Three Beauties Radient Turquoise

Sheer green base with blue/ purple duochrome glass flecks. I bought this polish on a hunch that it’ll look awesome over a black base and I’m happy to show you that I’m right! Look at that glass fleck duochrome goodness!

Michelle M32

Periwinkle blue cream. I used this polish a year ago for my birthday manicure but the color seems to have changed. I’m not sure how accurate the photos were but my memory tells me it used to be purpler. I tried going down to Beadstreet to compare but I couldn’t find this shade so I think it’s discontinued.

Color change or not, I do love this hue. Like the other Beadstreet creams I have, this is thick but evens out well. It bubbled a little on me because of the thickness so I would recommend thin coats.

Polish peels:
• Michelle Base (1 coat)
• Michelle M32 (2 coats)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

Metallic Zigzag

After seeing this on Pshiiit, I’ve always wanted to try it out with a different color combination. I don’t understand French but the diagrams are pretty self explanatory (and there’s always Google Translate if you need it). Initially, I wanted to use these colors for a needle marble but that was an absolute failure so I switched to this. I’m glad I did because I’m happy with how this turned out!

For the base, I used a black cream from Beadstreet. I just have to mention how awesome it is: full coverage in one medium coat and it cost less than $2! As for the zigzag, I sponged on Deviantly Daring because I didn’t want any brushstrokes – plus it creates a speckled effect that prevents it from being too flat.

I hope you enjoyed my attempt!

Polish peels:
• NailTek Foundation II (1 coat)
• Michelle S79 (1 coat)
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)
• • China Glaze Deviantly Daring – sponged
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

Michelle M31

Azure blue cream. It’s a lovely color that’s easy to apply. The formula is a little thick but gave me no problems.

I bought this from Beadstreet at Cathay Cineleisure Orchard. I really recommend this shop for those on a budget as their nail polishes are great for the price. They have a good range of creams, plus some glitter and crackle. You can test the polishes so you’ll know exactly what you’re getting.

One bottle goes for $2.50 while two are $4. I have three of their creams and they’re fully opaque in two coats. The brushes are a bit unruly and might require trimming but it’s a small issue. Those I have also wear as well as any other brands so I think they’re worth it.

Polish peels:
• Michelle M31 (2 coats)

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 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 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 Greece

Euro fever! Who are you supporting in this year’s Euro?

I was inspired by the Euro 2012 jerseys and wanted to do manicure designs based on them. I thought it would be a good introduction to nail art for me. The designs seem simple enough to try out ;)
So why the Euro jerseys? I’m actually a huge huge football fan. I’ve been watching European football since I was young and thought it would be rather fun to combine my two passions!

This design was inspired by the Greece home jersey. I only have one white polish, which has silver shimmer. I find it preferable to a plain cream here, as it creates an extra dimension to the otherwise plain design.

This is my first attempt at dotting so I hope it’s not too messy! I used toothpick instead of a dotting tool as I wanted the dots to be tiny. But it looks like I wasn’t too successful, heh.

Thanks for reading!

Polish peels:
• China Glaze Strong Adhesion Base Coat (1 coat)
• Orly Au Champagne (3 coats)
• Michelle M31 (Dots) – ring finger
• Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (1 coat)

All jerseys featured are for illustrative purposes only.

Purple Paradise

It was my birthday on Sunday and I decided to treat myself by breaking out my bottle of Nfu Oh 51. However, since it has a sheer purple jelly base, I painted it over another untried color, Michelle M32. M32 is a purple cream that is nowhere near to 51’s base color (more on that below). No matter, I think it turned out well!