Holographic Damsel Gradient--Essie and Milani

My last post featured the lovely nail polish Essie Damsel in a Dress. As promised, let me show you how I dressed up the manicure. I wanted to add a little something, but not lose the character of Damsel in a Dress. I chose Milani Hi-Res, a purple holographic shimmer (retail: $4.99).

I began, as mentioned, with three thin coats of Essie Damsel in a Dress:

Damsel in a Dress, alone

I proceeded to dabble on a little of the Milani Hi-Res; no sponge this time, just its regular brush. I started from the free edge of the nail and moved partway toward the cuticle.

First step of gradient

Once the first dabbled layer was dry (it dried very quickly), I added some more of the Milani Hi-Res, moving just slightly further toward the cuticles.

Second step of gradient

Finally, I dabbled a very thin amount of the Milani Hi-Res even further down toward my cuticles. I put a thicker dabble of it at my free edge to balance out the coverage. The holographic effect of this polish is not as strong as others I have seen, so it was a little hard to catch in photos, but still very pretty and stronger in real life. You can see it better in the blurred photo a little further down in this post.

Final result

Zoom in on final result

Indoor lighting

A flash and a blur to highlight the holographic sparkle 

I topped it off with Butter London Hardwear P.D. Quick Top Coat  (retail: $19.00). I wore this mani from Tuesday through Saturday without any chips, which I attribute to the top coat. I also have shorter nails than usual, so that probably helps to reduce chipping as well.

What do you think? Do you like to wear one polish at a time, or mix it up by layering another polish or adding nail art?

Ruby Jelly Nails

Jelly sandwiches are something that I enjoy quite a bit. I knew nothing about them until I started following nail blogs. There are certain nail polishes classified as having a 'jelly' finish. As the name suggests, they are pigmented but translucent, like jelly. This tends to give the illusion that they are squishy and/or juicy. Even better, it allows you to layer a jelly with another polish and it completely changes the look of both polishes.

I love this combination, so I have worn it multiple times. The day that I got the best photos of it was before I started blogging, so I didn't think to take bottle shots. I took photos of the bottles today; that's why I'm wearing a different mani for those (look for it in a future post).

NYC Broadway Burgundy Frost

My jelly polish, which I applied one layer of after my base coat, is NYC Broadway Burgundy Frost. (I bought mine at WalMart. Retail price is $0.99, according to the NYC website.) As far as I can tell, there is no good reason for this polish to have that name. No burgundy, no frost. To my eye, it's a delicious-looking translucent red with red microglitter. I have seen a polish by NYC, also named Broadway Burgundy Frost and displaying the number 116, that is a frosted burgundy shade! Mislabeled? Extra bottles? I don't know. But if you're going for the red sparkly one, just double check that it looks red and sparkly in the bottle. I don't think a frosted burgundy would work for this look.

Milani Jewel FX Red

I own a few of the glitters from the Milani Jewel FX line. I like the coverage that they give, I don't have to fish around for the glitter, and the glitters lie flat on my nails. I chose the obvious Red in this case; no fancy shade name. (I bought mine at CVS; retail price is $4.99.) I added one layer of this polish, then another of the NYC, and then another layer of Milani.

I finished with Seche Vite quick-drying top coat so that it would stay glossy and smooth. (I love Seche Vite, but it's like a moody girl. You have to follow its rules and treat it just right or she won't cooperate with you. Put it on your tips as well as your nails, use it while your polish is still wet, etc. And it stinks, literally. The end results can be amazing, though. Poshe is less of a headache to me, with very good results.)

Have you ever tried a jelly sandwich manicure? It can also work with polishes that are not marketed as jellies, but are translucent/sheer, as long as they are not too streaky.

Yoshi Eggs Manicure

I was in the mood for some cartoon-ish nail art, simple but fun. The end result reminds me of the eggs associated with Yoshi in the Super Mario Bros. world.

 

 



I used a Seche base coat. The dark green is a shade called Hoch, from Julep's Trina Turk 2012 Fall Collection. (Julep is a company that offers a monthly nail polish subscription service: http://www.julep.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/25580/) I used my large dotting tool and White on the Spot by Milani for the dots. Next time, I would use a different white polish. White on the Spot is a quick-dry polish, so it tended to leave behind strings as I pulled away from making dots.

 

This is a cheerful manicure for me. I did like Hoch by itself, a gorgeous green creme, but I wanted something more fun today. Beware, though, that greens and blues are notorious for staining. Usually a good base coat prevents the staining from becoming a problem for me. 

I've been sick for a week and have had bare fingernails. BARE NAILS, NO POLISH! Oh, wait, that probably isn't worth all of those capital letters to most people. However, I am an obsessive compulsive person. As much as I love the look of nail polish, it also serves a practical purpose for me. When my nails are not painted, I have a terrible compulsion to pick at them. If I keep them painted, I let them grow out healthy and undisturbed. You will find that many current nail polish addicts used to be nailbiters, and nail polish helped them to break the habit or helps them to resist it. I don't have a nailbiting problem, but the principle is similar. So...it feels great to have polished nails again!

Also, Hoch was a shade of nail polish that was in my large section of "Untrieds". If you are an addict of any kind of beauty product, it can be quite helpful to separate the products that you have not tried yet from the others. This way you get a nice visual reminder to help you to buy a little less of whatever your addiction feeds upon.