Glam Polish 'Fatal Attraction' trio from Hypnotic Polish

Back to shorter nails for this post (no, I did not cut/break them again, I just did these in mid-January and haven't had a chance to edit them until now - so sue me). The 'Fatal Attraction' trio consists of three polishes by Glam Polish that are exclusive to the Hypnotic Polish shop. What an interesting colour combo! I was immediately drawn to the two darker ones as their finishes are a bit more complex in terms of varying micro-glitters. Sparklies!!! Unfortunately this doesn't really translate on the nail, so the epic appearance of the polish in the bottle is kind of deceiving :\

Chrome holo flakies from Painted Polish... it just had to happen

So we've thought we've seen every kind of flakie out there - the translucent colour-shifty kind, the multi-chrome/ultra-chrome coloured kind, the metallic kind, the chrome kind... but now I've discovered the FLAKUS MAXIMUS of the year by Painted Polish, which is a - get this - a mirror chrome flakie with holo glitters scattered throughout!! Waaattttt.

In doing these swatches I also tested a new product by the makers of my fav nail oil (Bliss Kiss), called Simply Peel. It's a latex barrier similar in composition to the numerous other brands of latex products for quick and easy post-gradient/stamping/watermarble/otherwise nail art mess removal (e.g., Liquid Palisade, Nail Veil, Mess No More, costume body latex products, etc.).

I often 'sponge on' my glitter and flakies directly onto the nail to maximize polish coverage and minimize clumpiness - the sponge actually absorbs the jelly in the nail polish thus allowing a smoother coat of polish to stick to the nail with less of the jelly. You can check out a video tutorial on how to maximize glitter payoff on YouTube here. But what a mess this causes on my skin, right?!? I used Simply Peel around my nails to help protect my skin from getting flaked out and I must say I LOVE THIS PRODUCT!!

Colour-blocking chevrons with the Licence to Polish collection

Salut! Saviez-vous que je suis bilingue?! Mais pas pour le moment car mon clavier n'offre pas de fonction franco car il n'y a pas d'accents... franchement MacBook, franchement!!... j'ai jusqu'a ici avec toi!!

So that's the French nail blogger in me making a brief attempted appearance in honour of today's nail art featuring a stunning collection by a French indie polish company!! Bien que oui! Il était un vernis, which roughly translates to "there once was a polish" in English, is a relatively new company that has launched two collections plus a nail basics set so far! They are run by two French bloggers, and based on our knowledge of French bloggers, it's safe to assume they too are awesome.

I used all five colours from their recent Licence to Polish collection, released this year (2015) to create this simple chevron striping pattern look!

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!

Valentine's Day collab: White and red holo glittahhhh

So for all the traditionally hopeless romantics who are probably crying in their rooms over my black blood dripping heart and heartbeat mani in honour of V-Day the other day, here's something sparkly and lovey-dovey to make ya feel better! I joined in on a Valentine's Day nail art collab with some ladies on Instagram, and here's the result! Holo glitter, obviously.

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!

It's a dark Valentine's Day... but a happy scaled gradient

This week's weekly nail art challenge (co-hosted by Kristin of Lacquerstyle and Tracey of @missbellatracey on Instagram) is Valentine's Day! And of course I had to hijack it and make a dark Valentine's Day/anti-Valentine's Day/evil Valentine's Day or whatever negative rendition of V-Day you see fit 'cause I'm a rebel. Plus seeing bleeding black and red evil hearts on mah nails makes me happy!!

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!

Take a trip to outer space with KPT's Cosmic Xodus I Collection

Ooooh sparkly droppings from space! Nail polish > space travel anyways. Say haaayyy to Polished by KPT's Cosmic Xodus I collection! Polished by KPT is a new brand to me, and their formulas are so dynamic within the same collection - the application of each one was like unleashing a whole new bottle of wonder on mah nails every time! This collection is now available from Harlow & Co., an awesome indie polish stockist! This collection is not limited edition, which means you can restock your shelves with these space babies when they get abducted by aliens or whatever.

Polished by KPT - Cosmic Xodus I Collection

Pink to white gradient with contrast ruffian border

This week's weekly nail art challenge (co-hosted by Kristin of Lacquerstyle and Tracey of @missbellatracey on Instagram) is 'ruffian' nails (i.e., a border cuticle line) and the theme is contrast. This is probably one of the simplest gradients I have ever done (there is only ONE GRADIENT PER NAIL?!), I guess I had a fever or something. In any case they are sure to catch someone's eye with that extra ruffian touch, and think about all the colour possibilities you could use instead of pink!

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!

Painted Polish translucent flakies... UM WOW

I've got three new Painted Polish babies for you... and they're actually NOT holo glitter?!?! UM WAT. They're flakies! And traditional flakies in the sense that they're translucent, so what we first understood as flakies back in 2011 or whenever the nail world was first introduced to this magical 8th wonder of the world. Essentially they are all glass-shard like pieces that illuminate through their transparency when the light hits them. These three are suspended in a clear base and as such are best used over a base colour. Black it is!!

*These are all limited edition and two are already out of stock* (sorry to tease you and then leave you...)

Painted Polish - translucent flakies

Optical illusion black and white opposite nails

This week's weekly nail art challenge (co-hosted by Kristin of Lacquerstyle and Tracey of @missbellatracey on Instagram) is matte black and white - and I went simple for once! I was inspired by Amy Tran's square purple and gold opposite-interlocking design, and then as it turns out a couple days later she published a now very similar one to mine which I just realized now lol, except she used full swirls instead of mini swirls. I guess this is what happens when you opt for a simple design, there's really nothing proprietary about it since someone is bound to think up the same thing!

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!

FUN Lacquer multi-chrome trippy cyclones

So you could say that I had some FUN with my new FUN Lacquer polishes - the 2015 New Years collection! I swatched and review the four I used here plus their holo twins recently - see here for swatches! I recently got my hands on some new vinyls I'd been dying to try out - cyclone swirls from Twinkled T - and so the whole multi-chrome swirly cyclone mani thing just had to happen. Trippy!!

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!