Accounting Jokes.

Every now and then you'll see a pattern or a colour combination somewhere that just clicks with the part of your brain responsible for nail polish creations. In my case, it happened whilst watching an episode of Parks and Recreation, where the character of Ben Wyatt was wearing this snazzy brown-blue striped tie. I've previously mentioned my fondness for the combination, so I'll spare you the repetition of the same and get down to it.

This nail art done with Essence's '03 My Boyfriend's Jeans' and Miss Sporty's '455'.

And just for those that don't watch Parks and Rec and went 'huh?' at this post title, the character Ben is an accountant and kept throwing in accounting puns over the course of the episode the tie was in.

Underrated.

Though I usually prefer to paint my own designs or get them through other techniques, I do enjoy the occasional stamping adventure. One of the things I really like in stamping is a pattern that covers a full nail. I don't get the chance to try that very often, because I generally like my nails to be longer than the plates will allow for. I trimmed my claws a fair bit the other day, so I hoped they would be short enough to allow this to work!
The plate is BM21, in case you struggle reading upside-down.

Not.. entirely a success.
I love the colour combination of blue and brown, and I think it's a vastly underrated one. It has been some time since I used it, so it was about time to give it another go in a different styling. Miss Sporty's '455' is my go-to brown and I was already previously aware that it carries a matte finish well, so that was an easy decision. I originally had a different blue in mind, but it looked very dark when stamped on so I switched that for a MAX (Action's own brand, I believe?) Nail Art Polish called 'Blue Galaxy'.

In real life the look is a lot more subtle as here I obviously tried to photograph it in its most visible state. As you can see the stamping didn't go all that well. Since I'm not too experienced a stamper, I struggle with placement and end up not getting part of the design on. Oops. I don't mind too much, though. It's not that apparent unless you're on top of my hands.

For my thumb, which is too broad and still too long to fit the full-nail design on, I went for a small detail. It came from one of Essence's stampy plates.
I had meant to center it more, but like I mentioned, my stamping-aim is not that great.

Paint to Match.

I'm generally not the type of person that bothers matching their nails to their wardrobe or vice versa, but I bought this pair of trousers recently and thought it'd also make a nice set of nails. Blue stripes of varying width and spacing with a warm brown underneath.. and of course, matte. And, y'know, the least neat nail 'art' I've done in a while. Does it absolve me somewhat if I say I was in a hurry :P?
Brown is Miss Sporty 455, matte is NYC Matte Me Crazy as per usual.

Took this picture after I'd been wearing it for a while and it shows.. the shaaaame!

I'm in love.

No, this isn't a belated Valentine's Day post. No, I'm not actually in love. Not with a person, anyway. When I ordered Watermelon Rind, I also ordered my first flakies (Golden Rose -  12). I had been wanting to get some for quite some time but never actually made an effort to get them, y'know what I mean? This was before I considered buying nail polish online. Well, that day I made the effort anyway. And I couldn't be happier.
How incredibly stunning they are! I spent a considerable amount of time getting distracted by the pretty shinies on my fingertips, I must admit.

Flash - Artificial light

 The polish underneath is one of my (now previously) untried, and it's a nice chocolatey (depending on the light) brown by Miss Sporty, from their 'Lasting Colour' collection. Not a very special colour, but the application is fine, the coverage is a little sheer but it's a budget polish so I shan't complain.
The effect of the flakies is sadly a bit lost indoors or when there's a lack of sun. Which sadly is mostly, nowadays. But I will love their goldish-orangish-greenish shine all the same in whichever light I find myself in.