A2Z Challenge: I is for Inspired

This particular challenge had me thinking for a while. “Inspired”… it’s not that easy a subject word, I don’t think. I mean, it’s only been a month and a half since I made a Copycat-mani, and I didn’t want to do another one.

So I figured that I’d think a little bit outside the box and interpret it a little bit. I considered: Who inspires me, or even what inspires me. That made it even harder. There are so many inspiring people in the world and so many inspiring things. All of a sudden it struck me: It can all be included in this:

Faith, hope and love.

Here’s what that ended up looking like on my nails:

Base colour of all nails: NailNation 3000 ~ White, a plain white crème

- Pinkie and ring finger has got a layer of iridescent glitter too: Morgan Taylor ~ Snow Place Like Home

- The pinkie is stamped with a cross from Mondle Bunster’s stamping plate: BM13

- The ring finger is first striped with OPI’s Cinnamon Sweet – a lovely, lovely red. Then stamped with an anchor from Moyou London’s plate Sailor Collection-01.

I made a gradient on the middle finger and the pointer. I used OPI’s Mod About You, which is a baby pink crème, and OPI’s Cinnamon Sweet, the red I used on my ring finger too. The gradient didn’t end up looking el fantastico – the sponge goobered it up a bit for me. But never mind.

I stamped a heart line on the middle finger. Motif was found on Mash-38. And finally I stamped hearts on the pointer. I found the heart on a no name Essence stamping plate.

So this is what inspires me: Faith, hope, love – and life :)

The challenge next week is Jewel – I’ve already got an idea for that one, so stay tuned.

Please take a moment to take a look at what the other cool girls did: 

An InLinkz Link-up

Pahlish ~ Cham

Pahlish ~ Cham

Pale lilac with pale blue hexes and glitters

Today I’m going to show you something that’s both unusual for me and for the season: It’s a pastel. I received this Pahlish in a swap with the sweetest girl ever.

The formula is good and the polish is easy to apply. I didn’t fish for the glitter and I didn’t have to dap it around on the nails either. The amount you see on my nails is a result of one dip in the bottle per nail. I expected a lot of layers, but I only needed two to get rid of visible nail line. The drying time between the coats is good.

Here’s two coats and a layer of topcoat:

The topcat actually made a difference – it made the tiny glitter come to life, so I’ll recommend that you use a topcoat for this polish.

I wish I had thought of this polish when I made my Meghan Taylor “All about that Bass”-mani back in November – it would have been perfect. Check this link to see what I mean :D

I didn’t do anything with this. I didn’t want to overwhelm the blue glitter! :)

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Fast

Finish: Crelly with glitter and hexes

Overall impression: Great quality, nice glitter

Buy again: Maybe

MAC ~ Rocky Horror Picture Show

MAC ~ Rocky Horror Picture Show

Bad Fairy and Formidable!

I don’t buy MAC polishes very often. There are two reasons for that: They don’t often make polishes that actually wow me, and I don’t like the price tag. A MAC polish costs 130DKK here, which is US$22 – a bit too much for a non-wowing polish imo.

But! MAC came out with a Rocky Horror Picture Show collection recently, and I love Rocky Horror! It is a little bit annoying that the polishes aren’t new as such, since I already have Formidable in my collection. But never mind – I’m a true collector so I bought both the polishes. And I don’t regret it! :D

Let me show you what the look like. I’ll start out with Bad Fairy, which is a magenta to orange colour shifter packed with shimmer.

The formula is good and easy to work with, and I used two easy coats for my swatches. The drying time is not super fast but not slow either. And wow. Just wow. Here’s what it looks like:

Even though the orange is a bit on the autumny colour side, I really like the colour shift!

I mean, take a look!

I decided to mix is with a Darling Diva: The Grand Rite, which is a burgundy linear holo. I made a stripe and four dots on each nail, and was happy to see that it fits the Bad Fairy perfectly!

Yes, I love that!

The next polish up is Formidable! which is a blue to purple colourshifter, packed with shimmer.

Same good formula, but it did need three coats to look its best. Same average drying time as its sister.

Here’s what it looks like:

The shimmer makes this really special.

It’s the second time I’m wearing this colour (I had a bottle of it already) and I must admit that I like it more this time than I did last. I don’t know what happened, but both bottles stay with me for now!

I made turquoise holographic dotted chevrons on it with Colors by Llarowe’s “Young Turks”. Simple and easy – and I like the look of it.

I think the turquoise fits the Formidable just fine.

All in all this is two great polishes, and I am really happy that I got my grabby hands on them before they sold out. I need to watch Rocky Horror Picture Show again soon!

Are you also a fan of RHPS? :)

Chaos & Crocodiles ~ Shadows

Chaos & Crocodiles ~ Shadows

Deep purple jelly with holo pigments and micro glitters

Shadows is part of a trio, of which I’ve got two polishes. I’ve already shown you Echoes here, and today it’s time to show you Shadows.

I’m impressed by the formula, it’s really good considering this is a jelly (bearing in mind that jellies aren’t my favourites as a rule!) Two easy coats is what it took to make it opaque and the drying time between coats is good.

Two coats, no topcoat, picture taken with flash:

And here’s the same thing in my lightbox:

I decided to add more glitter, because a girl can never get too much glitter. I sponged Chaos & Crocodiles “Bwahaha!” on my tips and applied a layer of China Glaze’s “Fairy Dust” over the whole thing. And this, sweet girls, is my final mani:

Lightbox picture! I really like the extra bling the two other glitters brought into the picture here!

Here are the three polishes. The Fairy Dust is slowly but surely going down.

Number of coats: 2

Drying time: Pretty good

Finish: Jelly with microglitter
Overall impression: Great quality polish with sweet holo microglitter

Buy again: Yes

I bought my Chaos & Crocodiles polishes from norwaynails.com.

You can find more info on NorwayNail’s Facebook page, link here.

Norway Nails have kindly offered my readers a 10% discount code. Just use the code RAINBOWIFYME10 at checkout, and you'll be getting 10% off your purchase.

Morgan Taylor ~ Best Dressed

Morgan Taylor ~ Best Dressed

Cherry red to orange shimmer

It’s time for another Morgan Taylor mani! I’ve been looking forward to wearing Best Dressed since it arrived in the mail – it looks gorgeous in the bottle and I was eager to see it on the nails too.

The application was easy because the formula is really good. Two easy coats is what it took, and the drying time between the coats is good. And I love the way it looks on my nails! The colour shift isn’t the strongest, but the polish dries up to an almost metallic finish – I love that!

Here’s two coats and no topcoat:

It’s super shiny and I love the colour!

I hardly ever know where my manis end when I start them, so I debated with myself for a while about what to do with it. I ended up deciding on stripes, because it’s been a while since I did a proper stripicure. I made black and metallic purple stripes on it, finished it with a layer of topcoat, ét voilá, my mani was done:

I really, really love this!

Here are the polishes I used:

The Moyra striper hasn’t got a name, but I bought it in Hungary. It goes down way too quickly, boo! :/

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Fast

Finish: Polish packed with so much shimmer that it shows up metallic/foil-ish

Overall impression: Good quality, easy to work with, good colour shift!

Buy again: Yes

KBShimmer ~ Rust No One

KBShimmer ~ Rust No One

Orangy red linear holo

I thought I might as well show you the other KBShimmer I bought from the Autumn 2014 collection, Rust No One. I wasn’t quite sure whether to get this one or not, since the “Rust” in the name made me think of Autumn-y colours, and my skin tone isn’t fantastic with that colour scheme.

But since I’ve recently developed a love for orange polishes I thought I might as well bite the bullet and buy this one as well. Up and Cunning (that I showed you yesterday) was thrilled to be able to travel with her sister, so that’s perfect, really.

Anyway – I went for a Hawaiian mani this time. I know it’s winter in the northern hemisphere where I live, but there are definitely places where it’s warm now. So there you have it! :)  I’m going to show you my final mani first:

See? Double stamping, Hawaiian flowers, leaves and hand signs!

The base colour, Rust No One, is an easy to work with polish. It’s almost a one coater. I applied two, and it makes a liiiiittle difference in depth, so I recommend two coats. Drying time is fast, no worries in that department. Here’s what two coats and no topcoat look like:

I must admit that I am really happy I bought this. It’s a lovely orange!

Here is what it looks like in my light box. It doesn’t look rusty at all, I’m very pleased!

I stamped with red first – a motif I found on the Q-girl010 stamping plate, and I stamped with Sally Hansen’s Insta-Dri “Rapid Red”. Here is that step:

I like the way the red lines enhances the red in the KBShimmer polish!

Then I stamped the flowers, the leaf and the hand sign – I found those motifs on Moyou London’s stamping plate Tourist Collection-17.

This mani is not very typical for me, but I like it anyway. The colour isn’t my favourite colour, but then again, they can’t all be. I wore it for a day, and I wouldn’t have if I didn’t like it. 

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good

Finish: Linear holo

Overall impression: Great quality polish, nice rainbows!

Buy again: Probably

KBShimmer ~ Up and Cunning

KBShimmer ~ Up and Cunning

Teal linear holo

Up and Cunning is from the Autumn 2014 collection. I knew it had to be mine from the first moment I laid eyes on it. I was so happy when it finally arrived in the mail!

The formula is great, the polish just glides on and covers in two easy coats. The drying time between coats is good. And seriously – this polish is gorgeous, I love everything about it!! I’d say that KBShimmer should make more holos – I’d definitely buy them!

Take a look at two coats and no topcoat:

Is that a me-colour or what? I’d say it is!

I decided to make some dots on it. I made white dots with Savina’s French White and purple dots with KBShimmer’s Quick and Flirty. I only made dots on the middle of each nail and made sure that the dots were various sizes. I applied a layer of topcoat when I was happy with the dots, and here’s my final mani:

Mmm… I don’t ever want to take this off :D

Here’s a picture taken in low lights. I still love the colours!

The pretties lined up:

I love dotticures and this one is no exception. It’s so cool that it’s possible to create so pretty manis just by adding dots.

Do you like this as much I as do?

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Good

Finish: Linear holo

Overall impression: I love everything about this polish. The quality, the colour, the rainbows…

Buy again: Yes

Glam Polish ~ Polar Lights

Glam Polish ~ Polar Lights

Aqua green with silver and holo microglitter

I might as well show you the last of three Glam Polishes I bought from Edgy Polish recently: Polar Lights. It’s from the Mid-Winter’s Dream collection.

The formula is on the thick side but it wasn’t a problem since I prefer thick over thin any day. Coverage is really good for a jelly and two coats was all I used for full opacity. The drying time is average; I can live with that.

Take a look at how pretty two coats and no topcoat is:

I simply love how sparkly this polish is.

It’s sparkly and shiny in all lightings. This is a low light picture:

<swoons>

This doesn’t require nail art, it’s cool on its own!

Verdict:

I’m glad I was able to get this beauty. I love the colour, the sparkles and the name!  ♥

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Average

Finish: Jelly with microglitter
Overall impression: Beautiful polish!  

Buy again: Yes

I bought Polar Lights from Edgy Polish.

You can find more info on Edgy Polish’s Facebook page, link here.

Spell Polish ~ Smile Transference

Spell Polish ~ Smile Transference

Pink to blue/violet duochrome

Here’s the last Spell Polishes I bought recently. I want to show you Smile Transference, a lovely Violet to pink duochrome!

I layered it over black on two of my fingers and to wore it on its own on the other two fingers.

The formula is good and easy to work with. Smile Transference is a bit more sheer than “No Place Like Home”, so I used three coats on its own to make it opaque, and I have two coats over the black. No topcoat yet.

It’s pretty! There’s black polish under on the ring finger and the middle finger. The pinkie and the pointer have only got the duochrome polish on:

I can’t tell the difference, they all look the same to me, so in order to save a bit on this relatively expensive polish, I’ll recommend layering it over black. I have to mention that the drying time is slow, so three coats is a bit much to sit through.

I love the colour shift!

I recently bought some small studs off evilBay. They are small so they actually fit my nails and they came in really cool neon colours. I decided to go for green – purple and green is almost always a hit in my book. I applied topcoat over the stars, and here’s the final mani:

oooh yes, I dig it!

Every bottle of Spell Polish comes with a little card with a rhyme on. Here’s the card that came with Smile Transference:

                                         

Number of coats: 3 (or 2 over black)
Drying time: Slow

Finish: Duochrome

Buy again: I’m undecided because of the drying time. I would undoubtedly have said yes if it dried faster.

I bought my Spell polishes from norwaynails.com.

You can find more info on NorwayNail’s Facebook page, link here.

Norway Nails have kindly offered my readers a 10% discount code. Just use the code RAINBOWIFYME10 at checkout, and you'll be getting 10% off your purchase.

NailNation 3000 ~ Awesome Sauce

Happy New Year, sweet readers! 

2014 was an awesome year for me when it comes to blogging. I got a lot of new friends and I appreciate each and every one of them. Thank you, you know who you are ♥

Let's start 2015 with a polish with an awesome name: 
 

NailNation 3000 ~ Awesome Sauce

Bright orange to coral linear holo

Today I’ve tried a new technique: Dry brush. It’s not new as such as I’ve seen it on many blogs, but it’s new to me since I’ve never tried it myself before.

Let me show you my final mani first:

It reminds me of an abstract painting. The base colour is NailNation 3000’s Awesome Sauce, and I made the brush strokes with NailNation 3000’s “Marthe” and Pahlish’s “Blood of the Mountain”.

Awesome Sauce is a colour that I’m torn about. It’s orange, which I’ve come to like recently, but it has also got a coral touch, and coral is so not my colour. But I really like the neon-ness of this polish. Take a look at two easy and fast drying coats here:

Here’s what it looks like in low lights.

I dig this polish despite the coral touch. When I wore this it actually made me think of what grandma polish would look like the day she decided that her nails would be neon, haha! Neon grandma-polish :D

Here are the three pretties:

Have you tried the dry brush technique? If yes, did you like the result?

Number of coats: 2
Drying time: Fast

Finish: Linear holo

Overall impression: Unique colour, great quality, nice rainbows

Buy again: Yes