Red Sky At Night

Speaking of how I still love crackles...

This was such a fun mani! I started with two coats of Wet & Wild Lavender Pearlescent (what's up with W&W and calling pinks "lavender", anyway?), added a coat of Sally Hansen Fractured Foil, then topped it off with Wet & Wild Hollywood Walk of Fame from the Fergie collection. Yes, I did have to fish-and-place the stars. Worth the trouble though, definitely! 

I had a bit of a problem with the corners of the stars sticking up off my nail, but only in a few spots and if your nails aren't as highly curved as mine you should be fine! I just added an extra layer of topcoat to keep 'em under control.

Royal Teal

I found a set of Sally Hansen crackles at TJ Maxx, four of them for $5. Holy deal, Batman! I know, crackles get so little love anymore, but personally I still think they're awesome. Hopefully I can spread a little love for what to me is a vastly underrated effect. 

Gotta admit, I love me a good teal shimmer. And I love it even more combined with gold! So, I thought, what could be better than a gold crackle with teal beneath? What indeed, if not french tips? 

The base polish is Nina Ultra Pro Unteal You, which just might be my favorite teal of all time next to possibly one duochrome I can think of. No duochrome here, just a fantastically rich and shimmery jewel-tone teal. 

I freehanded the french tips with Sally Hansen Antiqued Gold and the bottle brush. 

Anyone else out there who still loves crackles?

Matte Hearts

Oh man, I LOVED this mani! Another I did super quick, but the polish I used just made me happy in so many ways. 

That super-happy-making polish is Zoya Nidhi (dries shiny, I used a matte topcoat here). Where do I even start with praising this one? I think I've found my go-to for "classic red". It's the perfect red for my skin tone, and complex enough to not bore me. I actually almost wanted to leave it alone and drop all my nail art aspirations, once I got it on my hands! The golden flecks are delicious as can be. Finally though, I decided this would be a good polish friend for some Kiss decals that I wasn't sure I would ever use. I'm just not a huge hearts person, TBH. 

But, I really like how this turned out. I'm glad I decided to use the decals, or I might not have thought of mattifying Nidhi... and matte definitely brings out the best in an already fabulous polish. 

Barbie Pearl

This was a quickie manicure I did, I mostly just wanted hot pink, but I feel weird wearing no nail art anymore... so I blinged it up a little.

The polish I used was Sinful Colors Creme Pink, which is super bright and Barbie-ish, with a subtle gold shimmer. It dries semi-matte, but I used a shiny top coat this time. 

The bling is a Kiss decal from a set I picked up ages ago. The pearls are HUGE but surprisingly enough stayed on through a full day of work -- and when work is bartending, well... I just generally expect my nails to get ruined, especially when they've got fancy bits sticking out. Lucky me! 

I ended up taking this mani off after a day and a half though, the bumpy pearls were starting to really bother me and it was too much mental effort to stop myself from picking at them.

Featured Polish: Finger Paints Art You Blue?

Alright, it's been a while in the works but here it is, Featured Polish #2: Finger Paints Art You Blue?

This is a shimmery denim blue with a nice and easy two-coat formula. 

Like before, I've put together several nail art looks incorporating this polish. 

First, as undies for glitter. I decided to do a two-finger accent for this one, using Revlon Hearts of Gold FX on my pinky and index (yes, a little fishing for the hearts was necessary), and Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear In The Spotlight for the rest.

Next up, I wanted to give texture another shot, and thought it might be interesting to do some nail art over a textured polish, so I brought out AYB for accent-nail polka dots over Milani Texture Purple Streak. 

Apparently I was on a bit of a purple streak myself, since this was the next thing to come to mind. AYB under China Glaze Fault Line, with stamped accent flowers done with BB Paris Cupcake and RA-121.

AYB does work well for stamping, as well: 

I used an L.A. Colors nude polish for the base, one that I bought in a set with no names... it's NOT Mega Watt, I couldn't find it in a google search. :/ But it's kind of a dupe or similar to OPI Sand in my Swimsuit, a light nude with a white shimmer... let me know if you know the name of it? 

I stamped with Art You Blue? and RA-108, then added a coat of Milani Diamond Dazzle for bling.