Monday, August 12, 2013

Trend Alert: Monochrome

MONOCHROME


As a fan of all things black, I'm enjoying the monochrome trend.  It also makes nail designs look super crisp and fresh.

Here's a few ideas I've tried:

Houndstooth


 Animal Prints 


Aztec  


B&W Glitter 


Crackle 


Main polishes used:  Sinful Colors - Snow Me White, Models Prefer - Little Black Dress
Glitters:  Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat - Tweedy, Models Prefer - Star Dust, Missha Lucid Nail Polish Dazzling - No. 6, BYS Confetti Top Coat - White Noise, all over top Sinful Colors - Cool Grey
Crackle:  Avon Mosaic Effects - White
Nail Pen:  Sally Hansen - Nail Art Pen - Black

NN

Saturday, August 3, 2013

A couple of misc glitters

I was just playing around, and created these manis:

Sportsgirl Nail It - Fantasy (index, middle, pinky) and Sportsgirl Nail It - Rose Gold (ring & thumb)


Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat - Fuzz-Sea (on top of Australis - Indie)


Australis- Carnivale Chaos & Australis- Rio Riot (ring) on top of OPI - Did you 'ear about Van Gogh


Sally Hansen Fuzzy Coat - Tight Knit over Savvy - Aubergine


NN

Sprinkles and star dust

Further to my earlier post on Sally Hansen's Sugar Coat, and my take on how to create them in the meantime (until they hit the shelves in the Australian summer), here are a few swatches of the Gem Crush range, and a couple of others which are also gritty and could serve the purpose of being the under-coat for a homemade Sugar Coat mani.

Sally Hansen Gem Crush - Big Money



On reflection, Big Money is not a gritty polish like the other Gem Crush polishes to follow, so I thought I would review it first.  It applies easily and has a smooth finish once dried.  Micro and small gold glitter along with small mauve glitter makes a polish which is sparkly, but understated and not blingy.


Sally Hansen Gem Crush - Lady Luck



Now we're gritting down to it!  A pink/fuchsia glitter with scattered sliver holo glitter, Lady Luck is fabulous and a nice shade to brighten up winter nights!  Almost seems a shame to paint something over top of it.

Sally Hansen Gem Crush - Glitz Gal

 
You've seen Glitz Gal before, here and here, and when I initially acquired it, I wasn't excited about it at all.  I've changed my mind!  Charcoal grey glitter with lots of silver holo glitter, this one is blingy and makes a great base for a gritty mani.
 
Maybelline Color Show - Sea-Quins
 

Sea-Quins is another polish which, whilst you could use it as a base for your gritty mani, it seems a shame to paint over that beautiful colour.  Predominantly teal glitter of various sizes, there is also a small smattering of blue glitter chucked in for good measure.  I LOVE this colour.

Savvy - Glam & Chiq






Last, but not least, is Glam & Chiq, with a translucent blue base, and smatterings of various sized
royal blue cross over into purple glitters.  It's not as dense in glitter as the ones above, so you will require more coats for the same effect.  It is, however, gritty, and will help create a gritty mani.

So there you go.  No waiting for nearly a year after the rest of the world has a product, you can create the same thing now!

NN