

But then I thought I'd at least should do something so I dotted a bow on my ring finger with nails inc power pink:

I usually don't grab for the few pinks I own, but this one is quite gorgeous...definitely a polish I should wear more. 

Challenge Week 41: Patchwork Mani

Searching for examples of patchwork manis will most likely get loads of hits on tape manis and though I'm a BIG fan of those - yes I have learned something since this debacle I decided to do the Other one - which is...da-da-daaaaa:

Yeah, I was smiling too when I realised these patches weren't stitched to the bottom layer :D

Anyhoo, I never got around to finish them so it is what it is...I do love the colours together so that is a big plus for me.

These were the colours I used:
Bottom layer: Illamasqua Eclipse
Light cornflower blue patch: Illamasqua Caress
Mint green patch: Illamasqua Milf
Stitches: a-england Camelot

By the way: These are the first pictures taken in my light tent...Soooo happy with how these turned out.

Challenge Week 40: Animal Print Mani

This one has been decided by the twins - they think tigers are awesome so tiger print  it is :)

I looked at a lot of tutorials for this one and zebra and tiger stripes seem to be very close so I tried to capture the different colours of the tiger's fur to set it apart.

I sponged colours in spots on white base and did it random on each nail.

I used the following colours:
White: nails inc. floral st.
Yellow: nails inc. notting hill carnival
Orange: Zoya Arizona
Light brown: OPI Over the Taupe
Black: a-england Lancelot

They look better from a distance than what you see here but you get the concept :) Definitely fun to do so I think I'll do this again sometime - or I might even give leopard print a shot.

And the winner is...

Juana G, who has been contacted.

Thank you all for participating - I really enjoyed this and hope you did too :)

And may I just say here...Ninja Polish Color Changing Garnet and Zultanite are beyond gorgeous!! Swatches will be coming soon.

Challenge Week 39: Dry Water Marble Mani

This challenge was fairly easy for me since I have been making decals for quite some time - I tend to make them when I realise how hard I will fail on free hand nail art :D

I poured a couple of drops of each of the following polishes on a zip-lock bag: RBL IKB:2012, China Glaze Dorothy Who?, GOSH Blue Ballon and...I really need to start writing notes on my swatches, I can't remember what the fourth polish is.

Then I took a needle and made spiraling patterns in the wet polish, let it dry for a couple of hours, and peeled the piece off. I then took my nail scissors and cut it in pieces that fit my nails - and lo and behold: Dry Water Marble nails ;)