Showing posts with label Crackle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crackle. Show all posts

Monday, 3 September 2012

Hello again! I know, I know, I'm posting this a bit later than usual; it's been a busy day. I won't bore you with the details, but I will say that my nails are the same length they started the day and my basement is much cleaner. :)


nails nailart nail art mani manicure Spellbound Turquoise Gemstones gems Wet n Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint Sally Hansen Antiqued Gold Crackle nailpolish polish inspired plastic wrap cling sponging

Today's post was inspired by turquoise gemstones and uses a method I've never tried before.


nails nailart nail art mani manicure Spellbound Turquoise Gemstones gems Wet n Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint Sally Hansen Antiqued Gold Crackle nailpolish polish inspired plastic wrap cling sponging

When I saw plastic wrap sponging mentioned on a blog I thought the outcome was pretty but it didn't intrigue me too terribly much. For those who haven't heard of this method, you take a piece of plastic wrap and crinkle it to create a pattern. After that simply dip a bit of the crinkled plastic wrap into some nail polish and dab it onto your nails like using a sponge. You can dab first onto a piece of paper to make sure you like the pattern created. I thought it was a very innovative use for plastic wrap but wasn't really interested in trying this method. However, when I caught a glimpse of a nail design on Pinterest using this method I knew it was something I had to try.


nails nailart nail art mani manicure Spellbound Turquoise Gemstones gems Wet n Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint Sally Hansen Antiqued Gold Crackle nailpolish polish inspired plastic wrap cling sponging

For those of you who know your gemstones you'll notice the big mistake with my turquoise. I started with a two coat base of Wet n Wild's I Need a Refresh-Mint. I thought this made a great gemstone base, and I like to think I was right.


nails nailart nail art mani manicure Spellbound Turquoise Gemstones gems Wet n Wild I Need a Refresh-Mint Sally Hansen Antiqued Gold Crackle nailpolish polish inspired plastic wrap cling sponging

However, the problem came about when I decided to use Sally Hansen Antiqued Gold for the gemstone's veining. Antiqued Gold is one of Sally Hansen's crackle top coats and is a (slightly less bright) match to the gold veining found in a lot of turquoise gems. I thought using a crackle would help add to the pattern using plastic wrap creates. It was perfect ... except that in small amounts Antiqued Gold isn't gold; it's SILVER! So, while the outcome was still very pretty, it wasn't exactly what I had in mind from the start.

Still, I got to try something new and that's always great fun!!

Wednesday, 16 May 2012

Welcome to another post. *bows deeply* I'm feeling really silly today so forgive me for the craziness. It might have something to do with having over 50 posts now!! Can I applaud myself without looking like a dork?


China Glaze Cracked Concrete Life Preserver

Today, I bring you two polishes from my most recent Sally Beauty order. You gals know me; I can't resist a sale and Sally was certainly having a sale. Plus, I added a coupon onto their sale price and got an amazing deal. I ordered four polishes but one was out of stock. So, I got three new polishes for $10!!! That's including shipping. Without the shipping they added up to only $8.49.


China Glaze Cracked Concrete Life Preserver


The first polish is China Glaze, Life Preserver. I'm not sure why some colors just don't take pictures well, but Life Preserver is one of them. It pictures with a very, very red tint. In person this is a slightly muddy burnt orange with maybe a hint of coral. It's definitely not the bright oranges you see everywhere for this season. China Glaze calls this color a highly pigmented poppy creme.


China Glaze Cracked Concrete Life Preserver


Next up is China Glaze, Cracked Concrete, from their Crackle Glaze line. I bought these two colors especially for this reason after finding this post from My Latest Obsession. There was just something about these two polishes together that called to me.


China Glaze Cracked Concrete Life Preserver


Her polish seems to have cracked a bit better than mine. I found the China Glaze brush unwieldy for applying crackle polish. I had to double dip for every nail but my pinky ... triple for the thumb. I'm not saying it didn't turn out looking gorgeous because it did! I'm just saying the application was much harder than it could have been with a slightly different brush.


China Glaze Cracked Concrete Life Preserver


Besides, I paid $1.99 for Cracked Concrete. For that price, I'm really not going to complain!

Tuesday, 17 April 2012

Hello all you lovely followers! I hope everyone is doing okay. I was going to have this posted sooner but I got horribly sick this weekend. I'm happy to say that I'm feeling much better now though.


Today's post is a very simple mani, but one that I think is so perfect for summer.




Summer is the perfect time to catch the eyes of those around you, and what better way than with such of burst of color?




The thing to remember with neon polish is that you get the most color when it is layered over white. That's why, for this mani, I used two coats of white polish under two coats of neon before adding one coat of white crackle. This makes the neon color really pop.


Polish Used

  • Borghese - Brilliante
  • LA Color - White
  • Funky Fingers - Kingston
  • Funky Fingers - White Scales
  • Sally Hansen - Insta-Dri