2014 Blogger Challenge #11: My polish stash...photographed!

Good morning! I'm finally returning to the 2014 Blogger Challenge. You might have noticed that I haven't done it for a couple months--there were some prompts I didn't have much to say about, then I kinda got distracted. But I thought today's topic would be a perfect place to get back on the horse. The prompt is collections. What do I have a giant collection of? Nail polish, of course! If you like to see pictures of organized stuff, you will like this post!

This will obviously be image-heavy, so click the jump to see it all!

FingerFood's Theme Buffet / Neverending Pile Challenge: Indie holo fishtail

TGIF everyone! I'm knocking out two challenges at once again with today's mani. This week's FingerFood's Theme Buffet prompt is fishtail, and the Neverending Pile Challenge theme is indie. Sooo I did an indie fishtail!

I chose three scattered holographic polishes: Different Dimension Ditz (pink) and Homeboy (blue) and Ellagee Like a Sleepy Blue Ocean (teal). I wish I hadn't had to use two similar shades of blue, but I don't actually have many untried indies that would work here! (Someone buy me some more indies!)

This is my first attempt at a fishtail mani, and let me tell you, I have a newfound admiration for people who can do fishtails with perfectly straight and consistent lines...it's not easy!

I think for my first try, this turned out decent. From a distance it looks nice at least! The polish at my tips is so thick I don't think it's ever going to dry...

Total # untrieds tried: 14 

FingerFood's Theme Buffet #1: Animal Print

Happy Sunday! Today I'm starting another nail art challenge, FingerFood's Theme Buffet. This is a weekly thing, so it shouldn't be as stressful as the 31-Day Challenge was! The first prompt is animal print. I had to do leopard print again because I love it so much, plus it's incredibly simple to do!

I decided to make things a little more interesting by starting out with a gradient background. I used two DIFFERENTdimension polishes, Totally and Gnarly, which are super bright neons with holographic shimmer. This mani is a nice antidote to the horrible winter weather we've been having here (not so bad today luckily)!

I did the leopard spots using a dotting tool and my favorite black and white polishes, Revlon Stiletto and Sinful Colors Snow Me White.

Here are the upcoming prompts for the rest of the challenge:

If you're interested in joining in, you can request to be added to the Facebook group. This is a really low-key challenge--you don't even have to do all the weeks if you don't want to! You can also follow the Pinterest board to see everyone's manis!

Here are the rest of today's animal print nails!

31-Day Challenge #6: violet patterned tips

For today's challenge I was playing around with striping tape again. Purple is my favorite color, so I had a hard time choosing which polishes to use, but in the end I thought it would be cool to contrast something dark and moody with something sparkly!

The creme is Julep Gabrielle, and the holo shimmer is DIFFERENTdimension Whatever. The holo in this polish isn't intensely rainbow-y, but it gives a little extra dimension (ha!) to the nail.

After I took this picture, my middle fingernail broke, so tomorrow all my nails will be shorter. :-(


Check out today's other violet manis!

Swatch: DIFFERENTdimension Tubular

The polish in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Today I'm wearing a limited edition polish from indie brand DIFFERENTdimension. Tubular is part of the 80s Baby collection, a set of six neon polishes with a scattered holographic shimmer.

Now, to be honest, I'm probably too pale to wear a color like this, but that doesn't usually stop me! 

Two coats DIFFERENTdimension Tubular. No top coat.

Can you tell I'm already thinking about summer? This is such a cheery shade of orange, and the holo shimmer adds just a bit of sparkle without getting into crazy giant rainbow territory (don't get me wrong, I love that too). My nail line is just barely visible with two coats, so three coats would definitely give full coverage.

 

This polish had a very nice formula, like other DIFFERENTdimension products I've tried. It did take a while to dry completely; several hours after I put it on, I mushed up my right thumbnail pretty badly.

The color of Tubular is actually kind of interesting--in the sunlight (or with my daylight bulb in the above photos) it's very bright and neon, but in indoor light it almost approaches a caramel color. I tried to take a pic of it indoors, but my lighting is so bad, and my phone camera hates it so much, that the color didn't quite come out correctly:

 

To my eye it looks more red-toned in real life.

It looks like Tubular is already sold out, but there are still three other colors in the collection available on Etsy ($10 for 15ml) so hurry up and grab one!

The polish in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.

Swatch: DIFFERENTdimension Emily

(The polish in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.)

Today I have some pics of a polish by indie brand DIFFERENTdimension. According to its maker, "Emily is a beautiful light blue base polish with several different colors of glitters inside (green, periwinkle, white). Full coverage in 2 coats!"

DIFFERENTdimension Emily. Three coats with one coat Zoya Armor topcoat.

I'm not always a fan of big chunky glitters--they sometimes remind me of a third-grade art project. This kind of polish is more up my alley: the glitters are small and uniform so the overall effect is a subtle pattern. I also love the "hidden glitter" effect you get from this kind of milky base.

Note that I needed three coats for complete opacity; if you have short nails or don't mind some visible nail line, then two should be fine. You can also see that the surface is a bit rough; if that bugs you, you'll need a few layers of topcoat.

The application was great--it wasn't runny or goopy, and the glitter is packed very densely so you don't get any bare spots. 

I should also note that the base color is a little less green in real life than it looks in my photos. Silly iPhone!

You can buy Emily on DIFFERENTdimension's Etsy site ($8.50 for 15 ml).


(The polish in this post was purchased by me. All opinions are my own.)