Tag Archives: Metallic

Stripey Metallic Roses

Hi! 🙂

Metallic stripey rose nail art

Metallic stripey roses

Today I have another 52 week pick and mix (catch up) mani to show you, the prompts for that week (beginning 2nd March) are Metallic and Ikat…

I’m really not a fan of Ikat nails so for this post I’m just using the metallic prompt.

metallic stripey rose macro nail art

close up!

The two Metallic polishes I used are Artemis (purple) and Aglaia (teal) from the 2true Metallica Collection.

I started off with a coat of Aglaia, then when it was dry I applied the striping tape to my nails (and my desk and the floor and even my keyboard :/)  and added a coat of Artemis.

Removed the tape and applied a coat of Seche Vite.

Artemis and Aglaia from 2true Metallica Collection

Artemis and Aglaia from 2true Metallica Collection

The stamping plate is Moyou Pro XL 07 and I used Konad Black Stamping Polish.

The roses are my favorite images on this plate! 🙂

Metallic stripey roses Moyou Pro XL 07

Moyou Pro XL 07

Here is the 52 Week Pick and Mix Pinterest Board for more amazing nail art! 🙂


2True Metallica Collection Swatches!

Today I have all 5 of the 2True Metallica collection polishes all swatched and ready to show you!

2True Metallica Collection

2True Metallica Collection

The green is called Arete, the teal is Aglaia, the purple is called Artemis, Athena is the blue, and the pink is called Aphrodite! I have to say that I’m really liking the names of these polishes 😀

I’m going to be using these as stamping polishes but I thought I should give them a quick swatch just to see how they look. The collection all have a pretty satin finish, so if you want a glossy polish these probably won’t be for you! I really like the slightly matte-ness of these polishes, But then I’m really liking matte at the moment!

2True Athena Metallica Collection

2True Athena Metallica Collection .

Athena is the Ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill.

This polish is a really nice cool powdery silver blue, I applied two coats over base coat. I really like how frosty this polish looks.

2True Athena Metallica Collection

2True Athena

I did find that there was some dragging and bunching on the second coat, this was the same with all the colours. I found that applying the second coat quite thickly minimized the bunching!

2true Artemis Metallica Collection

2true Artemis Metallica Collection

Artemis, the goddess of the hunt, wild animals, Wilderness, Childbirth and protector of young girls, she often was depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.

I have already posted about how amazing this polish is for stamping if you would like to have a look you can find that right here.

Artemis is such a pretty lilac colour! I used two coats over base coat!

2true Artemis Metallica Collection

2true Artemis

I found the brush strokes impossible to get rid of! But applying an extra coat with a sponge will get rid of them! I Thought about doing this for all of the polishes but I realized that would be a bit like cheating as I want you to see the polishes as they are!

2True Arete Metallica Collection

2True Arete Metallica Collection

Arete The Ancient greek Goddess of Virtue, Wisdom and Excellence.

It’s green, it’s green and I like it… I normally don’t like green polishes at all but this one seems to be an exception oO. Arete is a pretty pearly spring green, I like this because the metallic silvery tones make this green not overly yellow.

I again used two coats over base coat for this swatch, these polishes do have quite a strong chemical smell, but it doesn’t hang around as long as some other polishes.

2True Arete Metallica Collection

2True Arete

I noticed that all of these polishes show up every little ridge and dimple on my nails :/ I use a ridge filling basecoat (it’s a really cheap one) so maybe an extra layer of basecoat would help? or more buffing!

2True Aphrodite Metallica Collection

2True Aphrodite Metallica Collection

Aphrodite is the ancient Greek goddess of Love, beauty, pleasure and procreation.

Aphrodite is a pretty rosey pink, in the bottle it has a slightly coral hue but that doesn’t show up when it’s on, this really isn’t a colour that I would usually choose, but I’m glad that I did get it because it’s really rather pretty.

I used two coats over basecoat with the thicker second coat to avoid the dreaded bunching.

2True Aphrodite Metallica Collection

2True Aphrodite

I’m really interested to see how this pink polish looks stamped over black!

This rather lovely pale teal is called Aglaia.

2True Aglaia Metallica Collection

2True Aglaia Metallica Collection

Aglaea was the goddess of beauty, splendor, glory, magnificence and adornment.

I think this is a really stunning colour! I would wear this on it’s own. I really like the paleness of this shade I think if the colour was more intense it would detract from the metallic sheen.

I used two coats over base coat

2True Aglaia Metallica Collection

2True Aglaia

To sum up these polishes, the bad bits first, they show up imperfections on your nails, they are a bit stinky, and they tend to bunch up and drag during application.

And the good stuff. The colours are all really pretty, the lovely satin finish, they dry very fast and you only need two coats (or one if you are careful) Oh yeah, and they are amazing for stamping! 😀

When I get a bit of time I’ll show you these polishes stamped over black and white polish! 🙂


Pink Spotty Nails!

While I was going through my nail art box I found my dotting tools and realized that I haven’t used them for ages, so today I have pink spotty nails to show you! 🙂

Color Club Hot like Lava With Orly Liquid Vinyl dots.

Color Club Hot like Lava With Orly Liquid Vinyl dots.

I started with two coats of Hot Like Lava from Color Club, it’s such a bright metallic pink! The weather it horrid today all grey and raining so I wanted something bright 🙂

Hot like Lava applied really smoothly and it dries really quickly, the only problem I found with it is the visible brush strokes but the dots cover those 🙂

I used a medium sized dotting tool and Liquid Vinyl from Orly, I used this one because it takes a bit longer to dry than my other black polishes so I had a bit longer to play before it went all thick and stringy!

Color Club Hot like Lava With Orly Liquid Vinyl dots.

Dotty Nails

Unfortunately this really suffered from the dreaded Seche Vite shrinkage :/ but it’s cute and spotty so I don’t mind too much!


Microbes or Plankton? 2True Artimis Over Black

A little while ago I heard on the nail polish grapevine that 2True Pro Metallica collection are good for stamping, I have never really liked the 2True polishes but as they are on offer (half price in Superdrug) I thought I would give one a try!

And OMG it’s AMAZING!!!

2True Artemis over Black

2True Artemis over Black

This polish is called Artemis, I picked out this one because it’s purple! And if it turned out to be rubbish I would at least have a chrome polish in a colour I like.

But for stamping this polish is incredible, it holds it’s colour really well over black, unlike some other polishes that loose their colour intensity and turn silvery grey.

2True Artemis Messy Mansion Plate MM25

Messy Mansion Plate MM25

I decided that the image to test this polish out with should be very intricate and detailed.  The image is from Messy Mansion plate MM25. I have to say I’m not sure if it’s microbes or plankton lol. The only other polish I have had any luck with on this image is Konad SP in Black. The 2True polish worked so surprisingly well!

I found that this polish is a bit on the stinky side and I did notice there was a bit of staining while I was cleaning up my cuticles, but as I will only be using it as a stamping polish, it’s not too much of an issue 🙂

The image transferred to my nail so perfectly I hardly had to clean my stamper between doing each of my nails!  and there was no dragging when I applied my topcoat!

2True Artemis

2True Artemis

I’m now going to go buy the rest of this collection! Hopefully they will be just as good! 😀


Models Own – 25 Carat Gold. Limited Edition for the Dogs Trust!

I won a give away! 😀 *does happy dance!*  I received This Limited edition Models Own polish and a Revlon French mix duo!

The Giveaway was hosted by the lovely Nada at PenguinsLeftGreenPolish She is amazingly talented and you should go have a look at her fantastic blog! 😀

Unfortunately I don’t have time to show you the French Mix polish today but I will save that for a later post!

Models Own - 25 Carat Gold

Models Own – 25 Carat Gold

25 Carat Gold is a limited edition polish with all of the proceeds going straight to the Dogs Trust. It was created to celebrate 35 years of the slogan ‘A dog is for life, Not just for Christmas.’

Models Own - 25 Carat Gold

Models Own – 25 Carat Gold

This polish is a lovely warm golden metallic, It really is amazingly shiny!  The formula is lovely and flowed easily from the brush. There are a few brush marks but with slightly more careful application than mine this could be minimized 🙂

Models Own - 25 Carat Gold

Models Own – 25 Carat Gold

Because it’s a limited edition and in aid of a wonderful charity it makes this polish that little bit more special! 😀


Illamasqua Swatches in Poke, Snap, Faux Pas, Propaganda, Baptiste and Scorn.

Here are six lovely polishes from Illamasqua!

Scorn

Illamasqua Scorn

Illamasqua Scorn

This lovely Black has a wonderful satin finish, It is my favorite black polish! it dries in minutes and lasts for ages! I used one coat! with no base or top coat.

Baptiste

Illamasqua Baptiste

Illamasqua Baptiste

This is a lovely metallic dark purple, it’s almost a duo-chrome it’s so shimmery (almost but not quite) it has a very high gloss finish! This took two coats again with no base or top coat!

Propaganda

Illamasqua Propaganda

Illamasqua Propaganda

Apparently this polish is getting quite hard to find, I’m so glad managed picked this up when I did! This is a very dark blue jelly it’s almost black and incredibly high gloss, the formula for this is good but it does tend to drag if you are not really careful when applying it. This was 3 coats  in daylight 2 coats would be fine but my camera was picking up every brush stroke :/

Faux Pas

Illamasqua Faux Pas

Illamasqua Faux Pas

This polish has a rubber finish, it is a lovely mid purple with a grey base for some reason it is looking more violet from my camera. This was two coats the formula is really lovely, no streaking or dragging and as with all Illamasqua polishes it dries really quickly!

Snap

Illamasqua Snap

Illamasqua Snap

This is a lovely metallic shade, it has so much shimmer that i would say its close to a foil! this was one thin coat with no base or top coats, I have found that this is a really good polish for stamping!

Poke 

Illamasqua Poke

Illamasqua Poke

I absolutely love this colour! It’s a bright purple with silver shimmer and a satin finish, the formula flows really smoothly, it dries really fast and it lasts (on my nails) all week!


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