Autumn Leopard

I've been wanting to do something fall-appropriate in orange and gold for a while, but when I sat down with my chosen polishes I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.  After trying out a couple different things (and re-doing some nails multiple times) I was getting pretty tired and didn't want anything more to do with tape or tiny brushes, and I ended up with this.  

I've never done a full-on leopard print manicure before, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.  And best of all, it was super easy thanks to this tutorial by Sarah at Chalkboard Nails!  

My base colour is Essie Meet Me At Sunset, the gold is Essie Good As Gold, and the black is Sally Hansen Black Out.  I'm really happy with my colour choice; I think they look great together and make for a very unnatural-looking yet fall-appropriate leopard print!

Do you love leopard print manicures?  How about unnatural leopard print?  Or do you think the full-on animal print combined with the unnatural colours is just too much?  Let me know in the comments  :)

Reciprocal Gradient Tutorial

As promised, here is a step-by-step picture tutorial of my Reciprocal Gradient nails from yesterday's post.  Here is what the finished mani looks like:

For this look I used Zoya Dove and Orly Decoded, though I'm sure it would look great in a lot of other colours combinations too!   Please excuse the the less-than-desirable lighting in the tutorial, it was nighttime and I had to use artificial light (I seriously need to make a lightbox) but I figured you'd rather have a funny-coloured tutorial than none at all! 

1.  Begin with a base coat, and paint your nails the lighter of the two colours you've chosen.  

2.  Sponge on a gradient, I use this method. (Skip to 2:10)  Add a quick-drying top coat.  

3.  Place pieces of striping tape (or very thinly cut pieces of normal tape, if you have no striping tape and a lot of patience.)

4.  Sponge on another gradient using the same method, but this time reverse the colours.  So if your gradient was going light-to-dark before, now sponge on dark-to-light.  You may have to go over this one a couple of times to completely cover the gradient underneath.  

5.  (not shown)  Peel off the striping tape, and clean around your nails, first with q-tips and then with a makeup brush dipped in acetone. 

6.  Add a couple coats of your favourite quick-drying top coat for a nice smooth finish, and you're done! 

How do you like it?  Was it easy enough to understand?  Will you be trying this?  If you write a post about it, please link back to this post.  If you do try it, email a link or a picture to ecm.dancer@gmail.com.  I'd love to see!  :)

Reciprocal Gradient

I've had this idea floating around in my head for a while, and I don't *think* anyone else has done it before, so I decided to give it a go.  I'm SO happy with how this turned out!  

I started by painting my nails in a Grey-dient with Zoya Dove and Orly Shockwave.  Unsure of how my idea would turn out (regardless of the fact that it looked awesome in my head) I decided to do only my thumb, and if it looked awful I would leave the rest as plain gradients.  At that point I was almost wishing my idea would look awful, nearing 10:30pm, just so I could go to bed sooner...  

Unfortunately, after finishing my thumb, my exact thoughts were "Oh crap, this looks awesome.  Now I'm going to have to do all 10 nails." *facepalm*  Take a look. 

Zoya Dove and Orly Shockwave, with two coats of Seche Vite.  I consistently have problems with these two greys photographing way more blue than they actually are.  Grrr.  

I felt so cool naming this the reciprocal gradient.  I was thinking about nail polish while doing math (I promise that doesn't happen all the time,) and the word popped out at me and it just seemed to fit perfectly  :)

So, since I'm hoping that you'll all love this and want it on your own nails (and then it'll blow up and become a huge trend... Ha. Right.) I took a couple pictures as I was going and I'll post a step-by-step picture tutorial tomorrow!  Awesome nails for all!! 

So you've probably got it figured out that I think this is awesome, but what about you?  Do you like the reciprocal gradient?  Will you be putting it on your (probably lengthy) to-do list of manicures?  Remember to check back tomorrow for a tutorial, and if you re-create the look shoot me an email (ecm.dancer@gmail.com) I'd love to see!  :)

F4 Polish: Gravel Dust

I've got one more great F4 Polish to show you today, Gravel Dust!  You can see my review of the F4 Polish Halloween Collection here.  

Gravel Dust is a medium grey crelly (creme-jelly) filled with tiny pink, purple, and green matte glitters.  The application was easy, and the glitters spread evenly by themselves.  

I've shown three coats here, but if you don't have a very visible nail line or don't have much free edge, you could easily get away with two coats.  I only had time for one coat of Seche Vite (morning mani,) but it was still pretty gritty so I'd recommend two coats of a thicker top coat for a completely smooth finish.  

I've made no secret of my love of grey polish, and this one hits the spot!  I think that it's really unique, and I love the uniform size of the glitters.  This would be a great polish for someone who wants something fun on their nails, but doesn't want to go too crazy.  ;)

You can find F4 Polish on Facebook here, and on Etsy here.  Jenn, Lacey, and Lexy, the geniuses behind F4 Polish, consistently turn out original and quality polishes, and I can honestly say that they are some of the most sweet and enthusiastic girls when it comes to their brand!  :)

Do you own any F4 Polish?  Do you like grey polish with glitter?  Let me know what you think! 

Studded Ink Suede

Let me tell you, if you live in Canada, Winners is THE place to get nail polish.  Often they'll just have a random assortment of bottles, but once in a while you'll walk in and find three full China Glaze displays (Bohemian, Safari, and Glitter Crackle), tons of random Orly, and a bunch of new, old, and hard-to-find OPIs for a fraction of the regular price!

Honestly, looking back on that experience I'm amazed that I managed to walk out with only two bottles of polish.  I got China Glaze Exotic Encounters which you can see I used here, as well as this beauty, OPI Ink Suede. 

I used two easy coats of this blurple (totally a word) with beautiful silvery shimer that gives it a glowing lit-from-within look even when not in direct light.  

I loved the look of it matte ("suede", yea, yea,) but when I topcoated it under the pretense of adding a coat of Essie Matte About You, I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  The shine really brings out the gorgeous shimmer! 

I've heard that it's nothing like the original OPI Ink, but I love it nonetheless.  Do you like this polish?  Would you be interested in a post showing it matte as well as glossy?  And finally, do you think I'm becoming too predictable with the studs?  ;)  Haha

F4 Polish: Halloween Collection

Today I've got three polishes from the F4 Polish Halloween collection to show you.  Once again I'm blown away by the thought and care that goes into making these polishes, and it shows through in the fabulous quality and application! 

First up is Krazy Korn, a clear base with orange, white, and yellow matte glitters of various sizes.  To make it further resemble it's namesake, I decided to layer it over a gradient of Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear White On, Mellow Yellow, and Essie Orange, It's Obvious!    

The glitter is really densely packed in all of the F4 Polishes, and this one is no exception; shown is only one coat! 

Application was really smooth, and there was only a little dabbing required just to get the larger yellow hexes where I wanted them.  I've used one coat of SV for the pictures, but I'd recommend two if you want a smooth finish.  

Green Goblin  is a clear base packed full of various shades and sizes of sparkly and matte green glitter.  I layered one coat of this over Orly After Party, but I have no doubt that you'd be able to get full coverage with this one by itself in two or three coats!

Application was perfectly smooth, I applied it as I would any normal non-glitter polish and it spread perfectly.  Gotta love a great glitter formula!  Two coats of SV are shown and were enough for a smooth finish. 

My favourite part about this one is the mix of glitters in it.  The contrast between the matte and sparkly glitters give it a really interesting visual effect, and the different shades of green give it a lot of depth.  

I've saved my favourite for last, Monster Mash!  This polish is a mix of black matte micro glitters, small green matte hexes, and medium purple matte hexes.  I layered one coat of Monster Mash over Orly Decoded, which I think is a perfect base!  Two coats of SV was enough for a smooth finish. 

The application on this one was a tad more finicky than the other two, but nothing to really complain about since the others were both on a level WAY above average for glitter application!  A little extra time was required to space the green and purple glitters evenly, but the end effect is SO worth it! 

How great is this?  I love that it's subtle (at arm's length) but still really fun, quirky, AND Halloween-appropriate!  This one's a total win  :)

You can snatch yourself up some F4 Polishes on Etsy here, (they ship to Canada!) and keep up to date with news and upcoming polishes on Facebook here. 

Which of these three polishes is your favourite?  Do you have any of these or the other polishes from the F4 Polish Halloween collection?  Will you be getting any in time for this Halloween?  :)



You can see my previous reviews of F4 Polish here: Pink Penquin, Chunky Cow, Pink Salmon, Mint Chocolate Chip.   I have one more F4 Polish to show you, but it's not part of the Halloween collection and therefore will be getting it's own post in the very near future  ;)


Disclaimer: The products in this post were sent to me for review and my honest opinion. 

Simple Elegance

Just a quick stamping post today using another one of my new Bundle Monster plates.  I had a performance on Friday night, and of course my nails couldn't go naked so I wore 4 coats of OPI Barre My Soul.  

By the time I got home it was pretty late so I decided to just add some stamping on top of what I was already wearing.  I used BM-314 and Konad Black polish to stamp on this design.  I'm kind of bummed that I smeared the image a little when I put on top coat, but it wasn't visible at all from arm's length. 

This is actually something I've had in the back of my mind since I saw this image on the Bundle Monster plates, and I'm glad that I finally got around to doing it.  

I really enjoyed wearing this (especially with my matching black lacey leotard to class and rehearsal the next day.)  I think it has a kind of simple understated elegance to it.  How do you like the neutral background with black stamping?  Is this something you'd wear?