I love I Love Nail Polish: Fall 2014 swatches with a twist

...say that 10 times fast and see if anyone doesn't think you're crazy. If you love holos, multi-chromes, but want to also satisfy the nail art bug in you then you're in for a treat today cause I'm introducing swatches with a twist! Featuring the stupidly amazing 11-piece Fall 2014 I Love Nail Polish (ILNP) collection which boasts holos and multi-chromes galore, and an accent nail using various nail vinyls from my ever-growing stash of these amazing little plasticy things that make nail art all that much easier and fun.

Let's get to it! Pic heavy :)

ILNP 2014 Fall collection - available Sept 12 from ILNP.com

 

VIDEO SWATCHES AT THE END OF THE POST!

Nail art hack: How to get clean, smooth lines with your paintbrush

Today's post is a little out of the ordinary as I am going to show you a trick that will ameliorate your nail arts! Specifically, brush work. I'll show you how using oil on your brush helps to soften the bristles while keeping the shape/form of the bristles 'together' as opposed to fraying all over the place.

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!

Teal for Pshiiit: Turquoise holo gradient with swirls and glitters

Photoshop fun today in honour of Camille from Pshiiit who recently reached 200k followers on Instagram! Camille is hosting a contest with the theme 'Teal for Pshiiit' and the rules are to post a pic inspired by the colour teal. It doesn't have to be nails, but to be creative. Evidently I still stuck with the nails theme, but I tried my best to get creative with my prop setup (an ode to French nail blogger flawlessness, really) and by exercising my ancient Photoshop editing skills leaving only teal colouring behind and super imposing a pic I took of custom made turquoise glitters @missbellatracey gave to me behind Pshiiit's official blog logo. How'd I do???

My entry into Pshiiit's 200k giveaway contest on Instagram - see other entries here

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!

Pretend vacay: Greek waters with saran wrap and water decals

Opa!! I am not Greek and I have never been to Greece butttt.... I would totally go if someone would buy me a plane ticket and pay for some sweet accomodations on the ocean with a private balcony and infiniti pool... any takers? Anyone?

In any case I got these awesome gold angled swirl water decals from Born Pretty Store and I immediately knew I must do a Greece-inspired mani. I used the saran-wrap technique to sponge on spots of polish for the muddy looking waters thing going on on the majority of the nail. The tips were topped off with the one and only 'Buzzed on blue' by Painted Polish by Lexi, which I have swatched here cause it is so awesome.

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!

Starburst holo scaled gradient skittle for Nailpolis celebration

Scaled gradients like you've never seen them before! And a triple scaled gradient at that! This mani is my abstract interpretation of the theme celebration/party for Nailpolis' 1 million Facebook fans contest. My first thought was 'fireworks', and my second though was 'I don't want to actually paint fireworks!' Away with literal interpretations! Bring on the crazy.

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!

Turquoise & green returning reciprocal chevron gradient

Another mind bender from the Gradient Guide, this time a new and improved version of the grey and white returning reciprocal chevron gradient I did a few months ago. This look can be done with any colour combo your heart desires! I went with a turquoise and green theme, holding onto summer as long as I can. Chevron mini nail vinyls are from Nailvinyls.com.

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!

Wavy blue holo triple scaled gradient

It's been a while since I've done a triple scaled gradient, mostly cause they're tricky and time consuming and I've been lazy. In any case I got some new A England holo beauties and the combination of their gorgeous deep blues had me inspired to create this triple scaled gradient with wave nail vinyls as the gradient divider. Ahhh like a swim in the deep ocean, so refreshing!

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!

Ermahgerd rainbow gradient recreation

The lovely Kristin of @ermahgerdperlish on Instagram is hosting a giveaway and for recreating one of her mani's I get an extra entry, yay! Obviously I was drawn to this one because it's rainbow and super obnoxious. My favourite!

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!

BTT Drunk kitty construction: Do not let wasted kitties pass

Today's mani is 1.5 months in the making... not because I actually spent 1,056 hours doing it, but because I leave far too manis hanging out in my 'to edit' folder and hence I am the worst person ever to do a #bestietwinnails with. Tracey of @missbellatracey on Instagram puts up with my slow-pokeness as she is a true Saint and so here we finally are today with our meticulously planned out drunk kitty construction manis!

See the original post on Instagram

Turquoise rocks using irregular sea foam sponging technique

Random nails again! Random in the sense that I used a completely random technique to create what you see here, which kind of resembles turquoise agate rocks, maybe?? Or underwater coral pieces? I was inspired by the Base Coat Top Coat's pink agate rocks, mind you hers are far more detailed. I have NO IDEA how she hand painted this in all that irregular perfect detail. Pretty sure she used a tiny detailed brush and beat the hell out of a realism painter near you. Nevertheless, I worked with what I had and used a 'sea foam' sponge to create this look.

Let's call this the irregular sea foam sponging technique!

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL AT THE END OF THE POST!