I know NYE is a little ways away still but don't tell me you haven't considered a few nail options yet? Right? Yeah, that's what I thought. For this glittering glory I started with 3 coats of Maybelline Express Finish, 650 Sunlight. You can get away with 2 but I like 3 since this polish is on the sheer side. I then topped it with a couple of coats of Sally Girl, Chunky Gold Glitter. This glitter is a little tricky to apply because instead of swiping like a normal polish you have to dab it to place the glitter where you want. I love the 2 different sizes of glitter so I don't mind applying it this way at all.
What do you think? Is this nail look perfect for NYE or what?
PS. Click through to see what it looks like with a coat of Essie, Matte About You on top. Spoiler alert... it's really awesome.
For the matte look...
KEEP READING...
There's a new flakey in town! Esse just released a collection that includes Luxeffects top coats. For this week's mani monday I used 2 coats of Illamasqua, Rampage; a rich, deep, dark semi-jelly cream emerald green. What's great about this particular green is it doesn't live in the forest! It's a dark warm-toned green which is kind of hard to find. It looks great with my neutral-warm-toned skin. I then topped the edges with Esse, Shine of the Times Luxeffects top coat; a multi-dimentional flakey glitter.
The shape of this flake is much smaller than the INGLOT flakies or Sally Hansen Hidden Treasure. It's also a bit more condensed. You really don't need more than 1 coat. I used a tiny bit a the tips of my nails and then spread it down with a cleaned off brush. The effect is gorgeous! I completely obsessed with the Esse Luxeffects!
Top picture taken in indirect sunlight, bottom in direct sunlight. You can see the different colors at the different angles.
Bonus shots of Esse Luxeffects, Shine of the Times:
(direct sunlight)
(indirect sunlight)
Happy Monday Kittens! Today's manicure was inspired by the awesome nail blog Chloe's Nails. She always does amazing things with her nails and one idea that I got from her was the concept of the matte flakies. Up until a few days ago I was struggling with my inferior matte top coats. One wasn't matte enough while the other cracked apart while drying. I finally caved and bought Essie Matte About You. I seriously am smacking myself for not buying it sooner. I saw it at Duane Reade for a few dollars cheaper than anywhere else, so that must have been a sign. I FREAKING LOVE IT! I don't know what about fall makes me want matte nails more, but I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot of matte mani mondays in the fall.
Now, don't get too put off by the amount of layers on this particular manicure. It evolved over a few day span.
1. I started off with GOSH, Fix Base Coat
2. Then applied two coats of Sally Hanson Hard As Nails Extreme Wear, Purple Pizzazz, a jelly finish purple with specks of golden pink micro flake.
3. Then topped it with a coat of Seche Vite, Fast Dry Top Coat
4. Followed by another coat of Sally Hanson Hard As Nails Extreme Wear, Purple Pizzazz.
5. One more coat of the Seche Vite, Fast Dry Top Coat
(Geez, that's a lot of coats, eh?) I wore that for a few days (no chips baby!) before I added...
6. INGLOT, 205 Flakies
7. One coat of Essie, Matte About You.
Flakies and I were taking a break after a whirl-win romance about a year ago. But when I saw their beautiful duochrome and fiery glow the spark in my glittery heart came rushing back. Oh flakies, how could I have ever let you go!?
Do you like matte nail polish?
As a DIY mani freak, I love the idea of giving a 4-color set of high quality polishes. Essie put their top 4 fall colors into one beautiful gift set. Colors include: Limited Addiction (red), Sew Psyched (muted grey/green), Merino Cool (cool-toned mauve) and Little Brown Dress (chocolate brown). What's great is that you can rotate colors all fall/winter.
WHO: Ladies who like to change up their polish
WHAT: Essie Fall Collection 4-pack
PRICE: $16.74
AVAILABILITY: Nordstrom.com
As most of you know, I am abso-obsessed with all flakie polish. It's such a cool effect and adds so much dimension to your nails. When I was given Barielle Elle's Spell I totally sqeeled. Red Flakies are perfection for the holidays. Unfortunately, this polish doesn't do so well on it's own, so I think layering is a must. I chose to go a with red-on-red. However, the red flakies would probably look KILLER on top of gold, silver or white. Who knows, it could even elevate a rich chocolate brown color to the next level.
I used Essie Limited Addiction for my base color. I applied 2 coats, waiting a few mintues between coats. Then I applied 2 coats of the Barielle Elle's Spell, which I also let dry between coats. I finished it all off with a coat of Sechie Vite Fast Dry Top Coat. Enjoy!
(as always, click picture to see detail)
Do you love rocking a red nail in the winter? Have any other suggestions for flakie layering?
