Another Gradient

Apparently I've been on a gradient kick lately. Here is one I did with a few of my China Glaze jelly neons.

I started with theBalm's Mellow Yellow, then China Glaze Shell-O, & You Drive Me Coconuts. I used a slightly dampened triangle makeup sponge..

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theBalm Hot Ticket - Magenta Disposition

This is another polish from theBalm that I picked up on Hautelook last month for $5.

It's a bright red toned pink. I then stamped using MASH-39 and Konad special black polish.

Here is Magenta Disposition on it's own. I found this polish to be a little less than stellar. The other polishes from the Hot Ticket line were all fantastic, but this one was thick and more of a pain. Despite all of that, it still only required 2 coats and they went on smooth enough.... just not great.



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LSU use of "Glequins"

These large pieces of loose glitter have been dubbed "Glequins" by the Nailasaurus. These can be found at Born Pretty Store and they are not big enough to be called a sequin, but are larger than most glitters.

Hence, "glequin".

I bow to her patience when it comes to application! I got a little rushed, so mine don't line up as perfectly as hers. I received these loose glitter pieces in gold for review. They can be purchased here for $2.38.

Purple and gold! LSU colors!
I painted 2 coats of theBalm's Hot Ticket polish in Lilac Any Sense. Waited for it to dry a bit and then applied small amount of topcoat at a time along the borders of my nails. Then I picked up the glitter pieces and placed them all individually. The screw top plastic container that the glitter pieces come in makes it easy to stay organized. Sometimes I mistakenly picked up 2 pieces of glitter,  but I just placed them anyway. Lol. Once all of the glitter was placed, I put on one more layer of top coat. These "glequins" lie flat making it much less tempting to pick at them.

Don't forget if you'd like to order from Born Pretty, you can use my coupon code for 10% off!

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theBalm Hot Ticket - Lilac Any Sense

Here is Lilac Any Sense from the Balm's line of "Hot Ticket" nail polish.

I picked it up on Hautelook last month for $5.

This is 2 coats. The formula on these polishes is really good. They go on so smoothly and dry quickly.

Just a great medium, creme purple shade.

Not much else to say. :)

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Successful Swirly Gradient

I struggled with the Nailasaurus' gradient tutorial. I couldn't get it to apply smoothly and would end up with bubbles and rough spots and everything BUT a smooth gradient. Finally someone helped me out by suggesting that my sponge was too dry? Yes! It turns out that I had much better results with a more saturated sponge. 

I started with the base of the Balm's Hot Ticket Mellow Yellow that I showed you earlier today. Then the gradient was Mellow Yellow to another polish from the Balm. Sky Blue Right Past You.

Then I stamped with white Konad polish and the Mash40 image plate on a few accent nails. I apologize for the rough cuticles. This many layers to clean up with acetone left me less than perfect.

 This indoor picture is more color accurate.

:)

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theBalm Hot Ticket - Mellow Yellow

Here I used Mellow Yellow from the Balm's line of "Hot Ticket" nail polish.

I picked it up on Hautelook last month for $5.

I also did a gradient & stamping combo on top, I'll show you that later this afternoon.

The formula on these Hot Ticket polishes is really good. This swatch only took 2 coats. It self levels easily and doesn't go on streaky like a lot of yellow polishes do.

How does it compare to one of my favorite yellows? China Glaze Lemon Fizz?

This is an older swatch pic, so that's why the length of my nails is so different.

Side by side?

Lemon Fizz is on the left, Mellow Yellow is on the right. 

Mellow Yellow is noticeably lighter in color. Not dupes!

 

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Coral-Reefined with Striping Tape

I wanted to play more with the striping tape I received from Born Pretty. This time I used the silver tape and did accent nails with horizontal stripes down the entire length of the nail. It was very tedious, but totally worth it!

The polish I used is Coral Reef-ined from the Balm's line of "Hot Ticket" nail polish.
I picked it up on Hautelook last month for $5.

I switched up what nails were the accents on each hand.

This was my first Balm nail polish to try and I was really impressed. The formula was great! 2 easy coats and the coverage is perfect and self levels to this. :)

The striping tape did start to lift at the edges after 8 hours or so. I lost a few pieces of tape, they just curled up and came off. (Despite the fact that I had put a layer of Seche Vite over the accent nails) Every couple of hours a new piece of tape would come off, but I just keep going about my business. After 24 hours of wear-time, all of my tape was gone. Either it had curled up and off, or I picked at it and peeled it off. I can't seem to get striping tape to last too long. Does anyone else have similar issues?

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