Graduating to gradients...

My first gradient attempt turned out pretty decent. Sure, it could have been more blended with less visible separation of colors, but for a first attempt also it could have been worse. The colors make me think of a beautiful sunset... wish I was there...

Polishes used, base to tip:
1. Wacky Laki franken - Nearly Nude (scroll down for swatches :))
2. Sinful Colors - Hazard
3. Borghese - Maraschino
4. Wet n Wild - Caught Red Handed

What really started this gradient was another almost throw away color. I had two really old Revlon colors Snowflake Pink and Wink of Pink. They were both at least 15 years old and have not been worn in at least 10, so in an effort to empty out one of the bottles, I combined the two and topped it off with the remainder of the darker pink from the Blush set that didn't fit into the Lucky Lavender franken bottle.

Here it is only two coats plus a top coat. It still applied beautifully. If it didn't have a shimmer to it, it would probably be my perfect nude color...

Outside...

Brand: Wacky Laki blend Collection: N/A Color Name/Number: Nearly Nude

I'd love to know what you think of my 1st gradient attempt :D

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Lucky Lavender stamped...

My stamping plates have been feeling left out lately, so I decided to play with them and stamp my Lucky Lavender mani using Bundle Monster plate BM-201 and ArtDeco Couture Purple. The ArtDeco worked perfectly for stamping and added a nice shimmer to the design. It is simple and subtle, but that's usually how I like my stamping to be :)

Out in the sunshine...

In the shade...

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Lucky Lavender...

This polish came about in the process of trying to empty the little blush bottles yesterday. The darker of the two pink polishes didn't fit in the 'poo' bottle so it went into another bottle destined for disposal. That bottle had a mix of two Sally Hansen sheer colors which I no longer use. I reviewed them here when I first started this blog and have since then gotten quite a few new sheers which I like a lot more.

This franken contains about half and half of Sally Hansen Sheer Ivory and Sheer Vanilla topped off with the darker pink from the blush mini polishes set and some SuperNail Silver Rush glitter thrown in for fun. I call it Lucky Lavender because it was destined for disposal, but I ended up really liking this soft lavender so it gets to stay :D

This is two coats plus a topcoat...

In the sun...

in the shade...

What do you think? Did it deserve to stay? :D

Brand: Wacky Laki Blend Collection: N/A Color Name/Number: Lucky Lavender

Thanks for looking!
Auntka :)

A little of this, a little of that... franken fun...

Yesterday was a gorgeous summer day. I think it got into the 80s (I had to work, so I missed most of it)... I know that is nothing for most of the country which is having a heat wave, but for us it was a big deal! I really wanted something sparkly so I started by putting some holographic glitter into clear nail polish and kept going from there...

The end result is a kind of dirty bluish turquoise color. It had just a hint of glitter, not what I had in mind, but I like it. Unfortunately summer around here comes and goes, so while yesterday was gorgeous, today it is raining and currently 61 degrees... and so any hope of catching the shimmer in the sunlight is shattered... I call this my Summer Blues...

Outside, overcast...

To make this I used Silver Rush glitter, WnW French White Cream, LA Colors Current and "Blue", and a few drops of Borghese Mezzanotte Blue.

It turned out a little on the thick side, so I will have to get some polish thinner and try it again on a sunny day!

Brand: Wacky Laki Blend Collection: N/A Color Name/Number: Summer Blues

Thanks for looking!
Anutka :)

Franken Polish Contest Entry!

So it was late at night and I was playing with my nail polish as I usually do, when I came up with this little gem (yes, pun intended). It is a deep shimmery green that I made by combining Wet n Wild Carribbean Frost with just a tiny bit of Wet n Wild Black Creme.

I named it Emerald City... and I kind of entered it in a franken polish contest... :D
If you get a chance please check out the contest and vote for your favorite (hopefully that will be me... :D)
My Emerald City is entry #5....

Thanks for looking! :)
Anutka

Ulta Princess

On my latest trip to Ulta I decided to give the store brand a try. I was drawn to the dark and creamy colors, but instead I convinced myself to get something light and spring-like. Among a few others, I got the Ulta (Salon Formula) polish named Princess. Princess is a very sheer, pearly coral color. I expected it to be more opaque, but maybe that was just wishful thinking. This is three coats plus a top coat, the nail line clearly visible.

Outside, overcast:

Compare the next two photos and you can see how depending on the slight light change it goes from pearly/shiny to very transparent. An aspect of pearly colors I really dislike :(

I decided I would try layering it since I was not to keen on how it looked by itself. Sinful Colors Soul Mate was still fresh on my mind from yesterday's post and happened to be a similar coral color. I decided that just maybe they were Soul Mates :D

This is one layer Sinful Colors Soul Mate and two layers Ulta Princess.

Actually caught some sun this time around!

Not too bad, I like the layering of these two. You get the opaqueness and shimmer, but I thought that unless it is out under direct sunlight, most of the time Sinful Colors just stole the show. So that led me to some thinking, which led to a franken, which lead to a kind of fail...

I thought that by mixing the two colors, I could adjust the proportions and get the best of both worlds in one polish. WRONG! I mixed 1/4 SC Soul Mate with 3/4 Ulta Princess and got... wait for it... Soul Mate with the teeniest, tiniest shimmer. That's right, even with 3/4 of the bottle being Ulta Princess (what a waste), Soul Mate just overtook the whole show.

See the shimmer? I didn't think so :D

OK, so it redeemed itself a little bit outside, but still kind of meh, not what I expected. I still like the color, but maybe if I had not seen the two colors separately, I would have liked this one more...

 What do you think? Is it better alone, layered, mixed, or maybe not at all?

Brand: Ulta Collection: Salon Formula Color Name/Number: Princess Toulene, Formaldehyde and Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) free

And here is some Wacky Laki math for you:

3/4

+ 1/4

=

Thanks for looking as always :D
Anutka

Happy Earth Day!

I decided to celebrate earth day my own way. Instead of just doing a mani with a color that I already had, I made my own using an eyeshadow. I got it a while back, but didn't love the color on me. It is pretty, but waaay too green for my eyes. I'm sure someone out there can pull it off, but not me!

I had heard about using eyeshadows as pigments in nail polish, but never got around to trying it. The "to try" list (swirling around in my head) is just too long. So, this was my 1st attempt at making a nail polish this way and I was super excited that it turned out so well... can you imagine this color on my eyes? Yikes! :)

The color came out better than I expected. A really pretty olive green with lots of little shimmer and sparkle. I may have to save this one for next St. Patty's Day.
This was 3 coats + a top coat to get it even and with no visible nail line.

It is super easy to make too! All you need is some eye shadow and clear nail polish.
Take any eyeshadow that you would like to use and gently scrape off the top so you get a fine powder (do this on a piece of paper that you can fold and use as a funnel).
For this polish I used a Jane Eye Zing eyeshadow in Sage.

When you have the powder on your piece of paper, fold the paper to make a funnel and carefully transfer the powder into a bottle with clear nail polish.
After you have transferred the powder, all you do is shake shake shake your booty the bottle until it is evenly distributed. It helps to have a few of those little metal balls in the bottle. I use 4.5mm BBs :)

Don't ask me how much powder to put it. I have no idea :) Plus, it depends on how much clear polish you are using/how much polish you want to make. I just kept adding until the color seemed saturated. If you add too much it could get thick and unusable. In that case just add some polish thinner and it should be fine. Just don't add any nail polish remover or acetone... it will be totally ruined...

What an awesome way to use up that old eyeshadow, right? Perfect for Earth Day!
And the possibilities are endless! I'm still thinking of all that shadow I have lying around, not being used. Ahh... must resist making more polish until I swatch what I already have... :)

That's all for now,
Anutka