Complementary, my dear Watson.

Okay, I'm semi-sorrry for this post title.
Anyway, a good complementary contrast always stands out so I wanted to apply that in a nice sponge gradient mani.

Polishes used:
2true, 'Shade no. 25' (orange)
2true, 'Shade no. 15' (blue)
Essence, '01 - Wonderlicious Green' (it's blue, damnit)
Golden Rose, 'Scale Effect 12' (flakies)

2true's shade of blue works very poorly as a polish on itself, so I layered it over the ever misnamed Wonderlicious Green, to have a good blue base. The 2true blue is a very sparkly polish, and so is its orange, so those work together very well. The orange is pretty well pigmented, and though a bit coppery now, is really a very bright orange when used on its own.

And finally, I feel the largely orange flakies tie the whole together quite nicely

...And a happy New Year!

The year is coming to a close, so I wanted to post my Christmas nails at least before January. Basically a repeat of the previous snowflake theme, but in more traditionally Christmassy colours.

Have a fantastic 2013, everyone!

 

Golden Rose - Magnetic 06

I've tried the whole magnetic nail polish thing in the past, without much success, which I thought was a real shame when you saw the effect some managed to produce! In the end, I think it was the magnet I had (part of Essence Metallics).
Now, things have turned around for me..

This little baby made my nails come out just fine!

I like reading up on technique before I attempt this kind of thing, generally. You never know what helpful words of wisdom you stumble upon. The directions on the box, however, weren't of much use to me..

Err, yep, that cleared all my questions right up.

The polish was a gift, and had been purchased in Russia. Speaking Russian is not something I can count among my abilities, however.
On to the nail pictures!

The light from the window obscures the effect a bit, but still, you can see it really worked this time! I'm so pleased. As with most magnetic polishes, it's best if you put on a layer of polish before you start with the magnet.

One of my favourite qualities of magnetic polishes is that you get such depth. That's really something unparallelled - you just don't find that in any other type of 'quick nail art' polish. I don't care how long magnetic polishes have been around, I don't get tired of looking at it. 

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.