Euro 2012 Spain

And the last shall be the first! This is my second time trying a gradient and I’m really happy at how beautiful it turned out! I know this is probably the least matching of the Euro 2012 manicures (as compared to the jerseys), but I don’t care.

Spanish colors are traditionally red and yellow – they are called La Furia Roja (The Red Fury). But this is their away jersey; which I adore! The sky blue base is complimented by the dark blue stash. But it’s not just a plain stash; it’s made of fine stripes that fade into a gradient!

To create this, I followed The Nailasaurus’ gradient tutorial. It’s a simple technique, easy to learn but I've yet to master it (all I’ll say is that I had some difficulties doing my right hand). I wouldn't mind more practice – more colors to play with!

This concludes the Euro 2012 series. Thanks for sticking with me till the end, especially those who don’t even follow football.

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Orly Snowcone (1 coat)
• Orly Snowcone / OPI Road House Blues (sponged on)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 Germany

This is a simple design that I used a striping brush to do. I did manage to make the lines pretty straight but my yellow polish applied too thickly, causing an uneven bump even after I put on top coat.

This is the German’s home kit. I do like white kits because there’s just something elegant about the color. As for the team, I was disappointed when they were knocked out at the semis. I really thought that a final between Spain and them would have been great, but alas, it wasn't to be.

The weather over here has been rather finicky, so I settled on some lamp light shots. I'm sure you’re seen this white shimmer in sunlight a couple of times anyway.

Thanks for looking!

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Orly Au Champagne (3 coats)
• Konad Special Polish Black (1 coat) – ring finger
• Essie First Dance (1 coat) – ring finger
• China Glaze Lemon Fizz (1 coat) – ring finger
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 Ukraine

I'm sure you can tell that this is another attempt at freehand drawing, heh. I did create some "guides" by using thread to "impress" checkered boxes before the base dried completely. It worked but my freehand skills are still rather lacking regardless.

The Ukraine home jersey is rather trendy with its slight tribal pattern that has been so popular this year. As mentioned in an earlier post, I only have one yellow in my stash; hence, this is as color accurate as I can be.

I used a dotting tool to “fill in” the checkers here. It was rather time consuming but that may be just my inexperience talking. If I do find my drawing skills improving or an easier method to do this, I’ll definitely try this design again.

Thanks for reading!

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• China Glaze Lemon Fizz (3 coats)
• Orly Snowcone (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 France

With this, it’s just three more left! I've been to wanting to finish up these few but the weather has not been cooperating, it always turns dark and gloomy with rain clouds before I can snaps any shots.

I love the way the stripes are used in the France home jersey. Horizontal stripes can be a little tricky – if not done right, it can be really unflattering. I like how it was kept simple, alternating navy and blue with different thickness.

I painted the navy as the base and before using striping tape to mark out the thin lines. I then used the blue to paint over the tape a nail at a time, removing the tape before moving on to the next nail. Pretty simple with lovely results. However, the blue polish I used was thick and I needed three coats of Seche Vite to even it out. So I hope you don’t mind the bubbling.

Thanks for reading!

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• OPI Road House Blues (2 coats)
• OPI Dating A Royal (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (3 coats)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Viva España!

This is a non-nail polish post.

Congratulations to Spain for retaining their Euro title!

It was a classy example of tiki-taka at its best. Boring? At times, perhaps. But only because they stick to their winning philosophy of holding on to possession. It certainly wasn't boring last night.

The possession game is a patient game. It’s efficient; you conserve energy because there’s no need to chase down a ball that’s already with your team. It’s frustrating – for your opponents; they can’t shoot (much less score) without the ball. Most of all, it’s rewarding; especially when you find that perfect pass (just one) that leads to a goal.

To me, this is the beautiful game. Defensive, possessive and aggressive all at the same time. With each pass, Spain hopes to frustrate their opponents and open up their defence  It may look like they’re passing for the sake of passing, but no, they’re playing a waiting game. Their waiting game.

This generation of Spanish footballers is indeed a golden generation. They have redefined the way football is played. Their players are simply amazing without being the tallest or strongest. I could list so many of their players but I’ll keep it to just one: Andrés Iniesta – voted best player of the tournament.
Physically, Iniesta doesn't look very inspiring. At just 1.7m (5 ft 7), he’s not considered tall. He’s also a lightweight, not brawny enough to shove his way pass his opponents. But despite all these, he is pure magic with the ball. He skips pass defenders with the ball appearing to be magnetized to his feet. He sees almost impossible chances and passes the perfect through ball with spot-on timing. Basically, he is a nightmare for his opponents; they know it and he knows it.

And he is just one among the many. Perhaps in another time or in a different country, such players would not have been cultivated or valued. But Spain has taken what they have, nurtured their talents, and created their own brand of football. Tiki-taka – love it or hate it, one thing is sure: Spain has thrived on it.

Euro 2012 Czech Republic

Another subtle stamping – this time metallic on a crelly (cream + jelly) with an accent nail.

The Czech’s have what it seems to be a plain red home jersey with a short blue strip at the left shoulder. But upon closer inspection, you’ll notice that the top diagonal area has a faint checkered pattern.

My stamping wasn't quite up to standard this time. Luckily, one of the advantages of subtle stamping is that the mistakes are not very obvious.

Thanks for looking!

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Essie First Dance (2 coats)
• China Glaze Thunderbird (RA-103)
• Michelle M31 (2 coats) – ring finger
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 England

I really like the classic white jersey. It’s timeless so I decided to use my new white jelly to create an elegant effect.

England’s home jersey is a very clean white with red accents. The stamp I used makes me think of a lions face – the team’s nickname is Three Lions (look closely at their crest).

I loved how this turned out despite my less-than-perfect stamping. The dots from the stamp didn't appear very well so I used a dotting tool to fill them in. It was raining when I took these shots so the two pictures above are under direct lamplight instead of sunlight.

Thanks for looking!

Polish peels:
• NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)
• OPI Don’t Touch My Tutu! (4 coats)
• China Glaze Thunderbird (RA-120) – ring finger
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 Russia

This one’s a simple design: red nails with the flag colors as an accent nail.

When I first saw Russia’s home jersey, I thought the diagonal strip was just white and blue. Only after closer inspection then I realized that it was tricolored.

The accent nail gave me a bit of trouble because I painted the blue as the base color. The red was too jelly-like; resulting in a maroon like shade. The white section became too thick as it needed three coats to become opaque.

Thanks for reading!

Polish peels:
• NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)
• Essie First Dance (2 coats)
• Michelle M31 (2 coats) – ring finger
• Orly Au Champagne (3 coats) – ring finger
• Essie First Dance (3 coats) – ring finger
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 Ireland

A green holographic tape mani – a combination of the different things I love! The picture above is too blue though, those in direct sunlight below are more color accurate.

Ireland's home kit is the one and only that has no white, red, or blue. I love the grass green color, it's so rarely seen in jerseys. The huge sponsor in the middle does ruin it though.

Surprisingly, I found that I have very little rich greens in my collection. In fact, these are my only two! They complement each other rather well in the shade but I love how it changes in the sun when the holo takes all the attention in the last picture.

Thanks for looking!

Polish peels:
• NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)
• OPI Jade Is The New Black (2 coats)
• Nubar Reclaim – middle & ring fingers(1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 Sweden

This marks the eight country in the tournament – I’m halfway there! Four more days, eight more countries to go!

Sweden’s home jersey is a lovely bright yellow – a color I don’t have. Hence, the pastel yellow substitute. I actually do love the simple design; I just wish I had the same yellow!

I wanted a thin line down each nail but my striping brush wasn’t thin enough. So I decided to use a strand of hair. Yes, you read correctly. A strand of hair – my hair. I got the idea from Copy That, Copy Cat and it worked great! I don’t find it gross since it’s my own hair after all.

Thanks for reading!

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• China Glaze Lemon Fizz (2 coats)
• OPI Road House Blues (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 Italy

I love the idea of subtle stamping. And what better way than using the same color for both the base and the stamp – except one is matte and the other glossy?

The Italian home kit has a subtle design that can barely be seen when worn. While Italy is still in the running for this competition, I don’t see them beating Germany in the semis tomorrow. Wow! Italy stunned Germany! They march on to the finals!

I don’t have a similar stamping image so I improvised with another from the Red Angel plates. I practiced the stamping on paper before doing my nails; it turned out to be easier than I thought.
And sorry for the white specks, they came from my matte top coat. Does anyone know what causes them?

Thanks for reading!

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Michelle M31 (2 coats)
• China Glaze Matte Magic Top Coat (1 coat)
• Michelle M31 (RA-111)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 Poland

Another red-white combination. It’s the easiest design in my opinion, so I decided to freehand the lines. The lines could be straighter and the red polish less thick – I guess I need more practice with the striper brush.

Poland is one of the two co-hosts this year. Their home jersey is rather simple and leaves me uninspired.

I really hope you guys haven’t been bored looking at the same polishes in the last few posts. As I mentioned earlier, I only have one white polish. I do love the shimmer and the fast drying time, it’s great! I’ll do a proper post on it in the future!

Thanks for reading!

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Orly Au Champagne (3 coats)
• Essie First Dance (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Euro 2012 Croatia

Checkered patterns! This is another one of my first attempts and I think I’m starting to get better at these tape manicures!

This is Croatia’s home jersey. I actually don’t like the red-white and blue-white color schemes on clothes. It looks a tablecloth or picnic mat!

I do love looking at them on nails though! I know it’s possible to do more squares but I like the symmetry of just four squares.

Thanks for looking!

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Orly Au Champagne (3 coats)
• Essie First Dance (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.